“Benny, come on, man.” Jax's voice rang out from downstairs, startling me. His voice was something else.
I turned the corner at the top of the stairs, and my eyes found him. Clad in a black suit with a blue-collar poking out, Jax leaned against the railing, tapping his foot. Dark hair was styled and neat, and when my heeled foot touched the first step, he turned, and dark eyes almost had me tumbling down the stairs.
Jax.
Jesus H Christ. There had been just a fraction of a second before I realized the girl with the perfectly straight hair was Ella. My Ella. She came towards me, teeth chewing her bottom lip, and I couldn't take my damn fucking eyes off her. The dress hugging her body, her slender legs, her fierce blue eyes and that blue clip in her hair, the color damn near matched my suit perfectly, the Murdoch Blue we called it. She looked incredible. There wasn't a part of me that didn't want to devour her, worship her, love her the way she deserved to be. Every nerve in my body was alight and on fire for this woman.
“Ella, you look beautiful,” I said, fingers itching to reach out and touch her.
She smiled and looked at the floor. “Thank you. I hope -”
“Ahh, is everyone ready?” Vlad's voice interrupted. “Well, who knew my wife could look this nice for once?” He declared, grinning as he pushed me out the way to grab Ella's hand. He yanked her off the bottom step, and she went flying into his body. Just at that moment, Benny walked out straightening the blue tie I'd loaned him. If he was attending a Murdoch funeral, the least he could do was wear something blue.
“Ah, Benjamin. Doesn't my wife look a vision today? The dead deserve her looking so spectacular and not her husband. Who'd have thought it?” He continued to gush, holding Ella's arm in the air. Her face was fucking crimson, matching the fury he provoked in me.
Benny looked awkward. “Er, she sure is beautiful, sir.”
“Beautiful? Oh, my dear boy. Look.” Vladimir released her hand only to grip the hem of her dress, raising it to reveal the top of her stocking. “Delicious, sweet wife, aren't you?”
The tears were evident in her eyes, and I cleaned my throat, or I was going to put several rounds into his thick thinking skull.
“Sir, we need to get going if we're to beat traffic,” I said, my teeth clenched.
Ella looked at me, just the smallest gaze, and I could see the appreciation.
Vlad stopped what he was doing; the entrance to his home now silent. Too fucking silent. His black eyes looked at me, and then he moved, coming my way.
I'd half expected some clever-fuck retort. Instead, he put his hands on my shoulders and sighed. “Send my regards to your family, my boy.”
Nodding, not daring to speak, I diverted my gaze to Ella and Benny. “You ready?”
The three of us stepped into the sun where my truck was waiting, parked up amongst other vehicles that cost more than mine and my parents' put together. Vladimir stood at the door, stomach hanging out from under his shirt.
“Back before nine, alright? Don't make me come looking for you, Ella.” He called out as I opened the passenger door for her.
She paused and wiped away a tear, before looking up to smile at Vlad.
Once Benny and Ella were seated and buckled, I ran around to my side and wasted no time in starting the engine, hitting the control for the air-con, and I sped out of that place as fast as my truck would go.
I could almost taste the freedom. The air immediately seemed different once the gates to Vlad's gone were behind us. It felt as though I'd had a noose around my neck these past few weeks, getting tighter and tighter, and it was only now just loosening, allowing me to breathe again.
As the truck thundered down the dirt road, I stole a glance at my bird. Shed positioned herself away from me, legs leaning against the door, her eyes wide with wonder as the world around us changed from shrouded woodland to open roads. I wanted to ask her how she felt, if there was anything I could do, Christ only knew how she'd be feeling about the whole thing. She'd been locked up in that place for thirteen years, me? A few weeks and everything outside seemed different. What was it like for her?
“Jax, I'm sorry we have to tag along, mate. Just know, I won't step on anyone's toes, I'll give you all the privacy you need.” Benny's voice disturbs my thoughts, and I look at him in the rearview mirror.
“Thanks, man. Appreciate it.” I looked over to Ella, still as a statue. “You okay?”
She jumped a little, and then composed herself, flashing me a nervous smile. “I'm fine. Thank you.” I knew she wasn't. Her eyes were sad, and I wanted to reach over and comfort her somehow. Impossible with Benny in the background. Things at home were just getting underway, I couldn't fuck this up now.
And so, I switched on the radio, and we drove the hour's drive to my Pops' home, where soon enough, we'd be lowering my friend and her baby into the ground.
I wondered if Carter knew the truth yet. Of Amy and Vladimir. Hell, we still didn't know the entire story ourselves. I'd searched my brain for any logical explanation as to why Amy would want Vlad. And there was the ever-burning question of: how the hell did they even know each other? Women of Purgatory, especially those from either side, never met. My mother had never attended a function at Vlad's in all the years my father had worked for him. So many fucking questions.
And Amy would never be able to answer them.
For her voice had been silenced forever.
And yet, somehow, I knew we were only starting to peel back the layers of a much more complicated story.
Chapter Twenty Four
Ella.
There was an overwhelming tension in the truck the entire drive to Archibald Murdoch's house, and the shame Vlad made sure I left with still hung around my shoulders when we arrived. The man who'd destroyed my life had thrown me into the deep end, but not before tying weights to my ankles, and when I saw the crowds of people waiting outside the enormous detached house, I wanted the passenger seat to swallow me whole.
At the front door stood a beautiful woman, alongside Jax's father, even before the truck had pulled to a stop I recognized him from the auction. A young woman stood close by, too, and she had that jet black hair. She wore a black dress with a square neckline and deep blue shoes. As I looked around, it seemed most mourners were wearing something blue. I touched the clip in my hair and wondered if Marnie had known or it was just something she'd found.
Benny had been uncharacteristically quiet the entire drive, keeping his word to Jax, and the farther we had driven from The Mansion, the more I longed to be back there.
Jax was just pulling into a parking spot when a blond-haired man stepped from the house, in the breast pocket of his suit was a beautiful blue flower, and when he heard the gravel underneath the cars' tires, he looked up and straight towards Jax.
Jax switched the engine off and addressed Benny and me. “I don't know how this is gonna play out; I'll do my best to keep things cool, though.”
“Does your family know we're even here?” I asked panicked.
Jax nodded. “Yeah, they're fine. It's Carter I'm worried about.” Jax moved his gaze back out towards his friend and sighed. “Let's just get this over with, come on, bird.”
My eyes went wide, as did Benny's, and Jax's hand froze on the door handle as he realized his error in calling me bird. He mumbled under his breath before exiting the truck, and, feeling vulnerable without him, I hopped out quickly, and my ankle gave way, causing me to fall to the floor.