by L A Cotton
“I guess that’s our cue, too. Ty, papi, are you ready?”
Tyson nodded across the room, still standing with Dennis, and Elena side hugged me. “If I find out she had anything to do with this, I swear...” Her whole face screwed up, but was quickly replaced with sadness. “Night, chica. Get some rest.”
Cassie and Jamie left with them, leaving only Jackson, Dennis, and me. Jackson had stopped pacing, but anger was still rolling off him.
“Ana, can I sit?” Dennis came to join me on the sectional, and I shifted over to give him room.
“Have you ever seen him around campus?”
“Him?”
“Lewis.”
“Oh, hmm, no. I hadn’t laid eyes on him before tonight.”
“You’re sure?”
“One hundred percent.” I placed my mug down on the table in front of me and leaned back against the couch, bringing my legs up and tucking them underneath me to one side.
“Tyson said you thought his eyes looked funny?”
“He was definitely on more than just alcohol. He was strong too, unusually so. Like it was adrenaline or something.” I looked past Dennis to Jackson. He was leaning against the counter in the kitchen watching us, rage flickering in his eyes.
“Is he okay?”
“Who, Jackson? He’ll be fine; it’s you we’re worried about.”
“I’m okay.”
Dennis tipped his chin slightly as if my words didn’t entirely convince him. “We dropped the guy at medical. Jackson broke his nose, but he won’t talk.”
He won’t?
“You sure you’re going to be okay? I can stay if you want me to?”
My eyes snapped to Dennis. Was he really asking me what I thought he was? Whether I felt comfortable being with Jackson alone? What kind of question was that?
Sensing my alarm, he added, “It’s not what you think. He loses it wherever you’re concerned. Shit, I’d be the same if I had someone I cared about the way he does you.”
“Really, I appreciate it, but we’ll be fine.”
Dennis rose from the couch and looked down at me. “If you’re sure, then I’m going to head out. Night, Ana.”
“Night, Dennis,” I just about managed to say, still reeling from the strange conversation.
After saying goodbye to Jackson, Dennis left. Jackson remained perched on the counter. He obviously wasn’t coming to me, so I inhaled a deep breath, rubbed gently at the bruise around my neck, and headed over to him. I didn’t give him time to react, wrapping myself around his torso. Jackson flinched as if being snapped out of a trance, before enveloping me in his arms.
“I could have killed him,” Jackson’s voice cracked and my heart lurched.
“No, you couldn’t have. It was a broken nose, Jackson. That’s all.”
“I wanted to make him hurt. I came out and heard your whimpers; I saw his hand wrapped around your neck, and for a split second, I wanted his blood. What is happening to me?” Jackson dropped his head onto my shoulder, burying his face in my hair.
“You were just protecting me.”
“It’s more than that, Ana. After everything we’ve been through, I can’t keep watching you get hurt. I’ve always wanted to protect you, but I’d do anything for you. Anything.”
Something lingered in his voice, and it scared me. I pulled back bringing my face level with his. “Jackson, you’re scaring me.”
He closed the space between our faces and brushed his lips across mine. “Don’t ever be scared of me. No matter what happens, what trials we face, know one thing. I’d lay down my life for you, Savanah Parry.”
Chills spread through me. Most girls might have been flattered or even overwhelmed by such a declaration. A guy offering up his life in place of his love’s was what every girl dreamed about and what romance stories required, but Jackson’s statement didn’t fill my heart over brimming with love or set off butterflies in my stomach.
Like a foreboding prophecy, his words haunted me.
Chapter 16
~ JACKSON ~
“Ahh, Jackson. Come in.”
I ducked past Marcus and made a beeline for the chair opposite his desk. Coach had ran us hard at practice, too hard, and every muscle in my body ached.
“Good practice?”
“The way Coach was working us; he’s got a stick up his ass about something.”
A hint of amusement filled Marcus’ eyes, but he remained composed as he took his seat. “I trust the trip with Perkins went well?”
I nodded, wondering how to play this. It was my first official meeting with Marcus since the trip to Seattle with Perkins, but I was almost certain Marcus knew all about it. He was, after all, the one who had set it up.
“Let’s cut the crap. I’m sure you know how the trip went, so why don’t we save on the formalities. I’m tired, my muscles feel like they might combust, and I need to get back to Ana.”
Paying no attention to my shitty mood, Marcus had loosened his tie before asking, “And how is the lovely Miss Parry?”
“Ana is fine,” I said a little too defensively.
“So she’s recovered from her little accident this weekend?”
My heart rate exploded and I pushed up off the chair. “What the hell do you know about it?”
“Jackson, calm yourself. I only know what people have told me.”
Sure, he did. He had probably orchestrated the whole thing, although that didn’t explain Mari’s involvement.
Changing the subject, I said, “Were you ever going to tell us about Seattle?”
“I figured you were working things out yourselves. Discretion is paramount in our line of work. People know what they need to know. It was time to bring you into the fold.”
“Why now?”
“You’re twenty-one, son. A man. As I said, it was time.”
Marcus wasn’t going to give me anything—that much was obvious—but I had one more question that I wanted to know the answer to.
“Does Braiden know?”
Something passed over his face. A glimpse of a man still coming to terms with his actions. But then his eyes hardened and I knew I’d touched a nerve.
“If he did, it wasn’t from me, but I suppose he had his suspicions.” Marcus paused as if considering how much to tell me. After a few seconds, he added, “There’s a reason for the way we do things. Braiden and Roman were proving to be a liability. Too much attention isn’t good for us or for business. The meeting in Seattle was your first glimpse of just how extensive our influence and reach is but don’t be fooled, Jackson. This is business, and in business, you keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
“We have enemies around that table?” I asked, trying to deflect his icy stare. At that moment, he reminded me so much of his son.
“I see Perkins only gave you the basics?”
“It was a brief history lesson, yeah.”
Rising from his leather chair, Marcus moved to the cabinet against the far wall. Pouring himself a glass of whiskey, Marcus offered me a tumbler, but I declined, too amped to add alcohol into the mix. He pulled open the drawer and fetched a bound scrapbook.
“Here.” He handed me the book. “This should fill in some blanks. If you have any questions after you read this, then you can ask Perkins or me. He’s been around for as long as I have.”
The book weighed heavy in my hands, as if it might hold the secrets of the universe.
“You’ll travel with Perkins to every meeting now as the representative of our family.”
My jaw tensed. It wasn’t a request, it was an order, and defiance simmered just under the surface of my skin. I despised taking orders from him. It used to come naturally; a sign of my unwavering loyalty, but now it felt like a betrayal of my conscience. Against Dad.
The man in front of me was the reason Dad was no longer here.
“Jackson, this is important. Do you understand? I need you in on this one hundred and ten percent. No distractions.”
&n
bsp; My lips drew into a tight line, and I tipped my chin in barely a nod.
“Good. I have some calls to make, but I'd like you and Miss Parry to join me for dinner Friday night. Briony, too. I'll see you then.”
A sinking feeling came over me. I'd managed to avoid dragging Ana into the family business until now, and I wanted to keep it that way.
I opened my mouth to respond, but Marcus cut me off. “Friday at seven, no excuses.”
Leaving the room, my mind jumped to Friday and the image of the four of us seated around the table. It wasn't just a nightmare; it was a disaster waiting to happen.
~
“No way.” Ana stood up and started pacing the bedroom.
“Ana…”
“No, Jackson. Absolutely not. Did you ask her if she’s the one behind the texts yet?”
My head dropped and I blew out an exasperated breath.
“No, you didn’t, did you? And now I’m expected to sit around a table with her and him? Not happening! I can’t, I just, I can’t…” Ana’s words trailed off as she realized that she didn’t have a choice. “You keep her away from me. If she says one word to me, then I won’t be held responsible for my actions.”
A hint of a smile played on my lips as I watched my girl’s eyes fill with fire. I rose from the bed and walked to her looping my arms around her waist and drawing her to me.
“What would I do without you?”
Ana cocked her eyebrow in challenge. “Something stupid.”
“You’re probably right.” I feathered my lips over hers and felt her body relax against me.
“I don’t want to go.” She sighed against my lips.
“I know. I don’t want you there either but-”
“We have to.” She finished my sentence.
Pulling back to look at her, I nodded. “We have to. I’m not sure what he’s up to, but we can’t drop the ball. There’s something else.”
“What?”
“He gave me something.” I left Ana and went to get the scrapbook from the dresser. I’d looked through it briefly since returning from the meeting with Marcus, but I wanted to show Ana.
Handing her the book, she said, “What is it?” Ana ran her hands over the book and followed me to the bed.
“Some kind of scrapbook.”
Shoulder to shoulder, Ana opened the cover and stared at the newspaper clippings and photos decorating the page. My eyes focused on a grainy photo of three young men. Marcus’ hair seemed thicker, red strands mixed with blond. Bright blue eyes looked at the camera. The muscled man in the middle was smiling at the man on his right. Dad was younger but looked just as I remembered. Parted dark hair swept to one side, his subtle dimples gave him a softness that Marcus and O’Connor didn’t have.
“This is Marcus, your father, and O’Connor?” Ana asked without taking her eyes away from the page.
“Yeah. He’s the man in the photos at the Donohue house. The man I met in Seattle. Frankie O’Connor.”
“He looks scary.”
“He’s something, all right.”
It was his eyes. They were cold—hardened.
“Look here, it’s a news story reporting the opening of O’Connor’s bar in Seattle. ‘Frankie O’Connor, local businessman, says the bar will be the first in a string of Irish-themed bars to open along the West Coast.’”
“Businessman, huh,” I said sarcastically.
“It looks like he opened three more bars. There are pictures of him in front of at least four different ones.” Ana continued turning the pages, scanning each photo and news story. “Look, your dad is in this photo with him. Marcus isn’t there, though.”
Ana was right. The photo showed O’Connor standing with his arm around my dad’s neck. The sign for O’Connor’s is in the background. It was dated July 2000, two years before he died.
We worked our way to the end of the book. It was much of the same. News stories reporting other O’Connor business ventures—bars, high-end strip clubs, and partnerships with construction companies and local businesses.
“What do you think Marcus is trying to tell you by showing you this?” Ana closed the book and rested her hands on it.
“I’m not sure.”
It was a lie. I’d been considering this since the meeting in Seattle. Why now? Marcus said it was time to bring me into the fold, but I was pretty sure it was more than that. But I wasn’t ready to discuss it with Ana. Not yet.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out. It was a text from Dennis. My eyes skimmed the words.
“I need to go.” I pressed a kiss to Ana’s forehead. “But I’ll be back tonight. Wait up for me, okay?”
“Sure. Go. Tell Dennis I said hi.” Ana smiled. “I’m going to head to the library for an hour or two.”
“Okay, stay safe and I’ll see you later.”
I left Ana and headed straight for my car, dialing Dennis. He answered on the second ring.
“What happened?”
Someone yelled in the background and Dennis mumbled something as if he was covering the mouthpiece with his hand.
“Shit, sorry, you need to get here. Like yesterday.”
“Where are you?”
“Dante’s.”
“I’ll be there in ten.”
There was more yelling and Dennis cursed down the line before it went dead.
“Fuck,” I said into thin air as I yanked the door open and climbed inside. I gunned the engine and roared down the single-track road leading from the house.
~
From the outside, Dante’s appeared to be quiet. It wasn’t until I stepped inside that I saw what had prompted Dennis to call me. Kyler sat perched on a barstool while the regular bartender, Cal, tended to his busted up nose. Travis and Shaun were on the other side of the room holding back a bloodied Landon Smith. Dennis spotted me and stormed straight over. “About time.”
“I got here as quick as I could,” I said unable to take my eyes off the guy who had drugged and kidnapped Ana. “What the fuck happened?”
Dennis glanced back to where they stood. “He just strolled in and demanded to see you. Kyler didn’t like his attitude, got worked up, and Landon threw the first punch. All hell broke loose. Took all three of us to pull them apart.”
I looked over at Kyler. His nose was a mess, blood dripping onto the bar as Cal tried to hold an ice pack to his face.
“You good?” I called over, unsure of whether to rip him a new one or thank him for laying one on Landon.
Kyler nodded, but Cal interjected, “He needs this looked at.”
“Can you take him to the medical center?”
Cal arched his eyebrow. “Can I trust you guys not to tear up this place again? Dirk will have my balls over this.”
“We’ll clean up.”
Cal nodded. He was a good guy. We’d been coming to Dante’s since junior year of high school. Dirk let us play pool and hang out as long as we didn’t cause trouble. Once we started CFA, it had become our regular spot.
“What do you want to do about him?” Dennis flicked his head to Landon again who was glaring in our direction. The guy had balls, that was for sure.
I didn’t answer Dennis as I stalked toward Landon. He didn’t move a muscle. No hint of fear or remorse on his face. Just a blank mask. Travis and Shaun held him in place, but I tipped my head for them to release him. They stepped to the side just as I pulled my arm back and sent my fist flying into his jaw. His head snapped back and he grunted, but he remained rooted to the spot.
When he righted himself, he rubbed his hand across his jaw. “I guess I deserved that.”
“Oh, you deserve a lot worse than that,” I spat, feeling Dennis come up behind me.
“Can we talk?” Landon replied so calm it threw me a little.
“Are you serious? You stroll into my bar after pulling a stunt like you did and expect me to agree to chat? I should put you in the fucking ground.”
Except, something about Landon’s presence in D
ante’s now, after the last couple of weeks, had me intrigued. The guy deserved a hell of a lot more than one fist to the face, but I couldn’t help but think he was a pawn in the game unfolding around me.
He rolled his shoulders and locked his eyes on mine. “Five minutes. I think you’ll want to hear what I have to say.”
“Jackson, I think you should-” Dennis said from behind me, but I cut him off.
“Five minutes.”
Dennis cursed, but I shut him out. I wanted to know what Landon thought was so important he had to come into Chastity Falls territory. He glanced at Shaun and Travis and then at Dennis who had moved beside me.
“Fine,” I said realizing he wanted to talk in private. “We can use the office. You guys start cleaning up the place. Dennis, wait by the door.”
Dennis followed behind us as I led Landon to the small office at the back of the room. Once inside, I closed the door and folded my arms over my chest.
“So…”
“Look, man, I know I don’t deserve you to hear me out, but I can’t take back what went down.” Landon dragged a hand through his hair.
He hadn’t changed much. His hair was longer and there was a new scar on the underside of his chin. I wondered if it was a souvenir from his few months inside.
“I heard about the kids who ended up in Tillamook Regional. I know one of them. Good kid. He’s still on life support. They don’t know if he’s going to make it.”
I knew all about Benson Lamont. Dennis was keeping his ear to the ground about the situation in Reibeckitt. The other kid as well as the kid off campus had made a full recovery, but Benson was still in the ICU.
“I’ve heard some things, about your uncle.”
Chills spread through me, causing the hairs to stand to attention along my neck.
“What things?”
“He’s got a new supplier. A guy named Raine. I asked around. He’s known for lacing his products, if you catch my drift. Mean son of a bitch, only out to make a quick buck. I heard Declan and Cole mention him a couple of times. He was trying to move into Reibeckitt, but they wanted nothing to do with him. Had a couple of their guys scare him off.”
I pinched my temples. What was I missing? So Marcus was using a new supplier, that didn’t seem like a crime, and if the new supplier was dealing in Reibeckitt, Maconey would have known. Surely.