35. Chapter 35
Chapter 35
L una
Evelyn Cross, the woman who’d birthed me, gazed at me without emotion as I tried to process the strange sight of her sitting at Ezra’s dining room table.
Roman took my hand and squeezed. “What the hell is she doing here, Ezra?” he growled.
It didn’t surprise me he recognized her since we looked so much alike. His hard, warm presence helped ground me as I pushed back some of my dread.
Ezra stood. “She came to the mortuary a few days ago, looking for you. I asked her to leave, but she kept coming back. You can either kick her out now or listen to what she says, then make your own decisions.” He looked around the table at my adopted cousins, who were all scowling viciously at her. “I arranged the meeting here so you’d have plenty of family around.” I appreciated Ezra’s words more than he’d ever know.
Evelyn stood, rounded the table, and carefully moved toward me. “I didn’t know what Montgomery had done to you. At first, he said you wanted to spend your birthday with Sylvie. When I found out what really happened, it was too late.”
Too late? I didn’t know what that meant to her, but it was true for me. During the year following the attack, I believed this woman would come for me. I thought she would reach out and explain that maybe she didn’t know, or that she chose me instead of the monster who was my father. I finally let go of that vain hope when my birthday, and then the holidays, came and went and I didn’t hear a word from her. The ache of rejection and worthlessness lessened every year, and the Spade family–and now Roman–more than filled the void she’d left.
I’d been so young and lost, even before that hellish day. Roman squeezed my hand again, reminding me of his presence, and Sylvie came over to stand on my other side.
“I don’t care,” I answered quietly.
Evelyn stopped and lowered her hands. “What happened to you isn’t my fault, Luna. I was a victim too, and I’ve lived with that man for almost thirty years, putting up with his vicious mood swings and–”
“Why are you here?” I interrupted. “You didn’t come to apologize or try to make amends. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be standing there blaming him.”
She glanced at Roman, then looked down at our linked hands and let out a long, frustrated breath. My father might be a monster, but she’d chosen him, and his power and money, over her own child all those years ago. I thought that made her a monster too.
“Can we talk in private? I don’t know these people, but I know their reputation.” Her lip curled in faint disdain.
She hadn’t changed. “Really? What is it you’ve heard?”
She seemed to remember where she stood and glanced around. “Well, your father complained about you living with them often enough.”
“What did he say about them?” I asked mildly.
“That they’re thugs and criminals.”
“That’s interesting coming from someone like Montgomery Cross. And you. A cryptic scribbled note on the back of a salon card doesn’t compensate for years of neglect.”
Her head jerked back. “You’re still alive, and you look fine to me.”
I studied her contemptuously. “I was a child when you threw me away like garbage, and you’re not stupid. There’s no way you could afford the three homes you have or all the clothes, cars, or vacations if your husband wasn’t as crooked as an intestinal tract. He’s a fucking judge , for God’s sake, and you know where the money comes from. Why are you here?”
Pride and anger rippled through her. “How dare you compare me to him, or these people–”
I stepped forward and slapped her across the face. Her eyes narrowed to slits, but she didn’t try to hit me back. “Shut. Up. One of ‘these people’ found me in my own blood and filth, dying in your fucking clothes closet. Then she and her family took me in, healed me, and showed me what a real family was. You’re no better than him, and at least he isn’t a hypocrite about what he is. Now, what do you want ?” I asked again.
Her glassy eyes scoured my face, my handprint visible on her cheek. “I want your evidence against him. He’s gotten worse over the years, and I need a way out that won’t leave me destitute.”
Sylvie snorted. “What’s the matter, Evelyn? Or should I call you Mrs. Montgomery Cross? Weren’t you smart enough to collect your own insurance? Luna was eleven years old. Obviously, she didn’t get her intelligence from you.”
Evelyn turned and sneered at her. “Hello, Sylvie dear. I hear you’ve become a mortician, of all things. Was that your dream job growing up, and what do you think your mother would say if she hadn’t decided to hang herself?”
I wanted to scratch this bitch’s face, but Sylvie just rolled her eyes. “My mother knew what I wanted to do, and she supported me. Even with manic depression, that woman was a better mother than you’ll ever be. By the way, did you know your husband was screwing half your neighbors? He even hit on my mother, God rest her soul. She laughed in his face.”
Evelyn’s hands fisted. “I’m done talking to you.” She turned to me and sucked in a breath. “Well?”
“Does he know you’re in Las Vegas?” I asked.
“No. I told him I’m getting a little surgery done.”
“What’s in it for me?”
“What?” She had the gall to sound affronted.
I smiled coldly. “You heard me. Why should I help you unless there’s something in it for me?” Glancing over at Roman, I wondered what he thought about all this.
“What do you want?” she asked carefully.
“My kneejerk reaction is to tell you to go screw yourself. But I’ll talk to my husband and family, and get back to you. Give Ezra your phone number.”
“He already has it,” she snapped.
“Good, then leave.”
My mother gazed at me with intense dislike. “Fine.” She walked back over to her place at the table and grabbed her expensive designer purse. She sniffed as she passed me. “You didn’t turn out at all like I hoped.”
“Thank God for small favors,” I retorted.
On the drive home after dinner, my mind raced as I thought about my parents, and what I really wanted.
Roman glanced at me. “What’re you thinking?”
I turned to him. “My mother wants that information so she can blackmail my father into giving her more money in a divorce settlement. If she got a divorce based on his salary as a judge and not all his under-the-table business deals, bribes, and payouts, she’d never be able to afford the lifestyle to which she’s grown accustomed.”
“That’s true. So what do you want from her?”
My mind raced through different answers, but I circled back to one thing. Turning to him, I studied his beautiful, severe features in the dark. “I want justice. For all of us.”
The next morning, I texted Alexa and Fenn and asked them to meet us at the law offices later that day.
Fenn called less than a minute later. “What are you up to now, Lou?”
“Why would you ask if I’m up to something?” I countered.
“Because I know you.”
“I’m ready to go after my father.”
Fenn went quiet on the other end, then let out a long, happy sigh. “It’s about fucking time. Okay, I’ll be there.” Fenn had been prodding me to let him take my father out for years. Up until now, I was too scared because I knew Montgomery Cross had a long reach, and his retaliation terrified me. But I knew it was time.
Alexa and I sat in the conference room that afternoon when Roman and Ivan walked in. Then Fenn sauntered in a few minutes later with blood splatters on his shirt and bruised knuckles.
I shook my head in mild disgust. “Fennick, it’s barely past noon. You ask what dangerous thing I’m up to when you’re the one who can’t go a full day without fighting. What happened? Where have you been?”
He grinned. “If I didn’t let off a little steam now and then, I’d blow like a bad high school science experiment.”
Ivan smirked and stroked his beard. “You should box with us at Colton’s gym, it’s good for working off excess energy.”
Fenn winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “He banned me a while ago. Maybe if you put in a good word, he’d let me come back.”
Roman glared at Fenn. “It’d be worth it to get you in the ring so I can beat the shit out of you for bringing Lionel Strack to Luna and Sylvie instead of me.”
“Anytime, cousin .” He grinned and turned to me. “Tell everyone why we’re here.”
I leaned forward. “I’m ready to go after my father, but I need help. My mother says she wants the account information I stole to use against my father–the same leverage Fenn used when he sent that man’s arm back in a box.”
Ivan’s eyebrow rose. “What arm, and what man?”
“It belonged to the hitman my father sent after me when I was fourteen.”
Ivan sat back. “What the fuck? How’d I miss that when I did your background check?”
“Probably the same way you missed finding Lionel,” Alexa muttered out of the corner of her mouth.
Ivan raised his eyebrow at Alexa. “What was that, Peaches?”
Alexa blushed and glared at him. “Don’t call me that, cabrón .”
Roman leaned forward and interrupted their budding argument. “If she gives that information to her mother, Luna loses her own leverage, and chances are her father will come after her again.”
“Then don’t give it to her,” Fenn answered. “She’s a bitch who deserves to rot.”
“But what if we use her to flush him out?” I asked.
“What’re you thinking?” Ivan asked me.
I leaned forward. “We pit them against each other and take them both down.”
Over the holidays, we celebrated with a few Spade family dinners and a poker brunch party at the mortuary. All the partners showed up, and even Xander came for a little while, but he didn’t stay to play poker.
Ivan beat Alexa in a stunning upset. In a tense final hand, she laid down three queens, and I thought she’d easily beat him. But she looked a little sick when he stroked his beard, leaned forward, and laid down three aces.
I suddenly suspected those two were playing for more than just the large pile of chips in the center of the table, and I knew in my bones Ivan had somehow cheated.
He stared at her like she was his first meal after a long fast as he laid his cards down. “Three aces beats three queens, Peaches.”
Alexa’s eyes flared, and she pushed her chair back and stood. Ivan leaned back and stretched his arms behind his head, his posture deceptively casual as he watched her with predatory hunger. She glared at him silently, then turned and strode out.
“See you tomorrow,” he called, grinning as she held up her middle finger in response.
Sylvie turned to me and asked quietly, “What was the final bet?”
I shook my head. “More than just money I suspect. There’s definitely something going on with those two.”
She nodded and stared, unseeing, at the door. “Those three are sneaky fuckers. Ivan hides it better than Roman and Drakos, but he’s got that same possessive, sadistic streak in him. You’re right, something’s happening between them.”
I snickered. “You’re a damn hypocrite, and not as sly as you’d like to think. What’s with you and Drakos?”
She scowled and stood. “What? Nothing. I don’t hate him, but if he were on fire and I had water, I’d drink it.”
“You know what’s interesting?”
She looked at me suspiciously. “What?”
“I never asked you if you hated him. Your answer gives you away.”
“Oh, shut up.” She turned and started clearing off the tables, obviously wanting to end the conversation. My two best friends were involved with two of the partners. I had no idea how I felt about that.
Roman and I exchanged gifts in bed. He gave me a trip to Bali, and I bought him a Cherry Box subscription for a monthly sex toy box. I also told him that within reason, I’d try out the merchandise with him. I started to worry when, later that morning, I saw him peruse their website with a cheerful gleam in his eyes.
We took a few days off during the holiday break, but I was anxious to start interning with Arthur, and Roman had work piling up, so we went into the office together every day before my last semester started.
Gideon had hired a temp agency to fill the receptionist spot until they could find a permanent receptionist. The search hadn’t been going well. The first receptionist was a young man who asked me to lunch on his first day. Roman found out, and the man didn’t come back the next day.
When I asked Roman about it, he shrugged. “Your wedding ring and collar are prominent enough that he’s either clueless or just didn’t care. Neither trait is desirable in an employee.”
The receptionist today looked like Miss Trunchbull from Matilda , complete with the mean scowl and hairy mole.
Wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt, I raised my hand and smiled when we walked into the reception area. “Good morning. I’m Luna–”
She turned her office chair to face Roman and talked right over me. “You have three messages and a Fed Ex package. I emailed you regarding the messages and set the package on your chair.” Then she turned back to her computer and started typing. She was gone before lunch.
Alexa, Sylvie, and I met for dinner at Luigi’s at the end of our holiday break. We ordered, got our drinks, and settled in.
Alexa got right to the point. “We have an idea about your father and how to smoke him out.” We discussed what she and Ivan had been working on for the next hour while plowing through pasta and wine. When I looked up from the decimated plates on the table, Ivan and Roman walked in together. When Alexa looked up and saw Ivan, she flushed and went quiet. That’s when I started to worry.
The next morning as I made coffee, I turned to Roman. “What’s going on with Alexa and Ivan? After declaring her undying dislike for men since I’ve known her, Sylvie says she’s practically living with him.”
He took my coffee cup and put it on the counter, then pulled me to him and wrapped his hands around my hips. “It’s their business. You need to let it go.”
But I didn’t let it go. She seemed withdrawn, and I was concerned. Alexa stopped answering my calls and texts after telling me she didn’t know what I was talking about, and everything was “just fine.” So, I went back to badgering Roman.
He eventually lost his patience one evening out by the pool as we sat in the loungers.
“I told you if you asked me again, I got to pick your punishment.” He grinned and stood, pulling his belt out of his belt loops and grabbing my wrists. He flipped me around and deftly tied my forearms behind my back.
“What are you doing?” I squirmed as he wrestled me into place on the lounger.
“Giving you something else to think about.” He pulled my leggings and thong off, pushed my upper body onto the lounger, and palmed my ass. Then he spread my thighs as far apart as they would go and spanked my pussy with his large, rough palm.
“Ouch, Goddamn it, you fucking caveman!” I ruined my outrage by laughing breathlessly and trying to wiggle away.
Leaning over me, he murmured in my hair. “I warned you, Sweetness, but you kept at it. I think you’re craving a hard pussy spanking.” He reached in and cupped my wet slit, running his fingers through the moisture there. His next smacks targeted my inner thighs until I was a panting hot mess underneath him. He understood what aroused me, and I knew he needed to tie me up and control my pleasure sometimes. We were a match made in hell. My thoughts spun away as my body absorbed the erotic stings and dark pleasure.
I moaned as he worked two fingers inside me, pumping hard while I panted beneath him. Arching my back, I pushed myself against his fingers. “Fuck, that feels so good.”
“Your soaked, swollen pussy tells me you don’t mind being tied up, pussy-spanked, and finger fucked. I’ll remember that.”
“Please, I want to come,” I whimpered. He hadn’t touched my clit, and I knew it was on purpose.
“You’ll come when I want you to come–with my cock buried so deep inside, you won’t be able to walk tomorrow without feeling the wreckage.” He smacked my thighs, then ran his palms over the sting.
His hands disappeared, and I heard him unzip his pants and shed his clothes. Then he pulled my hips up. “Spread your knees wider, my sweet little cock slut.” He slapped my ass, and I cried out. Then he drove inside me as he held my hips immobile, working his cock deep, just like he’d promised.
My pussy was so tender and sensitive, I shivered when he stroked me as he took me hard and deep from behind. Groaning, he wrapped his hands on my shoulders as he pounded into me. Moments later, when he finally reached around and stroked my clit, I came, screaming so loud he wrapped his other palm across my mouth. He orgasmed seconds behind me.
It took a few minutes to settle down, and he undid the belt he’d cinched around my forearms and grabbed a towel. After cleaning up, he held me while we watched dusk turn into night. A cool breeze picked up, and he grabbed a plush cashmere blanket and draped it across us.
A few stars appeared in the darkening sky as he kissed the top of my head. “I know you’re worried, but they need to work it out. Alexa will find you and Sylvie when she’s ready to talk. But if you want to keep bringing it up, I have a few other ideas.” I could hear the grin in his voice, and my pussy clenched.