Indulge

by E. B. Walters

  She lifted her head. Her eyes were red, but she was in control of her emotions again. “Mothers of the groom don’t have plus-ones. Besides, this was your day. Yours and Jillian’s. My announcement can wait.”

  “So you and—”

  She pressed her finger to his lips. “Enough, Lex. Put me down.” He placed her inside the helicopter, and she buckled up, her hands unsteady. Then she pinned him with piercing eyes. “Find out the person who did this, Alexander,” she said, anger making her voice sharp. “Then do what you must to stop Warwick.”

  “Yes, Mom.”

  He stepped away from the helipad just as a car took off toward the gate. Lex didn’t give it a second thought until he reached the garage and realized the doors were open. His Rolls-Royce Wraith was missing.

  Most of the people driving the sick to Torrance Memorial worked for his brother-in-law, Ron Noble, and they had been given permission to use whatever car was available. Someone must have given out the key to Lex’s Wraith. On a different day, he would have been concerned. Today, he couldn’t care less.

  Lex headed back to the home theater and pulled Mrs. Petrosian aside. “How fast can you be ready to travel back to Armenia?”

  Confusion flashed in her eyes. Then anger followed. “Are you implying one of my people did this?”

  “No, ma’am. My enemy did this, and I plan to stop him. I can’t do that while worrying about Jillian’s safety. I want her out of the country with people who love and care about her.”

  Mrs. Petrosian blinked. “Oh. I wasn’t planning on leaving for another week or so, but we can be ready in two hours, or one. Narek and Zorah don’t drink while on duty and were not affected. They are keeping an eye on the rest of my family at the hospital.”

  “Call them. I’ll have the pilot file a new flight plan. He’ll take you and anyone traveling with you. All I ask is that you take Jillian, too. It’s the only way to keep her safe now. I can send my people to keep an eye on her if you like.”

  Mrs. Petrosian shook her head. “No, no, no. Until you find out who’s betrayed you, we should only have my people guarding her. Anyone who is not Armenian will stand out.”

  He imagined how Jillian would react to his decision. She was going to be angry. She’d also been reluctant to commit to visiting Armenia, but with Troy to keep her company, she might not feel out of place.

  “Jillian has grown attached to her assistant. I want him to go with her,” Lex said firmly.

  “Troy,” Mrs. Petrosian said. “A nice young man. Of course, he can come. I know this is a very hard decision, Mr. Fitzgerald.”

  “It’s Lex, please. And no, this was not hard. All I have to do is focus on Jillian and everything falls into place. It is the only solution.” And it hurt like a bitch.

  She patted his arm. “We’ll take good care of her.”

  “I know.” Lex left her making calls and contacted Mathews.

  Lex entered the den to find Douglas on the phone by the window. Two of his men had their eyes glued to the screens. From the looks of things, they were going through the recordings from this morning when the caterers arrived.

  “Anything?” Lex asked.

  “No, sir,” the first man said. “Whoever did this added the drug to the bottles in the last case using a very thin hypodermic syringe. We found holes in five of the corks. What doesn’t make sense is why he chose the last case. If he wanted maximum damage, he could have gone for the first few ones.”

  Whoever did this wasn’t interested in maximum damage. The timing meant something to them, but what? Lex’s eyes met Douglas, who was still on the phone. He didn’t have to say anything. They both knew they needed answers. He left the room and headed upstairs.

  Troy was going to get a huge bonus for keeping Jillian out of the mayhem downstairs. As for going with her to Armenia, Lex was going to pay him handsomely. Troy would keep her mind off things.

  The bedroom door was open, and no sounds came from inside. Frowning, Lex started forward and noticed the smear of blood on the doorframe. His stomach dropped.

  “Jillian!” he bellowed.

  He burst through the door even though he couldn’t remember moving. The room was empty, different sections registering as though illuminated by the flash of a camera.

  Broken flute on the side table. Drops of blood on the shards. A bloody towel on the floor. A bottle of Cristal in a bucket in the middle of the coffee table. Another flute, filled and untouched, on the other side table.

  “Jillian!”

  He tore through the room. The closets. The bathroom. When he re-entered the bedroom, Douglas and his men had arrived. His thought process slowed down as panic coiled in his gut.

  “She’s gone. I left her here with Troy, and now she’s gone. There’s blood, and I don’t know if it’s hers or his.”

  Douglas spoke, but Lex couldn’t hear over the blood roaring past his ear. Someone else entered the room, and his attention shifted. Dom. He said something, but Lex could only hear his own thoughts.

  They’d taken her from right under his nose. Rage like he’d never felt before coursed through him, chasing away panic. With the rage came focus. He was weird like that. He didn’t lose control of faculties when pissed. It often had the opposite effect. He caught the tail end of Douglas’ words.

  “…his brother,” Douglas said. “He re-invented himself, changed his name, and applied to the school.”

  “Who re-invented himself?” Lex asked, his voice whipping across the room. For one brief moment, everyone stared at him. Dom had the phone glued to his ear, but his eyes were on Lex as though he expected him to rip through someone. “Douglas, who?”

  “Troy. Cade’s people just called. Troy’s brother went to jail a few years ago for vehicular manslaughter. He got two years. He became a model prisoner, helped the teaching staff with the Last Mile program, and even taught those enrolled in the Prison University Project. Six months ago, they reduced his sentence. He was slated for early release when he killed an inmate. The courts threw the book at him and moved him to death row at San Quentin.”

  Troy was the link they’d been searching for. All this time, he’d been inside Lex’s home as a trusted employee, privy to information about them. Lex wanted to ram a fist through the wall. The man had better run, because when he caught up with him, he was going to rip him apart.

  “We just saw footage of him going to the wine cellar about an hour ago,” Douglas continued, regret in his voice. “He told the caterers he needed a bottle of champagne for you and Ms. Jillian for your trip to the airport. He’d assumed you were getting ready to leave when you and Ms. Jillian left the party. They didn’t question him.”

  The knot inside Lex’s gut tightened. This explained the timing. Poisoning his guests at the last minute had given Troy the distraction he needed to get Jillian alone and out of the house. Warwick believed none of them deserved to be happy because they’d locked him up. Grabbing Jillian after their wedding wasn’t an attempt to stop them from leaving. He meant to keep them apart indefinitely.

  He knew Lex would never look at another woman or take another wife as long as Jillian was out there.

  CHAPTER 19

  Lex started to leave the room and realized the others hadn’t moved.

  “Troy used the Wraith to get Jillian out of the house,” Lex said, his calm voice belying the boiling emotions inside him. “I saw them leave twenty minutes ago and assumed Noble’s guard was driving more sick people to the hospital.”

  If he had bothered to check, Jillian would be here. The pain and anger threatened to drown him. Sheer will kept him going.

  “Release Deanne’s people and apologize to her and her team, Douglas,” Lex continued. “She blames herself for this incident. I’ll talk to her later.” Before the three men left the room, he pulled out his phone and speed-dialed Aiden. “I need a lock on the anti-theft chip Aiden installed in the car,” he explained, glancing briefly at Dom. “Call Rake. We’ll need the chopper and his satellites to ret
race the path of the Wraith if Aiden’s system has failed.”

  “Already called him,” Dom said. “He’s on his way back with his computers. He said the tox results are back and the doctors know the drug Troy used to lace the champagne. They’re on the right meds. Sloan is using Infinitus’ account to take care of the expenses. Do you want the others back here? They are helping Sloan, but Cade or Lucien might be useful.”

  Lex could always count on his friends, and for once, he didn’t care if they broke every law imaginable to hack into a system to find Troy and nail Warwick. He wanted the bastards to disappear.

  “Douglas may need their help locating Troy’s money trail and where he’s holed up. I want to be updated while I’m out searching for her.”

  “We just heard what happened, Fitz,” Aiden said over the phone, and Lex walked away from Dom to talk to him.

  “He took the Wraith, Aiden,” Lex ground out. “Activate the anti-theft chip now.”

  “Consider it done,” Aiden said. “The system should keep us updated in real time. Rake is about to leave, so I’m hitching a ride.” There was a background voice as though someone was talking to Aiden. Then he was back on the phone. “Cade said his people should have access to all bank accounts under Troy and his brother’s name. They’ll coordinate with Douglas.”

  “Keep me updated.” Lex hung up the phone and walked to his closet for his jacket and gloves. He was on autopilot now, his focus on one thing—finding Jillian. If he stopped to think about how badly she might be hurt, he would stop functioning. He couldn’t afford to stop.

  “What’s going on?” Dom asked.

  “I’m taking out the Road King to start the search. Cade’s people are hacking into Troy’s bank accounts.” Lex shrugged on the jacket. “Aiden is activating the chip. He and Rake should be here to pick you up. What are you doing?” Lex asked when Dom blocked his path.

  “You can’t go out there blind, my friend.”

  “Get out of my way, Dom,” Lex said, his voice calm.

  “Stop for a fucking second and think, Fitz. Which direction will you take?”

  “Any direction,” Lex snarled. “I’m not sitting here doing nothing while she’s out there hurting and scared.” He clenched his fist. “Move.”

  “You want to take me on? Because I will give you an outlet for that rage eating you from the inside out, Fitzgerald. And we’re not doing nothing, damn it!” Dom snapped. “We need Aiden’s system to locate the fucking Wraith before we leave. Yes, I’m going with you.”

  “I don’t recall asking,” Lex shot back, wanting to punch his face.

  “Screw you!” Dom retorted. “You think you’re the only one who cares about her? We all do. We’re behind you a hundred percent, so fucking deal with it!” He jabbed his hand toward the window. “That pipsqueak fooled all of us, not just you. He beat up his men at Eros and claimed he’d interrogated them, and we bought the shit. I bought it. You think you are pissed? I’m fucking furious. With my skills, I should have seen through his bullshit a mile away.” Dom was breathing hard by the time he finished. He scrubbed his face and sighed. “Troy is Warwick’s inside man, which means that bastard is coming after us with everything he’s got. Chances are he already has people in our companies reporting back to him. We all need to do some housecleaning.”

  The chill in Lex’s chest spread, threatening to cripple him. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Dom was right. It was time for the gloves to come off. He glanced around, his eyes zeroing in on the broken glass and the blood. His anger mushroomed. He needed to get out of there.

  Dom followed him out of the room. “Where are we going?”

  “Away from you. If you ever threaten me in my own home, Dominic, I will bury you.”

  Dom smirked and continued to shadow him around like a damn babysitter. Lex ignored him. The guests were gone, and the caterers were cleaning up. Someone must have called the people who’d set up the pavilion because they were dismantling everything. Lex spoke briefly with Deanna, then went to find his sister.

  “Are you leaving for the hospital?” Jade asked, trying to hide the concern in her voice. Jade had never been good at hiding her feelings. She was probably worried about her husband.

  “No. But everyone will be okay. Vince too.”

  “I know. He’s on his way back.” She glanced briefly at the kids, then nudged Lex outside the room. “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re not,” she countered, rubbing his arm. “You can’t always be strong for everyone, Lex. No one deserves this on their wedding day. Where’s Jillian? She must be devastated.”

  Lex didn’t respond. He couldn’t tell her about Jillian. She’d call their mother who’d tell his brothers and uncles, and everyone would want to get involved. His uncle was with the LAPD. “She’ll be fine.”

  Jade sighed. “Is it true that Warwick is behind it?”

  Lex nodded. “He recruited Troy.”

  “That nice young man? He was so great with the kids last night. He played hide and seek with them and… Oh crap! He probably used last night to poison the champagne.”

  “No, he didn’t. He did this today, not last night. Douglas found a recording showing him going inside the cellar.”

  Jade sighed. “Did Jillian go to the hospital, too?”

  Lex wasn’t ready to tell his family that he’d lost his bride. He, who always planned everything down to the last detail, had lost the woman he loved to a madman and his henchman. If anything worse happened to her…

  One of the kids yelled for Jade and rescued Lex from responding.

  “I have to go. Let me know when they finish outside. The kids have had enough screen time and need to be outside.”

  The sound of engines starting yanked Lex’s attention, and he hurried toward the front of the house. Dom was in his monster truck with the window rolled down. Douglas’ SUV was already down the driveway.

  “Get in,” Dom said. “They located your car.”

  Hope returned. “I’m taking the Road King. It’s faster.”

  “You are in no state to operate a vehicle, my friend, so get in.” When Lex ignored him and continued toward the garage, Dom hit reverse and almost hit him. “Damn it, Fitz! Douglas and his men already left. Do you want him to reach Troy first and rescue your wife for you? Because that’s going to happen if you take the bike and end up in a ditch.”

  “Let’s take one of my cars,” Lex said. “They’re faster.”

  “Why would I want to be cooped inside a puny foreign car when I have my baby?” He patted the dashboard and smirked.

  Lex growled, yanked the door, and hopped in the front passenger seat. The man was married to his truck. All his friends had come with their drivers, except Dom.

  “Why did Aiden call you and not me?” Lex asked as they took off with squealing tires.

  “Because no one knows what goes on in your head when you go all calm and shit. Cursing we can deal with.” Dom chuckled and added, “And I promised your sister I’d keep an eye on you.”

  They were micromanaging him now. Lex shot Dom an annoyed glance. “You didn’t tell her about Jillian.”

  “No, man. She thinks Jillian is at the hospital with everyone else. What are you going to do with Troy when we find him?”

  “Put him six feet under,” Lex said calmly, imagining the ways he planned to fuck up Troy. Memories of Jillian crept in, torturing him. The little unconscious gestures she made when focusing on a task. The way she smiled. Teased him. The sound of her voice. He could listen to her for hours and never get bored.

  He had to find her. The alternative was incomprehensible.

  “So how come you never introduced us to your sister or invited us over to hang out during college? Didn’t think we were good enough?” Dom asked.

  Lex ignored him. Dom was trying to distract him with mindless conversation about something that was a no-brainer. His friends weren’t into relationships. They screwed around with wo
men and left behind broken hearts. Even monogamous ones like Sloan and Rake were emotionally unavailable.

  “Jade could have been the one, and I’d be the one married with twins,” Dom continued. “Aiden has a thing for her, so he and I would have probably duked it out. Needless to say, I would have won and sent him packing back to England.”

  Dom’s cheerful monologue was starting to distract him.

  “Then there’re your cousins. Faith would have been perfect for Sloan. Both of them in the fashion industry, she would have been the perfect camouflage for his creativity. And she seems to have hit it off with Deedee. Oh, and I heard she used to be a swim suit model.”

  “Shut up, Dom.”

  “Ashley, the artist, hmm,” he continued as though Lex hadn’t spoken. “I would have paired her with Rake. He needs someone to disrupt his perfect life. Add chaos to his order. Eddie’s sister hit it off with Rod, but I don’t think Eddie was pleased with that. On the other hand, she’s an adult…”

  Lex ignored Dom the rest of the way and stared out the window without seeing the scenery, until Dom signaled to enter a building and Lex realized they were at a familiar entrance.

  “What are we doing in my building?”

  “Troy is here.”

  Lex sat up as Dom entered the underground garage and pulled up beside his Wraith and two limos. Douglas stopped chatting with the limo drivers and hurried toward the truck. Lex stepped down before he reached them.

  “You found him here?” Lex asked.

  “Yes, sir. We followed the signal. Mr. Ashworth reverse-tracked the route and said he’d driven straight here from the mansion,” Douglas said. “He’s upstairs in the penthouse.”

  “And Jillian?”

  “She’s here, too. But she’s, uh, unconscious,” Douglas added.

  The relief that rushed through Lex was sweet, but short-lived. Unconscious meant Troy had drugged her. He might have found her, but he was still sending her away. He couldn’t keep her under lock and key or have an entourage of bodyguards following her around everywhere. Either scenario made her a prisoner. It would make her life a living hell. Lex refused to give Warwick the satisfaction of caging Jillian. Living without her was going to be hell, yet it was the only solution.