Chapter 21

 

  Our talk didn’t go as planned. Aria broke down in tears again. I hate that she has to feel this way. I hate it more, that he put her through this. The fire in the fire pit burns bright. The smell of the burning wood always set's me at ease. It reminds me of home, of the guys.

“Is now a good time to talk?” Shifting in my chair, I turn to look at her.

“Of course. Come here.” Jerking my head, she walks over and sits next to me.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“You.” Here we go. It’s not like there was a way around it. I knew she was going to have questions for me. It’s only fair that she knows me like I want to know her.

“Ask.” Bringing the bottle to my lips, I take a long pull of my beer.

“There’s so much I want to ask you. I don’t know where to start,”  She says. The lingering question is there. It’s like a huge boulder between the two of us.

“He saw me one night. I had just robbed a store. Ghost found me outside with the money. He went back, shot the clerk. That was the first time I saw someone get killed. Ghost confronted some guys in the alley across the street. He told me to kill one of them when he went after the other.” Aria shakes her head not understanding where this is going. I swallow hard before I continue. “I did it. It was either kill him, or he would kill me. I did it, I pulled the fuckin’ trigger. I didn’t know that anyone saw me. He did, though. Your dad, he saw me. He came out of the Goddamn buildin’ behind me. Pulled me inside and made me a deal. He saw the cut that Ghost wore, he knew who he was.”  Her mouth falls open.

“How old were you?” She asks.

Taking another deep breath, I say, “Sixteen. He’s had me by my fuckin’ balls for the last ten years. I haven’t been able to do anything without him knowin’. He calls; I handle what he needs done. I don’t ask questions.” Aria leans back in the chair, her eyes wide with shock.

“He used you. He fucking blackmailed you, Roc!” I laugh a little at the way she says it. It’s as though she’s completely pissed.

“You’re cute when you’re mad.” Grabbing her hand in mine, she smiles the fakest smile I’ve ever seen.

“It isn’t funny, Roc. He has blackmailed you for years. How did I never know about you?” She’s blaming herself. How Aria like, is that?

“What would you have done?” She shrugs her shoulders before I yank her out of her chair. 

Aria sits in my lap as the fire crackles in front of us. The silence is welcome. Our talk sort of ended with her dad. I know Aria feels a sense of responsibility for it also.

“You said you found a note, with the letter C,” She says. Running my fingers through her hair, I grunt my response. “There isn’t anyone that I know with the letter C. There is a corporation that I heard him talk about briefly. Cambridge, I think or maybe it was a person, I really don’t know,” She says. My heart picks up its pace. She didn’t just say that. There is no fucking way she said what I think she did.

“Say that again.” I need to know that I heard her right.

“I think it was Cambridge. That’s the only C that I ever remember him talking about.” Swallowing hard, I didn’t want to hear that name. I didn’t want her to say that. My fingers tighten involuntarily on her shoulders. Aria tries to turn to look at me but I hold her in place.

“That name isn’t one I wanted to hear. Do you have any idea how he’s involved with them?” Aria stays silent for a few minutes. It feels like the longest few minutes of my life.

“He had some kind of business with them. I only overheard a few things about Flame’s or something.” My eyes clench shut. The world spins around, making me dizzy. Everything tilts and I feel like I’m sliding off the face of this earth.

“Roc, you’re hurting me.” Her voice snaps me back to reality. My grip on her shoulders could have snapped her in half.  I let her go just before she turns to face me.

“What is it? What do you know?” I run my hand over my face. She has to know, no more secrets.

“The guy that attacked you up north, he was a member of Flame Throwers MC. Your dad had pictures of the guys from that same event.” I tell her reluctantly. Aria leaps off my lap, pacing around, shaking her head.

“He was going to kill me. That, guy. You saved me from that guy. I didn’t realize who they were. How could I be so stupid?” Jumping out of my chair, I grab her shoulders, spinning her to face me.

“This wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known.” Her laughter unsettles me. She doesn’t believe that.

“I should have known! I should have connected the dots, Roc. My dad set up that vacation!”

Fuck! And bad–just got worse.