by Kimbra Swain
Thirty-Six
ALEXA
“No, it makes no sense,” Sebastian protested.
“I swear. I have all the evidence linking Charity with Kelly and LeBlanc. They tried to hide it. Javier hid most of the evidence, but he left holes in the flow of information. I just had to fill in the blanks,” I said trying to convince him. “I just need to know how deep the treachery is. I don't believe that you were involved, but Damien is sleeping with her.”
He stepped toward me, grabbing my forearms. His eyes cut to both sides of us. I knew Jamey was moving up on my left. I looked to the right as Shep rushed toward us.
“You know Damien would never betray us. How could you even think it?” Sebastian growled.
“Let her go,” Jamey demanded rather calmly.
“I agree, Bastian. Take your hands off her,” Shep added.
He released me, stepping back. He ran his hands through his hair as he paced in a small circle.
“Motive. Why? Why would Charity do it? You’ve been friends forever,” he said.
This was the part I didn't want to discuss. I had hoped he wouldn't push it to this point. Looking at Jamey, he nodded. He already knew why. He knew this all lead back to my actions. This was all my fault. I just hoped my brother would forgive me.
“Charity Rimmel is Terrance Rimmel’s granddaughter. Terry was a Vice President at Pyramid,” I sobbed. Tears welled up in my eyes.
“Damn,” Shep muttered.
“Was he there that night?” Bastian asked.
“Yes, but I'm sure Charity doesn't know what happened in that room,” I said. “All she knows is I destroyed every executive at Pyramid and forced the company to fold. Her family was left with nothing. She lived with her grandparents. My revenge touched beyond the men who were in that room. It affected their families. Not once did I consider the damage I was doing.”
Jamey stood behind me now with his palm on my back. He already knew everything. When I stumbled across it digging through Charity’s childhood records, I knew exactly what was going on. He didn't dismiss my actions but promised to help me fix what I could.
“Those men deserved what they got,” Bastian said. “It's not like the cops could do anything.”
Shep shifted his weight because he knew it was true. For months, he tried to find ways to convict the board of directors at Pyramid, but considering the video, it would be an impossible prosecution damaging my reputation more than theirs.
Once we realized that the legal system wasn't going to help me, I proceeded to take over every business deal and sector connected to them. Eventually, the company folded. Most of the executives ended up in other places with huge pay cuts. Terry Rimmel found a job several tiers down the ladder from his prior position. His wife had to get a job, and Charity, who lived with them, had to start public school instead of private like she had been.
She blamed me. Rightfully so.
“Who called you?” I asked Shep as I stared at Sebastian.
“I called him,” Jamey muttered behind me. “I thought we might need back-up.”
I elbowed him in the gut. Not hard. For the first time in a while, Sebastian smiled. He wrapped me up in his arms.
“Damn Lex. What a mess,” he said.
“How do we know about Damien?” I asked.
He stepped back. I could see the wheels in his head turning. Neither one of us wanted Damien to be involved. It was bad enough we had to tell him about Charity. “Pale Horse. He had a terrible time tracking that down. Charity was probably running interference, but he told me as soon as he got the info while you were at lunch with Abrego. I think if he was in on it, he wouldn't have told us. He would have already known. Then let us find out when LeBlanc came into the restaurant.”
“Makes sense,” Jamey said.
“Before this gets too deep, I think I'll go on back to my duties,” Shep said.
I crossed the distance between us and hugged him. “Thank you, Shep.”
“You know I’d kill for you,” he said, kissing me on the forehead. “Call me if you need me.” He sauntered away into the thick trees beyond the bridge, disappearing into the crowd.
“Why did Charity help you leave?” Sebastian asked.
“You mean after you drugged me?” I asked.
“Then you had her drug us,” he added.
“Turnabout is fair play,” I replied.
“That was wrong of me. Charity, damn, Charity is the one that said you were losing it. That Elliot here had your head in a twist. She didn’t suggest we drug you, but she did push the fact that you were losing it. Damn, why didn’t I see it?” he said as he began to punish himself.
“We don’t have time for that. Get Damien to meet you down at the bar. Jamey and I will sneak in the back. I’ll call Kellen. I’ll have to pay him to lock it down, but have Damien meet you there. We will talk to him in the back room,” I said.
“Sounds like a plan. Alexa, I’m sorry,” he said.
“So, am I. Like I said, this is my fault,” I replied.
“No. It’s not. People make their own choices. Charity chose to seek this out,” he said.
“I provoked her,” I said.
“You did what? Made her go to public school. Big deal. All of us went to public school,” he said.
It was true. Our father believed we shouldn’t be treated differently because we grew up with money. Money definitely had its advantages, but he gave us the challenge to excel. All of us did. Just in different ways.
“Still,” I said.
“No. If he was in that room, I don’t care what happened to him. She needs to know what happened,” he said. “Elliot, you better not let her out of your sight. Do you hear me?”
Jamey said, “If she wanted to get away, she would.”
“No excuses. And you,” he said pointing at me, “You said you were done hacking in college.”
“Did you think I wasn’t going to leave a backdoor for my own company?!” I fussed.
“I dunno. It was pretty damn good though. Poor Humphrey may never recover. We don’t know who all is involved with this. Just be careful,” he said.
“I will. I’ll be with Jamey,” I said.
“That’s what I’m worried about,” he said, stomping off to the other side of the bridge.
I let out a long breath and tried to release some tension that had built up in my body. I felt tired and sore. Part of that I blame on Jamey. The good kind of sore.
He whispered in my ear, “Come on. Let’s go. You are running out of steam.”
“Yeah. Let’s stop for coffee,” I said.
Thirty-Seven
JAMEY
“Why did she let you leave?” I asked the unanswered question in the car.
She laid her head back and closed her eyes. Her eyelashes brushed the edges of her cheeks. I tried to focus on the road, but I wanted to stare at her. Once we got through this, I intended to spend the rest of my life studying every part of her.
“I don’t know. Perhaps she thought I’d run away with you. Honestly, if I left Malone, the guys would run it into the ground,” she sighed.
“Surely, she didn’t think you’d leave the company completely for me,” I said, knowing my original plan was to run away with her. Part of me still wanted to do that. However, I’ve been running for the last few years. It was time to be the man my father expected me to be. The man Alexa needed me to be.
“She had a bag packed already. She knew I would leave. Perhaps she thought that LeBlanc could take over once I was out of touch. He may already have made moves that I don’t know about yet,” she said.
“Just rest while you have time,” I coaxed. She closed her eyes leaning back in the seat. I wished we were in the Mercedes. She would be more comfortable. Seeing that look in her eyes, back at the cabin when she realized who Charity really was, it almost broke me. She just assumed I was leaving. I couldn’t fault her for doing what I would have done. With no recourse to defend herself, with the looming darkness that m
ust have shadowed her after what they did to her and with no other hope, she made her own revenge.
I knew as well as anyone there were consequences for your actions. From the first one-night stand, I knew there was no going back. Luckily, I was clean, but the product of fulfilling my urges was that I had to be tested. More often that I’d like to admit.
Not only that, I regretted the lack of action to help Hailey once she fell back into the drugs and sex. I should have taken her away, but I’d not even had the chance to mourn my father or her before taking over at Bright. Then at Bright, I squandered away money, because I never took the time to face my own issues. Now I was forced to face them because of meddling Alexandra Malone.
I parked in the alley behind Kellan’s bar. We had called him after we picked up coffee. He charged her a small fortune to close the club for the night. When we entered by the back door, Kellan was waiting for us. Gushing as only he could. Alexa stood with a satchel on her back containing the laptop that still kept Malone under her control.
“Oh my god. Alexa, this man has done you right, Honey,” he grinned as he hugged her. “Well done, Mr. Elliot.”
“I think I’m the one that’s done,” I said, shaking his hand.
“You are indeed. The best kind of done,” he grinned. “Bastian and Damien are in the main room. I’ll check and see if he’s ready for you.”
We’d given Kellen very little information about what was going on, but we told him enough for him to know that we desperately needed the space to have a family meeting. It felt weird to be a part of it when she called it as such. However, I knew I was right where I needed to be.
Kellen reappeared at the door, “Okay. Good luck.”
Alexa never spoke during the whole exchange. She was exhausted. I’d only known her for a short time, but I knew she was reaching a hard limit for stress. I wanted to get her home and in the bed.
“Alexa!” Damien exclaimed as we entered. He rushed up to her, hugging her. “I didn’t know. She never told me, but sometimes it felt wrong. The way she pushed some things. I’m so sorry. I never wanted you to doubt me.”
Clearly, Damien was the weaker of the two brothers. He caved immediately whereas Bastian fought her on everything.
“I know. You understand I had to be sure,” she said to him.
“Of course. Sebastian and I both have been blind,” he said.
“You know, I was thinking. We held Javier’s family over him, it’s possible that Abrego is doing the same thing. It’s possible that he might be in a world of hurt from both sides,” Sebastian suggested.
“Do you think so? I think Javier isn't in any trouble,” she said. Besides, I have Hump in my back pocket.” She had found information about Javier that we had passed to Shep earlier, but she wasn't letting her brothers in on it. At least not Damien.
“Obviously. The moment he realized it was you, he completely stopped trying to fight the hack. What a wuss,” Sebastian said.
“It was pretty awesome from my view,” I added.
“I bet it was,” Damien gushed. Damien, the pleaser. No wonder Charity liked him.
“The big picture. Abrego and LeBlanc are the bad guys. The rest of these people are pawns, willing or not,” I said.
“He’s right. The last thing I want to do at this point is to destroy anyone, except Ryland. I don’t even care about Abrego and his operations,” she said.
“I do,” I replied.
“Why? He’s a businessman,” she said.
“I’ve seen the inside of his business. The sex slaves. The trafficking. He’s not just a businessman,” I said.
“Perhaps that’s where we feed information to Shep,” she suggested.
“Perhaps,” I replied. “It will be hard to ruin him on our own. I’m sure his roots run deeper than the shell companies you bought out from under him.”
“Yes, they do. He’s not a ship we can sink on our own,” Sebastian said. “But he should be dealt with so we can move on.”
“LeBlanc. I need everything on Pale Horse that we can get,” she said. They both stared at her. Sebastian laughed.
Damien said, “Oh hell no, sister. You are the hacker. You get what you need. You could have gotten whatever you wanted.”
“I quit hacking in college,” she protested.
“In this case, I think you are allowed,” Damien said.
Sebastian interjected, “Not really. If the police are going to use any information or evidence, we have to do it legit.” His private investigator background showed. He knew that things had to be done right to nail Abrego.
“So, LeBlanc we deal with. Abrego, we turn over to Shep,” Alexa said.
“And Charity?” Damien asked.
“It will be up to her,” Alexa said. “I owe her that much.” I hated that she still blamed herself for Charity’s actions. I didn’t dismiss what Alexa had done, but I knew exactly why she did it. Looking back, it made her strong enough to make Malone into what it was today. If she started to doubt herself, then Malone might slip as well. I knew that would damage her more than anything at this point. Except if LeBlanc somehow got his hands on her again. I was afraid of what that would do to her. As long as I had anything to do with it, he wouldn't get the chance.
Thirty-Eight
ALEXA
Exhaustion started to take over, and I leaned hard on Jamey. “You need to rest,” he muttered in my ear. I nodded.
“I never thought Jamey would be the one,” Kellan piped up.
“The one what?” Damien asked.
Kellan made moon-eyes at us like we were teenagers. “The one she fell in love with. It's a shame. He's a nice piece of ass,” Kellan lamented.
Jamey laughed, “Sorry to let you down, Kel.”
“Ah! I knew you were straight, but a guy can hope,” Kellan laughed.
I realized that Damien was still staring at us.
“What?” I prompted him.
“Is he?” he asked. “Really?”
Jamey’s grip tightened on my waist. “Yes,” I said. His breath brushed through my hair to my neck, causing me to shiver.
Damien looked at Sebastian who shrugged.
“You need to rest. Are you going to the townhouse?” Sebastian asked.
“No, we need to go somewhere unexpected. Lie low tonight. Take back Malone tomorrow,” I said. Jamey tensed, pulling away from me.
Turning to him, I saw alarm in his eyes. I looked back to my brothers. Jamey had his hand on his gun.
“What the fuck, Elliot?” Sebastian said putting his hand on the butt of his pistol.
“Damien, dude, what are you doing?” Jamey asked as he tugged me behind him.
Damien slowly pulled his hands out of his pockets. His phone was on and connected to a call.
“Fuck,” Sebastian said. “Go!”
Ducking behind the bar, Kellan had an uncharacteristic squeal. Damien held the phone aloft. He didn’t have a gun on him.
Jamey turned quickly, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me out the back door. Damien looked pained. Something was very wrong. Was he betraying us?
“Jamey, something’s wrong,” I whimpered.
“Get in the car. We gotta go,” he said as we stepped into the alley. Two men stood at his car. “Run!” He pushed me the opposite direction as the men sprinted behind us. Jamey stayed between me and our pursuers.
We hit the open air of the streets of downtown Atlanta. The night air swirled around us. Winter threatened to make an appearance. He turned us into the wind as we ran up a hill to the next corner. He looked back as the two men emerged from the alleyway.
“Stay on the main streets. They won’t shoot with so many witnesses. We need a cab,” he said. I saw one pulling over just down the street. I grabbed his hand as we ran across traffic to the end of the next block. Horns blared at us as we didn’t wait for anyone to stop. My heart pounded in my chest. Jamey’s hand stayed on his gun, as I screamed for the cab.
We ducked in it quickly.
&nbs
p; “Where to?” the cabby asked.
“Stone Mountain,” Jamey blurted watching behind us. The two men slowed their pursuit, realizing they wouldn’t catch us in the cab.
“That’s a long drive, buddy,” the cabby said.
“Fine. Take us to Lava Lounge in Midtown,” Jamey said, as the cabby pulled into traffic.
I closed my eyes fighting back anxiety. Taking deep breaths, I felt Jamey move closer to me.
“What’s Lava Lounge?” I asked.
“A good place to get an Uber. There will be a line to get in the club. It's always busy,” he replied.
I nodded. Feeling his gaze focused behind us, I could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He handed me the burner phone I’d given him earlier. My hands shook as I took it. He clasped it in my hand.
“Stay calm. I’ve got you. Call us an Uber,” he instructed, watching behind us intently.
I fumbled with the phone, pulling up the internet. Contacting an Uber was easy. I got a quick response. “Are we going to Stone Mountain?” I asked.
“Yes, we will go to my father’s house there. I’m sure no one knows about it,” he said.
“Unless you already knew about it, which you seem to most everything.”
“I didn’t know about Hailey,” I admitted.
“Nothing about her,” he said.
“Nothing. It’s like Javier and Charity made sure I didn’t know about her. I’m not sure how much they knew about her personally. If they wanted me to run off with you, it seems like her story would be something I’d latch onto as a way of seeing you as human, and not a target,” I said.
“Target. Interesting,” he said tensely.
Leaning forward I put my head in my hands. My whole life had been targets, deals, and making a name for myself. Now I was the target because I’d made a deal, and all I wanted to do was forget my name. Suddenly, Jamey wasn’t watching behind us anymore. His hand turned my face to him. His green eyes sparkled in the darkness. His fear played around the edges, desire swirled in the green of his iris, but in the deep black of his pupil, I saw a steadiness that I’d not noticed before in him. I bit my bottom lip out of nervousness. He ran his thumb over it, pulling it free.
