Chapter Twenty-Six
Mia
It was good to see Allison again. I’d made the right decision to come here. I could trust her; she was on my side.
I told her about Julien, leaving out the part about him being a hit man, the part about Samuel having hired him. Told her about Italy, and Gianna, and how I hoped to go back there once this was all over.
“How are things here? With Samuel, I mean?”
“I don’t talk to him much.” She poured another cup of tea for both of us. “It’s pretty much business as usual for him, I guess. You know I stay out of that.”
“I know. And it’s smart. What about Jason?”
God, did I even want to know? Even hearing myself say that name aloud sent shivers through me.
“Jason is… Jason.”
That scared me.
“He thinks you owe him, and as far as he’s concerned, you broke your promise to keep silent — so that million doesn’t belong to you.”
“What do you think?”
She shrugged and turned her attention to stirring sugar into her tea. “What he did was wrong. But I also don’t agree with how my father and Tanya handled it.” She only met my gaze again once she was through, the look in her eyes strange, different than I’d expected. The warmth was gone.
“How about the way I handled it? Do you think what I did was wrong?”
“I didn’t say that. What happened to you shouldn’t have happened.” Allison checked her watch. “Let me go have a shower and get dressed. Then we’ll go. You sure you’re not hungry?”
Allison was going to take me to the attorney’s office. I liked the idea of having her there with me in case any other members of her family showed up. “No, I’m fine. I’m anxious to get this done.”
“Okay. I’ll be quick.”
She went upstairs to her bedroom and I poured myself another cup of tea. Julien would be up by now and he’d see that I was gone. If today went well and I managed to get that money transferred to my account, I’d find a way to pay him what I promised to pay.
I got up to use the bathroom, but just as I did, I heard the sound of a car door closing. I knew instantly that something was wrong. I went to the window by the front door and saw a car parked at the end of Allison’s driveway. The shower switched off upstairs at the same moment I heard a key slip into the lock of the back door. I just watched as if it were all happening in slow motion, as Jason and a man I didn’t know walked into the house. Jason’s eyes trained upon me, the malevolence in his gaze seeming to physically push me deeper into the corner my back already pressed against.
“Well, well, well,” he said, the other man closing the door behind them. “Look what the cat dragged in?”
“Jason.”
Allison came down the stairs dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, drying her hair with a towel. She looked at them, then at me. She seemed so casual, so relaxed… and I knew from the expression on her face that she’d been the one to call Jason, to tell him I was here.
“Allison?” I didn’t take my eyes off Jason as I spoke to her.
He’d changed. A lot. He’d gotten older, bigger, meaner. And in his black eyes, all I saw was hate.
“Allison’s got nothing to do with this, Mia. This is between you and me.” Jason approached then, coming to stand just inches from me, his towering form making me feel like I had when I was thirteen.
When he’d raped and beaten me.
“Jason, you said you only wanted to talk,” Allison said.
I realized it wasn’t only my hands shaking then. Being near him had always scared the shit out of me, but now, now that it was just me and him, his goon and Allison? I was terrified.
Jason looked me over from head to toe. “Life treating you well, Mia?” His hand closed over my arm.
I screamed and Allison grabbed hold of him, trying to pull him off. “You promised you wouldn’t hurt her!”
“You told him I was here?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Jason’s goon was on Allison in an instant, easily taking her away, holding her just a few feet from us, all while Jason’s eyes bored into mine.
“Jason, whatever you think you’re doing—”
“Shut the fuck up, cunt. You owe me. You put me behind bars, Mia, when you’d made a promise.”
“Jason, don’t!” It was Allison again but he wasn’t listening to her anymore.
“Take my sister upstairs,” Jason told the goon.
“No!” Allison yelled, but the man easily lifted her off her feet, carrying her struggling form to the stairs. “Mia, he promised he only wanted to talk!”
“Don’t believe her, Mia. She let me trace the last call you made too. That’s how I found out where you were.” Jason stepped even closer, pressing himself against me, the feel of him sickening me. “Back for the money? You think it’s yours?”
“Get away from me, Jason.”
Gripping both of my arms, he dragged me into the study, kicking the door closed behind us.
“Answer the fucking question, whore.”
“Let me go!” He pushed me against the wall, his gaze scanning the length of me, the look in his eyes coupled with the way he licked his lips terrifying. “Please, Jason, let me go.”
“I guess since you told anyway, I got a little something owed to me. Hell, I’d even give you the money. But your pussy sure ain’t worth a million bucks. Now, your sister—”
With a strength I didn’t now I had, I raised my hands up to his face and clawed my nails down his cheeks, wanting to scratch out his eyes for what he’d done to Tanya. To me. “I wasn’t enough? You fucking asshole. You had to rape her too? She was your father’s wife!”
He drew his fist back and punched me so hard in my stomach that I doubled over, all the breath pushed out of me. When he let me go, I slid to the floor. I watched him wipe at his face, saw the streaks of blood.
“Bitch, you’ll pay for that!” He grabbed me again and I screamed as loud as I could. Just as he shoved me over the desk, the door smashed open and there stood Julien, pissed as fuck, his weapon in hand.
He shot first, the popping sound different in real life than it was in the movies. Jason cursed and fell backward. Julien advanced on him, his face red with anger, and aimed again.
“Julien, don’t! He’s not worth it!”
“I don’t know, Mia. Feels pretty damn good to me.” He fired again, the bullet striking Jason in the thigh. A patch of blood spread on the shoulder of Jason’s white dress shirt, probably from the first bullet, and his face creased with pain. Before I could warn Julien, the hulking form of Jason’s goon filled the doorway, another shot ringing out, this one catching Julien’s arm just as he swung around to face the intruder.
“Kill him, but I want her alive!” Jason ordered.
Julien had stumbled but was still standing when the man aimed at him again.
“Where the fuck do you idiots learn to shoot?” Julien muttered, moving so fast I barely saw him raise his arm before hearing the shot, sending the goon’s huge body crashing to the floor, his pistol clattering to the ground as his body crumpled in the too small room, half in and half out of the doorway.
“Mia!” Allison’s tear-streaked face turned up at the door and Julien trained his weapon on her. I ran to him, creating a barrier between him and her.
“Don’t, Julien. Please!”
“She called him here, Mia. Get the fuck out of the way.”
“No!”
It was in that moment that Jason lunged forward, a blade in his hand. I screamed and Julien shoved me out of the way, and, at the same time, fired off one more shot, sending Jason sprawling on his back.
“Stay the fuck down!” Julien barked.
Jason wasn’t dead, but from the look on his face, he was in agonizing pain. Julien had shot his other arm.
I looked at him down there on the floor, then turned to find Allison crying at the door. Julien straightened himself up and came to me. “You hurt?”
I shook my head. “It’s okay, nothing bad.”
“Why the fuck would you think it was a good idea to do this on your own?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but he held up his hand.
“Never mind. Where’s the backpack?”
“Inside.”
“Let’s go.”
Allison cleared the way when we approached, letting him pass, touching my arm as I went by. “I’m sorry, Mia. I promise I didn’t know he’d hurt you.”
I looked at her, but I couldn’t forgive her. She knew what he’d done to me, and yet, she’d betrayed me in the end. If it weren’t for Julien, God knows what Jason would be doing to me right now.
Julien checked inside the backpack, confirmed the ledger was there and turned to me. “Let’s go, Mia.”
“Please, Mia. I’m sorry,” Allison said.
“I can’t look at you, Allison.” I walked toward Julien who seemed in a rush to get out of there. And I knew why as soon as we reached the front door because it opened just as he reached for the doorknob… and there stood Samuel St. Rose along with two bodyguards. He likely had even more outside.
Samuel surveyed the scene while Julien and I stood there. He craned his head around us to see his son in the next room before stepping deeper into the house along with the two bodyguards. One of them closed the front door.
“Mia,” Samuel said, looking me over from head to toe. “God, the resemblance is incredible. I’d forgotten how much you look like your sister.”
I stared up at him, unable to speak, my heart racing in my chest, my hand trembling in Julien’s.
“You must be Julien.”
Julien nodded. “I am.”
“Drop your weapon, Julien.”
Julien glanced at the two men whose pistols were tucked into the waistbands of their pants, and did as he was told, his pistol clattering to the floor.
Samuel smiled. “Well, delivery of the girl we’ve got. Where’s the book?”
Julien held up the backpack and I looked at him. What was he doing? Was he going to just hand me over? Leave me here in this house of lunatics?
Samuel gestured to one of the guards who took the bag and opened it. “It’s here, boss.”
“Any copies?” Samuel asked both of us.
“No,” Julien lied.
Samuel studied him, his eyes cold. “Then you’ve earned your money. But”—he touched the downed goon with the toe of one shoe and looked at his son—”you’ve left a mess.”
“Couldn’t be helped,” Julien said casually, holding not my hand, but my arm now, the grip of his fingers a remorseless clamp around my flesh.
Samuel turned his attention to his daughter. “Allison, go to your room.”
“This is my house.”
“That I paid for. Go the fuck to your room.”
I’d never heard him talk like that to her before.
“No.”
His eyes turned to stone and I could feel Allison tremble beside me. “He was going to hurt her. Like he did before. Like he did Tanya.”
I watched Samuel’s face all along, and when she said that last part, his lips tightened, his hands fisting at his sides.
“Well, now that you’ve arranged for this family reunion, I will take care of things with Jason. But I don’t need you around to watch. Go. Upstairs.”
Allison looked at me once. “Don’t kill her in the house.”
My mouth fell open and a chill gripped me. Without even the tiniest flicker of emotion in her eyes, she climbed the stairs up to the second floor.
Once we heard the door close behind her, I turned to Samuel who only raised his eyebrows at me, as if to say he knew, as if to say how stupid I was to be surprised. He then stepped over the lifeless body of the man Julien had killed and walked toward his son.
For the first time, I saw fear in Jason’s eyes.
“Been a long time, boy.” Samuel squatted down to look at the damage Julien had done but continued to speak, this time, addressing me. “Haven’t seen this piece of shit since he got out of prison.” He looked down at his son. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out what you did to her?” He pulled a pistol from inside his suit jacket and brought it to Jason’s chin. “She was my wife.” His voice was tight.
“She was a whore, father. A fucking prostitute.”
Samuel drew in a long breath and Julien’s grip on my arm tightened.
“I should never have covered up for you the first time. Maybe if I hadn’t, Tanya would be here now instead of you, you worthless son of a bitch.”
Samuel cocked the pistol. Jason’s eyes went wide as he looked from the gun, to his father’s face.
“She came when I fucked her. Twice. Your wife came with my cock in her cunt.”
“I saw the video, Jason. You’re a rapist. I should have taken care of you the first time around, but I wanted to give you another chance. Look what it cost me.” He brought the gun to Jason’s mouth. “Open up, boy. Time to say goodbye.”
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. He was going to kill his own son. Right here in cold blood.
Jason’s eyes had widened and he tried to turn his face away, but Samuel held it, squeezing his jaw, forcing his mouth open to push the barrel of the gun inside. He held it there and even I couldn’t stand the terror on Jason’s face. I felt nothing but contempt for him, but this was too much.
Samuel chuckled once and I followed his gaze to Jason’s pants where a dark patch spread at the crotch. “You pissin’ yourself, boy?” Samuel’s grin turned evil. “What’s the matter? You only the big man when you can hold down girls half your size so you can fuck them?”
Jason tried to say something but the pistol made a jumble out of the words. Even so, I knew he was begging. It only seemed to piss Samuel off more though and he thrust the gun painfully farther into Jason’s mouth.
“Samuel, don’t do it.” I couldn’t watch this. I didn’t want this.
Samuel half turned to me, the look on his face one of annoyance. “Can you believe it? She should be the one to put the bullet in your head and she’s telling me to stop.” Samuel addressed the next part of the question to me. “You know he raped your sister?”
I nodded. “I know. That’s why she stole the ledger and ran. She was scared of him. He threatened her that he was going to tell you she seduced him.”
A quick moment of emotion flashed across Samuel’s eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it came. “She should have come to me, not run away. I had fucking video cameras everywhere. She knew that.”
“Well, maybe given what happened in the past she wasn’t so sure what you’d do, Samuel.” I knew I was taking a chance, but I couldn’t just back down. I couldn’t tuck my tail between my legs and say yes again. He’d bullied me into shutting up when it happened to me, but now, my sister was dead. “That’s why she took the ledger. Jason threatened to harm her, to go to you, but he also told her he’d come after me again. I know she felt responsible for what happened to me. That and guilt at how it was covered up.”
Samuel pulled the gun from Jason’s mouth and slowly stood.
“Stop, Mia,” Julien’s voice came steady and strong in my ear.
“No. I shut up about it the first time and look what happened.”
Samuel walked toward me. “I loved Tanya.”
I nodded, tears in my eyes. “I know. But that didn’t help her, did it?”
“Mia.” It was Julien again, but I kept my gaze steady on Samuel’s. Whatever happened now would happen, but this needed to be said.
“No, it did not,” Samuel agreed, putting his weapon back into his coat. “Load that piece of shit into the trunk,” he said to the men who’d entered with him. “I’ll deal with him later.” “Confirm for me there are no copies of that ledger, Mia,” he said, stepping closer to me, his body a physical threat. Even though Julien was bigger, there were three of them and one of Julien and they all still had their weapons.
“There are no copies, Samuel.” It took all I had to keep my voice steady, to not cower away. I had to remember that this man was once kind to me, that he loved my sister, and that somehow, she loved him. “I don’t mean you any harm. I just want to live my life quietly.”
He nodded once, then turned to Julien. “Delivery was for both the girl and the ledger. Since you only brought me the ledger, you don’t get paid.”
“Fine.” Julien’s voice didn’t falter once. He was like a solid rock by my side.
“You will have no more contact from my family. The money your sister left you is yours. Collect it and disappear, Mia.”
My heart raced. Was I hearing correctly? The guards stepped aside once Samuel gestured for them to do so.
“Let’s go,” Julien said, tugging at my arm when I didn’t move. But when he bent to pick up his weapon, Samuel covered it with his shoe.
“Leave it.”
Julien nodded once and we walked to the door, his hand around my arm holding me tight to him. The guard opened the door and we stepped out. That was when I heard Allison calling out from the stairs.
“Mia!”
I looked over my shoulder, but Julien yanked at my arm. “We need to go. Now.”
“He’s my brother, Mia. What did you expect me to do? Choose you over him?”
I met Allison’s gaze, disgusted with what I saw there, then turned away. I was finished with the St. Roses. We walked across the lawn, Julien not once letting me go until we reached what I assumed was his rental car. He opened the passenger side, put me in my seat and closed the door. He then walked around the car to the driver’s side and climbed inside. I looked at him, and he at me. Then, without a word, he reached over and pulled the seatbelt across my chest, buckling me in.
“Ready?”
I nodded. He started the car and we drove out of that street. I didn’t look back but noticed Julien watching in the rearview mirror until we turned the corner. We were silent until he merged onto the highway that would take us back into the city.
I watched him drive, taking in his features, the hard line of his jaw, the intensity in his eyes as he checked the rearview mirror every few moments. “I’m sorry you didn’t get paid.”
He glanced at me quickly. “Don’t worry about it.” He focused on the road again.
“Are we going to the attorney?”
“Yes, then you’re going to disappear, like Samuel said.”
He seemed angry as he spoke the words.
“Thank you for following me and… saving me. I don’t know what Jason would have done —”
“You don’t?” he asked.
Yep, he was pissed.
“I—”
“He would have raped you first, then probably put a bullet in your head.”
“I didn’t want to involve anyone else. I didn’t want you to get hurt too.”
“I can take care of myself, Mia. Although I did lose a brand new revolver.”
“I’m going to pay you what I promised. You can… buy a new one, I guess?”
He checked his phone against the street name and made a turn. The attorney’s office wasn’t too far. “You’re going to need to keep that money and stay gone after this, Mia. I don’t trust Samuel St. Rose or his family.”
“No, I’m going to pay you.”
We parked the car outside the office building and Julien shut off the engine before turning to me. “No, you’re going to do exactly as you’re told for once in your life. And just so we’re clear, you’re getting your ass whipped for running off like you did. You could have been killed, Mia. Dead. You get it?”
I nodded. “I do. Thank you.”
“Let’s go.”