It was the place I saw Vera for the first time.
It was the place where Joseph abused me.
It was the place I found my mother’s dead body.
“Jack?” I called out. “Where are you?” I took a few steps into the living room, my eyes trained on every inch I could see as I waited for someone to answer. “Jack!”
A small hand wrapped around my forearm, jerking me around. I spun to face who’d grabbed me. I was on a warpath. Getting that call from Vera had flipped me upside down. Why was she with Jack? What kind of fucked up arrangement did they have?
And why did I feel betrayed?
I needed to push her away, but first, I’d make sure she was okay.
But I couldn’t do any of those things, because it wasn’t Vera who grabbed me. It was her mother, Lilah. “Where is Vera?” I asked, my voice a growl.
“Away from here,” she hissed before dragging me down the hall and away from the living room. She was so tiny, her grip so weak, but I allowed her to pull me away because I had a ton of fucking questions. I didn’t like Lilah, and after witnessing firsthand how narcissistic she was toward her daughter, I didn’t feel bad for hating the bitch.
“Where is Vera?” I asked again once we were in the hallway. I pulled out of her grip and took in the bags under her eyes and her hollowed cheeks. Why did she look so frail? Was that what I looked like every time Joseph had beaten the shit out of me?
“At her apartment, hopefully,” she whispered while looking around, as if her husband would jump out of the shadows and attack her at any moment. Seeing Lilah so scared, so fragile, just emboldened my resolve to save Vera. I couldn’t imagine seeing my girl as broken as her mother. I just had to do this delicately.
“Why are you acting shady as fuck right now?” I asked. I didn’t have time to play her games.
“Because I overheard your little call last night,” she spat in a low whisper. “I heard what you said to my daughter, you bastard.”
I should have been ashamed, but I didn’t give a fuck. I did what I had to do. Vera needed to move on. It was for her own good, even if it was the most fucking painful thing I’d ever done.
“What do you care?” I asked.
“I overheard Jack saying something about a deal they made to keep me safe. I don’t like it.”
That caught my attention. “What kind of deal?”
“I don’t know, but Jack is up to something, okay? Maybe if you talk to him and end this, I can go back to my husband and Vera can be left alone. You don’t want my daughter bothering you. I don’t want her interfering in my marriage. Maybe if you figure out what Jack wants…”
My shoulders dropped. Of fucking course, she was only worried about herself and Joseph. “You don’t care about your daughter, you just want to go back to DC,” I said while looking her up and down.
“My daughter just doesn’t understand…”
“I think she understands more than you know,” I snapped.
Lilah’s eyes widened. “I’ll do anything, you know,” she said before placing a hand on my chest. Her eyes became hooded with lust, and I nearly puked all over her. It was obvious just what she was insinuating. Bitch.
“Yeah, if I don’t wanna fuck your daughter, I sure as fuck don’t wanna fuck you. Back off.” I moved out of her reach and considered my options.
“Hamilton? What are you doing here?” Jack interrupted. Lilah and I both spun around to face him, my stomach dropping at the sight of my father in a suit with his arms crossed over his chest. “The front guards said you’d arrived. I wasn’t expecting to find you chatting with your sister-in-law. I was under the impression that the two of you didn’t get along.”
“We have a common interest,” I growled.
“I assume you’re talking about Vera, yes? She is lovely. I was thinking of ordering dinner. Should we invite her over?”
“Absolutely not. What’s going on?” No wasting time, no dancing around the truth with games and bullshit.
Jack looked at me, then at Lilah. I didn’t care about her. I didn’t give two fucks that she wanted to go back to her husband and pretend like she wasn’t getting the shit beat out of her. I was done with the games. I was exhausted and wanted to hop back on my bike and go to wherever Vera was. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said.
“What agreement do you have with Vera?” I asked, making my father smile.
“So you do care about her,” he replied.
“I don’t want anyone making deals involving me.”
“Let’s sit down and chat, shall we? I think all of this is a misunderstanding.”
I took a step closer to my father. “I think you’re the one misunderstanding. I want answers, now. I don’t appreciate you using Vera to get to me.”
Jack frowned. “Fine. Let’s talk. I actually have a proposition for you.”
“Unless that proposition involves shoving a boot up my brother’s ass and leaving this family for good, I’m not interested.” I crossed my arms over my chest, feigning cool indifference.
Jack’s lip twitched. “It involves your brother and protecting Vera,” he said easily. I should have known this was coming. All this time, we worried that the Beauregard reputation was the biggest threat to a relationship between us. I never imagined that Jack would use Vera to get whatever he wanted from me. And that was the fucked-up part about all of this: I would do anything. Anyfuckingthing. I would sell my soul to the devil and sit alongside Jack if it meant keeping her safe.
“Let’s talk,” I agreed.
Jack didn’t smile, but I saw how his eyes danced playfully; he was like a card shark with a superior hand. “If you’ll excuse us, Lilah. This is a private conversation.”
Lilah licked her lips before meekly nodding and walking away. Coward. If someone was fucking with my daughter, I’d do everything in my power to protect her. Lilah didn’t deserve Vera.
I followed my father into his study. Jack found his recliner and a glass of whiskey. I leaned against the wall, eager to flee.
“Aren’t you supposed to be on the rig?” Jack asked, opening up the conversation. It pissed me off that he knew my work schedule. “I’m assuming you no longer work there?”
“Don’t bother making assumptions about my life. What do you want?”
“I was hoping we could have a pleasant conversation, but it seems you’re eager to cut to the chase. I want you to work at Beauregard Industries. We have a unique cash flow problem I need investigated, but I don’t necessarily trust anyone outside of this room to look into it.”
Figures. Looking into cash flow problems was just a polite way of saying there were possibly some illegal activities. “What kind of problem?”
“A laundering problem.”
“You’re laundering money?” I asked. It seemed on brand. My father was corrupt. The only reason he got into politics was to create laws that made it easier for him to make more money.
“No. Of course not. But I think Joseph is.”
I rolled my eyes. “I doubt you have nothing to do with this. But I’ll play along. How do you figure?”
“You of all people know what he’s capable of. This could be very bad.”