Sins, Lies & Spies (Black Brothers #2) (18 page)

CHAPTER

THIRTY-ONE

Trinity

“Uncle Mac?” I smiled faintly, tilting my head to the side, and he frowned. “What are you doing here?”

My uncle glanced over his shoulder and popped up the collar of his worn black leather jacket. He looked exactly as I remembered except he had a few more wrinkles around his eyes and his beard was more gray than strawberry blond these days.

His eyes narrowed. “You look like shit.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Well, thanks. So do you.”

He didn’t say anything my reflection hadn’t told me when I looked in the mirror this morning. My eyes were puffy from crying myself to sleep. I hadn’t bothered with makeup, and I’d barely run a brush through my hair, but he didn’t need to point it out. Not that his comment shocked me. He’d always been blunt and to the point.

“That’s no way to talk to your uncle. I haven’t seen you in over three years. Why don’t you invite me inside?”

I twisted my leather bracelet around my wrist, not answering him for a second. After Knox had left last night, I sent dozens of texts to Derrick, begging him to meet me today. After thirty minutes of back and forth messaging, I threatened to reveal our connection with or without his support. He finally responded this morning with a brisk text instructing me to come to his house at one o’clock sharp.

“I was just about to leave. I have an appointment soon.”

“This won’t take long. I need to tell you a few things about your mother.”

My heart skipped inside my chest. “Hold on. Let me get my purse and we can grab a coffee.”

“You’re wasting your money on that shit.”

I rolled my eyes. “My coffee machine is broken.”

The carafe had been one of the victims of the ransacking of my apartment. Instead of running out for coffee, I’d spent the morning composing and deleting texts to Knox. In the end, I turned off my phone without sending anything. What could I say? Nothing had changed since last night.

“So tell me about Mom,” I said, as we walked down the front steps of my townhome.

“First, I want you to tell me why you look like you spent last night crying.”

I huffed. “I had a fight with some guy I’m seeing. I don’t want to talk about it.”

He hooked one arm around my shoulder. He still smelled like leather and cigarette smoke. “You’ll figure it out, and if he’s stupid enough to walk away from you, then good riddance.” His eyes swept over my face. “You’re even more beautiful than your mother. Did I ever tell you that?”

I chuckled weakly. “I don’t think you ever told me much of anything about my mom. You preferred to pretend like she didn’t exist,” I said, purposely changing the subject because I didn’t want to think about how my cowardice may have spoiled any chance I had with Knox. Just thinking about him, what I did, and what we could’ve had made me the kind of miserable that ate at my gut like I had swallowed a gallon of acid. When I woke up this morning, sadness wrapped around my body like a shroud. I couldn’t stop replaying the look on his face when I asked for space.

“Yeah. You’re right.” His arm slipped from my shoulder and he smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

I yanked open the door to the coffee shop at the end of my block. The coffee they served tasted more burnt than anything else, but my caffeine-fueled withdrawal had resulted in a dull ache inside my head, so I couldn’t be picky. “How’s Faith?”

He shrugged, his leather jacket creaking. “About the same. She doesn’t come around much, but you probably already know that.”

I ordered a large black coffee and stuffed the change into the tip jar. “I don’t hear from her much either, except an occasional text about tuition.”

“Yeah.” He nodded, his lips spreading into a thin line. “I didn’t think so. She was pretty pissed when you moved to D.C.”

We settled into a booth at the back of the coffee shop. I stared at him over the rim of my paper cup. “Are you going to talk about my mom or did you change your mind?”

He leaned forward, sliding his elbows over the table. “I should have told you this before you moved to D.C., but I didn’t want to worry you.” He blew out a breath. “The day your mom disappeared, she planned to meet up with someone who represented your biological father. She said he agreed to a financial settlement in exchange for her silence. She was over the moon.” He shook his head, his gaze drifting to the side. “She had all these plans for you and Faith. She wanted to buy a house and put down some roots instead of floating around.”

I curled my hands around the edge of the table. “So what happened?”

“I don’t know for sure.”

I twisted the coffee cup sleeve. “What do you think happened?”

He scrubbed his hand down the side of his beard. “I think Richard Benton had her killed.”

My hand jerked and my coffee tipped over. Brown liquid spread across the table. My hands shaking, I tossed a stack of napkins on the table, blotting up the mess. “That doesn’t make any sense,” I whispered, my gaze fluttering from table to table looking for anyone eavesdropping on our conversation.

“I don’t know for sure, but I got a letter a few days after she disappeared.” He shifted in his seat. “I can’t remember the exact wording, but it basically told me to shut up, or we’d all end up dead.”

My heart skidded to a halt, and I shuddered. “Why didn’t you go to the police?”

“Because I’m an ex-con, and the last thing I needed was the police sniffing around me. I’d come a long way since my ass landed in prison, but I hadn’t exactly kept my nose clean. They would’ve taken you and Faith away and stuck you in foster care.” He balled up the coffee drenched napkins. “I wasn’t the best role model, but your mom and I spent the last five years of our childhood in foster care. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

I drew in a fractured breath as I nodded absently. I knew what he was talking about. My mom told me a few things about foster care. Most people would consider my uncle a below average guardian, but he didn’t abuse us. We had clothes. We had food. We had a roof over our head, but we didn’t have an outpouring of love or emotional support. He was essentially a roommate who paid the bills.

“Are you sure the letter was about my mom and not some of the things you did in your past?”

He scratched the side of his neck. “Yeah,” he admitted. “I won’t lie. There’s some ugly stuff in my past. Stuff that would make people nervous. Stuff that might be worth killing or threatening me over, but the people in my past don’t hide behind letters. They deliver their messages in person accompanied by a good ass-kicking.”

A chill zipped down my spine. “Why now? Why didn’t you tell me years ago?”

“Because people have been asking questions about you over the last six months.”

My brows scrunched together. “Asking who?”

He shrugged and rolled his thick neck in a circle. “Your old friends and acquaintances. The questions seemed kind of innocuous in the beginning. They wanted to know if you ever talked about your parents. Then they started throwing around your biological father’s name and asked if you ever talked about him or mentioned him by name.” He leaned forward. “Have you been in contact with them? Did you move here to be closer to them?”

“Who?” I drew circles on my jeans, avoiding his eyes, pretending I didn’t understand his question.

“The Bentons,” he hissed. “Don’t play dumb with me, girl. I’ve known you too long for that.”

My head snapped up. “I moved here because my half-brother asked me to. He said he wanted to get to know me. He helped me find a place to live, and we’re friendly.”

Leaning back, he folded his arms across his chest, a pained sound scraping out of his mouth. “Jesus, Trinity. What the hell are you thinking? The Bentons will destroy you. You’re a stain on their reputation. It’s only a matter of time before they grind you into the dirt.”

“You’re wrong. Derrick cares about me. He wouldn’t hurt me.” My words broke. My heart splintered. My chest ached. I didn’t want to believe him. I couldn’t. It hurt too much. I pushed Knox away, at least temporarily, to support Derrick. It’d gut me if I did it for nothing. “He found me because he wanted me to be in his life.”

His fist collided with the top of the table and my empty cup tipped over again. “You’re a fool if you believe that. He contacted you because the Bentons have an agenda. I want you to pack up your shit and come home with me today.”

“No.” I jumped out of my seat, gathering my purse and the coffee-soaked paper napkins as fast as possible. I refused to fall apart in front of my uncle. “I’m not running away from this.”

He shook his head. “What are you going to do? Stick around and wait for them to kill you, too?”

“I don’t know. I’ll call you later. I need to process everything you told me.” With my head down and my hands shoved deep into my pockets, I half-ran, half-walked out the door.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-TWO

Knox

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jack said.

Ignoring Jack, my fingers flew over the keyboard as I typed an email to Archer. Last night, after two hours of searching for clues as to how I misjudged Trinity’s feelings for me, I didn’t come up with anything. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, I decided to do something productive. I spent the entire night uploading security updates to Black Investments’ server.

“Hello.” Jack waved his hand in front of my face. “Talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” I answered without looking at him.

Jack shoved his chair away from the table, the wheels rumbling across the floor. “What the hell happened in the last twenty-four hours? Yesterday you walked around with this stupid ‘I’m in love’ smile, and today you look like you want to kick someone’s ass.”

I closed my laptop. “I didn’t know you wanted to spend the day sharing feelings. Where should we start?” I propped my hands behind my head, glaring at him. “With your fucked up marriage or my non-existent relationship with Trinity?”

Jack chuckled. “Oh, so this is about Trinity Jones. Did she already dump your ass?” He shook his head. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I knew she was bad news.”

Anger rushed through my veins. I stood, flexing my hands hard enough to make the tendons stand out. “You don’t know anything, Jack, and unless you want me to crawl up your ass and start asking questions about your wife, you need to back the hell off.”

“Fine.” He held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’ll back off, but I reserve the right to say ‘I told you so’ when the time comes.”

My brows snapped together. “What do you mean?”

He rubbed his hand down his face. “Nothing. If you think you have everything under control, then I trust you.”

An alert on my phone buzzed, and Jack, being closer to it, slid it across the table. “Speaking of Trinity, it looks like your girl is on the move again.”

I picked up the phone and turned it in circles in one hand. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Smirking, he shook his head. “Right. Don’t lie to me. In between ignoring me and pounding on your keyboard, you’ve been tracking her movements on your phone.” He cleared his throat. “I’d never thought I’d live to see the day when Knox Black had his panties in a bunch over some chick.”

“It’s not like that. I’m worried about her.” I swiped a finger across the phone, scanning the dot on the screen as Trinity moved across town.

“She’s a big girl. She’ll be just fine.”

“Fuck!” I yelled, when I realized her destination.

Jack frowned. “What’s going on?”

I stuffed my phone in my pocket and slung my jacket over my shoulder. “Trinity is headed to Miles Knightly’s house.”

Jack jumped out of his chair. “Do you think she’s been spying on us for him?”

I stalked across the office and flung open the door. “I don’t think so. She hates him, but she might get a hair up her ass and decide to confront him.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to cause a scene.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll call you if I need back-up.”

CHAPTER

THIRTY-THREE

Trinity

After a quick stop at my house and thirty minutes of wandering around D.C. on foot, I found myself in front of Miles’s house. I pounded on his door. A gust of cool air whipped around my body and chills roughened my skin. Thick strands of my hair lashed the side my face and the silky material of my shirt billowed like a sail in the wind.

I should’ve called Knox and shared my plans, but I always hated being controlled and led around by the nose. Knox told me not to do anything stupid and this certainly qualified as stupid. Miles and I spent a lot of time together, but I really didn’t know anything about him. Sure, I knew what he liked to order from his favorite Chinese restaurant. I knew he liked bourbon. I knew he had a daughter and an ex-wife who would never let him go, but those were just meaningless facts I could’ve discovered during a five-minute conversation.

Apprehension trickled down my spine, but I ignored it. Nothing bad would happen. I could take care of myself. Steeling my nerves, I squared my shoulders, and pounded on the door again.

“Trinity,” Miles said wearily. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“How did you find out Speaker Benton is my half-brother?” I could’ve approached the subject with more eloquence, but I didn’t have the time.

“I don’t know anything about that.” He peered over my shoulder, then started to push the door closed. “You shouldn’t be here. You need to leave.”

I smacked my hand into the door and pulled a gun out of the holster hidden inside my jacket, pushing my way into the house and shutting the door behind me. Knox had confiscated my gun of choice at Lang’s house, but I also had a Kahr P380 hidden under a floorboard in my closet. Roughly the size of a cell phone, it was very concealable, but just as reliable and effective as larger models.

“I’m not going anywhere until I know the truth. I’m fucking sick of all the lies. Tell me how you found out about Derrick and me.”

He held up his hands and backpedaled a few steps. “You’re a lunatic. If you don’t get out of here, I’ll call the police.”

“Be my guest.” I jammed the barrel of my gun against his chest. “I’d be happy to talk to them about all your blackmail schemes. I’m sure there’s plenty of evidence right here in your home. I’ll even invite Knox over, and he can bring Lang’s taped confession. He implicated you.” He didn’t, but Miles had no way of knowing that.

Sasha, his ex-wife, glided into the room, her black maxi dress dusting the floor with every step. “Just tell the truth, Miles. This is getting old.”

“Get the fuck out of here, Sasha. This is none of your business,” Miles yelled through his teeth.

“No. I’m not listening to you. Not this time.” She folded her arms across her chest. “You think you can spin some magic and end up with her share of the money, but it’s not going to happen unless you put a gun to her head and force her down the aisle. And from where I’m standing, it looks like she’s the one with the gun.”

“The money?” My stare boomeranged between Miles and Sasha, helplessness seeping into my words. “What money?”

She rolled her eyes. “God, you’re naïve. I don’t know how Miles could stand being around you. You’re like this hear no evil, see no evil chick, charging into things with her eyes closed, believing everyone has altruistic motives.”

Miles pushed my gun away and pointed his finger at Sasha. “Shut up. This isn’t a game.”

“No, you shut up, Miles.” I stared over their heads, unable to look at either one of them. “I want to hear what she has to say.”

“Gladly.” She flipped her long hair over her shoulder. “Didn’t you wonder why Miles asked you to be his assistant, a woman with no college education whose only job experience was slinging drinks in a nightclub?”

My gaze cut to Miles, ice worming its way through my veins. “You came into Leslie’s bar for weeks. We became friends.”

She snorted. “Yeah, sweetie, life doesn’t work that way. He went to that bar looking for you. He recruited you.”

Miles rested his chin against his chest. “Go away, Sasha. I need to talk to Trinity alone.”

She speared me with her eyes, her lips curling in disgust. “Fine, but if he doesn’t tell you the truth, I will. Keep that in mind.”

I didn’t respond.

Sasha disappeared down the hall, and the door to Miles’s study clicked shut.

“Go ahead,” I said, my voice thin and frail, my gun burning a hole in my hand.

He shifted on his feet. “Through one of my contacts, I learned the Benton family was hiding the details of Richard Benton’s illegitimate child.”

I met his gaze, chin lifted. “In the course of your blackmail scheme.”

His lips pressed together. “I’m not going to comment on that.”

“Fine.” I waved my hand, struggling to keep my voice as calm as possible. “Continue.”

“I found out your name and that Derrick Benton helped you relocate to D.C. at Richard Benton’s request.”

I frowned. “That doesn’t explain why you sought me out.”

He nodded slowly and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “All of Richard Benton’s money was put into a trust. His trust provided his wife with a generous monthly payment, along with the use of all his properties until her death. The remaining assets, however, were to be split equally between his children.”

I sucked in a giant mouthful of air. “He only has one child. He never claimed me. His name isn’t on my birth certificate.”

“Well, none of that matters, because you’re mentioned by name in his trust.” When I didn’t respond, he continued talking. “There’s one caveat, however. You have to come forward and claim the money before your twenty-fifth birthday, otherwise your share reverts to Derrick, which is in—”

“Two months,” I said, interrupting him.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah. Two months.”

My eyes pinched closed for a split second. “So you planned to help me claim my share?”

He cringed. “Kind of.”

Hate and bitterness churned in my gut like a gasoline fed bonfire. “That’s why you wanted to get married. You were with me for the money. Money I didn’t even know I had.” My chin quivered, and I could feel the tears sneaking out of the corners of my eyes.

He held out his hand, but I slapped it away. “At first, but things changed. I cared about you. I still do.”

“You’re pathetic. Get away.” The words scraped like glass across my lips. My vision blurred with a toxic combination of confusion and betrayal. I stood there, my feet rooted to the ground, trying to wrap my head around what he said. I didn’t know how to absorb his confession. Grief crawled up the walls of my throat, warring for freedom.

Freedom to scream.

Freedom to rage.

Freedom to hurt someone else.

All of those emotions huddled inside of me like a ticking bomb. Slowly building. Enclosing my throat. Blinding me. I felt like I was breaking into a thousand jagged pieces.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

The doorknob rattled behind me.

“Open the door, Miles. I know Trinity’s here.”

My head shot up. “It’s Knox,” I whispered, whirling around to face the door. My mind unraveled, confusing emotions swirling like a tornado inside of me, and suddenly I knew he was the only thing in my life that made sense. I loved him. I needed him.