20. Jake
For the past three weeks, Cherry has ignored every attempt I’ve made to speak with her and it’s grinding my last nerve. Watching Hunter and Lexi recover from the trauma of her kidnapping and injuries has taught me a very valuable lesson and that is that life is short. It’s short and it’s precious and I’m too far gone for Cherry to waste another minute denying how I feel about her. I love her and I’m going to do whatever it takes to get her back. Starting with handling KLM.
“Joe, it’s Jake Marshall. I have a job for you.”
“Jake, long time no hear.”
Joe is a shady character who I met on a case during my first year as a lawyer for Lungo. He’s a fantastic private investigator but even better, he has a rather grey approach to how he gets things done. He’s the man I call when I want something done off the books with no questions asked.
“Yeah, it’s been a while. You still got a contact with the Mancini family? I need a sit-down.”
Silence greets me and I hear Joe sucking on his cigarette before he blows out a breath. “You sure you want that, Jake? Getting in bed with the Mancini family is a big risk because they always make you pay up, and there’s no getting out.”
“Yes. It’s worth it to me.”
“Alright, let me make some calls.”
Joe hangs up without another word and I sit back in my seat. My office at Lungo has always been my happy place. I look out over the city and know that I’ve made it. I’m at the height of my career. I have more money than I’ll ever spend and I’ve earned it. I’ve turned my life around. I’m respected because of my own name now, not just because of my association with the McKenzie family.
Now, though, I found myself missing my setup on the end of Cherry’s counter at the shop. With no need to worry about Dean hurting anyone, she and Lexi have hired help until Lexi goes back to work.
Taking out the worn file on my desk, I look at it and wonder how my life would’ve been if I’d just had access to this ten years ago. Would Cherry and I be married with a couple of kids? Would she still look at me as she had that day I told her I loved her, like I was the moon and she was the sun.
So many what-ifs and none of them matter because I’d let my fear and cowardice win. I should’ve told her when I found out. I should’ve gone to her and explained everything and let the chips fall. But I hadn’t, I’d caved thinking I was protecting her but in truth, I was protecting myself.
Fingering the file, I placed it back in the drawer and locked it away. The time will come when I’ll let her read every wrong deed I’ve done that has led us here, but not until I’ve fixed her future in stone. But first, I need to talk to Hunter.
Walking down to his office, I smile at Ruth, his secretary. “He free?”
“He is if you call harassing his girlfriend every ten minutes free.”
I knock and wait for him to call enter before pushing inside.
Looking up, he gives me a half nod in greeting before frowning at his laptop screen. “What’s up? ”
“I need to tell you something.”
I’m not sure if it’s my tone or just that he knows me so well, but Hunter pushes away from his desk and walks towards me, ushering me towards the couches where he has a fridge and decanter of whiskey.
“Drink?”
I shake my head. “Nah, I gonna take the bike out after this.”
“What’s on your mind?”
“Do you remember me telling you about that girl from college? The one that got away?”
“I’m not senile, Jake, it was only a few weeks ago and, by the way, I’m still pissed you didn’t tell me before.”
“Yeah, well, you’re gonna be more pissed when I tell you who it is.”
Hunter groans. “Please don’t say Lorelei.”
“God, no.”
“Then who?”
“Cherry.”
“Cherry who?” Hunter frowns looking confused until I see the realization on his face. “No way.”
“Yep. We met when you were out with your leg. I fell so hard, man. She was a whirlwind, beautiful, smart. Shit, you’ve met her.”
Hunter dips his head silently. “What happened?”
“She friend-zoned me. She wasn’t interested in getting involved. She’d worked so hard to get into Harvard. She was doing her degree in Architectural History, so I agreed to be friends. I knew she was it from day one, man. We became friends and eventually more. Honestly, I would’ve married that girl on the spot, but I knew we needed our degrees first and she needed to trust me. Losing her father had a huge impact on her.”
“Lexi mentioned that. It must have been tough. How did it go wrong? You cheat?”
I shake my head, kinda pissed that he’d assume that, but compared with the truth, it was better. “Never. I loved her. She was my entire world just like Lexi is yours.”
Hunter holds his hands up. “Yet here we are.”
“Nick Kendrick called me one night and told me he wanted me to steal the exam papers for the course Cherry was doing.”
I see his lip curl at the mention of Kendrick. Hunter hates him almost as much as I do. “Oh fuck. Please tell me you didn’t.”
I stand and begin to pace angrily. “Of course not. I’ll never do that to her. I told him no. He said I’ll regret it and I called his bluff. The next day I got a call saying he’d had someone else steal the papers, but that he’d framed Cherry.”
“How?”
“I’d taken Cherry to look at a rare book in the Dean’s office. I’d broken us in but we didn’t steal a thing. I swear I just wanted to do something nice for her.”
Hunter scrubs his hands down his face. “Ah fuck, I don’t like the sound of this.”
“It was a shit show. Her face was all over the CCTV. Nick had edited it somehow to make it look like she took the papers but she never went near his desk. He’d also wiped my image from the video. He said I had to implicate Cherry and not give her an alibi. I told him to fuck off, but he told me if I didn’t, he’d send her information I wouldn’t want her to have.”
“Which was? She would’ve forgiven you your past, Jake. Cherry is a hard ass but she’s loyal to those she loves and it sounds like you two fell hard.”
My chest feels like it’s caving in as I relive those few days, the way she’d made me feel. “I know but would she forgive the boy who stole her father’s car? Would she have forgiven me when I told her it was my fault he was walking on the road that night and got hit by that car?”
“Oh, shit. No!”
“Exactly. Nick sent me the file on the man whose car we stole. Hank had always protected me before that, but when I realized, I felt trapped. I either told her I’d had a part in her dad’s death and destroy her, or I let her get kicked out of Harvard for stealing and destroy her. It was an impossible situation. Either way, I broke her heart. She loved me, she trusted me, and I let her down.” Sinking into the couch, I put my head in my hands, letting the despair I still felt for that choice bleed out.
The couch dips and I feel a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Jake. You should have told me.”
“It gets worse. I found out after the fact that it was all a lie. Nick had made it up. The man who died wasn’t her dad. He died two days before. I destroyed her life because I was a coward and, not just that, I was incompetent.”
“Mother fucker.”
“Right. I hate him, Mac. I fucking hate him, but I hate myself more. I should have just told her.”
“It was an impossible situation, Jake.”
“I stole her dream.”
“No, Nick Kendrick did that just to fuck with you.”
“But being with me cost her. She paid the price for being with me.”
We sit in silence as Hunter processes the news and I feel like a weight has lifted just a little, but I’m not done with the revelations. “KLM is going after her mother’s hair salon. The building is in Cherry’s name and they want the land.”
“What?”
“She hired a lawyer but he’s useless. Taking kickbacks from KLM to persuade her to sell.”
“Why didn’t she come to me? I would have helped her.”
“Pride. Cherry doesn’t like to ask for help.”
“So what’s the plan? I assume you have one.” Hunter smiles and it’s like watching a shark grin. He’s hungry for blood, but not as hungry as me.
“I’m taking him down. I’ve asked for a sit-down with the Mancini family. He’s in bed wi th them but I’m going to owe them a favor if it means I get to end him.”
Hunter whistles and I know this is big. The Mancini family isn’t just a powerful family, they were Mi Famiglia. The Italian mob who ran the underbelly of this great country.
“You sure about this?”
I nod. “I’ll give you my resignation so you and Hank don’t get tangled up in this.”
Hunter is already shaking his head. “No way. You’re in, I’m in, and Dad will feel the same.”
“I can’t ask you to do that, Mac. This could get messy, and you have a family now.”
“You’re my family too, Jake.”
“I appreciate that, but no.”
“It wasn’t a question. I’m gonna talk to Dad and we’re gonna figure this out as a family. We may not need to talk to Mancini. Nick Kendrick is as dirty as fuck. There’s bound to be a way we can find something on him.”
“I’ve already asked for the meet.”
“Then call it off.”
“It’s too late.”
“Please, Jake, let me speak to Dad about this before you make any moves you can’t come back from.”
“Fine but either way, Nick is done.”
“I agree. Now, the important question is, what are you going to do about Cherry?”
“I love her, Mac. I never stopped, and I want her back. I just need to figure out how the hell I can fix this before I tell her the truth.”
“You should tell her now.”
I shook my head. “No, I have to win her over first, remind her of the good times, of the chemistry between us.”
“Well, this sure does explain the fireworks when you two are in the same room together. ”
I smile for the first time since finding out KLM had a bead on Cherry’s mom’s place.
“So what’s the plan?”
“I’m gonna be where she is. Every time she turns around, I’m gonna be there.”
“It won’t be easy. I don’t know her well but I do know she’s stubborn and getting kicked out of Harvard will have left a bruise.”
I punch his arm. “You’re not helping, Mac.”
He grins. “But I know a woman who might help.”
I tip my head and give it a short shake. “No, don’t involve Lexi. I need Cherry to know she has her best friend on her side.”
“Alright, Jake.”
I stand, needing to get out on my bike, and just forget about everything but the open road for a while.
“Jake?”
I swing back to look at my friend, who is still sitting on the couch, looking pensive. “You should have told me. I’d have been there.”
“I know.”
He would have, they all would have but I’d put enough pressure on his family, and adding to it or being a burden to them wasn’t something I wanted to do. Not now and not ever.