“Take a right,” he said from behind me, and I jumped. “I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, placing his hand on my shoulder.
I wished he would stop doing that, touching me. I couldn’t think when he touched me. I hardly had a clear mind when he was in the same room as me. He brainwashed me, in a completely different way than Brian, but Jaxon dove into my mind and was rearranging all the parts inside my head for his advantage.
He made it impossible to think.
We walked side by side in silence. Our arm’s brushed along the way, and I was shocked with myself that I didn’t pull away. Every time our skin touched, butterflies floated in my stomach, and my heart leaped in my chest. I felt like a schoolgirl, waiting for her crush to take her hand. We were past that though, weren’t we? Did adults even hold hands? Holdings hands was for the lovestruck fools that hadn’t had a dose of reality.
Jaxon and I, we were reality. Nothing ever worked out the way someone wanted it to. In my dreams, we would be married right now, with three kids and a dog. Our home would be large, like this house he lived in, and open. I would have bitched at him for extra rooms for more kids, and he would have given them to me— the rooms too.
I’d be a stay at home mom, and he would be an architect. He was so good at designing, anything, and everything. He could do it. I wondered if he still did. It would be a shame for a talent like that to go to waste.
“So,” he broke the awkward silence. “The house has seventeen bedrooms and fifteen bathrooms. There is a basement, a hospital wing, living room, kitchen, swimming pool, and all that. I’ll make sure you get the full tour.”
“Brian is in the hospital wing?”
The sound of his name had Jaxon’s jaw clenching. “Yeah, he’s there.”
“Not in the dungeon?”
“This entire place is a dungeon,” he said right as the hallway ended and opened to the kitchen.
Well, that was reassuring.
He chuckled. “The entire house is a safe room. I don’t have dungeons with chains and torture devices. Maybe I should.”
Was that a joke?
“Well, I was beginning to think you weren’t real,” Heaven said, his lips swollen from Jaxon’s punch the other day. Before I could say anything, he wrapped me up in a tight hug, and a deep rumble sounded behind me, but Heaven ignored it. “I’m Asher; everyone calls me Heaven.” He finally let me go, and Jaxon’s arm wrapped around my shoulder protectively for one second before dropping it to his side again. Why did that make me unhappy?
“I’m Quinn. I would say it is nice to meet you, but I really don’t know how I feel about any of you.”
“Honest. I like that in a woman,” Heaven said, his blue eyes twinkling with mischievous light. He was young. He had a naïve innocence about him, but I doubted he was naïve at all. If all these men have criminal backgrounds, they knew more about the cruelty of the world than I did.
“Shut up, Heaven.” Jaxon tugged me back by the hem of my shirt, getting me away from the flirt.
“I’m Grayson,” a man with brown hair held out his hand for a proper introduction. I knew it was the kind thing to do, but all I imagined is him carrying a bleeding Brian away from the church. He dropped it and lowered his head, scratching the back of his neck as he let out an ironic chuckle. “I suppose you wouldn’t want anything to do with me since I carried your boyfriend—”
“—Husband.”
“Boyfriend,” Jaxon corrected. “You didn’t finish getting married. I objected, remember?” He messed with the French press to get my coffee ready, and I scowled at him.
“You should be thanking us, really,” Owen, the grumpy mean one said as he licked cream cheese off his fingers from the bagel he ate. “That guy is a real asshole. He really had been lying to a sweet thing like you.”
“How do you know?” I asked, steeling my shoulders as I waited for his answer. His jaw flexed every time he chewed, and if I thought Jaxon’s jaw was defined, it didn’t compare to this guy’s. It was square, with sharp divots as the jaw went up to each ear. It made him look like a villain.
“Because of me,” another guy said. He had black hair and bright blue eyes. The bluest eyes I had ever seen. “I’m Sebastian,” he greeted. “I’m the tech guy. I have all the information on your boyfriend. From his first arrest to the donut he bought two weeks ago. Whatever you want to know, I’m your guy.”
“Paperwork can be altered for anyone to believe anything.”
“So can a man’s tongue,” Jaxon uttered, pressing down the stick of the French press. Steam rose from the carafe, and the rich aroma of coffee filled the air. I already felt more awake, and I hadn’t even had a sip.
I had nothing to say to Jaxon, but I knew I couldn’t argue proof and fact for much longer. Hearing from the horse’s mouth was the best way to get the truth.
“He hasn’t admitted to killing Tracy, even after I paralyzed him with the medication,” Owen said.
“You did what?” I screamed, absolutely horrified that these men would do something like that. “How dare you.”
“How dare me? Aw, pretty thing, you’re cute. That man is a liar, and he killed that young lady. Wouldn’t you want an innocent man’s name acquitted? Or are you that selfish to let a man go down for something he didn’t do?”
“Don’t,” Jaxon warned Owen. “Don’t talk to her like that.” Jaxon set my mug down in front of me, and I instantly wrapped my hand around the ceramic handle. The warmth brought me much needed comfort. I was a little taken aback from Jaxon coming to my defense since he has been the one trying to convince me that he wasn’t the killer.
I wanted to believe him, I really did, but it wasn’t easy just shutting off the last ten years. Brian, while he wasn’t the best boyfriend, I still loved him in a way, and I spent the last ten years with the guy. How could I just turn away from him? We went to Tracy’s grave together; I held him while he cried over her, over the baby. I was there for him. I had memories.
We had memories.
Chapter Twelve
Quinn
“She needs to hear it. She’s been fed lies for too long.”
“I’m trying to make the best out of this situation,” I said, my teeth tight from impatience, fury, and confusion. A hysterical laugh bubbled out of me next, “You lot are really un-fucking-believable.” I leaned my hip against the counter and brought the white mug to my lips and sipped my coffee. “You ruined my wedding,” I started making a list of everything. “I hadn’t seen you in ten years and poof! Out of nowhere, here you are, shooting my damn… Brian and expect me to be calm. Next, you tell me he is using me; then you say you aren’t a killer.”
“No, wait, I never said I wasn’t a killer. I said I didn’t kill Tracy,” Jaxon spoke over me.
Baffled, I opened my mouth and closed it, unsure of what to say. I felt like I had entered the Twilight Zone. “That’s better? You still killed people! And you guys expect me to skip down the hallway, all happy and blissed out of my mind that you saved me from distress. Did it ever occur to you that I have no idea what the hell is going on and what you want from me? Did it occur to you that I have handled this well up until this moment? As of right now, I think of you as the men that ruined my damn life. I don’t even know you, people!” I felt the panic I had been hiding for the last few days start to make itself known.
No, no, no, I can’t fall apart now. Not in front of all these men.
“If anyone selfish, it’s you! Rushing me, forcing me into believing you when I don’t know what to believe. I’m barely here. I’m barely present. And Jaxon! After ten years, you expect me to waltz back into your arms. Too much has happened. Things aren’t the same. Wake up! We can’t reverse time. Stop pushing me.” My throat was raw from the time I got done with my tantrum, and a lone tear fell from the corner of my eye. “Someone take me to Brian now. I’m not fucking asking. I’m telling.” I spun around and shoved my finger in Jaxon’s chest. “Take me to the guy that was there for me for the last t
en years.” It was a low blow, and I wished I could take the words back as soon as they left my mouth. Jaxon looked like he got slapped in the face, but I was sick of being understanding or thinking with my head on straight. I deserved to see Brian.
If Jaxon was innocent, it wasn’t his fault that he wasn’t there for me, but I was running high on all emotions, and I was tired.
No one said a word. The guys blinked at me, and some of them looked away, ashamed, even Owen couldn’t meet my eyes.
“You heard her,” the old lady’s voice came from the living room. I stood on my tiptoes to see over the couch and saw her lighting something that looked like a cigarette but wasn’t from the smell. “She’s right, and you know it.”
“Thank you,” I said genuinely and wiped my cheek. I felt Jaxon’s eyes on me. I hurt him deeply with what I said, but I needed to say it. I needed him to see it wouldn’t be as easy as he thought, as none of them thought. I wouldn’t apologize, not yet.
“Come on,” Jaxon said. I followed him around the table as we walked in the opposite direction of the room I had been staying in. He walked in front of me, strides quick and arms swinging at his sides, clearly pissed off.
I kept my arms crossed as we walked and stared to the left, seeing an infinity pool outside, the water looking like it was falling over the cliffs. In the distance, a taller cliff stood, and the water beat against it, sending white foam in the air, almost drenching the seagulls flying. Now that the sun rose, the weather showed its face, and the sky had turned from a dull orange to a dark grey, promising rain. It made sense with how rageful the ocean seemed.
After the infinity pool was out of sight, the wide windows disappeared, and a solid wall took its place. We passed a few more doors, probably more bedrooms, and then the hallway ended again after what seemed like ten minutes of just walking. The area opened to another living space, and more light flowed in this living room than the other. There was no TV, I noticed, just a few black chairs placed around the room and bookshelves lined the walls, every row from top to bottom was filled with a different novel.
Wow. Now this was a room I could stay in.
“I don’t have time to waste. Keep up,” Jaxon snapped his fingers at me from a few yards away. Yep. He was pissed. Fine. Now, he knew what it felt like. We came to the end of the hall; the colors of the wall never changed. They were a stark white, and the floors were an abyss black. With every step, I thought I’d fall through.
He pressed his finger on the scanner, and the door slid open to reveal an elevator.
Of course, he had an elevator. In a place this size, who wouldn’t? How many floors did this house have?
He held the matte black doors open for me so they wouldn’t close, and I stepped inside first. The space was large, big enough to move furniture. Mirrors surrounded us, and after a quick glance at our reflections, I kept my eyes focused on the panel that had the levels on each button.
Four floors.
Five if you included the basement.
He pressed the button to the basement, and it lit up a bright gold as we started to descend. I took notice of his body being so close to mine in such a small space. There was something about elevators, I decided, that made the body yearn for the person next to you. It was intimate being so close, just the two of us, and I knew what he felt like against me. He was too good to forget.
His cologne wrapped around me. It smelt wild like the salty breeze the ocean carried with aged pine, something that had been born into the air long before everything else. God, I loved it when a man smelled good. I slid my gaze from the silver panel and roamed my eyes up his body. He had a strong profile, a thick neck, and a straight Roman nose. He had trimmed his beard; the front didn’t hang like it did the other day. It was short, the same length as his sides.
Even after so much time, he had me wrapped around his finger, and the bitch of it was? He knew it. Jaxon watched the elevator descend, watching as the numbers got lower. I knew he had his attention on the lights switching with the floor level not to look at me, but his self-disciple was better than mine.
When the elevator came to a smooth stop, it took a second for the heavy metal to settle before the doors opened. I expected darkness, water dripping onto the floor, lights flickering like a haunted house. I expected hooks hanging from the ceilings and maniacal laughter echoing off the walls, unable to locate the creepy sound because of the acoustics of the basement.
It was nothing like that.
I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed to not see a dungeon. I expected as much from Jaxon.
The basement looked like the other floors, only a bit colder since it was underground and had no windows, well, none I could see yet. The lights were turned down to pilot mode, and the slight glow reminded me of lamps hanging on the walls to ignite a path like they did in the olden days.
The walls were still white, and the floors were still black. If anything, Jaxon was consistent with his colors.
The basement wasn’t for fun and games. That much was clear. I could smell the antiseptic in the air along with cleaning solution fumes mixed with sterile plastic, and I wanted to gag. It reeked of a hospital. I hated the smell of hospitals.
He stopped at a door. It was plain. A normal size, black, just like all the other doors. It had a gold handle and the number 55 painted white in the middle of it. “Do not speak to him. I’m serious. If he knows you are there, he will not say the truth. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I am protecting you. Even if I found you after you were married, I would have come for you and saved you because you have no idea who this man is. Whoever you got to know for the last ten years, it wasn’t the man he kept hidden from you.”
Again, I was torn. I wanted to see Brian and fuss over him, but then the other part wanted to lock onto Jaxon and run away with him, no questions asked. I gave him a nod, and he sighed, unlocking the door to allow me in. The room was dark until Jaxon flipped on the light. A mirror came to view, allowing me to see into the other room. Brian was there, lying in bed, hands cuffed to the rail. He was awake, blinking up at the ceiling.
“He can’t see you. It’s a two-way mirror,” Jaxon said.
“Oh,” I said, a bit relieved because I knew if Brian saw me now, he would comment on how unattractive I looked. He hated my appearance when I was tired. He never failed to remind me.
“Remember, don’t say a word.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Stay back. I don’t want him to see you.” Jaxon flipped a button, and something turned green on the wall. He backed into another door, and then I wasn’t looking at Jaxon face to face, but through a mirror. “Hey, Brian. How are you doing?” he asked, walking like a predator as he stalked his prey. I could see in the way he carried himself that he wanted to kill Brian. His demeanor had changed; the way he carried himself was different, lethal.
“Did you bring me anything?” Brian asked, a little too chipper for my liking. You’d think he’d be begging to get out of here or screaming in pain, but he seemed fine.
“Like what? You’re still alive, aren’t you? That’s saying something. That’s a gift.”
“What do you want? I was catching up on my beauty sleep,” Brian’s sigh was long and drawn out, a bit dramatic. Nothing had even been said that could convince me of anything, but one thing already stood out to me. His voice was different. I didn’t know how to explain it, but when he spoke to me, he kept his voice soft, almost crooning. I found it sweet, but now I wondered if he did that to cover just how vicious his voice sounded. My skin chilled, and the hair rose on my arms.
“I wanted to cut a deal with you. You said she had four million, right?” Jaxon asked, tapping the IV bag connected to the needle in Brian’s arm.
Brian nodded, narrowing his eyes into snake like slits at Jaxon. “Yeah, so?”
How did he know? Four million was what I had in one account. I had another eight in an offshore bank. I never told him anything about my finances. I wasn’t going to until we w
ere married. I figured it would be a nice honeymoon gift to find out that you were a millionaire. I had every intention of sharing it with him.
“If I let you live, we split it, fifty-fifty,” Jaxon offered, and my heart lodged in my throat as I waited for Brian to say something. “I’ll make sure you’re officially married and kill her.” Jaxon sounded so serious that I almost believed he would kill me. My hand stopped at the base of my throat as I waited for Brian to give him an answer. I expected him to fight, to argue, to come to my defense, but a smile, the kind of grin only a mother could love curved his lips. “And where would you put the body? I don’t believe you. You love Quinn more than anything,” Brian said, the cuffs jiggling along the rail of the bed as he moved.
“I love money more.” Jaxon had gone from warm as he spoke to me, too cold as he spoke to a man who apparently didn’t give a damn about me. “I can soak her body in lye and be done with it. No one would ever find her.”
My hands rubbed up and down my arms to keep myself warm and to remind myself that I was still here, alive, and this wasn’t a dream, but reality. Brian was the guy that wiped my tears when Jaxon went to prison. Brian testified against Jaxon, and he held me as I sobbed, realizing the man I loved wasn’t a man I knew at all.
Brian wouldn’t have killed me. Once we were married and he wanted the money, he could have taken it. There wasn’t anything saying he couldn’t have had it.
“Sixty-forty,” Brian counter-offered, and his words hit me like a sledgehammer against my gut, whooshing the air out of my lungs.
I held a hand over my mouth, silencing my sobs because they were so loud, I was afraid he would hear me.
“Fifty-fifty. That’s my final offer since I dispose of her body.” Jaxon was cool, calm, and collected as he negotiated like he had a hundred times before. He was a professional. There was a lot I didn’t know, and now that I heard one truth from Brian, it made it easier for my mind to splinter and consider that maybe, Jaxon was innocent after all.
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