by Coralee June
“You need to stay away from Hamilton, Vera,” Mom whispered.
“This again?” How could we go from having such a good conversation to this again? I thought that since she’d left Joseph, she’d be done with this. “Is this because you’re with Jack?”
Mom shook her head. “No. No. Jack isn’t going to marry me. I’m just staying because…never mind. I just think you need to stay away from Hamilton and stay out of this business with Joseph, too.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “What do you know about Hamilton and Joseph, Mom?”
I watched as she started looking around the restaurant. Slowly, I watched my mother transform into the woman she was when she was married to Joseph. Terrified. Timid. What was happening? “I know that you are in way over your head. You have no idea what Jack’s planning.”
“What does that even mean?” I asked.
Mom bit her lip nervously. “I’ve already said too much.” I watched as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Tell me what you know, Mom.”
She bit her nail. “I know that you shouldn’t associate with Hamilton right now.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want you sucked into this mess.”
“Why?” I pressed on. Mom squirmed. Had she always looked so helpless? “Mom. Break the cycle. Tell me what’s going on. You love me, Mom. You care about me. You want me to be safe. Just tell me.”
She shook her head and started breathing heavily. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone,” she whispered. “I’m serious, Vera.”
I lied easily. “I won’t say a word. Now tell me why I need to stay away from Hamilton.”
“Jack is trying to get rid of Hamilton,” she whispered before leaning closer. “When Hamilton went to San Francisco, there was supposed to be some sort of hit man waiting for him.”
My eyes widened. I clutched my chest and felt the rapid way my breathing turned erratic. “What? Why? How?” I stuttered.
“Do you know how the Beauregards got so rich?” she asked. “It’s funny, really. Ironic.”
“How?” I asked.
“Unless some cheap woman lies about a pregnancy, they marry into money. Jack was close to losing everything before he proposed to Nikki. His family had businesses failing left and right.”
“Nikki,” I whispered.
“She had sole control over seventy percent of the Beauregard fortune. Lucky bitch. She was an heiress, you know. Only child. And she inherited a fuck ton of money when her parents died. Last year, a new will showed up anonymously on Jack’s doorstep. Can you believe it? The woman has been dead for years and suddenly someone is blackmailing Jack with it. Guess who Nikki wanted to give it all to. Not her son. Not her husband. A bastard.”
I sat back in my seat while trying to piece it together. “What about Joseph?” I asked.
“Joseph is playing a game of his own,” Mom whispered. “I got scared, and I told Joseph what Jack was planning. I guess Joseph intervened somehow, saving Hamilton’s life.”
“So Jack wants to have Hamilton killed, and Joseph knows that Nikki’s entire fortune is being left to someone else?”
“I don’t know all the details. I just know that Hamilton was supposed to be killed the moment he got off that plane.” A waiter walked by carrying a tray, putting a brief pause to our conversation.
“You don’t know why Jack wanted Hamilton to work for the company and find a laundering scheme?” I pressed. “If Jack wanted his son killed, he could have easily done it. Why go through all these hoops?”
Mom nervously trembled. “I’m not sure. I already know too much, Vera. I should have never stayed with Jack. I’m trapped. I’m scared to leave, scared to stay.”
I sat there, absorbing the words pouring from my mother’s mouth in shock. Holy shit. I needed to warn Hamilton. “Mom, you have to get out of Jack’s house,” I whispered.
“I can’t. Jack is willing to kill his own son. What do you think he would do to me for knowing this? For warning you?”
“Come with me. I can get you somewhere safe. Okay? You don’t have to do this—”
Mom straightened her spine. “I’m fine. I’m a survivor, baby. I just don’t want you wrapped up in this. Promise me you’ll stop seeing Hamilton.”
I stood up and looked down at my mother. “Thank you for letting me know,” I whispered. I didn’t have time to argue with her.
“What are you going to do?” Mom asked.
Once again, I lied easily. “Nothing. I’m going to stay away from Hamilton.”
She sighed in relief. “I’ll call you once I’m out, okay? Jack won’t hurt me. He doesn’t know that I know anything.”
I politely nodded. There was no way in fucking hell that Mom would stay another night with Jack Beauregard. The moment I left this café, I’d go to the police.
Saint had already paid his bill and was waiting outside on the sidewalk or me. I struggled to breathe, to think. “I’ll call you, okay?” I promised Mom.
“Be safe,” she replied. This felt like a turning point. The bar was practically on the floor, but at least my mother didn’t want me dead.
I patted the recording device strapped to my chest and sighed. “Sorry, Mom,” I whispered before walking outside.
18
Hamilton
I marched into Joseph’s office without a single fuck. I didn’t even take the time to come to terms with the fact that my actual father wanted to fucking kill me. I was a man on a mission. Joseph was sitting at his desk and playing on his phone. The large windows in his office had a picturesque view of DC. His ornate antique desk was oversized—like his ego.
I was reeling. I knew Jack was up to something, but I never imagined it was this. Killing me? Was he honestly capable of that? When Vera called me sobbing, it took me a while to make out what she was saying. Saint had to take the phone from her trembling hands and give me a summary of what Lilah had said. Vera coordinated the meeting with her mother, hoping to get some information we could use.
But what she came back with was so much worse.
“Can I help you?” Joseph asked before looking up at me for a brief moment. “You look like shit. What are you, a lumberjack? Flannel doesn’t look good on you.”
I ignored his comment. Of course I looked like shit. I’d had a shitty couple of days. “Why’d you do it?” I came here for one reason and one reason only: to figure out why my abusive brother would bother to save my life.
“You’ll have to be more specific,” he replied in a bored tone before setting down his phone and adjusting his cufflinks.
“Did you save my life in San Francisco?”
Joseph grinned. “Ah, so you found out dear old dad wants to kill you, huh?” He sat up. “I mean, that’s pretty intense, right? When Lilah called, I almost didn’t believe it.” I paced the floors, my boots dragging across his expensive rug as my brother looked on with glee. “I suppose yours is the worse fate. Dad just wanted to send me to prison for my little extracurriculars. He wants you six feet under.”
“What are you talking about?” I gritted before sitting in the leather chair opposite his desk.
“It’s obvious.” He pulled out one of his desk drawers and produced a bottle of whiskey and two crystal glasses. “Want a drink, brother?”
I sure as fuck needed a drink, but this wasn’t some bullshit brotherly bonding moment. “No. Just tell me what’s going on.”
“I’ve been working with a business partner. He uses Beauregard Industries to funnel some money, and I get a cut. But you already know this, don’t you?”
Hearing my brother speak so plainly about his illegal activities felt…wrong and anticlimactic. It sent a ripple of disappointment through me. “Yeah. I do.” There was no point in lying now.
“Jack found out a few months ago and got jealous. He wanted a piece of the pie. But you know what, Hamilton? I’ve been sharing my entire goddamn life. What’s a couple million
for myself?”
Joseph poured himself a drink and took a sip. My veins thudded with adrenaline and fury. “So, what, Jack got jealous?” I asked.
“He got vengeful. He claimed I was risking his job. But really, I think he was just pissed that I had the balls to think outside the box.” Joseph tapped his temple, shaking loose his styled blond hair. “You’d love my business associate. He’s in the business of selling women to men with particular kinks.”
I frowned. “Disgusting, but keep talking.”
“Think about it. You’re on my trail and suddenly get murdered? Jack was going to pin it on me. He had all the evidence he needed. You had all the reason in the world to chase me down. I had the motive to end your life. All the ducks were in a row.” He punctuated his words by clapping his hands together. “But he wasn’t planning on Lilah.” Joseph grinned to himself. “That bitch finally came in handy.”
“Joseph wouldn’t risk the scandal,” I replied.
“Wouldn’t he, though?” Joseph asked. “Billions of dollars, a cushy retirement. And last I heard, he really enjoyed getting his dick sucked by my ex-wife. With me out of the way, he could probably breeze right over the humiliation of marrying her. Would probably spin it in the press that they fell in love while he mourned. A fucking fairy tale. Too bad his new girlfriend loves me more.”
Joseph set down his glass of whiskey, and I reached across the desk to grab it. Fuck it. I needed a drink. The burning liquid went down my throat, and I hissed in appreciation. Naturally, the shit was smooth and expensive as fuck. “He was going to kill me.”
“And you just walked right into that trap. It’s embarrassing. Honestly, Hamilton. Do you have any sense of self-preservation? Spending an entire evening with you at the nightclub was brutal, but I suppose it was worth it to not be framed for murder. I was smart, too. Made sure the tabloids got photographs of us with those models.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
“Would you have listened to me? We don’t work together. I didn’t save your ass, I saved myself.” I took another gulp, and Joseph checked his phone. “You’re brave to come here, you know,” he murmured absentmindedly. “I have just as much of a reason to want you dead as Jack.”
I rolled my eyes. “If this is about the will, you can have it. I’m not interested in claiming Mom’s money.” And it was the honest truth. It felt like blood money. Jack was willing to murder me for it. I couldn’t imagine any amount of money being worth that.
“You say that, but I’m not inclined to believe you. I see how much you thrived in the last few weeks. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you actually enjoyed wearing Versace suits and spending Beauregard money.”
“Mom’s money,” I whispered.
“The weak woman who ended her life was nothing more than a ghost that lived in our home and took my pills.”
It took every ounce of energy in my body to not lunge across this desk and beat the shit out of him. “Shut your goddamn mouth,” I roared.
“Or what?” Joseph snapped. “I never understood your relationship. You were living, breathing evidence of Dad’s infidelity.” He stood up and walked over to the window, showing me his back. “I never understood it. She acted like you were the best thing to ever happen to her. When I went to the press about your birth mother, I was doing our family a favor.”
As I stared at Joseph, it suddenly occurred to me that my brother was nothing more than a lonely child throwing a temper tantrum. He wanted to be the center of attention. The man that made my life a living hell suddenly seemed very, very small.
“So what’s next, brother?”
I let out an exhale as he turned around to face me. I took a moment to look at Joseph, enjoying the realization that he was weak and expendable. I’d finally gotten out from under his thumb. “I suppose I owe you one,” I said.
“Oh?”
“I have a flight to Connecticut in two hours. Vera and I are getting Lilah out of that house, and we’re going to the police with everything, including your involvement. I don’t owe you a head start, but I’m giving you one. We have the evidence we need, and if anything happens to me, Saint won’t hesitate to ruin you.”
“A head start?” he asked, brows raised. “I tortured you. I beat you up. I beat the shit out of you. You’re seriously going to come here and warn me?” Joseph started laughing manically, his head tipped back. I watched, my face stoic. In this moment, hate felt like nothing but a shortcut. An easy way out of an impossible situation. Joseph Beauregard didn’t deserve my grace. “You’re weak. An embarrassment. Don’t think for one second I wouldn’t sit here and ruin you without a second thought. What happened to revenge? I thought that was all that motivated you these days.” His angry words were accompanied by spit flying from his chapped lips.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I knew it was Vera texting to make sure I was okay. The quiet reminder of what was waiting for me emboldened my words and actions.
“You’ll still get caught,” I replied with a shrug. “You’ll lose your job. Your money. Your life. You have no one. At best, you’ll have nothing. At worst, you’ll get caught and spend your life in prison.”
Joseph’s nostrils flared in anger as he checked the Rolex strapped to his wrist. “Are you done?”
I circled his desk and approached my brother, feeling stronger and lighter than I’d felt in years. “You always made it sound like being a Beauregard was the best thing a person could be,” I whispered. “I always wanted to fit in. I wanted to feel a part of something. I wanted to be accepted.” Joseph tipped his chin up. Beads of sweat trailed down his face. “But I’ve never been prouder to be nothing like you than I am in this moment.”
Joseph curled his lip. “Get the fuck out of my office,” he growled.
Smiling, I took a step back and made my way toward the door. “Goodbye, Joseph.”
When I walked out of his office and down the hall to the elevator, I realized, for the first time in my life, that I no longer feared Joseph Beauregard. He was nothing. No one.
I pitied him.
Pulling out my phone, I quickly typed a text to Vera.
Hamilton: I’m coming home, Petal. Let’s end this.
19
Vera
I bit my lip and paced the floors, waiting for Hamilton to show up. It had been a long day, and all I wanted was to see him, feel him. I needed reassurance that he was okay.
“You’re making Little Mama nervous,” Jess said from her spot on the pull-out couch. Saint was standing by the front window, peering out the wooden blinds at the hotel parking lot.
The small room we were in smelled like bleach and cigarette smoke. I listened to the hum of the heater and the muffled sounds of a couple talking as they passed our door. I didn’t want to be in this crowded double hotel room waiting for Hamilton to arrive. Every gurgling of the pipes and slamming door had me flinching with fear.
“We should be safe here. I booked the room under a fake name. Jack doesn’t know Hamilton is coming back to Connecticut.” He ran a hand over his gun and poked at the blinds once more. In the short time I’d gotten to know Saint, I’d come to learn that he was an observer. He was good at his job because he saw the little details that no one else did.
For example, he brought it to my attention that Mom was wearing a forty-five-thousand-dollar necklace when she met me at the café. He said it looked like something Jack had once given his mother.
I stopped my pacing to crouch low and pet Little Mama, who was obviously wondering where her human was. Jess and I drove her back here after the charity event in DC, and I’d been watching her at Anika’s house. My professor loved the dog and had already bought her enough toys to last a lifetime.
Now, we were waiting at a hotel outside of town. We had a lot of shit to figure out, but more importantly, we needed to make sure Hamilton was safe from Jack. I didn’t want to be sitting ducks at his townhouse. I didn’t know how far Jack was willing to go. Now that Hamilton
wasn’t cooperating, would he just hire some fucking hit man to do the job? I knew that Jack had the kind of money to make something like that happen.
“Maybe we should just go to the police. When Hamilton gets here, we could just—”
Saint stopped staring outside to turn around and face me. “I know that what I’m about to say might come across as a bit ironic, considering my history of not giving a shit about your mother, but I don’t think it’s safe for Lilah if we go to the police right away.”
I swallowed as Saint adjusted his tie. “Why not?”
“Jack is the governor. He has people in his pocket at every level of government. If we go to the cops before making sure your mother is away from him, there is no telling what he might do to her. Her confession is literally the only evidence that we have right now, and if I’m being honest, I’m not sure that it’s enough. Hamilton wasn’t wearing a wire when he went to speak with Joseph.”
“Dumbass,” Jess interjected while shaking her head and taking a sip of her tea.
“What do you mean it’s not enough?” I asked.
“I think we need more. I just know firsthand what can happen to people that try to bring Jack down. They end up ruined.”
I stopped petting Little Mama and walked over to Saint, feeling nervous about approaching the questions in my mind. “Are you referring to your mother?” I asked. “Jack told me his version of events, but I’m curious what actually happened.”
“She didn’t want to give up Hamilton. But she had no choice,” Saint replied, his voice calm. His usually expressive face was blank, as if he’d disassociated from the memory.
“Why not?”
“Jack threatened her every way he could. He said he’d leak their relationship and ruin any job she’d ever have. He threatened to buy out my grandparents’ company and run it into the ground. He told her he’d have her removed from her graduate program. Her house foreclosed on. Her entire life down the drain. He knew the only way he’d keep Nikki—and her money—was if he got my mother out of the picture.”
