Chapter Fifteen
JENNA
To my utter surprise the guys insisted on staying at my house for the day.
We ordered some Thai food and went over my case files while we ate and formulated a plan.
Truthfully, I fully expected them to shut me out when I gave up all the details, but they shocked me when they allowed me to give them my suggestions and help them formulate a plan.
Granted, it’s not a foolproof plan and there are still plenty of holes in this. I can’t guarantee that it’ll work, but it’s worth a shot.
“Did your office take the deal?” Vlad asks me.
“Hang on.” I jump up from my spot between Vegah and Dimitri, run to my office and grab my Macbook, then return to the living room and reclaim my seat.
I power it up and log into my emails. I’m not a partner at my firm so it’s not like I get a lot of say in making deals.
I open my email thread between me, Simon, Todd and Derek—my bosses.
Derek is the one trying the case with me.
I read over the correspondence and instantly become angry.
“What is it?” Deimitri asks with a lilt of worry in his tone.
“Todd wants to take the deal. Simon is on the fence and Derek has flat out said no,” I answer.
“What does that mean?” Vegah snaps.
“It means we have a hung jury as the three of them work on majority vote. They won’t make a decision until the three of them are in favor or unless it's two on one.”
The three guys continue to talk amongst themselves while I check my other messages. I spot a message from Hunter. He contacts me on an app called Whicker, it’s an app where dealers can sell their drugs. It’s untraceable and the messages delete themselves after they have been opened.
Huntrix - We need to meet.
Huntrix - Where the fuck are you, J?
Huntrix - Don’t fucking back out on me!
Guilt churns inside me. He’s been trying to contact me for two days. I quickly reply to him, wanting to ease his worries. I think of the best lie I can, then quickly type it out.
J.P - I’m sorry, I was out of town for a family emergency.
His reply comes almost instantly. The fact he was waiting on the app shows me just how worried he was that I had changed my mind about protecting his brother and uncle.
Huntrix - We need to meet today!
J.P - I don’t think I can
Huntrix - I mean it. I need to see you and I can’t wait.
J.P - It’s too risky
Huntrix - I’m on my way.
My eyes widen at his reply, if he comes here now he’ll see Vlad and the others and I don’t know how the fuck they will take that.
“What’s wrong, Prosecutor?” Vlad asks.
I blurt it out before I can think better of it.
“Hunter’s on his way over.” For a solid second it’s silent.
Then they all begin shouting and pacing the living room, making my home feel so fucking small with their hulking frames taking up most of the space.
When they all suddenly stop pacing, then turn to look at me with dark looks in their eyes, I swallow audibly and press further into the sofa.
“Here’s how this is going to play out,” Dimitri grits out in a cold tone.
“Do as we say and we’ll reward that fucking cunt.” Vlad’s sinister promise has me instantly sitting up straight and hanging onto their every word.
“Fuck this up and you won’t make it to the trial. You and I both know my threats aren’t empty, you have the proof in those folders.” Vegah’s threat is like a bucket of ice water being tossed over my head.
I’m utterly fucked in the head. I shouldn’t be hot and ready for them, yet here I am, practically frothing at the mouth like a dirty little whore.
My nerves are frayed. I’m on edge. Vegah hid their car in my garage so Hunter wouldn’t spot it when he pulled up. The three of them are currently hiding out in my bedroom. Hunter doesn’t even get a chance to knock on the door before I yank it open and quickly usher him inside the house.
He stares down at me with a confused look. “Chill out, J. I wasn’t followed.” He mistakes my worry over him being here. I don’t care if he was followed, I'm more worried that I’m about to witness a murder in my own house if he answers any of the questions they have told me to ask wrong.
Hunter looks nothing like his brother. He has more of a boyish charm about him.
I know Hunter is a loose unit and doesn’t conform to rules, the typical youngest of the family sort.
Spoiled and given whatever he wanted. The fact he is going against the person who has served him everything he has ever wanted on a gold platter astounds me.
It did shock me when I first met him that someone who appears as selfish as he does actually cares about his brother and uncle, and doesn’t want them to go down for something his dad did.
“Where were you?” he asks.
“Huh?”
“Where did you have to go for your emergency?” I wave him off.
“Don’t worry about that. What was so urgent you had to come here?”
“What’s up with you? You’ve never minded me dropping by before now. You seem… off.”
I inhale and force myself to relax, if I spook him then I lose everything I have worked for, and risk having to deal with the grown ass men hiding in my room, losing their shit.
“Sorry, it’s just the case that is wearing me down.”
He reaches out and places a hand on my shoulder and smiles. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I get the feeling of their eyes on me. “We got this.”
“Yeah,” I breathe out, then step out of his hold and take a seat on the sofa. He claims a seat on the recliner.
“We might have a problem.”
“What is it?”
“My uncle, Dimitri and my brother have vanished.”
My brows bunch. “What do you mean vanished?”
He shrugs and runs a hand through his hair.
“No idea. I asked Dad where they were. He swears he has no idea, but I just have this feeling that he knows and won’t tell me.
I asked Courtney if he had heard from them, but he said he hadn’t.
Probably doesn’t help that he had to get a new phone, thanks to dad smashing his old one in a fit of rage.
” Vegah mentioned earlier that he had tried to contact Courtney when they thought I escaped the Dollhouse but he got no response.
“Is he worried about them being gone because of the case?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, he says it will look like they tried to run. I have to find them, J.”
“Does Courtney know that your father is trying to pin everything on Vegah and Vlad?”
“No way. Courtney wants nothing to do with this life. He went out on his own and started his own thing. He owns a few sex clubs around town.” My eyes widen, a pit forms in my gut as a niggling feeling hits me in the chest.
“Does he own the Dungeon?”
Hunter rears back and stares back at me in shock. “How the fuck does a girl like you know about that place?”
I ignore his question. “Does he own it or not?”
“Yeah.”
“Motherfuckers,” I hiss.
“What the fuck is going on with you?”
“My bosses haven’t reached an agreement. If they don’t come to one by Tuesday morning, then I go into trial as planned.”
He scratches the back of his head and shoots me a guilty look. “I have to tell you something,” he mutters.
“What the fuck did you do, Hunter?” I hiss.
“I may have hacked your emails and saw that Simon was on the fence.”
My eyes widen and my mouth pops open. “What the fuck did you do?”
“Any chance you want to help me carry your boss in? He’s in my trunk.”