by Imogen Wells
“Great. Another fucking dead end. What I don’t understand is how Tempest and my dad are linked, and how did you guys not know about the undercover op. I mean why ask you guys to investigate if they were was already someone on the inside?”
“That, dear Jamie, is great fucking question and one we’ve been asking ourselves. It’s not the first time we’ve crossed paths with another organisation whilst working for someone else on the same case, but it doesn’t happen as often as you think. More often than not, they build a team across several organisations solely to work on that case. Or sometimes they just bring us in, but this time is different.”
Seb doesn’t say it, but I get the impression something isn’t sitting right for him about this whole thing. He’s not the only one. I don’t know if it was the dream or not, but something is making me itch today and that probing feeling is back in full force.
Needing a distraction, I decide to go for a run. I haven’t been for ages and feel the need to push myself and clear my head. Leaving Jay and Seb, I quickly change, grabbing my phone and Seb’s headphones from his bedside table before heading out.
“Jamie, the car is here,” Seb calls down the hall.
“Okay, I’m coming,” I call back, checking my reflection in the full-length mirror and running a hand down the front of my jumpsuit, cinching the belt and slipping on my shoes. Considering I forgot my straighteners, my hair turned out pretty good. I used a shit ton of product to slick the front back but left the main body in loose waves.
I snatch my clutch off the bed, stuffing my phone into it as I leave the bedroom. Jay wolf whistles as I exit the hall, and Seb spins, eyes widening as he takes me in.
“Damn, girl,” he says as he walks toward me, placing his hands on my hips. “I think we should take a rain check on dinner. Hmmm, I’m not even the slightest bit hungry for food right now,” he whispers against my cheek.
“A great idea…” I leave the thought hanging there for a second before saying, “But no. Come on, let’s go. Just leave room for dessert.” I wink before turning on my heels and walking to the front door and calling out bye to Jay as I go.
Seb catches up to me as the lift arrives, grasping my hips and pushing me against the side as the doors close.
“You look good enough to fucking eat, and I intend to later,” he says before taking my lips in a tender kiss.
Well shit, there goes the thong I’m wearing, and my thin bra does nothing to disguise my erect nipples. As if he read my mind, Seb looks down, lust sparking in his eyes before reaching out and tracing his thumb over one and then the other, but before either of us can get carried away, the lifts comes to a stop, and the doors open.
Exiting the building, we are met by a burly guy in a smart black suit, who opens the door to the black limo parked at the roadside. Dad told me that Marcus was sending a car to pick us all up, so to find the car empty is a bit of a surprise, and before the driver can close the door, I ask him about my parents.
“Another car has collected Mr and Mrs Morgan, Miss,” he replies before closing the door and getting in the driver’s side.
“What’s wrong?” Seb asks as we pull away.
“Nothing. I thought we were all arriving together, that’s all,” I say with a shrug.
“I don’t mind, means I get you all to myself for a bit longer,” he teases as he kisses my bare shoulder, all the way up to my neck. He comes up toward my lips, and I turn my head to meet him, but before our lips meet, his phone pings in his pocket as we turn into a gated driveway.
Seb pulls his phone from his pocket as the gates swing open in front of us, and a frown pulls at his brows. The partition between us and the driver is down, and I catch the driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror as Seb curses beside me.
I watch as a smirk lifts the corner of the driver’s lips, and a shiver runs down my spine that has me fidgeting in my seat and clutching my bag tighter.
Dropping my eyes from the driver, I turn to Seb. “Everything okay?”
Seb doesn’t answer but simply stares at his phone, and I give him a nudge just as we pull up outside the double fronted Victorian house that pulls my attention away. Ground floor bay windows draw your eye immediately, and then ivy trails up from either side of the large wooden front door to the double pointed pitch at the top. The top half of the windows are made up of lead lined squares except the centre window of the top floor, which is beautiful stained glass.
The driver exits the car, bringing me back to inside the car, and I ask Seb again if everything is okay. Instead of giving me an answer he asks a question of his own.
“Your dad’s friend, Marcus, what did you say his surname was?”
Forty-One
Seb
“Your dad’s friend, Marcus, what did you say his surname was?” I ask, slipping my phone back into my pocket. Jamie looks at me like I’ve asked the most complicated question. I watch as the driver walks round the car to open her door.
“Blackwood. Why? What’s going on, Seb?” I shake my head as her door is opened. Her eyes remain on mine for a beat longer before she steps out of the car, and I follow closely behind.
Placing a hand on the small of her back, we walk toward the door, and I can feel the tension in her body.
“What the fuck is going on, Seb?” she grits out.
“Shh, we are being watched. Just act natural for now, and I’ll explain soon.” The lie burns in my mouth because once we step inside this house, I think the plan is for us to never leave it.
If only Rick had messaged me ten minutes earlier, I could have at least kept Jamie away from this. As it is, her parents are already inside.
The door opens as we reach it, revealing another man in a smart black suit, only this guy is the furthest thing from a butler I’ve ever seen. He’s broad with dark short cropped hair and tattoos peek out of the collar of his shirt and on both hands, and as I take him in, I note the gun holstered beneath his jacket.
“Good evening, Miss Morgan, Mr Roberts. Please, come in and I’ll show you to the dining room,” he says, stepping aside to allow us entry.
I feel Jamie tense beside me, but my face remains blank at his use of my real name, knowing full well I never told Marcus my surname, fake or otherwise.
We step inside and follow him through to the back of the house, stopping in front of double frosted glass doors. He pushes them open grandly and announces us to the room like we’re royalty.
He steps to the side allowing us to enter the elegant, if slightly extravagant, dining room. Most of the room is made up of a large, wooden dining table and matching high ladder-backed chairs with red velvet upholstery. The whole room gives off a Gothic castle vibe with candelabras and wall scounces offering only a dim light.
Marcus is at the head of the table, with Dom to his right and Louise on the left of him, and he stands as we enter. As I take in the room, I note there’s another seat set at the table. My feelings about who that seat might be for are not good.
“Ahh, here she is,” he announces, stepping round the table to greet us. He wraps Jamie in a hug, and my hands itch to rip him away from her. Leaning back, hands gripping her arms, he says, “I’m so happy you’re here. Come, take a seat next to your father.” He gestures to the seat beside Dom before turning to me and offering me his hand, which I take, and all the while wanting to crush every bone to dust. “Good to see you again, Seb,” he says with a wide smile. He might be fooling the others but he’s not fooling me one bit.
I lean down, kissing Louise on the cheek as I take my seat opposite Jamie and catch Dom’s eye as I do. His face is taut, smile tight and jaw clenching as he greets his daughter.
Jamie looks to me, eyes widening, and I realise she may have figured out Jasper’s cryptic message. I give a small shake of my head, letting her know everything is fine. I know she doesn’t believe me but keeps the smile in place and attempts to lighten the atmosphere.
“This house is beautiful, Marcus,” she says.
“It is,
isn’t it. I got it for a complete steal too. Dom was telling me that you have something similar, Seb. Although, I believe yours is on a larger scale to mine.”
I feel Jamie’s eyes on me, but I keep mine on Marcus. “That’s right, I do. You’ll have to come and visit some time.” Marcus raises a brow as though he doesn’t think I’m being sincere. He’d be fucking right. “So, tell me, where did your travels take you, Marcus?” Maybe I’m crazy to bait the bear, but I refuse to let him think he has the upper hand.
Marcus accepts my invitation to share stories of his time abroad, but I notice he doesn’t mention Mexico. I’m in complete awe of Jamie as she keeps the conversation flowing between herself and Marcus during the first course, even though I can see her anxiety. Louise doesn’t say a word and only picks at her food. As for Dom, he only speaks when prompted by Jamie and stabs at his food with a look of murder in his eyes.
My phone has been vibrating in my pocket since the message in the car, and I’ve ignored it, but as the plates are being cleared away, the goon that answered the door earlier comes in and whispers to Marcus. While he’s distracted, I pull my phone from my pocket, keeping it under the table and away from view. There are half a dozen texts from Jay and Rick and about the same number of missed calls.
Marcus pushes away from the table and stands. “Please excuse me a moment,” he says as leaves the room.
As soon as he’s gone Jamie leans across the table. “What the fuck is going on?” I have no idea how I’m meant to answer that, but before I get the chance, Dom turns to me.
“Get her and Louise out of this fucking house now,” he demands through gritted teeth. Below the demand, I can hear the pleading in his voice and the fear, he can’t possibly hide, written all over his face. I know because I feel the same. I give him a nod, and while Jamie demands answers from her dad, I quickly send a message to Rick.
Just as I hit send and shove the phone back in my pocket, the doors open and Marcus strides back in with a look of deep satisfaction on his face. Jamie turns to look his way as the goon enters, shoving another man into the room.
I hear her gasp as she realises that the dishevelled man, face battered and bleeding, is Jasper.
“Our final guest has arrived. Some of you already know our friend here, intimately so I’ve heard,” he smirks, looking directly at Jamie, and my whole body tenses from the need to get up and beat this arsehole, but now is not the time.
Jasper is ushered to the final seat at the opposite end of the table to Marcus as he continues to talk, “But for the sake of clarity, this here is Jasper. As you can see, he needed a little encouragement to attend tonight.” Marcus takes his seat again, and several other men enter the room and take up positions around the room.
I watch Jamie and see the exact moment she makes the final connection, spinning to look at Marcus.
“It’s you. You own Tempest, don’t you?” she asks, and I can see how desperate she is for him to deny it.
He smiles at her, and then he looks at me. “But you already knew, didn’t you, Seb? I admit that I’m a little disappointed you found out and almost ruined the surprise, but no matter, there are many more for me to reveal this evening.”
Jamie’s face pales at the true magnitude of his revelation, and she jumps to her feet, the chair tipping over with the force. One of the men steps forward, pulling his gun and pointing it at the back of head.
I jump up too, only to be met with the same as the snick of a gun’s hammer sounds behind me.
“You sick bastard,” Jamie shouts at Marcus with a total disregard for the fact a man has a gun to her head. “Who the fuck are you?” The man behind her, pushes the gun further into the back of her head, and my blood fucking boils with the need to protect her, but Marcus holds his hand up, stopping him.
“Sit down, Jamie,” Marcus tells her, voice icily calm. Dom reaches out a hand to her, but she brushes him off.
“Fuck you,” she spits at Marcus. “How could you do that? How could you sell those girls like that?” I watch the shock splay across Dom’s face, and now I’m guessing he didn’t know about Tempest, or he didn’t know about the little side venture Marcus has going.
Marcus’ hand comes out, striking Jamie across the face. Her head whips to the side from the force, and her hand automatically comes up to her cheek, cradling it. She slowly turns her head back round, and I see a bead of blood bloom on her lip before it trickles down her chin.
I dive for Marcus, but the giant dick behind me grabs a handful of my hair, like a fucking pussy, and yanks my head back. Louise is sobbing, and Dom is being held back by another of the arseholes in the room.
Jamie looks at me, fire burning in her eyes. I see it. The defiant determination on her face that says she won’t go quietly. She’ll fight to the death to protect those she loves. And god, I couldn’t love this woman anymore if I tried, but I will not let her fucking die saving my arse.
The grip on my hair eases before the guy releases me completely, but not before pushing on a pressure point in my neck that has my knees buckling and me dropping back into my chair.
Eyes narrowed and nostrils flaring, she snatches her napkin from the table and wipes the blood from her lip before sitting back down. She keeps her eyes on Marcus the whole time, and I can almost feel her revulsion and need for vengeance from here.
“Now, that’s better, Jamie.”
“And again, fuck you, Marcus.” I shake my head, but a small smile lifts the corner of my mouth with pride at the fire in her. Pulling her gaze away from Marcus, she catches my eye, and I give her a look that I hope conveys the fact she needs to keep her mouth shut. I might love her strength and feisty attitude, but right now I just need her to keep quiet.
Forty-Two
Jamie
My cheek is on fire, much like the blood in my veins. I look away from Marcus and see Seb looking at me. I know he’s silently asking me to keep my mouth shut, but I don’t think I know how to do that. For now though, I try to do as he asks. Marcus’ voice echoes round the room as he begins speaking.
“It seems to me as though the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree, but we’ll get to that later. How about we let our new guest have a turn at the table. What say you, Jasper?”
“Enough, Marcus,” Dom says, slamming his hand on the table. “Your problem is with me, so why don’t you let everyone else go, and we can sort this out between us.”
“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong. You see, Jamie and her cunt of a boyfriend have been sticking their noses in where they’re not wanted. I mean, I was all for letting them slide the other night, but then Jamie here had to go and bid on that troublesome bitch. I told Travis we should have killed her after the incident that Seb and his friend were so kind to help out with. Not that it would have changed this evening’s events because you were always coming here tonight. And we will find Natalia, and when we do, I’m going to let every man that wishes have his turn with her before I cut her open from top to bottom.”
I feel my dad tense beside me, and I can’t even look at him or my mum. My dinner is turning over in my stomach and acid coats the back of my throat. I don’t even know where to begin to get my head round the fact that a man who has known me since I was a baby, taken me to the park, played fucking dolls with me, is now a man that sells women; kills women.
“And this is where our friendly, too friendly some might say, law upholding detective comes in.” Marcus gets up, walking down the table behind me and Dad and stopping when he reaches Jasper.
Jasper’s right eye is swollen shut almost completely, and he has a nasty cut on his temple that is still bleeding. His left hand cradles his right rib cage, and his breathing is slightly laboured.
Marcus slaps his hands down on Jasper’s shoulders, and he winces in pain, but otherwise he remains still.
“Jasper, Jasper, I’m so disappointed it’s come to this. I had hoped getting rid of Katie would pull you in line.” Jasper tries to turn in his seat, cursing and
swearing, but Marcus holds him still. “But it seems I was mistaken and having you befriend Jamie was more than you could handle. I suppose I should have seen that coming really, considering how much she looks like her.”
Sickness twists at my insides at the thought of Jasper seeing his wife when he was with me, and just as the thought flits through my mind, Marcus looks up at me, a sly smirk on his face, and I know what he’s going to say.
He leans down low, next to Jasper’s ear. “Did you imagine Katie while you were fucking Jamie, Jasper? Did she taste as good as your wife or was she better?” Marcus grabs Jasper’s hair, and like the guy did to Seb earlier, Marcus yanks Jasper’s head back so far, he’s almost looking at the ceiling.
I can see my dad gripping the arms of the chair, knuckles white, and from the corner of my eye, I see Seb’s nostrils flaring, and his eyes… My god, they are swirling with rage, and his once caramel eyes are alive with gold as he tries to contain it. I don’t need to turn around to know that the guy still has his gun trained on me because I can feel it like a living thing. Seb’s position mirrors my own, as does my mum’s and dad’s.
Marcus starts talking again, about when he was a kid, and how he suffered at the hands of his junkie mother. How she used to beat him and pimp him out to pay for her debts, and then he points at my dad.
“So, if you’re looking for someone to blame for all this, look no further than Dominic Morgan. The decorated war veteran. The man who stole my family.”
“Marcus, you know that’s not true. I didn’t even know who you were back then. Hell, I only just found out two days ago. You were my friend, my best friend. Do you honestly think that if I’d have known, I wouldn’t have helped you?”
I suddenly realise what my dad is saying, and now everything makes sense. Marcus is my dad’s half-brother. But that means he was behind my mugging, he set me up at work and he is responsible for Alex’s death. I look at Seb, and when he sees the shock on my face, he gives a nod, confirming it.