Chapter Thirty-three
R iver left before I woke up and considering I was awake before the sun, it was early.
I’m not even sure I really blame him, yesterday was intense, with the kiss at the track and then him overhearing my brother and everything that came after that. I know he stayed with me for a while, his hand had been stroking up and down my arm until I’d fallen asleep but after that… who knows what time he decided to leave.
I thought about texting him after I woke but decided he probably needed space and it’s a good idea for me to have some too.
Especially since I have no idea how I feel right now. I want to say I know that I’m falling for him, but how am I supposed to be sure when I’ve never felt like it before?
At a reasonable hour, I head downstairs to get something for breakfast and a coffee, only to freeze in the door to the kitchen when I spot my brother sitting at the table, scrolling on his phone.
He flicks his eyes to me and then dismisses me.
“Why are you still here?” I ask, heading for the coffee cups.
“To make sure you remember to be ready by seven tonight. I’ll have a car pick you up.”
“You can’t make me do this, Liam.” I growl, my heart racing inside my chest. I’ve never said no, I’ve never told them I won’t do something for them and honestly, I’m terrified.
A cruel grin pulls up my brother’s mouth as he lays his cell down on the table and gives me his full attention.
“I can and I will,” He warns, “Even if I have to drag you there myself. Do not underestimate me, Marly. I will do whatever it takes to secure this deal.”
I tilt my chin up, hoping it shows I’m not scared of him even though I can feel my blood running cold and my hands shaking.
“Where have you been running off to these past three weeks, hm?” He changes the subject, but he knows he’s got me by just asking that question. I endanger River and everyone else if they find out I’ve been spending time down there. I don’t know what they’ll do but it won’t be pretty. They’d be punished for my actions.
“That’s none of your concern.” I snap at him, “I’m an adult, I’m able to do whatever I like.”
“I’m sure I can make it my concern,” He continues, nonchalant and laid back.
“Don’t,” My voice trembles.
“I’ll let it go, I’ll even keep it to myself, god forbid mom and dad find out their precious baby girl has been doing less than savory activities but you come tonight, and you do what you have to do to win this deal.”
“I’ll go,” My eyes burn.
“Good.” He gets up immediately and starts heading for the door. “Be ready when the driver arrives and do not be late.”
Silence falls on the house the moment the door slams behind him. It’s okay. Everything is going to be fine.
I can do this, and I can use whatever I find out at the dinner to my advantage. They want to hurt the south side of town, and I can’t let that happen.
I don’t end up eating, my stomach feels too heavy to be able to, so I just have my coffee, and I spend the day outside with my book. River doesn’t message at all, and I can hardly concentrate on the pages, my head at war within itself.
At five I head for a shower and to get ready for dinner and at seven sharp, a blacked-out SUV pulls up to the door where I’m ready and waiting. I decided on a pant suit instead of a dress which I know my brother will have something to say about, but I figured he won’t while in front of his guests. I doubt it’ll look good to them if he’s screaming at his sister.
We drive across town and stop at a small but high-class restaurant that’s usually booked out for months in advance, and inside I’m shown through to the private dining room at the back where my brother and three other men are already seated.
All but my brother stand at my entrance, and the server pulls out my chair and pours me a glass of wine before he vacates the space.
“Miss Winchester,” The youngest of them all greets me first, “I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.”
I give him a demure smile, “I don’t believe we have.”
“I’m Damien Kent,” He holds out his hand for me to shake. I keep my grip loose and then shake the hands of the other two at the table after they introduce themselves as Oliver and Timothy.
“How has your parent’s holiday been?” Timothy asks Liam, turning his back to me but Damien is still giving me his attention.
“So, what do you do, Marly?” He asks me, genuine interest in his expression.
“I – well, I haven’t quite decided what I want to do in the future.” I tell him honestly.
“Well, you’re young,” He smiles, “There’s plenty of time, nothing you’re leaning toward?”
I want to narrow my eyes at him and ask him what he’s trying to do. I don’t believe he actually gives a damn about what I want to do or my possible career prospects – which are zero thanks to my parents not allowing me the opportunity.
Had I been born into a different life, I think I’d like to work with children, kindergarten maybe or even go into something with literature, a librarian perhaps? Who knows!?
“A few things,” I lie, “But nothing settled yet.”
“I’m pretty sure I wanted to race cars when I was your age,” Oliver laughs at the other side of Damien. He’s early fifties at a guess, the eldest of the three if I was to just base it on looks but I also know that can be deceiving.
But his words have my spine stiffening, my mind instantly falling to River. By the time I left, I still hadn’t heard from him, but I also hadn’t reached out.
Damien laughs at Oliver and turns his attention back to my brother just as the server walks in to take our orders. I don’t even bother to look at the menu, I know how this goes in a room full of men. If it were my father or mother, they’d order for me and wouldn’t even entertain me having anything else, it’s likely my brother will do the same.
The three men order, and the server turns to Liam, his notepad waiting, “I’ll have the salmon,” He says, “And my sister will take the Cesar salad.”
“You didn’t even look,” Damien frowns. “Is that really what you want?”
I stare at him, blinking in shock. “Well–”
“It’s her usual,” Liam butts in with a chuckle, “Marly is a creature of habit.”
My molars grind together, “Well actually, I’ve gone off the Cesar recently.”
My brother glares at me from across the table.
“I’ll take the Alfredo instead,” I tell the server who jots it down and exits.
“Well, I suppose we should get to the business side of this dinner,” Timothy leans down and pulls out a thick folder and then opens it to the first page. It’s a map of the whole town and the entire southern district is highlighted in red. Dread sinks into my stomach and try as I might, I can’t read the messy handwriting that’s been scribbled in the margins around the map.
“It is quite the wonder how Mayor Winchester ever let it get this bad,” Damien runs his finger along his bottom lip and while I watch him, I notice there’s something about the way he’s looking at my brother that appears distrustful. “Especially when no expense has been spared here.”
“The southern district can be quite hostile,” My brother lies, “Set in their ways. My father tried numerous times when he was first voted in years ago now, and after so many rejections, he turned his attention to the parts of town that were welcome to the changes.”
It’s such bullshit!
My father has never once tried to help the less fortunate in this town. He sees money and money only; the rest are just steppingstones. He knew giving to the wealthy in this town would keep him in power so that’s what he did.
“As you are aware, the southern district has now fallen into a state of disrepair. We have helped where we can but there is only so much that we can do. And with all the fires and recent condemning of one of the schools, we must now look toward alternatives.”
“Fires?” I blurt out, unable to hold my tongue.
“You didn’t know?” Damien asks.
“My sister doesn’t tend to keep up with town news,” Liam says through gritted teeth.
“Ah,” Damien frowns but he doesn’t seem convinced, “The storms several months ago now brought to light a lot of electrical issues with buildings down in that part of town. Several buildings were destroyed by electrical fires in a matter of weeks. Not to mention the flooding in the school that led to its complete shutdown. I’m surprised you don’t know about that.”
My mouth opens and closes a few times. I don’t think anyone knows that, not on this side at least or it’s just been kept so hushed that only a few people are aware.
“It’s such a shame,” Timothy flicks to the next page in his folder, “A young man lost his life in one of those fires. Sinclair, was it?”
My brother is stiff on the other side of the table, but horror is working through me. I feel the blood drain from my face.
Fire. The burns on River’s arms, chest and neck. His brother.
Oh my god.
River’s brother died in one of these fires.
“So, what do you propose?” Oliver asks my brother directly.
I can see my brother is pissed , his anger is a palpable thing I feel pressing against my skin, but he puts on such a good show, the men in the room don’t notice, or at least two of them don’t. Damien, however, is proving to be different. His face is expressionless, but his hands are curled into fists atop the table, so tight the skin across his knuckles has turned white.
“I see no other way,” My brother sighs like he’s disappointed, “We must demolish seventy-five percent of the area.”
“Seventy five percent!?” I hiss in shock.
But my brother continues like I said nothing, “It will create more jobs in the area and provide more comfortable living arrangements for the residents.”
Except they’ll price them all out and make it impossible for them to work.
“We have already started the process of getting approvement to do so and once we have the paperwork all squared away, we will start making eviction notices.”
“You can’t do that!” I stand abruptly, panic settling in.
My brother ignores me.
“The seventy five percent of land has a low buy rate, most of the residential properties are rentals and we have already struck deals with the landlords to buy the land.”
Sickness rolls through me, “I can’t do this.”
Damien turns to me, his own look reflecting mine. Horror. Absolute horror.
They’re discussing kicking people out of their homes. Shutting down businesses. Schools. Libraries.
For what!?
“I believe a mall could go here,” My brother completely ignores me as he points to a section of the map where… oh god. That’s where River’s garage is. That’s where he lives, where he races.
“That land is taken,” I snap.
“It can be bought.” Timothy dismisses me.
My eyes flick to Damien who is glaring at his business partner.
“I’m leaving,” I announce, “I’m not going to be involved in this.”
“Let me walk you out,” Damien stands with me.
“I’m fine,” I hiss at him.
“I insist,” He steps away from the table, moving closer to me.
“Let her go,” My brother groans.
I grab my purse and scoot out from the table, sickness churning through me. I have to tell River; I have to warn them. There has to be something we can do.
“Marly,” I hear my name called, “Marly, wait!”
Damien grabs my arm when I get outside but releases me quickly, holding up his hands in surrender.
“What?” I snap at him, feeling the burn of tears. This is so much worse than I thought it was.
I hurt for them; I am angry on their behalf.
Deep down, I hoped it wasn’t as bad as I thought, that my family weren’t as evil as I believed them to be, but I was right. They don’t care. They don’t care about these people, not even a little. And the fires? How are they not public knowledge!? Why has this news been buried!?
“I’ll try and stop it,” Damien says to me, “If I can, I won’t let the deal go through.”
“Why?” I swat at the lone tear on my cheek.
“Because the southern district is similar to where I grew up,” He tells me, “It was home.”
“This is your business,” I remind him.
He laughs but it’s humorless. “No, this isn’t what I started. I started this to help people like those here; to modernize and bring them income, I didn’t start this to destroy homes.”
“My brother and my father will make sure it happens,” I tell him, “You won’t win.”
“No,” He lifts a hand and waves down a car, “But you might.”
A blacked out Audi pulls up to the sidewalk.
“Take my car and go, Marly.” He tells me, “My driver will take you wherever you need to go.”
He doesn’t wait for me to reply, he just nods and turns around, heading back into the restaurant. It’s hard to trust him, how can I be sure he won’t report back where I go?
I decide that I’ll take the ride, it’s easier than calling an Uber and just head back to the house to get my car. I can’t stay at home; I have to get to River. I need to tell him everything.
I run upstairs the moment I’m back at the house and grab a duffel from my closet, stuffing as many items inside as I can. I don’t want to stay here; I certainly don’t want to be here when my parents return in a day or have to deal with Liam when he’s finished with that dinner.
When my bag is packed, I rush to my car, throwing it into the back seat before I get behind the wheel and reverse out of the spot. Then I’m gunning it down the driveway, stopping only for a minute while the gates open and then I’m on my way, going too fast as I make my way across town.
I sigh in relief when the familiar road leading to River’s garage comes into view and turn into it, the lights on the Mercedes cutting through the dark. I’ve no idea if he’ll be here. It’s only nine PM but he could be at the track or out somewhere else.
All the lights are turned off when I come to a stop and cut the engine.
Stepping from the car, I pull out my phone and dial his number, but the call goes straight to voicemail. I try again but again get his voicemail..
Giving up, I put the bright light on and start to make my way through the trees toward the track, but I know by halfway that no one is there, it’s much too silent, there’s no roar of an engine or music but I continue anyway, just in case, coming to the track ten minutes later to find it completely deserted. Chewing on the inside of my lip, I make my way back, stopping when I get to my car as I stare at the empty garage.
Where is he?
I try to call him one more time to no avail and then decide to let myself in and wait for him. I know there’s a key he leaves in a stack of rims round the back, so I use my phone to locate it and let myself inside. The place is cold, silent, save for the ticking of a clock and my footsteps echo as I make my way to his bedroom. The bed is still made, the place tidy, which tells me he hasn’t been back here at all today.
I stare at the screen of my phone for a long time, hoping for him to call me back but I end up falling asleep there, laying in the middle of his bed, waiting for him to return.