Jaxon’s reply was instant.
J: I’m with Braddox. I’ll be back soon.
With Braddox? Jaxon was with Braddox willingly? How was that possible? I couldn’t help wondering what kind of lies Braddox was telling Jaxon. Maybe Braddox was claiming I was the one who had seduced him. Or set things up so he’d come to my room and rape me. Who knew with Braddox?
Anxiety curled around my nerves at the base of my neck and curved down my spine, leaving a cold chill in its wake. Jaxon and I had too many things between us. Our trust was fragile and on edge. I didn’t want to chance whatever games Braddox was playing.
I grabbed my mug and left the kitchen, moving to stand in the main foyer. Pacing back and forth, I worked on steadying my breathing as I randomly sipped from my cup, ignoring as the liquid grew tepid. Even when I’d reached the dregs in the bottom of the cup, I still didn’t really care.
The doorbell rang. I stopped pacing, turning to stare suspiciously at the front door. I gave it a moment, and then approached the tiled area directly around the front entryway. Who would ring the doorbell at that hour? Most likely it was a delivery. I tried to calm my heavy breathing.
I looked through a side window, narrowing my eyes at the black SUV with limousine tint on the rear windows.
Donnie sat in the front. His easy-to-recognize features glaringly clear with how close the SUV was to the house. They’d driven up on the porta cache about ten feet from the front doors. They’d even knocked over some of Trenton’s decorative pots and statues.
I was off to the side of the double doors, and I sank down even further to stay out of their line of sight. On all fours, I watched as Donnie motioned toward the house with two fingers and then toward the sky. I had no idea what he was doing.
The first bullet shot through the door where I would have been, if I was looking through the peephole. Covering my mouth, I gasped and backed up, trying to crawl away from the doors, somewhere safe. Where was safe? I Army crawled to the stairs, flinching every time another bullet made a hole in the heavy door.
The sound of glass breaking punctuated the moments when the thuds from the wood getting shot paused.
I slid beneath the bottom step. If they came into the house, they would never be able to find me. At least I wouldn’t be where they’d first look. I would buy myself some time.
More shots rang out. Was I going to get hit by a ricochet or a badly aimed bullet? I closed my eyes and tried not to breathe too fast. I could just see me passing out and coming to when they stormed the house and found me.
Actually, no, I couldn’t see that. I wasn’t going to get caught lying on the damn ground. I treated the shots like popcorn. The more time in between each one was a sign they were almost done or that I would have a break where I could get up and run.
Finally, the sound of tires screeching down the drive and the lack of shots told me I could come out. I inhaled as deeply as I could and rolled to the side onto all fours, pushing myself to my feet. Breaking into a run, I rushed to the mudroom just off the garage.
The bathroom was more like a hotel room without a bed. Supplied with a large walk-in shower, commercial laundry units, a deep sink, tiled flooring, and a key holder with backup keys of all the cars and vehicles for the home, the bathroom lacked for nothing. Jaxon and Mom had been required to get copies of their keys and add them to the stash. Trenton had explained that in case of emergency, a central location of keys would help anyone trying to help bail out whoever might have locked their keys in the care or otherwise.
I scanned the labels, snagging the El Camino keys from the three sets dangling on the hooks. I was getting angrier and angrier. I couldn’t leave the house. Not yet. I wasn’t sure it was safe. Yet, I needed to. The house closed in around me. I couldn’t breathe. I was stuck there in that damn prison.
Donnie could come back any moment and finish what he’d started.
Bracing my arms on the wall, I took a deep breath. What was going on? Why had Braddox taken Jaxon out of the house? Or maybe it had been Jaxon’s idea. I couldn’t be sure. We hadn’t been able to talk about much in the small time we’d had together besides how sorry we were and to be intimate. What was wrong with me? I was embarrassed even thinking about it.
Dang it. I really liked this guy. No. Right then wasn’t a time to talk in half-measures. I loved him and that scared me. Anytime people fell in love in my family, it turned into a mess. My great-grandmother had even had to make contingency plans for the business to protect the legacy from the owners’ hearts.
I couldn’t love Jaxon. I just couldn’t.
What would Stephanie say? She’d probably tell me to screw him and then leave him. She’d never been a real fan of romance or anything that meant a relationship… except… she’d been committed to Ryan and had done things with him because she’d claimed to be in a relationship.
I couldn’t help wondering if Ryan knew about Braddox and Stephanie. I clenched Jaxon’s car keys in my hand. If it took all day, I was going to drive around Shores and find the twins. The last time I’d trusted Braddox, I’d ended up losing my virginity.
I poked my head out the door, glancing at the thick wood with bullet holes shunting the smooth surface. Had they shot up the cars? Jaxon would be devastated if his car was destroyed.
No matter what happened, I had to get out of there. What if it wasn’t safe driving around town? Damn it. I had to accept the fact that it wasn’t safe. Once I did, I could say I was fine with it. And I was. I wanted to face something dangerous. Something I could fight against.
Sitting there in that house, I was a sitting target and that wasn’t going to work for me.
I pulled out my phone and dialed my mom as I climbed into the front seat of the El Camino. Thankfully it was automatic. Manuals were hard to drive with a phone in one hand.
Mom picked up after two rings. “Olivia? Is everything okay?” Her voice comforted me and I suddenly realized just how amped up I’d been.
“Don’t go home. I was there waiting for Jaxon or you to get home and someone rang the doorbell. I looked through the side window and men in a black SUV shot up the house.” I turned the engine on, grateful it started with one turn of the key in the ignition.
Mom gasped. “What? No!” Trenton’s voice was muffled in the background, then Mom’s came to me hurriedly. “Just a minute, Olivia, I’m going to have you repeat that but on speakerphone. We’re headed to the lawyers again. Things are moving fast now that we have the evidence we need.” Her voice changed as she put me on speaker. “Okay, Olivia, go ahead. Tell Trenton the same thing you just told me.”
I took a deep breath, glancing left and right at the end of the driveway before pulling onto the road. “A black SUV just shot up the house. Don’t go home.” The further I got from the house, the calmer I felt.
“Who was it?” Trenton didn’t ask if I knew. He asked me in such a way that if I did know, I would be forced to tell him. I licked my lips and pressed the gas as I revved toward town. “I saw Donnie Davis in the passenger seat. He wasn’t the one with the guns though. I didn’t see those men.” I flipped on the blinker and turned left, driving by Jaxon’s old job at the mechanic’s shop.
I slowed to a stop and stared at the burned-out shell of a business in the same spot where Crenshaw’s had been. “Trenton, did you know Crenshaw’s Shop is burned down?” Shock stole my calm for a minute and my hand shook as I held the phone to my ear.
He fell silent and then spoke slowly. “Mr. Crenshaw was deep in debt with some people. I’m suspecting those people were the Vigils. If that’s the case, that could be why they’re after Jaxon and us. I’ve been… Paying money to help take care of debts. I don’t want Shores to be indebted to drug runners and human traffickers.”
Mom exclaimed something in the background, her concern easy to understand through the distortion of the speaker.
Trenton continued, “I know. I should have warned you both sooner, but I have a feeling this is why we’re being attacked. I
’m sorry. I was just trying to help people. I never dreamed it would put my family in danger.”
“No, you’re right to do this. People need help. I wouldn’t want my children being raised in a town that is predominantly addicts, pushers, and pimps. That doesn’t sound right. Okay, so what do we need to do?” Mom was always optimistic. She was a doer.
Trenton had no idea that we were under attack because one of his sons had targeted another.
“Where are the boys?” Trenton was worried about his sons. I would question his role as a father, if he wasn’t. “Do they know about it?”
“No. I called you guys first. I’ll call them next. What do you want me to do?” I pulled away from where I’d stopped by the shop, shaken, but determined to keep going. I had to find Jaxon. He was somewhere in town and he was with Braddox. The last guy I trusted on earth. I would even trust Donnie over Braddox. At least Donnie didn’t deny the fact that he was a douchebag.
“Okay, I’m going to send a security team around that way to secure the house before we get home. I’ll let you know when it’s safe. Where are you going?” Trenton was all business while his words were laced with concern.
“I had to get out of there. I’m driving through town.” He hadn’t mentioned Donnie or what he thought about him being there. I cleared my throat, slowing the car down as I approached the stop sign. “What do you think about Donnie, Trenton?”
The silence stretched for two seconds, then to five. He finally spoke and his words were hesitant. “I don’t want to scare you, Olivia, but he’s messed up in some pretty bad stuff. He’s right in there with the Vigils.”
The Vigils or rather the Stablers as I knew them were turning out to be the worst group I’d ever heard of.
“Okay. So, what you’re saying is I need to stay away from Donnie.” I just muttered the obvious, even though Donnie wasn’t anyone I wanted to be around. I couldn’t tell Trenton or my mom that Donnie had tried to rape me. That would only freak them out more than they already were and I didn’t need to deal with hyper protective parents.
“Call the boys. I’m calling the security agency. Don’t go home without calling us back.” Trenton hung up without letting me talk to Mom.
I understood the urgency. I wanted to call Jaxon immediately, but I also wasn’t sure what I would find. Would Braddox have swayed Jaxon to his side? Were we separated out by sides at this point? What would Braddox possibly say to Jaxon that would convince him to leave me out of his life?
No matter what Braddox did to me and Jaxon, I would never go back to Braddox. That wasn’t an option.
I would rather kill myself.
Chapter 22
Jaxon
Braddox pulled the car through the gate of the cemetery. His hands hadn’t relaxed on the steering wheel. If anything, his knuckles tightened more, becoming white and angular.
We fell into a tense silence. I reached out, gripping the handle of the armrest with clammy fingers. I’d just been there. The memory of Mom being buried still too fresh in my mind for comfort. I swallowed, staring up the hill where she was laid to rest.
A knot formed in my chest and I shot a glance at Braddox. My voice came out lower than normal. “Have you been here?” I didn’t need to ask. He hadn’t gone the day she’d been buried. I was there. I knew who had shown up. Only Olivia had shown any support.
Braddox didn’t look at me as he revved the engine and climbed the slight, curvy incline to the parking area by the gravesite. “No. This will be my first time.”
“Didn’t you miss her? Or me?” I had to ask. The questions had burned a hole in my chest for years. “Because I missed you.” The admission hurt. I balked against any vulnerability with most people, let alone Braddox.
He turned the car off and dropped his hands from the wheel and stared through the windshield into the gloomy day. He ignored my questions as he turned to me. “Where do you think she is now?” He leaned back, his shoulders hitting the seat as he hung his head.
I hadn’t really thought about it. The somberness of his question complemented the gray clouds overhead. “You know, I wish I could say. I know what I hope and I know what she believed, but I’m not sure what’s true and what’s not.” I relaxed my hold on the armrest and turned toward Braddox. “Where do you think she is?” He’d asked the question because he had something on his mind. There was something different about him.
He scoffed, resting his elbow on the edge of his door as he glanced at me, derision in the furrowing of his brow and the creases around his eyes. “People like Mom and me… There is probably – no, there’s definitely a place in hell for us. Someone like you? You’d have it made. Probably sit in gold thrones surrounded by people like Olivia waiting to serve you.” He shook his head, his humor fading as he glanced down. “I didn’t realize how much I cared about her until I lost her. She really is worth fighting for, you know that, right?” He glanced at me, waiting for my nod.
I did know. “Yeah, I know. But so are you. No one is irredeemable. I believe you can be anything you want to be. It’s not too late, Braddox.” Didn’t he know he was loved? How would he? I’d never told him.
I cleared my throat, leaning forward in the car. I opened my mouth to speak and Braddox sliced his hand through the air and slapped his hand on the seat between us. “Let’s go see Mom, huh?” His expression was suddenly bright and he pushed the door open to climb out.
Trying to hold onto the moment between us, I followed my twin from the car, pulling the hood of my sweatshirt over my head.
Rain drops splattered around us, marking where they crashed with dark circles on the pavement, our shirts, and the car. Grass moved under the weight of the drops as they fell consistently from the sky.
Braddox didn’t wait for me as he climbed the soft knoll to Mom’s grave. I followed, glancing out over the cemetery which had a park-like feel with the lush green grass and the heavy tree canopy blocking the view of the ocean. I could easily see all of the roads in and out of the cemetery as the blacktop driveway curled in and out amongst the grave areas.
I continued following Braddox as we climbed the soft slope. The site looked different every time I came there. With Braddox was only my third time, but the rain had soaked the dirt and sunk the mound more fully into the ground.
“What’s with the questions about death and dying? Do you worry about it a lot?” I came to a stop beside Braddox as he stared at Mom’s headstone.
He had his hands stuffed in the front pocket of the hoodie. He didn’t look at me as he half-shrugged. “I think it bears some thought. I like to know where I’m sending people.”
“Sending people? I don’t understand. You didn’t send Mom there, Braddox. In fact,” I reached out, placing my hand on his shoulder as I waited for him to raise his dubious gaze to my face. “I wanted to talk to you about those letters that you have from her. As I read them, I could see how you must have felt. If you gave her the drugs initially, it was on her to keep taking them. You might have started her, but she made the choice to continue. She didn’t have to send letters. She could have called. She could have come here or found Dad at his offices. If she really wanted to get through to him, she could have. You didn’t send her anywhere.” I stared into his eyes, trying to gauge if he believed me or not. I couldn’t tell and that left me feeling more helpless than anything else.
Braddox blinked and pulled away. “You don’t understand. You can’t.” He shook his head, softly laughing but without the mirth.
“Have you tried me? Why not see if I can? I mean, you haven’t tried to tell me anything.” If he had, I hadn’t caught it. Maybe it was my fault he hadn’t gotten through. Was I blocking the things he wanted to say to me?
Braddox pulled his hands out of his pockets and held his tight fists at his sides as he faced away from me, his head down toward the grave.
“What is it? Braddox, I’m your brother. We haven’t always been close, but I love you. I’ve always loved you. Even when we said we hated each ot
her. Help me understand.” That was all I had. I couldn’t do anything else to force him to talk to me. I couldn’t make him do anything he didn’t want to do.
He either wanted to talk to me or he didn’t. The silence that stretched between us suggested he didn’t.
I closed my eyes, sighing as I half-turned away from him as well. He didn’t have to talk to me, if he didn’t want to. I would stop pushing him.
“The thing is, Jaxon, it doesn’t matter how many words I use, you’ll never understand what it’s like to know you ordered a hit on your own brother.” Braddox spoke softly, the words clear and concise as they sent a shiver of ice shooting through me.
I must have heard him wrong. I had to have heard him wrong. What he claimed wasn’t possible. I blinked, turning back to face him with my mouth slightly parted. “You did what?” He was joking. He had to be. No one was so twisted, they’d order their own flesh and blood to be murdered.
He turned slowly, as if he knew what he’d find on my face. He lifted his eyes, slowly meeting my gaze with his. Regret and a modicum of pride darkened his already deep eyes. He tilted his head to the side as he shifted his feet to a more defensive stance. “Look, you don’t know what it’s like.”
“I don’t know what it’s like? Your life has been so hard you’ve had to pull out a hit on me? What did I ever do to you? I’ve always…” I bit down hard, clipping the side of my tongue with my teeth. The sharp taste of blood burst across my tongue and I didn’t even notice the pain. I didn’t care. I pressed my fingers to my forehead. “When? When will I die?” I had no doubt he’d hired professionals. One thing about Braddox that seemed to be a family thing was the ability to do whatever we did right the first time.
If he’d made up his mind to have me killed, he would hire only the best.
I stared at him, challenging him with my eyes to lie to me, to tell me it wasn’t going to be a big deal. Anything, something to put the weight off of him.
Forgiven: a bully romance (An Academy Twin Rivalry Series Book 3) Page 16