Rectify (Return to Us Trilogy #2) (17 page)

"What about Shane? Does he know why he's picking us up?"

She seizes my hand in hers. "Yes. He followed us here."

"Why was my name written on her stomach?" I ask.

"I don't know, honey. Please don't worry. It's fine."

Sure, right. Everything's peachy, Aunt Helen.

Jacade

Mahoney clears his throat. "I get we need to do something about him. But why haven't we found him yet?"

"We've been looking," Bernard answers.

"Apparently you haven't been looking hard enough. People don't simply disappear." I hate Mahoney. I'm only keeping my mouth shut because he's technically ranked higher than me—for now.

"I spoke with Senator Boothby today. Viktor's elders are done with him. He's too much of an exposure risk. Viktor might have a handful of loyal men hiding him, but Gerry assures me his crews are doing all they can to find him and clip him. I promised him we'd do the same."

"How come we haven't whacked this asshole before now?" Mahoney asks.

"Viktor never gave us reason to believe he was a serious problem. A nuisance, yes, but risking exposure, no. He's been a top producer for years." Bernard takes a deep breath. "Three years ago, he brought in a girl he says is his sister and displayed some questionable behavior. We started tracking him through the woman back then. Gerry would have my head if he knew we were clocking one of his men. The public stunts like the nonsense he pulled at Mogul and this move with the hooker are new developments."

Colonel Mahoney's gaze slithers to mine, and one side of his mouth curves up. Fuck you, old man, for bringing up the mess with Kara.

"Right. Pretty boy here was supposed to cozy up to his sister." Mahoney flips his pen in a circle.

He's right. I was instructed to be with Kara to help keep tabs on Viktor—until Ivy came back into the picture. Bernard knows I broke it off with Kara because of Ivy.

Judge Conroy stands and clears his throat. "I have court in"—he glances at his wristwatch—"twenty minutes, so I'm pulling rank."

He turns his attention to me. "Trip, your orders are to use Kara to draw Viktor out. When he surfaces, pop him. You've got one week."

"It won't work. Viktor didn't even blink when I got close with Kara. They don't have a typical sibling relationship." I can't do this. What about Ivy? No fucking way.

"Then rape her. Kill her. Make sure Viktor hears about it. He'll jump at the chance to take revenge on you, even if he doesn't give a shit about his sister."

"I can't do that," I say, shaking my head no. I'll never rape a woman. No more murdering people for these bastards.

"Okay, then use Ivy as bait to draw him out, Trip." His eyebrows rise.

Fuck. I have no choice.

"That's what I thought. Get it done, Jordan," Judge Conroy says with a nod of his head.

"What's the hold-up, Trip? You don't want to fuck his sister anymore?" Mahoney chimes in.

Bernard raises his voice. "I released him of his orders. Do you have a problem with that, Mahoney?"

They glare across the table at each other. Neither one backs down until Mahoney grins. "Is there a reason you're speaking for Casanova over there?"

My fists clench under the table. Fucking Mahoney. He can't challenge Bernard because he's second in command after Judge Conroy, but he can challenge me all he wants. Do your worst, dickhead.

"What would you like to know, Mahoney? The details of how I fucked his sister so you can take notes on how to make a woman come on your tiny dick for the first time in your life?"

Senator Thurman mumbles, "Gentlemen, please…"

I'm going to smack that smug smile off Mahoney's ugly mug.

"Watch it, Jordan. We all know who tickles your dick now, and damn, would she be a nice ride." He shakes his head and gropes his groin. "I bet Ivy gives some mean head with those lips."

Fuck no. Fuck. No.

I stand and my chair flies back.

"Sit. Down." Bernard's voice passes through my ears, but I don't hear him. "Jacade. Now!"

I stare daggers at Mahoney. "Say her name again and I'll murder you and your entire bloodline."

Judge Conroy points to the door. "Both of you. Out. Walk it off."

Mahoney stands and narrows his gaze on me. He tugs on his suit jacket and walks around the edge of the table then out the door. Bernard follows me.

"Fuck you, Trip," Mahoney says over his shoulder as he takes off down the hallway. Yeah, you'd better run, fucker. You know I could beat your ass.

I whip around and glare at Bernard. "Why did you let him talk about Ivy like that?"

"This meeting is about my family, and I need Mahoney's help." He points his finger at my sternum. "You need to remember that and keep it under wraps, you fucking hothead."

I stop his finger an inch before my chest and twist until he bends back in pain. When he tries to straighten, I wrench his arm behind his head and hyperextend his elbow. He cries out as I slam his cheek up against the wall with my forearm on his shoulders.

"Don't tell me what to do, old man. You orchestrated this little power play with Viktor. I could've killed him years ago. You should have shot to kill at the club, not aim for his hand like a pussy. Why are you so against getting rid of that punk?"

Judge Conroy comes out of the conference room. His eyes widen when he sees me restraining Bernard. "Release him, Jordan."

I push off him with a grunt. Bernard rubs his shoulder and glares at me with an indignant scowl as I pace the corridor. Oh please, I went easy on you.

Judge Conroy clears his throat. "What's your fucking problem, Trip?" He looks from Bernard to me. "I said if Viktor surfaces, take him out. You just got your kill order."

"You're right, I did. But at what expense? Killing Kara? What if Ivy finds out and I lose her?" I shake my head. "Not worth it."

"She won't find out. Follow the damn order," Bernard says as he straightens his clothes. "Or you'll forfeit all the credibility you've sacrificed your whole life to earn."

"Is that a threat?"

"No. It's a fact. You want to marry her, don't you?"

"Of course."

"Then do what you gotta do, son."

He's right. I have no choice. I must do this to Kara for Ivy's safety and our future together.

He turns back to the conference room and Conroy follows him. Bernard stops with his hand on the door handle and turns to give me one final look of warning. The door swings shut behind him.

"I'm not your son."

Ivy

The crying has subsided, thanks to sleeping the day away, but the betrayal of trusted loved ones remains.

Knock, knock, knock
.

In sit up like a meerkat. Who's here? I'm not expecting anyone.

Knock, knock, knock
.

Jacade. A current passes through me and charges all my particles like I'm sitting in Old Smokey waiting for the wet sponge to be placed on my head. My stomach plummets at the image of Bryn staring at the security monitor, her face set in a grim line.

I disable the alarm and open the door. She talks before I can say hello.

"I need to show you something. Let's go before I change my mind." She spins and jogs down the steps to the driver's side of a sparkling pearl-white Tesla.

I snatch my keys and purse from the foyer, lock the door, and swipe the alarm. She's already belted and in drive when I hop in her car.

"Sheesh, lady. Wait for me."

I click my seat belt as she pulls away from the curb. She floors it through a yellow light. "Shoot, Bryn. What's going on? You're scaring me."

She whips the car into metered parking. Does she have change?

"Come on."

I climb out of the car and peek at the meter. Free after 6:00 pm. I check my watch. 7:45 pm. We're good.

She speed walks to a bridge over the Chicago River. I peek down and glance at a ferry bobbing in the water.

I'd never let you drown
.

Smash
!

I collide with Bryn's front. "My god, woman. Why did you stop walking?"

She ignores my question and stares me straight in the eye. "Ivy, I would never want to hurt you, but you have to see this." She twirls her thumbs as she speaks. "Earlier, Shane was at my place. His phone beeped while he was in the shower. His iPhone was on my nightstand, but the sound came from his jacket." Her face crumbles. "In his pocket, I found a flip phone with a text message from a number. No name."

"Okay. What did it say?"

Her gaze drops, then rises to meet mine. "It said,
La Mia Edera
.
Kara
.
6:00 pm
."

"What? Who's Kara? I'm lost, Bryn. Fill me in."

Her words trigger my memory of La Mia Edera restaurant and the first day I met him. The flickering tealights and the ironed, white-linen tablecloths. The ivy crawling up the brick around the terrace. His grin and cocky stare as he sauntered toward me.

He knew he was going to have me. I knew it too. I just refused to admit it to myself.

She exhales, and her hands grip the crossbody strap of her purse. "As he was leaving, he told me he'd stop by later tonight." She pauses and swallows.

"Bryn, tell me." My arms flail out to my sides.

"After he drove Jacade."

What is she saying?

"Jacade has a date tonight with some twat named Kara."

Boom
.

My stomach implodes with the reality I've feared since I laid eyes on him.

He's with another woman. He brought her to our restaurant.

Viktor flat on his back while a blonde rides his dick and a brunette sits on his face.

I clutch my belly, but my hand can't catch it before it falls to the sidewalk, through the cement, through the dirt, and doesn't stop. Bryn cloaks me in a hug during my out-of-body experience.

She babbles in my ear. "Oh, honey, I'm sorry. I was so sure he was a good man. I didn't want to tell you, but I had to. Please forgive me."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"I brought you here in case you didn't believe me." She spins me by my shoulders and points down to the Riverwalk.

My brain struggles to take in the scene before me. My sex god on a stick lounges on the terrace—our terrace at La Mia Edera—and sips from a wine glass. A woman wearing a tight, red dress with spaghetti straps sits opposite him. Her pale skin glows in the moonlight, and her platinum hair cascades down her back.

She's the prom queen. I'm the fat girl again.

I need to calm down. There must be some explanation for this. But who is she? She could be a patient of his or a relative. Is she one of his
girls
like Amber? She moves her chair closer to him and says something in his ear. He looks in my direction again as she presses her lips to his cheek at the corner of his mouth. A brief kiss, but intimate enough. She is not a relative or a patient.

I hunch over and my gut lurches. Bryn rubs my back.

"It's okay, honey. Screw him."

I cover my mouth with my hand and peek up at them again. He's gone, and she's sitting there alone. I turn away from the macabre sight.

Why? He was it for me. My last puzzle piece.

How could he do this?

Why, Jacade?

Dry heaves rack my body.

Why?

***

Jacade

Fucking shit. Holy fucking hell.

My tight grip on the mosaic sink in the bathroom turns my knuckles white. The panther drools and paces on his leash.

No fucking way did I see Ivy standing beneath a streetlight on a bridge. I must have hallucinated her shocked eyes flickering as tears fell from her face. My mind had to have conjured her image.

My burner phone vibrates in my pocket. Shane. "Talk."

"You've been spotted."

"That was her."

"Yes, sir."

"How?"

"Bryn saw my phone."

I close the phone and crush it against the sink.

Water rushes from the faucet, over the pieces, and down the drain. I cup my hands and splash cold water on my face, but nothing can rinse away my guilt and rage. I raise the stopper, and the blue-green mosaic glass tints the water an eerie indigo as the sink fills. Pieces of phone float up. I dunk my face in the frigid water.

Muffled voices and the clink of glasses pass through the door. I'd much rather be an oblivious patron here to eat and drink a casual glass of wine instead of dining with a woman I despise only because I want to kill her psychopathic brother. All the while, the woman I love, the woman I've waited years for, watches. Damn Kara for attempting to sneak a kiss. How can I ever explain to Ivy that I did this to secure a future for us?

My grip on the sink rocks the basin on the pedestal. I don't want to be the one who has to do foul things anymore.

Crash
!

The basin breaks free, and I hurl it against the mirror. A million pieces shatter and fall. Water spurts down the dismantled marble pedestal of the sink. My chest heaves as I stand frozen in the middle of the explosion. The broken shards of my life and the jagged edges of my sanity litter the floor.

The panther slams at his cage and the metal rattles, but he can't break free.

***

Ivy

"Sit here, hun. Let me get you something to drink." Bryn's furniture looks familiar, but Kara's blonde hair and red dress are all I can see.

What a freakin' snatchacle!

Bryn shoves a mug under my nose. "Drink this." I shake my head. "It wasn't a question."

I gulp it down as fast as I can. "That is vile. What the hell is it?"

"A man who will never let you down. Jack motherfucking Daniels."

"A little warning would've been nice." No cough can clear your throat once Jack gets ahold of it. She might be on the right track though. Maybe Jack can extirpate the memory of this cataclysmal night from my brain. Remove the vision of her. And him. On a date. Her lips on his cheek. I chug the rest of the mug.

Bryn snorts. "I'm having flashbacks to your twenty-first birthday." I shake my head with a smile. I don't want to think about it considering I can't remember much but the hangover. She takes the mug from my hand and sets it on the table.

She plops next to me on the sofa. "So, now what?"

Great question. I have no clue. I shrug. "Tomorrow, I get up and go to work."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" She sits up.

"I have to. He doesn't know I saw him, and I'm not going to hide from him."

"You're right." She's such a good listener.

"I know I'll get through this, but I'm not gonna lie." I sniffle as a tear escapes down my cheek. "I'm in love with him, Bryn. This is gonna hurt. Bad." She wraps her arms around me, and I flop my forehead on her shoulder. My sweet Bryn, always at my side offering a warm hug.

I bawl in her arms as she rubs my back. "My soul loves him."

"I know, honey. I know."

***

Jacade

I park in front of Kara's apartment building and frown at the starless night through my windshield. If she said anything, I didn't hear it.

"Jacade?"

My gaze remains forward. "Yeah?"

"Aren't you coming up?" Huh? Oh, I used to come up, didn't I?

I can't even look at her anymore. "No."

"Oh. How about dinner tomorrow night? I'll cook." Her voice buzzes in my ear. I want to swat her out of my face and kill her with my shoe.

"I can't." Are my clipped answers not cluing her in?

The haze of my headlights illuminates the bushes outside her apartment. An untrimmed branch bends, snaps, and blows away in a gust of wind.

"What about lunch then? I have a long break between clients around noon tomorrow. Come by the salon." Her hand in my hair sends a shiver down my spine. "You could use a haircut anyway."

Tonight was an epic failure, but Trip follow orders.

"Fine. Lunch." I wrench my head from beneath her fingers. "We can meet somewhere after my morning surgery."

"But I wanted to cook for you." Her fingers find their way back to my hair and resume fondling.

Her apartment ain't happening. She can't be trusted. We'll meet in public.

"No. I'll meet you at Carlos's at one o'clock." Her hand stills.

"All the way in River North?" She snorts. "Do you not want to be seen with me or something?"

Just the opposite. I want the right people to see us together.

I exit the car without answering her. She gets out and I walk behind her to her apartment. She sticks her key in the door and gapes at me.

"Are you sure you don't want come in?" The pathetic hope in her eyes glimmers in the porch light.

"Yes, I'm sure. Early morning tomorrow."

She nods and enters. Her door closes and the deadbolt turns.

When I hear the sounds of a scuffle inside her door, I press my ear to it.

Silence.

I call Shane on my burner. "McCormick."

"Plan on driving me from the surgery center to Carlos's Restaurant in River North tomorrow at 1:00 pm."

"Got it."

"And have Rory put a feed on Kara's place."

"Ten-four, sir."

"Good man."