28. Blair
TWENTY-EIGHT
blair
Picking you up in three hours. Leave your phone and anything that can track you behind.
It was three in the morning when Violet’s text came through.
For so many reasons, I couldn’t sleep.
“What’s wrong, beautiful goddess?”
Sean took the phone from my hand and set it on the coffee table. I caught a glimpse of his bare chest and back through the living room window before he engulfed me in his arms.
“I’m sorry, little deer,” I murmured, leaning my head back. “Did I wake you?”
His sleepy eyes met mine.
“You not being in bed is what woke me. Tell me what’s wrong then help me go back to sleep.”
I sighed.
“I’m conflicted about Esi.”
And Blake for that matter but my restlessness wasn’t about his sudden shift in behavior.
Part of me felt… something for not pushing back when making a deal with Esi’s father’s killer. But at the same time, deep down I didn’t really feel anything at all about it.
Maybe because I knew if it’d been her in my shoes, she would’ve done the same.
Or maybe my loyalty to her and the Constanzo’s was never anything but a stepping stone for where I am now.
Despite my conflicting feelings, business was business and the real problem was Augusto, not Demetrius, me or Sean. His transgressions had been laid out bare for us and he deserved to die.
For what he did to Sean’s grandmother.
To his son.
What he was still doing if Esmeralda hadn’t killed him yet, but I wasn’t sure Liam understood what she meant.
Esi was known for talking in code.
“I don’t think you are,” Sean said through a yawn as he pulled back and forced me to face him. “Think about every move you’ve made up until this point. You’ve never second guessed any of it. So, tell me, do you think she’s someone worth fighting for?”
I opened and closed my mouth, not sure how to answer.
“Amoy, say the first thing that comes to mind. Is Esmeralda worth fighting for?”
I bit my lip and shook my head.
“No.”
He nodded slowly, eyes peering deeply into mine as if he were trying to find a different truth there.
“What’s up with the hesitation? Do you or do you not want to fight for her?”
This time, I nodded without thinking too hard.
What the fuck was wrong with me?
“But I don’t feel guilty for betraying her,” I found myself saying. “So, what exactly would I be fighting for? My conscious?”
He took my hands in his and began to walk backward, leading us up the hall.
“That’s something you’ll have to figure out on your own…” he turned after entering the bedroom, dropping one hand but keeping the other firmly gripped in his, as he got into bed and took me with him. “I’ll be here to see you through it. And if in the end killing her is the only option and you can’t pull the trigger, I’ll gladly take that weight off your shoulders in a heartbeat.”
Just him saying it eased my mind.
“I can’t go back to sleep,” I said, resting my head on his chest. “Violet will be here in a few hours.”
He hummed and then suddenly I was on my back and he was between my legs.
“I’m aware. Finn texted me.”
Our eyes danced, his wide awake and full of lust now.
“You want something from me?” I asked softly, guiding his lips to mine. “Hm? Speak now or forever hold your—”
His index and middle fingers met my pussy lips, and I whimpered as he parted them and stroked my clit agonizingly slow.
“This is me speaking,” he murmured, pushing both fingers inside of me. “I want you to drench me with your worries.”
What had I been worried about again?
I couldn’t think straight as he curled his fingers and teased my g-spot.
So gentle, yet intense.
“Baby, please…”
He smirked and pushed the shirt I’d stolen from him up and dipped forward, wrapping his lips around my taut nipples, taking his sweet time on both.
I arched off the bed, whimpering at all the sensations sprouting from my core and spreading through me.
Sean intertwined the fingers of his freehand with mine and pinned them above my head, while stirring my pussy to its limit.
He moved from my nipples to my neck, cheek and then ear.
“Promise you’ll come back to me,” he murmured, gently strumming my clit with his thumb to send me over the edge sooner. “Promise me you’ll be safe.”
I wanted to reply, to reassure him I would never leave his side willingly. But my body wouldn’t allow it. The way he expertly worked me into overdrive with just his fingers wouldn’t either.
I crashed hard and in waves and for a moment there was no sound, just his eyes on mine and every emotion under the moon dancing in them.
My poor baby.
“I promise I’ll do my best to come back to you,” I murmured breathlessly, lifting my head to kiss him. “I promise.”
What Violet and I were doing wasn’t dangerous per se, especially after the conditional deal we’d made with Demetrius. Following Landell would be a cake walk now that all the pieces had come together, and I had a feeling our newfound business partner laid the foundation for us to come out on top.
He couldn’t do what he needed without us. That much I was sure of.
With only two of the three hours Violet had given me left, I reluctantly left Sean in bed and took a shower.
And as I maneuvered around our bedroom with just the bedside lamp on afterward, his eyes followed. It was only when I went to remove my necklace that he spoke.
“Let me,” he said, lifting from the bed and walking over to assist in taking it off. “Can’t remember the last time I saw you without this on.”
I watched him through the mirror, the struggle to give up being able to find me at any given moment because of this necklace etched in the furrow of his eyebrows.
“I’ve only taken it off the two times you upgraded it.”
He hummed and looked up.
“Remember what you promised me.”
I turned to hug him.
“Do you want me to stay?”
He kissed my forehead then went to grab his ringing phone.
“No, Amoy. Just don’t make me come looking for you,” he said before answering. “What? Yeah, send them up.”
I almost thought he’d say yes but here he was still actively pushing his fear aside for me.
We left the bedroom together, Sean moving toward the kitchen while I stopped at the gun safe. As I was securing my revolver in the holster wrapped around my waist, Violet and Finn were stepping off the elevator.
“B, lemme talk to you for a second,” Finn said, making a beeline for me.
He draped an arm over my shoulder and turned us away from Violet and Sean.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, cutting my eyes at him suspiciously.
“You good?”
I nodded and he did the same.
“I’ll make sure he’s good, alright? Do the same for me?”
Oh.
“You worried about something?”
He shook his head.
“Nah. Just don’t like when she’s away for too long, but I’m satisfied knowing you’re with her. You got me?”
I nodded as he led us into the kitchen.
“Of course, I got you.”
My gaze bounced between Sean and Violet and before I could stop it, a smile spread across my face. Something told me they’d had the same conversation.
“You two stay out of trouble while we’re gone,” Violet said, tipping her head toward the elevator when our gazes locked. “Don’t look at him, Blair. Let’s go.”
I almost did it out of spite but I knew she was right. If I looked at Sean right before leaving him, I would change my mind and neither of us needed that.
Once we began our descent, Violet spoke again.
“You did good. Don’t feel bad. We won’t be gone as long as they think.”
I cut my eyes at her.
“How long will we be gone?”
“Two days max, but anything can happen and I don’t like to over plan.”
Mmm.
“Is this not the norm?”
She shook her head but didn’t respond until we stepped outside; a black Honda Accord with darkly tinted windows waited on the curb.
“Not exactly,” she said, popping the lock. “But, this is different. It involves family on all sides. Disappearing for a week doesn’t apply. We can work this how we see fit and I’d rather not leave Sunshine for longer than I need to.”
Sunshine.
It fit Finnegan.
Maybe because I knew him, his heart.
He always could light up a room, even in the midst of chaos.
“Did he threaten to come looking for you?” I asked after we slid into the car and pulled away.
She chuckled.
“In so many words, yes.”
We were about three blocks away when she came to an abrupt stop, hopped out and walked around the car. I looked over my shoulder and she was at the trunk, leaning down a little.
Then, like it never happened, she got back in and drove off. We were probably fifteen minutes into the ride before Violet said anything.
“Had a feeling there was a tracker on us.”
“Was there?”
Her eyes met mine briefly.
“Are we married to O’Sullivans?”
In other words, yes.
“That we are,” I mused, so many thoughts swirling in my head. “How did you and Finn meet?”
I had no idea what made me ask, but I caught the flex in her jaw before she relaxed it.
“We met at a Lucia’s wedding, but he’d been looking for me long before that.”
She wasn’t smiling but I heard it in her voice. The memory was a good one for them, it seemed.
“You made yourself unavailable to him before that?”
“Didn’t know if he was worthy or not.”
I smiled and looked out the window.
“He’s happy. I’m glad he proved himself.”
“We have similar stories,” she said suddenly. “You and I. Different circumstances but all the same.”
My head spun a little at the confession.
What was she saying?
“I know what it’s like to be abused.”
It’s like she read my mind, but even so part of me hadn’t expected her to elaborate.
“And, I don’t know, I’m still working on being more open with the people in my life. I can see how important you are to all of them.”
There’d been a reason she said it and I wouldn’t be able to think straight until I understood why.
I let my gaze drift in her direction.
“Finn told you how I met them?”
Violet nodded.
“He did but only because I asked.”
“What did he say?”
“That you were always meant to be family and entering that storage room was fate,” she replied without pause, rolling to a stop and parallel parking in front of a high rise apartment building in Harlem. “How he wished you knew you didn’t have to try so hard to prove yourself. I guess I mentioned all this because I wanted you to know everyone important already sees you for who you are.”
Did they?
I wasn’t so sure why it mattered anymore. Why showing everybody who hurt me I could hurt them just as worse was so important.
“But,” she went on. “You should keep going until you feel satisfied. If taking everything from them is what you need, then take it.”
“Even if it means betraying someone who’s been good to me thus far?”
Our eyes met and silence stretched between us for what felt like an eternity before she responded.
“Have they been good to you or do you think they’ve been?”
I shook my head.
“We haven’t had any major issues since we met.”
“Bad people are meant to do bad things, Blair.”
Her statement painted a broader picture in an instant. I wanted to be seen as good, when I was anything but. Esmeralda had always been a stepping stone but somewhere along way I got invested.
She meant something more than I’d been telling myself, and I was struggling with that.
“Just in time,” Violet mused, eyes moving past mine. “He’s been moving weird since the wedding.”
I turned and there was Landell walking past us to get to his car.
“You’ve already been following him?”
She pointed to the glove box and I opened it.
“Been watching the tracker, I put on him. Look at the marked locations on that phone and tell me what you see.”
I powered it on and scrolled through, frowning once I picked up the pattern.
“What’s he been doing up in Ithaca?”
And only after Sean’s grandda had come to town.
“Your guess is as good as mine…” she pulled from the spot after his car disappeared from the block. “But let’s go find out.”
We kept a two mile distance from him, following the tracker instead of his car.
It took about five hours to get to Ithaca, and by the time we caught up to Landell the sun had risen and the traffic of the city disappeared.
“It’s residential,” I said, frowning as she rode by where he’d parked before continuing on to a gas station a mile away. “He wouldn’t have another family in the same town as his bosses father, would he?”
All the times Darragh had come up here would put Landell in the same area.
Violet drummed her fingers against the steering wheel.
“We’ll wait for him to go back and find out what’s inside,” she said, dropping her head against the seat headrest. “Let me see the phone.”
I handed it over, she punched in a phone number and put it on speaker.
“Moonlight,” Finn said upon picking up, loud banging in his background. “You never call.”
She had a smile spread across her face that made my lips lift.
Their love was so calm, which was funny considering nothing had ever been calm about Finnegan Oisin O’Sullivan.
“I know but this is different,” she said. “You didn’t need to put a tracker on me.”
He laughed.
“Nothing beats a failure but a try. What’s good, baby. You need something?”
She cut her eyes at me.
“Blair and I are in Ithaca.”
Finn’s background had gone silent before he responded.
“Oh, yeah?” he finally said. “Need somewhere to stay?”
I put the back of my hand to my lips to hide the smile forcing its way across my face.
“Do you think your grandda will loan his ranch?”
“Of course he will,” Finn said without hesitation. “You can get into the gate with my code. I’ll send it in a message.”
“Make good choices, Sunshine.”
He laughed again before ending the call with, I’ll do my best.
“He won’t do shit,” she mumbled through a chuckle, handing the phone back and pulling from the gas station.
We rode by the house and Landell was still parked outside but no movement otherwise. It wasn’t until we were a few miles away I noticed he’d began to move.
“Hold up…” I zoomed in on the screen as Violet pulled over. “He’s going back the way we came into town already.”
She hit a U-turn and followed.
We were on the same page.
The house wasn’t important but whatever he was in a rush to take from it was.
He made three stops along the way, never staying longer than thirty minutes at each.
“I’m thinking safe houses,” Violet said, snapping her fingers. “He’s about to run.”
“And how much do you want to bet whatever he’s gathering is stolen?”
We looked at one another, somehow in sync with what to do next.