Jessica knew better. Their issue was with her.
Like Val, Tony had finally found the good sense to find her suspicious. With everything that had gone down with Knox Jefferson, she didn’t blame him.
But they were too late. Jessica already had Leo right where she wanted him. She had no doubt that if his family told Leo to stop seeing her, he wouldn’t listen. He was too enamored. Too determined to get in her panties. His family’s words of warning would fall on deaf ears.
They were also too late because, as they watched her with rocky eyes, she’d already planted an audio adhesive to the bottom of their dining room table.
“Leo saw me jogging again, and insisted I come over for dinner. I hope it’s okay.” Jessica looked to Bette.
“Of course it’s okay, sweetheart. Any woman who can strap Leo down, two weeks in a row, is family by default.”
“You’re about to have a lot of brown babies running around this mug,” Zoey said to Bette.
“Zoey,” Leo cringed.
“Brown, green, purple, I don’t give a damn, just bring me them babies.”
“Ma,” Leo begged.
Tony exhaled. “Let’s eat already.”
Jessica cut a look at him. Knox’s death had really shaken him up. Jessica wondered if Tony thought Knox’s “suicide” smelled funny, too.
“Where’s Rome and Angie?” Leo asked, frowning at the two empty chairs across the table.
“Still shaken about everything,” Bette said, going somber. “Poor Angie is terrified to leave that correction facility he calls an apartment.”
As Leo sighed in aggravation, Jessica sighed in relief. She would sleep better knowing Angie was heeding her warning, and staying behind closed doors. Not worrying about her would make it much easier to finish this job.
“He’s fine, baby,” Bette said in response to the frown collecting between Leo’s eyes. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon, once things calm down.”
The grimace on Leo’s face only eased when Jessica pressed a hand to his thigh.
“So, Ashley,” Bette said, catching Jessica’s eye as the clanking of plates and silverware picked up around the room. “How is Novsky treating you? We heard you got the job.”
“It’s great,” Jessica said. “Everyone’s been really nice.”
“That’s because you work from home.” Zoey winked.
“Right?” Jessica laughed. “Seriously, though, I got a chance to meet a few of the employees at the office party. They’re definitely a wild bunch.”
“You’re not going to sue us are you?” Gary leaned over to catch her eyes.
She returned his smile. “No, Gary. I actually prefer a work environment where inappropriateness and vulgarity run rampant.”
“Then you’re going to love Novsky,” Zoey said.
“It’s too bad Roman and Angie aren’t here,” Jessica said, trying to steer the conversation in a workable direction, like Knox Jefferson. “They’re so cute together.”
“I take full credit for Roman and Angie shacking up.” Zoey raised her finger high in the air and pointed at herself with it. “That was all me, thank you very much. Just call me the love doctor.”
“Calm down,” Leo teased.
Zoey met his eyes. “You’re next, sir.”
“Looks like he’s already there,” Bette chimed in.
“I wonder if his harem knows that he’s already there,” Gary said.
Under the table, Leo kicked and caught Gary in the shin.
Jessica’s eyes went to Gary. “Harem?”
“Nevermind,” Gary mumbled, his cheeks rapidly reddening.
Jessica looked at Leo, taken off guard by the feeling that was working its way through her. From day one she’d known who she was dealing with. A chauvinist pig who had given her a degrading nickname in high school, and didn’t think much of women outside of how big their tits and ass were. She’d known who Leo was, right from the start, which was why she couldn’t make sense of what she was feeling.
Jealousy?
Anger?
She didn’t have the right to feel anger toward a man she was using to further her career. She couldn’t be jealous of a man who was a mark. A catalyst. A pawn. But she did. She was.
In her time spent with his family, she’d also learned that Gary told the truth. Leo had just finished telling her what a big mouth he had the day before.
She knew Gary was telling the truth now.
When Leo laid his arm along the back of her chair and met her eyes, she saw the truth written there too. There were parts of him she’d yet to see. Totally different from the shiny model he’d been advertising.
She’d been advertising a false model, too, and she no longer felt badly about it. She thought about Leo having a “harem.” Juggling women like toys. Picking and choosing which one he wanted to disrespect and violate every night, depending on what mood he was in. Did he have a girl in every color? Every shape and size? Did he even know all their names?
“Please don’t listen to Gary,” he whispered, eyes searching hers. It was as if the entire table had faded away for him, and it was just the two of them. “There’s a reason my family has never seen the same woman at this table twice. It’s because none of them have ever been you.”
Jessica hated the relief that hit her. She hated it so much, she almost ended her own life with the steak knife in her hand. When had she begun looking for his validation? When had his bullshit words started to mean something to her? Was she really sitting there, feeling special about being the first woman to sit her ass in that chair two weeks in a row? When had she become such a simp? So blinded by her need for a man’s approval that she ate his bullshit words up like birthday cake?
“Please don’t listen to Gary.” His eyes softened.
She took a deep breath, and it came easily—too easily.
“I won’t,” she whispered back, eyes falling to his lips.
His own did the same. “Good.”
“Aw, look at how they look at each other,” Bette cooed. “Am I getting me some baby Leos?” She threw her hands over her mouth as if she never thought she’d see the day.
“Some brown baby Leos,” Zoey corrected.
Bette broke into dance. “I’m gonna get some baaaabies, I’m gonna get some baaaabies.”
Zoey dropped her utensils and joined in on the dance to Bette’s uneven beat, laughing out loud when Bette broke out into a Michael Jackson pose, complete with an “ooooohhh” at the top of her lungs.
“Bring on them babies,” Bette cried, finishing her song.
Leo and Jessica locked eyes.
“I told you these people were crazy,” he said.
***
After excusing herself to the bathroom in the middle of dinner, Jessica was driven by pure adrenaline.
With shaking hands she managed to get cameras hidden in several rooms downstairs. Breathing growing deeper, wilder, with each device, she managed to bug wall sconces, smoke detectors, and electrical outlets. A few of her favorite hiding spots. No spot went untapped.
For effect, she flushed the empty toilet she hadn’t used before moving out of the bathroom and through the hallways, keeping her ear to the dining room to make sure she could still hear the talking and laughter. Whenever there was a natural lull in conversation, she froze. Her heart would churn to a stop. She’d hold her breath. Then, the talking would pick up once more, and she could breathe again.
Once she’d wired more than three rooms, a voice in her head told her not to push her luck. Disregarding it, she entered the foyer and approached the coat rack next to the front door. The rack was partially hidden from the dining room by one of the winding staircases, and Jessica pushed herself into the shadows.
The Romanovskys were so entrenched in an argument they’d gotten themselves into, they didn’t even notice her at the coat rack. Even Val was playing along, breaking free of the apathetic attitude he’d had since the day she met him.
As Jessica inched closer to th
e coat rack, she saw Leo stand and break into dance. The laughter from his family egged him on, and he did a little spin before falling back into his seat. She knew it didn’t take much for Leo to bust a move, music be damned, so the sight wasn’t surprising.
Her heart warmed. She felt like she’d known him for a lifetime. Had it really only been one week?
She tried to control whatever it was in her mind that was making her hands shake as she dipped them into the pocket of the first jacket on the rack. She kept her eyes on the dining room, exhaling when she felt soft leather under her fingers.
She pulled the wallet out and flipped it open.
Damn.
Cursing under her breath when Gary’s license photo smiled up at her, she shoved it back into his pocket and moved to the jacket beside his.
Once she had the next wallet, she cursed again. Roman’s.
She dove into the next jacket, snatching out the slightly larger wallet from that one and breathing in relief when she flipped it open and saw Tony’s license photo. After pulling the only credit card in his wallet out, she returned it to his jacket pocket and then went to the last jacket on the rack.
Val’s.
Her throat went so dry as she took in his stoic license photo, her breathing took on a rasp. She kept her eyes riveted to the dining room, where Zoey was now in the middle of a rousing story, stealing everyone’s attention. Jessica managed to swipe the black card in Val’s wallet without dropping it from her quaking fingers.
She shoved it back into his jacket pocket and sucked in a deep breath when, just as she was making her way back toward the dining room, pushing the cards into the back pocket of her jogging pants, Val met her eyes for the first time.
The moment their gazes locked, she realized the huge, stupid risk she’d just taken. If he’d looked up even a second earlier, he would’ve caught her with his wallet in her hand. She’d almost blown the entire case, but it had been necessary.
Val’s golden eyes flashed in the moonlight spilling into the dining room windows, lips pulled into a hard line.
Jessica straightened her spine as she retook her seat next to Leo.
His arm went around the back of her chair the moment she sat down, and they smiled at each other.
Jessica pressed her head against the seat, and her eyes went back to Val.
His fiery gaze was still on her.
17
Tony, Val, Gary and Roman sat together, surrounding the patio table on Roman’s balcony the following afternoon, staring at the piece of paper Roman had just thrown down. The paper had wafted to a soft landing on the glass table, but the words on it had landed with a bang, blasting through their hearts.
It was King.
Val stood, moving to the balcony railing.
Gary’s eyes grew wide, and then zoomed between his brothers and father.
Tony fell back into his seat, covering his mouth with his hand, green eyes fluttering shut. “I told your mother not to talk to you about this.”
“Well.” Roman shrugged. “She talked. So…”
Gary pointed to the paper. “Ma gave you this?”
“Yep. Right after she told me the fun story about her affair with Knox Jefferson, about how he was an addict who didn’t have the brass ones to raise me, about how he wrote this note, and told Ma to give it to me if anything ever happened to him.” Roman’s finger shook as he pointed to the letter. “I guess something happened.”
Tony shot out of his seat.
“What?” Roman laughed at his back. “What, Pop? More silence? Huh? You still think silence is the answer?” Roman pointed to the letter. “King killed my father—”
Gasping audibly, Tony faced him, jamming a finger to his chest. “I…” He clenched his teeth. “I… am your father, Rome.”
Roman licked his lips, blue eyes going soft as he held Tony’s. A moment later, they fell to the paper. “You know what I mean, Pop. I mean that my biological father was found hanging in my apartment, and I think we all know it wasn’t a suicide.”
Tony pressed a hand to his mouth, jamming his eyes shut.
“I think we all know,” Roman paused, “that it’s only a matter of time before he gets around to us.”
“That letter means nothing, Rome,” Tony said.
“The hell it doesn’t.” Roman’s voice began to tremble. “Why in God’s name am I the only man in this family who is ready to end this bastard’s life? To silence him the way he’s been silencing us for ten years? He’s coming for Angie next. I see it in her goddamn eyes every time I look at her. I don’t know how she knows it… but she does.” His nostrils flared. “I want King.”
Gary breathed deep. “If we want to see Victor King suffer, we need to go to the police about the Blacks—”
“Gary,” Val cried, turning to face them. “Stop. Nobody is going to the police. Nobody is breathing a word about the Blacks to anyone outside of the four people on this balcony. If we go to the police, it will become a media circus that destroys all of us, destroys Novsky, and destroys Zoey too.” Val’s breathing picked up. “She can never know. If she finds out, she will want justice for her parents, she will want revenge, and unlike us, there will be nothing stopping her from pursuing it. When King sees a threat on the horizon, he doesn’t wait around to ask questions. He ends lives. Point blank, period. We’re not going to throw Zo into the crossfire.”
“So you agree?” Roman jumped in. “We have to kill him before he kills us?”
“We just need to keep our fucking mouths closed, Rome.” Val frowned. “Knox must have done something to piss King off. If we just… just continue to keep our eyes down and stay low, King won’t fuck with us.”
Roman made a disgusted noise, burying his head in his hands. A moment later, he laughed.
“Yeah, laugh it up.” Val groaned, going back to the balcony railing. He leaned on his elbows. “It’s hilarious.”
“Maybe you don’t see it, because you’ve had ten long years to stew in this bullshit, but this is all brand-new to me, Val, and yeah…” Roman’s smile grew. “It is hilarious. It’s really hilarious what cowards you all are.”
“Have you forgotten that King isn’t the only one who helped cover up what happened that night?” Tony jumped in. “Have you forgotten the part your family played?”
Roman’s eyes rose to his father’s, and as the answer to that question washed over him, it swept the smile clear off his face.
“If King goes down, I go down,” Tony said. “If I go down, Val goes down.”
“King can’t touch us if we speak the truth first.”
“Gary!” This time when Val turned to Gary, he nearly leapt for his neck. “Stop.”
“Why am I the only one who sees it?” Gary shot back. “The only power King has over us is this fucking secret, but if we just tell someone, he doesn’t have that power anymore.”
“And our entire family falls apart,” Val said.
Gary’s face pulled. “The police won’t even want us. The only reason King owns the police is because he’s fucking with them the same way he’s fucking with us. They will want King to go down just as badly as we do. If we just go to the cops and tell the truth, they’ll arrest him, and then use our testimony to convict him. We could work out some kind of deal. Like no jail time if we testify against him.”
Val let him finish and lifted his eyebrows. “I need you to stop talking right now.”
“I’m so fucking sick of you.” Gary stood and stormed across the balcony to Val, fists clenched at his sides. “I’m sick of you never listening to anything I have to say.”
Val didn’t flinch, not even when he and Gary came nose to nose, heated eyes dancing, warm breath slapping each other’s lips.
“Gary.” Val searched his eyes, his chest heaving. “Even if you were right, and we were able to work out a plea, we still wouldn’t have Zo. If we go to the police, she will find out the truth, and we will never see her again.”
Gary’s eyes weakened, but inst
ead of stepping away, he pushed in closer.
Val pushed back, bumping his chest to Gary’s. “Freedom means shit to me if she’s not here. I would rather be in chains with her next to me, than be free without her.”
Gary’s chest expanded.
“She will walk away from us, Gar. She will walk away and she will never come back.”
Gary’s fists tightened.
Val waited for the swing.
It didn’t come.
It never had.
Something moved in Gary’s gaze, and he stepped back, eyes falling.
Roman watched the exchange, waiting until Gary was a comfortable distance away from Val before he spoke. “Going to the police won’t just crush Zoey, it will crush all of us. There isn’t an arrest warrant in the world that will stop Victor King, and I think you know that, Gar. He has shackles around the necks of too many people, and that has been true since we were all wearing diapers full of shit. He’s spent decades building relationships that ensure a warrant brought against him will incinerate before it’s served. It doesn’t matter what the truth is, because he will never be made to pay the price. And while he’s out there, not paying the goddamn price, there is absolutely nothing stopping him from coming after the people we love. And he won’t stop. Not until we are dead, or he is dead. Tell me I’m wrong.” Roman waited. “Silence. You guys are really… so good at that.”
Tony shook his head, trying to keep up with his thoughts. “If we can just find a way to reassure King… to convince him that we are still on his side—”
“Why are we so quick to be on his side when he has never been on ours?” Roman roared, standing. “He is not on our side! A man who broke into my apartment and wrapped a wire around my father’s neck is not on my side.”
Tony’s breathing picked up. “I. Am. Your. Father.”
Roman stepped back.
“I am your father, Rome. If you say that to me again, I’ll kill you myself.”
Roman held Tony’s furious gaze with a heated look of his own. “He was my father, too.”
This time, it was Tony who tightened his hands into fists.
Loving Leo (The Romanovsky Brothers Book 3) Page 18
