Текст книги "Exposed"

Автор книги: Ivy Stone

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Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

Emerging from the deep, Ali mumbles something incoherent until her eyes widen at the sight of Naked Guy, rendering her momentarily speechless. “Oh. You.” She has the audacity to look shocked at his presence. Her eyes flicker my way before she quickly lowers them, hiding them behind the hair loose around her face. “Oops, forgot about him. Sorry, sis,” she says a little too quickly before pivoting around and making a quick exit.

My hand rushes out and I grab her elbow, spinning her back around to face me. My stomach drops and another piece of my heart chips away as the bloodshot eyes of my sister fill me with disappointment. Again.

“You’re high, aren’t you?” I let her go, averting my eyes to hide the hurt. It shouldn’t still shock me to see her this way, but it does. Growing up with a drug addict for a mother curbed any curiosity I had of drugs. They were evil, soul sucking, life ruining. I’d never wish to relive any one of the times I had to clean her, redress her, all because she’d passed out, drowning in her own vomit. Nor did I want to endure another physical beating as a result of moving one of her syringes so Ali wouldn’t pick one up or step on them.

In a warped way, her cruelty was a gift. Every hand she laid on me was a reminder of the kind of mother I promised myself I’ll never be, should the day ever come that I have a child of my own. Ali was too young to remember, never on the front line ready to battle a continuous war with a woman who refused to stop wallowing in the man she’d lost and fight for the children she still had.

Ali hides behind her hands, shaking her head at the same time. “I’m sorry, Linds. Adriana and I went out last night. We had a huge fight and it hit me hard. She refused to even talk to me after it.” Her voice cracks as the words leave her mouth. “I just needed a little something to take the edge off, is all.”

She looks up at me, biting her lip. Hopelessness weighs down my shoulders as I take in her pale face. She’ll want my forgiveness, but I’m not sure I have any left for her.

“Then why are you still completely off your face twenty-four hours later?” I say, my voice dropping.

“Because John’s here,” Ali motions to Naked Guy, who’s back in the kitchen helping himself to my fruit bowl. Thankfully, doing so full clothed. “Convinced me to have more while I was under the influence.”

“It’s Jake actually,” Naked Guy interjects.

Ali slaps her hands down onto her thighs. “Jake, John, whatever,” she says, flustered. “We had another hit early this morning as we got home.” She eyes off Jake or John, whoever the hell he is, before zeroing back in on me. Does she not see what this was doing to her? Does she not remember she could be called into the police precinct at any time? That she could go to prison for this very reason?

“I’m sorry, okay. I assumed he would have left as soon as he got up this morning. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”

I breathe deeply and let out a sigh. She just doesn’t get it. I’d take seeing naked men’s asses everyday over watching her bury her worries with drugs.

“Look, you and I need to talk. This can’t keep happening if you’re going to stay here.”

I point to my front door, “John, the door is that way. Please see yourself out.”

“It’s Jake,” he reminds me. I glare at him, both mine and Alison’s strained expressions silently telling him to kindly fuck off.

“Okay then, bye.” Ever so quickly, he darts to the door while I argue with my sister like we’re children again. We talk. We argue. It won’t make an ounce of difference. It never has, so why would now be any different? Convincing Alison she needs professional help is as successful as talking to a brick wall. How am I supposed to help her when she won’t help herself?

I ball my hands into fists and shake my head, trying to control the disgust and anger wanting to break free. A lump forms in my throat just thinking about the words about to leave my mouth. “Ali, I can’t do this anymore. You need to get help, babe. I’ve tried my best but this, I can’t fix for you. The rehabilitation clinic I told you about, it’s got a good reputation. I checked it out a few days ago and it was nice. It wasn’t like a prison, Ali, and I know that’s what you’re afraid of. But you don’t have to be. I’ll help you and we’ll get through this.”

The anguish in her eyes nearly makes me cave, but I stay strong because there is no other option.

I clasp my hand over hers as a lone tear falls down her cheek. “It breaks my heart to see you like this, but I just can’t do it anymore. I can’t tear my own heart in two so I can save you. I need you to save yourself this time. Before it’s a real prison cell you end up in.”

Sitting silently, I hold her close, praying she makes the right decision. Her life may depend on it.

CHAPTER NINE

Lindsey

There are no choices; there is only one ending. I knew it back then, I know it now. I made peace with that knowledge. I didn’t deserve anything more, anything less. But Alison deserved a different end to her story.

A knock at the door sounds loud and I jump, jabbing myself in the eye with mascara.

“Ugh, awesome,” I mumble under my breath, my left eye watery with a black smudge just above it.

“I’ll get it!” Ali yells from somewhere in the loft. Quickly fixing my makeup, I make myself presentable, flattening any creases in my A-line pinafore dress and tucking the dog tags in where they’re hidden. Fastening my watch to my wrist, I blindly leave my room taking absolutely no notice of my surroundings as I walked up the hallway and run straight into a suit-clad chest. Arms fly out to steady me, and the unmistakable scent of mint and sweet grapefruit sends my libido into a wild frenzy. I inhale the tantalizing aroma I found comforting the first moment we met. The lids of my eyes close and my hips are sprung forward by the force of Mason’s hands. His cock hits my sweet spot and my eyes open involuntarily, the pleasure pulling me back to reality. I’m in a man’s arms. I’m in his arms, in my loft. My heart thumps rapidly as I wonder why he’s here.

His chiseled face hardens and his eyes gleam with raw desire as I take a step away, breaking his hold on me. “Ugh, thanks. Sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to be standing right there. Here, in my home.”

I glance around for Ali, hoping like hell her high has worn off and when I spot her, she looks half decent. A weight lifts from my shoulders and I turn back to Mason.

He pierces me with a glance so much more than lust, and it squeezes my heart until I’m breathing uncomfortably. I don’t like that look. I don’t want to be on the receiving end. He’s searching for something terrifying. I can feel him reaching into my soul, watching my life play before his eyes, and I’ve never felt more exposed.

My heart rate spikes. Shifting out of his embrace, I grab my phone and keys off the bench and put them in my purse in an effort to gain some distance between us. The farther away from me, the better I can focus. He’s too alluring, too enticing. I scan the faces of Mason, Roamyn and Alison. The tension connecting us thickens. What am I missing here? After this morning’s argument with Ali, I already feel drained. Adding an unannounced visit from these two detectives is a reasonable cause for the unease resonating in my stomach.

“Detectives, what can I do for you?” I ask, dreading the answer already. A look passes between Mason and Roamyn, making my concern skyrocket.

“Maybe you should sit down. We have something we need to discuss,” Mason responds, his voice void of any emotion. Right, so we’re back to the emotionally challenged Mason again. God, he is confusing.

“I’ll be fine, Mason. Get on with it,” I snap without meaning to, my impatience getting the better of me.

Roamyn volunteers the information Mason seems apprehensive about. “We need you and Alison to take the stand in court a week from now, testifying against Giuseppe and Lucio Marino, and their associates. You just have to tell them what you saw the morning of the bust at Sweet Tarts. If you don’t, Alison comes with us. She’ll be charged with drug possession and prostitution. Help us and we’ll help her. Full immunity and the prostitution charges go away if she tells us what she knows and admits to being forced into prostitution by Giuseppe and Lucio Marino.

“Absolutely not, we won’t testify,” I deadpan.

Running a hand through the top section of his hair, Mason says nothing, just stares at me with a troubled expression. I know exactly what’s circulating through his mind. It’s the same craziness pumping my heart faster in my chest and running ice through my veins.

We testify, we’ll be killed.

We don’t testify, Alison goes to prison, and she’ll likely be killed anyway.

“Will testifying put them behind bars for good and get me out of a prison sentence? I don’t want to go to prison,” Alison chimes in, her eyes full of concern as she bites her bottom lip.

Roamyn answers the question on both our minds, even though I already know the answer.

No.

“We can’t guarantee they’ll serve out the sentences. But with your testimony and Lindsey’s, it’s likely many of them will go away for a long time. The DA might be able to take prison off the table, but you’ll still have to attend a drug rehabilitation clinic.”

Ali’s face turns ashen and she recoils into herself. Before I can blink, Roamyn is by her side, arms wrapped around her. A sob rips out of her and her chest heaves as tears cascade down her cheeks.

“Shh. It’s okay, I got you, babe,” Roamyn says softly in her ear.

I turn to Mason, utterly confused by Roamyn comforting my sister, a girl he’s met twice at most. Mason shrugs half-heartedly, apparently as unaware as myself. Whatever calming powers Roamyn possesses, they’re working; Ali rests her cheek on his chest, her tear-stricken face soaking a patch of his shirt. Giving them a moment, I lightly touch Mason’s arm and pull him along to follow me. This needed to be said in private. I didn’t want to worry her. All I wanted was to shield her from hurt ruining this world.

Turning back around to Ali and Roamyn, I mutter, “We’ll be on the rooftop.”

***

The noise of traffic comes as an easy distraction, the beautiful city skyline a slice of momentary peace. Admiring more than just the gorgeous day, I take in the man sitting beside me. His grey button-down shirt hugs his shoulders perfectly, but his thin black tie sets off his look. Immaculate hair, expensive suits, killer body, it’s no wonder the man had women fawning all over him at the bar a week ago. I squeeze my thighs together to soothe the ache throbbing in my core. I won’t allow him the knowledge he has the power to get under my skin. The hem of my dress lifts, uncovering the flesh of my thighs. I try pulling it down but freeze when Mason’s stony eyes shoot to my bare skin. My breath catches in my throat, and it’s all because of that look. Damn him. Why does he trip me up every goddamn time?

Brows wrinkled, he looks the other way, focusing on anything but me. He’s agonizing over something; his intense front is up in full force. Could he really be so concerned over our testimonies?

“Mason, you can stop worrying. You’re going to pop a blood vessel if you frown any harder.”

He breathes deep. He wears intensity like a well-fitting mask. What else is he hiding underneath?

“We’ve been working to get these guys behind bars for a long time, Lindsey. We laid it all out so when the time came, there would be no mistakes. This time, the assholes would go down. But then you showed up in the club that morning. And your sister was still there too. I don’t know what the connection is, but I’m thinking you do.”

Yes, I do. Will I tell you? No.

“Anyone could have been at the club when I was. It was just bad timing.” I shrug, pretending the day wasn’t the total nightmare that it was. I don’t give anything away. The skills I’ve practiced for years come into play and for the first time in a long time, I feel dirty. The lies coat my skin with deception. It itches and burns into my skin. I need to wash it off. I have to wash it off.

Mason’s worried eyes read into mine and hands clench into fists. I cough past the lump in my throat. Keep your shit together, Lindsey. He’s just a man for Christ’s sake.

“It was closed, nine in the morning. No one but the Marinos and Misery’s Angels were supposed to be there. All the girls are normally gone by then. You weren’t supposed to be there and get hurt.” He drops his head, boring holes into the concrete ground.

“You don’t need to worry about me, Mason. I’m sorry it didn’t work out the way you’d hoped,” I offer. I don’t know what possesses me to say it. Am I sorry? Maybe? If the Marino crime family went down, the world would become a safer place. I’d sleep like a baby after visiting their graves. But it wouldn’t matter. There is always someone else bigger and crazier waiting to take their place.

“It is what it is. It’s just not fair for the people who get caught in the crossfire. But I need you to know this.” He loops his arm around my chair, our faces so close if I moved just an inch, we’d be kissing. I don’t pull back. I try, but I can’t. I’m stuck. My limbs won’t follow what my brain’s telling them to do.

“Testifying will put you in their sights. No matter which of them is behind bars, or for how long. They won’t forget you testified against them.” His jaw clenches brutally before he continues. “You’ll have two NYPD uniforms on you for twenty-four hours after the trial. Alison will have two on her for longer given her relationship with Lucio Marino. Months of protection wouldn’t be enough against the likes of them, but it’s all the police department can offer unless they threaten you or we believe you’re in immediate danger.”

The agony in his voice prompts flutters to erupt deep inside of me. Not because I find pleasure in his pain, but because, for the first time in over a decade, I’m cared for and wanted, with no expectation of anything in return.

“You’re underestimating my abilities to take care of myself, Detective. I’m not stupid, or ignorant. They are bad men. But there are far worse beasts out there than Giuseppe Marino. I’m well aware of what will follow if we testify. The last thing I want to do is put my sister or myself in the firing line, but I’ll do it. I’ll do it if it saves her from prison. She won’t live through that. And if she does, she’ll never be the same again.”

He cups my cheek with his free hand, his touch electric on my skin, “I know you understand the weight of the blowback this could have on you and your sister. You’re a smart woman. I just don’t want to see any harm come to you.”

Warmth radiates around me and I embrace the rarity of the moment, because an astonishing thing happens. I actually believe him.

Neither of us speaks for the minutes that pass before we head back downstairs. Risk, threat, uncertainty, it all spins around us day in, day out, but now it’s come knocking on our doorstep and we have no option but to invite it in.

***

Reaching the bottom of the steps, I spot Alison’s one-night stand in the doorway. Roamyn’s voice echoes through the hall, deep and pissed off. “Who the hell are you?”

“Jake, what are you doing back here?” I ask, not giving the guy time to answer Roamyn. Mason stills when I use Jake’s name, his body rigid and expression pinched. Jake glances between Mason, Roamyn and myself.

“The lady asked you a question,” Mason, steps up beside me, posture tall, chest out, and I roll my eyes at his macho attitude. He actually looks pissed off. It takes me all of a second to realize why. He thinks Naked Guy is here for me, not Alison. The thought he might be jealous has me grinning for the first time this morning.

“Um, I forgot my wallet,” Jake croaks out, his voice breaking as both badass detectives shoot him looks that could kill.

Turning to me, Mason folds his arms over his torso. “Lindsey, the boy forgot his wallet.”

My eyes bulge at the unspoken insinuation he’s throwing at me.

Ali appears beside Roamyn, but before I can rip Mason’s judgmental ass a new one, she pipes up, “Wow. That was an asshole move.” All eyes land on Alison and all three men appear thoroughly confused.

I lower my hand to my hip and the other out in front of me. “Okay, hold up right there.” I aim at Mason, “Jake here, looks all of eighteen years old. I’m no cougar. So you can take your judgment and shove it right up your ass.”

“Seriously?” Ali’s voice cracks through the lasers of annoyance I’m shooting into Mason.

Amused, she points between Jake and I. “You actually thought Lindsey would bring a guy home? To her place?” Ali scoffs and Mason grimaces while scrubbing the stubble shadowing his face, obviously regretting his insinuation now.

Roamyn turns to Ali accusingly. “Wait, so he was with you then?”

“Well, yeah, he sure wasn’t screwing Miss Uptight over here.” She nods in my direction.

I roll my eyes. “Real mature, Alison.”

“Um, excuse me but–”

“What?” Cutting Jake off, four sets of pissed off eyes glare at him.

He shrinks back. “Look, if I can just grab my wallet, I’ll get out of your hair.”

“I’ll get it, hold on,” Ali murmurs as she disappears down the hall.

Mason

Jealousy, such a basic human emotion yet not one that’s familiar to me. Whether it unconsciously influenced my judgmental tone, I don’t know. But it reinforced heat in my veins causing my blood to boil when I came to the conclusion this guy, Jake, had been with Lindsey the night before. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions, because now all I’d done was piss off a woman who always seemed to be pissed off at nearly everything I say. I’d only been around her three separate fucking times.

Ali grabbed the guy’s shit and the tension calmed down. Roamyn and I turned to leave. We had a motorcycle club president to visit, and because of the fuck ups with the Sweet Tarts’ bust, I’ve got enough paperwork to last me a year. Not to mention when I leaned leaned into Lindsey earlier, I saw those tags hanging around her neck again and a pang of jealousy shot through me like a bullet. Curiosity was eating away at me as to who she keeps so close. But as I push back the lone strand of hair falling in front of her face and tuck it behind her ear, it doesn’t even matter anymore, because those eyes fixed on mine get me every damn time.

Her head tilts to the side as she leans lightly into my touch. It’s barely a move but it doesn’t go unnoticed. Unintentionally, her body’s giving me the green light while her words are intended to halt me.

“You need anything, you call.” My left hand brushes to the base of her spine and using the other I rub my thumb over the side of her neck, relishing in the sense of calm before the storm. Right now she’s safe, but it won’t stay that way for long.

“Wait, before you go.”

Ali’s voice cuts through the moment and our heads all turn her way. She pulls her shoulders back and stands straighter while fidgeting with the hem of her top.

“I’ll do it. I don’t want to do time. If you can guarantee me my freedom, then I’ll say whatever you need me to. But I need to know I’ll be safe. Lucio will never forgive me if I go against him.”

Her eyes flicker between Roamyn’s and mine. Genuine fear pours out of them and I can’t help but feel sorry for her if she thinks her freedom will be worth anything if Lucio gets a hold of her.

Lindsey shifts away from me to walk over to her sister. She lifts her hand to her shoulder to comfort her.

“Ali. You don’t have to. Are you sure this is what you want?”

Ali nods. “It is.”

CHAPTER TEN

Lindsey

The ice around my heart is splitting. I can’t stop it. I can’t protect it. Another crack for every kill.  

Pitbull’s voice thumps loudly in my ears as my body moves with the beat of the music.

Jab– right cross. My arms burn as my muscles work hard, driving each strike forward into the punching bag with as much force as I can push out. Every hit a ‘fuck-you’ to the Marinos for getting my sister into such a mess.

Jab– right cross.

I recall the conversation I had with Ali and the two detectives this morning.

Jab-jab– cross.

My blood pumps faster, my feet move quicker. My blows become stronger.

The music pounding in my headphones stops to receive an incoming call. Throwing me off my game, I give the bag one last hit before answering the phone.

“Hello?”

Olly’s low voice greets me.

“Linds. I couldn’t do it.  I need your help.”

My body stiffens to stone.

“Text me the address. I’m leaving the gym now. I’ll be right there.”

The cold wind whips a chill through me as I hurry up the steps to a shabby apartment in Brooklyn. I buzz the number Olly gave me and the door clicks open, letting me inside. I search for apartment 2B. Found it. I glance around, no one’s in sight. Raising a hand, I knock lightly. With my fist still up, ready to knock again, the door flies open and I’m pulled in by the hand.

“Jesus, Olly–” I straighten up and take in the room. Furniture is tossed, the TV is smashed. But the most concerning part is the woman bound to a chair by duct tape, with a gag in her mouth. Marissa. Tension forms in the base of my neck. I spin around Olly who’s bleeding from his eyebrow. “What the hell happened?”

He paces the room, gun in one hand and the other rubbing his wrist, which makes me more on edge.

“I had everything ready. I’d gotten the other girls out. I told them to leave and never come back. I was about to do it while she was asleep. But she woke up right as I was going to pull the trigger. We struggled and she fucking cried. I just couldn’t do it, Linds.” He stops pacing and his shoulders curl over as he drops his head. “Just get it over with.”

I sigh and an ache resonates in my throat. I move to Olly and squeeze his forearm. My heartbeat slows with the heavy weight of his pain. I pull him into a side hug with one hand and he leans heavily into my embrace, circling his arms around me. He drops his head to my shoulder and I twist slightly to kiss his hair.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper in a gentle tone.

Using my free hand, I reach behind me and take the gun from his hand. Still holding him to my side I raise my other arm and aim the gun at the madam. Her eyes widen as she shakes her head violently and wriggles around in the chair. I pull back the trigger.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Oliver flinches beside me. The silencer on the gun suppresses some of the sound and her head flops forward as red blotches seep through her clothing. Three shots to the heart.

Numbness. I’m completely blank. Remorse doesn’t harden my stomach. Guilt doesn’t build on conscious. Until his face appears in my mind. Until his voice echoes in my ears causing my heart to constrict. How does he do this to me?

I lower my arm and mumble to Olly. “Go. I’ll clean this up. Don’t worry about it, okay.”

He nods beside me before heading behind me to leave. He must halt at the door because a moment later I hear, “I don’t even know why we still do this shit, Lindsey. But I can’t. I’m out.”

My chest rises as I inhale a deep breath. My eyes drift shut and I sigh, letting it all out. The past. What we’ve done. Everything we’ve done. Marissa may have deserved to die for the misery she’d brought upon young girls, but at what cost?