This Game Called Life (Kingdom Book 4) (15 page)

“I have to; I’m
tired, Jason. Your life and being around you exhaust me.”

“Okay, whatever
you want, you’re tired, the accident, I get it. We’ll go away, take a break,
just you and me.” Pulling her onto his lap, Jason held her close and continued
to throw suggestions into the air. He needed to stop her from saying the words
they both knew he would never accept. “Where do you want us to go? Just name
it, and we can leave right now.”

“It’s not that
simple and you know it. Life around you is never that simple.”

“Tell me what you
want, Aviva. I’m trying here, but I don’t understand what you need.”

Jason understood
how difficult it must be for her to be around him. His life had always been one
catastrophe after another. With the demise of the men who had tormented his
youth, he had hoped that the upheavals of his past were behind him. Over the
last few days her accident was his main concern, or at least it had been until
Farrah turned up.

In the past they
had been down the road of her thinking of leaving him. They both knew it wasn’t
going to happen, hence his current lack of understanding at the odd way she was
behaving.

“I need a bloody
drama free life, that’s what I need, Jason!” Aviva all but shouted, her tears
gone.

“That’s what I’m
trying to give you. I work in the family business, dress up in a shirt and tie
and go into the office, which I would much rather not do. We bought a house in
the country for God’s sake, because that’s what you wanted. I’m trying here,
Aviva, you know I’m trying, and you need to cut me some slack.” Jason held his
breath as he awaited her response. He knew what was coming, but he held on to the
slim hope that he was wrong.

“Oh, so you think
you’re slick, huh? If you don’t want to go into the office don’t go, I don’t
care! Do you think I’m dumb?”

Jason remained
quiet. He wasn’t touching either of those questions.

“Yeah, that’s
right, you need to say nothing. You know this is not about any of the things
you just mentioned. Yes, the accident threw me. I thought all that stuff was
behind us. In a strange way, being deliberately forced off the road didn’t hurt
me the way that woman’s announcement did. You lied to me, Jason. Your lie is
what hurts me. It hurts more than I think you really understand.”

By her conclusion,
the sound of Aviva’s voice was almost indiscernible. That was how he knew he
had inadvertently broken his promise to her. “I’m sorry, Angel. I should have
told you about my first marriage. I know it’s hard for you to believe, but I
was a kid when it happened, and I haven’t once thought that being married such
a long time ago would make a difference to us.”

“Well, it does.
You know everything there is to know about me. Now all I keep thinking is what
else haven’t you told me?”

“Nothing, there’s
nothing else, I promise.”

“Well, for a
start, that’s not true!”

Jason was shocked.
His mind immediately began a frantic search in an attempt to pull together what
he could have said, or done to cause her to call him out. Nothing, he came up
with nothing. No more shadowy figures from his past; no more wives; no secret
children, there was zero left about his life that she didn’t know. She had him
trapped. Reluctant, but unable to see a way out, Jason broke out in a sweat.
When a man’s wife knew, or thought she knew something about him that he was
unaware of, he needed to be worried, very worried.

“Ahh... what’s not
true, Angel?” Jason hesitantly inquired.

“So you don’t want
to live in the countryside?”

“Hell, Aviva, I
can’t believe that’s what you latched onto out of all the other things I said.”
Jason’s relief was so great; he spoke before he remembered that he should be
proceeding with caution.

“Oh, don’t worry
dear, I heard everything you had to say, now you need to hear me. We are going
back into that room, and you are going to sort this mess out. You are
my
husband, and it’s going to stay that way. I loved my wedding, so you better
make sure that I don’t need another one, because if I do....”

The way Aviva
trailed off, worried Jason, but only for a heartbeat. Yes, he had messed up,
but she was going nowhere, whatever the outcome of the search he was about to
perform.

Placing her in the
seat he vacated, Jason went over to one of the many computers in the room, sat
down, took a deep breath and looked up the information he needed.

After fifteen
minutes of searching, Jason knew his life was about to get much more
complicated.

**********

“What?” Aviva
asked her nerves already stretched to breaking-point. Plus her head felt as
though it was about to explode with the build-up of tension.

That Jason was
reluctant to express what information he had uncovered was obvious from his
body language.

Aviva knew her
husband; he was an extremely thorough man. She didn’t need him to voice that
his search had confirmed Farrah’s statement about their divorce, and it worried
her. She had to wait a few more seconds for Jason to look up. When he did, her
words were simple. “Tell me.”

Aviva watched
Jason’s visage change. One moment he was showing his concern and the next he
appeared as angry as she had ever seen him.

“From what I can
find, Farrah appears to be correct, but I know a crock when I see one. She’s up
to something. I’m nobody’s fool. I checked way back then, and I know my divorce
is valid, and I intend to find out what she’s playing at!”

“What are we going
to do?”

Leaving his
position from behind the screen, Jason walked over to his wife and pulled her
out of the chair. “Thank you for that.”

“What are you
thanking me for?

“For still being
willing to say
we
.” Jason took Aviva’s face between his hands and
brushed back her hair. His touch was filled with such tenderness; Aviva wanted
to wrap her arms around him in assurance that everything would be okay. She
didn’t though; she was still too angry with him at his omission. Her hands
remained hanging at her sides.

Pulling back,
Jason gathered her unresisting arms and placed them around his neck. Then he
drew her close to enfold her within the strength of his hold. “I know you’re
mad at me, and I deserve it, but I’m still the same man who loves you more than
my life. I’m still the same man who needs to feel your touch. Please don’t take
that away from me.” The breath of his plea whispered against her ear was her
undoing.

Aviva wasn’t sure
how he always managed to do it; she was so angry with him, yet with a few
simple words, he had managed to reveal the depth of his feelings. He had also
managed to remind her that they belonged to each other. Farrah’s presence or
her revelation wasn’t about to change that.

Knowing he needed
her assurance as much as she needed his, Aviva gave it. Her arms tightened
around him and held on. Kissing his neck, she spoke against his throat. “Well,
it looks as though we have another fight on our hands.”

“Yeah, looks like
we do,” Jason agreed around a chuckle. “Are you ready to go kick some Farrah
butt?”

“Hell yeah, let’s
go!”

About to pull away,
Jason stopped her. “I don’t know about you, but I need some fortification
before we go back in there.”

Not understanding
what he meant, Aviva gave him a curious look.

“I need my wife to
kiss me like she couldn’t go another minute without my touch. I need you to
show me that although I’m a monumental fuck up, you still love me.”

Withholding
affection from Jason served no purpose, and Aviva knew it. It would only hurt
him, and in the process her. It was now her turn to take his dear face between
her hands. That she loved him wasn’t in question, and she didn’t want him to
have any doubts.

The kiss Aviva
placed against Jason’s lips was one she hoped was filled with love rather than
passion. The fervency they shared was without question. Even though he may not
know it, what he needed was what she intended to give, a gentle interlude. The
type of care he always showed her.

Aviva’s lips
brushed across Jason’s face with light touches. His eyes, his nose, his cheeks,
remaining in one place only long enough for him to feel the impression of her
caress. When she finally placed her mouth against his, Jason was waiting for
her. The connection they shared shut out everything that awaited them. This
moment was just for them.

“That was nice.”
The smile she received for her trouble was tempered with affection, and an
additional look that was indiscernible to her.

She didn’t have
long to wait for clarification. “Oh, and, by the way, while we’re so loved up,
how about an assurance that this talk about being
tired
in no way shape
or form means you are even considering the need to go somewhere without me.”

“Don’t push your
luck, JK!”

“Come on, Angel,
you can’t blame a man for trying!”

Chapter 21

The atmosphere in
the room could only be described as glacial. Farrah still hadn’t received the
drink she’d requested, and Josh was sitting beside her with a sinister look on
his face. Farrah appeared worried and to Jason’s mind, she had a need to be.

Without glancing
at the rest of his family, Jason knew they required an answer to what he had uncovered.
The almost unnoticeable shake of his head satisfied their curiosity. However,
no-one passed comment, waiting to follow his lead.

About to speak,
Jason was taken aback when Aviva beat him to it.

“We have all the
information we need.” Aviva directed her comment to the older woman. “I don’t
know who put you up to this, or if you thought up this little scheme all by
yourself. The truth is, I don’t care. Nobody in this family cares. Get out of
this house. Get out and regroup, but if I were you, I’d just forget about ever
having decided to come here tonight.

This is your only
warning; heed it if you will, or ignore me as you please, but know this; if
even one whiff of your disgusting lies appears anywhere in the media, we will
destroy you.”

When she was
finished, Aviva was extremely pleased with herself. The men looked shocked at
her diatribe, but she could live with that.

“Maybe someone
would be so kind as to escort Ms.... I don’t know your name, and, I don’t want
to. Now get out!” Finished, Aviva turned her back on a stunned Farrah, but not
before she witnessed the effects of her bluff. The woman had expected her to
admit to their findings.
Not on your life, lady
, Aviva thought.

About to speak,
Josh held up a hand and stopped Farrah from making a comment. With a huge grin
on his face, he rose and silently nodded towards the door, an indication he was
ready to escort her out.

With a worried
Farrah no longer in sight, Jackson let out huge roar of laughter, which was
quickly taken up by Jason and his twin. “It would seem, my dear that a certain
individual has rubbed off on you much more than any of us knew.”

“Yeah, well, why
try to fight the inevitable!” Aviva quipped.

By the time Josh
returned, the laughter had ceased. Making a beeline for Aviva, Josh pulled her
to her feet and kissed her soundly on the lips. “Lady, I love your style!”

“Thank you, I
think. Did she say anything else on the way out?”

“Not much and I
didn’t encourage conversation.”

About to ask what
was said, Aviva’s attention was caught by MacKenzie coming into the room.
Before she could greet her friend, Jake was by her side.

“Is everything
okay, MacKenzie?

“Sure, I’m just
hungry, so I came down to look for some food.”

What followed was
a sort of parody that Aviva could only liken to a bad silent movie. She was
unsure if the men seriously thought she wouldn’t notice their facial twitches
and head gestures. She had lived with them long enough to have a pretty good
handle on them. They wanted her out of the way, and they were going to use MacKenzie
as their tool. If her head weren't hurting so badly, she would have called them
out. Instead, she linked arms with her friend and left them to their plotting.
She had done her part for the night.

“What’s going on,
Vee?”

“Let’s go to the
kitchen. With luck, we’ll be alone, and I’ll explain everything. It’s been
quite an eventful night.”

MacKenzie listened
to what Aviva had to say without comment. When she was finished, the women sat
quietly looking at each other.

MacKenzie was the
first to voice her opinion. “If this mess with Carlos were not a part of the
equation, I’d think that someone was working overtime to set this family up.”

Looking at her
friend, Aviva admitted that the same thought had occurred to her. She wanted to
discuss the situation further, but her head was pounding too much. Aviva knew
if she didn’t lay down soon someone would have to pick her up off the floor.

MacKenzie must
have noticed her tiredness, and suggested it was maybe time Aviva called it a
night. In complete agreement, they left the kitchen and began to make their way
back to the central hallway.

**********

As soon as the
women left the room. Jason wanted to know what conversation had passed between
Josh and Farrah.

“She just kept
mumbling something or other about women who thought they could scare her into
doing their bidding. There was also more than a few cuss words that I don’t
think I need to repeat.” Josh replied with a look of distaste.

Sounds
reverberated around the room that with a stretch of the imagination could be
described as amusement. Laughter, however was the furthest thing from Jake’s
mind. “So who or what ties all this together?” He threw his question into the
mix.

“I suppose you all
think this has something to do with me? Jason asked.

“Even if that were
our thought, which it isn’t, it wouldn’t matter,” Jackson assured his son. “The
only thing of any importance is that we resolve these situations in which we
find ourselves.”

Jake’s phone rang before
his father finished assuring Jason that they were not in the business of
ascribing blame to each other. Excusing himself, he moved away from the group
to answer it. The sound of Curtis’ voice on the other end of the line was the
last person he expected.

“Can you talk?”
Curtis enquired.

“Go ahead and I
hope you have good news for me.”

“You obviously
love your family, Mr. Kingdom, well so do I! This call is just a courtesy to
say, I can’t help you. If there was something I could do, I would do it because
of MacKenzie and Noelle. Tell MacKenzie that for me will you?”

“My family and I
can help you Curtis, just tell me what’s going on, and we will help you,” Jake
pressed.

“I’ve said all I
intend to. I’ve looked into your family, and from what I can tell you guys are
supposed to be at the top of your game. Well, it’s time you proved it instead
of letting a woman run rings around all of you!”

The sound of the
dial tone ringing in his ear left Jake stunned. That was the second time Curtis
had implied that the Kingdom family was at the center of the Ernesto’s
troubles. Spinning around, Jake faced his family who had all shamelessly been
listening to his conversation.

“What?” Jackson
enquired.

“I told you all
what Curtis said when I spoke with him earlier about looking at my family and
getting my house in order. Just now he said we were allowing a woman to run
rings around us. Put the two together and what do you come up with?”

“Diana!” The four
men spoke at the same time.

“Has anyone been
keeping tabs on her?” Jackson asked.

Jason and Jake
shook their heads in the negative, as usual, Josh was more vocal. “The last
time I checked she was in Europe. The South of France to be exact.” With three
identical looks of enquiry directed at him, Josh shrugged his large shoulders.
“You all seemed to be occupied with one thing, or another, so it was left to me
to ensure that I knew where she was.”

“Is she back in
the country?” Jackson wanted to know.

“The last time I
checked was a few days ago, and at that time she was still in France. That
doesn’t mean she’s there now. It also doesn’t mean that she couldn’t have been
pulling strings from thousands of miles away. Technology is a wonderful thing.”
Josh finished with a sarcastic laden voice.

“We need to know,
Josh,” Jake told his brother.

“Don’t worry, I’m
on it.” Saying nothing more, Josh was on his way to the door.

As he pulled it
open, he was confronted by Aviva and MacKenzie making their way down the
hallway. “Are you okay, Aviva?”

Before either of
the women had time to respond, Jason brushed past his younger brother as he
rushed towards his wife. The next moment, despite her protests, Aviva was swept
up in Jason's arms, and he was heading up the stairs.

Jake watched
MacKenzie without comment as one brother disappeared up the stairs and the
other down the hallway.

Joining her, Jake
whispered something in her ear and waited. At her nod, he placed a hand in the
small of her back and escorted her towards one of the more formal reception
rooms in the house.

Since his last
conversation with Curtis; Diana had been thrown into the mix, and was more than
likely responsible for all their ill fortune. They all knew what Diana was
capable of, and he for one was in no doubt that she was behind all their
troubles. Her underhanded machinations had already impacted on all their lives,
and Jake was ready to take action.

Jake knew that
once Diana realized they were on to her, all hell would break loose unless they
permanently neutralized her. He didn’t know how they were going to accomplish
that goal, but it was going to happen.

Once inside the
room, he seated MacKenzie before pulling up a chair. Placing it directly in
front of her, he took a seat and observed her as she looked around the space.

Jake had never
particularly liked the room, but it served a purpose when they had business
guests. He didn’t much care for the decor, but he knew it was what visitors
expected when they visited the Kingdom home. To Jake, every chair in the room
looked as though it would break if he sat on it the wrong way. With more
pressing matters to deal with, he pushed the mundane thought from his mind and
focused on the matter at hand.

“I just spoke with
Curtis and from what he said, coupled with his earlier insinuation, we now
believe we know who’s behind everything.” That was all Jake needed to say to
have her full attention.

“Who is it?”

“Diana... our
mother,” Jake replied, finding it difficult to give the title of
mother
to Diana.

“You have got to
be kidding me. Your mother, why would she do this?”

The look of
incredulity on MacKenzie’s face made Jake uncomfortable. He saw how she interacted
with her daughter, how does one then describe the type of mother Diana was?

“It’s a long
story, MacKenzie. One that I don’t really want to go into at the moment. You
just need to trust me that Diana is more than capable of this and much more.”

“I’m sorry, Jake,”
MacKenzie said, leaning forward to rub a hand over his thigh.

Even as her touch
sent a sharp jolt of awareness through him, Jake mentally pulled away. “The men
of this family are the last people who need your pity!” His words had come out
harder than he had intended, and Jake immediately felt regret when MacKenzie
sat back, and removed her hand. This had been the first time she had
voluntarily touched him, and he’d blown it.

“I know, and that
wasn’t what I was doing.” Not giving him a chance to say anything else,
MacKenzie kept on speaking. “What did you want to say to me that’s so important
it couldn’t wait until morning?”

 “I’m sorry, that
came out wrong.” Jake wasn’t surprised when she ignored his apology.

“Why are we here,
Jake?”

Taking a deep
breath, he began to roll scenarios around in his mind. They needed a solution
to what was going on. The longer the uncertainty hung over their heads, the
longer it would take for him to move his relationship with MacKenzie forward.

As the beginning of
a thought entered his mind, Jake began to build on it. Sure that it would work,
he took a deep breath. Maybe what he was about to do was wrong, but through
fair means or foul, he was going to get his way.

“Tomorrow you and
I are going to visit those pariah lodged outside the gate. We are going to
refute everything that the Ernestos’ have said. We are going to be so
convincing that there will be no room left for doubt. Therefore, I need you to
tell me everything. I need to know who those men in the report are, and what
they mean to you. I don’t want you to leave anything out, no matter how
insignificant you may think it.”

“Are you kidding
me? I’m not giving an interview to those people!”

The look of horror
on her face made Jake smile, as he realized there was something MacKenzie was
afraid of. “Don’t worry, lovely, I’ll hold your hand.”

Unfazed by her tut
and eye roll, Jake prompted her to begin. Moments of hesitation followed before
she began to speak. MacKenzie told Jake about the bum she had dated twice, and
about the friend that had stayed at her house and their relationship.

By the time she
was finished, he had a good handle on how he would approach the interview.
Hearing about a past lover had been more difficult than Jake had imagined. She
was an adult, and like them all, she had a sexual past. Although he knew it had
been necessary, after tonight, he didn’t ever want to hear about another man
from her past.

“Is there anything
else, MacKenzie, anything at all? I don’t want any surprises later on down the
road.” Taking a deep breath, Jake braced himself for her response.

A shake of her
head in the negative was what he had hoped for, so he decided to press on. What
he was about to suggest to her was going to be difficult, and she would fight
him. However, it was a fight he intended to win.