Tipping Point

by Ali Parker

  “Everything is fine. D is sorry for knocking you out.”

  As I squinted at the blurry text on the screen, my phone chimed with a reminder. I had missed a real estate showing for the syndicate that was scheduled over two hours ago. The fact that I hadn’t already received a message or a call from Joe alluded to one thing: everything was in fact, not fine. Timothy’s text was likely bullshit.

  Things must be super fucked up for Joe not to have called me just to rip me a new asshole.

  I tried to push that terrifying thought from my mind as I returned to the bathroom and set about making myself look and feel a little more human. I showered and shaved and applied my favorite cologne. Then I dressed in khakis and a polo shirt and grabbed my wallet and keys before heading out the front door to my car.

  I had to go check on Izzy. D was out of his mind with rage last night, and part of me worried that she might have suffered because of it.

  I shook my head at myself as I pulled out onto the street. D wouldn’t hurt Izzy. Not in a million years. At least, not intentionally.

  I frowned as I considered how angry he had been. He wasn’t thinking straight. I wasn’t exactly sure just what the guy was capable of, or what his anger might push him to do. The lack of heat from Joe about the real estate fuck up caused me to think that maybe something really bad had happened. Maybe Izzy wasn’t okay. Maybe she was hurt.

  “No,” I said sharply. Neither Joe nor D would let something bad happen to her. As much as I didn’t like D, I knew he would look out for her as fiercely as I would. I knew he loved her.

  I distracted myself by calling Madam Giselle as I drove to the Castaletta mansion. Her voice filled the speakers in my car as the bluetooth connected.

  “Eddie,” she said sweetly. “How are you?”

  “I’m all right,” I said as I made a right turn and straightened out. “Everything okay with you over at the house? Any problems?”

  “No, everything is fine.” Madam Giselle paused. “Audrey hasn’t been back at work lately, though. I’m starting to get a little worried about her. It’s probably just me overthinking things. She’s a smart girl and wouldn’t get herself in over her head.”

  “I’ll try to get a hold of her. I have my hands full at the moment, but call me if you need anything, all right?”

  “All right, thanks Eddie.”

  I kept my eyes on the road as I quickly punched out a text to Audrey’s number.

  “Are you alright? Call me. Madam Giselle is worried about you.”

  When I pulled up out front of the mansion, Audrey hadn’t messaged me back, and I made a conscious decision to put her on the back burner. Right now, all my focus and energy had to be spent on Izzy.

  I got out of the car and made my way to the front door where Timothy was standing. He nodded in greeting and opened the door for me.

  “Sorry again about last night, brother,” Timothy said. “I don’t think it was personal.”

  I pointed at my black eye. “Really? Because I think Demetri’s been having wet dreams about beating my skull in for years now.”

  Timothy’s mouth jerked in a near smile, and he looked away. “He regrets it. Maybe.”

  “Uh huh,” I said as I slipped inside.

  I was relieved that the place did not appear to be a crime scene like I had been expecting. I wouldn’t have put it past D to have killed someone last night. I went straight for the stairs and started climbing. At the top, I turned and headed to Izzy’s bedroom door. When I arrived, I knocked gently and heard her soft voice call for me to come in.

  I pushed the door open just a couple of inches.

  “It’s me,” I announced. If she didn’t want to talk, then I would leave. But I knew her better than anyone—almost anyone—and it would be unlike her to turn away my company.

  “Eddie?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Come in.”

  I let myself in and closed her door softly behind me. I moved deeper into the room to find her sitting at her window, perched elegantly on the ledge she had decorated with pillows. She was staring outside and did not turn to look at me as I approached. God, she’s beautiful. Why can’t she just fucking pick me? I’d be so good to her.

  “Are you all right, Izzy?”

  Her eyes remained unfixed on something outside as I lowered myself down to sit beside her. Her hair was down and messier than I had ever seen it, falling in chaotic, tumbling loose curls down her back. Her cheeks and nose were pink, and I could tell that she had been crying.

  She shook her head, and her bottom lip trembled. Then she straightened, and her expression hardened. She finally turned and looked me in the eye.

  She stole my breath away.

  “No,” she said, her voice hoarse. “I’m not all right.”

  “What the hell happened after D, you know?”

  “Beat the shit out of you?” she asked flatly.

  I nodded. “I wasn’t going to phrase it like that, but yeah.”

  She looked back out the window. “He tried to kill Marco.”

  I stiffened. “What?”

  She nodded. “He pulled his gun on us and tried to explain to me everything that was happening, but I didn’t want to hear it. I wasn’t ready to hear it.”

  “Hear what?”

  Her lip trembled again, but she regained her composure. “That Marco was the one who arranged my mother’s murder. And the one who killed Freddy. It’s been him this whole time, Eddie. This whole damn time.”

  I felt my eyebrows drawing together in confusion. “Wait. That doesn’t make sense. Why would Marco want to do that? You’re all his family. He’s been fighting this whole time to try to save everyone and get Freddy back and protect him from your father.”

  “All lies. All part of his elaborate scheme.”

  “So D was right?” I asked.

  Izzy nodded and closed her eyes. A single tear slipped free and rolled down her cheek, but she reached up and wiped it away. “He was right, and I didn’t believe him. When he came for Marco, he didn’t leave me a choice. I had to protect my brother. I didn’t know that he had betrayed us. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

  “What happened, Izzy?” I asked, now terrified to hear what she had done. Had she killed D to protect her brother? That would fucking destroy her. Despite how much of a good thing it would be for me if the guy was out of the picture, it would not be a good thing for her; she would never be able to reassemble her broken heart.

  “I shot at him,” she whispered as she shrugged like it was no big deal. “I hurt him.”

  “But you didn’t kill him?” I asked tentatively.

  She shook her head. “No. But I could have. I almost did. Just an inch to the right, and I would have killed him. For nothing.”

  As I stared at her, something became very clear to me: I needed to stop loving her. She was not, and would never be, mine. She belonged to Demetri DeMarco, and he to her. There was nothing that would ever change that.

  I inched closer and opened my arms for her. She gave me a small smile as she looked over at me. Then she fell into my embrace and let me hold her. We both looked out the window together at the guards roaming the property, and I breathed in the sweet scent of her shampoo.

  “He’ll forgive you, Izzy. He’d forgive you for anything.”

  She let out a shaky laugh in my arms and sniffled. “I don’t deserve to be forgiven for this. I just couldn’t fucking tell left from right in the middle of that heated fight. I didn’t know who to trust. D’s lied a lot lately, and my big brother…”

  “Marco is your brother. D knows that. It’s not like you were choosing between him and someone you didn’t love. You love them both. D will understand.”

  She looked up at me. “Don’t just say things to make me feel better or get in my pants, Edward.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m not trying to do either of those things.”

  “No?”

  “I mean, I can try if you want me to. Sex is always the
best way to relieve some stress or deep emotion. My cock es su cock?” I offered a silly smile.

  She laughed, much to my delight. “I just need a friend.”

  “Then that’s what you’ll get.” I used an Eeyore voice, gaining a soft chuckle from the exquisite creature in my arms.

  Izzy pulled herself out of my embrace after a few quiet and comfortable minutes of sitting together. She tossed her long curtain of dark hair over her shoulder and looked out the window again. “So, it turns out my mom had a couple affairs that none of us knew about.”

  “Oh?”

  Izzy nodded. “Marco isn’t my dad’s.”

  “What?”

  “Neither was Freddy.”

  My mind reeled under the news. “So that means?”

  Izzy shrugged. “It doesn’t change anything for me. Freddy was my baby brother, and he deserves justice.”

  “Damn,” I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose. I winced and regretted it as my swollen eye stung. I dropped my hand and blinked away tears from the pain.

  Izzy looked up at me sympathetically. “Sorry about your face.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “He wouldn’t have been so mad if I had just heard him out.”

  I took her hands in mine. “Izzy, stop blaming yourself. Demetri has wanted to do this to my face since he met me. It was only a matter of time. Now we can look at the bright side.”

  “Which is?”

  “Now it’s out of the way. He can mark this one off his fucking bucket list.” Izzy smiled for a split second before it faltered and faded away. I lifted her hands to my lips and kissed her knuckles. “It’s all going to be okay. We’ll get through this. You’re strong. You got this, all right?”

  She looked back out the window, and I admired the line of her jaw and the fullness of her lips. I had to stop. The pain of lusting after her wasn’t worth it when I knew her heart belonged to someone else. The sex wasn’t enough anymore.

  “I really hate to ask this, but who is Joe sending after Marco?” I asked.

  Izzy’s stare darkened, and her jaw clenched. “Me.”

  6

  Marcus

  Somebody had been busy. Real busy. I glanced around the office before turning my attention back to my right-hand man.

  Zak stood behind a massive cherry oak desk. He leaned forward, planting his knuckles flat on the surface, and looked up at me from beneath his shaggy brows.

  “What do you think, boss?” he asked.

  He was referring to the new office he and Selma had been busting their asses to set up over the last week. Our previous headquarters in the warehouse had been too much. There was too much space between departments that felt unnecessary, and it lacked the feel of professionalism that I had grown accustomed to.

  The lavish desk in the middle of my new office was definitely a step in the right direction. The room itself was simple, with dark green walls and dark drapes hanging in front of the windows. I was a minimalist, and Zak knew that, so most surfaces were bare, save my own liquor station a mere three steps from the desk.

  “You’ve outdone yourself, friend,” I said.

  Zak shrugged. “Selma was helpful. She has an eye for this decorating stuff. And patience. Baffling patience.”

  I chuckled as I ran a finger along the smooth surface of the desk. “Something you and I can appreciate from afar.”

  “Indeed,” Zak nodded. “I’m too damn greedy for patience, unless it’s the name of a beautiful girl with long red hair. Then? I’m in.”

  There was a soft knock on the doorframe behind me; the door was missing still. Zak had assured me it would arrive within the next couple days. For now, I was okay with having an open door policy. I stifled a chuckle at my own shitty joke.

  Selma and Cat stood in the doorframe, hovering on the threshold.

  “Come in,” I said.

  Both women stepped in, and I noticed the way Cat held herself. By the slight frown tugging at the edge of her lips, she seemed worried. Her shoulders were drawn inward, and her hands were clasped in front of her. She looked aimlessly around the room, not making eye contact with anyone, and found something to stare at on the wall behind Zak.

  In all my years in this business, I had become very good at reading people. Cat was a touch beyond upset and trying to hold her shit together. I looked past it and moved right into business conversation.

  “How are we looking with cleaning up Freddy’s mess?” I asked.

  Cat and Selma exchanged a look, and after a moment, Selma answered.

  “Everything is still a bit jumbled, but we’re starting to make sense of all his screw ups. I’ve contacted clients who never received shipments and explained a bit of the situation without giving away anything too personal. Somehow, we’ve managed to retain all our business. Despite Freddy’s…” She trailed off, unwilling to speak ill of the dead boy.

  “Sheer stupidity,” I grumbled. “Well, that’s some good news to pass along to Demetri, at least. They’ve kept their clients because before this little shit-stain fucked everything up, I’m sure the Castalettas, and you ladies, were running a top-notch shop.”

  Cat glanced up and nodded, her eyes searching my face, but she didn’t speak a word.

  “However,” Selma said. “There are still some clients who want a bit of special treatment. A renegotiation of their current contracts.”

  I scratched the back of my head. “Very well. You and Zak take the lead on that. Find a way to keep our profit margin the same. I’m not interested in renegotiating terms that fuck us up the ass. Be smart about it. Yeah?”

  Selma nodded, and Zak moved around the desk to follow her out of the room.

  Cat turned to follow them, but I called her back to me and motioned for her to take a seat in one of my new plush green chairs. She sat and curled her fingers under the armrest.

  I sat down across from her at my desk and rested my forearms on the surface. “What the fuck is up with you?” I asked. She didn’t need me being soft, not that I knew how to, any fucking way.

  She locked gazes with me, her eyes wide with surprise. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.” I lifted an eyebrow, daring her to deny the truth. “You’re out of sorts, and in the short time I’ve been here, I’ve never stood in a room with you and not heard you speak. Something is up.”

  She looked away. “I don’t want to talk about it with you.”

  “I’m not giving you a choice. Whatever it is threatens to impede our business here, and you and I both know we can’t let any shit slide right now. We’re still treading water.”

  She white-knuckled the armrests and she glared at me. “It’s none of your business.”

  I leaned back and clasped my hands over my stomach as I kicked my heels up onto my new desk. “On the contrary. Your brother hired me to do a job. I plan on following through. Spill.”

  Cat blew out an exasperated breath and rolled her eyes at me. Her hardness was slipping away, and she was fighting against something with every ounce of willpower she possessed. I almost felt bad for pushing.

  Almost.

  Her eyes grew glossy, and she broke her focus on me.

  “I’ve been hooking up with Marco,” Cat said, her words spilling out in a rush. “It’s been going on for a while. And I shouldn’t have said hooking up. It’s more than that. We’re exclusive. It sounds so lame when I say it out loud. But now I can’t get a hold of the bastard, and I’ve been lying to D about it this whole time, and I can’t believe I let myself fall for a fucking Castaletta. He’s just been using me, and—”

  “He was the one who arranged to have Freddy and Vivian killed,” I said.

  Cat blinked and reached up to wipe away tears as they finally fell. “What?”

  I nodded. “D told me. He asked it to stay between me and him, but for you, I am willing to make an exception. You should know the truth. Marco is a fucking snake.”

  “I think… I think I’m going to be sick.”

&n
bsp; “It’ll pass,” I said, waving my hand.

  She shook her head frantically, bolted up from her chair, and grabbed the wastebasket from under my desk. She fell back into her seat and pinched the bin between her knees before leaning over it and puking out the contents of her stomach.

  I grimaced. “Or it won’t.”

  She threw up once more before sitting back and dragging the back of her hand across her mouth.

  I got to my feet and walked around her. “You should call your brother. He should find out from you, rather than from someone else.”

  Cat nodded, and tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. She took her phone out of her pocket with trembling hands, and I paused in the doorway as she lifted the phone to her ear. It was seconds before Demetri’s voice filled the tinny speaker.

  She let out a short sob. “D.” She cried again and buried her face in her hands.

  I could hear D asking her what was wrong. I heard him ask her where I was.

  “He’s with me. I’m safe. I just… I have to tell you something. I did something stupid, and I should have told you months ago.”

  I turned and started walking down the hall. She needed her privacy. I wished like hell I had a fucking door to close for her. Open door didn’t seem so damn funny anymore.

  As I walked, I could hear her crying and trying to explain that she would never betray Demetri. She fell silent for a while, and I was sure he was trying to calm her down. Or he was yelling at her.

  If I was him, I wasn’t sure how I would take the news of finding out my sister was fucking the enemy. But then again, Marco wasn’t the enemy a day or so ago.

  “No, he was,” I mumbled under my breath. “He was just hiding that shit really, really well.”

  I ran my hand over my bald head and chuckled. I was fucking the enemy too.

  Audrey. Beautiful, blonde, taut, sexy Audrey.

  “Fuck,” I growled deep in my chest as my cock woke up and twitched. The girl knew how to wax a dick. I’d give her that.