Rectify (Return to Us Trilogy #2) (21 page)

I rise and stand in front of the gun cabinet. I place my thumb on the pad and pray. The latch pops open.

Thank you, Shane, for adding me. Oh gosh, Shane. I send him some recover quickly vibes and survey the cabinet.

The most compact option is a Beretta Pico. I test my grip on the handle and practice my aim through the sights. This small but mighty pistol is exactly what I need.

I grab a box of ammo and the cobra keychain from its hook inside the door. I slip them into my purse and stride to the elevator.

I can do this.

For him.

Jacade

"Hey, Trey!" He never responds on my first attempt. "Trey!" My voice bounces off the block walls of my cell.

"What?" His angry face appears in the square cutout.

"I need some information from you."

He laughs. "Who do you think I am, your butler at the Hilton?"

I pat the dirt floor as if I'm testing the firmness of a mattress. "Definitely not the Hilton. Maybe a Super 8"—I point to my little window—"with a garden view of course."

"Whatever, man." He shakes his head and recedes from my view.

"Trey!"

His face appears in the box again. "I don't care what you want."

"Come on, it would really help me out." His eyebrows narrow.

"What?"

"Do you get off beating the shit out of women?" I keep my expression impassive. "Because I get off finding those pricks and stapling their balls to their thighs."

"Piss off, Trip!" The bars make shadows on his face as he pokes his nose in the cutout.

"No one fucks with me and survives. Especially someone who beats a woman to get a message to me."

"Fuck you. Whatcha gonna do to me? Shoot me again? You're all chained up." He chuckles and spit flies through the bars of the door.

"Trey, why do you do his dirty work? Is he too much of a pussy to do it himself? Viktor's going down, man. Don't sink with his ship. I can help you."

"Sure you can." He rolls his eyes at me.

"I can. All you have to do is bring Viktor to me. That's all."

"Nice try, Trip, but you're a lying sack of shit." He shakes his head and leaves.

He's right. I wouldn't help him. I'd stuff a live crab down his gullet and laugh as it tried to claw its way back up.

The cold cinder block wall drives into my shoulder blades as I shift my numb butt. My cuts have stopped bleeding, and I'm regaining movement in my foot and arms. Should be strong enough to snap that motherfucker's neck the next time he comes in here. If they follow the same schedule as last night, he should bring me my bread and water within a few hours.

I glance up at the tiny window that is my only light source.

Ivy's probably sitting down to dinner right now wondering why I haven't called and begged her forgiveness. Bernard won't risk involving her by telling her I've been captured. He'd better make sure Ivy's safe while I'm in here.

Viktor's plan was intelligent even for him. To jump me at a restaurant full of customers, get me alone, and have three men take me down in the alley.

I have no idea why he's keeping me alive. He might as well kill me now that I've lost Ivy.

I toss a pebble at the wall. It bounces off and rolls to a stop next to a crack in the dirt floor.

***

Ivy

Buzz
.
Buzz
.

Aunt Helen whips open her door. "Ivy, come in, come in." She waves at me. "When the doorman called up, I was surprised to hear him say your name."

Her gaze roams over my outfit, but she doesn't say anything. I'm dressed the way Viktor liked me to dress many years ago; studded knee-high leather boots with five-inch heels and a cherry-red spandex miniskirt that barely covers the tops of my fishnet stockings. I tug on my strapless shimmering silver tube top, but it does nothing to conceal the girls. My makeup is unsightly, exactly how Viktor liked it; charcoal eyeliner, bright crimson lips, and lots of rosy blush. Why did I ever dress like this for him?

"I need your help. No questions asked."

She sighs in a motherly way. I know she doesn't like the no questions asked part, but she nods anyway.

We walk to the dining room table, and I stare into her eyes. "Is Uncle Bernie home?"

"No. He's out searching for Jacade." Her wrinkled hand falls on my forearm. Worry paints her face and makes her seem so much older than she is.

"Nothing about this to Uncle Bernie either." She nods.

I upend my purse and a bunch of hair accessories clatter onto her table along with the Beretta Pico and the ammo I took from Jacade's cabinet.

"I need you to help me to hide the gun in my hair." I watch her face as she reviews the contents. She nods and presses her lips together.

She slides a chair out for me. "Okay then. Sit. Let's see what we can do."

I sit as she picks up the gun. In a well-practiced motion, she loads the cartridges into the magazine, inserts the magazine into the handle, and chambers a round. I gape at her in awe. Aunt Helen glances up at me, but keeps her head down.

She smiles. "What?"

"Nothing. I've never seen this side of you. I kinda like it."

"Well, you don't grow up in the world I did without knowing how to use a gun."

"I bet."

She puts the gun down and picks up the brush. "In my house, guns came before training wheels."

I want to giggle at her remark, but I can tell it's not a joke.

She stands behind me and snags the brush through my unruly locks.

"I need hair spray. Give me a minute."

She returns, and the pungent aerosol invades the room as she attempts to smooth out my wiry curls.

"I hope this holds."

She flips and clips a straightened portion on top of my head so it hangs in my eyes. "I'm going to do my best to make sure it does." She tilts my head down and gets to work. The weight of the gun pulls on my hair when she clips it against my scalp. After several tense minutes of spraying and pinning, she steps back.

"Shake your head a little." I turn my chin to the left, then the right. "Hand me some more bobby pins, please." I hand her more over my shoulder. She presses them in and steps back again. "Here." She hands me a mirror and holds one at the back of my head, so I can see her work. "What do you think?"

Wow. She made a classy French twist with a full bouffant at the top.

"It's impeccable. You can't see anything, Aunt Helen. Thank you so much."

"I think it'll hold."

"It needs to hold for a little while anyway."

Our gazes meet in the mirror. She still hasn't asked why I needed this favor.

I stand and collect my stuff in my purse. I forge to her door without a word, ignoring the gargantuan elephant hanging in the air.

"Ivy." She calls my name from her spot at the table.

I turn but keep my hand on the door. Her hands twist, and her eyebrows draw together.

"Where are you going?"

I can't tell her. I don't want to take the chance of Uncle Bernie finding out and blowing this.

"To rectify the situation."

A tear trickles down her cheek. "What?"

"I'm going to rescue my man."

She walks to me. "Ivy, please rethink this. Men like Jacade will crush your soul."

"You've told me that before, Aunt Helen. I'll make my own decisions about Jacade. I know what I'm getting into."

"You don't have any idea, Ivy." Her tone turns angry. "Did you know I had an older sister?"

"No. What do you mean had?"

"My older sister, Vera, gave her life for loving a man like Jacade. I'll always cherish the memories of my youth with her. She had a child, and I lost her too. That's why I treasure you and have sheltered you all these years. I won't suffer the loss of you too, Ivy. You're all I have. Don't get involved in this."

"I understand, Aunt Helen. I'm sorry your family is gone, but I'm already involved. I can't lose Jacade. He's not like other men, but he's meant for me. I can't let him die without moving heaven and earth to save him." She hugs me close to her chest. "You fell in love with a man like Jacade, and it worked out for you, right?" I ask her. Uncle Bernie loves her.

She mumbles in my ear. "Yes, well, I guess so."

"I have to go. Jacade needs me."

She says, "Be careful," as I'm closing the door behind me.

Don't worry, Aunt Helen. I'll be meticulous and vigilant. My life and Jacade's depend on it.

Jacade

Her sun-kissed chestnut hair billows behind her in the pasture. The woman I love promenades to me in a cascading white sundress. The curves of her hips glow through the translucent fabric. One delicate button at her waist prevents the wind from stealing the dress from her body. Her exposed shoulder and naked thighs tempt me with their golden perfection. I strain to see if she's wearing panties.

She smiles at me as she bends to run her hands through the feathery plumes of grass in the luminous prairie. The top of her dress flaps open and exposes succulent bare breasts tipped with cotton-candy-pink nipples. She stands before me, raises her hand to my face, and skims her fingers down my throat.

She squeezes my pec, and her sultry voice flows in my ear. "Where have you been, gorgeous? I've missed you. I want to—"

Click
.

My eyes pop open and Ivy disappears. Damn, I'll never know what she was going to do to me.

Trey opens the door to my dungeon and steps aside as Viktor strolls in.

He leans his back against the wall and smiles as he glances around the room.

"Trey says you're pretty cocky for a prisoner."

"I am. I'm gonna kill him and you."

"Uh huh, sure."

"What's going on, Viktor?"

He shifts on the wall. "Well, I heard you were looking for me, so I found you first."

I open my arms to the sides. "Here I am."

"Yes, here you are."

"Now what?"

He shrugs. "Now we wait for someone to come for you."

My laugh transmits stinging pain to my bruised ribs.

"What's so funny?" he asks.

"No one is coming. You know how this works," I say, still laughing at his half-baked strategy.

He stands and glares at me as I catch my breath. "I'm not waiting for your men. I'm waiting for Ivy."

My laugh sticks in my throat.
Waiting for Ivy
. "This is between you and me. Don't involve Ivy in this."

I clench my fists. Ivy won't come. She's done with me. After all that went down between us and what she said to me Thursday morning, she's not coming. She'd better not come.

He strokes his chin with his thumb. "You don't know, do you?" He chuckles. "Why didn't I see it before?"

"I'm done with your mind games, Viktor. If you're gonna kill me, get it over with."

"You don't know who she is." He ignores my comment. "This is about Ivy, not you. I can't believe you don't know. But I guess Bernard doesn't like to inform people of his plans for them."

"Spit it out."

He paces the room but stays far enough away I can't hurt him. Too bad. He squats in front of me.

"Both territories want Ivy. Ivy's Raymond's granddaughter."

No.

"Helen's her mother?"

"No, stupid. Raymond's dead daughter was her mother. Helen is Ivy's aunt." Raymond has often spoken of his quest to avenge the death of his murdered daughter, Vera. The rumor was she had slept with a married elder from another territory. I'd never heard she had a child.

My eyes widen and he adds, "From the look on your face, I don't have to tell you what it means."

No, he doesn't. Raymond controls both territories and would rub out anyone for the daughter of his murdered daughter, which means if the other side had her, they could get more weapons, money, and power. Bernard has had her for sixteen years.

Fuck.

Ivy's the pawn.

"It gets even better." His conceited grin contorts his face and exposes his jagged teeth. "She's Senator Boothby's biological daughter, and he doesn't know. He knocked up Vera thirty-four years ago. Ivy is the bastard child of Vera and Gerry."

Vera must have given Ivy up for adoption before she was murdered. Or more likely, Gerry killed her and got rid of the evidence, Ivy. That fucker.

"If Bernard wanted to, he could blackmail Gerry to get all the votes from his territory," Viktor says with a smile. He stands and leers down at me. "But if Ivy's dead, Bernard's plan collapses."

Shit.

Bernard wants to be boss, and he's going to use Ivy to get it.

Ivy's in jeopardy.

He shakes his head. "I'm disappointed, Trip. I thought you'd have figured it out by now. Or Bernard would've let you in on it."

"And how do you know this information?" I ask him through clenched teeth.

"Bernard and I hang out." What?

"Where? At the track?"

"Yeah, the track."

"You shooting up with him and Chowder now? Is that why you're so batshit crazy?"

His face turns to stone. "Screw Chowder. I don't give a fuck about Chowder."

As we talk, Viktor moves within my reach. Idiot. I swing my legs and connect with Viktor's shins. The cuff of the shackle cinches my ankle and cuts into my skin. He falls on his ass in front of me. I leverage myself by my fingertips on the dirt floor and head-butt him.

Hard.

His skull bounces off the block wall. He's so stupid, he doesn't even realize I nailed him. Trey and the other guard burst through the door.

Viktor holds his forehead while they pull him from my prison.

"Viktor." He turns his head to me, wobbling and holding onto Trey's arm. "Don't fucking touch her." The panther thrashes against his chains. "I'll fucking kill you. I'll butcher you. You hear me, fucker? Argh! I'll fucking kill you!"

I slam my palms flat on the cold dirt floor. The burn rings from my hands to my shoulders.

Ivy's the puppet.

Ivy's a damn pawn.

Fuck.

***

Ivy

Driving Delia would be more fun if I wasn't frightened out of my mind. I quell the flooding memories of Viktor's touch and betrayal as I drive down the familiar entrance road to Viktor's old farm mansion. The darkness obscured the dilapidated barn I used to use to find the turnoff, but I took my best guess and found the narrow dirt road. The wrought iron gates of Viktor's place appear in my headlights, and my stomach drops.

I found it. I hope to god Jacade is here.

Two men, one tall and one short, emerge from a dimly lit hut hidden by the trees lining the road.

"Can we help you?" The tall one ogles my outfit and licks his lips. Gross. I recognize him as Viktor's crony Jim, the one who attacked me at my apartment. I look at his hand but don't see any evidence of my bite. Darn. I think the shorter one was named Lyle, or Larry. He was there that day too.

"Let me in. Viktor's expecting me."

Jim leans his forearms on Delia's doorframe and stares at my tits. "Sure he is."

"Just let me in."

Lyle/Larry runs back to the hut.

"Looks like a nice ride," Jim says with lust in his eyes.

"She does drive smooth." I run my hand across the velvet leather steering wheel.

"I wasn't talking about the car." He trails his finger down my bicep.

Wonderful.

I recoil out of reach and glare at him.

"Oh, I like 'em feisty," he says with a wink.

Lyle/Larry waves me through the cantilevered gate as it cranks open.

Jim smiles. "To be continued, sweet cheeks."

Yeah right, loser.

I shift and drive through, keeping my eyes on Jim in the rear-view mirror.

I park Delia right in front of Viktor's gigantic front door.

Inhale. Exhale.

You can do this.

I grip the keys and climb the steps to the door. Images of the night I ran down these same steps barefoot and crying come rushing to my brain, but I squash them. Jacade needs me.

When I look up, I'm startled to see Viktor's ominous silhouette in the doorframe. From the feet up he looks deceptively GQ, but his sinister, black-and-blue face tells the truth. He's ruthless, and he'd stomp you out if he had the chance.

He must have buzzed his long, blond hair because he's been hiding out. Now he's a dirty-brown scumbucket.

He holds the door with his left hand and favors his bandaged right hand at his waist. Nice shot, Uncle Bernie. He's not using a crutch like he was at the club a week ago. The man has nine lives.

"Welcome home, Vee."

Home? No. This was never my home. He was never my home.

"Thank you." I squeeze past him. "Brought you a present." I drop the keys in his hand.

"For me, huh?" He turns his head to inspect Delia. "What for?"

"I figure I owe you one." I never returned the car I took from him the night I left him bleeding on the stairs.

"You do. Is it hot?"

"Why would you care?"

"I don't, but I always like to know what I'm getting." He winks at me.

He's such a slimy jerk. I can't stand being this close to him. He knows I couldn't afford to buy it.

"Let's say I took it from someone who deserved it."

He tosses the keys in the air and catches them. "I'll take it."

I knew he would. Enjoy it while you've got it, dickwad, because Jacade and I are leaving in it.

He strides past me into his gentleman's study. Not sure why he needs this room; I've never seen him read a book, and he's no gentleman.

He stands directly in front of me, reeking of greed, anger, and arrogance.

"You know the drill, Vee. Spread 'em."

What? Is he talking about sex?

"You thought I wouldn't frisk you? Come on."

"I didn't forget. It's just when I hear spread 'em, I'm not thinking I'm about to get frisked." I raise my arms to the sides and smile. "You're not gonna find anything, but you do what you gotta do."

He squats behind me and zips down my left boot. He slides his hands down my leg and checks my ankle. He zips it up and repeats on the other boot.

I gaze at a picture on the wall, focusing on the bowl of fruit and not his revolting hands on me.

"Do you think I'm stupid enough to hide something in my boot?"

He doesn't respond as he glides his hands over my skirt. He moves up my sides and caresses my shoulders.

His cologne permeates my nose, and bile fills my mouth. Please kill me now. He's disgusting.

He whispers in my ear. "Right now, I'm going to assume nothing's hidden underneath your skirt. But later, guarantee you I'll be verifying my assumption." His hand reaches for the clip at the base of my neck. "I like your hair down better."

I turn my head. "We don't always get what we want, now do we?"

He drops his hand and walks to his desk. My shoulders lower as I exhale the breath I was holding. He sits behind his desk and laces his hands behind his head. "So, what brings you here?"

I mosey around to his side of the desk and sit on the edge. "I wanted to see you."

"You expect me to believe that?"

Crap.

"Yes. Since you came to my place, I couldn't stop thinking about you."

"Really? Even when you were with Trip?"

Who's Trip? My eyebrows draw inward.

"Jacade."

"Don't say his name to me ever again."

His forehead crinkles. "Why?"

"He lied and cheated on me."

"I did the same to you." He's correct. The night I left him, I came home to find him in bed with not one but two other women.

I need to stroke his ego. Works every time.

"You did." I slide along the edge of his desk and sit right in front of him. "But you made me come harder than he ever could."

Viktor was actually a dud in bed. Not sure if he ever gave me an orgasm. It was nothing like the all-consuming love and trust Jacade and I share.

"Who am I to argue with a woman's reasons?"

Cool air rushes between my legs as I spread them and put my heels on either side of his hips. My skirt rides up, and he glances down at the exposed tops of my stockings.

I can do this. I have to do this. I grab his head and lay my lips on his. I hold back my gag and the urge to jam a pen from his desk into his neck.

His hands grope my thighs and snag my fishnets. I dig my fingers into his scalp so I don't slug him. He mistakes my movement for enthusiasm and kisses me back harder.

He pulls back and looks me up and down, lingering on my breasts. His voice softens. "Been a long time, Vee."

"Yes, it has."

"Are you here to stay?" When he raises his gaze to mine, his eyes seem sincere. Perhaps he does want to possess me again. He might enjoy another chance to toy with me and spit me out. But even if he's not being earnest, I'll play along with his charade. Whatever it takes to get to Jacade.

I keep my voice steady and my face composed.

"Do you want me to stay?"