Chapter Fourteen – Laina
Newton was a refined gentleman who was leaving the lower portion of his club in our hands today, but he wouldn’t vacate the premises entirely. His office made up the second floor, with long, floor-to-ceiling windows so he could oversee the entirety of the club from it. The glass was tinted, so you couldn’t see him watching if you were downstairs.
Fang and Kieran were in place. Lola and Viper would hang in the backroom, ready to spring for me as backup. Mike would bring Tessa, and he and Maddox would stop her from trying to leave, force her to go inside the Gilded Rose and talk to me.
The Gilded Rose was, by definition, a gentleman’s club. When you walked in, you passed a bar with fancy alcohol bottles all lined up in front of a mirrored wall. Beyond was where you’d sit and, presumably, drink and smoke while watching whatever act was on the stage. Rounded booths made of black leather lined each side of the room, while tables with chairs were directly before the stage. A lone microphone, one of the old-fashioned kinds, stood by itself on the end of the stage, the platform jutting outward in the shape of a T.
Glass fixtures made of crystal, walls painted dark; I could imagine this place at night. With the lights dimmed, I’m sure it had a smoky, easy atmosphere where men of great power and money came to relax or even discuss business. Newton certainly gave off that vibe. Frankly, if Lola didn’t trust him, I definitely wouldn’t. Something about him I didn’t like. I’d bet anything he was hiding something.
Then again, what did I know? I couldn’t even guess that Kieran was my Devil.
I wore black pants with a bubblegum pink shirt that matched the hue of my hair. I styled said hair into cute, soft waves, and even did a bit of makeup to make the pink contacts in my eyes pop. I looked like I was ready for a runway, not a meeting with my dear stepmother.
Everyone in position, it was a waiting game. I sat at the table directly before the stage, so when Tessa entered the club, she’d see my pink head immediately. I wasn’t hiding. It was time for the truth to come out.
I was ready.
It was a waiting game until I heard the door to the club open and Tessa’s miffed person enter. I did not turn my head to watch her; I could hear her annoyed comments just fine since the club was empty. Why was she here? What kind of game was this? What—whatever next question she was going to say, she didn’t get a chance to.
Why? Because she finally saw me.
Her questions stopped, and less than ten seconds later, she was sitting on the chair next to mine. Her brown hair was a little greasy from her workout, pulled into a messy bun. Her brown eyes were so much colder than Kieran’s as they settled on me. She wore one of those stupid matching tracksuits, a hideous light green color.
“Well, I can safely assume your father is fine,” she muttered with a frown, then she made a dramatic show of glancing all around us, at the empty club. “What is this, Laina?”
I didn’t answer right away, but I did stare at her hard. When I finally spoke, I gave her a question instead of an answer: “What do you think this is, Tessa?”
The corner of her lips turned downward into a frown. “He told you, then.” She chuckled, although it was the opposite of glee. “I figured he would. Of course, as his sister, I hoped he wouldn’t, but if there’s one thing Kieran has proven, it’s that he has quite the fondness for you.” Her gaze narrowed at me. “I don’t see why.”
“And I don’t see why he listened to you for so long,” I shot back.
“It’s something you could never understand. You’re an only child. The bond between siblings isn’t something you’ll ever know.” Her jaw ground. “Why am I here? Did you bring me here to try to intimidate me? I can appreciate the theatrics. It seems you’ve made a few friends in high places. Good for you.”
Even now, she sounded condescending. God, being a good liar must run in the family, because how in the hell did my dad ever fall for a woman like this?
“I have more friends than you know,” I told her. “I might actually have more friends than you.”
She scoffed. “I highly doubt that.”
“Were the second round of kidnappers your friends too, or are we not going to count them?”
The look she gave me right then could kill, so it’s a good thing looks didn’t have that kind of power. “I don’t know what you mean.” Okay, that statement wasn’t so believable. It was spoken with such an attitude I wanted to reach across the table and punch her in the face.
“Oh, you don’t? Maybe I’m thinking of someone else, then, someone who hired a group of criminals to follow me and kidnap me when they failed to kill Kieran? You have some nerve. If you’re cold enough to have your brother killed, you should have enough balls to admit it.”
Tessa frowned, and then she glanced around us again, as if to make sure we were alone. Being in a new environment, she didn’t know what was out of place or what was new—something that worked in our favor.
She eventually said, “When someone who has always been loyal to you shows those loyalties waver, he becomes useless. Kieran stopped being my brother when he chose you over me.”
“So, what, the only logical answer to his disloyalty to you was to try to have him killed?”
“No, the only logical answer was to have him killed in front of cameras so it would be memorialized. If he would’ve given his life, then I wouldn’t have needed to do a thing to you.” When I only glared at her, she went on, “What? Aren’t we having a heart-to-heart here? I only needed a story. You were the best story for two years, so when you waltzed back into our lives, I needed a new plan.”
“And naturally that plan involved having your brother murdered?”
“After our mother left, our father preached loyalty to each other above all else. Loyalty, and doing whatever it takes to get things done. He worked eighty hours a week to try to give my brother and me a better life. Kieran should’ve known choosing you over me would only end in pain and misery.”
I couldn’t say anything to that. Damn, was she cold.
“So, yes, when you came back, my first thought was, how can I use this? It wasn’t too far-fetched to say that your kidnapper might still be after you, and it provided the perfect excuse to have Kieran killed in front of news cameras.”
“It really is all about the rise to power, huh? That’s really it?”
The way Tessa looked at me right then cut me to the bone. “It’s easy for you to say when you’ve never struggled. Even before your father got into politics, you were fine. You didn’t wonder where your next meal would come from. You don’t know what it’s like. You’ve always been a spoiled little princess.”
I took issue with that, but I let her go on.
“And it’s always the pretty ones that get national attention. You weren’t supposed to come back. Your disappearance would skyrocket your father’s political career. Be the gift that just kept giving. Book deals, documentaries. Whether or not your body was ever found, it wouldn’t matter. America loves the unknown, and they love it even more when the face of the unknown is a wide-eyed, pretty girl.”
Her words reminded me a bit of what Lola had said. This world only appreciated girls and women when they were young and beautiful; anyone who didn’t fit the mold simply didn’t matter as much.
It sucked. It really fucking sucked.
Tessa frowned. “But then my brother showed his true colors. It took two years, but it happened. I will not apologize for going after him. It’s the least he deserved for betraying me. I’m sure if you were in my position, you’d feel the same.”
I didn’t address her statement, but I did ask something else. “And what about my dad?”
“What about him?”
“Was it always the plan to marry him and ride his coattails all the way up?”
She shrugged. “Believe it or not, Kieran was the one who picked him out of all the possible candidates for me. He started to work for him, got in his good graces, and then introduced us—now I wonder if, even back then, he had a thing for you. If all of this was just Kieran’s plan to get to you.” A bitter chuckle came from her. “Maybe it was. I’m not the only devious one in my family, as you’ve seen.”
“So my dad doesn’t know about any of this?”
“No, of course not. Your father is just a means to an end. His career in politics would’ve floundered years ago if it wasn’t for me. I’m the reason he wants to campaign for senator next.” She sounded so proud of it, too, like she’d finally gotten what she’d always wanted.
My anger toward my dad really was misguided. I hated that Tessa was such a good liar, so good at setting the scene to the cameras, that I had no idea this whole time.
“Look, you and I, we’ll never be on the same page, so let me ask you this: what do you want? Tell me why you had me brought here under false pretenses, so we can get on with this.”
“What do I want?” I echoed faintly. For starters, a redo would be nice. Kieran might’ve saved my life, but I still lost two whole years I could’ve been out here, learning about myself and living my life. “I want you to stop scheming. In fact, I want you out of my life.”
She laughed. “I’m married to your father. I suppose I could play nice, but I will not just leave—”
“You should leave, if you don’t want to be the most hated woman in America. Leave quietly, divorce my dad, and you can keep your reputation intact.”
Tessa openly glared my way. “And why on earth would I do that, hmm? Even if you come out and tell your side of the story, this city has fallen in love with your father—and me as his wife. Who are they going to believe: the woman who stood beside their leader or the girl who’s clearly so traumatized she’s separated herself from reality?”
“I’m giving you a choice, Tessa. This is your one chance to make the right choice on your own.”
It was clear she didn’t believe me. “Listen here. I’m not afraid of you or anything you think you can do to me. Just because you have friends in high places now does not make you one of the big-hitters yourself. You’re just a girl, and nobody’s going to believe the lies you try to spread. It would be all too easy to have you committed somewhere—”
Well, that was it. She lost her chance to make the decision on her own. Blackmail it was.
I reached beneath the table and pulled off my phone, which had been taped to the underside using some fancy two-sided tape. I set it on the table between us, closer to me, of course, but Tessa could plainly see the phone was on—and when I hit the replay button on the screen, the look on her face said it all.
It replayed from the beginning. I’d secretly started it when I’d heard her enter the club. The first few seconds were quiet, but soon enough Tessa’s voice filled the recording.
I gave her a smile and said, “This is a boring part. Let’s fast-forward.” As I said it, I sped up the recording, and as luck would have it, I chose to slow it down at the best part: right when she talked about how I wasn’t supposed to come back. Book deals, yada yada yada. All that good stuff, right there, caught on my phone, were her own words.
She was caught off-guard for only a moment before she said, “Please. A recording like that? Could easily be faked.”
That’s when I lifted a hand and said louder, “Come on out.”
Fang popped up from behind the bar and grabbed his phone from amongst the expensive alcohol along the mirrored wall; with so many bottles of all different shapes and sizes, it was easy for someone new to the place to overlook the propped-up device. We’d made sure it was facing my table long before Tessa came.
He checked the video, having to speed through some of it as he approached our table. “Yep. Got it,” he said, flashing his silver fangs my way and causing Tessa to pale. “Got it all.”
“That—” She was seconds from trying to say it could be faked, too, when another person appeared, rising from one of the booths off to the side.
Kieran stood, phone in hand, but before he approached us, he made a big show about cracking his back and saying, “Zero out of zero, do not recommend hiding like that unless you’re under ten years old.” He came over to us and flashed us his phone screen, showing he’d sneakily recorded from his location. The shadows of the dim lights had helped hide it.
She was speechless staring at his face, but he only grinned and said, “Hey, sis. How are you? Been better, I bet.”
After it all sank in, she turned her eyes to me. Though she didn’t say a word, she knew I had her. Hey, I thought I’d have to convince her to admit everything she’d done. As it turned out, she’d been a very talkative woman, who needed next to no pushing to admit all of her wrongdoings.
She dug her own grave here.
“Two videos and one voice recording,” I laid the reality out for her. “One could be faked, but all of them? Come on. They’ll sync up perfectly. So, I’m going to lay out your two choices again: you can leave my dad—divorce him quietly and leave this city—or you can stay and I can send all of this to the local and national news. I’m sure you’d make national headlines just like I did.”
The way she glared at me told me she’d gladly have me killed if she could. Getting her out of the city would not protect me from any revenge plots, but it’d be a step in the right direction.
It took her a long while to say, “Fine. You win this time. I’ll go.”
“Yeah, you will,” Kieran chimed in loudly. “And if you ever show your face again, these videos will always be ready.”
To him, Tessa whispered as she stood, “I hope you’re happy with your choice. A girl over your own flesh and blood. If our father knew—”
“He doesn’t, and if you know what’s good for you, he never will. Now get the fuck out of here, before Laina changes her mind and lets me give you what you really deserve.” Based on how he said it, it was more than obvious he meant he’d kill her.
A comment that, on a normal day, might’ve shocked most, but here and now, all she could do was glower at her brother and his gall, and then turn that scowl to me and say, “Enjoy your time with him, while you can. Sooner or later he’ll abandon you just like he did to me.”
Kieran boldly proclaimed, “I won’t.”
I ignored her comment about him as I said, “You have until four this afternoon to pack what you can and leave. I want you out of the house before my dad gets home. Is that understood?” I almost called her mommy dearest , but that would’ve been overkill.
All she did was nod, nod and leave.
At the door, Mike and Maddox looked to me, and I said loudly, “Let her go.” They stepped aside and let her leave the club. Shortly after that, Lola and Viper came out of the backroom behind the bar.
Lola must’ve been feeling better, because she was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She had her manicured hands on her hips, staring at the doors to the club like she could still see Tessa. “Men like her are a dime a dozen. They all want power. I could respect a woman who goes after what she wants, but not when she puts other girls in danger. This world has it out for girls already. We don’t need any more joining the fight against us.”
To Kieran, she added, “And you. You’re lucky this girl likes you, because if I had my way, I’d string you up by your balls and gut you like a fish.”
All Kieran did was cough awkwardly and step a little closer to me, as if using me as a shield.
“Now—” she clapped her hands together. “—should we party?”
I glanced at Kieran, then Fang, and then at Mike as he approached us. My three guys, the ones who’d helped me more than they could ever know. Kelly had said I’d changed, and she was right. I wasn’t the same girl I used to be. That girl was dead, but a phoenix rose in her ashes.
A grin spread across my face. “I could go for some celebration.”