by Ali Parker
I stifled a growl. "Tell me now and instead of wasting our time talking, we can fuck like rabbits all night." I knew that would get him, and I was a whore for using it.
"Really? I hate you sometimes."
"No, you don't. Now, tell me." I glanced out the window, letting the white clouds and light blue sky offer me a false sense of serenity.
"She said something about some tapes that were dated from the day before your mother was murdered until the day Freddy disappeared."
I stiffened, sitting up in my seat. "Where did she get them?"
"Wait, I didn't say she had them." He cleared his throat. "And I know that tone. It means if I'm not careful you're going to kill her for even bringing them up."
"What exactly did she say, Edward?" I gritted my teeth. Marco was missing the tapes and now all of a sudden Audrey, who I didn't trust at all, was bringing the existence of them up? How? Why?
"She just asked if I wanted to listen to some tapes that she might could get her hands on. And she said the date thing. It's nothing really. I shouldn't have-"
"I'll let you know when I'm back. Bring condoms." I dropped the call and dialed Marcus Blaine's number. He answered on the second ring.
"Marcus."
"It's Izabella. We're flying back from LA now, but Edward just called with disturbing news. I need you to follow up for me."
"Lay it on me, Princess."
I flinched at the nickname, but decided to allow him a mulligan seeing that I needed his help. "There are a handful of tapes that I found in my little brother's office out at the warehouse. I gave them to Marco without listening to them."
"That wasn't too wise."
I bit my tongue and glanced over to find D watching me. "Anyway, he said there was nothing on them and later changed his tune."
"Sounds nefarious. Want me to kill him?"
"No, and stop interrupting me, or I swear to God I'll come out there and pistol whip you the minute I get back into town."
"Please?" He chuckled, so damn full of himself.
"The tapes went missing yesterday before D and I could get them back from Marco. I'm pretty sure Audrey has them. Get them and hold them for me until I can get to you. I have a few things to take care of tonight, but I should be able to break away sometime."
"And you're sure the girl has them?"
"Almost positive. I'm not sure why the fuck she has them, but she would have had to break into my brother's office yesterday at the house and stolen them."
"Your brother, Marco?"
"Yes." I turned my attention from D. His stare was too much to bare in the middle of trying to explain myself to Marcus, who owed me one for helping him out before he joined us.
"This my payback for Billy?"
"Yes. Help me with this. Get the tapes and find out who the fuck the girl is."
"I have a few friends looking into her. I'll get the tapes. You want me to listen to them or-"
"No. I want to hear them before they get out everywhere. I just need to-"
"You know that's dangerous." His playful tone shifted.
He was right. I wanted to protect Freddy and Marco. I didn't know who was playing me, but it had to be one of them. My heart hurt at the thought of it being either of them. Maybe letting Marcus listen to them would help me save myself from making a mistake.
"I don't know. Just get them and we'll talk after that. I trust you."
"You should. Be safe, Princess."
I growled and pulled the phone from my face. How the fuck had Audrey ended up with the tapes, and even more so, how did the bitch know that they existed.
"Talk to me." D's voice was low, sexy.
I glanced over at him and smirked. "You've been ignoring me all day. No fucking way."
He reached out and gripped my wrist tightly, pulling me toward him. "I'm not asking you to strip out of your panties and wax my cock, Bella. I'm telling you to update me on what's going on with my syndicate. Now!"
My father woke up, gave us a look and turned over, falling back asleep.
I jerked my wrist from his hold. "It's Izabella, and I'm trying to clean up the mess from the tapes that are missing. They're the evidence we need. Period."
"Who did you ask for help, Izzy?" He narrowed his eyes. I hated when he was aggressive. It was an intense turn on, the desire he lit inside of me made me want to forget everything that had gone wrong and crawl into his lap.
"Marcus Blaine. Audrey has the tapes, or so it seems."
"And why do you think that?"
"Edward told me. She confided in him." I turned to face the window.
"Get them and bring them to me."
"Fuck you," I whispered as tears filled my eyes.
"No thanks. You obviously had your fill with Adam last night. Hope you enjoyed it. He's quite a trip away. No, wait. Eddy is just down the road and comes a'running when you call." He snorted and stood up. "You should be ashamed of yourself. Leading that poor boy on. He loves you with all of his heart, but you don't have one to love him in return do you."
I glanced back at him. "Say another word to me and I'll root out Drake so fast it will make your goddamn head spin."
He yanked me up from my seat, lifting me off the ground and pressing his forehead to mine. I'd never seen hate in his eyes, but it was there now.
"Don't you ever say his name to me again. You have no clue what I've been through. What he's been through."
I nodded and pursed my lips. The monster dangling me in the air wasn't the man I'd fallen in love with. He was long gone, stolen from me by lies and responsibilities, death and casual sex.
"Put her down. Now." My father pushed at Demetri's side. "Don't manhandle her again. Not ever."
D blinked a few times and sat me down. "Izzy. I'm sorry. I-"
I walked toward the back of the plane and locked myself in the bathroom, my tears saved for another day. D was right... I had no clue what he and Drake had been through, namely because he never let me in long enough to see, to feel, to truly love him.
*
"Make it quick and painless." My father glanced over at me as we rode side by side in the back of his Cadillac. D drove and hadn't said a word to me since the scene on the flight an hour before.
There wasn't really anything to say anyway.
"You know I don't want to do this, right?" I turned my face to watch my father, my cheek pressed to the seat.
"I know. I don't want you to do it either, baby, but it has to be done."
"Why did you cheat on momma? All of this started with your decision to break the marriage covenant." The hot ball of hate rose up in my throat and I struggled to speak around it.
"It was an accident, baby. I never meant to take it that far. D's mother was in morning over his father, and you know how much I loved them both. It turned into-"
"Don't." I choked out as agony raped my insides. "Please don't say anything else."
"Izabella," D whispered from the front seat as we pulled up to the mansion.
"Is there anything you want me to tell Charlie before I kill him? You want me to thank him for all he's given up for us? For the love he's lost and the honor he's destroyed because of us?" I wiped my nose and reached for the door.
"If you're not strong enough to handle this, then D will."
"I hope both of you rot in hell. I'll handle it and pray for the day when it's my turn to handle you." I opened the door and got out, D calling after me again.
Fuck 'em. Fuck all of them.
"Miss Castaletta." Timothy nodded toward me as I barreled into the house without a word. I jogged upstairs and slammed my door, feeling all of fifteen again.
I hadn't touched Adam Cooper the night before. A few drinks and a long discussion about being raised as an heir to a mafia family was about all that happened. My body was my own, and I decided when to use it for business and when to use it for pleasure. Period.
After changing into a sun-dress that brushed along my ankles, I pulled my hair into a ponytail and slipp
ed my gun in my purse. No sense in going into Charlie's home looking like death incarnate.
He'd been a friend of my father's for as long as I could remember.
D stepped out of Marco's office as I walked toward the front door. "I can do this for you."
I glanced over at him and swallowed hard. "I don't even know you anymore. I thought everything was going to change last Friday night, and I was right. It has changed."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to grab you and-"
I lifted my hand. "I told you not to come up to my room. I told you that I couldn't handle believing there was something in store for us, D. A future where I belonged to you. Where you let me love you the way I want to."
His face filled with sorrow. "You know that I can't go against your father."
"Even though you asked me to when you needed me most. And you lied to me. I'll never forgive you for that, nor will I trust you again. You deserve the position as Don of this syndicate far more than me or my brother. It takes an animal to destroy the world around him. Congratulations."
I walked out and didn't look back. There was no reason to. Death stood before me, behind me, all around me.
Sadly enough, only some of it was physical.
Chapter 18
Demetri
I watched her go for the millionth time in my life. Some part of me wanted to believe that things would be okay, that we would work it out. We had every time before that, but never had she found me at the center of deception.
Would she come to understand why I had to keep the truth about Drake hidden? It was imperative that few people knew about who he was and why he chose to run away. If I was going to make my sacrifice count in giving him up, then the secret had to remain with me.
Didn't it?
"It'll get better. It always does." Maria walked out of the kitchen and tilted her head to the side. "Come in here and let me make you something to eat."
I walked to the kitchen, numb due to the tongue lashing I'd just received. In the past, I would have snatched the sexy bitch up and pressed her to a wall, threatening to fuck her senseless. Hell, six years ago, I just would have thrown her over my shoulder and made good on the promise with no words needed.
"She hates me." I dropped down on a stool in front of the breakfast nook.
"No, Demetri. She loves you." Maria pulled a few things from the fridge. "She has for her whole life. She's just been waiting for you to fully love her back."
I brushed my hand down my face, trying hard to ignore how bad my heart hurt. I needed to pull myself together. There was far too much going on to be lost in another emotional battle with my girl. They were never ending as of late.
"I do love her back. You know this. Fuck, everyone knows this," I barked and regretted it as Maria glanced up. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I know how it feels to want someone you cannot have." She shrugged and went back to working on my sandwich. "I'm going to make one for you and Joe. Take him his for me?"
"Of course." I tapped the table in front of me. "I lied to her a few years ago, and she just found out. She doesn't trust me."
"Was the lie necessary to protect her or someone else you love?"
"Absolutely." My phone buzzed in my pocket. Marcus Blaine. Good. Just the man I needed to talk to.
"Good, then fight for her with Joe and prove to her that nothing matters more than she does."
"Not even honoring her father's wishes?" I got up and pulled my phone to my ear, winking and turning to walk out into the hallway. "Marcus."
"I just wanted to check in with you. Izabella called and asked for a favor. Where I respect her completely, you're the man who signs my paychecks and keeps my balls in a vice grip."
"I heard the request. I'm good with it. Find out what you can, but more than anything, keep the tapes safe. When you have them, let me know."
"Instead of Izabella?"
"Let us both know. We just need to get them back and figure this out for good. The more we sit on those tapes and whatever the fuck is on them, the worse things get." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Izzy's pretty upset right now, so if she comes your way looking for-"
"Hey. I know how you feel about her. As much as I'd love for you not to think a damn thing of her so I could have a shot, I'm not an idiot. You look at her like I look at Katie. I get it. Enough said."
"Good. Get the tapes and find out if there is more to this Audrey girl than we're seeing. Let's put all of this to bed so we can move forward with bigger plans. Ones that make money and build the family back up."
"I'm all for it, boss."
I dropped the call and turned to see Maria holding two plates, her eyes cast toward Joe's office. "Let me know if he wants a glass of tea or something." The softness in her voice gave me pause.
Did she have feelings for Joe? Surely not. She was Vivian's closest friend and her lifelong maid.
"I will." I took the plates, kissed her cheek and walked toward Joe's office, knocking on the door with my foot. "I have food. Let me in."
He opened the door and nodded. "Good. I'm starving."
I walked in the small opening he left for me. "Maria made sandwiches."
"She's the best chef in the world." He snorted and closed the door. "Sometimes I think maybe she might be a little sweet on me, but I'm sure it's just my cocky ass attitude getting in the way. Besides, I don't want another love. It hurts too goddamn much when you lose it."
"Joe." I sat the sandwiches down and turned to face him. "You know I've been beside you since I was a boy, loving you and taking care of you no matter what you did to fuck up my own family or yours."
He nodded. "I do know that. And for that, you'll inherit my thrown and my kingdom." He gave me a cheeky grin.
"I don't want anything but Izabella. You know that I love her more than life itself. The only thing that would hold me back from her is taking care of the syndicate and-"
"And me. I realize that." He patted my chest. "I'm a bastard for telling her about Drake. Forgive me."
"No. I can't." I patted his hand and moved to take the chair in front of his desk, reaching for my sandwich. "Not yet, at least. She hates me."
"She could never hate you, son, but now isn't the time. I had to throw a bomb in the middle of the two of you, and you fucking know it." He picked up his plate and walked around to his side of the desk sitting down. "Enough about this. The time will come when you will have my blessing to marry my baby girl, but that isn't now. You don't really want it right now anyway. Focus on Vivian's killer and the rest of this clusterfuck we call a family."
"Alright, but help me fix this when the time is right." I sounded far more pleading than I wanted to, and yet the memory of watching Izabella's face fall when Joe told her about Drake would remain with me forever. Deception had never embedded its claws in us, not to her knowledge at least. I'd been living with the lie for a long-ass time.
"I will." He took a big bite of his sandwich and chewed slowly, watching me. "So Marcus Blaine has these mysterious tapes, or Audrey does?"
"Marcus doesn't have them. I'm unsure if Audrey does. I'll know soon enough. Edward was the one that brought it up to Izabella."
"You know that if you loved her the way you say you do, you'd let her go forever and help Edward win her heart."
Joe's words slammed into me. I set my plate down. "You think she would happy living a life with him?"
"No, but happiness has a cost associated with it, boy. I was happy with Vivian, and look at the mess we made of things."
"Adam is going to find out that Freddy was his brother, Joe. He's going to uncover the truth that you killed his father. I think we have a whole lot more to worry about than the current bullshit we're dealing with."
He nodded. "You're right. Find the tapes and then plan on how we're going to kill the Kallups. We need to get to them before they get to Adam."
"That's impossible, unless you want a blood bath."
"Do whatever you have to do." He shrugged and shoved another
bite in his mouth.
"I guess its Thomas and his boys, or Adam and his." I stood and finished my sandwich in a bite. "I'm going to the station. I want to see the video of the night Vivian was killed one more time. The guys backing up Adam at the club last night fit the physical bill of the ones that raped Vivian.
Joe paled a little. "Report back to me, and D-"
"Yes, Sir?"
"Leave Izzy alone for now. I meant what I said. I need you both mentally and emotionally married to this family. Not each other."
I nodded and walked out of his office, unable to disagree. He was right. He usually was.
*
"She's not here." Jonathan glanced over his shoulder as he walked towards a row of offices.
"I'm not looking for a woman, unless you've been pulling one over on us." I followed him and closed the door behind me as he dropped down in his chair.
"You being here looks awfully suspicious. I'd rather you send Izabella and keep things casual."
"I'm glad you have an opinion on the matter." I tilted my head to the side. "Your mother is a beautiful older woman. I've met her a couple of times. Your dad dotes on her a lot."
"Your point?" He leaned forward aggressively.
"That you have one choice if you want her to stay above ground." I shrugged and glanced around.
"And what's that? I don't take too kindly to threats."
"I really don't give a fuck what you take kindly to." I smiled. "I wanna see the video you showed Izzy of the alley where Vivian died."
"No."
"Wrong answer." I pulled my gun from behind my back and laid it on my thigh so he could see it.
"I don't work for thugs."
"Jonathan, Izabella is a thug. She's the daughter of the most notorious criminal in the history of Chicago. Show me the tape or I'll put a bullet in your cock, and then good luck getting her to spend the night with you."
"You'd be blown to bits before you could-"
I cocked the gun. "It's your choice."
"Fuck." He stood up. "Don't threaten my mother."
