by Amy Daws
“Why would your father care?”
“Because the Richards have been a menace to…people of our breeding. They need to be taken care of before they destroy everything.” He rubbed the scar on his hand. His eye twitched again. “And because the added benefit of disposing of them is that you will be dragged down with them.”
I pushed away from him. “What are you talking about?”
“Focal Pointe is one of the Richards’ highest paying clients. It would certainly be plausible that Richards & Brown’s bad business dealings trickled through to their clients. So, if R&B goes down, they are going to take Focal Pointe with them.”
“Just fucking destroy me, you manipulating bastard!”
“Oh it’s much more satisfying when I can take out your entire world.” Blake walked over to the door and opened it.
I raced over to it and slammed it shut using my body. He would not get away with this! I would not let him! I could play dirty, just like him. “I’ll tell your wife, your family. I’ll make sure everyone knows what a cheating, lying bastard you are!”
He brought back his fist and crushed it into the door right beside my head. I cried out. He was going to hurt me. He wanted to hurt me. I could see it in his emerald eyes. My heart was beating so hard, I barely heard him speak.
“My family’s lawyers will bury you, Adeline,” he said so quietly that his vengeful promise stabbed at my soul. “If you publicize anything we’ve said or have done, I’ll ruin you; your poor Chicago family who’s given up every measly cent for your pathetic dream. You’ll end up living on the streets like your sister. I’ll ensure that Ivan never dances again. I’ll destroy everyone you love.”
There was a knock at my door. “You okay, Addy girl?”
Blake never took his eyes off of me. He whispered, “Tell him you’re fine.”
“I’m…I’m fine, Ivan.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry out. I wanted to stand up to this horrible shell of a man who wanted to destroy everyone I loved. Ivan was one of those people.
Blake traced his finger down my cheek. “Good girl. Now tell him that you’ll meet up with him in a bit.”
Mustering a shred of courage, I choked, “Ivan, can you please escort Mr. Rossi out?”
Blake snarled, “Big mistake.”
I opened the door. Ivan took one look at me and his fists tightened at his sides.
Blake strolled out, not waiting for Ivan’s escort. I clung to the door handle, shaking with rage, self-doubt, and the most damning—helplessness.
CHAPTER 44 ~ Leo
Relief blanketed me as I saw Adeline and Ivan come around the corner toward her apartment building. It was dark out and the streetlights cast this euphoric glow around her that made my heart clench with longing. Even after reconnecting with her, I still couldn’t believe she was mine. We’d spent every night together in her apartment since that day at her practice studio, and I still couldn’t stand to be away from her.
But Chase was right. I had to show my brothers that I wasn’t ashamed of Adeline. I wasn’t ashamed of what we had together. And I certainly wasn’t ashamed of how utterly and fucking completely in love I was with her.
Her long brown hair was loose down her back. She was dressed in a simple cotton dress that clung perfect to her petite breasts. Her signature denim jacket and dance duffle bag were slung over her shoulder. My heart swelled at the familiarity I had knowing her daily routine. I hated that I had to miss her performance tonight, but I needed to talk to Chase.
I’d been sitting on her concrete steps for the past hour, thinking about my plan with the Gold. I felt like if I could succeed with this plan, it could also get Adeline out of her situation with Blake. It was finally time for me to tell her everything.
I hated keeping the Gold a secret from Adeline. But it had been drilled into us since initiation. It was our most resolute rule, but I was finally past all of that now. I knew she’d be pissed, but I hoped when I told her about what I had in mind to fix it all that she’d forgive me.
“Hey,” I said when they were close enough to hear me.
Ivan offered me a polite smile just as Adeline’s head snapped up like she had no idea I had been sitting there. She paused at the bottom of the steps, hitching her bag up over her shoulder. Ivan stopped with her and looked over at her with concern.
“Hey,” she replied finally, looking away.
“How was your show?” I asked, furrowing my brow and wondering why she wasn’t approaching me for a welcome home hug.
“Good.” She nodded, fidgeting on her toes.
“Addy girl was great as always,” Ivan looked between the two of us awkwardly. “Well, I’m beat. Night guys.”
He kissed Adeline chastely on the head and offered me a half smile as he passed me on the steps.
“What’s going on?” I asked, nervous by her obvious mood shift. Something must have happened tonight for her demeanor to be so different. “You look as if you have the world resting on your shoulders.”
She sighed heavily and combed her fingers through her hair. “Nothing.” She placed her hand on her hip and cocked her head at me in challenge. It was a snotty and impatient stance, and it pissed me the fuck off.
“Doesn’t look like nothing,” I said, standing and descending the six concrete steps so we were on the same level.
She threw me a fake as shit, forced smile. It stung. It literally stung my heart. It was so unlike her.
“Did you forget my rule?” I grabbed her hand and kissed each one of her fingertips. Whatever was going on, I needed to melt this iciness off of her.
Her eyes closed and she pursed her lush lips together as if she was in pain. Her hand trembled.
“Tell me baby,” I murmured against her palm.
“Maybe you should tell me?” she snapped. Her tiny nostrils flared as she jerked her hand out of my mine.
It was like she slapped me. I froze; my hands still exactly where she left them. “Tell you what exactly?”
“Your rule is that I can’t keep secrets from you. Does that mean you get to keep secrets from me?” Her eyes flashed with anger.
This wrath she was radiating stunned me. It came out of nowhere, and I wasn’t sure what had gotten into her. “Baby, I want to tell you all my secrets. But why don’t we start with what has you so upset right now. I want to help.”
“I don’t want your help, okay?” She turned away and hugged herself, tension radiating all around her.
“What the fuck, Adeline?”
“What the fuck, Leo?” she mocked back at me.
“Mind filling me in on what the hell has brought on this change of attitude?” I asked, stuffing my hands into my pockets and tilting down to meet her eyes in confrontation.
“You! Alright?” she cried and tossed her bag onto the ground. She turned and started pacing back and forth, dramatically flicking her hands. “It’s you! You show up in your sexy jacket with this annoying way of seeing right through me, and it’s pissing me off. I was out! I was free! My debt was paid off! I was free from the lies…free from the shit. I was focused. I was working. I was making a name for myself. A name that I built on my own blood, sweat, and tears, Leo. And then you come in with your fucking Blake connection, and your creepy brothers, and now—”
She stopped pacing and speared her hands harshly into her hair stopping at the nape of her neck. Her words were cutting me. Slicing right through my heart.
I swallowed hard and my voice came out choked and painful. “So what? You’re saying you don’t want this? You don’t want to be with me? Because that’s sure as shit what it’s sounding like!”
“No, Leo!” she shrieked, her eyes glossy with unshed tears. “But you’re lying to me about something! I thought that we weren’t doing that. Rule number one and all.”
“Rule one is that we tell each other what we are thinking,” I snapped back. My eyebrows lifted as I stared at her like she was holding back a million broken
promises. “I’m going to say this once, Adeline. What are you thinking?”
“I need to be able to trust you, and I’m not sure I do!” She bit her lip hard and her clear blue eyes swam over every feature on my face begging for something from me. Aching for it. “If you don’t fucking tell me what the scar on your hand really means, I’m going to figure it out myself because I know it has everything to do with the things that could destroy the lives of everyone I love!”
She dropped to her knees suddenly wracked with sobs. I rushed over and knelt down beside her, cradling her in my arms. Her body shuddered beneath my embrace.
Her words shattered me. Her comment about destroying the lives of the people she loved broke my heart. “Adeline, please baby. I can’t hear these cries again. I can’t. I’ll do anything to stop these tears.” I grabbed her face in my hands and rubbed the pads of my thumbs below her eyes. “And as far as people you love, I sincerely hope I’m at the top of your list. Because you’re sure as hell at the top of mine.”
She released a shaky breath in an attempt to gain back control over her tears. “You are,” she croaked, “But I’ve fought for everything in my life, Leo. I can’t fight you too. I need answers.”
I nodded in acknowledgment and lifted her up with me. I walked us over to the concrete steps and looked around quickly to see if there were people nearby. All was quiet, so I knew it was now or never. I pulled her down onto the step beside me and put a leg up in front of her. I wrapped my hands around hers, surprised at my nerves. A few moments ago, I was charged and ready to tell her, but after her meltdown, now I was apprehensive.
“I want to give answers to you,” I stared down at our hands. “Believe it or not, I had planned on giving them to you tonight. Especially with the shit that went down at R&B today.”
She lowered her head, attempting to catch my gaze. I cleared my throat, continuing to avoid her eyes. Here went nothing.
“I am a member of a secret society called the Gold,” I started. “It’s as old as Columbia and it’s extremely elite and difficult to get in to. It’s also difficult to get out of. The Gold is connected closely to Gamma Phi, but not all of my fraternity brothers are members of the Gold. The ones that aren’t don’t even know it exists.”
Her breath caught, pulling my gaze upward. “That’s what your scar is from?” she asked, stroking the area lightly.
“The scar is from the fraternity,” I answered. “It’s a tree branch and all brothers are branded with it at initiation. But the ones who are a member of the Gold have this added part.” I pointed to the extremely discrete ‘G’ that slanted off of the main branch. If you never looked closely, you wouldn’t even see it there.
She inspected it quietly for a moment, and then asked, “Is Chase a member of the Gold?”
“Yes.”
“Micah?”
“Yes.”
“Blake?”
I sighed heavily, looking up finally into her wide, curious eyes. “Yes, he is. Now baby, I need you to know what a big deal this is that I’m telling you. I love you. I will tell you everything. But as soon as you become a member of the Gold, you take an oath. They swear you to absolute secrecy and scare the shit out of you with threats if you reveal the society to outsiders.”
I quickly explained to her the corrupt practices of the Gold and how my grandfather made a deal with Blake’s father and was able to get out. It felt important to get that out there so she understood that I just never knew there was an easy way to get out. I also needed her to know that the only reason my father rejoined was to save the R&B from going under.
“Did your father get Focal Pointe Studio through connections with the Gold?”
“No,” I replied quickly shifting closer to her craving more of a physical connection. “That all really was just an honest coincidence.”
“So if you hate it so much, why don’t you make a deal like your grandfather and get out?” she asked.
My eyebrows rose. “Because that still doesn’t absolve you of your ties to Blake.”
Her clear eyes squinted and she nodded seriously. “So what does any of this have to do with Blake?”
CHAPTER 45 ~ Adeline
He doesn’t tell you the truth either, my dear stupid-fucking-Adeline. And if you think that you can trust him, you are dead wrong.
All I could think about was Blake’s fist pummeling the wall next to my head. His threat echoed in my ears, haunting me with his vindictive promise that he’d destroy everyone I loved. Leo was one of those people.
“This is the hard part, Adeline, this is the part I didn’t ever want to tell you.” He rolled his thumb over my ring finger. “The Gold sort of…arranges relationships. They impart a level of society on us to keep the memberships and the families of the member’s elite. That’s why I dated Sasha. And that was why Blake kept you a secret.”
“So what? I wasn’t on some approved list?”
He flinched at my words. The shame that was cast between us both was palpable. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you all of this. I’m ashamed to be a part of this. I’m ashamed I’ve let myself stay in it for as long as I have.”
“It’s true, isn’t it? I wasn’t in the right class. I’m just a poor ballerina from south side Chicago with no social status. I’m trash. Who would want me?” I laughed, jerking my hands out of his grasp.
“Stop right now.” He grabbed me by the legs and pulled me to face him. “I want you, Adeline. I want every single part of you. I’m the one who’s not good enough in this scenario. The fact that someone like you can actually love me…even with all of this…”
“I can hardly stomach this,” I croaked. “You ended it. You had that meeting the day of my audition and you came back and freaked out on Ivan. You so easily ended it between us.”
“That was me, baby,” he cried. “That was all me! I was ashamed of myself and what I belonged to. I got it in my head that you’d be better off without me and all the bullshit that surrounds my life. But I need you to know that life isn’t me anymore. You’ve changed me. You’ve changed me and you’ve made me want to be a better man! I want to deserve you.”
“How can you when you’re involved with something like this?”
“My hope is that we can take the Gold back. The Richards name is a legacy name in the Gold, meaning, we were part of the founders of the secret society. My father said that this wasn’t always what the society was about. I’m hoping that we can reformat the brotherhood and use all its status and connections for a better cause. Something major. Fuck I don’t know…maybe even help the world!”
“And what about me?”
“You’re a part of all of that, Adeline. You’ve inspired all of this! I want the entire world to know I love you. Especially the Gold. I want them to see that life is so much more than just class, and rank, and money, and greed. I know my fraternity will see you and fall for you just as hard as I have. I know it… What?”
I rolled my fingers through his hair. “Fucking prehistoric bullshit is what this is. And the fact that you’re willing to throw it all away. All of those connections. All of those powerful people. You want to fight them because of me. I just…I can’t…”
“Can’t what, Adeline?” he asked. He turned my chin so I looked directly into his eyes.
“You said you wanted to be a good enough man for me, Richards. Don’t you see that you already are?”
“I haven’t done anything yet, baby. Other than keep this from you for weeks.”
“I’m not happy that you kept it from me, but I can understand why you did. But I need you to know something.” I gripped the back of his neck, urging him to meet my gaze. “Even if you can’t accomplish this. Even if the Rossis still manage to screw all of us over in the end…” I stopped mid-sentence and crawled onto his lap. “I’m so proud of you and I’m moved that you’re willing to do all of this for me.”
“I fall more in love with you every day.” His voice trembled as he took my face in his hands. “A
nd that scares me in the best fucking way possible. I don’t deserve you, but I love you. I’ll do anything for you.”
“I love you too. Despite it all, I love you.”
His head shot up as a car drove by slow—slow enough to take pictures. I watched it the entire time, its taillights casting a red glow on my skin.
“Let’s get out of here.” He stood up and pulled me up with him. “The fucking paparazzi won’t stop circling your place. Let’s go to mine. Chase is hosting our annual MTR race tonight and I think you’d enjoy it.”
“MTR?”
“Miniature Turtle Races,” he said and then started to tell me all it entailed, but muttered, “It’ll make sense when you see them race.”
“My pleasure,” I said, loving the idea of just being a normal couple and hanging out with his friends.
And turtles! Who didn’t love those little guys? I couldn’t possibly imagine what MTR consisted of, but if Chase was hosting it, I knew it would be positively unforgettable.
He helped me onto the bike, and then his gaze dropped to my scandalously short sundress. Even after everything—all the deep stuff—I simply loved, loved, loved that he never tried to hide his raw emotions from me. Or that he never seemed embarrassed about the way I affected him. And now that he just entrusted me with so much, our relationship had a chance of lasting. So I took a page from his book and told him just how much he affected me.
I grabbed the seat cushion in front of me and leaned close to whisper in his ear. “I’m not wearing anything underneath this, Richards.”
He glanced back up at my apartment window with a look of unnerved desperation.
“We better get going, or we’ll miss the turtle races.” I planted a hard kiss on his lips. “Besides, we need to give my futon a break. I’m pretty sure that it can’t handle what I want to do to you.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Torture you,” I said truthfully.
Leo straddled the bike and punched it. We were going to make it back to his place in record time. He was probably going to get half a dozen speeding tickets, but that was my fault. I was the one rolling my hand up and down his pants crotch. Each time I dug my nails into his jeans, the speedometer jumped a notch. It was all I could do to keep from grinding on him at the red lights. I swore that I was probably going to hell by sucking on the bottom of his ear lobe. A moan slipped from my throat.