by L. J. Wilson
“Precisely,” he said, showing off a deep groove in his palm. “But I’ve always wanted a scar I could talk about and now… Well, I assure you, dragging jagged glass across my hand was, by far, the most unpleasant part.” He took a deep breath as if manning up to the moment. “Meeting in your ER required authenticity, and I delivered.”
“You purposely cut your hand to a point that required nine stiches?”
“I dare say a splinter would have hardly evoked sympathy. As it was, that story about breaking a car window to rescue a puppy earned me precious bonus points. I’d considered showing up with the mutt, but I’d heeded the old adage about never performing with children or animals.”
“What are you telling me? That you orchestrated that night, our meeting?”
“Ruby, I’ve orchestrated everything. You, my darling, are the key component to a plan I’ve been nurturing for some time, beginning with my hard work in California. The easiest play came when you practically thrust the Rose Arch Inn in my lap. All I had to do was follow through with the proper setting and let nature take its course.”
“Stefan, this sounds insane.” Ruby stared, shaking her head. “You sound insane…”
“I assure you, I’ve complete control of my faculties,” he said, eyes wide. “So let’s move onto the next phase. The part where you, my prized fiancée, help me bury Aaron for good. It’s my payback for costing me a sizable fortune. Short of a shiv through his gut, I spent a great deal of time deducing what might really cause the son of a bitch pain. I came up with two answers—Aaron’s family,” he said, smiling at her, “and you.”
Ruby wanted to get off the sofa and run out of the room. She couldn’t move fast enough—brain or body. “How did Aaron cost you a fortune?”
“In a moment,” he said, rising and serving himself at the bar. “The first thing you need to know is that Aaron Clairmont isn’t getting his happy ending—or anything close to it. His expectations are delusional, especially his grand wet dream about the two of you. I crafted it all Ruby, the entire fantasy.” He sipped the drink and smiled. “Tell me—did it feel just like that, a fantasy?”
Hearing Aaron’s words, Ruby’s brow crinkled. Their unexpected reunion, it was exactly how he’d described it—a fantasy. She looked at Stefan, who continued to revel in his scheme. “Grease the right palm, and an early prison release is easily secured. Really,” he said, motioning his drink toward her. “The state of New York has more criminals running the system than it has locked up. Arranging the employment predicament Aaron finds himself in… Well, you have to admit, it’s a near genius business plan. Actually, I’m thinking of selling the model to Wharton. I made it all happen. And when I’m done fucking him over, Aaron Clairmont will view his prison time as an extended vacation… A big nothing compared to the pain he’ll suffer the rest of his life.”
Ruby stood and everything began to spiral, an unwinding of actions, events and facts that had led to this room… this moment. In rapid succession, what had seemed like serendipity became a calculated plan, all of it unveiling a wildly altered image of Stefan Gerard. Ruby’s gaze cut to his, and she gasped. “The drug trafficking in and out of Nickel Springs. You… you were part of that.”
He returned the steely stare. “Part of that? You continue to insult me. I was that, Ruby. It was my business. Aaron Clairmont singlehandedly destroyed my brilliant and meticulously executed ‘drug-distribution’ operation. Do you have any idea how many years… how much bloody knuckle work it took to rise from squalor to that kind of success?”
“But you work for Windamere. Aaron worked for Silas Brikk.”
“And who do you think Silas Brikk worked for? Jerry… aka, Stefan Gerard.” He cheered his glass again. “I was the kingpin, darling—the mastermind. Brikk was excellent at controlling the street end of my business, waterfront depots—managing a few properties that I owned. His mistake was mishandling Clairmont. When I was through with him, Brikk paid dearly for his mistake—he wasn’t worth flounder chum.”
Ruby blinked wide and tried to apply the grisly confession to the man she’d agreed to marry.
“As for Clairmont… all he had to do was not miss when he fired that gun, not fuck up his grand show of loyalty.” His head tipped, and he waited for her realization.
“You…? You ordered the hit on my father?”
“Your multi-elected, straight-and-narrow father was in the way. He couldn’t be bribed, and he couldn’t be voted out. I needed to change the political climate of Nickel Springs. My operation was at the precipice of going global. Dante Vasquez was impeding progress. And Clairmont’s bumbling, it destroyed everything.”
“You bastard!” She came at him, fists balled, poised to pummel him. Stefan was faster, grabbing her wrists and halting the incoming attack.
“I understand that you’re unsettled by this,” he said, shoving Ruby, her body bouncing off an armoire. “But business is business. The exposed hit, Clairmont’s trunk full of drugs, put Nickel Springs on the map and under a microscope. The place was crawling with feds and reporters. I had to shut down my operation that night.” A gaze glided ruefully over Ruby. “And I’m afraid, my love, stupidity and poor aim are not an excuse—not when you work for Stefan Gerard, or Jerry. So you see how this works? You are the most valuable weapon in the covert war I’m waging. And I’ve treated you as such,” he said as if she should be grateful for the perk. “Your participation in my plan is crucial to achieving the one thing more satisfying than killing Aaron outright—making Clairmont wish he was dead.”
“You… you’re beyond insane,” she said, shaking her head. “And if you think I’m going to go along with any of this… If you think I’m not going straight to Aaron or the police… Well, I don’t think a thirty-day psych eval could assess how crazy you are.” On her way to the exit, Stefan stepped decisively in her path.
“Please, darling, do think it through. I have, for years. This is a done deal from every angle. Walk out that door and Aaron goes back to prison. You won’t make it to his house before the police do.” Stefan moved aside, reclaiming his drink. “Perhaps they can break the other hand—or maybe Aaron will resist, and they can just shoot him. There’s very little tolerance for parole violators.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Although that would be a pity, especially given all my hard work.” In between sips, Stefan laid out the rest. “I can’t begin to list the charges he’d face. Aaron’s bad decisions begin with peddling drugs to my employees. They’ll all testify to this, I promise. As for me… What can I do? I’m just a businessman from out of town who attempted to rehabilitate an ex-con. Trust me, Ruby. Walk out of here, pick up a phone, send a text, and it will happen, that and more.”
Her jaw slacked as her mind rolled through the options. Truly steps ahead, Stefan continued. “And don’t forget the lovely Honor in all this,” he said, pointing a finger at her. “Especially since I now control her future. Sweet little waif, she couldn’t wait to sign that contract. So also consider Honor when the idea occurs to you about just vanishing from Nickel Springs with Aaron. I assure you, while I hunt you down, Honor will pay in his absence. So will the youngest Clairmont boy… ” Stefan snapped his fingers.
“Troy?”
“Of course… yes, Troy. He’s only running courier routes for me, nothing intense. Same place his brother started. But my sources tell me the boy is vulnerable—an angry young man. I can work with angry young men—I used to be one. It wouldn’t take much to get him hooked. Hooked with an all-access pass to the candy store, that’s a bad place to be, whether he’s shooting it up his arm or smoking it. Before I kill him though, I’d make use of him—put him on the streets while he’s handling his high. Do you know what some men will pay to fuck a boy with his brooding good looks? Imagine how responsible Aaron will feel about that. I doubt he could live with himself.”
Ruby raked her fingers through her hair. She’d never felt such heart-thudding panic. She looked into Stefan’s eyes. They glittered. They indicated he was having a wonderful t
ime. “How could I have been so stupid, not seen any of this?”
“Ruby… Ruby,” he said, putting the glass down, coming toward her. She staggered back. “Don’t say that. You’re not to blame. I simply took advantage of your permanently broken heart. Poor Ruby, so lost, so unhappy.” He raised a brow. “On the contrary, only a stupid woman would have passed on the tantalizing assortment of cures I offered. You have to admit, until yesterday, it may not have been your dream life, but it certainly was better than the one I pulled you out of.”
Stefan was too far ahead. Ruby’s mind scrambled fast. “What… what is it you want from me?”
Stefan came closer, his face filled with anticipation. “It’s very simple, darling. I only want what I’ve said from the beginning. I want you to marry me.”
“Marry you?” She took another step away. “I’d spit in your face, but I wouldn’t want anything of mine coming into contact with you.”
“That’s going to present a problem when I kiss you at the altar, on the edge of Butterfield Lake. Took a bit of charmed persuasion, but your dear friend Tandy confided the sacred history of your beach. The sweet memories it holds.”
“Tandy…”
“Ah, now you’re catching up!” he said, excitement bubbling. “You can thank me another time for saving her life. I tracked her down, plucked the needle out of her arm, and put her in rehab. In exchange, all Tandy had to do was be my ally. In her mind, where was the harm? And as for the beach, yours and Aaron’s… I want it to be just as he remembers it, the day you marry me.”
“You fucking psychopath.”
“That’s rather harsh language,” he said, looking truly hurt. “But I suppose given the surprise, a learning curve is to be expected. Our wedding, it’s going to be such an elegant, intimate affair.”
“And for how long could you keep up that pretense, being married to me?” she asked, incredulous. “Whatever it does to Aaron, how long could you possibly want that to be your life?
“How long?” he repeated. “Well, for how long do you suppose Aaron Clairmont will be in love with you?”
She felt her mouth bend to a frown, tears welling.
“Exactly,” Stefan said. “See, I’m not so crazy after all. Aaron falling out of love with you… I did my research. I’m thinking hell has a far better chance of freezing over. And while I appreciate the concern regarding my happiness, you needn’t bother. Don’t think for a moment our commitment will keep me from enjoying life—now or in the future.”
“You… you can’t do it. You can’t make me marry you.”
“I’m quite sure I can. Don’t you remember ‘what I can demand,’ it’s where this conversation started.” Stefan finished his drink, his hand taking a triumphant swipe across his mouth. “You can loathe me and curse me. You can spend our wedding night locked in the bathroom for all I care. But you’re going to go through with it, Ruby.” Her head shook hard, his voice drilling harder. “You will. You’ll tell him with a sad smile and a dollop of regret that you’re marrying me. You will unless sending your precious Aaron back to prison for another twenty years—of which I guarantee he won’t miss a day—and destroying his delightful siblings is a preferable option. Aaron took what was mine, what was most important to me. I’ve vowed to repay him by taking away the thing he values more than life—you.”
Aaron spent the night in the recliner again. He wanted to pretend beds didn’t exist. He couldn’t stand the idea of his—not without Ruby in it. Four or five, maybe more like a dozen times, he’d almost gone to Abstract Enchantment. He couldn’t. Aaron had to trust what Ruby said—she would handle it. It didn’t make waiting easier or the night any shorter. At the same time, unlike prison, Aaron allowed himself a shred of hope. Hope that soon the nightmare of the last seven years would be over. Hope that Stefan Gerard took it like the gentleman he claimed to be. But as Aaron abandoned the recliner, watching the sun creep around the edge of the earth and Lake Butterfield, his gut said he might be hoping for too much.
Honor met him out on the deck, handing him a cup of coffee. “Ready for today?”
She looked so damn happy, so excited. Aaron faced up to the new wave of grief he was about to dump on his sister. “Honor, I have to tell you something.”
She was focused on a gaggle of Canada geese, a less relaxed gaze cut back to Aaron. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing… yet.” Aaron sipped the coffee and put the cup on the deck rail. “Yesterday, I saw Ruby. We talked. More than once. It was intense—both times. We cleared up some things, and we realized things—important things.”
Honor set her cup alongside Aaron’s and braced for an explanation of things.
“To, um… to make a long story short, nothing has changed. Even with everything that’s happened, neither of us feels differently than before… well, before everything went down.”
Honor inched back. “Aaron, Ruby’s engaged to Stefan. She’s going to marry him.”
“Fuck no, she’s not!” He didn’t mean to snap, not at Honor. He was just so completely done with the world telling him how his life was going to be—whether it was to report for laundry room duty or his right to the woman he loved. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like that. This affects you, Honor, which is why I’m telling you… Which is why I’m sorry,” he said again.
“I don’t understand. Ruby came here last night. She told us she wanted you to quit Abstract Enchantment because…” Honor stopped and her blue eyes narrowed. Her fingers trailed through her straight blonde hair as she mentally worked the pieces of their story. “It was a desperate effort to avoid you—to avoid what she was feeling.”
“Something like that,” he said. “Ruby’s worried about how Stefan will take it, what he might do.”
Honor’s hand slapped over her mouth, the other grabbed Aaron’s arm—a replay of how she’d held onto him at his sentencing. “Oh God, Stefan. If he finds out you’re the reason she’s leaving him…”
“He won’t. At least we hope he won’t. Ruby will be careful. She knows it would only make a bad situation worse. But it’s also a good chunk of why I’m telling you this. Honor, you need to be prepared. If nothing else, it’s guilt by association.”
“No, he wouldn’t… I mean, you’re right. Stefan is going to be upset, angry… But I’ve been working with him for months. He won’t take this out on me.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes. Absolutely… I mean, I think so. I may have misjudged romantic signs. But Stefan’s never been anything less than professional when it comes to our working relationship. Aaron, what concerns me most is you. Have you thought about the position you’re putting yourself in? That’s a hell of a risk.”
Aaron picked up the coffee mug, tossing the contents into the yard. “Believe me, Honor. It’s hardly my first risk when it comes to Ruby.” He looked toward the lake and glanced back at his sister. “Or even the most dangerous one I’ve taken for her sake.”
Honor had kept him in the Abstract Enchantment kitchen all morning. “Let Ruby come find you. I know you, Aaron. If she hasn’t told Stefan by now, she might be in the midst of doing so. You don’t need to get in the middle of that.” Aaron didn’t like the advice, but he knew it was true. He kept busy, assisting Honor’s whirl of Julia Child energy. There was a light brunch for Windamere’s early arriving executives, and Honor needed all hands on deck—including Chloe and Troy. One kept throwing flirtatious glances Aaron’s way while the other kept throwing him a death stare.
At one point, Aaron stepped out back for a breath of air. Chloe and Troy were making out near the dumpsters in plain sight. They didn’t notice him. “Jesus, get a room. There’s plenty inside,” he mumbled. The scene pissed him off for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was his brother’s continued bad judgment. But the make out session didn’t last. A short while later Aaron was hauling empty crates out back. Chloe was gone. But Troy was there, having a tight conversation with two guys who’d pulled up in a Lexus
SUV. They didn’t look like they could afford to put gas in the thing, never mind own it. Aaron knew rides like that, and where the money came from to pay for them. Enough. He started toward Troy. Even from twenty yards away, Aaron guessed a badass prison look translated. The two street creeps sent tires screeching as they drove away.
“Friends of yours?” Aaron asked, standing inches from his brother.
“What the fuck is it to you?” Troy’s smug look challenged Aaron’s stare. “More like business acquaintances.”
“Only one kind of business comes in that kind of ride—not unless you’ve been to medical school. They didn’t look like they’d been to medical school. What are you doing with drug dealers, Troy?”
“Why? Are you looking for some action?” An angry gaze skimmed his brother. As Troy walked away, he yelled over his shoulder, “For somebody fresh out of inmate orange, you ought to keep your nose outta certain shit, bro.”
Troy made it halfway to the kitchen entrance. Aaron grabbed him by the arm, the two of them spinning in angry heat through the parking lot. Dirt and gravel and cursing filled the air. When the brawling stopped, Aaron had Troy pinned to the nearest vehicle and his hand gripped to his collar. He briefly considered Troy’s throat, making sure he had the little bastard’s attention. “I know fucking runners when I see them. What are you buyin’ Troy? What are you into—maybe a little coke for you and your whore to share later—which is another subject you ought to wise up to.” With his free hand, Aaron patted him down. His brow went tight as his hand came up with an envelope of cash. Aaron’s mind filled with panic and the past. “You? You’re the fucking runner? What the hell is going on, Troy? What are you dealing and who are you working for?”
Troy took advantage of Aaron’s stunned reaction and slid from his grip. “I don’t have to fucking tell you anything.” He snatched the envelope from Aaron and headed toward the kitchen entrance. “You really think I pay my way pushing pizzas?”
