Table of Contents
The Illicit Revealed
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
About Brittani
The Illicit Revealed
The Illicit Series Book Two
Brittani Marí
Copyright © 2018 Brittani Marí
All Rights Reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or real events is purely coincidental.
Cover Design and Formatting by Alyssa Garcia at Uplifting Designs
Editing by Kim Young, at Kim’s Fiction Proofreading & Editing Services
Chapter One
Wesley
I DIDN’T PLAN FOR it to happen the way it did. All the signs were wrong. In the end, I figured I might be able to salvage an unfortunate situation. Fix what I had done, regardless of the history and facts. I had finally found a moment to unwind. The conversation with Alek made my job more difficult than it needed to be, but I’d come to terms with it. I would just let it play out and fix the issues when they occurred. It was all I could do at the moment.
I had just sat at my desk, glass of water in hand, instead of my normal poison, when the call came through. Michael’s voice sounded alert, troubled.
“I think we need to move forward, boss. Things aren’t looking good on my end.”
I rose from my seat and walked over to the bar. I knew what needed to be done, and it pained me that the signs I didn’t want to believe had been accurate. She knew. I laughed to myself, realizing the old saying was true.
The beauty of a woman can blind you.
It could make you overlook the obvious. Make you miss the warnings that were right in front of you.
Mia knew something. She wasn’t as naïve as people thought. Maybe playing the naïve wife had been her plan all along. What would she do now? Did she know we had all played a role in tearing her family apart?
I fiddled with the bottle of scotch, trying not to give in. This was something else I inherited from my father. The love of scotch and how the amber liquid helped you through hard times. It could encourage a man when he had done something wrong…or was about to do something he wasn’t proud of.
“You sure about this?”
Michael answered immediately. “Yes, I’m sure. She’s talking with the detective who asked questions weeks after the murder. The one who was adamant that we were involved.”
I took a deep breath. “Well, then, you know what needs to be done. We don’t have room for any loose ends. We need to end this before it gets out of hand.” I closed my eyes, trying to prepare for what was about to happen. “Let me know when it’s done.”
I gave in to my weakness right after ending the call. I quickly opened the sealed bottle and poured an ample amount into a rocks glass. I downed it quickly, relishing the burn as it traveled down my throat. It gave me an immediate distraction from my troubles, a split second when I didn’t feel anything. Then it disappeared and everything came flooding back in.
I closed my eyes for a few minutes, trying to fathom what was about to happen. Mia. The simple thought made me rock hard and angry at the same time. I wanted to throw her against the wall and fuck her, but I also had the urge to make everything she stood for disappear. She had brought so much of my past back to life…a past I thought I had successfully buried…I couldn’t keep up. I could only imagine which skeleton would surface next. It was like a waiting game. Slow. Deliberate. Measured.
I leaned against the bar and opened my eyes. The person peering out of them felt foreign. As the minutes ticked by, I felt myself changing and couldn’t do anything to stop it.
The life I was born into had a funny way of consuming you. It was a slow process. In the end, you didn’t even realize it had happened. It started with one sin, then you suddenly had too many to count. You tried to make excuses to justify what you’d done, but deep down, you were painfully aware it was wrong. It was just part of the darkness you had unknowingly succumbed to.
I walked over to my desk and sat in my chair heavily, sighing, glancing at the door and back to my cell phone. I waited for either one of them to disrupt my peace. After a few minutes, I finally believed I might be spared when my cell started to ring. The name on the screen was someone I hadn’t heard from for several days. Sadly, that had been a blessing. Whenever he called, it was to either make a request or deliver bad news. He usually preferred to deliver it himself, depending on the circumstances. He didn’t like too many people knowing our weaknesses. It damaged our reputation.
With a silent groan, I answered. I could hear my father breathing heavily on the other end, clearly frustrated.
I didn’t even say hello. “Should I be worried?”
He gave a short laugh. “You should always be worried. If you aren’t aware of it by now, Wesley, always be prepared. Someone is constantly plotting how to rip that red carpet from underneath your feet. Everyone wants what we have, son. That’s why I pay so damn much to keep things in order.”
“Okay… Let me rephrase it then. I take it you have some bad news.”
He laughed again. I heard ice clinking in a glass on the other end. I obviously wasn’t the only one indulging at this hour.
“I would say bad news is an understatement.”
I swallowed. “How bad is it, Stinson?”
He was more like an acquaintance, a colleague. It had been that way for years. Yes, he was my blood, my creator, the man who ruined me, forcing me to be everything I loathed about myself. I couldn’t call him father. The word refused to come out.
I heard him take a sip of his drink. “Do you remember our conversation about Fredrick Hall and his vendetta against various people? How he has a legitimate reason to seek revenge against us?”
I leaned forward in my chair, suddenly alert. I knew where this was going. “It’s not a conversation I could readily forget.”
He cleared his throat. “It isn’t a myth, Wesley. The rumors about him being back have been verified.”
I was curious about his source, asking questions I already knew the answers to.
“What happened? I know he’s going to be an issue. Is it at least fixable?”
“We had a deal going on at the port when the authorities showed up. This stunt of his proves he isn’t here to work things out.” I was taken aback. His truthfulness was rare. “Everything is fixable, Wes, but that isn’t my concern. My concern is his next move. I have no idea what it might be.”
I felt my heart rate increase as I thought about Mia and what this meant. I had already taken action, but was I quick enough? I knew the part I failed to share with Stinson had already been revealed. I waited for him to call me out on it.
“I agree. This proves he isn’t here to play nice. How do we handle this? Are we going to retaliate?”
I hea
rd him growl, the aggravation in his voice clear. “Did you not think informing me about Alek Johnson’s wife was important?”
I opened my mouth, but he wasn’t finished.
“I shared my concerns about Fredrick’s position and reputation, yet you never once thought it would be helpful to tell me about his daughter being married to one of our allies? I feel like a fool.”
I groaned, running my hands over my face. “I wouldn’t consider him an ally, Stinson. We don’t even know if we can trust him. It wasn’t that long ago that he led us—”
“Arg!”
I could picture my father seething. His face red, jaw clenched. I felt like I was in school being corrected on an answer I’d gotten wrong, except he wasn’t there to help me. Instead, he was there to reprimand, warn me.
“Son, I don’t think you understand. An ally is not a friend. It’s someone who benefits us. Someone who has something to offer. Regardless of how you feel about him, Alek brings a lot to the table.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to suppress my anger. I had learned the only way to get through to my father was by showing him a precise outline. He needed reassurance. He didn’t like taking chances. However, I knew I was going to have to let this one go…for the time being. I didn’t have the proper information to give right now. The only thing I had was my gut feeling, which currently screamed for me to be wary. My meeting with Alek proved he wasn’t being honest. I had a feeling whatever he was keeping to himself was extremely important.
“He is your ally, not mine,” I responded coldly. “But considering his importance to our business, I’ll keep my opinions to myself.”
“I guess we can agree to disagree. It’s appears you’ve made up your mind about this issue. You’ve always been stubborn. Just make sure you keep your word, son. Don’t step out of line.”
I let out a muffled curse. “I’ve obeyed your wishes and have kept things civil between us. There’s no need for you to be worried about my end of the bargain.”
I heard him pour something into his glass. I was confident the liquor had started calming him. It was what he relied on throughout my childhood. He would shut himself in his office, drinking his sins away. I never imagined the urge would be something I’d inherit. At times, I felt like I understood, but reality always proved me wrong. It reminded me of the reasons behind the coldness I felt for him.
“Since that’s been settled, let’s get back to the reason for my call.”
I heard the ice shift in his glass as he took another sip. I pictured him sitting in his office, drink in hand, carefully mulling over his next words. He knew he needed me. Was aware of what I brought to the table. It was the reason he practically forced me back in, making it difficult for me to refuse. Time and time again, my younger brother Calvin and I had proven we were the only ones he could depend on. Our youngest brother, Justin, put us at risk. His arrest had achieved the one thing my father feared the most–exposure. Our family had always been known, but that image was different. It was what we wanted people to believe. Justin gave them a reason to look our way, dig into our business and consider things they didn’t normally question.
The police had even visited the place my father often resided. The hotel. The building appeared benign, yet held damaging information. Hiding things in plain sight often threw people off. They always looked for hidden areas when, most of the time, it stared them right in the face.
“Explain this, Wesley. Please tell me I simply missed the logical reason behind it.”
His stern voice brought me back to my surroundings. He was waiting for me to reassure him it was a misunderstanding, that I accidently kept the information from him. He wanted to believe it had merely slipped my mind and I intended on filling him in about my discovery. But that was far from the truth, and he knew it just as much as I did.
I could’ve lied to make things easier, but lies were always exposed. It was something I had learned over the past few weeks. Something that showed me I should start doing things differently. If I took the easy way out, I knew it was only a matter of time before he discovered the truth. I had kept the information from him, just like I had with Calvin.
If I would’ve informed them about Mia’s true identity, I knew they would’ve taken action. They wouldn’t have cared about anything except making sure every loose end was dealt with. They didn’t want anything hanging over their heads. Making sure nothing damaging ever saw the light of day was a huge part of our business. It was the main reason Alek had felt the need to visit me at my club. He knew what the visit meant, what it would put into play. He knew our options when all else failed, but what he didn’t know was how I planned on handling it…alone.
“I want to believe you have an explanation for this, Wesley. I shouldn’t have to clarify the possible damage this woman can cause, if she remembers a single thing from that night…” He let out a breath. “However, from your silence, I can see that you don’t.”
I swallowed. “She’s been through enough. The whole situation shouldn’t have happened, Stinson. It should’ve been handled differently.” I blinked. My confession caught me by surprise.
He gave a short laugh. “You know, I can’t help but notice how this specific issue surfaced around the same time I asked you to take on more responsibilities.” He cleared his throat. “It was like it had already been planned out, waiting for the necessary players.”
I had to agree. I’d thought about it, too. The way things began to come out. How, within hours of my father’s visit, Alek knew why he was there. Who had informed him of my father’s recent recruitment? Who would’ve known it was me? He claimed it was how things worked, but as the words left his mouth that night, I knew there was more to it.
Although finding out the source of our distress was important, it wasn’t as important as putting out the numerous fires it had already caused. Were any of us innocent? Hell no. Did we deserve the wrath of Fredrick Hall? Definitely. But the biggest question no one had considered yet was who orchestrated all this? Who revealed secrets, identities? Who would benefit by bringing it all to light? I still searched for the answer. It was the most important one. If I could find the source behind all the chaos, I would able to stop it before it was too late, before it reached limits we couldn’t control.
The one I hired to assist me with finding answers, someone who wasn’t connected to our business, constantly came back empty-handed. Every time we thought we had a grip on the situation, we’d lose it, knocking us right back to where we started. The disappointing phone calls had begun to wear on me.
I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the ceiling. I didn’t normally show weakness to anyone, not even the people I felt I could trust…to a certain extent. I often kept them to myself, but this situation was different.
“I know I fucked up…” I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry, “but I will handle this. I need you to let me handle this.”
My words might have been taken as a plea, but that wasn’t my intention. I wanted to handle the situation in my own way, not the way my family preferred. Mia had already been through enough. She didn’t deserve what I knew they would suggest. I wouldn’t let them go through with it.
My mother had been right. Mia was the woman she had mentioned before she died. The one who would catch me by surprise and throw my life off-track. However, it wasn’t love that made me crave her, desire her. It was the precise moment she looked at me with tears in her eyes, pleading for me to spare her. It was the look she gave me that night that made me question who I was, who I could be.
The first time I saw her, I was an intruder, breaking into her home and destroying her perfect life. She feared me. I was a person she would always blame, always hate. That was the reason I needed control over the situation. Why I needed my family to give me space and back me up on my decision. Mia had challenged me. Forced me to look inside myself and decide if that person was the only one I could be.
I knew I could be more. I didn’t have to walk th
e same path as my father. I didn’t have to accept my only talents were the skills and customs Stinson had forced into my head. I could be more. My change started the night I spared her, allowing her to live.
It was then I knew I had a choice. My transition started not long after her world was torn apart. I knew continuing to walk that path would destroy me. My father’s manipulation would only mold me into the person he wanted me to be–himself. Mia saved me from that, even though it was short-lived. His power was ingrained too deeply for me to ever truly escape. If I could grant her one thing, it would be the benefit of the doubt. Because if she were behind any of this, she’d never walk away from it. She would fall, just like the rest of us.
I knew how it worked. Even though I’d kept my distance, I helped keep our business afloat. My father made sure that even if we were to eventually fall, so would many others. It was what he liked to call “insurance”, and the insurance he kept demanded loyalty.
He was silent on the other end of the phone as I mentally reminded myself what was at stake. The things I had never truly forgotten. I learned to keep my knowledge locked away until it was required.
“I’ll grant you your wish, son, but don’t forget what we all have to lose. It should be enough to motivate you to do what’s necessary, Wesley.”
He ended the call without so much as a goodbye. His disrespect clarified he was pissed. A man like Stinson never really told the truth, especially when he felt threatened, and I could tell he was miles away from his comfort zone. He was on edge like I’d never seen him before.
Blowing out a breath, I scrolled through the phone calls I had missed while talking with him. There was only one that mattered. I pressed the call back button.
“Is it done?” I asked. I didn’t realize I held my breath as I waited for a response.
“Yes. It’s done.”
Chapter Two
Mia
IT AMAZED ME HOW people never expected to become the victim. The one everyone talked about. The one you gave a sympathetic look to. The one who had been through so much, you could never imagine walking in their shoes. That just didn’t happen to you.
The Illicit Revealed (The Illicit Series Book 2) Page 1