Pointe of Breaking (25 page)

Leo shouldn’t have disobeyed the order!

Douglas placed his hand on Blake’s shoulder. My ex didn’t take kindly to the gesture at all and batted him away. Someone was going to walk out with a black eye if these two didn’t calm down. Blake clenched his hand into a fist like he was going to do something rather stupid. I wasted no time making my way up to them.

“Control yourself, Rossi,” Douglas said smoothly. “You instigated this fight the moment you called the IRS.”

“This shit-storm was started by your fucking son.”

“This lover’s quarrel you two have over a girl is rather unbecoming, Rossi. However, prompting a public investigation proves that you don’t know the first thing about business investments.”

Blake snorted, “And why’s that old man?”

“That if you are going to run in our circles, you need to know exactly how to take down your enemy.” Douglas glanced at me as I approached them. He gave me a curt nod and then left.

Blake turned his angry gaze on me. Disdain reserved for the most nefarious individuals was the glare Blake shot me.

“What do you want?” he asked like I was a complete waste of time.

“Just give me a second. You owe me that.”

He barked out a laugh. “
I
owe
you
nothing.”

I rolled my eyes. “Perhaps my debt would best be discussed privately, in my dressing room?”

“Fine, but my
wife
is waiting for me so it must be quick.”

Inside my dressing room, I closed the door behind us. I kept my hands behind my back and gripped the door handle. All the strength I had a few moments ago had been sucked out when Blake frowned at my costumes and makeup like I was just a girl playing dress up. He picked up a bottle of body glitter and eyed me over, appreciating its shimmer on my body.

“Why are you doing this to the Richards?” I asked, clinging to the door handle. “Why attack them? Why not me?”

He laughed and picked up my red lip stick. He twisted it and then glanced at my lips. I shuddered. Thinking about the last kiss we’d shared—just before he put his wedding band back on—it made me ill.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Blake sneered. “God, if you were just a little smarter, I
maybe
could have actually married you.”

Oh, he still thought that I was hanging onto the blissful possibility that I wanted to be his what? Mistress? I let go of the door handle, walked up to him, snatched my lipstick out of his hand. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He scoffed, crossed his arms and stared down at me like I didn’t have the mental capacity to follow his train of thought. “If I wanted to ruin you, I could in a second.”

“Fine!” I yelled. “Ruin me. Strip away my reputation. Take back the money you gave me. It was the biggest mistake I’d ever made. Just keep this feud between you and me.”

“Oh, this is so much bigger than
us
now.”

I rolled my eyes, gathered my strength, set down my lipstick, and stood on pointe. We were nearly eye to eye. And I was
not
going to let him look down on me anymore.

“There is no
us,”
I snarled. “So why are you so bent-out-of-shape that Leo and I are together?”

He walked around me and looked into my mirror. He fiddled with a misbehaving strand of hair. “Why don’t you ask him?”

That wasn’t what I was expecting. I’d readied myself for any lie that he told, but the truth left me unprepared. I asked, “What?”

Blake’s eye twitched. “Has pretty boy not mentioned that he knows exactly why I would have a problem with you and him together?”

I shifted uneasily. “Leo doesn’t lie to me.”

He stopped fixing his tie and walked up to me. He carried a murderous smile that expanded up to his immoral gaze. “He doesn’t tell you the truth either, my dear fucking-stupid-Adeline. And if you think that you can trust him, you’re dead wrong.”

I wanted to call him out. I wanted to yell that he was lying, but I knew Blake well enough to know when he was speaking the truth. My resolve cracked.

“I assure you that he is to be trusted just as much as the whole Richards family,” Blake stated like it was a fact. “The IRS will see that they will be penalized severely for their bad business methods. It is rather coincidental that you are fucking the son of Douglas Richards. It only made it easier for me to convince my father to make that call to the IRS.”

“Why would your father care?”

“Because the Richards have been a menace to…people of our breeding. They need to be taken care of before they destroy everything.” He rubbed the scar on his hand. His eye twitched again. “And because the added benefit of disposing of them is that you will be dragged down with them.”

I pushed away from him. “What are you talking about?”

“Focal Pointe is one of the Richards’ highest paying clients. It would certainly be plausible that Richards & Brown’s bad business dealings trickled through to their clients. So, if R&B goes down, they are going to take Focal Pointe with them.”

“Just fucking destroy
me
, you manipulating bastard!”

“Oh it’s much more satisfying when I can take out your entire world.” Blake walked over to the door and opened it.

I raced over to it and slammed it shut using my body. He would not get away with this! I would not let him! I could play dirty, just like him. “I’ll tell your wife, your family. I’ll make sure everyone knows what a cheating, lying bastard you are!”

He brought back his fist and crushed it into the door right beside my head. I cried out. He was going to hurt me. He wanted to hurt me. I could see it in his emerald eyes. My heart was beating so hard, I barely heard him speak.

“My family’s lawyers will
bury
you, Adeline,” he said so quietly that his vengeful promise stabbed at my soul. “If you publicize
anything
we’ve said or have done, I’ll ruin you; your poor Chicago family who’s given up every measly cent for your pathetic dream. You’ll end up living on the streets like your sister. I’ll ensure that Ivan never dances again. I’ll destroy everyone you love.”

There was a knock at my door. “You okay, Addy girl?”

Blake never took his eyes off of me. He whispered, “Tell him you’re fine.”

“I’m…I’m fine, Ivan.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry out. I wanted to stand up to this horrible shell of a man who wanted to destroy everyone I loved. Ivan was one of those people.

Blake traced his finger down my cheek. “Good girl. Now tell him that you’ll meet up with him in a bit.”

Mustering a shred of courage, I choked, “Ivan, can you please escort Mr. Rossi out?”

Blake snarled, “Big mistake.”

I opened the door. Ivan took one look at me and his fists tightened at his sides.

Blake strolled out, not waiting for Ivan’s escort. I clung to the door handle, shaking with rage, self-doubt, and the most damning—helplessness.

Relief blanketed me as I saw Adeline and Ivan come around the corner toward her apartment building. It was dark out and the streetlights cast this euphoric glow around her that made my heart clench with longing. Even after reconnecting with her, I still couldn’t believe she was mine. We’d spent every night together in her apartment since that day at her practice studio, and I still couldn’t stand to be away from her.

But Chase was right. I had to show my brothers that I wasn’t ashamed of Adeline. I wasn’t ashamed of what we had together. And I certainly wasn’t ashamed of how utterly and fucking completely in love I was with her.

Her long brown hair was loose down her back. She was dressed in a simple cotton dress that clung perfect to her petite breasts. Her signature denim jacket and dance duffle bag were slung over her shoulder. My heart swelled at the familiarity I had knowing her daily routine. I hated that I had to miss her performance tonight, but I needed to talk to Chase.

I’d been sitting on her concrete steps for the past hour, thinking about my plan with the Gold. I felt like if I could succeed with this plan, it could also get Adeline out of her situation with Blake. It was finally time for me to tell her everything.

I hated keeping the Gold a secret from Adeline. But it had been drilled into us since initiation. It was our most resolute rule, but I was finally past all of that now. I knew she’d be pissed, but I hoped when I told her about what I had in mind to fix it all that she’d forgive me.

“Hey,” I said when they were close enough to hear me.

Ivan offered me a polite smile just as Adeline’s head snapped up like she had no idea I had been sitting there. She paused at the bottom of the steps, hitching her bag up over her shoulder. Ivan stopped with her and looked over at her with concern.

“Hey,” she replied finally, looking away.

“How was your show?” I asked, furrowing my brow and wondering why she wasn’t approaching me for a welcome home hug.

“Good.” She nodded, fidgeting on her toes.

“Addy girl was great as always,” Ivan looked between the two of us awkwardly. “Well, I’m beat. Night guys.”

He kissed Adeline chastely on the head and offered me a half smile as he passed me on the steps.

“What’s going on?” I asked, nervous by her obvious mood shift. Something must have happened tonight for her demeanor to be so different. “You look as if you have the world resting on your shoulders.”

She sighed heavily and combed her fingers through her hair. “Nothing.” She placed her hand on her hip and cocked her head at me in challenge. It was a snotty and impatient stance, and it pissed me the fuck off.

“Doesn’t look like nothing,” I said, standing and descending the six concrete steps so we were on the same level.

She threw me a fake as shit, forced smile. It stung. It literally stung my heart. It was so unlike her.

“Did you forget my rule?” I grabbed her hand and kissed each one of her fingertips. Whatever was going on, I needed to melt this iciness off of her.

Her eyes closed and she pursed her lush lips together as if she was in pain. Her hand trembled.

“Tell me baby,” I murmured against her palm.

“Maybe you should tell me?” she snapped. Her tiny nostrils flared as she jerked her hand out of my mine.

It was like she slapped me. I froze; my hands still exactly where she left them. “Tell you what exactly?”

“Your rule is that I can’t keep secrets from you. Does that mean you get to keep secrets from me?” Her eyes flashed with anger.

This wrath she was radiating stunned me. It came out of nowhere, and I wasn’t sure what had gotten into her. “Baby, I want to tell you all my secrets. But why don’t we start with what has you so upset right now. I want to help.”

“I don’t want your help, okay?” She turned away and hugged herself, tension radiating all around her.

“What the fuck, Adeline?”

“What the fuck, Leo?” she mocked back at me.

“Mind filling me in on what the hell has brought on this change of attitude?” I asked, stuffing my hands into my pockets and tilting down to meet her eyes in confrontation.

“You! Alright?” she cried and tossed her bag onto the ground. She turned and started pacing back and forth, dramatically flicking her hands. “It’s you! You show up in your sexy jacket with this annoying way of seeing right through me, and it’s pissing me off. I was out! I was free! My debt was paid off! I was free from the lies…free from the shit. I was focused. I was working. I was making a name for myself. A name that I built on my own blood, sweat, and tears, Leo. And then you come in with your fucking Blake connection, and your creepy brothers, and now—”

She stopped pacing and speared her hands harshly into her hair stopping at the nape of her neck. Her words were cutting me. Slicing right through my heart.

I swallowed hard and my voice came out choked and painful. “So what? You’re saying you don’t want this? You don’t want to be with me? Because that’s sure as shit what it’s sounding like!”

“No, Leo!” she shrieked, her eyes glossy with unshed tears. “But you’re lying to me about something! I thought that we weren’t doing that. Rule number one and all.”

“Rule one is that we tell each other what we are thinking,” I snapped back. My eyebrows lifted as I stared at her like she was holding back a million broken promises. “I’m going to say this once, Adeline. What are you thinking?”

“I need to be able to trust you, and I’m not sure I do!” She bit her lip hard and her clear blue eyes swam over every feature on my face begging for something from me. Aching for it. “If you don’t fucking tell me what the scar on your hand
really
means, I’m going to figure it out myself because I know it has everything to do with the things that could destroy the lives of everyone I love!”

She dropped to her knees suddenly wracked with sobs. I rushed over and knelt down beside her, cradling her in my arms. Her body shuddered beneath my embrace.

Her words shattered me. Her comment about destroying the lives of the people she loved broke my heart. “Adeline, please baby. I can’t hear these cries again. I can’t. I’ll do anything to stop these tears.” I grabbed her face in my hands and rubbed the pads of my thumbs below her eyes. “And as far as people you love, I sincerely hope I’m at the top of your list. Because you’re sure as hell at the top of mine.”

She released a shaky breath in an attempt to gain back control over her tears. “You are,” she croaked, “But I’ve fought for everything in my life, Leo. I can’t fight you too. I need answers.”

I nodded in acknowledgment and lifted her up with me. I walked us over to the concrete steps and looked around quickly to see if there were people nearby. All was quiet, so I knew it was now or never. I pulled her down onto the step beside me and put a leg up in front of her. I wrapped my hands around hers, surprised at my nerves. A few moments ago, I was charged and ready to tell her, but after her meltdown, now I was apprehensive.

“I want to give answers to you,” I stared down at our hands. “Believe it or not, I had planned on giving them to you tonight. Especially with the shit that went down at R&B today.”

She lowered her head, attempting to catch my gaze. I cleared my throat, continuing to avoid her eyes. Here went nothing.

“I am a member of a secret society called the Gold,” I started. “It’s as old as Columbia and it’s extremely elite and difficult to get in to. It’s also difficult to get out of. The Gold is connected closely to Gamma Phi, but not all of my fraternity brothers are members of the Gold. The ones that aren’t don’t even know it exists.”

Her breath caught, pulling my gaze upward. “That’s what your scar is from?” she asked, stroking the area lightly.

“The scar is from the fraternity,” I answered. “It’s a tree branch and all brothers are branded with it at initiation. But the ones who are a member of the Gold have this added part.” I pointed to the extremely discrete ‘G’ that slanted off of the main branch. If you never looked closely, you wouldn’t even see it there.

She inspected it quietly for a moment, and then asked, “Is Chase a member of the Gold?”

“Yes.”

“Micah?”

“Yes.”

“Blake?”

I sighed heavily, looking up finally into her wide, curious eyes. “Yes, he is. Now baby, I need you to know what a big deal this is that I’m telling you. I love you. I will tell you everything. But as soon as you become a member of the Gold, you take an oath. They swear you to absolute secrecy and scare the shit out of you with threats if you reveal the society to outsiders.”

I quickly explained to her the corrupt practices of the Gold and how my grandfather made a deal with Blake’s father and was able to get out. It felt important to get that out there so she understood that I just never knew there was an easy way to get out. I also needed her to know that the only reason my father rejoined was to save the R&B from going under.

“Did your father get Focal Pointe Studio through connections with the Gold?”

“No,” I replied quickly shifting closer to her craving more of a physical connection. “That all really was just an honest coincidence.”

“So if you hate it so much, why don’t you make a deal like your grandfather and get out?” she asked.

My eyebrows rose. “Because that still doesn’t absolve you of your ties to Blake.”

Her clear eyes squinted and she nodded seriously. “So what does any of this have to do with Blake?”