I felt Mason and Von’s tension, even though they hadn’t moved. “Watch your hands,” Mason warned, though I wished he’d stayed silent.
Big Mike was at Judge’s side in a hot second, adding to my nerves and making me wish I’d found a way to have this meeting without Mason and Von. When I pulled my head back, Judge’s lips pressed to my cheekbone so he could whisper, “One day you’ll need my help. Don’t let your pride stop you then. You can lean on me, baby girl. You can’t punish me forever. That’s not how I raised you.”
“It’s exactly how you raised me.” I brought my hand up and touched Judge’s cheek tenderly, not breathing when he leaned into my palm. My heart rate picked up when I smelled his cologne, the familiar scent taking me back to the days I used to fall asleep on his lap after he’d read me book after book until I passed out. It was a dangerous dance I did, being so near the viper. But the viper trusted me not to bite too hard, not to tear apart the tender pieces of him that only I still knew were in there. “Be a good boy,” I warned him with a kiss to his cheek, and then turned to Darius. “You too, sweetie.”
15
Round One-October
My hands were shaking when we got to the car. I fumbled with the keys, hissing when they dropped to the pavement with a clatter that announced my nerves to the whole of the parking lot.
“How about I drive, yeah?” Von suggested as he bent to retrieve the keys.
“Okay, thanks.”
Instead of walking around to the passenger’s seat, Mason corralled me to the back, sliding in beside me. He loosened his tie the very second the door shut, turning on me with thunder in his scowl. “What was that?” His voice was gruff, angry at me, though I couldn’t tell you why. I dug my lavender-scented hand sanitizer from my purse and was cleaning off the germs that felt stuck to me like flypaper. Judge didn’t used to have germs when I’d been a kid, but I could feel them now that I was an adult.
Von started up the car and peeled out of the space, pounding the flat of his hand to the steering wheel. “That was brilliant, is what that was! I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes. The way you held the power. I mean, Terraway lucked out that we found a second Omen, but that you can hold your own? Mariang’s never been able to stand up to the council. That was… Well, it was terrifying in spots, but brilliant. Truly amazing, Peach.”
My eyes fell on the passenger’s seat, noticing a bag sitting there with the restaurant’s logo on it. “Stop the car!” I demanded, snapping forward when Von hit the brakes too hard. We were almost out of the parking lot, but I pointed to the restaurant. “Keep the engine running. I’ll be right back.”
“Oh, no you won’t.” Mason’s hand cuffed my shoulder, holding me in place. “Drive home, Von.”
“You don’t understand. Judge had Ike break into my car and put food here.”
“So?” Von leaned over and peeked into the bag curiously, inhaling the wafting scents of the porterhouse I knew was probably inside. “Cheers to him for the free dinner. I could go for a steak.”
“You don’t understand how his game works. Stop the car.” I hopped out when Von pulled into a new parking spot, ignoring Mason’s bark to get back into the vehicle.
I didn’t much feel like explaining what I was doing when I got down on all fours behind Terence the Taurus, tipping my head under the bumper to look for what I knew had to be there. It took me a couple minutes of searching, but eventually my fingers landed on a small rectangular box that had a little green light shining out from it. I swore loudly, not responding to the many questions Von and Mason hurled at me when they got out of the car.
When I displayed the tracking device, Von gasped, but Mason merely shrugged, not understanding what it was. “Wait here.” I gently moved the guys out of the way, placed the device under my back tire, shut myself in the driver’s seat with a huff, and backed over the thing, shattering Judge’s chances at having one of his men follow me around. Without a word, I got out and retrieved the smashed apparatus, my upper lip snarling with satisfaction that something in my life was controllable by me. Not Judge. Not Terraway. Me. “I’ll be right back, guys.”
I grabbed the meals from the passenger’s seat and stomped into the restaurant, not bothering to greet the hostess with a polite smile. “The order Judge had made for me? I’d like to place an order for the exact same thing for myself. And if you could put a rush on it, I’d be grateful.” I could feel Von and Mason behind me, and I wished they’d stayed in the parking lot. “Not a word, guys,” I warned, ignoring Von’s wary expression and Mason’s clenched jaw.
Without waiting for a response, I lifted my chin and marched through the restaurant, past all the diners and into the backroom to Judge’s table. The anger in my eyes made Big Mike stand closer to the brothers. The three shady guests had rejoined them. Ike moved to stand between me and the table until Judge clicked his fingers to wave him off. “Did you think of some way I could repay you finally?” he asked, his calculating eyes unperturbed.
I hefted the oversized takeout bag onto the middle of the table and slammed the smashed device atop it. “I got your little present.”
He glanced over my shoulders at Mason and Von. “I was just testing your security. I like to make sure you’re kept safe.”
“My safety is zero of your concern. And my security didn’t find it, I did, you condescending jackwagon. And you can stop it with the gifts. It’s beneath both of us. I already accepted your thank you, and that’s enough for me. Stop trying to make me less than I am. I don’t know why you do that. It’s childish.”
Judge had the nerve to smile at my scolding, like he’d set up the trap hoping I’d diffuse it. “You’ve still got that fire. It’s hard to look away.”
I bristled, but didn’t dare smack Judge across the face, like my palm was itching to. Big Mike and Ike were most likely armed, and I knew Darius never went anywhere without his trusty 1911, though I couldn’t picture him pulling it on me. I jabbed my finger, reprimanding Judge like he was a child. “I’m ashamed of you two. Darius, I can’t believe you let your brother put a tracker on my car.” I straightened, brushing my hand down my blouse to collect myself. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go wait for my order. I hear the porterhouse is so good, I just can’t go home without it.” I spun on my heel toward the silent Mason and Von, and stomped away from the table.
I only made it halfway to the door before Judge was out of his seat. He caught my arm and turned me around to face him. “Wait a second.”
Mason’s snarl was ominous. “I thought I told you to watch your hands around her.”
Judge glared at Mason, but only spoke to me. “No one tampered with the food. I would never do that to you.” His tone softened with a note of sadness.
Mason and Von closed in on my sides from behind, letting everyone know that I travelled with two menaces. “I’ve got this, guys.” When Von’s hand moved to the small of my back, and Mason looked like he might pounce if Judge breathed wrong, I straightened, my tone firm but quiet. “Stand down.”
Von’s hand didn’t move from my back, but Mason obliged me and took a step away, his eyes never leaving Judge.
There were people eating and enjoying their overpriced dinners just outside the backroom. I so wanted to be one of them right now, instead of caught up in the web I had never managed to escape. Judge’s hand tightened on my arm, his eyes pleading for the understanding I’d run out of years ago. He was debasing himself in front of his three colleagues this time though, which was new. His voice was quiet and earnest. “Every time I see you, all I see are your ribs and those pigtails. You were such a little thing. I feel bad about how it all went down. All those times you, Ollie and Allie came by the house, I knew you were starving. I knew Bev wasn’t looking after you.”
I couldn’t believe he was bringing this crap out now, of all the times to slice through the veil and get to the heart of our dysfunction.
My tart reply had a slow seethe to it. Von�
��s hand on my back suddenly turned into an anchor that kept me from lunging at Judge. “You knew, and then you cut us off when you decided you didn’t want us coming around anymore for no good reason. You didn’t like Darius hanging out with Ollie, so you threw us away.” Emotion crept into my voice, and I wished Von and Mason weren’t gaping at me, hearing every word. “I loved your mama, Judge! I loved you! They needed a whole new word better than ‘love’ to describe how much you meant to me. How could you kick us out like that? You knew we had nothing.” Von’s hand tightened around my waist, offering solidarity, since comfort was beyond my comprehension in the moment.
I still remembered the day Ollie, Allie and me had made our way, bedraggled and filthy to Mama McCray’s house. Ollie had a standing arrangement to mow her lawn and do yard work, while Allie did the laundry for both families in exchange for dinner five nights a week. Some days, that was our only meal. I still remember running up the driveway to greet my Judge, confused when he didn’t hoist me into the air, like he always did. Confusion that hurt worse than mere tears spread through my small body when Judge wouldn’t even let us inside. There was illegal business being done in the house while Mama McCray was out, and we weren’t to come back, on threat of much unfixable violence. Violence against us, who’d been like family to the McCrays. Violence against me, who’d colored Judge a picture every week just to make his hardened eyes smile. I’d always known how to make Judge smile. He’d hung my art with pride on the McCray refrigerator, like I was something special.
I’d loved their family, and Judge had been that hero to me that every little girl needs when she doesn’t have a dad. I hadn’t understood then when he’d cussed Ollie out, ignored Allie’s sobs and knelt down to wipe away my stunned tears with his long thumb. I couldn’t understand why my Judge didn’t love me anymore. Why I couldn’t be his special helper. He’d kissed my face and held me one last time that day. He told me that he couldn’t look after me anymore, and never to come back. Mama McCray died not long after that, and I never got the chance to say goodbye.
Fifteen years later, and it still stung. He’d broken my world that day. I stopped coloring after that. We didn’t have a fridge for my art to hang on anyway.
My voice trembled in the stillness of the backroom, quiet as it was. “The time to buy me a steak was ages ago. Don’t try easing your conscience now that I’m grown enough to get a job and look after myself. I was seven years old and starving, and you knew it. We got our food dumpster diving after you cut us off, and I’d rather go right back into the trash for my meals than take a shiny new steak from you. I know exactly how dark your soul is.”
Judge’s cool expression was utterly destroyed. There was a flicker of horror and regret that haunted his eyes now, touching a part of me I’d long cut off from him. “Take the food. Really, baby girl. It’s my olive branch.”
Fury burned in my expression as I jerked my arm from his grip. I stomped back to his table and snatched up the tracker. I waved the smashed device in his face, making the unnamed dealer to my right grunt in surprise. “Olive branch? Really? Then what’s this supposed to be? Your white flag? Don’t piss me off, Judge. I’m this close to taking a baseball bat to your windshield again.”
“I can help with that,” Mason said, his eyes studying Judge like a lion calculating the agility of a limping gazelle.
This time Judge met me with that amused smile I wanted to knock off his face. “You know I only use bulletproof glass on my cars. Though I wouldn’t mind watching you exhausting yourself trying to make a dent. If you would’ve let me buy you your car, it would’ve been delivered with the same protection. I’m actually on your side.”
“Not possible,” I argued, knowing it was childish to want to have the last word. “Your mama didn’t raise you to be like this. She wanted better for you. It’s why you always waited until she was out of the house to do your shady deals.”
“Spitfire, as usual. That’s my baby girl.”
It took everything in me not to reach out and punch him in the throat. I could get away with a great many things with Judge, but knew that one would be pushing his patience too far. I was already dancing on the edge by defying him in front of the three men at the table.
I composed myself and narrowed my eyes at the trio of unnamed men I didn’t need to know. “If you gentlemen haven’t found the trackers on your cars before you landed yourself here, then either he’s not bothering to vet you, which means I’d get your wills in order, or you trusted Judge too easily. Pretty deadly mistake, and might I add, a rookie mistake as well. Judge doesn’t trust rookies, and trust is the only currency that matters at a table like this. I don’t care how much he’s promised you.” I shot Judge with the most venomous glare I had in me. “Judge only feeds people who don’t need to eat.”
“That’s enough,” Judge ordered, his tone firm.
I reached down and took a sip of the wine I’d abandoned, returning Judge’s glare as I set it back down. “Enjoy the drinks, guys. If you haven’t already found your tracker, it just might be your last one. Judge has a lot of flaws, but his taste in red wine isn’t one of them.” I spun on my heel and stalked past Von and Mason to the hostess stand, where I kept my back resolutely to their table, my hands in my pockets to keep the trembling unnoticed.
16
Round Two-Judge
Von and Mason said not a word, but they both had opinions, I could tell. Mason was tight-jawed and glaring at me, while Von rubbed sweet circles across my back to soothe my jumbled nerves. Mason snatched up the bag when it came, wanting to get out of there as fast as we could. I pulled out my wallet, ready to bite the bullet that came when you wanted luxuries like pride. The hostess shook her head. “The bill’s been taken care of.”
“No, it hasn’t,” I replied, grinding my teeth. “Please reverse the charges and put it on this card.”
“But Mr. McCray said…”
“Judge says a lot of things he shouldn’t. Charge the carryout to this card, please.”
“Yes, ma’am.” She looked at my outfit dubiously and lowered her voice. “The total’s $265.75 for the food. Are you sure you don’t want me to charge it to his account? He insisted.”
I groaned internally, but kept my chin raised and my bland expression in place. It was only money. Money wasn’t worth as much as my dignity. “Use my card, please.” A smile swept over me as my shoulders rolled back. “And can you add a round of desserts for Judge’s table on my card, too? Crème brûlée for five. Let him know it’s from his favorite trapeze artist.”
“Absolutely.” She rang me up for the largest dinner bill I’d ever paid for, and after the food came, I was on my way.
Von pulled the car around, and Mason all but shoved me in back. The second the door shut, he went off on a tirade. “Are you suicidal, or just insane? You can’t go tempting fate like that.” Mason shook his head at me. “So he wants to do something nice to thank you for saving someone he cares about. There’s nothing wrong with that, October. Your stubborn streak is going to get you killed someday.”
He kept going, but I wasn’t really listening. Mason didn’t know my world. My attention returned when Mason finally ran out of steam. “Von, you reason with her. Clearly nothing I’m saying is getting through.”
Von belted out a laugh I could tell he’d been holding in as he merged onto the freeway. “That was brilliant! I’ve never seen anything better. It was like living out a mafia movie. And forgive me Mason, but Peach? That was dead sexy. If you weren’t my dedicated little sister, I’d be taking you to my place right about now.”
Mason glowered at Von. “That was very helpful, Von. Thanks.”
When we reached the house, the smell of the porterhouse steaks had filled up the car, making us all ravenous. Mason was still angry, but I knew a beautiful piece of meat would help with that. Von got out the plates while Mason put a few beers on the table and poured me a glass of water. They waited until my call to Ollie ended before pulling out the food and d
iving in.
I was all ready to sit down and let the events of the evening go until Von opened a bottle of red wine from the bag that I knew hadn’t been in the first order Judge sneaked into my car. I ripped the receipt out of my pocket and skimmed it, swearing so loud I made Von jump when my eyes couldn’t find the wine anywhere on the list. “No! I had him. I so had him this time!”
“He sneak the bottle of wine in?”
I held out my hand expectantly. “Give me the keys. It has to go back.”
Von quirked an eyebrow at me as he poured a glass. “It’s already opened, love. You can’t take it back.”
I clenched my fist at his solid logic. “He thinks he can just…”
“Just buy you the nicest bottle of wine there?” Von sniffed the glass before handing it to me. “It’s the same stuff you drank at his table. He got it for you because he knew you liked it.”
“He’s trying to buy me so I can help him. I can’t believe I lost this time!”
“No one lost this round,” Von chuckled, tugging me toward him so he could kiss my cheek. “You bought him and his mates pudding. You’re even.”
Mason was irate. “I can’t even enjoy this steak because of all the talk about that Judge guy. I swear, October. I never want you meeting with him again. He’s dangerous. Now everyone sit down and pick a new topic before I lose my temper.”
I huffed as I dropped down into my chair. I folded my arms across my chest to have a Mexican standoff with my glass of wine, debating whether or not I could have a drink without Judge thinking he’d won.
Tremble (Terraway Book 2) Page 10