20. Emerson
Emerson
Icouldn't fight the scowl on my face as I took in the rundown restaurant.
Pearl was home, asleep in my bed, while I was forcing myself to come out in the early morning to see if I could find my piece-of-shit father. Last night had been everything I wanted.
We spent hours in her room before we slowly made it to mine. I lost count of how many times we fucked, all of them melding together, but I would never forget the way she was sitting perched on her bed, waiting for me in only my flannel.
The one she kept all these years.
But this was important, and I would make it work, no matter how much I still wished I was in bed with her.
Through Jax’s security company and a few of my other contacts, I got the tip that he might be hiding out somewhere near here. Apparently, he’d been seen at this very restaurant—a rundown American diner—having breakfast.
He had been eerily quiet so far, and it was starting to worry me. I knew he was probably doing it to fuck with me, but I wasn't taking any chances.
I had reached out to the information broker, but she had gone suspiciously quiet too, so I was on my own, and I didn’t have any time to waste.
I tried not to show it around Pearl, but the threat of my father and her stalker was weighing on me. I wasn’t myself at work. I wasn’t able to focus.
I was afraid. Not of what he would do to me—I hadn’t been afraid of that in a really long time—but of what he might do to her. I had just gotten her in my life, and there was no fucking way he was going to swoop in and take what was mine.
He wanted me to suffer for sending him to jail. Even if he’d done that all on his own, nothing was ever his fault anyway.
Steeling myself, I walked into the diner. It looked like a place where you’d stop by during a road trip or something. The waitress had to be at least in her mid-forties, and she was smiling at the customers. There was another one behind the counter, and I could hear maybe two cooks working.
Lots of employees for a place that looks like it’ll be running out of business soon.
There were other tables toward the back, but none of the people sitting there looked like they were up to any shady business. They were just enjoying their cheap meal.
I took a seat at the bar, deciding that if I was going to do this, I might as well be upfront about it.
The older woman came up to me with a smile.
“Coffee while you look over the menu?”
I nodded. “I was actually wondering if you could answer some questions.”
Her smile dropped slightly.
“Sure. Take a look at the menu and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
She was pretty bad at trying to distract me. As if I’d want to know about food. Her hand was shaky as she poured coffee for me before setting the pot down.
“I heard there’s a man who comes here sometimes. He's on the tall end, balding slightly, he probably smells. His name is James Blackwell.”
Her entire body froze, and when she met my gaze, I could tell that she was carefully considering all her options. Then, her hands shot up, and she quickly retreated.
“If you know anything, you need to—”
He almost got away with hitting me from behind. The only sound giving away my attacker was the squeak of his boots, and I moved before whatever he was holding could hit my head.
I turned quickly and sent a kick right to his abdomen, working on instinct and muscle memory alone.
I got a look at his face, my heart dropping to my stomach when I realized he’d been one of the people sitting in the corner, smiling at the waitress.
A younger man, a little rough around the edges, sporting similar tattoos as the one who visited my office.
He staggered back, but there was another one coming right after him, holding a long bat.
At least it's not a gun. But I’m still outnumbered.
I grabbed the pot of coffee behind me and threw it at him.
He let out a bloodcurdling scream as the hot liquid hit his face, and I tried to use the distraction to make it to the door, but more men were already there waiting for me.
In front of them was a girl with long black hair, rectangular glasses, and a smirk.
The guys behind her didn’t move against me. They just stood there, arms crossed over their chest.
“You looking for James?” the girl asked, stepping forward. She had a scar on the lower edge of her jaw that ran through the middle of her face.
“I think that's obvious by my line of questioning, isn't it?”
She chuckled and shook her head. She was oddly attractive for whatever type of criminal activity this was, wearing an all-black button-up and pants and a deep red tie loose on her neck. She looked like a fish out of water.
“Let me rephrase. How the fuck did you find out about this place?” Her sharp eyes shot up to me, danger swimming in them.
I heard shuffling behind me, but I didn't dare glance away from the target in front of me.
“My contacts saw him here.”
She nodded and took another step closer to me, her eyes trailing my figure.
“Fancy-looking suit… Nice car… And now you're telling me that your contacts told you where to find us. Who do you work for?”
She pushed one hand into her pocket and fished out a cigarette. One of the guys behind her immediately stepped forward and lit it for her.
What the fuck kind of wannabe mob boss is this?
But no matter how stupid I thought the whole thing was, something told me I should be worried about her.
“Myself.”
“And why are you looking into James Blackwell? You have a death wish or something?”
I stood straighter, fighting the fear that was running through me. I’m not a kid anymore. She took one deep inhale before pulling the cigarette away and exhaling in my direction.
“Why? Is he your boss or something?”
There was a pause, and then the entire place burst out in laughter. I took the time to look around. All of them seemingly thought I was the funniest goddamn comedian on the planet.
“What's so funny?”
The girl wiped fake tears away, turning the serious mob boss act back on.
“I'm the boss,” she said. She took another drag of the cigarette. “Now, tell me what you want with him.”
“Ideally?” I asked with a shrug. “I want to kill him. But I’d settle for maiming.”
She raised a brow at me.
“And why is that?”
“He's my father. That should be explanation enough.”
She looked me up and down again, taking her time, and then she waved off her men.
“Interesting. Let's sit, shall we? Someone get her a drink!”
We took a seat at one of the tables, just me and her, even though I noticed her men were still standing around, waiting for me to make a wrong move.
When they brought vodka to the table, I didn’t even flinch. Whatever it took to get some intel on my father.
And I got a lot more than I expected.
As it turned out, my father was blackmailing her. He had started as a client, but then in jail he somehow got ahold of some information, including some super sensitive hideouts her organization used. One of them was the one I’d walked into.
“That fucker doesn’t know when to walk away,” Dahlia, my new criminal underlord friend, growled and threw back another serving of vodka.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and shot me a look, her glasses gleaming under the lights.
“If he didn’t know so much more than he should, I would have shot him point-blank myself already. ”
“You still can,” I said and swirled the liquid around in my glass. My mood had soured the longer I stayed in her presence. Not because of her—she was turning out to be an important person to have on my roster—but because the chances of catching my father seemed bleaker and bleaker.
“You’re funny. The thing is that I have no idea who he told about our hideouts, and until I know, I’m not putting my people or business in danger.”
I looked around, noticing the waitresses had dropped their cover, sitting in one of the booths and smoking with the men.
“What business is it anyway?”
She waved me off and took a drag of her cigarette.
I think she was on her fourth. Her hair had been pushed behind her ears, showing me some of the scars that littered her face and neck.
My gaze lingered on a particularly deep one right under her ear, almost like she’d been stabbed.
I held back my shiver at the image of someone burying a knife in her neck.
“A bit of everything. Though I don’t fuck with drugs or human trafficking. I prefer blackmail and money laundering. Hired help sometimes as well, if the money’s good.”
“I’m surprised you answered me,” I muttered and finally took a big gulp of my own vodka, wincing at the taste.
“I think you and I can work together,” she said as she turned to me. “Look, if you have any questions, I’ll answer them honestly. In return, I want you to kill that motherfucker and every person who possibly knows about this place.”
“Trying to use me to do your dirty work?”
She sent me a wicked smile.
“I’m a criminal. What did you expect?”
I shook my head and sighed.
“I’ve been planning to kill him for a very long time. I can’t guarantee any others, though. But my contacts won’t say anything, so you can count them out.”
“You must really hate him.” Understatement of the century.
She gave me a lingering look before adding, “If they talk, I’ll kill them and you too. I hope you know that.”
“Heard you loud and clear,” I said through gritted teeth. “Now I need addresses.”
She took a long, unhurried drag from her cigarette.
“Get ready, because you can’t write these down.”
It was hours later when I finally made it back to my apartment. The sun was up, and I walked upstairs to see if Pearl was still asleep. When I heard the shower in her room, I decided to take a quick one too to get rid of the stench of vodka and cigarette smoke.
Making my way downstairs again, I sat down on one of the kitchen island stools, knowing she’d be coming down soon, looking for something to eat before we had to leave.
My head was throbbing. Dahlia had given me some good information on where my father might be hiding, but it was still up to me to run with it. I should have seen it coming. She was only looking out for her own interests.
I’d sent the addresses to Jax the minute I got inside my car, asking her if she'd be willing to send some men to scout the area. It was still early, so I didn’t expect her to reply, but a message from her minutes later said she'd be on it and report back whatever she found.
Thank God I kept her in my life, even though she is a pain in the ass sometimes.
I barely made it out of there alive, and I knew dealing with my father would be even harder. Especially since he wasn't one to fight fair. I was totally out of my element.
I need to protect myself and Pearl. I need to do better.
Even with the shooting lessons and all the self-defense training, I knew it wouldn’t be enough. It had started in college as a means to work out my frustration, but I’d gotten good at it, especially at the range. Probably because every time I shot that gun, it was my father’s face I saw.
Still, I knew it wouldn’t cut it.
My phone was already starting to buzz with incoming emails from work. Along with everything else, it was almost too much to bear.
But then I heard Pearl walking downstairs, already ready for the day in a cute little dress that made me smile for the first time in hours.
“Already up so early? I missed you in bed," she said as she met me in the kitchen, coming to stand between my legs.
"I couldn’t sleep. I was just waiting for you," I lied.
I didn't like lying to her, but I also didn't want her to worry, especially knowing she had someone gunning for her.
I didn't want her to have to think about any of this. I wanted to make all her problems go away.
“Oh?” she asked and cuddled up close to me. My heart skipped as soon as her hands were on me. “Are we doing something this morning?”
“Breakfast before work,” I said, and wrapped my arms around her. “You pick the place. Whatever you want.”
I couldn't get over how good she felt in my arms. How right. I regretted not realizing how I felt for her in high school and not having the guts to take it to the next level. Her warmth seeped into my body and started working away all the stress without even trying.
I wanted to pick her up and go back to bed so I could get even just a little bit of sleep, but I was needed at work, especially because today I had two board members meeting us before lunch.
Pearl let out a happy squeal. “I know exactly where to go!”
I let her drag me to the entrance, happy that she was so excited but not looking forward to the fact that I was likely going to hate whatever breakfast she chose.
It didn’t matter.
For Pearl, I would do anything.