Staci
Jaxon’s headlights pulled out of the driveway. I could see the shaft of light as it illuminated the garage by the side of the house. The driveway itself though was out of my line of sight.
My arms languidly tread the warm, chlorine-scented water but beneath the surface turmoil twisted inside me. The line of coke I’d sniffed before Jaxon had shown up didn’t help calm my nerves.
Jaxon was supposed to bring Braddox. My mother had been explicit and clear. If we had Braddox and Jaxon, then we shouldn’t have any problems with the O’Donnells in town. No more debts being cancelled, no more lost donkeys.
When people owed us money, Mom had explained they were indebted to us which meant they would carry the drugs and other items through the state, up and down the main highways from where our suppliers were in California to Seattle, Denver, Spokane, and Boise. We were competing for the flesh market in both Washington, Idaho, and Montana as well as Colorado, the Dakotas, Nevada, and Arizona. I wasn’t sure on Wyoming.
From what I understood, there was a family running things in the center of a Wyoming town that we weren’t in a position to take over yet. Hence the need to maintain our hub in Shores, Oregon. The town acted like a port with people coming through and sparking off in different directions. Even the cops were paid to look the other direction when things were associated with specific people.
That was until Trenton O’Donnell came in and bought a building here or there, or he lined the mayor’s pockets heavier than we could and the officials cleaned things up before we got wind of it. Retraining a new line up of officials was hard work and I was always involved. Between Mom and I, we shared the load of thirty men once and that wasn’t something I wanted to repeat any time soon.
We provided favors and entertainment while the men did what they were told. We controlled everything. They just didn’t know it.
Actually, Mom called the shots. I just did what she wanted since I was still in training. Mom had once been a streetworker. She’d always said she wouldn’t let me get into that line of work. The streets were brutal. What we were doing was much better and more rewarding since we got to say what and who and when.
Plus, I never got my “gifts” unless I did what she asked.
My latest was a gold egg that held enough coke for a weekend of fun. She’d promised a refill when I’d gone through the first load. She’d promised me a new Maserati if I got Jaxon and Braddox to the house at the same time.
Jaxon had just left, taking my dreams of a new car with him.
I let the water lull me to my back, staring up at the cloudy night sky. What was I going to do? I was a little too stoned to think as thoroughly as I needed to.
Mom said everything fell to the Ramirez women. All my life I’d heard about them. Then, just recently, I’d found out about Olivia being my half-sister. Obviously, she didn’t get the better sides of our father.
Our father who was anything but a saint. I wondered just how she’d had to earn the necklace she wore around school. Had she been forced to play the same games with her dad that I had been? Wasn’t he the reason taking up my mother’s lifestyle had been so easy?
They’d both trained me to be a skilled lover and there I was, one of the most sought-after commodities on the west coast and into the mid-west. Not that I cared about the mid-west. There wasn’t as much money there as the east-coast. That’s where I was headed. I wanted that.
The whole east coast would be mine.
I hated Olivia and I couldn’t pinpoint why. Maybe because my father hadn’t lived with us all the time. Maybe because he’d chosen to be here with them.
Then I found out from Braddox that my mother and I had moved into Olivia’s old home and things looked brighter. At least on my end.
“Staci? You out here?” Mom’s voice broke through the water lapping around my ears.
I dropped my legs and raised my head, my hair falling behind me to float in the warm, bath-like water around me. “Yes, I’m here.”
“Elkin is here with his friends. I need help, please.” She sounded tired but power hungry, not a good mix for the woman as she was getting older.
I grinned and splashed the water. “Turn on the pool lights. I’ll start with a show.” In my chest, I couldn’t help the pit of anger that once again I had to do what she wanted and not what I wanted. I would have to swim for them naked, the lit water the only thing visible in the black yard. The water would be blue and I would be easily seen as I swam. Some would want to come out and use me in the water and some would want to wait until I got inside. Either way, it was going to be a long night. I grinned, hiding behind the need for power, too.
If I had as much power as I thought I did, why then had Jaxon left and why wasn’t Braddox there like I wanted?
What would happen when my mom found out I’d failed? She had no idea when it was supposed to happen, just that I was setting things up to be with both guys.
Oh, well. I rolled to my stomach and sliced through the water, showing them my backside as I swam. I’d start there and then slowly show the goods with a backward swim. It was all about timing and anticipation.
Everything was.
Even death.
Chapter 16
Olivia
I should have been in class like all the other girls my age. I should have been worrying about an upcoming math final, who I was going out with that weekend, and what I was wearing to graduation.
Instead, dressed in a cream cashmere dress with a navy-blue wraparound scarf and matching pumps, I stood beside my mother and Trenton in the elevator. The digital panel of the lift dinged every time we passed another floor. Even though it was only six floors, the dings became unbearable. I didn’t want to face the Stablers – my father’s other family. Maybe I needed to call them the Vigils. Dad’s betrayal was too hard to swallow every time I thought of him and them.
In protest of the man Jonathan was proving to have been, I left the helicopter necklace tucked in the back of a walnut jewelry box in my closet. Like a tell-tale heart, it glared at me from its hiding spot as if I was the traitor.
But wasn’t my father the one who had betrayed us all?
My mom reached out and claimed my hand in hers. I turned my head to look at her, taking in the shadows under her eyes that she’d almost completely hidden with well-applied makeup, and the pinched look to her lips. The only reason I could even see her nerves was because the show hadn’t started. As soon as she stepped off the elevator, Maria Ramirez – business woman – would be there in all her glory. That Maria scared me. She was neither nurturing nor caring as she strove to do what was best for her company.
I gently squeezed Mom’s fingers and smiled reassuringly.
Trenton looked our way, glancing between the two of us as a bright green P flashed on the screen of the lift display. “You two okay?” He jostled the case in his arms to the other side and stretched his hand out to grip Mom’s shoulder as he looked her in the eye. Really looked at her. “I know you’re tired. This is a lot to deal with. Let’s get it out of the way so you can have your birthright back. So, you can return the legacy to Olivia’s future. Okay?” He raised his eyebrows and glanced between Mom and me.
I nodded, grateful for someone who actually saw my mother for who she was and didn’t seem intimidated by the things she could do. Instead, Trenton seemed intent on protecting her ability to do what she could. He was a strong man who wasn’t put off by a strong woman. A trait I recognized in Jaxon.
The doors double-dinged as the elevator stopped. The shiny, brushed metal doors slid open. Mom stepped out and I rested my fingers on Trenton’s arm before he followed her. He looked at me, first at my hand and then at my face.
“Thank you. She needs you. It’s a good thing having you here.” I spoke haltingly, blinking back grateful tears. He had no idea what it was like to see Mom with a guy who appreciated her. Even my father had barely tolerated the successes my mother had. He was jealous and wanted to be the one celebrate
d. The more I was getting to know him, the more I understood about the life he’d shared with us.
Trenton patted my hand and smiled, his eyes sad as he walked to join my mom, leaving me to follow with my hands at my sides.
The main offices of Ramirez International were located on the top floor of the oldest building in the middle of Shores. The town was small, but not undeveloped. Probably because of businessmen like Trenton O’Donnell running things. I’d never understood the appeal of a town like Shores when where were so many bigger cities people could live in.
I’d been going to the offices for years as a little girl, running up down the halls and tormenting the receptionist and the janitor any chance I had. Mom kept snacks in a small fridge behind her desk in the office on the north end of the building. We were headed toward the south end where the main boardrooms were located. Not that she had a furnished office anymore. She hadn’t been there in four months, give or take.
The main boardroom was the only room lit up as people sat around a large oval, wood table. At one end of the room, a blank wall would double as a projector screen. Each chair was a leather office-style seat with armrests that swiveled. At the moment, the chairs and their occupants faced away from the door and all I could see were the backs of heads and seats.
We walked the rest of the way down the hall; our footsteps softly padded by the thickly piled carpet. Well-painted walls absorbed any other noises. For a brief moment, it sounded like I was the only one breathing as we got closer and closer. Were we really doing this? Was Mom really going in like a damn cowboy and reclaiming her company? What if they had guns? What if Staci’s mom had her guys there and they tried to kill us?
None of that seemed to matter to my mother. She didn’t hesitate at the entrance to the boardroom as she pushed through the double-paned full glass doors like she owned the place. Which, technically, she did. The people in the room just didn’t know it yet. They swiveled on their seats, turning to face Mom as she entered their private domain.
Thankfully, I couldn’t see any of them. I don’t think I could focus on any faces in my distraction. We followed behind my mother and I let the faces facing us stay blurry in my mind as I moved where Trenton indicated. Standing behind Mom, I stared at the back of her head. I didn’t want to see the people I’d grown up knowing in there. I didn’t know if I could stand that kind of disloyalty.
Standing there with her hands on her hips and her chin up, Mom did own the place. Her home-away-from-home had been stolen from her by a man who pretended to have a right to anything she had. Which he hadn’t.
She was like a modern-day warrior, there to seek vengeance and reclaim what was hers. What was mine.
Elkin’s balding pate swiveled our way when we entered the conference room, letting the door close softly behind us. I stopped beside Trenton as he hung back along the perimeter of the room behind Mom.
Mom moved right in, grabbing an extra chair from its position against the wall. She slid it into place and sat at the head of the table, as if she’d never left. She steepled her fingers and smiled benevolently at each person who had the audacity to meet her gaze.
“Excuse me, this is for board members only. As nice as it is to see you, Maria, that’s no longer the case in your situation.” Elkin’s bifocals split his snake-like eyes in half. His flat nose contributed to the appearance and not for the first time I couldn’t help wondering why Mom had ever trusted him to begin with.
Mom folded her hands on top of the table and met Elkin’s gaze straight on. She tilted her head to the side and a small smile curved her lips. “You’re right, Elkin. As far as anyone else is concerned, my shares to the company were sold. I shouldn’t be here. Except… my shares were sold illegally. I’m here to claim it all back. I came without the authorities to see if we can solve this peaceably. If we can’t, I’m prepared to do what is necessary. I’m sure you understand, right, Elkin? I always protect what’s mine.”
Elkin glanced sharply across the table to a blonde woman who turned to face us, her features tight but easily recognizable as Staci’s mother. She glanced between me, my mother, and Trenton. Her eyes narrowed when she got to my step-father and she stood. “Trenton O’Donnell. Why am I not surprised you’re here?”
“Vigil. Maybe because you keep doing things you shouldn’t be?” Trenton’s grin had taken on a nasty edge, a side I’d never seen of him before. “I told you I’d do whatever it took to stop you. This time, you did it to yourself.”
Knowing Staci’s mom was there shouldn’t have come as a surprise. After everything else I knew about the family, I couldn’t help the jolt of shock when I finally scanned the room and its occupants, finding Staci sitting in the corner. She wore a tight black business dress-suit and an even tighter, more obvious red halter-top under the jacket. Her cleavage dove deep with her arms crossed in front of her, as if she knew the exact way to hold her body to her best advantage. I had no doubt she knew exactly what she was doing.
Our gazes clashed and we stared at each other with full knowledge of who the other was written plainly on our faces. She knew I was her half-sister and still she hated me. That gave an all-new meaning to the way she’d treated me. There was no love lost and I had to stop thinking of her as a potential family member. She was nothing but my enemy. Jonathan had made sure of that.
Mrs. Stabler turned her gaze from Trenton to my mother. Her expression morphed from aggravated to condescending. “I bought your company legally. I’m not sure why you think you can come in here and make accusations. If you don’t remove yourself, I’ll be forced to call security.”
Just beyond her, Staci pulled out her phone and pressed some buttons and then tucked the phone back inside the front pocket of her suit. Was she texting their security? The things I’d already learned about the Stabler women guaranteed she wouldn’t be ordering pizza for us. Instead, she wouldn’t hesitate to call in a rough team to deal with us the same way she’d dealt with Stephanie and the guys who’d shown up for a good time.
“You’re moving into position to sell the rest of the pieces to this woman, correct, Elkin? All of the times you’ve reached out to me asking for advice and telling me how much you want to keep the integrity of Ramirez International intact was all an act, wasn’t it.” Mom didn’t ask the question she already knew the answer to.
Trenton stepped forward, slipping the briefcase he’d brought with him onto the conference table beside Mom. He pulled out a small projector and set it in front of her, pushing a button and stepping aside.
Mom pulled out her phone, swiped some buttons on the screen and then connected it to the projector via Bluetooth. After a couple seconds, the projector beam shot across the room and lit up the wall opposite Mom.
I stepped to the side and turned off the lights, moving to stand in front of the door and pushing my foot against the bottom of the jamb. If anyone showed up to interrupt, they wouldn’t be able to get in.
“I’m going to show you some documentation that will back up my claims and then I’m going to tell you what is going to happen. I request all questions be held until the end.” Mom stood, holding her phone in her hand as she moved. The dark shine of her hair only stood out more in the dim lighting.
“This is ridiculous. You can’t just barge in here like this.” Staci’s mom stood, pushing her curvy body from the table.
But ten other people, besides Elkin, sat at the same table and until that moment they’d been quiet, trying not to get involved in what probably appeared to be a woman’s emotional breakdown. However, a middle-aged woman with glasses I used to call Owl and had never really liked as a kid held up her hand and arched an eyebrow. “I’d like to hear what they have to say. If there’s nothing to substantiate their claims, there shouldn’t be any problem hearing them out while we wait for security. I think that would be acceptable considering the fact that we’re talking about liquidating a multi-billion-dollar company here.”
Liquidating. Mom’s features tightened and she incline
d her head in the direction of the woman. “Thank you, Dorothy. I’ll keep it short.”
A marriage certificate filled the wall. Mom continued, walking around the room as she spoke. “As you can see this is a marriage certificate between Jonathan Stabler and the woman sitting here today.” Mom clicked to the next image. “As you can see, this is my marriage certificate to the same man. These papers are three months apart. That’s not enough time to get a divorce in Colorado or Oregon. My marriage to Mr. Stabler was invalid. He had no legal right to sell shares that weren’t actually his.” The group murmured to each other in response to the things Mom revealed.
She continued as if she and Mrs. Stabler/Vigil were the only ones in the room. “You married him and for whatever reason, he married me, too. I don’t know why we didn’t know what he was up to, but I take part of the blame for that one. I shouldn’t have trusted him as much as I did. I just thought everything was perfect in my life. When he died, though, everything went upside down, much like I’m sure it did for you.”
Mom’s eyes gentled as she looked more closely at my father’s first wife. “I don’t blame you for wanting to get rid of the company, but it isn’t yours. All of the money he took with him from my company and gave to you isn’t yours. It’s mine. As we speak, we have lawyers issuing reclamation warrants and seizing your funds as well as the house you bought from me with my money. We did some digging and your family was running out of cash until Jonathan started embezzling Ramirez International money to give to you.”
She stopped moving and leaned forward, bracing her hands on the table across from the woman. Mom narrowed her eyes, shaking her head as she held the other woman’s gaze. “When did you find out about us?”
Frozen in place, Mrs. Stabler/Vigil stared at my mother, her lips tight and small white pressure lines shot out from her mouth.
After a minute with everyone else in the room waiting with bated breath, Staci spoke up from the side. “We found out a year ago.”
Forgiven: a bully romance (An Academy Twin Rivalry Series Book 3) Page 12