Finished

by Claire Kent

  “You are rather disgruntled, aren’t you?” Drayton expression was half-mocking and half-bittersweet as he looked at the man who’d once been his best friend.

  Mike bristled at the condescension, but he kept control and nudged Julia closer to his SUV.

  “Only natural,” Gia put in. “Perhaps we could all have a drink and talk about it. Nothing like liquid refreshment to open the channels of communication.”

  Julia was prepared to agree, since she desperately needed some answers and an explanation before she could even begin to move forward from this revelation.

  But Mike’s hand tightened on her arm as he opened his driver’s side door. “If you really think I’m going to put Julia in any more danger—”

  “For God’s sake,” Drayton interrupted. “You seem to forget that I care about Julia too. The invitation was to talk. No one is going to hurt your baby.”

  There was an obvious edge to the last word, and to Julia it felt like a slap in the face. Everything that had been simmering under the surface between the men for the last two months was starting to come out, and the bitterness was absolutely heartbreaking.

  “Your professed love might be more convincing had you not been lying to both her and me for so long. And there is no way in hell I’m taking Julia back to that house, having no assurances of the safety of the situation or either one of your motives.”

  “We need to talk,” Julia put in softly. She wasn’t about to leave the stability Mike offered her, but they couldn’t just run away from this.

  “We will talk,” Mike said, his eyes softening briefly on her face before they chilled again when he turned back to Drayton. “But we’ll have the conversation in a more controlled environment. And without the company of strangers.” His eyes flickered over to Gia, who was watching them all with distanced amusement. “I’m taking Julia home. If you want to talk, you can join us there.”

  Julia didn’t resist when Mike urged her into the car, and she noticed his understated urgency in getting in himself and starting up the car.

  A year and a half ago she never would have dreamed she’d be in a relationship with two men, and so she hadn’t truly been prepared for the changes such a development would create in her life.

  But now she’d learned that one of those men was even more than that.

  Things like this just didn’t happen to normal people like her.

  Nothing could have prepared her.

  ***

  The ride home with Mike started out quiet and tense. Nothing that had happened fit with the way she’d always understood the world, so she couldn’t even begin to talk about it. She fazed out, staring out the window blankly at the tree-lined country road.

  Then, suddenly, she was hit with such intense claustrophobia she could barely breathe. She took a few gasping breaths and rubbed at her neck distractedly, trying to will herself back into control.

  “What’s wrong, baby? Are you sick?”

  “Can you stop the car, please?” She felt dizzy, nauseated, and she stumbled out of the car when he pulled it over to the side of the road. She took a few steps toward the wooded area and tried to breathe.

  Mike had gotten out too, and he reached out in concern as he approached her.

  “I’m okay,” she told him, letting him wrap an arm around her for a minute before she pulled away.

  “I don’t think you are. You’re white as a sheet.”

  “It’s just all so much. I don’t know how we even got here.” She met his eyes, looking for understanding, stability, kindness.

  She found it—all of it—in his eyes. “Me either. But we’re here, and we’ve got to somehow deal with it.”

  “I know.” She made herself take a few breaths, feeling the cold nausea dissipating. “It would be easier if we didn’t care about him. If we could just let him go, let him do his own thing, without it really mattering. We’d set up this relationship to keep us free, but I don’t think it really worked out that way.”

  Mike sighed audibly. “It never does.”

  “Do you think he’ll come home?” she asked hoarsely.

  Mike stepped closer to her but made no attempt to touch her again. “Yes. He’s made it clear he doesn’t want to let go. He’ll try to talk us into believing that his deception was natural, understandable, even selfless. He’s arrogant enough to assume we’re not going to turn him in.”

  “We can’t turn him in, Mike. Not until we know the whole story.”

  “I’m not going to turn him in unless I have to. Fifteen years of friendship doesn’t disappear just because it should. But right now I mostly want answers because I’ve wasted years of my life on him, and I’d like to know why.”

  “Don’t say that,” she said, his words hurting almost more than having heard the truth at last from Drayton. “Your…your friendship was real. Our relationship was real. It wasn’t a waste.”

  Mike’s lips tightened in a familiar way. “And you’re still not ready for it to end.”

  He said it so bluntly that Julia felt like she might choke. “Are you?”

  “It’s already finished, baby.” His voice was thick and unexpectedly gentle. “All that’s left is to see where the shattered pieces fall.”

  It was horrible—hearing it like that—even though she’d been reconciling herself to the truth of his words for the last week, the last month, ever since she’d started to see Mike and Drayton pull apart.

  She felt so small and shaky that she desperately wanted Mike to pull her close, to hold her, to make her feel better.

  But she didn’t lean into him. She couldn’t let Mike deal with this for her. She had her own decisions to make—about this relationship, about the rest of her life. And her decisions weren’t necessarily the same ones Mike had already made.

  She’d never willingly let go of anyone she cared about. Not in her whole life. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to do it now.

  She and Mike were standing in silence when they heard another car pull onto the shoulder behind the SUV. Drayton’s Lexus.

  Julia’s spine stiffened as he got out, and she took another deep breath, trying to prepare herself for what she couldn’t possibly see coming.

  Drayton closed his door and clicked the lock with a small chirp.

  The sound was ominous in the otherwise silent roadside.

  He walked over, as coolly sophisticated as ever.

  He stood in front of them. Met their eyes in turn. Then he began.

  “My father was Six—the notorious, mysterious thief that most of the world knows nothing about. He trained me early, and we might have started to work together had he not been killed in a car accident when I was sixteen. Instead, I went out on my own. It was what I knew—the only thing I really knew—and it was the only way I had of being close to my father. I never knew my mother.”

  Julia saw again the pictures in that photo album—Drayton as a beautiful child, with parents who loved him.

  “Alexander, the man from the antique shop, was always the fence that my father used, so I continued to work with him. Gia was a partner of mine for a while, but I liked it better on my own. Working with other people can get…messy.”

  “Messy as in violent?” Mike asked curtly.

  “Yes. Among other things. I prefer to avoid violence whenever possible, but when you’re working with someone like Gia, it isn’t always possible. So I moved on so I could do what I do best.”

  “Steal things?”

  “Commissioned pieces. High end art and jewelry mostly. I’m not a thug.”

  “After what you’ve admitted to us,” Mike said, gravel in his voice, “you really care about those distinctions?”

  “Yes, I care. It matters. One of the only truths I believe is that you should call things by their right names.” Drayton’s words and his deep, lilting voice frightened her, as much as they compelled her.

  Julia tried to shake off her response. “So why didn’t you call things by their right names with us? You’ve done no
thing but lie to us.”

  “Because it wasn’t relevant. As I kept trying to tell you, who I am has nothing to do with what we’ve had here.”

  “What?” Julia gasped, distracted from her scrutiny by the bald presumption of Drayton’s last claim. “You’re saying it wasn’t about us? You lied to us, Drayton. Constantly. Over and over again. If it really wasn’t significant to our relationship, then why didn’t you tell us the truth?”

  “Right. How would you propose I ought to have done that? By the way, I stole a priceless emerald broach last night. Can I have a blow-job now?”

  “So why did everything seem to come to a head in the last month?” Julia asked.

  “Because Alexander and Gia wanted me to help with a job. One Gia can’t handle on her own. But the risk was higher than I prefer to take anymore, and I refused to help. So they used other means to persuade me.”

  “They were blackmailing you?”

  “I guess you could call it that. They kept showing up where you were as a warning to me—like Alexander with the car. They think they can pressure me into it, but I’ve taken care of it”

  “So that’s it?” Julia asked. “You’re saying there are no more secrets.”

  “No more secrets. I’ve told you the truth. That’s it.”

  “That’s not it,” Mike gritted out, breaking into the conversation at last.

  Julia’s gaze flew to his with a small gasp. He’d been so quiet that the depth and strength of his response startled her.

  Mike stared at Drayton coldly. “What will you do now?”

  She thought she caught a swift flicker of a shadow pass over Drayton’s face. But it disappeared as he asked lightly, “What do you mean?”

  “Julia and I know about your ‘profession’ and your former partners. How are you planning to deal with us?”

  “I’m hoping, since you care about me, you’ll let me be who I am. I’m selective about the jobs I do, and I don’t take anything from people who can’t afford to lose it. I am not a danger to you or anyone else. If you agree not to say anything, then things can go back to the way they were.”

  Julia asked, “You really expect us to be okay with this?” Her voice broke on the last word.

  Drayton’s face softened. “I know it will take some time to come to terms with, but once you get used to it, there’s no reason why we can’t work through it. I’m the same man I’ve been the whole time. I’ve been distant lately and absent a lot because of the pressure they’ve been putting on me, but it’s over now. Things can go back to normal.”

  “Normal?” Mike gave a bitter little laugh. “You think that’s what’s going to happen? What if we turn you into the cops?”

  “Then I’ll walk. I’ll just disappear. You don’t live the life I live unless you’re willing to walk out on everything.”

  “But you don’t want to walk.”

  “I’d rather not,” Drayton said calmly. “You may choose otherwise.”

  “How can you think we could possibly trust you now? In anything?”

  Julia suddenly realized that Mike was hurt. He was angry and defensive, but underneath it he was hurt. He’d been betrayed by Drayton—the way Julia felt but even more deeply.

  Mike had known him a lot longer. Mike had been lied to many more times. And Mike was convinced there was no going forward from here.

  “You speak for yourself,” Drayton replied, “And I can understand why you might feel that way. But perhaps you shouldn’t speak for Julia too.”

  Mike turned on Drayton suddenly, his eyes narrowing with a granite-hard anger she’d never seen in him before. “So that’s what it comes down to?”

  Drayton straightened to his full height. Didn’t back down from Mike’s obvious challenge. “It always has.”

  Mike was slightly taller and broader through the shoulders. But Drayton was no weakling, and Julia knew just how strong he was.

  “Do you think I don’t know what you’ve been doing lately?” Drayton said, soft and menacing. “Poisoning her mind to me? While we’re talking about deception and selfishness, perhaps we should consider your behavior as well. How convenient for you to now have an excuse to push me out of the picture and take her for yourself.”

  “Stop it!” Julia stepped forward, terrified that the men would come to blows. It felt like the bottom had fallen out of her gut. “This is not about me. I love you both. We aren’t two separate couples. We’re supposed to be a threesome. This is about what Drayton has just told us. It’s not about me.”

  Both men fell silent, and she turned to Drayton. “You’ve lied to and hurt both of us—I know you claim it wasn’t important, but all of us know it was. If I could just understand this—”

  “Are you serious?” Mike interrupted, “You want to understand him? Are you still prepared to believe him, after everything?”

  “Why shouldn’t she believe me?” Drayton asked sharply. He was obviously getting angry too. “I’m not lying to you now. I’ve only ever lied about the one thing I had to keep secret.”

  He sounded so convincing, so compelling. And she’d trusted him for so long.

  “You have no reason not to trust me.”

  Mike made a disbelieving, wordless sound. “We have no reason to believe anything you say. Why should we believe your story now? How do we know you’re not hiding something else?” He turned to Julia, holding his anger back with such force he was shaking with it. “Julia, you can’t really believe him. How do you know he’s even what he says he is? What if this whole crazy story is just another lie? We can never take him at his word again. And I know for damned sure that he has never trusted us.”

  Mike was so intense and urgent that she was caught up in his argument too. She felt torn in half, brutally, helplessly. And she had no idea what or who to believe.

  Drayton stared from one to the other of them, his expression utterly frustrated. Then, with a strangled sound, he turned around and stalked back to his car.

  “Drayton?” she called.

  When he didn’t answer, she met Mike’s eyes. “I know it’s upsetting, but can you try to be reasonable?”

  “I’m tired of being reasonable,” Mike muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. “I’ve been holding myself back for months in a doomed attempt to be reasonable.”

  She felt an ache in her heart—sharp and distinct in the midst of the chaotic turmoil of everything else—as she realized that what Mike said was true. The knowledge crushed her a little. As did the fact that she’d never really let herself acknowledge it before.

  Before she could act on the recognition, Drayton returned to them, carrying what he’d gotten from his car.

  Julia gasped when she saw he was holding a gun.

  “What the fuck?” Mike muttered, starting forward instinctively.

  It was too late. Drayton aimed and fired. Right at Mike.

  Julia made a choked sound, too shocked and horrified to even scream.

  Mike jerked and paled, but he didn’t fall. There was no visible wound.

  “Check your right sleeve,” Drayton said, his voice breaking through the reverberating silence.

  Mike looked down automatically and touched the sleeve of his t-shirt. The bullet must have grazed it, leaving a slim hole.

  Both Julia and Mike stared dumbly, trying to process what had just happened.

  “I am who I say I am. I can do what I say I do. And I have no desire to hurt either one of you.”

  What had just happened—and what she’d thought just happened—finally started to catch up to her, and she was now shaking helplessly.

  Drayton stepped over and pressed the gun into Mike’s limp hand. The other man took it blindly.

  Drayton said, “You say I don’t trust you, but I do. I’ve lied to you. I’m a criminal. You hate me. So shoot me. You know you want to. Go ahead.” Drayton’s face was as cool and controlled as ever, so unnatural it made her shiver.

  Mike stared at Drayton. Stared at the gun he held in his hand.
/>   “I trust you,” Drayton said, meeting Mike’s eyes. “You’re the one who refuses to trust me.”

  Mike didn’t move. He didn’t say anything.

  “I’m telling you the truth in this,” Drayton murmured. “I’m not any sort of danger to you. I hope this is proof enough.”

  Suddenly, all of it was too much. The bottom had been wrenched from her entire world, and she felt like she was endlessly following. The shock of before, and the emotional upheaval affected her physically. Her stomach heaved. She turned away as she realized what was about to happen. She took several steps away from the two men.

  The first retch forced her to her knees, and she vomited painfully onto the grass—her body violently rejecting what her mind just couldn’t accept.

  It was painful. And humiliating. And she was cold, sweating, and shaking as she finished emptying her stomach.

  She gagged a few times when she was done, tears streaming down her cheeks and the bitter taste of bile in her mouth.

  As she finished, she realized Mike had crouched down beside her. He no longer held the gun in his hand. “Oh, baby,” he murmured, stroking her hair off her damp face. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah,” she said hoarsely, her throat sorer than she’d expected.

  Drayton came closer, and Mike made a growling sound in his throat. “What the fuck are you doing? Just go away.”

  Drayton must have already put it away because his hands were empty. “I care about her too. I’m sorry, Julia, if shooting at Mike upset you. I had no intentions of doing so.”

  Julia was too weak to get to her feet, so she stayed kneeling on the cool grass.

  “Your intentions are irrelevant,” Mike gritted out, “What matters is what you do. And everything you’ve done lately has been for yourself—regardless of how it hurts anyone else.”

  “Are you speaking for yourself now? Or for Julia?”

  She knew as soon as she heard the snide bite of Drayton’s tone what Mike’s reaction would be.

  He stood up and stepped forward, his anger more menacing than his size and strength. “You claim to care about us, but I haven’t seen you do anything that convinces me you care for us more than you do yourself. Including this little stunt right now.”