CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Backtrack

With Gretchen’s arrangements made, including her travel to the airport, it was time to execute my plan.

I sat in the passenger side of Marco’s SUV and twisted around to stow my father’s evidence on the backseat.

Marco reached over and squeezed my hand as he drove. “You OK?”

“Yes, I just have a lot to think through.”

“You ain’t kidding.”

“Marco?”

“Yes, bella.”

“I can’t involve Xavier for his own safety. He’s too unpredictable. As much as I’d love Sebastian’s confidence, he’s too protective. I need you by my side for this. Will you trust me?”

“I don’t like keeping secrets from them.”

“I don’t either, but there’s too much at risk.”

He raked his hands through his black hair, seeming to ponder my request as he gazed beyond the windshield at some faraway point.

I let out an exasperated breath and looked at him with one cocked eyebrow. “Do I need to remind you that you once kept a secret from me?”

His head immediately jerked toward me. “Oh…now that’s not fair. I had no idea Xavier didn’t tell you I’d be taking the usher’s place.”

“OK,” I conceded, rolling my eyes and straightening in my seat. “Anyway…can you disagree with me? Can you convince me that getting Xavier involved in this will make it any better?”

He inhaled deeply. “No. I can’t.”

“So… I need to do a few things. I need to meet with Detective Mancini. Even though he gave me Victoria’s card, I can’t believe he was in league with her, since he brought my father down. So I need to find out what his connection to Victoria is. If I can determine how he’s connected, I can use him to mislead her. If he’s not, I can use him to bring her down.”

“The last time you went investigating someone they ended up dead.” His hand tightened on the steering wheel, eyes wandering toward a car passing by.

“If you want to be a pussy, I can go it alone.” Marco’s ego was bound to respond.

His head darted in my direction. “What did you say?”

“You heard me,” I taunted, jutting up my chin in defiance.

“You’re done fucking around, aren’t you?”

I put my hand on his thigh and leaned across the console to kiss the rim of his ear. “You have no idea.” I licked his neck.

“So what did you tell your sister about us?”

“I told her that I’m fucking all of you and loving every minute of it.” I grazed my lips over his collarbone and slid my hand up the inside of his leg.

He laughed. “And what did she say?”

“After she gasped and realized I had Xavier’s blessing, I think she was impressed. She thought I was cheating on him with you. Do you know what I told her?” My words were breathy and seductive.

I felt his throat rise and fall against my lips as he swallowed hard. “No. What did you say?”

“I told her that I love all of you and couldn’t imagine my life any other way.” I palmed his cloth-covered cock in my hand.

He groaned. “Now that’s what I like to hear.”

I rubbed him harder, sliding back and forth along his length. With my other hand, I reached over and undid my seatbelt.

He inhaled deeply when I unbuttoned his pants. “Bella… What are you doing?”

“I’m about to fuck with the most powerful people on the planet. I guess I feel like being a little selfish.” I lowered his zipper and pulled out his cock. Without warning, I dipped my head and encased him in my mouth.

“Goddamn, that doesn’t feel selfish.” He moaned as I slid my tongue, teasing along the underside of his cock. “Shit. You must have serious faith in my driving skills.”

I needed control. To banish all uncertainty. I couldn’t afford to be anything but resolute. Maybe Xavier was rubbing off on me. He used sex as a catalyst to steel his confidence, to remind himself that he had control when everything around him said otherwise. Mastering Marco was my warm up. I forced more of his length into my mouth. I needed his surrender.

“Fuck. Elaine.” The SUV swerved. “Son of bitch.”

I sucked harder as I glided my hot, wet mouth up and down his shaft.

The crunch of gravel under the tires sounded just before the SUV came to an abrupt stop, causing my head to bang against the steering wheel, but I didn’t allow it to deter me.

He leaned forward, and then I heard the shifter slamming into park.

I continued working him with fervor.

His fingers stretched over the back of my head.

Sliding my mouth up his length, I licked the head, capturing the drop of pre-cum. I ran my tongue from tip to base, and then back before, engulfing him again.

“Elaine. God. Ease up. I’m gonna come if you keep that up.” He growled. “Fuck.”

Cupping his balls through the fabric of his pants, I squeezed lightly, appreciating their weight.

He threaded his fingers through my hair and tugged. “Elaine… You have to stop.”

I didn’t let up. It wasn’t about sex and reciprocating. It was about me taking command of my life, and in that moment, nothing less than his full surrender would do. I ran my hands over his hips, digging my fingers into his flesh.

He pulled my hair, but I was relentless. His thighs stiffened under me. Victory was close at hand. “I’m going to come. So good,” he panted. Loud breaths raced in and out of his lungs announcing his release.

I opened my mouth and allowed his seed to spill across my tongue and lips while staring up at him, watching him watch me. I swallowed every last drop of his salty gift. Sweeping my tongue over my lips, I savored the thick liquid.

I raised my head and stared into his wide eyes while collecting a stray strand of white that had landed on my cheek with my finger. I sucked the digit into my mouth, insuring he focused on my lips.

He shivered. “Fuck. What did I do to deserve that?”

“It wasn’t for you.”

He chuckled. “Sure as hell felt like it was for me.”

“I did it because I wanted to. Because I could.”

“Well, bella, anytime you need to reaffirm whatever it was you were reaffirming, my cock is always at your command.”

I sat up and kissed him. I breathed against his lips, “I do love you, Marco.”

He wrapped his arms around me. “I know you do. I think I just wanted to hear you say it. We have such an easy friendship, I wanted to make sure that I was more than that to you.”

I brushed a strand of his hair from his face and tucked it behind his ear. “You are more. I needed to stop allowing the situation to control me. My doubt would do nothing but drive you away eventually. What if one day you all grow tired of my incessant denial and walk away? I will have wasted all my time on a meaningless definition and have nothing to show for it. Or I can choose to take control of my doubt and allow myself to love and be loved, and I gain everything. The only thing I need to be stronger than is me.”

His hand braced the back of my head and he kissed me with urgency, causing my cheeks to flush.

For a moment, I regretted bringing him to completion.

He whispered against my lips. “Bella, do you know, I’ve never told another woman that I’ve loved her? You’re the only one I’ve ever given those words. It isn’t something I say lightly.”

Reluctantly, I pulled my lips away from his and searched his eyes. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Why? I’ve only ever had women who wanted me for my body, not for my soul. I’m smart enough to know the difference.”

I stared at him, still in shock.

He tucked his cock back into his pants. “Now, we should probably get back on the road, unless of course you’re planning to attack me again. But even so, I’m going to need something to eat to recharge.”

I giggled. “Let’s get going, but I’d like to check on something before we head home.”

“I’m afraid to ask.”

“I looked up Annie’s current address online, and I want to pay her a visit.”

His eyebrows lifted in surprise. “That’s nuts. She’s crazy.”

“Maybe so, but she’s connected to the Society. Plus, I think she deserves to know about Charles. It’s partially for Xavier’s sake, too. She needs to start leaving him alone.”

“Bad idea.”

“Look, just get off at the third exit. We can stop at a convenience store for gas, and then we can drive by her place, and if things don’t feel right or it looks dangerous, we’ll skip it. Chances are she isn’t even going to be home.”

“The shit I let you talk me into.” He leaned forward and pressed the ignition.

“Yeah, tell me about it. I remember taking my panties off in the Eiffel Tower once.”

“That’s completely different.”

“How so?”

“The outcome of that scenario could only lead to something delightful. What you’re proposing? Disaster. A mild disaster at best.”

“I could go alone if you’d rather.”

He shot me a condemning look—eyes narrowed. “Don’t even think about it.”

* * *

Several miles down the highway, we pulled into a gas station, not only for Marco to “recharge,” but to fill up the vehicle. He inserted the nozzle in the gas tank and disappeared inside the store.

I reached in the back and grabbed the bag filled with my father’s tokens. I unzipped the zipper and pulled out the photo of him sitting on the bed. I stared at it for a long while, hoping for clarity. When I looked up, something caught my eye. A young woman sat on the concrete sidewalk, her back against a brick wall—clothes tattered, hair matted. She held a cardboard sign with messy script that read, ‘homeless, please help.’ When she made eye contact with me, I knew instantly who she was. Annie—the twin sister of Samantha, the woman Xavier was accused of killing—exactly who I was looking for. I would never forget her face, but would she remember mine? It was a risk.

I got out of the SUV. Marco would probably ask Sebastian to tie me up for a week for approaching her without him present, but her circumstances provided an opportunity. If there was any sign of recognition, it wasn’t evident on her face. Only expectancy greeted me. “Hi.” I smiled. “Can I take you across the street and get you something to eat?”

She propped her sign against the building and rose on shaky legs.

I extended my arm to help her up. Thin, squiggly scars on the insides of her elbows and wrists indicated she was a user, but none of them looked fresh.

We crossed the street and her gait slowly improved. The automated doors opened and we walked into the chilly storefront. “Pick whatever you’d like, and get some extra for later.”

She studied me. “Thanks. Have I met you before? You look really familiar.”

I hesitated. If there was anything this woman deserved, it was peace, but what if she became violent? My heart ached for her, and perhaps, I could end her pursuit of Xavier. “Yes, I think we may have met before.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Where?”

“In Paris, a few months ago.”

She crossed her arms. “That’s right. You were with that murdering bastard.”

I needed to tread lightly, but wanted her to have the truth. “Yes, I was.”

She huffed. “I’m surprised he didn’t kill you.”

“No. I was there on a work assignment.” It wasn’t technically a lie, since that’s why I thought I was going to Paris.

“Didn’t look like a work assignment when I got there.” She turned, nabbing a bag of chips from the shelf next to her, and started shuffling down the aisle, seeming to consider her choices.

“Things got complicated, but thankfully, you stopped it before it went too far.”

She glanced at me for a second and then picked up a Hershey bar. “Did he tell you how he killed my sister?”

“Yes.”

She stopped and looked back at me. “Did he give you the details?”

“All of them that he could.”

She shook her head. “Amnesia, my ass.”

I figured it was time to cut to the point. If she was going to be violent, it would have happened already. “Do you know Charles Lemiux?”

Her face screwed into a fierce expression of hate and anger. Perhaps I was wrong about the violence. I’d guessed having the showdown in a place wired with security cameras was probably better than outside.

“How do you know Charles Lemiux?” She spat his name like it was poison on her tongue.

“I don’t. I’ve never actually met him. But after our run-in in Paris, I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said, and I did some research. In fact, it was sort of an investigation. I found some people suspect it was really Charles who killed your sister.” This time, it was a little more than stretching the truth.

She let out a shrill cackling sound. “Of course, it was Charles, but that doesn’t mean that Xavier isn’t to blame. He was there too.”

It was my turn to be shocked. “If you knew Charles was to blame, why were you stalking Xavier?”

“Well, if you knew anything about Charles Lemiux, you’d know he’s dead. But they all have it coming. Those bastards killed my sister. They indoctrinated my parents. After I get Xavier…I’m going to burn their little haven to the ground.”

“Their?” Did we have a common enemy?

“The fucking Bosch Society. My parents sacrificed my sister to them.”

“Where are your parents now?”

She shot me a wicked grin. “Dead.”

I pushed back the fear that bubbled inside. “We might be able to help each other.”