Wicked Fortune (Wicked Nights #5)

Chapter 26

TWENTY-SIX

I stand there, frozen. Not sure if I’m shocked or confused or terrified or what.

“Matthew?”

His name comes out a question, but the truth is I don’t even know what I’m asking. What the fuck ? more or less sums it up, but I can’t seem to push that question past my reality-muddled lips.

“Aria, baby, do you trust me?”

Slowly, I lift my chin. “I—I thought I did,” I whisper. I thought I loved you.

“Well, I trust you,” he says. “Enough to tell you everything now. But you have to get in the car.”

I don’t move.

I hear his sigh of exasperation, and it almost makes me smile. But nothing’s funny right now. I feel like that little girl all over again. That same young Ariadne when she learned that the Stair Man who’d rescued and protected her was really The Cat. And he hadn’t come to help her at all. He’d only come to steal the diadem her parents loved. To steal it … and to shatter every good thing in her family for years and years and years.

“Aria? Baby, are you listening?”

I shake myself, lifting my head again to face him.

“I won’t hurt you. No one’s going to hurt you. I love you,” he adds, the words coming so casually that it makes my heart ache. As if he says them every day. As if this isn’t the very first time I’ve heard him say that.

“I love you,” he repeats. “But you opened a door, and now the clock’s ticking.”

I blink. “Clock?”

“Department heads can see when a personnel file is accessed. And who accessed it.”

I shake my head, still confused.

“Dammit, Ari. You pulled Joel’s file. Elias would have been notified. And he would have assumed that you pulled it for me. He may not have figured out the truth about Joel yet, but he would at least know that we’ve been watching.”

It’s as if he’s speaking Latin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Get in the damn car. You, too, Joel.”

“But if she?—”

“If we have to leave her behind, we do. But we’re under the gun here.”

They’re still speaking Latin, but I’m starting to catch the gist. Especially when Joel circles the limo and climbs in from the other side.

“Thirty more seconds,” Matthew says. “Then explanations will have to wait.”

I look around, trying to decide what to do. That’s when Matthew extends his hand. “Do you trust me?” he asks again.

And, dammit, I do. I have no idea what the fuck is going on, but I know with absolute certainty that Matthew won’t hurt me. Not physically, anyway. But I’m starting to fear that he’s going to break my heart.

“I trust you,” I say, climbing in beside him and pulling the door shut. “But Clive doesn’t. If I don’t come back soon, he’s probably going to call the police.”

Matthew shakes his head. “Don’t worry. Wyatt will explain everything to him.”

“Wyatt? He’s in all of this?” Whatever the hell this is.

“He’s a good friend. He knows almost all my secrets. Including how I feel about you.”

Hot tears stream down my cheeks. “Matthew, don’t toy with me. Please. I want to believe there’s nothing bad going on, but?—”

“Oh, there’s bad shit going on. But it’s going on despite me, not because of me. And you deciding to play detective on the night that I’d arranged to finally take Elias Trent down … well, I won’t say you gummed up the works. But I will say you’ve made things a hell of a lot more interesting.”

The words are harsh, but he squeezes my hand, a tiny smile touching his lips.

“I’d apologize,” I say. “But since I still don’t know what’s going on, I think maybe I want to wait on that.”

He chuckles. “Fair enough,” he says, as the limo reaches the end of the alley. The glass between us and the driver lowers, and I can see more clearly through the front windshield.

Ryan Hunter is there, standing with six other men, all wearing dark clothes. Another man stands with them, his hands behind his back. Cuffed, I realize when he turns and takes a step toward the limo before being yanked back by one of the men in black.

“That’s my cue,” Joel says, then slides out of the limo, leaving the door wide open.

I look between the sight in front of us and Matthew. “I’m sorry,” I say. I’m not even sure what I’m apologizing for, but I know enough to recognize the man in cuffs. Because even though I’ve only seen his photo once in a company newsletter, I’m one-hundred percent confident that he’s Elias Trent.

“Stark Security took him down?” I ask.

Matthew nods. “With some help from Homeland Security and the FBI,” he adds, pointing to a few of the men in the group.

“So I was right? Jenny got caught up in a trafficking scheme?”

“I’m afraid so.” His words are heavy, and though he takes my hand, he doesn’t quite meet my eyes. “I’m so sorry. We’re still trying to work out all the details, but from what we know, she made the mistake of going to Trent with her concerns.”

“And then she realized her mistake,” I say, with sudden clarity. I grab my phone from my back pocket, then find the photo of the letter. “I should have unscrambled it sooner,” I say, showing the image to Matthew. “I am these torn lines,” I read. “It’s an anagram for Elias Trent , with just a few extra letters.” I look up at him. “I think she was in a hurry to mail this to me. And I figured out the last part about driving, too,” I begin, but Matthew’s already got it.

“Trafficking.” He exhales. “Damn, I wish she’d come to me.”

I blink back tears. “Maybe she was going to. Maybe that’s why he got her. He must have forced her to the bridge. Jenny was smart. She wouldn’t have just gotten in a car with him.”

“I never met her personally,” Matthew says, his own eyes misty. “I never met any of the women they got their claws into.” He squeezes my hand. “You’ll have to tell me about her. We’ll have to learn what we can about all of them. They deserve to be seen.”

“How long have you known?”

He shakes his head. “Not long enough. Trent was smart. He used the Hardline meet-and-greets, but that’s all. Everything else was done through shell companies he created with an overseas group. The women thought they were going over for Hardline. But they weren’t.”

He drags his fingers through his hair. “I got wind of it about two months ago, then pulled Ryan in. He’s coordinated with teams in Europe. With luck, we’ll rescue most of the women who got filtered through the meet-and-greets. And any other women who got caught in those bastards’ nets.”

I hear the fury in his voice and nod, my throat too clogged with tears to speak.

“You poked your nose in a little too close. I was afraid Elias or his people were going to notice you.”

“I think he did. Matthew,” I say urgently, “I think there may be more of his team inside. Someone sent me this.” I show him the text from my yearbook with the warning.

“Ah, yeah.” He clears his throat. “Actually, that was me.”

“You?” I gape at him. “What the hell?”

“I found out you were coming, and I thought it would scare you off. Send you running back home. I didn’t want you here, Ari.” His voice is hard. Stern. “Don’t you get it? If Elias or one of his flunkies got their mitts on you, this operation would be all over. They’d be out of this country in a heartbeat, and the odds of us recapturing them would slip down to nil.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I’d let them go,” he says, his voice as gentle as a caress. “If that was the price to get you back and keep you safe, I’d accept whatever conditions they named.”

“Matthew.” I search for more words, but find none.

“I’ve wanted you for a long time, Ari. I won’t risk losing you now.”

“Oh.” It’s the only word I can get out past my tears. He bends forward and gently kisses me. “I love you, Ariadne Parker.”

“I love you, too,” I whisper, my heart so full right now I fear it might explode.

I snuggle closer, watching as someone shoves Trent into the back of what I think must be a government car. Joel stands with Ryan Hunter, deep in conversation.

I close my eyes, feeling suddenly queasy. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.

“Hush. It’s over now. Soon enough Elias’s whole network is going to fall. This is a good night, baby. A good night for Jenny, and for all of the others.”

“I know. That’s not what I’m sorry for.” I shift so that I can see his face. “I’m sorry that I doubted you. I didn’t want to believe you were involved, but when I heard you and Joel talking … I couldn’t hear all the words, but what I did hear … well, it sounded like you two were talking about trafficking, and?—

“We were,” he says. “Just from the good guy side of the equation.”

“Did you know I was there?”

He shakes his head. “But later I noticed that the door was ajar.” He offers a wry smile. “I hoped you hadn’t overheard. Then later, when I learned that Clive and Jonah had signed onto the lot, I was afraid you might be playing detective.”

“And sure enough …”

Our eyes meet.

“You picked a bad night,” he says, then kisses my forehead.

“Maybe I picked a good one,” I counter. “After all, I got to see you and Joel take him down.” I frown. “Who does Joel work for, anyway? Hardline security? FBI?”

Matthew shakes his head. “Stark Security. One of their newer agents.” He tilts his head, smiling as he studies me.

“What?” I narrow my eyes. “Are you about to chew me out for something stupid I did?”

“I’m not,” he says, his voice soft. “I was just thinking that tonight was a twofer. We got the bad guy. And I got you.”

“Yup,” I say. “No more secrets. I like it.”

“So do I,” he says. But I can’t help but notice that he doesn’t quite look me in the eye before he bends over to kiss me.