Jax left for Dallas a half hour ago. He tried to say goodbye, but I refused to speak to him. He stood outside my bedroom door and told me he was leaving. Then he asked that I tell Matthias he’ll call him tonight and wish him goodnight. My heart broke when I heard his footsteps walking away, but I can’t even look at him without seeing that image of him screwing Shannon in the barn.
Then there’s the photographs with Toni. He says they’re fake, but how do I know for sure? I thought I trusted him implicitly. How can that be rocked by so easily by some pictures? All I do know is I can’t sit around her feeling sorry for myself.
I take my car keys from the kitchen counter and start to walk down the hallway when my father’s voice stops me in my tracks. “Where the hell do you think you’re going, mija?”
I roll my eyes before I spin around and face him. “To see Toni Moretti.”
“Not on your own,” he says as he walks toward me. “Let’s go.”
“Papi, I can handle this,” I tell him, my hands on my hips.
He narrows his eyes at me. “I know that you can, but you are not leaving this house without a bodyguard, and I want to make sure that this isn’t going to cause problems with her brothers in Chicago.”
“So, you’re being my bodyguard for the afternoon? Is that it?”
He nods. He and Jax are the only members of our family who seem to be allowed to go anywhere without a security detail. I must speak to them about that when things are a little calmer. Surely I’ve proven myself capable of looking after myself now? “And we can take my car,” he says with a wink.
I arch an eyebrow at him, “The Bugatti?”
“Yes.”
“Can I drive?”
“No,” he shakes his head and then walks past me to the front door.
An hour later, my father and I are standing at the entrance to Toni’s private gym. Her trainer, Benji opens the door and his face breaks into a smile when he sees us.
“Hey, Mr. M. Hey, Rocky,” he says, winking at me.
“Is Toni in?” I ask.
“Of course.” He opens the door wider and we step inside and out of the bright LA sunshine.
Toni is at the back punching hell out of a bag. Sweat glistens over her skin and a fresh wave of shame washes over me. I have to tell her about the videos too, and my father is here.
“Can I speak to her alone first please, Papi?”
He sucks on his top lip, considering my request. “Fine. But I need to speak with her too. You got any decent coffee in here?” he asks Benji, who nods his agreement and then the two of them walk into the small kitchenette, leaving me watching Toni alone.
I let her finish her set before I interrupt her.
“Hey, Toni,” I say, my voice cracking with the nerves.
She spins around and faces me, her face lighting up in a smile.
“Hello, princess. To what do I owe this pleasure?” She looks behind me, no doubt looking for Jax. Looking for her accomplice?
“I wanted to show you something,” I say.
At the sound of voices, she looks over to the kitchen and frowns. “Your father’s here with you?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s going on?” she says and the change in her tone is instant.
“I told you I wanted to show you something.” I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and open the email with the images of her and Jax. I scroll to the one of them sucking each other’s faces and hand it to her.
The reaction on her face is of shock and disgust, and it seems genuine, unless she’s an amazing actress. Maybe she is?
She peers closer at the screen. “Is that supposed to be me and Jax?”
I flick to the next image, which is the two of them sitting in the same restaurant, but their faces are much clearer. “You tell me.”
“What the hell? Who? Where?” she snarls as she glares at me. “You know that’s not me, Lucia. Me and Jax. We’ve never… Where the hell did you get those?”
“Toni, please?” I beg her. “Is there something going on with you two?”
Her face softens a little. “No, Lucia. There is only one person in your relationship I have any interest in that way, and we both know who that is,” she whispers and my cheeks flush pink.
“But these pictures?”
“I don’t know what magic fuckery someone has pulled, but I’m telling you that is not Jax and me. Why the hell would someone want you to think that it was?”
“They were sent to me and my dad. I think the sender wanted us to doubt Jax. To think that you and he were trying to extort money from us. I dunno,” I shake my head. None of this makes any sense to me, and the one person who could make sense of it all is on the other side of the country.
“I don’t follow,” she says with a frown. “Extort money how?”
“That’s the other thing I need to tell you about,” I say as I pull the brown envelope from my purse and hand it to her. “Somebody took videos of us in Dallas.”
I watch Toni’s face as she flicks through the still images of her, Jax and me. I didn’t bring the other ones of just Jax and me. She doesn’t need to see those too. Her pretty features are pulled into a frown of disgust and anger. “Sick fucks,” she hisses. “How fucking dare they!”
“I-I’m sorry,” I mumble. “We had no idea anyone was watching.”
“I know,” she shakes her head. “I bet Jax is pissed? Is that why he’s not here? Is he currently tearing people apart as we speak?”
“It’s a long story,” I say with a sigh. “But my father saw them too.”
“Oh, Lucia,” she puts her gloved hand on my arm. “I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah. It was kind of awful. I mean…”
“I get it. Fuck!” she hisses. “So what did they want?”
Toni listens intently as I tell her about the demand for money and how we paid it. “Jax is hoping to find the source of the videos so they never see the light of day,” I finish.
“He will,” she gives me a reassuring nod. “That’s kind of his thing, right?”
“Yeah. So, I’ll let you know if they make any more threats or if the video is leaked anywhere,” I say awkwardly, not sure what the correct etiquette is for such situations. “And I’m sorry, Toni.”
“Hey, it’s not on you to apologize. I hope you find who did this and that your husband and father deal with them in their own special way, but don’t worry about me. I don’t give a rat’s ass who sees me eating a hot girl’s pussy. Okay?” She winks at me.
“Okay,” I can’t help but laugh at her. She is both the one of the most laid back, and at the same time, aggressive, people I know.
“Hey. Is that why you’ve brought your father? Were you two planning on stuffing me into the trunk of his car or something?” She arches one eyebrow at me and grins, but I know she’s only half joking.
“No, he brought the Bugatti anyway. Not sure you’d fit.”
She nods her agreement just as my father is making his way over to us. “You two all done?” he asks with a smile.
“Yeah,” I say.
“Good. Can I have a word?” he says to her, and suddenly he’s all business. The atmosphere in the small gym changes in an instant.
She narrows her eyes at him. Toni Moretti is nobody’s fool.
“Is this going to be a problem, Toni?” he asks.
“Not for me,” she replies coolly.
“And for Dante and Lorenzo?”
“You know I’ve never lived my life by their rules. They won’t be overly happy if it gets out,” she admits. “Lorenzo won’t be a problem because he still hates me, but Dante might try and do the whole protective big brother thing.”
“And if he does?”
“I assure you it will be the man, or woman, behind the camera who will incur his wrath. Besides, I would never allow anyone to hurt Lucia or your family. You know that.”
“Hmm,” he rubs a hand over his jaw. “You know I needed to make sure that was still the case.”
“I understand, and it is. I owe Alana my life. I’ll never forget that.”
I look between her and my father. This is a new development I had no idea about.
“You have my assurances Jax and me will do everything in our power to destroy those videos and whoever took them,” he says.
I smile at him. Something about the way he talks about him and Jax as though they’re still a team gives me hope. An unexpected sob gets stuck in my throat as I think about my husband. Alone in Dallas, thinking that everyone he loves is against him. What a huge cluster fuck this has all turned into.
“Please, can I drive home?” I ask my father as we reach his Bugatti Veyron.
“Nope. Nobody drives the Bugatti.”
“Mom does,” I remind him.
“Very occasionally, and only when she…” he grins wickedly and shakes his head. “Well, you don’t need to know that, mija.”
“Eurgh.” I pull a face, feigning my disgust. “Fine. I won’t ask again.”
I climb into the passenger seat and try not to think about why he allows my mom to drove his pride and joy sometimes. “So, Toni and mom?” I ask instead, trying to change the subject.
“Yeah?” he replies with a frown.
“Toni said that mom saved her life.”
“Hmm,” he says with a nod.
“Are you going to tell me how?”
“It’s not my story to tell, mija, or your mama’s. You should ask Toni.”
“Well, now you have me even more intrigued. Come on, Papi, how did the sweetest woman I know save Toni Moretti’s life?”
He turns in his seat and frowns at me. “Your mom might be sweet, Lucia, but she is the strongest person you will ever meet.”
“I know that too. It’s just, Toni is so…” I shake my head.
“Strong?” he offers.
“Yeah. Super strong. Like she’s invincible.”
“Nobody is invincible, mija,” he says with a sigh. “And even the strongest of us need someone who will be there to pick us up when we fall. Your mom is the kind of person who sees things that other people don’t. And when she knows that somebody is in trouble, she will do whatever it takes to help them. As much as that irritates the hell out of me, it’s also who she is, and why I love her.”
I can’t help but smile at him. My parents are so very different in lots of ways. My father is ruthless, stubborn, tough and impulsive. He acts first and asks questions later. My mom is kind, compassionate, always willing to see the best in people, she is tough in a different way to him. But they are always a team. Together – they are invincible.
I thought that was Jax and me too. I wonder what he’s doing right now.
“He’ll find out what’s going on, mija,” my father says as though reading my mind. “It’s what he does.”
“I shouldn’t have let him go alone,” I whisper.
“Yes, you should. He needs to do this with no distractions. He would only worry about having to keep you safe if you were there,” he says matter of factly.
I turn back to the window, wondering if my father is right. Jax does need to focus, but I’m pretty sure he needs me and Matthias too.
I sit at the large dining table, picking over the lasagna that Magda warmed through for me for dinner and feeling like my world has imploded.
How is it that less than two weeks ago I was getting married to the man of my dreams and so insanely happy that I couldn’t stop smiling? Now my new husband is on the other side of the country alone. My father hates him and he can hardly bear to even look me in the eye. Not to mention that I’m potentially about to have the whole world see pictures of me naked and even worse, having my pussy eaten by Toni Moretti.
Jax swears he won’t let that happen but how will he stop it when he’s in Dallas trying to find out who tried to murder his father?
I swallow the lump in my throat. I’ve wasted too many tears already on this whole sorry mess.
I close my eyes and will myself not to cry when I feel a soft hand smoothing over my hair. “Are you okay, sweetheart?” my mom asks and that’s my undoing.
I turn in my seat and bury my face against her. “No, Mom,” I sob.
“It will all be okay,” she soothes as she goes on smoothing my hair.
I cling to her and she lets me cry until my eyes and throat are raw and I have no more tears left. I pull back from her and wipe my wet cheeks with the backs of my hands. “Sorry,” I whisper.
“Lucia!” my mom scolds me as she sits beside me, brushing away a stray tear with her fingertips. “Stop apologizing for everything. You are entitled to a few tears.”
“What am I going to do, Mom?” I sniff.
“What do you want to do, sweetheart?”
“I just want this to all go away. I want to go back in time and never let anyone have a chance to take those stupid videos. I want Papi to be able to look at me again and not see… that!”
“He will,” she insists.
“No,” I shake my head. “He’s so ashamed of me.”
“He is not ashamed of you. Not even a little bit.”
“But he saw…” I shake my head as it starts to spin.
“Yes, he saw something no father wants to see, but you weren’t doing anything wrong, Lucia. The person who took those videos is the only person at fault here. Not you. Not Jax.” She reaches out and takes my hand in hers. Her skin is so soft and warm. How is it that she always feels like home to me?
“But he was so mad at Jax. What if they can’t get past this?”
She waves her hand dismissively. “You know how he gets. He’s angry and he’s upset. He won’t take that out on you because you are his little girl, and I would give him hell if he did.” She gives me a wicked grin and despite everything, I laugh. “So he took it out on Jax, but they will both shake hands when this is all over, and they’ll go back to being the best of friends again. I promise you.”
“You think?” I sniff.
“I know.”
“What would you do if you were me, Mom? Go to Dallas or stay here and help Papi?”
She takes in a breath and then she smiles at me. “The same thing you would do, sweetheart. Be with my family.”
