Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
JADE
I met Liam down by the football field just like he said, choosing to wait by his convertible in the parking lot in case any of the cheerleaders or lacrosse guys felt the need to let Sebastian know they saw me walking off with him. The last thing I need is for Bass to head back from wherever it is he’s going to stop me. I lean back against the car watching as Liam appears out of the guys locker room, freshly showered and looking so damn good. His hair is wet and tousled in perfect golden blond waves, biceps nearly ripping through the dark blue T-shirt, and his dark jeans snugly fitted around his massive thighs. Is it just me or is it suddenly hot out here?
“Hey there gorgeous,” he says as he reaches me, throwing his bag into the trunk that suddenly pops open. I don’t answer him, my eyes slowly following his every movement.
After closing the trunk he moves to the driver side not bothering to open the door for me, which I kind of expected. “Are you ready to go?” he asks, “Or are you just going to stand there and stare.”
A genuine, playful smile comes out of me at his refreshing attitude, “Well I mean look at you Walker, walking out of the locker room looking like that and smelling like a fucking rainy day, it’s hard not to become enamored.”
“Nah Wolfe, we both know you like them broody, moody, and smelling like death,” he jokes, taking a less than subtle dig at Bass.
The drive out to Roman’s apartment doesn’t take long though my anxiety is through the roof. To be honest I think at one point I might have dazed off, envisioning how the conversation with Roman would play out. Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. I know my brother's been practically begging me to give him a chance to explain himself to me, but that’s not what I’m going to him for. I need answers, and if he’s willing to share those, then I’ve decided everything else is water under the bridge.
Liam pulls into an empty parking space right next to a car I recognize. Looks like Drake’s also here again. I overheard Stella saying the guys were looking for a place to move into once school was done and over with, so I’m imagining Drake mentioned his little bachelor pad.
Liam follows closely behind me as we walk up the stairs and head toward Roman’s door.
I lift my hand to knock but freeze before my knuckles touch the wood. Liam’s hand comes to rest above mine as he steps forward.
“I’m here Jade, we can turn away and leave if it’s what you want or we can do this together either way, I’m here for you.”
Just as I’m about to knock, the door is swung open and Roman appears on the other side. His eyes remain expressionless but his posture stiffens as he stares at me tentatively, blinking a few times to ensure it’s really me.
“Jade,” he mutters under his breath, the shock evident in the way his voice fades out. I don’t react, don’t say anything that gives him any idea as to why I’m here or in what kind of mood I’m in.
Suddenly, his eyes leave mine and travel behind me to where Liam stands, his eyebrows creasing as a scowl forms across his lips. I swear I hear him growl, reminding me of the possessiveness I’m all too familiar with. That’s the last thing I need.
“Wow, my baby sister has admirers, glad to see you at least got rid of Silver,” That Son of a fucking bitch.
“Fuck you Roman,” I shout, slapping him as I turn and stalk away. My palm stings, pulsating from the force of the blow.
“Wait Jade,” Roman calls out, making me halt in my tracks and turn to face him. “I’m sorry okay, I don’t know how I’m supposed to go about all of this,” he adds, rubbing his cheek where my palm made his skin red. Liam watches between the two of us, but I can’t make out what he’s thinking. Probably just taking in our appearance and wondering how the hell we can be related.
Liam doesn’t know this side of me. He sees a pretty girl, who is parentless sure, but still looks as shiny and new as the chicks he’s used to. I can transform into that when it matters, but Roman looks like the hell he’s been through. Tattoos covering his body, scars on every inch of skin that’s left unmarked by ink. My brother still remains as beautiful as he’s always been, another family curse I’m afraid, but you can see the life he’s lived in the depths of his bottomless green eyes. That’s where we are the same, in the hurt that lies in the windows to our souls, that’s what Liam has yet to see in me, and I’m afraid he’s in for quite a surprise.
“You think I know Roman. You think after all these years, after everything you’ve done, I’m standing before you knowing what will come next. I have no fucking clue, but I’m also not the weak-willed little girl you left to fend for herself, I’m not a pushover who’s going to forgive everything because you all of a sudden want to be back in my life, and for all the wrong reasons I’m sure.”
“I told you I want to explain everything to you Jade, to come clean, I just need you to give me a chance. ”
“Well I’m here Roman, but not without conditions. You want me to listen to your sob story about how you fell in with the two most dangerous of devils, well you have to answer my questions too, starting with who are Kane Dalton and The Order?”
He shakes his head, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips, “Straight and to the point, I taught you well little sis.” He motions for me to step inside, “You should come inside, what I’m going to tell you isn’t something that should be said with an audience, and this isn’t the kind of place we’re used to living in. The neighbors here don’t like shouting out in the hallways at all hours of the day.”
I push past him heading inside his apartment with Liam following behind me. “You can wait out here pretty boy,” Roman says, his hand coming to lay on Liam’s chest. They’re about the same height, but where my brother is thin and muscular from obvious daily visits to some kind of weight training establishment, Liam is broad shouldered and athletic, you’re typical football player build. Yet I have no doubt the quarterback would come out of this brawl unscathed.
“He goes wherever I go, he’s my friend, I'm not hiding shit from him.”
“You sure about that sis, I know Silver wouldn’t mind the kind of shit you’re involved in seeing as he is at the helm of it all, but this one, you sure you want to tip the pedestal he holds you on.” Roman quirks a brow at me in question, but I’m too stubborn to heed his warning.
“I have nothing to hide Roman, besides I’m sure Liam knows that his home isn’t as shiny and flawless as they all make it seem.
“Well then by all means mi casa es su casa ,” Roman sneers sarcastically.
The inside of Roman’s apartment gives a better insight as to what my dear brother has been up to. Unlike the pristinely clean and overly normal exterior, the inside of the small living space is wrecked. Empty beer cans everywhere you look, half empty bottles of liquor on every surface, the smell of weed and tobacco floating like a cancerous cloud around the room. The two suede couches are in much better condition than the ones we had back home but still look like there are at least a few cockroaches living in between the cushions. The hardwood floors are a light oak wood and contrast nicely with the dark blue walls, but other than that the place doesn’t look lived in. Sparse furniture sits in odd corners, no photographs or decor anywhere to be seen, just a lonesome television mounted upon the wall beside the floor length window covered in blackout curtains.
“How long have you lived here?” I ask, stepping in further and reaching down to pick up a magazine, Playboy of course, from the coffee table addressed to Roman Wolfe. I can’t believe he’s been living right under my nose these last few months, not even hiding who he is or using an alias of sorts.
“About three years,” Roman answers, shocking me once again. Three years, yet if it weren’t for the trash lying around, I’d think he’d have just moved in. “Before here I was staying at some cheap motel Wesley rented out for his employees . Once I proved my loyalty, I took up residence here.”
“Now that the boss is dead, how’d you manage to keep the place?” I ask, mockingly yet with serious interest.
“Well let’s say I still have friends in high places.” Roman walks over to the refrigerator in his small, attached kitchen, grabbing a beer, and turning to Liam and me wordlessly asking if we want one. I shake my head and assume Liam does the same when Roman closes the fridge and pops open the beer bottle with his teeth. “So what do you want to know?”
I look up at him slightly confused, until I remember why I’m here. “The Order, Kane Dalton, who are they?”
“I must admit it’s been awhile since I heard that name, however given your recent sexcapades I’m not surprised you’ve heard of him,” Roman utters, moving over to the couch facing the television.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I ask, irritated by his insinuations. He drops down on the couch, chugging down half the beer before he speaks.
“The Silver’s, they’re pretty close to Dalton and his crew of merry men. Stephan and Kane are quite the pair and now with Wesley gone, I can imagine that friendship has only gotten stronger.”
“I don’t understand, what does Kane do that Stephan would be involved in?”
“Well on top of being an old money billionaire, your dear daddy-in-law is the owner of two of the most successful, illegal, underground casinos on this side of the country, along with some other nefarious businesses, such as his drug empire, I’m sure not many know about. Stephan Silver is the King of The Underworld and every king needs an army.” At this point my mind is already reeling with hundreds of questions, “That’s where Dalton and his goons come in. Kane Dalton is the head of one of the oldest, largest, and most infamous gangs in the world. His outlaws traded their motorcycles for Bugatti’s and their cuts for thousand-dollar suits. Money, power, prestige, and notoriety. The ideology they claim to follow, The New Doctrine Of Social Order, is some elitist bullshit their predecessors came up with in order to preserve the social hierarchy of those who find themselves in the top 1%. If you ask me, they are nothing but a bunch of self-righteous egomaniacs who hide behind their purpose in order to remain in power.”
“I don’t understand…”
“Think of them as your modern-day mafia, only worse. Kane has his toes dipped in every possible illegal scheme you can imagine from drugs, guns, human trafficking, trained hitmen...”
“Like you,” I murmur, knowing it is probably not the best thing to bring up with Liam in the room, but also not able to hold back my snide remark.
Roman smiles wide, a wicked chuckle leaving him as he stares behind me. I can only imagine the look on Liam’s face as all of this unravels before him. “I assure you sis, taking out our old man was no paid hit, I was more than happy to take care of that, but essentially yes, I am not going to deny that I was Wesley’s hitman,” he takes a swig of his beer before continuing, “I’m trying this new truth thing with you.”
“Well it all makes more sense to me now, especially the comment from one of his goons. He said Kane liked his girls of legal age, I assume that was the trafficking he was referring to,” I mumble more to myself than to the room, but I can tell Roman still hears me as he sits forward.
“You’ve talked to him?” Roman asks, suddenly his mood becoming bleakly serious.
“That doesn’t matter, what matters is that he knows who I am. He summoned me about a week ago, I’m sure it was just some measly scare tactic but it proved he’s going to be around, which means I need to be prepared, know what I’m going up against.”
“What you need to do is stay the hell away from Dalton. Jade, this isn’t like the shit Scar was involved in with Wesley. Yeah Wes was dangerous and corrupt but his interest in Scar was personal, to him it was more of a sick obsession he couldn’t get over, and it got him killed. Marchesi used her to enact his own revenge and it got him killed. All of it nearly got Scarlett killed.” The mention of everything my sister went through just months ago makes my stomach churn along with the fact that I haven’t been there for her. However, it also reminds me how everyone knew what she was dealing with except for me.
“Scarlett was able to come out of it, not unscathed but she survived, and Kane wants nothing more than to scare me Roman. He thinks I mean something to Sebastian, and somehow that fits into whatever agenda he has with the Silvers, but he’s wrong. There is nothing he can gain from using me.”
Roman disagrees, shaking his head reluctantly. “Don’t underestimate him Jade, Dalton, he’s fucking deranged. I once heard he slaughtered an entire rival drug cartel for the mere fact they sold to someone on the outskirts of his territory. His only goal is to make everyone fear him and remain at the top of his game, and Kane’s known all around the black market as a ruthless son of a bitch. The shit he has with the Silver’s, I don’t know the extent of it other than the fact that Stephan uses The Order as his own personal security detail, though I know it goes much deeper than that. Silver is at the front of the drug scheme here in Hillcrest, The Devil’s Kiss has infiltrated every corner of Pleasant Hills, and beyond, but the drug dealt by The Order, TranQ, it’s fucking addictive not to mention lethal.”
I knew in coming to Roman I’d find out what I needed to know, well enough to begin my dive deeper into his connection to Sebastian, but he doesn’t have to know that. “I’m not going after him Roman,” I say, trying to keep my brother at ease. I don’t need him getting in my way if he’s worried I’d be getting into trouble with The Order. “I’m not planning to go head-to-head or try to take him down like Scarlett foolishly did, but I’m afraid he’s already made it clear he’s interested and I don’t know if I can stay under his radar.”
Before Roman can respond, the front door is kicked open and a frighteningly enraged Sebastian appears under the doorway with Beck standing closely behind him looking equally as pissed.
“When the fuck were you with Kane’s men?” Sebastian shouts, unmistakably furious. Fuck. This is the last thing I need right now.