Chapter Thirty-five – Not Ready To Make Nice
Chapter Thirty-five
Fallon
NOT READY TO BE NICE
Performed by Sasha Allen, The Voice
NINE YEARS AGO
HER: Spencer has been dead a year today. Sometimes, it feels like forever, and sometimes it feels like yesterday.
HIM: I’m sorry, Ducky.
HER: I can’t decide if he’d love or hate what we’re doing here. Dad has designed a flashy, Vegas-style fountain for the front yard. The centaurs move and everything. I think Spence would have literally pissed on it.
HIM: Or he would have been grateful the land didn’t end up in Puzo’s hands.
PRESENT DAY
Even though we’d stormed past his secretary, and Parker had immobilized his bodyguard in order to gain access to his office, Lorenzo still greeted us with a suave smile.
He assessed us from those dark eyes as he stood behind the sleek desk in front of floor-to-ceiling windows with views of The Strip.
The bodyguard Parker had planted with his face in the carpet jumped up, hand going to his gun holstered below his jacket, but Lorenzo’s dismissive words halted him. “That’ll be all, Rick.”
The man wasn’t happy, but he left, shutting the door with a quiet click.
Lorenzo came around the desk, buttoning his suit jacket with one hand, and said, “Mr. Steele, Ms. Harrington—or should I say Mrs. Steele—what can I do for you?”
The fact he knew we’d gotten married sent a shiver along my neck. I didn’t dare look at Parker, but I could feel the fury vibrating through him.
“Did you know?” Parker growled.
“Know about the wedding? Not until a little birdie sent me that interesting tidbit with today’s report.”
“About Ike, asshole.”
Parker’s curse wiped Lorenzo’s smile away, but his voice was still smooth when he replied.
“I play nice with Marquess these days. Let’s not change that, shall we?
” He waved a hand at the two chairs in front of his desk—black leather and chrome that matched the rest of his modern office.
“Sit and tell me what’s going on with Ike. ”
When neither Parker nor I moved, Lorenzo tucked his hands into his pockets and frowned.
“He traded places with Tony Cantori.” Parker’s voice was ice cold. “He’s been out of jail since March.”
Something flitted across Lorenzo’s face, not quite fear but wariness.
“I’d wondered, briefly, if it was actually Tony’s body they found.
It seemed too convenient that his wife and daughter were in Florida at the time of the fire.
But then again, we all knew Tony was slowly dying.
I assumed this was his way of ending his misery and ensuring Laticia got a tidy check from a life insurance policy. ”
The silence that lingered was heavy.
“He’s working with Ace Turner and the Lopez cartel.” Parker stated it as a fact, even though we had no proof. “Question is, are you in on it as well?”
Lorenzo turned his head, looking at the accent wall in his office filled with black-and-white photographs.
The family pictures went back in time to when the Puzos had helped create Las Vegas with several other mob families.
But the old images were mingled with newer ones of Lorenzo and the city’s current elite.
“Since Theresa’s death, I’ve made progress with Ike’s side of the family.
They know my goodwill and patronage lasts only as long as our feud remains buried.
No one would help him.” Lorenzo sounded confident, but another flicker of wariness crossed his face.
“I couldn’t understand why Tony would go to work for the cartel, but this explains it.
With no one in the family willing to help him, Ike needed new connections. ”
Parker closed the distance in a flash of muscle and controlled fury.
The move would have intimidated most people, but Lorenzo didn’t even bat an eye as they stared each other down.
They were complete opposites, but both radiated strength.
Lorenzo’s was hidden beneath a bespoke suit, while Parker’s rippled from muscles pouring out of his black T-shirt and jeans.
When Parker spoke, his voice was dark and threatening. “If I find out you’ve even lifted a single pinky to help him in his vendetta, I will end you.”
Lorenzo raised a brow. “You’re becoming tiresome. Aren’t SEALs renowned for their intelligence? This overly aggressive powerplay is the opposite of smart.”
The two men stared each other down. My stomach, which had been doing ugly flips since Tony had walked into the prison interview room instead of Ike, did another round.
I grabbed Parker’s elbow, tugging at it. “Let’s go. He doesn’t know anything.”
For two seconds, I thought Parker might put his hands around Lorenzo’s neck as he had Tony’s back at the prison. I’d never seen Parker so aggressive. I’d seen him use his strength, but I’d never seen him raw and on edge like this.
He whirled around, grabbed my hand, and strode for the door. We’d barely opened it when Lorenzo’s voice stopped us.
“Regardless of your impudence, I will do what I can to help you find Ike. I’m assuming he’s the one causing trouble for you at the ranch? Spreading those lies about your involvement, Mrs. Steele?”
Parker’s back stiffened, and he would have stormed back to Lorenzo if I hadn’t used all my strength to hold him back.
“You know a lot about what’s been happening for someone who hasn’t been involved,” I said.
“I always keep an eye on my family and my investments.”
“Except, I’m not your family, and you have nothing to do with my ranch,” I responded .
“Sadie and her children are my cousins. Your misfortunes fall on them and thus impacts me. Plus, Teddy Jones and I have a business arrangement he might be unable to repay if your ranch were to falter.”
I couldn’t hide the shock that hit me with the same force as the hoof I’d taken to the head. If I hadn’t been standing next to Parker, I might have hit the ground. Instead, Parker’s arm banded my waist and steadied me.
“What does Teddy have to do with you? With any of this?” I choked out.
Instead of answering me, Lorenzo waved as if dismissing us. “I’ll be in touch if I find out anyone in my family has helped Ike.”
The tremors running through me made it difficult to walk as Parker and I left the office.
I started to comment, reeling from the news that somehow one of the men I’d trusted most had been working with Lorenzo, but Parker cut me off with a shake of his head.
His eyes darted to the room’s corners, where cameras recorded our movements.
We didn’t talk again until we were in the SUV parked in the garage below Lorenzo’s building.
In my head, I kept replaying every moment with Teddy since I’d returned to the ranch at the end of May.
His smiles and his kindness to Theo. His obvious infatuation with Mom.
He’d been around me my whole life, and I’d never once felt threatened or uncomfortable.
I was weirded out a bit by the idea of him and Mom hooking up, but that was the extent of discomfort I’d ever felt around the man.
“Teddy…” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t believe Teddy has been working somehow with Lorenzo. For what reason? God…he’s been cozying up to Mom. What did he hope to accomplish?”
“We’ll find out. I’ll call Sweeney and Cranky, and they’ll interrogate him while we’re on our way.”
My immediate reaction was horror at the idea of Teddy being hurt.
Regardless of what Lorenzo had said, Teddy was part of the Harrington Ranch family and deserved to explain his actions.
Hadn’t I wanted everyone to give me the benefit of the doubt when the evidence was stacking up against me? He deserved the same .
“You will not have him interrogated!” I exclaimed. “I’ll talk to him. Me. He’s my responsibility.”
Parker didn’t like my response. His face was grim, lips tight. “Fine. I’ll let you have the first shot, but if he doesn’t give us answers, or if we find he’s had anything to do with you being shot at and terrorized, I will make him suffer.”
It wasn’t a threat. It was another promise—one that returned the churning bile in my stomach. Ace and Ike were working together. They’d bonded over a mutual hatred of me and my father. My family. They wanted to destroy everything and everyone I loved.
Fear spiraled inside me as my hand settled on my stomach. I could run, keep me and the baby safe, but this would never be over until Ike and Ace were back behind bars. It hit me. No one could find Ike, but we didn’t need to find him. He would find me.
“I need to go home,” I told him. “I need to be at the ranch.”
Parker shook his head. “No. Not until we find out if Ike is still there.”
“Either take me to the airport so I can fly us home, or I’ll get out of the car and make my way there on my own.”
His jaw worked overtime, and his hands clutched the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. “I need to see Theo first. I promised him we’d be back today.”
“He can’t come with us, Parker.” I shook my head. The fear I felt at the idea of Theo being close when Ace or Ike found me was beyond comprehension. It was torturous enough to imagine Parker being in my orbit when it happened, but at least he was trained to defend himself.
“I know,” Parker finally said on a heavy exhale. “I’ll leave him with Mom, but he needs to see me. He expected both his parents to return, and neither of them showed up …” Parker’s voice disappeared in a sea of emotions.
My heart constricted. I knew what it felt like to be abandoned.
I’d felt it every time my dad had sent me back to Rivers without him and when Mom had disappeared behind her prescription drugs, leaving me to fend for myself.
But Theo had experienced an even worse kind of abandonment.
In dying, neither of his parents could repair the damage they’d left behind as my parents had tried to do over the years .
“You should stay with him,” I said quietly. “He can’t lose you too.”
Parker’s eyes narrowed at me, anger blazing.
“If you think I’m letting you go back to the ranch and face Teddy and Ike—and whoever else is involved—on your own, you’ve lost your mind.
Even if we hadn’t said ‘I do’ and agreed to face this world together, I’d be at your side. You’re not alone, goddamnit.”
I bit my cheek until I tasted bitter metallic on my tongue.
I just wanted this to be over before anyone else got hurt.
But Parker was right. I couldn’t face this alone.
This wasn’t something I could shovel my way out of.
I didn’t have the training or the knowledge to protect myself or the ranch from a man determined to destroy us.
A memory of Spencer hit me hard and fast. We’d been at the top of the mountain, looking down over the waterfall and the rivers as they twined toward the lake, and he’d said, ‘ It’s a huge responsibility to care for this land, Fallon.
Sometimes, you have to do the one thing you don’t want—you have to rely on someone else.
Don’t make the same mistakes I have. Know when to bury your pride and ask for help. ’
For most of my life, I’d been determined to be the only one to decide what happened to the ranch.
I’d resented Mom as she’d made decisions and controlled what I thought wasn’t hers.
I’d run to San Diego not only to honor my promise to my dad, but so I wouldn’t have to watch my mom handle the reins until I could inherit them.
I was sure I’d do it better once it was mine.
I thought I’d be able to shoulder the entire legacy as Spencer had—on my own.
But I’d forgotten his message somewhere along the way.
I needed to learn from the past—mine, Spencer’s, and my ancestors. Maybe the curse Uncle Adam talked about wasn’t from the poker game where one family had taken the land from another. Maybe it was simply pride. Arrogance.
I cupped Parker’s cheek, running my thumb along his jaw.
“Some of the worst mistakes my family and I have made were the moments we tried to face a battle alone. The legacy of the land doesn’t just belong to me because of a deed and a bank account.
It belongs to everyone who works the ranch, every person who loves it and invests their heart and soul into it.
It’s not mine to carry alone. Right now, I need you to help me keep it and the people there safe. ”
“I can’t promise no one will get hurt, Ducky.
Like you said, a battle is being waged against the ranch and your family, and there are always casualties in a war.
But I promise to do everything in my power to ensure the ones who get hurt aren’t you and yours.
That it’s Ace and Ike and anyone helping them who pays the price. ”
Renewed fear for Teddy wound through me and for Chuck. People who’d stepped across a line, maybe not even realizing they had.
Parker grabbed my wrist, kissed the palm of my hand, and then set it aside as he started the SUV and backed out of the parking spot.
We were going home. And for the first time in more years than I could count, that thought filled me with trepidation instead of peace.