Drowning (Tears of Sin Series)

by Rachel Firasek

  He flips to his back. “I sold all my shares and bought into a company that has made me very wealthy. The outcome was right, but I should have told my dad.”

  I lean over him, one hand on his chest. “What did you buy into?”

  “It was a prototype of software for a sound boarding, but now it’s a finished concept and is going to be hitting the stores next year. I’m taking the proceeds and opening a production company.” He’d been watching my hand, but now his eyes meet mine, a sense of pride making them lighter than ever. “We’re going to create our own music and help other artists find success.”

  “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

  “My dad thought Seth was a flake for ditching college and heading into music. I’m not as strong as him. I didn’t want him to know that I loved music too.” He brushes a curl back from my face. We probably looked like the perfect couple, but I don’t think either of us felt anything other than comfort with the other. “I think I worried that it would make him think we’d ditched him for her.”

  “Your mom.”

  He nods. It’s infinitely the sweetest and saddest thing I’ve ever heard. These James men just keep teaching me about sacrifice.

  “I get that.” He doesn’t say anything else and I take a moment to gather my courage. “I love your brother.” Holy shit. I just said it out loud. It’s out in the world and I can’t take it back.

  “I know you do, Al.”

  “Don’t tell him, okay?”

  “It’s yours to give him. Not me.” He hugs me close and we finally drift into sleep.

  We arrive at the hospital with only seconds to spare before they let us in ICU. I go straight to Seth’s cubicle and Mr. James, Gabe, and Evan go to see Deacon, who held on through the night. I pull back the curtain and sneak inside in case Seth’s sleeping. His eyes are still swollen shut, but they don’t look as red.

  “Alice?”

  “Hey, how’d you know it was me?” I’m thrilled that just my being in the room is enough for him.

  “I smelled you.”

  “Geez, I don’t know if I should say thank you to that.” He reaches out, and I take his hand, sitting on the side of the bed. He’s calm this morning and not wincing quite as much as he was last night. “How’d you rest?”

  “Like a zombie. They morphined me up. Moving into a room later today.”

  “That’s good.” I squeeze his hand, and he yanks me closer. “Seth.”

  “Don’t leave. Stay with me today. I worry about you when you’re gone.” His words are hard to understand because his split lip is making it difficult to open his mouth all the way.

  “Seth, come on. I’ll be here for you.” He’s clingy, and I can’t blame him. I’d probably be too if the situation was reversed. He must feel awful being so helpless. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  He settles down and holds on to my hand until the nurse tells me that they’re going to get him ready to go into a private room. I kiss the top of his head. “I’m going to go check on Deacon while they take you up. I’ll find you in a few minutes.”

  He nods and leans back against the pillows. “Hurry.”

  Deacon is in the cubicle two spaces over. The doctors say that he'll be fine, but we're still waiting to see how fast he'll bounce back. He took one bullet to the head and one to the chest. The chest was a clean shot that went through his left pec and out his back, barely missing that big heart of his. But the head wound needed surgery to extract the bullet. Only time will tell how much he'll have to overcome.

  I reach out, hovering my hand over his. I don’t want to wake him if he’s sleeping, but if he’s not asleep…I don’t know if I can handle that either. “Deacon?” He's been taken off the respirator, and other than the big white bandage on his head, he appears to be sleeping.

  He blinks up at me. “Yeah.”

  I sag at the gruff reply. “How you feeling?”

  “Like I got shot in the head.”

  “That's pretty bad.” I reach out and grab his arm. There aren’t words for how happy I am that this man is still alive. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For being there for him.” He grunts but doesn't say anything else. I pull up a chair and sit with him for a while.

  “Alice?”

  “Yes?”

  “He can't lose you. I've never seen him like that...well, not since his mother left.” He sighs and winces. “When I get out of this, we're going to take down your father. Just so you know. We'll take those zips to the police. He's—”

  “I know. I'm ready.”

  “I’m sorry that it's going to put all kinds of heat on you. But this won't have been for nothing.” His words are slurring, and it won’t be long before he really does slip back into sleep. I can’t wait to tell them all that he’s coherent.

  I reach down and kiss his cheek. He smiles, or at least, his lips tip up.

  “You're worth every minute. Every bullet. He loves you and we love him. We'd do anything for you guys. But don't let me get shot again.”

  I giggle. I love this guy like a brother I’d never had. “Okay, promise.”

  They've already taken Seth upstairs to a private recovery room, and they'll move Deacon tomorrow. I run into Gabe at the elevators, and we ride up together. “I was coming to find you.”

  “Deacon is going to be okay. Right?” I ask.

  “I think so. If no other swelling pops up, the most he'll have is a little bit of irritability, they think.”

  We walk down the long hall and find Seth's room. “Hey, you.” I nod at Mr. James sitting on the small couch across the room reading the paper.

  “Alice.”

  “Mr. James. I'm so glad you're here.”

  He arches a brow at me. “Oh?”

  I’m about to take the biggest fucking leap of my life. “I need your help later today. Can you meet me at your office at noon?”

  He grins up at me. “Absolutely.”

  I plant my hands on the plastic foot board of Seth’s bed. “With your lawyers.”

  “You bet.”

  Seth reaches out his hand. “I'm so proud of you.”

  “I T’S TIME TO MAKE HIM stop. He's out of control, and I won't be responsible for someone's death.”

  I hurry to Seth’s side, and his fingers link with mine, tugging until I’m half lying on the bed beside him. I try not to land on his busted ribs, but he doesn't seem to care. We lay like this until he falls to sleep, content in each other’s arms, even if we have an audience. Gabe helps me off the bed.

  “Tell him I'll be back this afternoon.” I give Gabe a quick hug.

  “I'm going to stay and watch out for them.” He’s such a big cuddly hero. “Evan had to go talk to our promoter and cancel the gig we had lined up for next week.”

  “I’m sorry that everything’s so messed up right now. I know how important these things are for you guys.”

  Rowena's house is set back from the road, and I have to park out front like a visitor. Seth's truck is large and difficult to maneuver up the narrow driveway. I don't have the key code, and I doubt she'd give it to me. I punch on the buzzer and wait for the housekeeper to let me in. “It's Alice.”

  There's no answer, but the gates swings wide. “I'm so going to hate this.”

  Rowena meets me at the door. “Alice. She's in her room. I can't get her to eat or drink anything. Please forgive her.”

  I've never in all my life expected to see this side of Row. She almost seems humbled. Human. “She told you what she did?”

  “Yes, and I'm sorry that she hurt you, but we have to make her get better.” I don’t waste time wondering how anyone this self-absorbed could even care for her daughter.

  I hurry down the hall to Molly’s room and bust through the door. “Get your sorry ass up.”

  She jack knives on the bed and turns toward my voice. “Alice?”

  “What you did was wrong. On every level. I really didn't think you were capable of someth
ing so shrewd, but you've been taught by the best manipulators. So, I'm going to forgive you. Not for you, but for me. I've learned that revenge is for the weak. It's not about that. But, so help me god, Mole, if you ever pull something like this again and go against everything that's right in your heart, I’ll ditch your ass for good.” She's crying, and it saddens me that the tears don't affect me the way they used to. I think we'll get back to that place, but everything is too new.

  “Okay. I love you, Alice. I knew. I knew it was you, I think. But I didn't want to believe that he could do that to you. You who were so full of life. I lived every day jealous of that kind of freedom.”

  “You didn't do this out of jealousy. I think that seed was there, but you did this thinking you'd protect both him and her. I can't blame you for that. I wish I had that kind of loyalty toward our parents, but I don't. So, today at noon, we're going to go meet a team of lawyers who will take us to the police station.” They’d interviewed Seth earlier, but he’d been hesitant about telling them all the facts. We just weren’t sure how deep Harrison’s corruption had spread. “We're going to stop him for good. No one else gets hurt.” There’s a moment in every woman’s life when she knows that for once, she stood on her own two feet, faced the world, and flipped it off. I just had that moment, and it feels fucking awesome.

  “Okay.”

  Rowena is hovering in the doorway. “What will happen to us?”

  “Row,” I tip one corner of mouth up at her, “ever heard of divorce?”

  “Oh, my god. This is going to ruin us. I knew you’d eventually be the downfall of this family.”

  “You'll be okay.”

  It takes an hour to get Molly ready, but we make it to Mr. James’ office with time to spare. I’m not expecting to see Seth lounging on the sofa in his father's office, and I am instantly furious. “What the fuck?”

  He crosses his arms. “I'm not letting you do this alone.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “You can’t even see.” I cross the room and kneel at his ankles. “You almost died just yesterday. What the hell are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking this will be the hardest thing you’ve ever done. And I’m with you. All the way.”

  I wrap my arms around his legs—that was the most undamaged part of him—and lay my head on his lap. I may have been drowning all my life, but this man will be my lifeline. I’ll be his anchor. Together we’ll fucking conquer the world. “You’re with me?”

  He threads his fingers through my curls. “To the end, baby.”

  The meeting with the lawyers goes exactly as planned, and when we have our plan together, we head downtown. We ride together in Mr. James’ hired car to the police station. It takes two of us to keep Seth upright while climbing the stairs in front of the building. I drop him into a wooden chair in the lobby, and he winces.

  “Sorry.”

  He pries one eye open, reaches behind me, and pinches my ass. “No, you're not.”

  I swat his hand away. “No, I'm not. You should have stayed at the hospital.”

  He grins, or at least, I think it's a grin. His face is so grossly swollen. I miss seeing those blue eyes. And when he really apologizes for being such an ass, I want to see them. The receptionist gets us a detective, and we're led back to the captain’s office. “He'll want to hear this.”

  This is going to get real ugly. Having one of the state’s leading political candidates under investigation is going to bring a lot of heat on the department. The captain is a burly man with a gruff attitude. He takes the box of zip drives from me and asks if he can view one. “Would you like to step outside, Miss?”

  “No. I'm fine.” I could handle this now. I’m surrounded by people that love me. Really love me. They give me the courage to face down the evidence and finally put it behind me.

  Seth grabs my hand and tugs me toward him. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  The screen comes on and there is my father's voice, torturing me long before he cracks a whip against my skin. Mole is whimpering against Seth's dad, and Rowena is somewhere behind me. Quiet. Reserved. Holding it all together until she can sneak away and lick her wounds.

  The captain rakes a hand down his face and shuts off the video. “I'm so sorry, Miss.” I nod my head, and Seth presses my knuckles to his battered lips. “He do this to you too, boy?”

  “Yes, sir. And shot my friend who is still in the hospital.”

  “Deacon...oh, where is that file?” He shuffles some folders around on his desk. “We interviewed him this morning.”

  “Yes, sir. Harrison has men working for him that do the dirty work. But, E. Harrison busted me up personally.”

  He glances at the officer to his left. “Bring him in. You brought lawyers with you. What is that about?”

  Mr. James steps forward. “We just wanted to make sure all of our assets were covered. And they have my best interest at heart.”

  “I see.” He stands, so we all do.

  I step forward, away from Seth’s reach. I have to find out what to expect on my own. “Captain, will this be enough to keep him behind bars.”

  “With your testimony and his?” He tips his head at Seth. “Yeah, I don't think he'll ever get free.”

  “But he claims to own some of the force.”

  “My force? Pft. If he does, we’ll sniff them out, and they’ll serve the time.” He nods at me. “Don’t you worry, miss. We’ll get this bastard.”

  Rowena withers against the door and one of the suits grabs for her. “Miss Harrison?”

  She straightens, and it's like it didn't happen. “Thank you, Alice.” She turns and leaves, helping lead Molly away with her.

  “Rowena...”

  “Yes?” She swings around, blonde hair popping out away from her face.

  “I didn't do this for you.”

  She nods and walks on. We both know that this was not even for me. It's for my new family. The one I have to protect. The James’ brothers. And now their father.

  Seth drops an arm over my shoulder. “Let's go home, Dad.”

  “I'd say that's a good idea.” Mr. James hands a card to the captain and leads the way out of the station.

  We return to the hospital to check on Deacon, and he's awake and sitting up in bed. He glances up at our surprised faces. “Hey, you look worse than me.”

  Seth sags into a chair with a fine layer of sweat over his face. “Fuck you.” Deacon grins and the two share a moment that I feel almost like a voyeur watching. “So, they canceled our gig for next week.”

  “What the fuck, man?” Deacon begins pulling on lines attached to his fingers and chest. “We got to get out of here and salvage that shit.”

  “No. Stop pulling all your stuff off.” I reach over and put his leads back on his chest. “Stop.”

  He glances up at me and grins. “If I knew that getting shot would get your hands on me, I'd have done it a long time ago.”

  Seth growls from across the room and Deacon laughs until he grabs his head.

  I smile down at him. “Not so ready for the blaring of amps yet, huh?”

  He tugs on one of my curls and hugs me with his good arm. “I'm so glad you're safe. That we all are.”

  We stay until they give Deacon another painkiller and then head back to Seth's dad’s. Gabe is driving, and so far the brothers haven't spoken. It's like we're all waiting for a big explosion or something. I think everyone is stunned by the last few days. No one is even mentioning that I’m finally free. I haven’t broken that down in my head yet. I tell them all that I'm going to take a shower and then head to bed. Really, I want to give them time to sort their shit out, and I'm still unsure about my relationship with Seth. I love him. I think he loves me still, but I'm not sure if it's enough.

  SETH

  GABE HUNTS DOWN A BEER, and I pull the bottle in my pocket out. I hate resorting to the painkillers, but my face throbs like a bitch, and I am winding down on energy. Dad hands me a glass of water and leaves the room.
I feel a setup coming on. Gabe sits in Dad's favorite chair and crosses a booted foot across his thigh.

  “I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said earlier...well, not all of it.” Gabe scratches his chin, and glances up at me. He's fuzzy, but I can see his scowl.

  “I'm sorry too. I was wrong.” I give him my most repentant smile. “I should have stood by her. But I still kind of understand why Molly did it.”

  “So do I.” He stretches his arms above his head like this isn’t a difficult conversation.

  “Really?”

  He pops his knuckles, one crack at a time. “Yeah, but that shits over. I can't trust that kind of person.”

  “Gabe—”

  “No. Don’t try to change my mind on this.” Gabe downs half his bottle. “We okay?”

  We would always be okay. We were bros. “Yeah, are you okay?”

  “I will be.”

  I stand and walk over to him. I peer at him through the slits that have opened around my eyes. “Come on.” Gabe stands and crushes me until I grunt. “I love you, bro.”

  We're latching onto each other for more than a minute before he lets me go. We both know. I'd almost died and left him alone. My father is coming around, but he's got a lot to make up for.

  Gabe clears his throat, and asks, “What are you doing out here?”

  I laugh. “I know.”

  “Go make it up with her and get back in her bed. I swear to god, bro, you fuck that up, and I'm going to find her the biggest, hottest, dude to fuck her for days...maybe me.”

  I punch his shoulder. “Watch it.”

  I stagger my way up the stairs to my room. I can see enough to navigate my way. The slits for my vision aren't fun to open, but I'm getting there. Alice is still in the shower, and I rip off my T-shirt and land on my bed. I toe my boots off while I wait.

  She comes out in a towel and nothing else. “Seth,” she hisses. “I thought you'd still be downstairs.”

  “Do you want me to go?” I’m hoping she says no.

  “No.” She fumbles through my drawer and pulls a shirt out. She drops the towel and yanks it over her head. I love that she doesn't have any shame. She crawls over me and slides between the sheets. “You can get the lights on your way out.”