I keep glancing at the door, anxious to see Jax and my father walking through it. I know that they are more than capable of handling a few thugs on their own, but what if this is a trap? Someone went to a whole heap of trouble to set Jax up. Who the hell is behind it? Because while I have an uneasy feeling about Ed and Shannon, it feels bigger than them.
“Would you like another tea, sweetheart?” my mom asks, snapping me from my thoughts.
I know that she’s worried about them too, but she hides it much better than I do. I suppose she’d had a lot more practice. She’s only eight years older than me, and most of the time she feels like my best friend. But it’s times like now, when I’m worried and anxious and it feels like the world is against me, that she is every bit my mom.
“Yes please. How are you doing looking into Ed?” I ask.
She walks to the counter and fills the old fashioned copper kettle before placing it on the stove. “Okay, I guess, but he’s not the easiest guy to track down. I think he may have used a different name at one time. I’m sure Jax would have more success,” she says with a soft sigh.
“Hmm,” I say, chewing on my thumbnail.
“He’ll be back soon,” she says with a reassuring smile.
“How do you know that though, Mom? How do you do this all the time and not go out of your mind with worry?” I ask her.
I work with Jax and my father and I realize it’s so much easier when I’m with them, because I know they’re safe, and I’m too focused on the task in hand. Which also makes me realize that most of the time, my mom has to worry about me too.
“An unshakeable belief that your father is made of titanium and he would never let anything happen to the people he loves,” she says with a shrug. “It’s the only way.”
She turns back to the stove and I feel a pang of guilt for all the times I’ve made her worry. My father might be the toughest man I know, but she is the strongest person I have ever met. He is the King of LA, but there is no doubt he wouldn’t be the man he is without his queen.
“Hey, Molly and Hugo have been gone a while,” I say, trying to take my mind off where Jax and my father are.
“Hmm, they have, haven’t they?” and there is an amusement in her tone that makes me roll my eyes.
“Mom?”
She spins on her heel and faces me. “What?” she asks innocently.
I narrow my eyes at her. “Are you matchmaking?”
“No,” she protests. “They just seem to get along really well is all.”
“She’s fourteen years older than he is,” I remind her.
“Lucia Montoya!” she says, her mouth open in horror. “And how many years older than you is your husband?”
“Sixteen,” I whisper, “but it’s different for guys.”
“Yeah, but it shouldn’t be.”
“I know you’re right,” I admit. Double standards when it comes to dating and sex really tick me off, but Molly and Hugo have so many differences. He’s become a part of our family and I wouldn’t want him to get hurt again.
“Kelsey will never forgive you if you set him up with Molly and he falls in love. I mean I know she broke his heart, but still…”
“I am not setting them up. Jeez,” she says with a shake of her head. “They’re only talking to the boys down at the bunk house.”
“Hmm,” I say, my eyes narrowed in suspicion.
The sound of voices in the hallway makes both of us look to the door. A few seconds later, Jax and my father walk through it and I breathe a sigh of relief. They both appear unharmed.
I wrinkle my nose. “You smell of fire?”
“Oh, that will be from the bonfire,” my father says.
“The bonfire?”
“Oh, it wasn’t ours,” Jax says as he walks toward me. “But it did come in pretty useful.” He slips his arm around my waist and kisses me softly. “I’ll go take a shower soon. How about you join me?”
“As fun as that sounds, we have more important things to focus on right now,” I remind him and take a step back. “Did you find anything?” I ask loudly, but my father is distracted kissing my mom. It’s not a peck on the cheek either and I roll my eyes.
“You two need some privacy here?” Jax says and they stop and look back at us.
“Just saying hello to my wife, amigo,” my father says with a grin.
“Yes, we did find something. The guys who beat my dad up were paid by someone. They never met him and everything was done over the phone, but they did give us a contact number. They said he only responds to text messages, so we took their phone and sent him a text.”
“What if they give him the heads up?” my mom asks.
“They won’t,” my father says matter of factly.
“You sure?”
He narrows his eyes at me. “One hundred percent, mija.”
“Oh,” I whisper. I suppose beating Harvey up like that and trying to frame Jax for it was only going to end one way for the people responsible.
“What about you two? Find anything on Ed?” Jax asks.
“A little,” my mom says with a frown. “But nothing out of the ordinary. I couldn’t access his bank records or anything like that. You or Alejandro would need to do that.”
“Okay,” he nods.
“But you found out something?” my father asks.
“Yes. He moved here from Idaho, but he was only there about six months.”
“And before that?” Jax asks.
“Virginia,” she says. “Seems like he lived there for all of his life, except for college.”
Jax frowns. “Virginia?”
“Yes. Does that mean something to you?”
“Only been to Virginia once in my life, but I wouldn’t forget it,” he says, sharing a look with my father that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
“No way,” my father frowns at him before he walks over the open laptop. “Where did he go to college?”
“Columbia.”
“What did he do in Virginia, Alana? Was he a veterinarian?” Jax asks.
“Yes,” she nods. “And he was also the deputy coroner.”
“The vet was the deputy coroner?” I ask.
“Yes. As long as they’ve done the required training, anyone can be a coroner in most states. I suppose as long as you know your way around cutting bodies open, it would make sense?” Jax replies and then he looks at my father again who glares at him.
“It can’t be that, Jax.”
“He was the deputy coroner, Alejandro. He went to Columbia just like the coroner did. They’re around the same age. They worked together. I guarantee he helped him cover the whole thing up.”
“Cover what up?” my mom and I say at the same time.
My father looks at my mom and opens his mouth to speak but for once he seems lost for words. “Princess, I…” is all he says.
“Alex! Jax! What is going on?” She looks between them both.
“I think you should sit down,” Jax says to her.
I frown at him now. What the hell is happening here?
“I don’t want to sit down until one of you tell me what the hell you’re talking about and why you’re both looking at me like that.”
“Alana!” my father barks and she glares at him. But then she sits at the kitchen table and my father, Jax and I follow suit.
Once we’re all seated, my mom clasps her hands in front of her, her knuckles white as she tries to keep a lid on her emotions. I don’t feel much less anxious myself. Clearly something is going on here that involves her somehow. My father looks particularly nervous.
Oh, God. What has he done? What could be so bad that he doesn’t want her to know? She knows everything about him. He keeps nothing from her. At least that was what I always thought — and I know that she did too.
“So?” she asks as her eyes burn into his so fiercely, he could well burst into flames any second.
“You remember that night at the restaurant back in LA, not long after we were married, when that guy put a gun in your face?”
“Yes,” she whispers.
“His name was Layton Cooper.”
“I remember. He said that it was for my father. For something he did.”
“It was,” my father swallows. Wow! I have never seen him looking so uncomfortable.
“You said it was just some guy with a grudge and that you didn’t know what he’d done?” she says accusingly.
“I lied, princess.”
She stares at him, waiting for him to explain himself.
He licks his lips and then he carries on speaking. “Layton Cooper had a daughter named, Bethany. She was sixteen years old and pregnant when she allegedly killed herself. The coroner ruled it as a suicide but Layton believed she was murdered. She told everybody the baby’s father was her high school boyfriend, but it wasn’t.”
“Who was the baby’s father?” she asks as her face turns pale. Because we both know the answer.
“Your father,” he says.
She blinks at him as tears form in her eyes. “No,” she whispers.
“After Layton told me his suspicions, I had Jax go to Virginia and look into it, and he verified everything Layton said, including the coroner helping your father to cover up her murder. I’m sorry, princess.”
My mom looks at Jax. “You’re sure it was true? You had proof of this?”
“Yes, Alana. She met your father when Cooper’s construction company was doing work on your father’s lake house.”
“I remember that house,” she whispers.
“She used to go to work with him sometimes,” Jax says.
Alan’s hand flies to her mouth. “Oh, God. I remember her too. I met her. She wanted to go into politics and I told her to choose another career if she wanted a life,” she sniffs as a tear runs down her cheek. “But they were never alone there. I was there the entire time. And my mom.”
“No. It seemed they slept together when she was on a school trip to New York. She was only fifteen,” Jax replies.
“Sicko,” I snap, forgetting that I’m talking about my mom’s dad. I clamp a hand over my mouth.
“That poor girl,” she breathes. “Why did he? I mean he could have paid her off. Wasn’t that his thing? Buying and selling people was his deal. Not killing them?”
“Alana,” My father says softly, reaching for her hand but she snatches it away.
“I can’t believe it,” she shakes her head and then glares at Jax and my father. “You must have missed something.”
“I didn’t, Alana,” Jax insists, and I know he’s right. He’s a bloodhound when he goes after someone.
“You can’t believe it of a man who would sell his only daughter to a monster? For a mere three million dollars?” my father snaps.
“Why did you lie to me?”
“Because I didn’t want you to be burdened with what he did. I knew how much this would hurt you.”
Her face turns a deep shade of pink. “You don’t get to decide what truths I get to know. I decide that.” She bangs her fist on the table. “You had no right to keep this from me. She was having a baby, Alex,” she shakes her head and then drops it into her hands.
“Shall we go?” I whisper to Jax.
“No,” my father says. “Your mom and I will deal with this later, but right now, we need to find Ed.”
He pushes back his chair and walks around the table to her. Dropping to his knees beside her, he takes her hands in his. “I’m sorry, princesa,” he whispers. “I should have told you.”
She turns her body slightly and he wraps his arms around her, pulling her close to him until she’s sobbing on his shoulder. He whispers something in her ear and a few moments later, she stops crying. She sits up straight and wipes the tears from her eyes. “Sorry,” she mouths to me.
“Don’t be,” I say, reaching over the table, I squeeze her hand in mine.
“So, is this all about revenge for Ed then? Because you found out what his friend did?” my mom says as she regains her composure. I sense my father is not entirely forgiven, but like he said, they’ll deal with it later.
“Seems a little extreme,” I say.
“Yeah,” my father nods his agreement. “But the Virginia connection is no coincidence.”
“But what has this been about all along?” Jax says as his jaw ticks and I can almost see the synapses in his brain firing. “Not revenge. Not obsession. Not jealousy.” He looks at my father. “You told Foster Carmichael that three million dollars was way too small a price to pay for his daughter. You remember that?”
“Yes,” he replies, his face pulled into a scowl.
“So how much are you willing to pay to protect your own daughter, amigo? Five million?”
“Fucking hijo de puta,” my father snarls.
It takes a second, but the shock quickly ripples around the room. “You really think he is behind all of this?” my mom asks.
“It makes sense. He’s been struggling financially since he lost the backing of Montoya Inc. He has Ed in his pocket already. He hates Alejandro for stealing you away from him. He hates me for uncovering his secret. He hates that you chose your new family over him. But we’re all just pawns in his game. Collateral damage. He loves one thing above all else, Alana…”
“Money,” she says, closing her eyes,
“It’s always about the money,” I whisper, wishing I could take away some of the guilt and pain that is written all over my mom’s face. We are not responsible for the actions of our parents.
Jax wraps an arm around me. “It makes the world go round, baby.”
The sound of a text message interrupts the silence and Jax pulls an old cell phone from his jeans pocket. He sucks in a breath.
“It’s him,” he says to my father.
“Ed?” I ask.
“I think so.”
“Do you think Shannon was in on this too?”
“I doubt it,” he says with a shake of his head. “He must have taken those photos of me and her before they even got together and hung onto them. I don’t think she’d have allowed him to keep them. Besides, she always kind of had a soft spot for my dad. I don’t see her agreeing to go along with paying four guys to beat him up.”
“No,” I reluctantly agree. The few times I’ve spoken to her, she’s seemed nice and genuinely happy for Jax and me.
“He’s asked to meet on the diner on the edge of town,” Jax says, slipping the cell phone back into his pocket.
“So, let’s go,” I say about to stand up.
My father catches my eye and I sit down again. “I’m going with you to meet him,” I insist. “He…” I swallow hard. I hate thinking about what he did and the shame and guilt still eats away at me. “I am not sitting this one out.”
“No-one expects you too, mija?” my father says.
“You don’t?” I sit up straighter in my seat.
“If he is the man who took those videos of you, then it only seems fair you get to look him in the eye when you make him pay for it. You go with Jax.”
He’s right, and I love him for it, but I also suspect he doesn’t want to leave my mom right now. I feel a little deflated. I was expecting much more of an argument with him and my husband about it.
“Okay, baby?” Jax asks, his face full of concern.
“Yes. I agree, obviously. I’m just surprised you two are letting me do this, is all.” I look at Jax now. “You’ve both been kind of uber protective lately.”
“Only because we love you so much.”
“You’ll look after her, Jax?” my mom says.
He arches an eyebrow at her in response.
Meanwhile my father laughs softly. “Better than anyone I know,” he says and Jax winks at him.
And now I know that whatever struggles they’ve been having are done with. I suppose killing some guys with your best buddy isn’t everyone’s idea of male bonding, but it sure works for these two.
