Grayson
“What do you mean, it’s not Dale? Where the fuck is he?” I was pacing Ruska’s office. I was sure it was Dale. This had to be some kind of a joke. This was my reason to finally kill the asshole.
“We’ve tracked his whereabouts; he’s been in London. There’s surveillance that proves it, Grayson. There’s a hospital he goes to three times a week.”
I stopped pacing. I didn’t even need to hear why he was there, or why he went to that hospital three times a week. He was there for Lydia. He fucking moved Lydia. The one time he decided to be fucking family. It still didn’t add up. Why now all of a sudden?
“Grayson, are you listening to me? You’re the only target. No other files have been touched. I had the crew scan and rescan everything a million times. Only yours. If you’re still thinking Dale, I’ll have him brought in. I haven’t cut off anyone’s fingers recently. I’ve been dying to use my new knives.”
There was no point in laughing, because if I knew Ruska, he wasn’t kidding. My thoughts were jarred to an incoming text.
Hawkins: I think you need to be here.
Me: Why? What’s wrong?
Hawkins: She’s upset
I glanced back up at Ruska. “I need to go. I’ll keep in touch.” He nodded, not looking up from the woman in his lap giving him a blow job. I almost forgot she was there.
I got home twenty minutes later, and Hawkins was in the living room looking tense. “What happened; where is she?”
“She met with Langer. It didn’t look good.”
I stepped closer. “Did he hurt her?” I knew that question was pointless, but it was a gut reaction.
“No, sir, but we did intervene.”
I turned and headed for the bedroom. Emmalin was in bed, crying. She looked at me as fresh tears came pouring down her cheeks, and I went to her. “He hates me,” she managed to choke out.
I stroked her back and hugged her tight. “He doesn’t hate you, baby. He just needs a little time.”
“No. He should hate me. He should. Everything he’s done, he’s done for me. He got sent away because of me, Grayson. Because of me! And this is how I repay him. By lying to him, and keeping things from him, when I should’ve been honest with him from the beginning. That’s all he’s ever wanted from me, and I didn’t give him that.”
She started hyperventilating. “I need to find him; he has to know he means something to me.
I grabbed her and pinned her down. “Listen to me. Listen to me, Emmalin. Let me go find him. Let me go talk to him. You’re too upset.” She looked at me with red eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so emotional. I leaned my head down against her and whispered, “Let me talk to him, okay? I need you to calm down. Can you do that for me?” She turned her head, and I kissed the tears that were falling. “Please?” She finally looked back at me, and reluctantly nodded.
Tyler wasn’t hard to find. He was sitting alone at a bar counter. I slid in next to him.
“I hear this place is known for their wings.” I looked him over as he stared into his empty glass. He grunted in response before turning to me.
“I wouldn’t know.”
I signaled to the bartender. “I’ll have whatever he’s having, and bring him a water.”
We sat in silence. I then realized I’d never actually spent any time with Tyler. I didn’t know where to start, or what to talk about. The weather? Football? I didn’t even know if he liked football. I didn’t know anything about him, other than the fact that he saved Emmalin’s life. I knew nothing about Emmalin’s best friend, yet she knew all about mine. Hell, I was still pissed that he knew where she was for those five days. They’d bonded after that. They had a connection that I didn’t understand, and was fucking jealous about.
“Why are you here, Grayson?”
I sighed. “You know why I’m here, Tyler. She loves you, and can’t stand the fact that you’re mad at her. It’s killing her.”
“Is that so?”
“The fuck do you mean, is that so? You didn’t see her. She’s flipped the fuck out, Tyler. That asshole Carson has gotten into her head and fucked her up. She’s scared. It kills me that he’s gotten to her, and I wasn’t there to protect her. She kept it from all of us, and I hate that she did that. But he’s warped her somehow. She’s so fucking scared. She’s too busy trying to be brave, but she’s hurting. You running out on her isn’t helping.”
He was silent as he toyed with his glass. “I’m not mad at her. I was disappointed. I’m losing her. I lost her to you. I already can’t stand you, even though I like you. And now this. She’s changed. I'm not mad at her,” he spoke quietly.
"You stormed out on her. Ignored her phone calls, and I'm sitting here playing mediator with a party of one. What are you calling this?" He picked up a peanut and cracked its shell before answering me.
"She's changed. She's different now. It wasn't the fact that she lied. It was the fact that she lied to me. It's everything. You. Her. She doesn't need me anymore and I accept that. I just don't want her pushed too far. You and I both know that she hasn't been the same for a while. I didn't know about Carson, yet he somehow found her, and I feel helpless. I don't have any regrets in life, but I also don't want her to end up doing something she'll regret or have any guilt over."
I nodded. I knew exactly what he was getting at. "I'll have it handled."
And just like that, the decision was made. We sat there another hour talking, like we just didn't make plans to end someone else's life.
I finally saw it was getting close to 1 a.m. "Come on, I'll take you home."
"Holy shit! Tell me that’s not a Bugatti?"
I nodded, giving Tyler a smile. "My newest baby."
"Can I drive?"
I hesitated, then realized Emmalin would like that we bonded. I tossed him the keys. "Be fucking careful, Langer."
He started touching the interior. "Has Emmalin driven it? Does she like it?"
"She said it rides smoothly." I smiled, not mentioning that I fucked her on the hood of the car the moment I brought it home, and then she rode me, like the dirty vixen she was, in the driver’s seat. “She definitely liked it.” I felt myself getting hard, thinking about how hard she came that night. Fuck, I needed to get home.
He started the car and leaned his head back. “Listen to that purr. She’s nice. I have to get me one of these.” He pulled out, and I relaxed and started enjoying the ride. Not too soon after, I turned on the station for music.
“That guy must like your car, too. He’s been tailing my ass for the last five minutes.”
I looked in my side view mirror. There was a truck tailing us, with black tinted windows. “How fast are you going?”
“About 50, we’re heading toward a really hilly area.”
I checked my side view again. “Speed up again. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. Probably just an asshole.” Tyler accelerated. So did the truck. “Maybe he’ll pass.” I looked behind me. The truck was so close, all I could see were headlights. Before I could completely turn around, the truck hit us from behind and we jerked forward.
“What the fuck!” Tyler swerved, almost hitting the ramp.
“Fuck, Tyler, stay steady! You’re in a Bugatti, just go!”
“I’m fucking trying! I think something’s wrong with the brakes!” Before he could gain control, we were hit again, this time from the side. Tyler swerved to miss an oncoming car.
I managed to grab my phone to call Benny. “We’re being hit!” All of a sudden, there was a loud crash, and the car swerved, before barreling into the concrete wall.
Do you ever imagine what your life would’ve been like if you hadn’t come back from Paris early? If you had come back even one day later than planned, how different your life would’ve been? You could’ve chosen to stay one more night, and fucked a French woman one more night. But you chose another route. You got on that plane, went to that party you weren’t looking forward to going to, spent most of the time plotting your escape. Then you happened to glance up, and the love of your life walked into the room. I always found shit like that unreal. When you see the love of your life, you’ll know. I always thought that was the biggest bullshit ever. I could sit here and say, guess what everyone, it’s fucking true, because it happened to me. But what they don’t tell you is that it doesn’t always last forever. One of you will always find a way to fuck it up, whether that person cheats, falls out of love, or fucking dies. I’m probably going to die right now.
“Pock.”
I opened my eyes. Glass was strewn around me. I wiggled my toes and moved my body. Miraculously nothing seemed broken, just sore.
“Pock.”
I tried turning toward Tyler, but something was blocking us. I heard sirens in the distance. Thank God. Someone was coming to get us.
“Pock.”
This time, his voice came out wheezing. “Tyler?” I managed to move away the debris that was separating us and my heart stopped. Tyler took the brunt of the crash. He looked over at me as best he could. Blood was seeping out of his mouth.
“Pu... pppocket.”
I was too stunned to move at first before realizing he was talking about his pocket. I reached over into his jacket, and pulled out a folded piece of paper. I opened it, and glanced at it only briefly before quickly folding it back up and stuffing it into my pocket. I grabbed onto his hand, and he tried giving me a small smile as he held onto me tightly.
“Hello, can you hear me?!”
Not taking my eyes off Tyler, I answered, “We’re in here. Tyler’s severely hurt.”
“We’re going to get you out, okay? I need you both to stay calm.”
I nodded as a single tear fell down my own face.