Mistaken (16 page)

A loud groan escaped his lips as his hands caressed her bare legs and his hips moved against her. Dillan whimpered as his teeth grated over her skin, her pulse racing as a tingling sensation trickled down her body. Trey’s lips closed over her collarbone and his strong arms hoisted her up, wrapping her legs around him. Her mouth found his once more, kissing him deeply as he carried her. Blindly moving, Trey somehow managed to navigate the living room, only bumping the coffee table before collapsing onto the sofa with Dillan beneath him.

Their bodies intertwined as he moved against her, his fingers tugging at the front of her blouse. Her chest heaved as a million different emotions shot through her. The feeling of his lips moving down her neck was too much for her to take.

He lifted himself up on his arms, staring down at her for a moment. Conflicting emotions seeped through his forlorn eyes. Trey wanted her so badly, even though he knew that this was wrong. Even though he knew she would hate him soon enough. He wanted to forget how lonely his life had been. He wanted to know what it was like, if only for one moment, to feel completely lost in someone else. He wanted one last moment of peace before he went after Carlos. Before he ran into the wolves’ den, from which it was likely that he would never re-emerge.

Dillan's eyes met his with a puzzled expression. His features gave away a vulnerability she had never seen before, even with Jamie. She couldn’t completely understand it, but maybe he needed this just as much as she did right now.

Regardless of the consequences, regardless of the voices in the back of their heads yelling for them to stop, they continued without another word. Dillan’s fingers curled around the nape of Trey’s neck as she pulled him back down to her.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The next morning, Trey woke to feeling of Dillan's smooth, warm body shifting against him. Her silken legs slid against his as she turned onto her side, her breasts pressing against his bare chest. A shiver of pleasure ran through his body as the events from the previous evening replayed in his head. He breathed her in, enjoying the calm, content feeling that he couldn’t help but feel as he held her. No matter how brief this time might be, he knew he had to enjoy it.

Trey had slept with women before, but he always made a point to keep it casual, and only about the sex. After losing his mom, and being separated from Jamie, he was convinced that if he cared about someone else, they would only end up getting hurt. For that reason, he was terrified at the realization of just how much he had started to care for Dillan. But it wasn't some unknown killer that he worried would hurt her.

It was himself.

He watched her sleeping and a peaceful smile played on her lips. It only caused a burning pain to swell in his chest.
Why do I have to tell her now?  Why did I have to leave this behind? Why didn’t I just tell her the truth last night?
He knew last night was only going to make the tasks ahead of him more painful.

As soon as she knew the truth, she would hate him, and she would hate herself for ever letting him into her life. There wouldn’t be time to hope for forgiveness. Trey would have to leave, knowing all the while that she despised him, and head straight into whatever fate awaited him in San Diego.

“Trey?” Her voice pulled him back to reality. She sat up, pulling the blanket down from the back of the couch, covering her bare chest.

“Hey.” His heart sank as he looked into her hazel eyes. As the afterglow of the previous night wore off, it was evident that she was dealing with her own inner turmoil as well. He couldn’t even look at her as the flames in his chest lapped higher, threatening to suffocate him.

Dillan untangled herself from him, sitting up next to him as she watched his face. Her own emotions were eating at her. She knew last night had been her fault. As nice as it had been, as good as it had felt, she shouldn’t have pushed him into it. Now she didn’t know how she felt. There were still the unanswered questions that had been building up. Questions about Andrew, about the night at the Finley’s… now added to
this
. Did she want to feel anything more about him? She couldn’t even begin to fathom that thought. She still loved Jamie, she still missed Jamie.
What have I done?

“I’m sorry Trey…for last night.” She looked down at the coffee table.

“Please don’t apologize, Dillan.”  His heart jerked tightly within his chest.

“I need to…I was drinking too much and I was really upset and I used you.”

“Dillan, it’s not necessary…”

“No it is. You even tried to stop me, but I still threw myself at you.”  It hurt him even more to hear her describe the previous night as some sweaty moment of weakness.  To him anyways, it had meant more than that. Not that it would ever amount to anything else however. Her heart belonged to his brother and it always would. Besides, his time was running out. He could no longer put off the inevitable.

It was time to come clean.

“Dillan, it’s me that needs to apologize. I haven’t been completely honest with you.” His voice was somber as he spoke.

“What are you talking about, Trey?”  He could see Dillan pull the blanket tightly around her as she slid further down the couch from him.

“I’m the reason Jamie is dead.” His heart slammed against the floor as he finally spoke the words out loud.

There it was. Finally.

Dillan sat there, filled with disbelief and confusion, unable to process his words.

“What do you mean, you’re the reason Jamie is dead?” She slid off the couch and backed away from him, her eyes narrowing with fear and suspicion.

“The man that killed him...meant to kill me.” Trey said, “They wanted me dead. Not Jamie.”

“Please, tell me you're joking Trey.” Dillan felt a sick twisting in the pit of her stomach.

“I wish I could.” He said. He could not bear to look up at her. To see those beautiful eyes looking at him in disgust.

“How long have you known this?” Dillan demanded, her voice growing angry.

“Since you first told me he was killed.  I couldn’t find any proof, but I don't think it could have been anyone else. The person that would have wanted me dead got out of jail last year. A month or so before Jamie was killed.”

“You knew all this time?” She was glaring at him, her fists clenched tightly, shaking at her sides. “And you lied to me; you used me so you had somewhere to stay? Was that why you went through my stuff?”

“Yes...NO! I wasn't trying to use you Dillan.” Trey pleaded as he scrambled for an explanation.

“But you did...” Her arms crossed in front of her. “You used me.”

“No...” Tears escaped the corners of his eyes, “Dillan.”

“Don't!” Her expression hardened; her eyes were cold, impervious. The woman he had been with last night was nowhere to be seen.

“Don't say another word. Grab your shit and get out of my apartment.” Her voice was unusually calm but the anger in her words boiled just beneath the surface. He slid on his jeans and shoes, hanging his head low and pitiful. Dillan kicked his bag at him from the side of the couch as he pulled his shirt down over his head. Trey looked down at the bag, then back at her, his blue eyes glistening with tears. Her expression was unyielding as she walked into the foyer, putting her hand on the front door. He hated leaving with this as his final memory of her.

“Dillan...” Trey stopped in front of her, reaching for her once more.

“Get out!” Her voice exploded with emotion, her body rejecting his touch as the tears now escaped her eyes. In one quick motion, she swung the door open, "Just leave me alone!"

She shoved him, a hand pressing against his chest. He stumbled back through the doorway, catching himself before he fell.

“I'm sorry...” His chest ached, as he watched her pull away, shaking her head. He knew that he only stood to lose her. What purpose did false hopes serve for what he now needed to do? It was better this way. If he didn’t have her, he didn’t have anyone else to lose.

“Good bye Trey.” Her voice shook, her eyes connecting with his one last time before she closed the door.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Trey sat at the diner down the street from Dillan’s apartment. The same one they had eaten at on the day they had first met. He stared down at his untouched plate of food. He knew he should probably eat. His flight was leaving in four more hours and after he arrived in San Diego, he had no idea how things would go down. Trey hoped, at the very least, to sink a couple of bullets into Carlos before he died. Carlos wasn’t man enough to show up alone, but if Trey was quick enough, he could get at least one lethal shot in before getting riddled with bullets himself.

However, right now, he could only think about Dillan. The pain he had inflicted upon her still loomed over him. If he had just told her the truth from the beginning he could have avoided this mess. He could have avoided these feelings he was unsure about. His contemplation of any possibility of a future with Dillan, while unlikely, still served to make this trip harder for him.

That look she had given him, so full of hurt, was forever burned into Trey’s memory. But it was better for her this way. It was better if she loathed him. It would make it easier for him to disappear from her life. He could go after Carlos knowing that Dillan wouldn’t mourn him if he died.

But as he sat in the diner, he allowed himself a little more time to think about her, a little more time to think about the last few days he had spent in Midtown. He thought about the night they had stayed up late going through her photo album, and the day at the stream. All of these thoughts were now bittersweet memories.  Any sort of bond they had shared during those precious days was now severed, and as much as he longed for it, it didn’t do him any good.

As usual Trey, leaping before you look.

Even when he had gotten involved with the cartel he hadn’t thought it through and he lost his family as a result. Sure, he had planned on giving money to his mother to keep her from losing their house, but he probably could have done that by getting a part-time job.  One that didn’t lead to his family’s demise. Being a naïve know-it-all kid, he hadn’t realized the gravity of what he had gotten himself involved in, until it was too late.

If only they had not mistakenly tracked down the wrong brother.  Trey wished it had been his door that they had knocked on.  At least that way no one else would have gotten hurt and it would have been over.  Revenge, no matter how misconstrued, would have been taken out on him, and not Jamie. Jamie could have gone on living his life with Dillan while Trey faded into a distant, painful memory of a former life.

Trey had always expected that to become his fate since the day he had met Agent Decker and Agent Luciano. He had known full well the consequences that came with becoming a narc against one of the largest families of the So Cal Drug Cartel.

***

“Drop the gun you piece of shit!” Alex froze as he gripped the 9 millimeter pistol that was already shaking in his hands.  His stomach twisted tighter into knots, already sick from the job he had been given.  His eyes dropped to the teen in front of him.  He looked familiar, maybe someone he had seen at school. 
Just your average all-American teenage boy…
just like Alex. His eyes were staring up at Alex’s, welling up with tears, pleading for his life through the muffled sobs that escaped through his gag. Alex had never wanted this...

Neither of them had, and Alex couldn’t help but wonder what exactly this kid had done to deserve a punishment so grave.  He had only been told he had to prove himself. He had to be the one to do it. Alex was frozen, knowing he was caught, knowing he had failed to do what he was told, and either way there would be hell to pay.

“Don’t be a fucking idiot kid, drop the gun!” His eyes glanced at the DEA agent that was slowly creeping toward him from behind a shipping container, with his gun pointed at Alex.  Alex glanced back at the kid in front of him, silently apologizing as his hand shook and his pulse thumped loudly in his ears.  The other kid squeezed his eyes shut, expecting the shot, but he opened them again when he heard Alex place the gun on the ground.  Though Alex had spared his life, neither felt any reprieve. If he didn't get the job done, surely someone else would come to do it later, and they would be sure to send someone after Alex too. The thought made his stomach lurch and churn painfully and the earth seem to tilt as he stood there.

A moment later, Alex was thrown to the ground as one of the agents tackled him from the side.  It happened so quickly that he did not have any time to react before his head was bashed against a piece of cracked concrete, sending him into a confused darkness.

He might not have remembered what had happened if not for the throbbing pain circulating over the back of his head. His vision was slightly blurred when he came to, and this only worsened as a bright light was pointed in his face. Alex went to put his hand to his head only to realize that he was handcuffed to the cold metal chair he was sitting in.

“Told you I only roughed him up a little bit, the kid’s fine!” a husky voice grumbled. Alex tried to make his eyes focus on the two forms moving in front of him with little success. “Well kid, hope you didn’t have plans for Princeton, because I doubt this will look good on your high school resume.”  The man snorted, laughing at his own comment.  Alex squinted, this time able to focus a little better on the two agents across from him.  One of them held one of his passports in his hand as he paced the floor across from Alex.

“Sadly these days it doesn’t surprise me anymore to see one kid trying to kill another.  But I do wonder why both are carrying around passports, both of which were tampered...” The man thumbed through the pages of the passport, several different stamps a blur as the pages flipped by.

“You enjoy visiting Mexico, Alex?” The agent rested his hand on the table as he dropped the passport, his eyes narrowing at Alex.  Alex didn’t answer, looking away from the agents gaze.  He watched Alex curiously, crossing his arms in front of his chest.  He was a large man, with biceps bigger than Alex’s head.  He had light brown skin and short buzzed hair, and looked to be in his mid-thirties.