CHAPTER FORTY-NINE TRACE #2
“Oh yeah. I forgot. Yeah, yeah. There was a fight. You see, her daddy wanted more power in our family. He wanted to climb the ladder, and he staged a coup against your father. But blood is blood. You feel me? He came to me about it, told me everything your father was doing, and I’m saying everything.
The whores, the cops he was blackmailing.
He had his fingers everywhere, and her daddy knew about it all.
He gave me a proposition. He’d take out your dad if he’d get his job.
Said he could take your dad’s position and do it better.
” He began laughing, his shoulders shaking.
“And you know the funny thing? I bet he could’ve.
He wasn’t a stupid idiot. He was half-smart most of the time.
The other half was dumb because what’d he think?
That I’d choose him, an outsider, over my own blood? ”
I was bracing myself. “What happened to him?”
“I had him killed. That’s what happened.”
“You did?” My tone was sharp. Everything in me was on high alert. Her brother had been convicted for their father’s death.
“I mean, we set it up, but we didn’t do it.
The kid did. He just needed proper motivation, but yeah.
We got the son to kill the father, and now it’s almost karma that you’re banging the daughter.
Funny how that all works out, huh? Especially when Dominic made sure you were never here.
He never wanted you to run into the girl, said you’d fall for her.
She was a looker even back then, but we put out word not to touch her.
That was a promise to the father, that she’d be left alone.
But you see, I can’t fulfill that promise if she’s the one singing on us? ”
“She’s not,” I ground out.
Good fucking Christ.
I started to stand up. “Why am I here? Tonight?”
“What do you mean?”
I took out my phone.
Me: I want a guy on Jess at all times. I think my uncle might do something against her.
He was staring at my phone, and he pointed at it with his wineglass. “What’d you do there? Just now. You sent a text off? To who?”
“To Ashton.”
He nodded, easing back into his chair. “That’s good because you’re here for two reasons. One, I need to know if the woman you’re banging is turning evidence on us, and if she’s not, then we got a whole other problem on our hands.”
“It’s not Jess. I’ve had men on her and a tracker on her. It’s not her.”
The wino lunacy charade was gone, and my uncle was back in power.
He was clear and alert, and he was studying me like I was his enemy.
He nodded, slower this time, and he spoke, his voice all serious.
“Let’s hope it’s not your woman because if it is, then I’m going to have to take out her family.
Can’t get rid of another one and let the other two stew. ”
“It’s not her, so who’s the other choice?”
He stared at me, long and hard. “The other choice is that family from Maine. They could be behind everything.”
“What do you want me to do?”
He stood up from his chair, taking a sip of his wine before moving back to the table.
He lingered, staring at something before he put his wine down.
He picked up a folder and brought it over.
“You handled your father. You handled the uncle situation. Now.” He nodded to the folder as I opened it.
A picture stared back at me, and I knew who this person was.
“That’s the ringleader for the Maine family.
I’ve told you about them. Worthing Mafia is what they’re being called, but you know one of their cousins. He used to work for you.”
Justin Worthing.
I picked up the picture. “Are you serious with this?”
“I am. He’s got a brother on the force, a Detective Worthing. They’re using him to move in on us, and they’re going to keep coming.”
“What do you want me to do about this?”
“I want you to handle it.” He moved back, sipping his wine. “Handle it how you’ve handled all the other situations I’ve sent your way. You’ll have to rope Ashton in on it because his family runs the cops in town. Worthings are moving in on their territory too.”
He was asking me to “handle” more people.
“You might want to ask the reason why you had a Worthing at your club, too, while you’re at it.”
“Excuse me?”
“You had a Worthing working for you. Don’t think I didn’t consider that maybe you were the one plotting against me?”
He had better not be threatening me. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Now he went eerily still, and there was a whole layer of ice filling the room around us.
“Why the hell would I plot against you when you’ve been telling me that you want me to take over for you?” There was a storm in his eyes. I saw it, checked it, and it only kept growing.
My uncle was a problem.
The man who had been the one going to my sports games.
He was the father to me. My birthdays. He was the one who kept my picture on his fridge.
He was there for me. When his son left, I was at his side.
When his other one died, I’d helped plan the funeral.
He was a mess. His wife left him years ago, and she was gone gone.
Like vanished gone. The story had been that she’d had enough of him and took off, not wanting anything to do with this family.
I’d never questioned it, but now, had he done this to them? Threatened to turn on them?
Or worse, had he turned on them?
I was staring at my uncle, wondering if I was just seeing him for the first time.
A smile broke out over his face, and he started laughing. “I got you! I got you, didn’t I?” He came over, clapping me on the shoulder, but his hand holding that wine was still so steady.
“Uncle.”
“Yeah?” He was still laughing. “Why aren’t you laughing? It was a joke. I was trying to ease the tension. I know I came down hard about your girl, and then about your employee, but one never knows.” He motioned to his back. “A lot of people want to put knives in my back.”
“You just threatened me. You threatened family .”
I was still holding myself steady, watching everything he did.
Listening to every word he said, every inflection of tone.
All of it was being burned into my brain because this day changed everything moving forward.
He showed me the card that he could turn on me. I’d be stupid not to believe he would.
“It was nothing. You’re my nephew. I’d never do anything to you.
” He moved in, clasping the back of my neck, and rested his forehead to mine.
“I love my nephew. He’s the only one loyal to me.
I’d be a fool to lose him. I’d be a fool to lose you.
It was a joke, Tristian. Please forgive me. It was a bad joke.”
It wasn’t a joke. It was a test. He’d wanted to see how I’d react.
I stepped back from him, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say.
He faltered, frowning. “Trace?”
I took another step back, and another. Still not saying anything.
“Trace? I was joking.”
“You weren’t,” I grated out. “I’ve never done anything to you to make you believe you couldn’t trust me.
Never. I handed my father over to you, and I saw what you did to him.
Now this?” I motioned to him. “Justin Worthing is not a part of his family’s business.
I can’t speak to the rest of his family, but I know he is not.
And he’s not one of my employees anymore. ”
Stephano raised his chin up, slowly. “His woman is currently in your nightclub, talking to your woman. You can see that I do have cause for concern considering that your woman hasn’t chosen sides yet. She’s still working for the other side.”
“Excuse me?”
He had eyes in my club. In my club! I wasn’t surprised about the reporting on Justin, or even about Jess. I half expected it, but the questioning me, and now this? Current reports right now.
“I was just told myself that she’s there. How did you know?”
I began looking around.
He’d gone to his table. He was looking at papers.
Bobby had brought the wine in—that’s when I’d received the texts from Ashton. I went over his movements after that text.
He’d been in his chair. He was drinking. Testing me. Challenging me in a way. Then he stood, went to his table, and he paused there.
I began to turn toward the table, moving to it.
“What are you doing?” His voice sharpened.
I held up my phone. “You don’t have eyes at my club, not current ones. But I do, and I was just notified. That means ...”
“Trace! Don’t go over there.”
I ignored him, starting to read the papers.
They were files. Stocks. Others were numbers that he had scribbled down. Photos.
“Stop, Trace. I mean it,” he barked.
I moved aside one of the papers, and I saw a phone. I hit the screen; it was my wallpaper. I picked it up and turned back. “Unlock it.”
“Nephew.” He lowered his head, trying to go soft with me.
“Unlock it. Now. ” I tossed it at him.
He caught it, barely, crushing it to his chest with his arm.
Giving me an annoyed look, the ends of his mouth pinched in, he moved his thumb over the screen and tossed it back.
I went straight to changing the passcode, putting in the numbers I just saw him use and entered my own before I went through the phone.
It was mine. Everything was mine.
He’d made a duplicate phone of mine.
I checked my texts, seeing Ashton’s recent one there.
Seeing my sexts with Jess.
I turned, a cold rage starting in my stomach, and it was growing fast and fiercely. “What else do you have on me?”
“Nephew—”
“What else?!”
He jerked. Swallowing. He finished his wine—thank god for that—and put the glass on the table beside him. Then he held up his hands, both of them. “Now, listen. Trace ...”
“You have one phone; you could have others. I don’t enjoy my privacy being invaded.” Which was hypocritical of me because I had invaded Jess’s over and over again. I got it. I was getting it. But right now, I was dealing with this fire.
I just hadn’t decided if I was going to add gas or smother it.
“Tell me. Now.”
His head went back, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.
He had a resigned set to his shoulders. “I can tell that this meeting went sideways. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, and that’s on me.
I just needed to know. Your woman, you care for her.
A lot. I can tell, and she’s in the law.
I had to know, Tristian. I had to take precautions. Can’t you see that?”
“You cloned my phone. I’m not seeing anything right now.”
“You launched an investigation into me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I know you did. I have computer guys. They set up alerts, and they notified me that you were mousing around. You did it a while ago, on a Friday night. I even know where you were, at your place downtown. That fancy high-rise you own. I couldn’t believe it when they said your computer was the IP address that was looking into my finances.
Thought it was a joke, but then you got more serious with the cop, and what was I supposed to do? Huh? You’re the only family I got.”
“Maybe there’s a reason.”
His whole face shuddered before he reared back, snarling. “Stop being an ungrateful little bit—”
I was gone.
I couldn’t hit my uncle. If I did, I wouldn’t stop. The other choice I had was to leave.
He stopped but shouted as I was out the door and headed for the stairs, “Where are you going? Trace?!”
I shoved through the stair door and was going to the front door. “Trace?”
I stopped, seeing Bobby standing in the front living room. It was set up as my uncle’s meeting room when he didn’t want someone any farther into the house. He rarely used it because most of his business was done in the kitchen or at his warehouse two streets over.
“Don’t talk to me.” I was going for the door.
“Trace, stop.”
I opened the door.
“Trace.” He hurried forward, and then something was being shoved into my hand. “Read it.”
I closed my hand around whatever he gave me and was out the door.
Demetri saw me coming, hurried from the front, and opened my back door.
I got in and called Ashton. “Wipe everything. We need new phones. New computers. Everything.”
Demetri was getting back inside but heard me and looked at me through the rearview mirror.
“What happened?” Ashton said.
“My uncle’s been spying on us, and that seriously pisses me off. Wipe everything.”
“On it.”
I unraveled the piece of paper Bobby had put in my hand.
Your mother is alive. He doesn’t know.