by Cali MacKay
“Not a clue. Maybe her birthday?” I stepped up to the safe and gave the combination a try. “No luck.”
“Try your birthday? Or the date of your parents’ anniversary?” Both of Slater’s suggestions would be great if my mother had had a sentimental bone in her body. But I highly doubted any of those combinations would work. “Or…maybe your brother’s birthday?”
“Maybe.” I gave all three of them a try, not terribly surprised when none of them worked. “Of course not.”
Every time something came up that might change my opinion of my mother and prove me wrong—prove that my mother did indeed care about me or our family—it never happened. Instead I was left disappointed once again, and absolutely no closer to finding Andrew.
“Let me call my brother. Dane…he’s good with this sort of thing. Sort of my family’s computer expert, as it were. I’ll just have to let him know what type of safe.” His brow furrowed with deep lines as he pulled out his phone and stepped out of the closet and into the bedroom, leaving me to wonder just how someone would get to be good at breaking into a safe.
Because I had a sneaking suspicion that Slater’s brother wasn’t a locksmith.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Slater
I couldn’t believe I had just dragged Dane over to crack a safe—all while Izzy watched on. Fucking hell…so much for delaying telling her about my family. Though I supposed it would be a relief to finally get it out in the open. Unless, of course, she couldn’t see past it, and decided she was better off without me.
Dane had some sort of contraption that he attached to the front of the safe, while wires ran off it and attached to some sort of electronic device. And just like that, all on its own, it started dialing different combinations. “It could take a long while, so if you have something else to do, I’d go and do it.”
Izzy looked at the contraption curiously before turning her attention to Dane. “Wow. I have to say, that’s pretty damn impressive.”
“It’s called an autodialer. The technology incorporates listening to the tumblers in the lock and making educated guesses on the combination, which actually cuts down on the time significantly.” Dane’s eyes flicked to mine in question, but only for a split second—not that he really needed an answer to figure out that Izzy didn’t know about the family business. “Not that I get to use this sort of thing very often. But as a teenager, I was fascinated with picking locks and becoming a locksmith. Far too many cop shows with people picking their handcuffs using nothing but a paper clip. My mother was constantly yelling at me for stealing her bobby pins.”
She laughed, looking at the both of us. “Six boys, right? I can’t even imagine the trouble you must have gotten yourselves into.”
“We definitely got into our fair share, though it was never anything too bad. It was usually nothing more than good-humored mischief—or our mother would have hung us up by our ears. She never tolerated us being unkind.” Dane’s easy manner set Izzy at ease, and for that I was incredibly grateful to my older brother.
“I can take care of it from here, if you want to head out. I don’t want to eat into your whole day.” I was just relieved that he’d been able to come over on such short notice.
Dane nodded and grabbed his laptop bag, leaving everything else behind. But before heading out, he turned to Izzy. “I just wanted to let you know that I’ve already started the search for Andrew, though I highly recommend submitting your DNA to the main adoption sites to see if there might already be a match to your brother. It’ll take some time to get your sample processed, but I think it might be your best bet. And…given the size of your fortune…you’ll want to make sure that the person you think is your brother truly is.”
“The DNA kit is already being overnighted to me.” She sighed, wrapping her arms around her body. “And I appreciate the tip about verifying our relations. It’s an unfortunate reality, isn’t it?”
“I’m afraid so.” Dane glanced in my direction, wishing me luck with the situation, no words needed between us. He knew well enough the difficulties we faced when it came to dealing with the life we’d once led. But he’d managed to overcome even more dire circumstances, and was now happy. I just hoped I’d fare as well. “Call me if you run into any difficulties, or if you need help with anything else. And in the meantime, I’ll keep you updated if I come across anything.”
We saw Dane off, but before wandering back to the bedroom, I grabbed Izzy’s hand. “It’s probably going to be awhile before the autodialer figures out the combination. Why don’t we get out of here for a bit? Maybe head back to your place to let Lola out and then grab a bite to eat.”
Maybe even figure out if there was a way to tell her about my past without completely freaking her out. Because I had a sneaking suspicion that she might have questions for me, given that I was currently breaking into her safe. I just hoped that what little time we’d had together would be enough to reassure her that I wasn’t a horrible person, even if I’d done more than a few horrible things.
“I probably should have just brought her with us. And a bite to eat sounds perfect, since I’m starving.” She slipped her arms around my neck when I pulled her close, unable to resist her. “Don’t suppose you’d be in the mood for pizza? I can never get enough of it when I’m here in the States.”
“I know just the place.” It was a bit out of the way, but well worth the drive since it was some of the tastiest pizza I’d ever had. “We can stop there first, then grab Lola and come back here. Maybe by then the autodialer will have worked its magic.”
Izzy slipped out of my arms, her smile fading just a little, though her eyes were locked on mine. “I was wondering…”
I took over when she hesitated, since she was clearly trying to find a way to ask the obvious, but was trying not to insult me. “Why my family would have an autodialer just hanging around?”
She nodded, her eyes finally looking away. “I’m sorry if it’s none of my business, but…I feel like I know so little about you. And given that I’m in love with you, I feel like I should probably change that and get to know you better.”
There was no avoiding this conversation any longer. I’d managed to push it off this far, but if I didn’t tell her now, when she was asking me directly, I knew I’d only make matters worse once I did get around to telling her. I just had to come clean, and hope that if she did truly love me, then it would be enough for her to see past all the warning signs telling her that she should get as far away from me as possible, and not look back.
“Come here, love.” I took her hand and sat us down on the sofa, knowing this would be a bit of a long conversation.
Yet as I mulled over how to tell my story, I was hit with so many memories…so many emotions. Losing my father to the violence that came with this life. My mother’s house being set on fire and my pregnant sister-in-law barely escaping the flames. Ash’s wife being raped. The rest of my brothers’ wives and fiancées being abducted or abused, and used as pawns to manipulate my brothers into doing some asshole’s bidding…
How the hell could I justify dragging her into that sort of life?
Fucking hell…I wouldn’t want this for my worst enemy, let alone the woman I loved.
Yet another part of me—the part of me that was too selfish to give Izzy up—was convinced that my family had somehow finally managed to break away from that sort of life. It had taken us years to cut those ties, especially when there were people constantly threatening to drag us back in. But for the first time in a very long time, it felt as if my life was free from those sorts of influences. Even my brothers and their wives and fiancées were now happy and starting their families.
And I wanted that sort of happiness too. I wanted Izzy in my life…wanted us to get married and start a family. I wanted us to grow old together.
But none of that would happen if I couldn’t be honest with her.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Isabelle
It was hard for me n
ot to think the worst the longer it took for Slater to explain things. And the fact that he looked so torn up and distraught, like he was truly struggling to find the right words, certainly wasn’t helping. But as I reached out and took his hand, his bright blue eyes focused on mine. “Just tell me, Slater.”
He let out a ragged breath and nodded. “It’s about my past, Izzy. My father was a fixer—which I’m sure you’re not familiar with, because my world and yours are like night and day.”
“Then explain it to me.” I knew that my wealth and background were unlike most people’s, and it often meant I didn’t know things that might be common knowledge to most, nor had I experienced many things, given that the life I was born into meant I was kept fairly protected.
“My father would fix people’s problems. Rich people…bad people… If they had a problem, my father would find a way to make that problem go away. Dead bodies buried…people threatened…money exchanged.” Slater shook his head, as if trying to rid himself of his reality, even as his words sank in, leaving my gut in knots and my heart breaking. “And as his sons, we grew up in that world and worked in the family business.”
I shook my head no, trying to reconcile the sweet and caring man in front of me with the person he was telling me he was. “You mean…you did those things too? You hurt innocent people? For money?”
“Izzy…” His eyes pleaded with me for understanding, though it felt as if I wasn’t even looking at the same person. “I swear we tried our best to avoid violence whenever we could. And you’d be hard-pressed to call any of those people innocent. They were in trouble because they, for the most part, were bad people and had gotten themselves into trouble by doing bad things. Not that it makes what we did okay.”
I pulled my hand away, my eyes stinging with tears as I swallowed down the lump in my throat, trying to find a way to reconcile what Slater was telling me with the man I’d fallen in love with. “Did you and your family murder anyone?”
Not that he’d likely tell me the truth if they had.
“I’m not going to lie to you and say that people didn’t die. But I swear, it was only a result of us trying to defend ourselves.” Slater ran a rough hand over his face, his brow lined and his eyes narrowed, all of it clearly hard on him, even though it didn’t make me feel any better. “We avoided violence as much as possible, doing our best to scare people into doing the right thing, as it were, without us having to follow through on any of our threats. And for the most part it worked. But there were times when people figured they might be able to get out of the mess they’d gotten themselves into by taking us out. And that didn’t usually play out in their favor.”
I couldn’t wrap my head around it all. How could the man I’d fallen in love with be the same guy who’d done all these horrible things? “Tell me it wasn’t you, Slater. Tell me it was your father or brothers. That you weren’t a part of it all.”
“I’m the youngest in my family, so I was too young to be involved in most of it. But that doesn’t mean I can’t take some of the blame—though I swear, we spent years trying to leave that life behind.” He shook his head, clearly upset. “Every time we tried to break free of that life, someone would do all they could to pull us back into it. But I swear, we’re finally done with it all.”
“How can you be sure?” I now understood all too well why he hadn’t wanted to tell me any of this—and it was all too clear why he’d walked away from me.
“Honestly? I can’t be. My past could easily come back to haunt me. But every member of my family has left that life behind and we’ve all done our best to steer clear of trouble. We want a normal life—and we’re working damn hard to make sure it happens. We’ve even worked with the FBI from time to time, to help them bring down criminals who’ve done horrible things.” He knotted his fingers with mine, his eyes pleading with me for understanding. “I really am sorry, Izzy. I never meant to keep this from you—and I tried to stay away. But I couldn’t. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you. I’m just sorry I’m not the man you thought me to be.”
Bloody hell…my heart was breaking for him. And yet I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around everything he’d just told me. “I honestly don’t know what to say, Slater. I get that you likely didn’t have much of a choice if your entire family was involved in this sort of thing. And I’m relieved that you all managed to get away from that sort of life. But…it’s a lot to take in, and I’m having a hard time with it.”
“I know. But…I love you, Izzy. And though I know you deserve better than the likes of me, I’m not sure I can let you go.” When he cupped my face, my eyes slipped shut and I couldn’t help but lean into his touch, desperately wanting my love for him to once again be an easy thing.
Yet it wasn’t. It was a damned mess, and I knew the decision as to whether I could see past this was mine to make. I just wasn’t sure if I could actually get past the things he’d done.
I forced myself to pull away from his touch, since it only muddled my thoughts. “I need some time to try to sort this out, even if I do love you, Slater.”
He put some distance between us, instead of pressuring me to make a quick decision—and I had to say, it scored him points, reinforcing that he was now a good man, even if he hadn’t always been. “Then let’s simply focus on finding your brother—and grabbing that pizza.”
The knot in my chest loosened just a little. “I think I can do that.”
“Good. Because I’m starving, and that pizza is damn good.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Slater
I slid another slice of pizza onto Izzy’s plate, and then grabbed myself another slice, happy to see that she was enjoying her meal. “It’s good. Isn’t it?”
“That’s an understatement. This may have just become my favorite pizza place. The beer in the pizza dough gives it such a great flavor and chew.” She took another bite, looking like she was truly enjoying herself—which was a hell of a lot better than the hurt and disappointment that I’d seen haunting her eyes when I’d finally come clean about my past.
I knew that I may still lose her over it, and she may not be able to deal with the things I’d done, but at least the truth was out there, and that was a huge relief, especially since she hadn’t simply recoiled in disgust and shown me the door. The fact that we were sitting here having dinner was promising, even if she might be keeping me around just to help her find her brother. I just needed to continue proving to her that I was still the same man she’d fallen in love with.
We finished our meal, but before we’d even gotten to her home, Izzy’s phone buzzed, and after excusing herself, she answered it. “Emerson… Is something wrong? Just give me a second… I’m here with Slater, so I’m going to put you on speaker.”
“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news—and I’m sure you’ll hear from the cops soon, but the courts just released Ray Billings on bail. He managed to hire a new lawyer, who convinced the courts that his client wasn’t a flight risk, due to his ailing health. Turns out the guy has cancer, and when he lost his job, he lost his health insurance, and couldn’t afford the insurance premiums with his pre-existing condition, which was why he was so upset. And he may very well be too weak to be a threat, but…I think you may still be in danger. Because that man? He’s got nothing to lose.”
Fuck. I needed to find a way to keep her safe. If anything happened to her… The mere thought of it was enough to make me crazy. “I’ll take her someplace safe, Emerson. Once we get there, I’ll let you know where we are. In the meantime, keep us updated. Do we know if he’s already been processed?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. And chances are good that the courts will have him monitored. But…I still don’t like it, though I may be overreacting.” No doubt because Emerson still felt responsible for Izzy’s mother’s death.
“Keep us updated. I want to know what this fucker is up to.” It’d be easy enough to understand the man’s desperation, but he’d already killed Ele
na Rutherford, and there was no way I was going to let him continue exacting his revenge by going after Izzy.
Izzy hung up, and though I was driving and had to keep an eye on the road, it was clear she was upset and frightened. “What am I supposed to do?”
“I’m going to take care of you, love—and you have my word, I won’t let anything happen to you.” I pulled into the driveway of Izzy’s home, knowing we’d need to grab the animals, and she’d probably need to pack a bag. “We’ll take the animals to my mother’s. It’ll make it easier for us to move around if need be. Pack light. We can pick stuff up along the way if we’re missing anything.”
Izzy turned in her seat to face me, eyes dark with worry. “Do you really think I’m in danger? Won’t he be under house arrest or something?”
“I don’t know, love. But we’re not going to take any chances. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. We’re in this together, okay?” I cupped the back of her neck and bent my head to hers, catching her mouth in a whisper of a kiss, half surprised when she didn’t pull away. Yet I forced myself to let her go, not wanting to push her when things were still a bit of a mess between us. Because I had no doubt that if it hadn’t been for this current scare, she’d still be holding me at arm’s length.
I went in first to sweep her house and make sure it was okay, before letting her in. She packed her bag in record time while I grabbed Lola and Winston, and we were out of there in no time at all. We got to my mother’s without incident, and luckily, she knew better than to ask too many questions. She just reassured Izzy that her animals would be fine, and then told us to be careful, hugging us both before seeing us to the door.
Things were moving fast, and though I’d already hit the road, I wasn’t quite sure where I should take Izzy. My family had several houses under different business names, making them more difficult to trace back to us, but I wasn’t sure which house would be best. In the end, I opted to stay relatively close by so that we could easily make it back to Seattle if need be, and we wouldn’t have a long drive ahead of us tonight. “My family owns a small seaside cottage up along the coast. We should be safe there.”
