My Everything, page 33
He lifted a hand in a back-off gesture. “We will celebrate,” he said. “Right now, leave me alone.”
Izzy nodded, mouthing the words I love you and a ghost of a smile flashed over his hard features. Then he brushed past us and disappeared up the stairs.
“What happened?” Izzy asked Max.
He shrugged off his wet jacket, letting it drop to the floor. “Nothing good.” He spoke while unbuttoning his shirt, and my eyes bulged. It wasn’t until I saw the bulletproof vest under the clothing that I understood.
Max nodded his answer to my unspoken question. Those dents were from bullets. Max would have been dead if he hadn’t worn that piece of protection.
“Does Dom know you risked your life for him?” Izzy’s voice dripped with disapproval, and Max shook his head.
“He has enough on his plate,” he said. “Him thinking he can do everything alone would have gotten him killed. If I hadn’t been there…” He left the sentence unfinished, and I shuddered at what he implied.
“He can’t lose you, too.” Izzy slurred, and Max grinned.
“You’re a wonderful sister, Isabelle. Dominic’s lucky to have you.”
“The fuck’s up with him?” Marc’s voice made us both jump and nearly fall over as we spun to face him. His eyes narrowed at me. “Are you drunk?”
“Little,” I giggled, suddenly forgetting all about Dom and the sad story. “I missed you.”
“See you around.” Max touched Izzy’s back, briefly locking his eyes with hers, then he scooped up the jacket and left.
Marc closed the gap between us, wrapping me under one arm and grabbing Izzy with his other. Muttering under his breath, he led us to the nearest couch and pushed us down. “Little?” he scoffed. “You can barely stand.”
“Sorry.” Izzy grinned. “Your girl’s fine.”
Marc groaned, taking my hand as it fumbled in his lap for something to hold.
“I think she’s searching for something else,” Izzy said, and I burst into laughter.
“For God’s sake,” Marc muttered.
I followed his gaze to the stairs and blurted, “He’s dead.”
“Who’s—” he cut himself off as realization hit. “Mr. X.”
“He did it,” Izzy said. “He finally did it.” Her voice broke and fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
I let go of Marc’s hand, tumbling over to Izzy, and threw myself around her neck. She hugged me back, murmuring into my hair, “I don’t want you to go.” She hugged me tighter. “You’re my baby sister.”
“I always wanted a sister,” I sniveled.
“Hey,” Marc tried. “Girls!” His hands were on me, pulling me from Izzy and onto his lap, securing me with arms around my waist. Izzy smiled through her tears, winking at Marc’s expression as I squirmed against him, trying to break free.
“Big mistake, querido,” Izzy grinned, and my cheeks grew red as I felt him growing hard under my ass. Big, yes. But no mistake.
Marc cursed under his breath, tightening his hold on me. “Sit still,” he hissed.
“Let me go!”
“He can’t now,” Izzy purred.
“Just get the fuck out of here.” Marc snapped, but Izzy only laughed. She wiped her eyes, looking at her fingers as if surprised to find tears clinging to them.
I wiggled my ass against him, feeling rather than hearing a growl rumbling in his chest. “Are you not wearing underwear?” I asked, and he groaned, hissing in my ear.
“That’s what you want to ask in front of her?”
I considered it. Yeah. Yes, it was. I felt it too. The warmth. The rock-hard length pressed against my ass.
“Kay,” he hissed, pinning Izzy with his steel gaze. “X’s gone? What happened?”
“What do you think? Dom killed him. It’s over.”
“He looked like he took a few punches as well.”
Izzy nodded, grimacing.
I looked between Marc and Izzy and the confused look on his face.
“You’re not happy, neither is Dominic. He didn’t say a word,” he stated the obvious, and Izzy chuckled.
Then her face grew serious, and she muttered, “He did what he had to. Doesn’t mean it feels better after.”
Marc gave a small nod, and I knew he felt that deeper than Izzy could ever imagine. If it made sense to anyone, it was him.
*
Saying goodbye a couple of days later was almost as hard as walking out of my father’s mansion back then. The bonds I formed, with Izzy especially, killed me to break. Part of me wanted to stay, telling me that why not? What did I have to go back to?
Tears burned behind my eyes with the reminder. I had nothing. No one. Only Marc. And he alone was why I even considered leaving. I’d go anywhere with him. For him. And he had a life that didn’t involve cozying up with the Cuban mob.
“I’ll miss having you here.” Izzy pulled me in for a tight hug. “Stay in touch, chica?” She pulled away, looking me in the eye. “And be careful. Just because Xander is gone does not mean it’s all safe.”
I nodded, trying to hide that pang of worry that gripped my belly. It wasn’t safe here, either, but under Dom’s and Izzy’s protection, it was as safe as it could be. She was right. People were still out there. People who wanted them dead. Those Reapers. Did that include us, too? Or would they let us be and focus on their main targets? Only time could tell.
“There’s no better place to hide than in a group of crazy fans,” Marc sneered. “We’ll be fine.”
I grimaced, hoping he was right, and looking forward with nervous anticipation to being a part of his life. And Johnny’s.
Dom strode into the room. “You’re still here?”
Marc lifted an eyebrow in mock question. “Can’t wait to get rid of us?”
Dom grinned. “On the contrary. Here.” He held out his hand, and my eyes landed on a small black gun tucked into it.
I gasped. We didn’t need that, did we?
“No thanks,” Marc said, and Dom scoffed.
“It’s not a request. Take the fucking gun.”
“I fucking hate weapons.”
Dom let out a sharp laugh. “You want to keep her alive?” he asked with a pointy look my way, and I cringed under his dark gaze.
Marc hesitated, then grabbed the weapon and looked it over before tucking it into his belt. “Thank you.”
Dom slapped his back. “You got this.” He held Marc’s gaze, and I looked between them, clearly missing something. “Just don’t shoot any of those fans,” he added, and Marc chuckled.
“I wish.”
“If you need anything, you know where to find us,” Izzy said.
Dom nodded his agreement. “What I said. About family. I meant it.”
Marc gave him a stiff nod, and I squeezed his hand. He didn’t want to admit it, but I wasn’t blind. He’d come to like the twins, too. And saying goodbye wasn’t his strong suit. Neither was mine. And as I hugged Izzy one last time, tears rolled down my cheeks. She wiped hers as I moved away, and as I reached out a hand to Dom, he grabbed my arm and pulled me into a tight embrace that made me tense from the sudden shock. “Take care of your man,” he spoke into my ear. “He’s lucky to have you.”
He let me go, winking at Marc. “I might keep this one.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Marc’s voice didn’t quite hide the warning hidden under a twisted grin, and Dom chuckled.
“Is that a threat?”
“If it has to be.”
“Guys!” Izzy stepped between them. “Max is outside.” She turned to me. “He’ll take you straight to the airport.”
Two months later
After announcing my arrival at the main gate and being escorted inside the walls, I walked in silence as a scary-looking guard led me into the building and into a room. He gestured toward a booth, and my eyes darted over the colorless interior, to the glass wall, then to the guard. His face was as cold and hard as the prison itself. Emotionless. Like Dom, but he made it mysteriously attractive. This man made me recoil as he looked at me with two pale blue eyes roaming over my body as if I was a snack. I quickly averted my gaze, letting it sweep over the place. Everything was concrete and steel. Gray and black.
My legs trembled as I sat, staring into the glass separating me and my father. It was the first time I saw him since coming back to California. That was two months ago. Seeing him. Seeing the surprise in his blue eyes as he assessed me made little chills run up my spine. Something about the brief confusion as he saw me filled me with a foreboding coldness. It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t sadness. It wasn’t even a disappointment. All those things I expected. But watching him stare at me through the thick glass, all I felt was… wrong. As if I shouldn’t be here. As if he expected me not to be.
I shook the uneasy feeling, focusing on his eyes. The same blue as mine. The gaze I once felt protected under. His hair was shorter than I remembered, now cropped close to his skull, and the black started to gray in the temples. Was it new? Did the months in prison age him? I shook that off, too. Feeling bad wasn’t what I came here for, even though Izzy’s story about how prison treated Dom was fresh in my mind. What I wanted were answers.
I picked up the phone, waiting for him to do the same while trying not to grimace at the orange clothes he wore.
“Why?” I asked, skipping the formalities, and couldn’t help but smile. Marc would be proud.
He shook his head. “Why doesn’t matter?”
“It matters to me!” I snapped, then added in a lower voice, “You lied to me. You gave me medicine to make me sick. What father does that?”
This was what I avoided for two months. The confrontation. The truth. If he was even able to tell the truth. And if he did, was I ready to hear it? Mr. X told me. Dom told me. But hearing it from the man who I loved and trusted… could I do it?
“I had no choice, sweetheart.”
The pet name made me cringe, throwing me back to the days with Mr. X. He called me the exact same thing, and now I couldn’t stand hearing it.
“You always have a choice,” I muttered. “You chose to screw me over to save your own ass!”
His eyes grew wide, and I almost laughed. Yeah, I was not some innocent little princess anymore. Spending time in the real world crushed my innocence damn fast. He never heard me speak a bad word, like a perfect little ten-year-old. But I was not ten anymore. And I was far from perfect.
“Watch your language,” he barked. “Haven’t I raised you better than to curse like that?”
I snorted. “You didn’t raise me. You made me a prisoner.” I removed the phone from my ear as he spoke. I didn’t need the excuses and the lies. He was never going to be straight with me. It was his specialty, and not until now did I truly understand the reason for his evasiveness.
“I didn’t come to fight,” I spoke again into the phone, keeping my eyes locked on his through the glass. “I came to tell you, you failed. Your friend is dead. And Alex is happy with his boyfriend abroad. And it looks like you’re where you belong.”
His face grew bitter, and I couldn’t help but feel bad. Even after everything he did, even knowing I should hate him, some part of me still wished for this to be a dream. I wanted to wake up, and he’d still be my father.
“What about you?” he asked, studying me through the glass. “You look… fresh.”
I scoffed. “Shouldn’t I be? I’ve recovered from you poisoning me.” I shook my head in disgust, remembering why hating him was the better option. “I guess I should thank you for introducing me to Marc. At least I have him now.”
My father’s scowl made me want to smack him. The disapproval stung, even though his opinion on who I dated shouldn’t matter. Nothing this man said to me should matter. Not anymore.
“Isn’t he too old for you?”
“No, he’s not!” I snapped, hating how one simple question brought back so many doubts and worries I suppressed since we decided to give it a try. Now, I couldn’t see my life without him. I loved him. Everything he was. What did a few extra years mean when he made me the luckiest girl in the world?
“I can’t stop you from seeing him.” My father let out a frustrated laugh. “But be careful. That man has secrets. Dark ones. You don’t want to get involved—”
“I know everything!” I snapped, cutting him off. “I also know how you blackmailed him. How did you even know?”
“I have contacts.”
The way he said it made a shiver slither down my spine. It was a threat, no doubt about it. But I had contacts too.
“Nice try.” I gave him a sweet smile. “But it won’t work.”
He raised a dark brow in confusion.
“If something happens to Marc. If anyone even comes around to ask about his past, you’ll wish he didn’t spare your life.”
The confusion grew. After a moment of thinking it through, his expression darkened.
“That’s right. You’re alive because you’re my father. He put you here, but trust me, he wanted to kill you.” I leaned closer. “We have contacts too. And they’re not as forgiving as Marc.”
His skin paled visibly as the last piece of the puzzle dawned on him.
“You’re with Dominic.” He shook his head. “Kaylie, you have no idea what that man—” He shot a look at something behind him.
“Time’s up.” A guard appeared at his side.
I nodded, preparing to stand.
My father did the same. Before he straightened to his full height, he leaned closer to the glass, hissing into the phone, “Enjoy your life while it lasts.”
*
I fell into Marc’s arms the moment I stepped through the gate back on free ground. Warm sunlight enveloped us, and I melted into his embrace for a few moments of comfort. I knew meeting my father like this would be hard, but I was not prepared for how much. Even after coming to terms with the betrayal and the lies, it still hurt. Maybe it always would.
“What did he say?”
I frowned, stepping away to look up at him. “It was weird…” The frown deepened. Those last words crawled under my skin like poisoned vines. The more I tried to brush it off as nothing, the more it spread, getting a bigger and stronger grip on me. While it lasts…
Was he telling me to watch my back? Did he warn me? Or threaten me?
“Kaylie,” Marc coaxed. “Just fucking tell me.”
I smiled at his impatient frustration, then made a quick decision. “He knows we were with Dom and Izzy.”
Marc frowned. “That’s it?” He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Why’s that weird? He’s up to his neck in this shit. He knows everyone a hell of a lot more than we do.”
I swallowed the guilt of lying to him and nodded. “Yeah, I guess. I was just… worried.”
“Hey.” He slid his hand over my cheek and into my hair. “You know I’ll kill for you. Nothing. Will. Happen.” His intense gaze made shivers shoot down my spine. No doubt he meant it, and it made me love him even more.
“You can’t say stuff like that in public,” I breathed. I stepped closer, tilting my head up to whisper in his ear. “Not without making me wet for you.”
He gave me a twisted grin. “Is that so, butterfly?”
“Take me home and you’ll know just how much.”
He grabbed my hand, making me run to keep up with his long strides as he led me to the car. He got a new one after Mr. freaking X crashed his previous one. This one was just as black. Just as big. A Chevy, I guessed, from the little knowledge I had of cars.
“Get in,” he growled, and I happily obeyed, climbing into the passenger seat.
My eyes were on him as he navigated the car through backstreets to finally fall into the heavy traffic of the highway.
“Fuck!” He stepped on the brake before slamming into the car in front of us.
I groaned.
Another traffic jam was nothing new, but the timing sucked. All I wanted after the trauma of seeing my father was to be home with Marc. To forget about the rest of the world and all the threats and scares out there. And I wasn’t joking when I said he turned me on. I still shuddered as I replayed his words in my head. Knowing that it was more than empty words made him even hotter.
Keeping my eyes on his profile, I wetted my lips. His jaw was locked tight, enhancing the sharp line and his strong neck. My gaze slid down his shoulder, across strong arms with muscles that flexed under rolled-up sleeves.
The way his jaw ticked made me smirk. He was holding back, tensing to the point of pain to keep from exploding at the traffic. His temper once scared me. Now all it did was make me want to push him further.
I reached out, laying a hand on his thigh and slowly sliding it across long lean muscles to a hard bulge straining against the soft fabric of his slacks.
“Where’s your mind?” I teased, and he let out a sharp laugh.
“Guess.” The one word made me shiver. I bit my lip, keeping my eyes on his face while my fingers playfully followed the outline of him through the pants.
“You have no idea how many times I wanted to do this while stuck in that car.” I’d had plenty of time watching him, imagining how it would feel to touch him. How he’d react. If he’d tell me to stop, or not…
“That’s what you were thinking about?”
“Is that wrong?”
He chuckled. “No.”
I squeezed him, drawing a sudden hiss from his lips. “Is this wrong?” I asked, repeating the action until he shuddered under my touch.
“Yes.” The word was nothing but a growl. “Don’t stop.”
I chuckled, shifting as close as my seatbelt allowed for easier reach. After fumbling with the belt, I was rewarded with his warm, smooth skin against mine.
“Going commando?” I asked, and he chuckled but didn’t comment.
He let out a deep groan as I slid my hand over him, tightening my grip for extra pressure. He tilted his head back, eyeing the road through heavy eyelids, and I couldn’t help but throw nervous glances around. We were sandwiched between two packed lanes. Someone was bound to see us, or at least his expressions. After a few more groans from him, I didn’t care. All that mattered was his pleasure, and knowing I was giving it to him.
