The Unraveling of Raven (The Unraveled Trilogy Book 1)

by Theresa Sederholt

  Bella turns to Raven, “I hope you understand that I’m not saying this to be mean, but you can’t go back to teaching at my son’s school. Until you can get to the bottom of this, you should stay away from my family, including my brother.”

  “Bella!” I jump up.

  Before I can say anything more, Raven grabs my hand and pulls me down. “Jax, please.”

  “No, Raven. No one will tell me who I can or can’t be with, not even my family.”

  Everyone is yelling until my mum stands up and tells us all to be quiet. “First, my grandson is upstairs and can probably hear everything. Second, son, I understand your need to protect Raven, and, Bella, I understand your need to protect your family, but this is my family too, so please listen.

  “Raven, you can’t possibly go back to school until all of this is resolved. Too many children would be at risk and I don’t think you would ever want that on your conscious. We know that my grandson was the original target, so that means he will still need more protection. Sending him back to school might not be the best thing right now. I think the best thing would be for you to home school Michael until this gets resolved. This house is locked up tighter than the White House. When a message was left here, Vito scared the person off.

  I think Raven should stay here. She home schools Michael, and we add tighter security. Everyone will be safe. Michael will continue to get the education that he deserves and Raven will be doing something, rather than nothing. I already spoke with Maxwell, and he thought it was the best idea.” she finishes her rant (a logical one, at that) and all we can seem to do is stare at her, speechless.

  Bella stands up and takes Ravens hand, “Come, I’ll show you to your new room.”

  Mum goes with them, leaving me and Michael, stunned at what just went down.

  Michael looks at me and starts laughing. “What’s so fucking funny?”

  He’s now in hysterics. “Raven’s room has a twin bed and it’s right next to Junior’s. You poor bastard, you're so not getting laid!”

  My fucking dick hurts at the revelation—no cock heaven anytime soon.

  I

  CHECK IN WITH Duke, all is quiet at Raiders. So I call Joseph to see if he found out anything new, but nothing has changed. I head to the kitchen for coffee. I find Mum in there, already having her afternoon tea. “Hey, Mum, is Raven all settled in?”

  Her breath quickens as her spoon rattles against her cup. It breaks my heart that she is afraid. “Jaxson, I’m worried, very worried.”

  I try to comfort her, “I know, Mum.”

  She shakes her head. “No I don’t think you really do.” She stirs her tea.

  “Mum, I understand, but she wasn’t even a target. It was Junior, all because of me, and now they’re both targets. Unfortunately, I’m the one who started this ugly ball rolling and I’m the one who has to figure out how to stop it. I don’t want their lives ruined because of me.”

  A tear escapes her and she quickly wipes it away. “You’re a good man, don’t ever forget that.”

  Raven comes in, I can’t help but hug her; she’s so brave. “You okay, sweetheart?”

  She seems to be trying so hard to keep it together. “I guess. I just called Jackie. She’s going to come by with stuff for me so I can homeschool Michael. I still haven’t heard from Marco. Have you heard from Joseph?” She leans against the counter, crossing her arms. My mum quietly excuses herself, grabbing her teacup and saucer, nodding towards the living room.

  I offer my mum a meek smile and turn my focus back to Raven. “I called him, but he has nothing new to report. I’m going to head back to the office for a little bit, then I’ll come back here.”

  She shrugs her shoulders. “You don’t have to do that. I know you have a lot of work to do.”

  Christ, this is killing me. “Sweetheart, I’m going to be stuck to you like glue, so just get used to it.” She starts to cry. Oh, fuck! “Stop, right now. just stop. I can’t take it when you cry. It tears at my soul, so please don’t.” I plead. She throws herself into my arms and holds on tight, kissing me like I’m her lifeline. “Raven, we need to stop this, like right now.” She looks at me like a wounded puppy. “Oh fuck, Raven. Michael informed me that your room is next to Junior’s, and it has a twin bed, so my dick has been booted out of cock heaven. If you keep doing that, I won’t be able to control myself!”

  “Follow me,” she whispers, grabbing my hand. She leads me to the washroom off the kitchen and locks the door.

  “Now, Jax, you’ll do as I tell you, because after all, I am the teacher.”

  I nod, “Yes ma’am!”

  She rubs her delicate hands under my shirt, and my cock has jumped to attention—he’s such a greedy bastard. She brings her hands back out, reaches for and slowly unbuttons her blouse. She lifts each one of her breasts out of her bra. I go to reach for them, and she backs away.

  “Did you forget that I’m the teacher? You have to do what I tell you.” She rubs each one of her nipples until they are hard. Throwing her head back, she licks her lips. It’s taking all I have just to watch. She undoes my pants and my cock springs to attention. “Sit down.”

  I hit her with my Jaxson smirk, “If I don’t, will the teacher punish me?”

  She moans, “Jax, is that something you want to find out, right now?”

  I sit down and my head is level with her chest. She opens my legs and gets on her knees between them. She takes my cock in her hand, and it takes everything I have to control myself from just ramming my cock in her right now. Oh, Sweet Jesus. She takes me in her mouth; it’s so warm. She licks up and down and then around. How the fuck does she go so deep? She finds that spot, just under my sac, presses, and just like that, I’m losing it.

  “Oh fuck, baby, deeper . . . bare your teeth for me.” I growl, “Fuck—harder!”

  That’s it! I’m coming from the depths of my soul. It's endless and she takes it all.

  When she finishes, she places my cock between her breasts, rubbing up and down. Oh, fuck all that’s holy; I’m hard as stone, again! She takes off her bra, tossing it onto the floor. She gets up, taking her jeans off real slowly, and then she slides her knickers down. She stands before me in nothing but heels. I know I’m growling as I try to reach for her. But she backs away, shaking her head. She takes the clip out of her hair, letting it cascade down, brushing her nipples. She slides her hands down her chest, playing with her nipples. Then she continues sliding her hands down and reaches between her legs. Her head tilts back as she dips her fingers deep into—what I like to refer to as—my cock heaven. She lets out a low moan and I think I could explode just from watching the show—giving herself pleasure the way I do. What a lucky bastard I am!

  “Oh, Jax, oh, baby. . . so good.” I’m fighting with myself not to touch her. She takes her fingers out and slips them into her mouth. Fuck, this is so erotic. I don’t know how much more I can take. “Jax, I’m so wet for you.” She puts her finger in my mouth and I taste her arousal. Sweet Jesus! She straddles me and slowly, lowers herself onto my cock. I’m back in my happy place. It is the most beautiful place in the world. She starts riding me really slow. “Jax, you're going to make me come really, really hard. Do you feel how wet I am for you? Just for you, baby, and your wonderful cock.” Wow, she’s picking up my habit of dirty talk, and I’ve got to say, it’s beautiful . . . just fucking beautiful.

  “Raven, look into my eyes.” Are you there yet?”

  She leans in. “Almost, baby. Play with my nipples, please.” She doesn’t have to ask me twice. I nibble each one and that’s all it takes. She’s falling, and I’m right behind her. Her forehead is rests on mine, and she clenches my cock like an iron fist. I think I will definitely have to thank her Pilates instructor! She kisses me long and slow. “Jax, are you feeling better now that you’ve been to cock heaven?”

  Hmm. “All better, baby, and you?”

  She smiles. “I’m good now, but I hope no one missed us.” We get cleaned up and sneak out
with the hope that no one was looking for us.

  AFTER EVERYONE LEAVES, I call Erica on my cell phone. “Erica, I need to see you. Please call me back!” I don’t know how I let myself get this deep into this mess. I don’t know what I need more, to get out of Michigan or inside Erica’s warm cunt. Either way, I’m in way over my head. I sit at my desk, happy that I planted the bugs she gave so I could hear what was being said. Jax is too busy, fucking Raven, to think about anything else. But that guy, Max?—He scares me. Not even Joseph scares me like Max does. Max is not thinking with his dick; he’s looking at the big picture, unlike Jax. How the fuck did this guy make so much money anyway, when he can be so easily distracted by the opposite sex. Erica said he is shrewd, but damn if I can see it.

  I’m gathering up my stuff to leave for the day when I turn around and find Max, standing there, in the shadows, just staring at me. I nearly jump out of my skin. I’m not set out for this kind of shit! “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there. Can I help you with anything?”

  MY TINGLE SENSE IS firing up. “Actually, Duke, I have some questions for you. Let’s step in to Jax’s office.” I suggest. I can tell he’s apprehensive.

  “Is this going to be long because I have an appointment I can’t miss?”

  “I’m sure you do, Duke, but this is important, please follow me.”

  “Would you like some water? You seem to be a bit nervous.”

  He shakes his head. “I’m fine. I just can’t be late for my appointment.”

  I walk right up to him, invading his personal space. I love to do that when I want to throw someone off balance. “I’ll get right to the point then. Do you know how the second interoffice envelope was delivered to your desk?”

  He shrugs his shoulders “How would I know? I wasn’t here.”

  I take another step closer, and he steps back. “True, but it might have been delivered the night before and only found in the morning. I’m just covering all the bases.”

  He shakes his head. “I never saw anything. Now, if that’s all, I really need to go.”

  I back up. “Sure, Duke. Sorry to keep you.”

  THAT GUY IS A little fucking weasel. I need to call Jax, but first, I want to sweep the office. I decide to call Tony, I’m sure he’s still here. “Hey, do me a favor. I know Jax sweeps this place weekly, but something is bothering me, so do it again.”

  Tony never questions my tingle sense. “Sure, Max.”

  As I wait at Jax’s bar for the all clear, I see Tony coming towards me, motioning me to be quiet. He holds up a bug but doesn’t give me the all clear. He pulls out a laser and some spray before motioning me out of the room. He walks through the room spraying some stuff.

  I’ve never seen anything like this. He backs out of the room leaving the bug, turns on the laser and the fucking room lights up like a Christmas tree! He closes the door and turns to me, but still motioning me to be quiet. Now, he begins spraying around Duke’s area—nothing. “Max, it’s fucked up in there,”

  I’m in shock. “Tony, this makes no sense. Jax sweeps this place every week. He had special lead put in the walls. The only place to get a cell signal is in front of the window, and since it’s all glass, a bug could easily be seen.” I throw my hands out, miffed. Tony shows me one of the bugs, and it’s the size of a grain of rice.

  “Max, the reason there are so many is because of the lead in the walls. They are bouncing off of each other. There has to be a place in the office that doesn’t have lead walls, where someone is listening with some hi-tech shit.”

  It’s time I call Jax and get his arse here, now!

  JAX GETS TO RAIDERS in record time. “Okay, I’m here now. What is so earth shattering that I had to rush here?”

  I motion him towards the office. “We need to show you something, but please, be quiet.” I open his office door, and Tony hits the laser. Jax turns to me, and I can tell he is going to lose it. He steps back and closes the door. He motions to Tony if the area we are in has been swept, and he nods yes.

  “Max, what the fuck is going on? We sweep that office weekly, plus the added protection of the lead walls. How is this even possible?”

  Tony clears his throat, “There has to be a weak spot somewhere in that office, and with the new technology that’s out there, they are bouncing from one transmitter to the other. We need to find the ‘mother’, which is what they are all feeding into.”

  Max is pacing. “Are the private bathroom walls lined, also?”

  I shake my head. “I honestly don’t know. I never thought about it. Heck, I didn’t even think about any of this until everything went down with Erica.”

  Tony instructs us to wait while he goes in to sweep the private bathroom. He comes back out, letting us know the device is, in fact, in the restroom.

  “It is the size of a capsule. I can deactivate it or we can leave it on. Now that we know it’s there, we can monitor what we let them know.” He sits on top of Duke’s desk, waiting for our thoughts.

  “Leave it for now.” Jax finally decides. I take a deep breath. “Tony, please go and sweep Max’s office.”

  “Please don’t tell me you think I’m involved?” I feel my eyes practically bulge out of their sockets in disbelief.

  “Max, don’t be ridiculous. I just need a safe place to work and think.” He gives me a look as if I’m crazy.

  AFTER WE GET THE all clear from Tony, I inform him that I want Max’s office swept two times a day. And no one is to know but me and Max. “Max, I don’t want anyone to know what we’re doing, understood?”

  “What about Joseph and Raven?”

  I shake my head. “Until we get to the bottom of this, no one.”

  “Okay, understood,” he agrees.

  “All right, Max, bring me up to speed.”

  He starts his pacing and surprisingly, it is calming me. “Jax, you know that second envelope is bothering me, so I questioned Duke today about it.”

  “But, Max, you know he wasn’t even here.”

  He stops pacing. “I thought of that, but who’s to say it wasn’t delivered the night before? And why was there no footage like the first one? There are too many questions and not enough answers. I know we did a check on him before you hired him, but I’d like to dig further, if that’s okay with you?”

  “Sure, but what reason would he have?”

  “Try fifty million of them, Jax. Let’s not forget the original ransom was fifty million for Junior. Raven was a bonus. The whole truth about Raven’s family came out in your office, which we now know was bugged, between the last sweep and today. So who ever was listening, learned about her family when Joseph showed up.”

  I feel like my fucking head is going to explode. “Okay, Max, we need to find out who bugged the office and stop them before they auction off Raven’s information to the highest bidder.”

  He starts pacing again. “Jax, I’ve been thinking about that. I think the key lies with the half-brother.”

  “I agree. I want to see the file on the kid. See if Joseph will play ball. If not, I’m not opposed to calling in favors. I’m going back to my place to pick up a few things and then I’m headed to Bella’s. Any sign of that fucker, Marco?”

  He shakes his head. “No, but when he shows up, do you want me to keep him there?”

  “Yeah, Raven needs to confront him, and I plan on being there.” I tap my finger hard on his desk.

  I HEAD TO MY place to pick up some stuff. Max put a guard on me, even though I don’t think I need one. Right now, I’m so distracted that, it’s probably for the best. The doorman informs me that there was a delivery for me which is strange since, I don’t advertise where I live. He hands me an envelope that was messengered over. On my way upstairs, I call Max and tell him about the envelope. He tells me not to open it, and he’s on his way. I throw the envelope on the bar and pour myself three-fingers of Johnny Walker Platinum and wait for Max. Max shows up with Tony and asks him to sweep my place. “Max, is this necessary? This place is
like Fort Knox with security.”

  Tony waves at us to get our attention and puts his finger to his lips to silence us. When he is done, he tells us all is clear, but do not bring anything from the office into the house.

  Max puts on gloves and opens the envelope. Inside is a file, which contains everything about Raven/Cara, her mother, father, and her half-brother. The only thing that is conveniently missing is a picture of the brother.

  There is a note:

  We know it all. The starting bid fifty million. We’ll give you first crack at it. We’ll be in touch.

  I stare at the folder. Words just aren’t coming.

  “Jax, there is that number again. I just don’t like it.”

  My heart is driving the bus and not my head, which is never good. “I have to protect her. I can’t let this fall into the wrong hands. Did you pull reports on her real parents?”

  He pulls out a folder. “Her mother, Gabriella, was an only child. Gabriella’s father was a prominent doctor in Virginia and Gabriella’s mother was a district attorney. Her parents died in a car accident while she was away at college. A drunk driver hit them. There was a large settlement that was invested for her.” He shuffles papers around. “Antonio’s family is really bad news. They can be traced back to the early 1900’s, to a Sicilian immigrant. Antonio’s father, Dion, was the ‘Boss of Boss.’ Antonio had an older brother, Monti, who died before Antonio did. Monti died in a bar room brawl. There’s a younger brother, Vincent, and a sister, Annabelle. Annabelle was a surprise because Joseph never mentioned her. It seems when Dion died, Vincent took over the business, which includes a lucrative, drug business.

  “You remember when John Gotti was in power in New York? It seemed none of the charges ever stuck to him, earning him the nickname, ‘Teflon Don.’ Well the same could be said for Vincent.”