Destined, page 17
“Yes, that’ll be… heaven-sent.”
My final call was to Alana. I explained how I’d been redirected to Denver. I made the call to her simply because she was my best friend. I let her know that I wanted to come back and help finish up but wouldn’t know when that would be.
“As I said before, don’t worry,” Alana said. “I love having you around, but I kind of think Eden is relieved you’re not here to tempt her scoundrel of a boyfriend.”
We both chuckled at that.
By the time we reached the aircraft, all my important calls had been made. Nick followed behind us, carrying Gina’s bag, as I assisted her up the ramp. He put her bag in an upper bin as I buckled her up in the seat across from mine. The two stewardesses, Carrie and Ronnelle, couldn’t take their eyes off Nick, maybe because of his size or maybe because he wasn’t so bad on the eyes.
He grimaced at Gina as I stood facing him. “Listen,” he said and then set his eyes on my face. “I’ve seen a lot in my days on the job. I’ve known a lot of people who are paid to do what you did back there. You, Bryn Blackstone—you’re the real deal.” He observed Gina again. Her eyes were closed, but tears streamed out of the corners. “Could you let me know how she does? I feel like I’m invested here.”
I pressed my lips into a firm and sober smile as I nodded. “Yes, I know. And for sure, I’ll give you an update.”
We’d been flying for the better part of two hours. It was just after four in the afternoon, but it felt later than that. During the flight, I’d answered a number of emails, including one from Alana. The spider lamp had been hung in the den, and Eden thought the fixture was too heavy for the space. I asked if she could remove some of the legs, and if that didn’t work, I advised her to pack it up and send it back. I sent Alana a catalog from three more artists who did light fixtures, just in case thinning out the legs didn’t work.
“Bryn,” Gina said.
I ripped my eyes off my computer and set them on her. She’d been asleep up until then. Gina’s eyes were fully open, and that was a good sign.
“Hey,” I said, smiling.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ve agreed to go to rehab,” I said, keeping my tone tender.
I could see the fear in her eyes. “They can’t help me. No one can.”
I carefully set my computer on the seat beside me. “What do you mean?”
She closed her eyes as she rolled her shoulders, wincing. “I’m dirty all the time, and you're telling me that can go away, and I'm telling you it can’t.”
I liked that she said that. I took it as a sign that she wanted to talk and was really willing to give recovery a chance. I closed my laptop. “It’s a process. And…” I smiled at her. “You look better. Would you like anything to eat?”
“I’m not hungry,” she said with a sigh.
I nodded.
“You’re frowning,” she said. “What is it you want to say to me, Bryn?”
I twisted my mouth thoughtfully. The moment was delicate, and I didn’t want to say the wrong thing. However, I knew Gina was like a little bird, looking for love in every place. When we were younger, I used to use that to my advantage. I played push-pull with my affection for her, being nice one moment and a raging bitch the next. From what I knew about my own experience of being wounded, Gina still saw me the same way she’d seen me back then. That was why I wanted to tread delicately. I didn’t want her to feel as if she had to perform for me to receive my love.
“It’s nothing,” I finally said.
“Bryn. What?” Her tone was sharp, demanding.
I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. “Um, what happened with your job?”
Her lips started to tremble.
I shook my head. “You don’t have to tell me.” I pressed my hand over my heart. “Listen, I always knew that job wasn’t the cure-all.”
“I couldn’t look them in the eyes anymore,” she said. I felt as if I’d forgotten to breathe, and my back was attached to the leather seat as I waited for her to say more. “I couldn’t get into the swimming pool with them anymore. I felt like I tainted the water.”
I closed my eyes so I could truly reply from my heart. “I can’t talk you out of seeing yourself that way, Gina. And I know there’s nothing I can say to change your mind.” I opened my eyes. She was watching as if chomping on my every word, looking for more of them to cling to but unable to get a grasp on them. “Those same things you’re saying about yourself, I used to say about myself. I can’t tell you how it happened, but with help, I just stopped believing that awful lie.”
She shook her head adamantly. “You’re not like me.”
“But I am. I am like you. Do you know what Randolph did to my mother? What he did to Amelia? We were all his victims. You in one way, and me in another.”
“But you had Jasper,” she retorted.
“You did too. He kept you safe, as much as you would let him. He kept Randolph from using you more than he would’ve if Jasper hadn’t stepped in.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Jasper was never going to force you to stop doing anything, but they knew he’d better not hear about any of them hurting a hair on your head or else.”
Her jaw dropped as she gazed off thoughtfully.
“I want you to understand that Jasper loves you too. You’re unable to recognize his kind of love because it comes with protection and without control.”
She watched me with watery eyes and then turned to stare out the small round window. “I heard you on the phone with him.”
I knew who she meant. “Ash?”
She nodded. “I used to dream of our wedding day, but deep down, I knew it was only a dream.”
“Gina…” I waited for her to look at me again. After a few beats, her eyes were on me. “He could never marry you. Your heart loves him as a brother. You’re so beautiful. You’ve always only wanted to be loved. You’ve been sweet, kind. You have a severe defense mechanism that comes with a bite, but once your walls are down, you give your whole heart. And that part of you is not a weakness. It’s your strength. You’ll see.”
Tears streamed freely out of her eyes. Then Gina cleared her throat. “You promise?” she asked, barely audible.
I unbuckled my seat belt and got up to sit beside her. Then I made sure we maintained solid eye contact. “I promise.” I held my palm up for her to take my hand. “You don’t have to take it if you don’t want. You have every right to be angry at me for the way I treated you when we were younger. So you owe me nothing. You can reject me, and I will still love you, be here for you. Understand?”
“I’ve never been angry at you, Bryn. I’ve always loved you too.” She set her hand on top of mine. “Didn’t like you…”
We both chuckled.
“But I loved you,” she reiterated.
We interlaced our fingers. I smiled at her, and Gina freely laid her head on my shoulder. She soon fell asleep, and shortly thereafter, so did I. Neither of us woke up until our airplane landed at LAX.
Twenty-Two
JAMISON COX
On Friday night, I could hardly sleep. I tossed and turned, trying to think of a better way to fight my father’s plan to control the country through me. I had to admit, as far as tactics went, Boomer’s was brilliant. He would be the puppeteer dishing out favors, gaining power by having me on a string. And I could win an election. I had no doubt about that. However, my chances of a victory would increase tenfold if I could marry Bronwyn Henrietta Blackstone instead of Bree Lovell. But that was not why I finally got my ass out of bed and made a phone call, which was the hardest one I ever had to make.
I planned on leaving a message, but after a ring, Spencer Blackstone answered, saying, “Who’s this?”
I had called the number that was reserved for family and friends. It sounded as if he wasn’t too happy to see an unknown number.
“This is Jamison Cox.”
He fell quiet. “What do you want?”
I couldn’t let his tone make me hesitate. Every second counted. “I want to talk to you about my father and his plan to make me the president.”
I thought Spencer would laugh mockingly—I would have if I were him. But then I remembered that Spencer Blackstone never took anything lightly. As soon as I told him what I wanted to discuss, he believed the outcome was possible and was wondering what that meant for him and his family.
“I’m listening,” he said.
And I told him everything, starting with my weekend with the Lovells, skipping my days with his sister, and ending with my meeting at James Rally’s office, listing all the participants.
“Alice Templeton?” he said.
“She was there too.”
He snorted bitterly. “She never stops, does she?” He seemed to be asking himself that question. “With all of that said, why are you calling me, though?”
I kept my sigh of relief to myself. I’d been hoping he’d ask me that question. “You and I worked together. I think you know me better than Jasper does. You know it wasn’t me. None of it was. Your family will have a lot to worry about if my father is able to wield that kind of power, though.”
“You’ll be the president, not him. Unless…”
I gave Spencer a few seconds to put one and one together.
“What does he have on you?” Spencer asked.
“A couple of years ago, you read off names on a list at a fundraiser. Remember that?”
This time, when he snorted, I knew he was smirking proudly. “I remember it well. That was fun.”
“I could be tied to some of those transactions. I made them while blindly following Boomer’s orders and signing documents without paying close attention. He kept records of all of it.”
Spencer grunted thoughtfully. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
I shook my fist victoriously and, in a calm voice—not indicating how ecstatic I was to hear him ask that—I said, “Whatever you have in mind.”
When Spencer said he would be in Montecito alone that weekend so I could come up, I was slightly disappointed. I almost asked what had happened to Bryn being there, but I needed to focus. Also, I didn’t want to give any indication that I was capable of using my love for his sister as a bargaining chip. I missed the hell out of her, though. He did say that his wife was in Malibu with the kids. I put it all together and concluded that Spencer and Jada only had one kid, so more than one kid meant Jasper’s kids were with Jada in Malibu, and Bryn was with them too.
Spencer and I made a plan to meet at his estate at two o’clock Saturday afternoon. That gave me all Friday to figure out how to slip out of DC without Boomer’s knowledge. I’d already bought myself several burner phones after ditching the one that I used regularly. I walked it down to the hotel’s lost and found and paid the manager to have the attendants keep the device charged but allow all calls to go to voicemail for at least a week. After that, they could do whatever the hell they wanted with the mobile phone. I figured out that Boomer had tracked me to Vail through my device. I’d carried the thing while I was supposed to be hiding out, but I wouldn’t make that mistake twice.
I didn’t take our flight charter service either. Instead, I booked an economical flight to California, traveling on one of those cozy airplanes where passengers were stuffed into the cabin like sardines in a can. I flew into San Francisco, and instead of taking my car, I rented one at the airport and drove down to Santa Barbara. I spent the night at a quaint hotel in a small neighborhood. It had farm-style rooms with free breakfast on bone china. I knew Bryn would love the place, and as soon as we were back together again, I vowed to spend a few nights there with her. We would be back together again, even if I had to crawl back on my knees, begging for another chance.
At the Blackstone estate, I gave my name to the guard manning the gate. He scowled at me as if he already knew what I looked like and then let me through. They had more security than I remembered, and it made sense. They had a famous name and a kid to protect. I parked next to the curb of the circular driveway, directly in front of the stairs leading to the front entrance. I’d been trying to keep my nervousness at bay, but looking at the door made me tug at my collar, loosening it to feel cool air on my neck.
I stared at the front door, which was made of decorative iron surrounding frosted-glass panels. Once I walked inside, there’d be no turning back. My blood turned to stone. I would be taking a shot at my father. That went against everything Boomer had ever taught me. He was supposed to take the shots, and I was supposed to absorb the bullets.
I scrubbed my palms against my face. Then I took out my phone and made a call. I needed to hear her voice.
One ring.
Two rings.
Three rings.
“Hello,” Bryn sang in a lovely tone.
I closed my eyes and absorbed her second “Hello. Anyone there?” A woman said something, and Bryn answered, “It’s no one.” The line went dead.
After that, I was ready to go inside and prepare to slay the dragon.
The butler escorted me to a room with a view of mountains and ocean. I’d seen it before. I believed they called it the south-facing parlor. On the drive over, sitting in the car, I hadn’t noticed how perfect the sunlight was. The view and the soft instrumental music playing in the background put me at ease. While waiting, I ran through what I was ready to say to Spencer.
I couldn’t reveal too much without getting much back. If I was lucky, he’d be my brother-in-law one day. I knew Bryn Blackstone enough to know that no man got more than a second chance with her. There wasn’t a third. But I hadn’t said goodbye to her. We hadn’t broken up. As far as I was concerned, we were on hiatus.
“But you’re playing it wrong,” I whispered.
“Playing what wrong?” Spencer’s voice boomed from behind me.
I whipped myself around to face him. Then I jerked my head back. I was shocked by what he wore. He had on a pair of athletic pants and a gray Adidas T-shirt with running shoes. His hair was wet too. I wore a suit, the attire men put on when they were slated to have a serious business meeting.
I cleared my throat, wondering if he was prepared to take me seriously. “Love life,” I said with a sigh.
His grunt was merely a way to pass on any conversation regarding my love life, which was what I expected of him.
“Sorry I was late. I went for a run, and I had to shower before we sat down together. Hungry?” His tone was easy, as if we didn’t have difficult items to discuss.
I hadn’t eaten in roughly two days. The mention of food reminded me that I was starving. But I shoved my hands into my pockets, keeping it cool. “Sure.”
He pointed his head toward the way out. “This way, then.”
I followed Spencer Blackstone down the spacious terra-cotta-tiled hallway. I only noticed the warm tones because of how relaxed everything made me feel. Even Spencer himself had aided in taking the edge off.
“Other than the topic at hand, how have you been, Jamison?”
Small talk. “I’ve been well. And you?”
“I can’t complain. The foundation’s taking off in new directions. We have new ventures in every field.”
We walked into a sunroom, which had arched windows, two large open bay doors that allowed the ocean breeze to cool the room to the perfect temperature, and an attached patio showcasing a small round swimming pool with blue Mediterranean porcelain tile on the walls, floor, and around the edges.
Spencer directed me to sit at one of the two white porcelain place settings on a large farm-style table. I sat down opposite him. He graciously gave me the seat with the view. I took it as a good sign, but the gesture likely hadn’t meant much to Spencer. He wasn’t the type who was always thinking about hierarchies and power plays, which was why he would have made a terrible politician but a great leader.
As soon as our asses hit the chairs, a server wheeled in plates topped with stainless steel covers. “For lunch, you have filet mignon with wild mushroom and garlic sauce on top of garlic risotto and lemon-herb asparagus.”
“Thanks, Rick,” Spencer said.
“You’re welcome, Spencer.” Rick’s tone was a lot more casual than the one he’d used to announce the food.
Spencer picked up his knife and fork and started digging in. I did the same.
“I looked at what you emailed me and did some research…” Spencer snorted. “The way it stands, you’re screwed.”
Interesting he chose to start there. “I wouldn’t disagree.”
“I’m not surprised, though. Boomer would eat his young if it kept him from starving.”
I nodded resolutely. “He’d douse me with hot sauce for a lesser reason than that.”
Spencer snorted. “I’m sure he would.” He put down his utensils and sat back in his seat. The shrewd version of him was about to speak. “The best course of action I can take to make it all go away is lose all transactions. But that’ll put my ass on the line, since the Lovells are already being investigated by federal prosecutors. They’ve seen the evidence. They know I have it. But first, I want to ask, did you make those transactions?”
I sighed gravely. “I did.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “You followed Boomer’s orders without question.”
I sigh. “I did.”
He stared at me for several seconds. “Then you willfully dispersed the cash that the Lovells received from foreign entities who have US political interests?”
My lips fought the urge to answer. I checked over both shoulders and then around the room. Spencer remained composed while waiting for me to say something. One answer could sink me, and Spencer knew it.
Is he testing me? He had asked the sort of question a federal prosecutor would ask. If I answered in the affirmative, I would admit my guilt, which came with a lengthy prison sentence. My instincts warned me that I could be walking into a monumental setup, and that was what his casualness was all about—he wanted to knock me off my guard and then pounce. Maybe…
