Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Two police cars sit in the driveway of Lewis’s place as we exit the Escalade.
Adam and I walk up the steps to the porch and I see the entire gang through the large picture window: Lewis, Gen, Mira, Tyler, Jaeger, Cali, Nessa, and Zach.
The police officers are standing in the room as well, with clipboards in their hands.
They appear to be writing down information.
Mira greets us at the door, wearing a black summer dress, and ushers us to the island separating Lewis’s kitchen from the living room—the only place left to sit. She hands me a glass of water and I offer some to Adam, but he shakes his head.
“It worked,” Gen says to Adam after we settle. “Jeb’s friend was able to record the conversation with Blackwell. They’re obtaining a warrant for the house where Blackwell is keeping the escorts.”
Jeb is Gen’s father. “What is she talking about?” I ask Adam.
He’s leaning against the counter, his head in his hands. “I spoke to Lewis a couple of weeks ago. Asked him why Sallee Construction wasn’t involved in the Bliss suite remodel. It seemed suspicious to both of us, and he put me in touch with Gen’s dad, who helped with the Drake Peterson conviction.”
“You organized this…without talking to me?”
“Adam was already a target,” Lewis says, looking over from where he’s sitting on the couch with Gen. “He didn’t want you involved until we knew more and had support from the police.”
Mira reaches across the island and touches my arm. “It all happened so quickly. Tyler and I were out to dinner and just found out too. So did the rest.”
One of the police detectives introduces himself and closes his clipboard. “Joseph Blackwell is under arrest. As your friend mentioned, we’re putting together a search warrant for the apartment building where they’re keeping the women.”
Gen closes her eyes and shakes her head. “I can’t believe Blackwell did this.” Lewis tightens his arm around her shoulders. “What happened to me was bad, but sex trafficking?”
“A federal offense,” the policeman says, and hands each of them a card. “Contact us if you have any concerns. We’ll give you updates as they come in.”
The detectives leave and I rest my head on Adam’s shoulder, wrapping my arm around his waist. “You should have told me,” I say softly.
He breathes into my hair. “Didn’t want you on Blackwell’s radar.”
I look into his face. “I should have trusted you to do the right thing, but you need to trust me too. We could have talked and I would have supported you.”
He nods. “I didn’t find out about the escorts until tonight. There were threats by Paul before—” He shakes his head. “I just didn’t want you hurt. I couldn’t have stood that.”
Adam was put in a tough position. I understand, but I’m not okay with him keeping things from me.
Before I can respond, Mira speaks up. “Just think, Hayden. If you hadn’t sucked up your pride all those weeks ago and made nice with Adam, the police wouldn’t have such good material.”
Adam looks at me. “What’s she talking about, sucking up your pride?”
Time slows. Adam lost his father tonight; he’s exhausted, vulnerable, and I can read the thoughts crossing his mind. “Something silly in the beginning. It was nothing.”
Mira rests her chin on her hand, leaning over the counter, and clearly not getting the tension she’s causing.
“Hayden was supposed to get close to you so that we could figure out if Blue was still running the suite Tyler and I found, but I never thought you guys would get that close.” She snorts, laughing, and I glare at her. “What? You guys are cute.”
“You’re not helping.” I turn to Adam. “Don’t listen to her…Adam?”
He stands abruptly, wavering slightly on his feet. “I have to go.”
“Wait.” I stand beside him. “I’m going with you.”
“No,” he says forcefully.
I step back. “Adam, what Mira and I talked about all those weeks ago has nothing to do with you and me now.”
“Doesn’t it?”
My eyes widen. Anger radiates from his body.
Jaeger walks over. He’s one of Adam’s best friends and he must have read the hurt on Adam’s face. “What’s going on?”
Adam swivels his head and sneers at Jaeger. “Protecting her again?”
“Concerned,” Jaeger says. “For both of you.” He peers at me, a question in his gaze.
Adam has been frustrated with me before, but never like this. He took everything Mira said the wrong way, and I know why. “Tonight’s been horrible. Please just listen to me.” I look at Jaeger, who’s still watching us. “His father—”
“This isn’t about my father!” Adam snaps. “Was it all a lie?” He waves between us. “I was a dick to you in the past, but I never thought you’d stoop to this. Well played, Hayden. Kick the jerk while he’s down.”
“No! It’s not like that.” Tears fill my eyes.
Not because of his words, though I’m not too fond of those either, but because he’s pushing me away—using this as an excuse.
“You’re doing this on purpose. I don’t know why, but you are.
If you’d just stop and think, you would know how I feel about you. ”
He shoulders past Jaeger and stalks out the door.
“Go after him,” I say. “Don’t leave him alone. He—His father… Just go with him. Please.”
Jaeger glances at Cali, and she nods rapidly. He grabs his keys and takes off. I see him talking to Adam outside, then Adam gets in Jaeger’s car and they drive off.
The next thing I know, Mira is beside me, holding me up.
“Hayden, oh my gosh. I’m such an asshole.
I’m so sorry. The police told us everything Jeb’s friend recorded in the suite and how it all went down.
I thought Adam protecting you tonight was beautiful—I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. ”
She hands me a tissue and I wipe my nose. “It’s not your fault. He’s not himself.”
I explain about Adam’s father and the room goes silent.
“You’ll stay with me and Tyler,” Mira says, and I nod. I want to be with Adam, supporting him, but he has it in his head that he can’t trust me.
He. Doesn’t. Trust. Me. Maybe he’s grieving and acting erratically, but it doesn’t change the result.
All this time, I waffled over whether or not to trust Adam, believing his omissions about Blue were damning. How did things come to this?
The one guy who knew me and stood by me—and I made it so that everything we’d shared was built on a lie. My lie.
I omitted what I knew about Blue. It was unintentional—I thought Adam had talked about the original suites with Tyler—but I held back by not openly discussing it. By protecting myself and my plans for turning Blue Casino around. I don’t blame Adam for thinking I lied to him.
How can he ever trust me?
Adam
Jaeg and I enter Hunt’s small apartment with my key. Hunt is slumped over the kitchen table, his outstretched hand gripping a quarter bottle of Jack. “Got any for the rest of us?”
Hunt lifts his head. His eyes are bloodshot, his complexion pale. “Always,” he slurs.
Jaeg rests his hand on my shoulder. “You think this is wise?”
I glare at his fingers, then his face. He drops his hand. “You don’t need to worry about protecting her from me. I’m done with her.”
“Who?” Hunt asks at the same time Jaeg sighs and says, “It’s not her fault. You don’t mean that.”
I collapse into the chair opposite Hunt. “She used me. It’s exactly her fault. Don’t know why I thought she’d be different.”
“Don’t be a hypocrite, Adam. You never thought about something casual with Hayden? In the beginning, before you were invested?”
I blink at Jaeg. I can’t process what the hell he’s trying to say to me. So I keep it simple. Everyone leaves. Hayden betrayed me. I leave her before she leaves me. “She’s just like the others. They all want something.”
I snort. That’s exactly what Paul said about women. Great, now I’m quoting douchebags. I need a drink.
Hayden didn’t want me to provide for her like the other women I dated. She wanted something altogether bigger. She wanted to use me to make her past right.
I trusted her—cared for her. More than I’ve cared for any woman. And she used me. “I was an idiot. I know when the writing is on the wall. I invented the writing.”
Jaeg sighs again. “Hayden isn’t like that.”
“This about that girl you’ve been spending time with?” Hunt’s voice sounds clearer by the minute. I grab the finger-marked glass on the table and reach for the bottle of Jack. “Dump her,” he says. “You don’t need that baggage.”
I slam my fist on the table and Hunt flinches. “She’s not baggage.”
She’s out, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let my brother, or anyone else, badmouth her.
Jaeg leans forward on the table. “Don’t do this, man. Your brother just gave you the advice you gave me in high school—do you remember? Things worked out for me in the end, but in this case you’re wrong. Don’t lose the girl.”
I stare at the amber liquid in my hand. “There is no girl,” I mutter, and take a swig. The liquor burns down my throat, warming the patch of ice that formed over my heart the moment I walked away from Hayden.