by Sybil Bartel
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Talon took the bottle from me just as the door burst open.
Buck stood there looking pissed as hell, his eyes trained on Talon. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Talon casually took another pull of tequila. “Waitin’ for you to come to your senses.”
Buck stepped forward and I almost jumped between them, but self-preservation kept my ass glued to the washer.
Talon inclined his head in my direction. “Look at her. For once today, take a look at her. Is she naked? Is my tongue down her throat? No, you asshole, she’s been cryin’ her eyes out. I didn’t throw her away, you did.”
Buck lunged, grabbing handfuls of Talon’s suit at the lapels like he was going to toss him. Talon never even flinched. He stared Buck in the eyes and when he spoke, his voice stopped Buck cold.
“Go ahead, Blaze,” he said quietly. “This is your one chance, because the day my friend puts his mother six feet under is the day I’m not gonna fight back.”
Buck’s nostrils flared, he shoved Talon back then he turned and kicked the laundry room door shut. His back to us, his hands on his hips, I watched him struggle to calm down. I wanted to be mad at him for barging in. I wanted to be mad at him for not wanting me but not wanting anyone else to have me either. I wanted to be mad, period. But I wasn’t. I was just sad.
When Buck finally turned around, he glared at Talon. “You tell her?”
“Was about to,” Talon answered calmly.
Buck lifted his chin once, as if giving permission.
Talon turned to me. “You okay to hear this now?”
I nodded.
“Okay, you know your father was a one-man campaign against drug traffickin’, but what you might not know is that he took a stance as an environmentalist. You know about the Port of Miami tunnel project?”
I nodded. Who didn’t? The fight to fund a tunnel in and out of the Port of Miami to ease cargo traffic through downtown had been going on for years. It was finally funded and the tunnel was being dug and the Port was being dredged.
“Well, your father was publicly opposed to the idea. He made himself a target for the capitalists and a hero for the environmentalists. He was vocal and as you know, he had a persuasive personality. He argued the tunnel project would cost the tax payers ten times the assumed amount and he was an advocate for the environmental agencies that fought the project, sightin’ concerns for Biscayne Bay. In the end, his supposed opposition didn’t make a difference because as you know, the project went through. What you don’t know is that your father was instrumental when it came to getting the permits issued. He greased everyone who needed greasin’ and he even made the environmentalists’ lawsuits to stop the dredging disappear.” Talon paused, looking at me like he was waiting for a reaction.
I waited for the bomb.
Talon delivered. “The question is, where did he get the money for all those bribes? Short answer is that the Miami tunnel project was a billion-dollar project. Construction and design had over a six-hundred-million-dollar price tag. A European contractor was chosen as the prime contractor but a bid war for a huge chunk of the grunt work resulted in a local construction firm having the lowest bid...with one caveat. For every day they delivered the project early, they would be awarded a hundred-thousand-dollar kickback, courtesy of the hard-working tax payers of Miami Dade County. Guess who negotiated that part of their contract?”
“My father,” I said weakly.
“Yep, and the local construction company finished the project eighty-seven days ahead of schedule. Guess who owns it.”
I sunk my face into my hands. “Miami.”
“Guess why they finished early.”
Oh Jesus. “I don’t know.”
“They illegally dumped contaminated materials from dredging on Virginia Key. From near as I can tell, it’d cost upward of sixty million to clean up the mess, but since all the environmentalist reports have been doctored, no one’s the wiser except poor ole Biscayne Bay and its festerin’ arsenic level. Guess who covered this all up?”
I rubbed my hand over my face. “My father.”
“And Miami, who when he isn’t feeding his fetish for beatin’ strippers and escaping a laundry list of battery and assault charges, he’s building a construction empire on shoddy work, unlawful dumpin’, stolen materials and illegal immigrant labor.”
“What’s his name?” I asked quietly.
Talon paused, scratching his chin. “Now see, here’s the thing, darlin’. I’d rather not hand you that loaded gun. If I tell you and if it ever comes down to it, I’d prefer you not be able to perjure yourself in court. How ’bout you let Blaze and me worry about the details?”
Another layer of risk they were assuming for me. I wanted to cry. Miserable, I nodded. “So Miami killed my father because he was going to tell the state attorney all of this?”
“You think Miami was gonna sit back and pay the sixty million to clean up his mess then quietly go to jail?” Talon smirked. “If all this came out, it wasn’t just gonna be about the tunnel project. I’m sure they’d find at least a dozen other infractions on commercial construction projects he was involved in. Shit, he’s got Chinese drywall in half his high-rises.”
I was sick. “How did my father think he could get away with turning him in?”
“Don’t know, Sugar. Maybe he thought that little ole bank account was his escape plan. All I know, his number was up the second Lara’s office decided to go after him. I don’t know the how of it, but my sources say Miami knew about it before your father had even been approached by Lara.”
So, Lara’s office had a leak. “And my mother?”
“She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
But she knew. She knew everything my father was doing. Why else would she have set up that account? My mother knew something bad was going to happen and her only option to protect me was money. I tried to fight the anger but the seed of resentment had already taken root.
Talon eyed me. “You ready to hear the recordin’?”
“Yes,” I lied.
Talon took his phone out of his pocket and a moment later his voice filled the room.
“Hey man, get your own piece of ass, this one’s mine.” Talon’s voice was a little slurred. Bad music played in the background.
“You tink you’re so tough?” The voice that had been haunting me for six years came over the speaker followed by a sickening sound of flesh hitting flesh. Miami laughed, “How ’bout now, amigo?”
“Turn it off.” I didn’t need to hear any more. “That’s him.” I reached for the tequila.
Buck’s hand gently closed over mine. The feel of his touch brought a yearning so deep, so desperate, I shook with need. By some miracle I didn’t throw myself at him but I did look up into his beautiful eyes. And that’s what buried me.
A glacier of concern stared back at me.
“I’m sorry.” I choked back a sob. “I’m so selfish. I couldn’t even let you bury your mother without...” My voice broke and I fled from the room.
I pushed through the crowd and out the front door, down the walkway and to the street. No money, nowhere to go, all I had was pain and anger. I crossed my arms and walked because running in five-inch heels was more than I could handle.
I made it to the end of the street before I realized I had company. When I turned the corner, Neil fell in step beside me. I viciously swiped at my tears. How much could one person cry? This pain was burying me, the tears drowning me. I wanted to fall to the ground and give in. I wanted to kill Miami with my own hands. I wanted him to suffer every injustice he ever committed. I hated him. I hated him so much I was sick. I didn’t want to feel this. I wanted to be someone else. God, I wanted to be someone else.
“I know where he will be tomorrow night,” Neil said in his monotone.
I stopped walking.
“If it were me, I would want the chance. Talon will not give you that option,” he sai
d quietly.
A chance to get my own revenge. A chance to make Miami pay. “How do you know where he’ll be?” my voice rasped.
“I asked.”
Two words, two innocuous words, but put together by Neil, the implication was deadly. There was only one person he could have asked. “Shorty?”
Neil gave a curt nod.
“Is he dead?”
“No.”
I nodded.
“If you want your chance, I will take you but we have to leave now. Talon is looking for you.” Neil’s eyes held mine.
I heard the faint but distinct sound of a cell phone vibrate. Neil’s hand slipped in and out of his pocket and the sound stopped.
“Why are you helping me? Why are any of you helping me?” It was the one question I kept going back to.
Neil didn’t answer. His phone vibrated again and again he silenced it without looking to see who it was. When he spoke, his voice had a slightly different nuance.
“Blaze wants to prove he can save you, Talon has a hero complex and I have a problem with men who hit women. Make a decision, we’re out of time.”
Talon pulled around the corner in his Challenger.
“What the fuck, Christensen?” Talon was spitting mad.
Neil just looked at him. He got more leverage with his stare than anyone I’d ever met.
“Get in the car, Layna,” Talon bit out, not looking at me.
“Your choice,” Neil said quietly, glancing at me.
Talon threw the car in park and got out. “What the fuck?” He glared at us both.
Neil moved slightly, putting half his body between me and Talon. “Her choice.” Neil’s voice was the same as it always was, but it sounded threatening as hell.
Talon didn’t react to Neil but he took a deep quick breath. “I asked you a question, Sugar.”
Neil’s offer was everything I’d thought I’d wanted for three long years. But now? When it was real? Even swimming in hatred, I knew I wouldn’t be strong enough to do it. I wasn’t violent. I wasn’t brave. I wasn’t even a fighter. I was only a survivor.
A survivor who stretched up on tiptoe, put her arms around Neil’s solid neck and hugged him. One of his arms circled my waist in a steel vise grip. “Thank you,” I whispered, and stepped back.
God forgive me, I got in Talon’s car.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Talon drove back to Buck’s, leaving Neil to walk. He didn’t speak until he pulled the car in the driveway and turned the engine off.
“What did Neil offer?” he asked again, but this time there wasn’t any anger in his voice.
“A face-to-face.”
“Fuck.” Talon rubbed his hand over his eyes, leaning his head back on the seat.
“He said he knows where he’ll be tomorrow night.”
Talon inhaled then let it out slow.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
Talon’s head whipped up and even in the half-light of dusk, I could see the shock in his face. “Quit fuckin’ apologizin’ to me. This isn’t your fault and I’m not fuckin’ mad at you. I’m fuckin’ livid at Neil and I’m pissed as hell at Blaze, but I’m not mad at you. Got it?”
I nodded.
“Damn it, Layna, tell me you understand. You got in the car, so I’m hopin’ you do, but Neil isn’t like you and me. I’m not sayin’ that’s bad or good, just different. You wouldn’t get what you think you would out of pullin’ that trigger. It wouldn’t satisfy that itch and trust me, you’d be left with an even uglier kind of scar.”
He was right. I didn’t argue.
“I can’t let you do that, Sugar, I just can’t. I won’t be responsible for addin’ any more pain to those pretty brown eyes. Let me and Blaze handle this. Ride out tonight and we’ll take care of it tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.” I barely nodded. What could I say? Hero complex or no, Talon was my hero.
We sat there a minute. I had so many words but nothing came out. Buck, Talon, Neil, they’d given me miles and miles of mountains and I’d asked for the sea. I’d thrown myself at Buck, desperate for a solution, then dragged him down till he bled with my fight. I took every advantage Talon offered and now Neil had been pulled into my mess.
“Stop it Sugar,” Talon quietly scolded.
“I’ll never be able to repay you.”
“I’d never ask you to.”
Despondent, I went back inside Buck’s house.
No less than four of the marines hit on me. Each time, Talon showed up sneering and told them to take a hike. Which is ironic because then he’d leave me alone to go flirt with another woman. After the elderly people cleared out, the reception turned into a party. Young women showed up in droves to give their insipid condolences and hit on Buck, Talon and their friends. It’s like an alert went out on social media: available men at Buck’s.
For the most part, Buck ignored everyone and everything except the constant beer in his hand. Halfway through the evening, one blonde slut in particular was throwing herself at Buck hard. All the others had taken a shot and wandered off to more receptive meat when they encountered Buck’s apathy, but not Blondie. She was starting to piss me off but what could I do? Nothing. So I tried to blend in with the wallpaper and sip, not guzzle, my tequila. Unfortunately, the more I drank, the more dejected I felt. Buck ignored me outright and it hurt like hell.
I’d finally found an invisible spot on the living room floor behind the couch. I’d been sitting there, holding the wall up, nursing my tequila, when nature called. I pushed up and ventured to the bathroom on heels that now felt a little wobbly. I turned the corner to go down the hallway and froze.
Buck was standing against the wall and Blondie was pressed up against him from her giant tits to her crotch. Buck’s arms hung at his sides, a beer in one of his hands. He was looking down at her.
“Oh, come on, Blaze, you know you want to,” she cooed softly to him.
I must’ve made a sound of disgust because they both turned to look at me. Blondie was pissed and Buck just looked checked out.
I couldn’t stop myself. “Yeah, he looks real receptive there, Blondie.”
Her baby blues turned into a stare of death. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Layna. Who the fuck are you, besides desperate?” I snapped back.
Something flashed in Buck’s eyes and he pushed Blondie away.
I snickered and Buck shoved past me without so much as a glance.
“Bitch,” Blondie hissed before running after Buck. “Blaze, wait!”
Damn, she had no self-respect. I knew the feeling.
I used the restroom and teetered back out to the living room. I flopped on a chair, and a sliver of the action in the family room was in my direct line of sight. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t also watched Talon all night. He worked the room like a pro, giving just about every female attention. They all ate it up. I watched as he moved like a panther through the few people standing and filled glasses with something hard.
He walked back to the couch where two women were sitting. He sank down between them and handed each one a glass. Holding up cheers, they threw the drinks back and one of the women leaned in and kissed Talon on the neck. Talon threw his head back and laughed. Squeezing her knee, he stood back up fluidly and moved on to the next nearest female. I slipped out to the back patio and curled up on a lounger.
I didn’t know if I drifted off or if time and space just stopped mattering, but his voice startled me.
“This seat taken?” Talon asked.
I glanced at the lounger next to me in invitation.
Talon gracefully stretched out and put his head back. “I feel like I’ve been chewed up and spit out.” His southern drawl was thick.
I just looked at him.
He chuckled. “I shoulda stopped a few back.” He smiled lazily, his eyes wandering over my body.
Shit, he was wasted. I couldn’t help it, I smiled.
“Oh yeah, that’s what I was lookin’ for,
never seen a prettier smile.” He grinned.
“It doesn’t count when I’ve watched you flirt with half of Gainesville tonight.”
“You were watchin’ me?” he asked playfully.
I snorted. “You were hard to miss.”
“Oh, you wound me, Sugar.” He grabbed his chest.
He was Teflon when it came to emotions. “Nothing I do wounds you and you know it.”
Talon leaned up and over so quick, he startled me. Sun, sand, surf and coconuts mixed with hot male and hard alcohol in a heady combination.
“Every fuckin’ day, Sugar. Every day I’m carryin’ a sweet-island-girl-sized wound,” he said quietly, picking up a strand of my hair. “But I made you a promise.”
Suddenly, the space between us turned dangerous. “Talon.” But it didn’t come out as a warning.
“You remember my promise?” His finger ran along my jaw.
“No.” Drunk, miserable, aching for comfort, I wanted so bad to lean in to his touch. Instead, I averted my eyes.
Talon moved close enough to kiss me. “I said I’d never fuck you,” he whispered seductively.
Oh God.
“You?” His fingers gripped my chin and turned my face up. Determined green eyes sparkled with intent. “I’d break all the rules for.” Talon just barely touched his lips to mine. “I’d make love to you.” He turned my head and slowly kissed below my ear.
His touch, my misery, his breath on me, his seductive words, God help me, I wanted to give in to the moment.
“Every inch of you, Layna,” he breathed, dragging his teeth across my ear.
“Damn it.” I reached for him.
The slider door opened.
“Talon?” The girl from the couch stepped out.
Talon pulled away from me.
“I was looking for you,” she said sweetly.
“I’m right here,” he said gruffly, never taking his eyes off me.
She giggled, sitting right down on his lap.
My heart erupted with a pain I didn’t want to understand.
“Hope I wasn’t interrupting.” She ran her hand over his hair.
“She interuptin’, Sugar?” Talon’s voice was deadly serious.