Chapter Sixteen
A loud noise woke Mary and Chase wasn’t lying next to her.
From the other room, came muffled grunts and the sounds of a scuffle. There was a shout and then a gunshot, followed by a series of thuds and thumps. It sounded like something heavy tumbling down the stairs.
Like a body? Chase!
Mary leaped out of bed. She wanted to race in there to find out what happened, but she wasn’t an idiot. Mary didn’t know what she was getting herself into. Instead, she stood and crept toward the door, listening intently.
Oh, God, please be okay. Please.
What if Harry came after him? Or worse? She imagined the Sin City Mafia had as many enemies as her grandfather.
“Mary! Where are you?” She’d recognize Jasper Tan’s voice anywhere.
“I’m here.”
She walked into the hallway and saw him standing on the other end. He was tall and broad-shouldered with pale skin, dark eyes, and black hair. Jasper held out his arms to her, and a few short weeks ago, she would’ve run into them, grateful to see him again.
Not anymore.
“Mary, it’s me, Jasper.” His face was wreathed in shadows so she couldn’t see his expression, but Mary could hear the pain in his voice.
“Yeah, I recognized you.” She shuffled closer.
“Mary, what’s going on? I don’t understand.” His arms fell to his sides. “In something wrong? Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.” Physically, at least.
He muttered something in Chinese under his breath, and she bet it was a choice curse word.
“These dicks told you everythin’, huh?”
“Yeah, I know you’re a mobster. Where’s Chase?”
“He’s in the other room. Don’t worry, he’ll never hurt you again.”
Why did he say it like that? Had they harmed him?
“Chase would never lay a finger on me. What did you do to him?” Her stomach twisted into a tight knot.
“You actually like this asshole?”
No, I love him.
But she didn’t dare say the words out loud. Instead, she tromped down the hall, past Jasper, and headed downstairs. Chase lay at the base of them, and blood pooled around him.
“Chase!” She took the steps two at a time until she reached the bottom.
“He’s not dead. Yet.” Ten stood above him with a pistol pointed at his head. “When I shot him, he fell down the stairs.”
“Chase? Are you okay?” She nudged him but got no response in return. He had a shoulder wound, but Mary didn’t see any other injuries. Mary placed her fingertips at the base of his throat and felt for his heartbeat. It was faster than normal but strong.
Oh, thank God. They hadn’t killed him.
“Did. He. Rape. You?” Ten spit the words out. His face was pale, and he had a death grip on the gun. Even under normal circumstances, he was frightening. Right now, Ten was terrifying, as though he’d love to execute Chase, and he was barely holding on to his bloodlust.
She shielded him with her own body. “No, and Chase could’ve killed you, but he didn’t.”
“He shouldn’t have taken you.” His lips peeled back from his teeth.
“I know, but I’m okay. There’s no need to take this a step further.”
Still seething, Ten backed off and put the gun away. He was shaking, shuddering, as though the temperature was subzero. Ten muttered to himself, under his breath, about things she didn’t comprehend and didn’t have the time to question.
Chase had a gunshot wound, two black eyes and a goose egg on his forehead but otherwise, he appeared unharmed. She pulled the button-down shirt off of Chase, leaving him bare-chested and used the fabric as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
“Almost sounds like you’re defendin’ him.” Jasper came down the stairs behind her.
“Just statin’ the facts.” Mary refused to even look at him.
In a way, they’d all deceived her, but Jasper’s betrayal hurt the most, other than her grandfather’s duplicity, of course. She’d spent hours with Jasper and asked him, again and again, to tell her what was going on, but he’d kept the truth from her for years.
“Are you injured?” Ten blinked, finally focusing on her. The gun was still trained on Chase though.
“No, I’m absolutely fine.” Mary stood and faced him.
Ten scrutinized her. If she wasn’t mistaken, there were tears in his eyes. She’d never seen him display any sort of emotion before, other than anger, and it was a bit disturbing to see him unrestrained from his usual psycho killer demeanor.
“I owe you an apology. This never should have happened.”
Jasper scowled. “No, it shouldn’t have, and it wouldn’t have on my watch.”
She glared at him.
“I’m just saying.” Jasper raised his hands.
“I’m sorry, Mary.” And then Ten pulled her into a rib-cracking hug, lifting her a couple of inches off the ground. “I never meant for this to happen to you. Can you forgive me?”
“It’s okay, it wasn’t your fault.” Mary was so startled, she flailed in his embrace. After he pulled away and sat her down again, Mary gaped at him. Before she could say anything else, he walked away.
“Well, that was weird.” Jasper smirked and tried to catch her eye, but she turned away from him.
“Oh, come on, mèimei. I know you’re happy to see me. We’ve been huntin’ for a trace of you for months. And once we got a lead, I rushed halfway across the country like a knight in shining armor to save you.” Mèimei was his special nickname for her, and it meant “little sister” in Chinese.
It would be so easy to give in to his humor and pretend nothing had happened, but she refused. Mary didn’t have the luxury of ignorance anymore.
“Who asked you to?”
“Mary, I—”
“I don’t wanna hear it. How’d you get past the security system?”
“Vixen.” Jasper had a lopsided smile. “No system can keep her out for long.”
For a moment, she wanted to order them out of this place. Mary hadn’t been ready for this reunion and didn’t know what to say to them. Yet, she knew they wouldn’t leave her alone. One way or the other, they were taking her back home to her grandfather.
Luckily, it suited her strategy just fine.
“Come on, Mary, let’s go to the car.” Jasper reached for her hand, but Mary batted it away.
“Why? So you can kill Chase?”
Jasper didn’t answer the question, which in a way, was the response she was looking for.
“Let’s just go.”
“Hell, no.” She was no longer the immature kid who swallowed every fib they told her.
“Mary, I—”
“Don’t!” Jasper stepped toward her, but she raised a warning finger. “I don’t wanna hear any more of your crap.”
“Okay, calm down.” He backed off.
“How’d you find me?”
“We asked around.” Ten smirked.
Meaning they tortured somebody?
“Who’d you ask?” Mary glowered at Jasper.
“Mary…”
“Don’t ‘Mary’ me. I know what you really do for a living, and what you’re both capable of. ”
Ten glanced up. He’d been wandering around the living room, taking it all in, up until that point. His eyes widened, but he didn’t say a word.
“Yeah, but we ain’t so bad.” Jasper tilted his head to the side, and his eyes pleaded with her for understanding.
“Oh really?” Even Chase had been guilty of terrible things, but at least he was remorseful.
Mary had a clear conception of right and wrong, and Tucker, Ten, Byron, and even Jasper were on the wrong side of things.
“Mary, we can talk about all of this later, once you’re safe.” This time, Jasper grasped her elbow, tugging her out of the room, but she shoved him away.
“Don’t touch me.” Mary thought she’d never feel safe again, not after what she knew. “I’m not in any danger at this moment, and if I walk out that door, you’re both coming with me.” She wouldn’t leave them alone with Chase’s unconscious body lying vulnerable on the floor.
“I’m sorry, but we’ve got orders.” Ten’s expression was solemn. “If he’d raped you, I was going to, er, add in some extras, but it won’t be necessary.”
She closed her eyes, revolted.
“Who ordered you? My grandfather?” She placed her hands on her hips. “I bet he also told you to bring me home.”
“Yes.” Ten raised a questioning brow.
“So let me lay this out for you. If you hurt Chase anymore, I won’t come with you, not willingly at least. You’ll have to tie me up and toss me in the trunk, and when we get back to Crimson Creek, I’ll tell granddad you hurt me.”
Jasper gasped. “You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, yes, I would.”
“I don’t know about you, but I think she’s serious,” Ten said.
And evidently, she was a chip off the old block, because they both believed her.
A long moment of tense silence followed. Mary waited them both out, refusing to back down.
Ten nodded. “Fine we’ll do this your way, and you can explain it to Tucker.”
“Works for me. Let’s go.” She opened the front door. Mary wanted to get them away from here. As they shuffled out, Mary took one last look at Chase.
He was unconscious and bleeding, but he’d be okay. She wished she could say goodbye to him, but maybe it was better this way. Mary couldn’t find the words she needed to say anyway.
With one last lingering look at the man she’d fallen in love with, Mary walked out of his life for good.
***
“Come on, talk to me.”
“I have nothin’ to say to you, Jasper Tan.” Mary stared straight ahead. They were in the back seat of Ten’s SUV, headed down the highway for home.
“We both know you’re busting at the seams, ready to give me a piece of your mind, so let me have it already.”
Mary had intended to give him the silent treatment, but she wanted to hear him explain himself, and then apologize. Although, Mary wasn’t certain she could accept. At the very least, she owed him the opportunity to clarify some things.
“Fine, if you wanna talk, we’ll talk. Why did you keep me in the dark for so long?”
“I didn’t lie, exactly.”
“Really? That’s how you’re going to handle this? Playin’ the semantics game?”
“Wait, please don’t shut me out again.” He’d placed a hand on her shoulder, and this time she didn’t knock it away.
She turned in the seat to face him. “Why are you working for my grandfather? It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Mary understood why Ten was a mobster, at least she thought she did, anyway. Ten had a craving for violence, but who knows how many secrets that man was keeping?
“Look, it’s hard to explain. I got involved with the mob when I was a lot younger and stupider than I am now.”
“And now it’s too late?” Chase had said something along the same lines.
No, don’t think about Chase. This is neither the time nor the place.
“Yes, and once you’re in, you’re in forever.
“So now you’re stuck.”
“Yeah, but you’re not. Mary, this doesn’t have to destroy your future. We’ve talked about you movin’ on before. Forget about this, go to medical school, become a doctor, make a new place for yourself far away from here. You never have to look back.”
Somehow, Jasper had picked up on her intentions. Although, he knew her pretty well and Mary had never been difficult to read.
“I will, after I’ve talked to my granddad.”
Jasper tensed. “You’re gonna tell him you know?”
“Why wouldn’t I? I gotta find out what he did to my parents.” Mary glared. “I swear to God if you knew—”
“I didn’t, not for sure, anyway. They died a long time before I joined, but I’ve heard the rumors.”
“My grandfather killed them.” Even saying the words twisted her up inside. “And I wanna hear him admit to it.”
“Listen to me, Mary.” Jasper took her by the shoulders. For a moment, she thought he was going to hug her but his fingers dug into her skin, and his expression was somber. “You’ve got to forget about this, for your own sake.”
Mary shoved him away. “Are you insane? I can’t forget about it and move on like nothing happened. He has to pay for what he’s done.”
“That’s not how it goes, Mary, not in this world. You have to let him get away with it.”
“I can’t.”
Jasper sighed. “Then he’ll send you to meet them.”
“You’re wrong.”
“No, I’m not, and you know it, too, even if you won’t admit it.”
“You can’t talk me out of it.”
“I didn’t think so, but we both know you don’t really want answers.”
“I don’t?”
“No. You forget I’ve known you a long time, Mary. You want Tucker to restore your faith in him, and in your own judgment. You think he might be full of regret and ready to answer for his crimes, don’t you?”
After a moment, Mary nodded.
“Allow me to shatter your illusion, then. Tucker doesn’t have regrets, and he doesn’t even possess a conscience. If you confront him, Tucker will give you the same consideration he showed your parents. None.” Jasper turned away, focusing on the road once more.
Mary couldn’t stop shaking.
Was Jasper right? Would her grandfather kill her too?