Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Jonny hated being at Ada’s mercy, waiting for her to summon him whenever she felt inclined.
But at this point, he didn’t have much choice.
He also hated that he had let Will get the jump on him at the station. No one ever got the advantage on him — except apparently, Ada.
He rubbed his hand over his face as he left the docks to make his way to Minnie and Tommy’s, who had invited him and the rest of the team to join them for dinner.
He both loved and hated these dinner parties.
On the one hand, it felt like an entire waste of time to attend.
But then, as the evening went on, he usually begrudgingly realized that he actually enjoyed spending time with his teammates – and yes, their wives – off the football field.
Even Rhys could be a nice guy when he wasn’t ordering them around.
Jonny did realize that it likely meant she would be there.
He was torn. As much as he wanted to see the ledger, it was difficult to keep his hands off her when she was in his presence.
Minnie and Tommy lived in a modest house near the blacksmith shop where he worked.
Tommy had been particularly proud of being able to afford the house, after the two of them had worked together to build the blacksmith shop to the point that not only could they support themselves, but Tommy could give back to his family and help his ill sister.
It was what Jonny had always wanted for himself.
He stood with his coat slung over his shoulder, feeling for a moment like he didn’t belong with the rest of them, all coupled up and happily married.
The crunch of carriage wheels behind him had him turning around, and soon enough, the very carriage he had become familiar with two nights before came to a stop beside him.
When the door opened, out came Lily, Emmaline, and Ada, followed by Colin and Rhys.
“Ah, I see I missed the invitation,” he said wryly as they joined him.
“You live five minutes from Tommy,” Colin said incredulously, pointing to the house.
“Still,” Jonny said with a shrug, “maybe I wanted a ride.”
Rhys clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Next time.”
He nodded before following them in, knowing that Tommy was the reason he was here with them tonight. The two of them had become close over the past couple of seasons, and even when everyone else had distrusted him, Tommy had always been there, supporting him.
It was a loyalty Jonny wasn’t entirely sure that he deserved, but he appreciated all the same.
“I’m so glad you came!” Minnie greeted them all enthusiastically, squeezing his hand as he walked by, surprising him. Jonny attempted to smile at her, knowing it likely came out looking more like a grimace, but he couldn’t help it. He wasn’t exactly practiced in his smiles.
Ada glanced over at him, frowning as though she didn’t approve of the way he had greeted Minnie, but he only shrugged. He wasn’t here to make sure she was happy with him at every moment of the day.
He tried not to pay her any attention, but she was wearing a dark green gown that brought out the blue-green in her eyes and hugged her curves in all the right places.
He had a feeling that if he ever saw her in anything besides the large dresses she wore, he would be pleasantly surprised by what was hiding beneath — but that was hardly his place to think about.
He wrenched his gaze away and instead focused on the company around him.
They ate early in the evening, most of them having come from work, before settling in to play a few games. When Lily asked that they take some time for the ladies to sit alone in the drawing room, Ada pulled him aside and asked for a word alone.
He nodded, hoping she had been smart enough to have brought the ledger with her. His time was running out. Soon enough, Sharpe was going to demand the ledger, or he would take his frustration out in another way.
“You can sit in the kitchen,” Minnie said, overhearing Ada’s request before bestowing a small smile on them as she watched them go.
Jonny knew what they thought — that there was something going on between them.
It would make this all much more convenient for their friends if the two of them paired off, but he wasn’t about doing something just to make someone else comfortable.
Then there was the whole issue of her being practically engaged.
The wooden kitchen chair creaked loudly as he scraped it backward, and when Ada began dragging a chair to sit beside him, he sighed before standing to help her.
She glared at him, likely thinking that he was annoyed at having to assist her, but that was far from what was truly bothering him.
It was that she would be sitting so close to him, that he would be capturing her scent on his every inhale, that he would have to keep his hands to himself despite their proximity.
She reached into the bag next to her, and he sighed in relief when she pulled out the ledger and placed it on the table before them.
The worn cover was a stark reminder of the danger it represented.
It was full of history that could cause all kinds of ramifications, depending on whose hands it settled in.
“Did you read it?” he asked Ada, who passed the book toward him.
“Yes, I looked over all of the pages,” she said, “even though it took some time as my parents kept me rather preoccupied.”
“And?”
“You can see for yourself,” she said, gesturing to the book. “But I would say both of our families are mentioned enough that our ties to Blackwood, Sharpe, and their operation are thoroughly solidified.”
“Did Minnie and Tommy not see this when they had it?” he growled out.
“They might have seen it, but they wouldn’t have understood whose families were being mentioned.”
He nodded as he began reading for himself while Ada sat silently and thoughtfully beside him. He poured over the pages as the low rumble of chatter from the rooms beyond was the only background noise.
Before him were pages listing debts owed by ruined families in Manchester — including his own. Anger and betrayal began to bubble deep in his stomach, although the detailed smuggling routes on the next pages that exposed the depth of Blackwood’s operations were eye-opening.
The names of bribed constables and officials were listed, illustrating the corruption that had spread throughout Manchester. Jonny recognized most of them, having been one of Blackwood’s enforcers who had convinced many of them to join forces with them.
It made him sick to his stomach, but that was all he had known, how he had grown up.
He hadn’t abruptly decided to leave Blackwood’s operations.
It had been a gradual understanding that he didn’t have to live that way, that there were other options out there that didn’t involve selling his soul.
When his father, the original tie to the organization, had died, Jonny had started to reflect on all of the people that he was trying to corrupt, and wondered why he had to be the man he was when there were so many who were making their living without looking over their shoulder every day, expecting the worst.
It had led him to say farewell to all he ever knew.
And now that past was coming back to haunt him. Each page turned heavier in his hands, a physical manifestation of his family’s struggles.
“Here’s your father’s name,” Jonny pointed out to Ada. “All of the ammunition he supplied started years ago.”
“Until it stopped,” she said.
“I don’t think so,” he countered, biting his lip. “Who would have taken over supplying Blackwood?”
“What are you trying to say?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I am saying that perhaps the reason you have ‘escaped’ Blackwood’s and Sharpe’s operation is because you didn’t really escape. That your father is still in with them.”
Her eyes darkened as she glared at him. “How dare you say such a thing?”
He rolled his eyes in exasperation. “You have to consider it, Ada.”
“Just like you have to consider that your brother is not just Sharpe’s pawn, but a key component of his operation.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
The anger built between them, even though Jonny knew, deep down, that neither of them was truly angry at the other one, but rather at the people who had put them in this position.
“At least your lover’s name isn’t in here somewhere,” he said offhandedly, ignoring the jealous anger that simmered deep within him at the thought of Ada being anywhere near another man, which was completely unreasonable.
“My what?” she snapped.
“David Carter. I can see why your father would want to tie the businesses together. It makes sense, from a supply standpoint for the material, as well as making his own name and business more reputable.”
Her eyes closed as her nostrils flared. “He is not my lover,” she bit out. Interesting that was her main focus of all he had deduced. “Far from it.”
“Oh, sorry, just assumed as it’s been so long since the two of you dedicated yourselves to one another.”
“I didn’t…” She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. “Is that what you believe? That I want to marry David?”
He shrugged, hoping he appeared nonchalant. “I’m sure it’s just your father’s business that’s stopping the marriage,” he said, reaching out and chucking her under the chin. “Cheer up. Probably not you that’s keeping him away.”
Her eyes opened, anger blazing from within them as the tension built.
“And you would know this so well?”
“Did he find out about our kiss the other night?” he said, lifting a brow, knowing he was riling her but unable to stop himself, as though he wanted her as mad as he was at the moment, picturing her with Carter.
“Just warn him that if he comes after me, I can take him. Unless, that is, you accompany him with that pistol of yours. Say, what does he think of all of your late-night activity?”
“He most certainly doesn’t know about any of that,” she said through nearly closed lips.
“Oh, so we’re keeping more secrets,” he said, before tsking at her.
“Says the man who’s full of them.”
They had moved closer together as they had exchanged their barbs, Jonny noting how her chest was heaving, a pink blush spreading over the part of her neck that was exposed.
At this point, he could count every one of those red freckles that covered her nose and the tops of her cheeks.
He wondered how far down her body they extended.
“You’re not as tough as you think you are, are you, Ada?” he said softly, hearing the hoarseness of his words, hoping she didn’t notice.
“Oh, Jonny,” she said, her lips quirking up into a smile. “You have no idea.”
She sat backward suddenly, breaking this strange tension between them.
“Take this,” she said, shoving the ledger at him. “Do what you want with it. I have no need for it anymore.”
“Because it showed you the truth.”
“You’re reading things that aren’t there.”
“So you say,” he said with a shrug. “We should get back to the party.”
“So you can go lie to your friends a little more.”
He shrugged. “You lie to yourself every day, Ada,” he said. “What difference does telling a few more make?”
“What are you talking about?” she said, her eyes flashing as he stood from the table, taking the bag she had brought the ledger in.
“Your David Carter,” he said, sliding the strap of the bag onto his shoulder. “You don’t love him. You don’t even want to marry him.”
Her mouth gaped. “How can you even say that?”
“Because,” he said, his lips curling into as close to a satisfied smile as he would get.
“Through all that we have been through together, not once have you ever mentioned him. It’s as though he doesn’t even exist, until you conveniently need an excuse.
And a woman who loves another man would never kiss me like you did.
Trust me, if you were my woman, you would never even consider kissing anyone else. Ever. Again.”
When he realized he had rendered her speechless, a true grin broke out on his face, and he walked through the door, leaving her alone with her thoughts — and his words.