Sins, page 27
“All aboard!” the conductor in a blue uniform announced.
Steam rose up from the train, and she jumped inside a compartment right before the doors closed.
Inane laughter and the chattering of children and families traveling to new destinations flowed around her. Cheerfulness so contradictory to her own torment at the moment.
Quickly, she followed the path along the windows to see where William was. And just then, he sprinted past her window along the length of the train, anxiously screaming her name.
Ivy dropped into the first vacant cushioned seat and observed William, who was still walking onward, inspecting the windows of all the compartments. Her heart splintered into a million pieces. Did she just imagine she witnessed pain and sorrow in his expression?
The wheels began to turn, and the train started to move. William stopped, checking the passing windows. His gaze traveled faster than the train, so his head turned slightly, their eyes locked, and he seared her with an incredulous stare.
The world seemed to slow and then stop when he looked at her. Everything faded, all the frivolous chuckles and prattling drifting into nothingness. The tears she’d tried so hard to stall slipped helplessly down her cheeks, scalding her flesh like hot acid.
Both of them unable to break away from the intensity of their gaze, they beheld each other with a mixture of disbelief and dejection.
William, the man with the composed and confident manner, stood motionless, yet his emotions were written all over his face as sadness washed over him.
Perhaps she’d been wrong and he wouldn’t have hurt her?
Her compartment window passed him. Involuntarily, her fingers touched the glass.
Would he have killed her? She’d never know.
Would he have loved her at some point? She’d never know.
They were both guilty of trying to sustain a relationship based on secrets and lies. They had been doomed from the start.
Ivy craned her neck to watch him. He studied the ground now, and she surveyed him standing at the platform until she could no longer see him.
She reared back against the seat, breathing soft sighs of freedom, but she wasn’t happy. Ivy had left a piece of herself behind, with him.
William took her body that first night of her kidnapping, yet she’d given him her heart willingly at one point. And he’d never returned it. She feared it would always be in William’s clutch.
CHAPTER 37
William
AT THE PLATFORM, WILLIAM frenziedly searched countless windows, certain she’d boarded that train. She was even more conniving than he ever thought possible, but she was also quite courageous. William knew how she hated the dark, yet she’d set off through the darkened corridors like a woman on a mission.
He scanned the passing train, and before he even saw her, he felt a prickling sense of awareness. Then her disheveled reddish-brown curls came into view, and silver-grey collided with sparkling blue. As if his entire being became paralyzed, he stood with his arms hanging down at his sides to get the last glimpse of the one woman who’d bested him.
Only later would he acknowledge that she was much more than that.
In a moment that spanned merely a second but felt like hours, he experienced a melancholic emotion unfamiliar to him. In his life, he’d never been attached to anyone except Charles. But she’d definitely fought her way into his cold soul. William watched her keenly, seeing a similar gloom. As long as he could, he kept his eyes on her until she drifted away.
Instead of immediately returning to the club, he stood there, staring at the ground, feeling the need to punch something or someone. William swallowed back the brick lodged in his throat and blinked profusely.
When he regained his composure, he turned around with infinite slowness, further away from Ivy. However, before he stepped off the platform, he read the board information, to check the destination of that train.
AS WILLIAM TRUDGED back home, he heard fire alarms and commotion when he was just a few blocks away. He took off in a sprint and rounded the corner to his street. An army of people swarmed around the building, blocking his view of the high-rise. He saw firemen running around and smoke billowing up.
William pushed past people unapologetically and screamed, “That’s my apartment building!”
When he arrived at the front of the line, he watched people escape the burning front entrance of the gambling club as flames blew from several windows on the first floor.
“Move back, folks!” a few firemen yelled and guided the swarm backward.
“That’s my building,” William said to one of the firemen. “Is everyone out?”
“Not yet, sir,” he answered. “We’re working to get people out.”
Soaring flames could be felt like a wall of heat, and several firemen were using the hose to extinguish them. Abruptly, a loud bang thundered and windows shattered, fragmenting all over the place. Pieces of glass flew around.
“Get down!” one fireman shrieked.
William stooped low and covered his head with both his arms. A rush of heat blew over him, and then it was silent for a twinkling moment before chaos erupted.
Sweat formed on his brow from the heat of the fire, and he observed the left part of the first floor of the building being engulfed by flames. His gaming club, his empire, burnt to the ground.
Screams of concern from passers-by, escaped clientele, and residents flew around his ears while William searched for Silk or Charles or any employees of his establishment.
William began to pace and eventually spotted a familiar muscular man with a scruffy beard and his hair tied up into a bun. “Silk!”
His manager met him halfway. “William.” He coughed into his fist and had streaks of ashes on his face and waistcoat.
“Where’s Charles?” William asked.
“I haven’t seen him.”
“Are you okay? What happened?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I got out quickly since I was in the gambling club looking for Jeremy.”
William knew Sins was empty this time of day, so the only people inside were Charles and employees of the gambling club, along with the regulars.
“You didn’t find Jeremy?”
“No, flames shot out from nowhere. I ushered as many people out as I could, and then I left. I didn’t see Charles, William. Was he inside?”
“I don’t know,” William replied and kept scanning the first floor, but the firemen had blocked the crowd further away for safety reasons.
“Go look for Charles, and we’ll meet back here in thirty,” William said and continued his own search.
A search that came up with nothing. William, who was already in a despondent mood after losing Ivy, became more miserable with each passing minute.
After an hour, all the flames were doused. One side of the building’s first floor smoldered. It was purely a black hole with only the beams of the foundation still intact.
“Mr. Kade,” a police detective who had joined the scene came up to him.
“Yes.”
“You’re the owner of the building?”
“No, my business partner is the owner of the building. I’m the co-owner of the gambling club.”
“The fire department will start its investigation as soon as possible. I’m sorry, but it seems that there were still people inside.”
William rubbed the stubble on his jaw nervously. “Can we go into the building? My apartment is on the top floor. Can all the residents return?”
“Yes. The fire hasn’t affected the entire first floor, the building foundation, or any of the other floors. It’s mostly the interior of the club that’s burned. I’ll contact you as soon as I know more and you can access that part of the first floor.”
“Yes, please do. Thank you,” William said.
Silk approached William, so William ordered him, “I need my own law enforcement on this case. I don’t want any other police officers snooping around my clubs. And if Jeremy Dechamps was in there, we definitely don’t want his family to be informed that he didn’t have any fingers. Jeremy’s family can’t be allowed to see the corpse.”
“I can take care of that now. I saw two of our policemen walking around. I’ll instruct them to ensure the other officers leave.” Silk hesitated before saying, “I haven’t seen Charles. William, when did you last see him?”
William sighed, evaluating the damaged gambling club, unease coursing through his veins. “I spoke to him a couple of hours ago in his office.” He regarded Silk. “This is not a good sign. I fear he was inside his office.”
“I fear the same,” Silk added with a glow of concern before addressing a police detective.
William went around the high-rise, to the other entrance that was still intact, and got into the elevator, ascending to the top floor, where Ivy wouldn’t be waiting for him. It was the first time in months that he didn’t go home with pleasure.
Rather than going into his own apartment, he went into Charles’s. William had a sliver of hope that Charles would walk through the door at any moment. Maybe he was at an appointment and not inside the club when it burned down?
He retrieved a bottle of whiskey from Charles’s kitchen and uncapped it. Without bothering to grab a glass, he tipped the bottle and took a long swig.
But as night fell, William’s hope evaporated. He was sprawled on the sofa, his thighs spread wide, the half-drained liquor bottle balanced on his knee. William drank and drank until he couldn’t see straight.
And with each drink, he became more livid and depressed simultaneously. No matter how drunk he became, two people consumed his thoughts relentlessly: Charles and Ivy.
Mostly Ivy though. Regarding Charles, he held on to that shred of optimism.
CHAPTER 38
William
WILLIAM SAT DOWN ACROSS from the ginger-haired detective in a scant interrogation room after he was asked to appear at the police station the next day.
He’d raced to the station without bothering to shave or bathe. Dark circles rimmed his eyes, and hard, bitter lines were etched into his face. And he felt as bad as he looked, calmly rotating the edge of a paper coffee cup on the timeworn wooden table. He had a splitting headache.
“Mr. Kade, I’m afraid I have bad news. We’ve managed to identify all the bodies. Most people got out in time, but there were three bodies found. I’m sorry to say that one of them was Charles Lindon,” the detective said in a sympathetic tone.
William’s movement of the paper cup stopped. Emptiness. All he wanted was to go home, but he had matters to settle with this detective whom he and Charles paid off for his discretion. “Was Jeremy Dechamps among the bodies?”
“Yes. He was found in Charles’s office. Apparently, there had been a struggle between the two men.” The detective paused before continuing. “He seems to be missing his fingers on one hand.”
William remained stoic. “I don’t want that information to become public. His family can’t inspect the body. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir. I can dissuade his parents from seeing his corpse and ensure that he’s delivered to them in a closed casket for his burial ceremony.”
“How did the fire originate?” William had been going over scenarios all night and concluded there were only two suspects. Either Ivy or Jeremy. He inclined toward the latter.
The detective opened a file in front of him on the desk. “I received the report this morning and sent a messenger to you immediately.” His finger traced several lines on the paper. “The underground floors are both damaged. It ignited in the fight club. There was an explosion in a room with a liquor stockpile. Then the fire traveled upward toward the gaming hall where there was more liquor.”
“That’s quite plausible.”
The supply closets had been stashed with alcohol just a week ago. One inventory room was right next to Charles’s office. Jeremy must’ve started the fire and then gone in search of William in Charles’s office.
The detective added, “The underground floors are completely destroyed, and part of the first floor as well, Mr. Kade.”
“When can I access the floors?” William asked.
“Today, if you wish. Everything has been checked.”
“Is there going to be any further investigation?” William stood and inched to the door.
“No, I’ll alter the report to state that it ignited due to a fallen candle that caught fire in the curtains in the gambling hall. And that’ll be the end of it.”
“Good. I’ll reward you generously when I’ve seen the final report.” He turned the knob and left.
William walked home, hating the chirping of birds on this fall day.
WILLIAM SURVEYED THE ashy interior of his gaming club, treading over debris. What once had been Charles’s dream went up in flames in not even an hour. As he assessed the club, he could see him and Charles clinking their glasses on opening night so many years ago. Grief descended upon William, and his eyes welled up.
One day, Charles will be dead, and you’ll be all alone. The words Ivy had spoken twenty-four hours ago resounded in his head.
“William?”
“Silk,” William greeted without turning around.
Silk came up next to William and placed his hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, my friend.”
“Thanks.”
“I have one message for you,” Silk commented. “An insurance guy came by earlier. He was looking for you, so I told him to return tomorrow. Maybe we should just do nothing today? All of this will still be here tomorrow. And I’ll help you as much as I can.”
William shot him a sideways glance. “I appreciate that.”
They stood in silence, sharing their grief. Silk had become a confidant too in the months since he’d started working for William. Right now, he was glad to have someone who could just stand with him without speaking.
CHAPTER 39
William
LIFE CONTINUED. TIME continued. That’s the thing with time. It always just goes on and on. Even if you feel stagnant, the world around you keeps turning.
The weeks after Ivy’s escape and Charles’s death were a blur of paperwork and receiving condolences from everyone William and Charles had ever done business with. Most men came to gauge if he would be looking for new partners, and they were all eager to be part of his empire. Even at the funeral, these people dared to discuss business with William. However, he’d told them to back off until he was ready to talk. William wouldn’t be able to do anything with the clubs until he’d taken enough time to grieve the loss of Charles.
Surprisingly, even Alfred Ravensdale had come by and paid off his debt within the two-week timeframe William had set.
But a setback pursued William when the insurance company notified him that they weren’t going to pay out anything. It had been a bureaucratic mess to even get a penny from them, so William let that go. He’d postponed making any decisions regarding rebuilding the clubs anyway.
Sadly, the urgency of the day never helped him to not think of Ivy. Apart from his anguish, he didn’t want to admit that he fucking desired her. Desire for her so strong that it pained him. And it never faded. How he wished she was with him still so that he could find comfort in her body. So she could caress him, soothe him to ease the first stages of mourning. To rid her from his mind, William drank himself into a stupor and worked out like a mad man in his apartment.
William tightened the laces on his black gloves as he stared at the red punching bag hanging off the immaculately painted ceiling in his workout chamber next to his bedroom. He punched the bag one time and rolled his neck. He swung his fists again and again until sweat trickled down his hairline, releasing all his sorrow onto the bag. His breathing became ragged as he kept up his grueling blows, lost in his own world, in his own regret. His concentration kept wandering to the one person he wanted to avoid thinking about, so he hit the bag even harder.
Still, Ivy invaded his thoughts. He’d never realized the depth of his feelings for her until she was gone.
A pathetic punch hit the bag. Never could William have foreseen he would end up like this. He’d lived a life of highs and lows, and for a time, he’d had all the money in the world and a thriving business. But he ended up the same way he began – alone and with very little money. Since all the clubs were closed, he had no income.
The last punch was a fragile one before he pulled an arm around the bag to stop its swaying and leaned his weight against it. He couldn’t afford to be weak now. William rested his forehead against the cold red leather while two essential questions echoed in his brain.
How was he going to rebuild his business without any funds?
And how in the bloody hell was he going to find Ivy?
CHAPTER 40
William
DURING THE FOURTH WEEK after Charles’s death, Charles’s lawyer contacted William to discuss his will, and William presently sat in that lawyer’s posh office with Silk, who’d stood by his side and helped William as promised, next to him.
“Do you understand what that means, Mr. Kade?” the lawyer asked.
William glanced at Silk, who had a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“That I’ve inherited a fortune?” William replied.
“Yes. Mr. Lindon’s will states that everything goes to you. Even his London estate. Along with the money you’ll receive from his life insurance, you could say that you’ve inherited quite a fortune, Mr. Kade,” the lawyer confirmed with a smile. “Please sign on the dotted lines, and I’ll make sure everything is transferred to you in the next couple of weeks. Do you have any further questions?”
“No,” he answered while scribbling his signature.
