18. Chapter 18 #2
Hot rage crimsoned my cheeks. “How fucking dare you? As I recall it, you got something out of that too. Don’t worry, it won’t be happening again. You had your chance to fuck me last night, and you missed your shot. I’m done with this bullshit.”
A cool look settled on Dax’s face. “Fine. Ask me whatever it is you want to ask me.”
I nearly walked out of the room to grab my things and leave. It’s what I should have done, considering everything I already knew. I hadn’t expected an apology from him, but would I accept his reluctant compliance? Curiosity won me over.
“I want to know everything. Who are you, really?”
“Can you at least please sit down?” Dax pointed to the chair I had abandoned across from him.
“Are you gonna answer the question or not?” I began tapping my foot against the hardwood floor.
“Yes—fuck!” He paused for a second, seeming to collect his thoughts.
“I’m part of an organization that leverages intelligence from big corporations to rebalance systems that profit off exploitation.
It operates in the black market by gaining early knowledge of market shifts, funneling billions into causes the public and private sectors actively ignore or intentionally harm. ”
I couldn’t read the expression on his face, the rage had seemed to simmer down, but now his eyes seemed distant.
I decided to move back to my seat, leveling me with his stare.
“Okay. So you’re like some kind of tech Robin Hood?
” I perched on the edge of the chair, anxiety running thick up my throat. “How did you end up here?”
Dax turned his head to the side thoughtfully, the dark stubble of his jawline stretching. “I suppose you could say the organization as a whole functioned that way. I left it all behind when I moved here, though it seems to keep following me wherever I go.”
“So that’s who all those guys are outside and the one who followed me? They’re from this organization?” I asked.
Dax nodded. “They’re called CIPHER. I’ve barely been involved since I came here except as a silent financial partner.
They approached me recently asking me to return for more hands-on work.
I didn’t really have any interest until…
well, until you showed up at my restaurant.
” His voice sounded slightly hoarse with the last part of his sentence.
“What would that kind of decision have to do with me?”
“What happened to Tara, what they’re trying to do to you, is exactly the kind of thing CIPHER is trying to protect people against. They may skim a little from the pocketbooks of big corporations, but they use that trade to take down predators.”
“So, are you going to start doing work for CIPHER again?”
He shook his head a little. “I haven’t decided yet. My priority for the past few years has been Bellissima, and I’m committed to its success. I did, however, call in a few favors with them to keep you safe.”
I ruminated over everything he was telling me. I believed him, even though I still felt deep down there was more he wasn’t telling me. I didn’t need to dig every skeleton out of his closet right now. I needed to focus on what the fuck I was going to do next.
“Okay. You should have told me about having people keep watch over me. From this point forward, I need to know about everything that goes on where I’m concerned, is that clear?”
He took a sip from an espresso that was probably now cold and grimaced. “Then I should probably catch you up on what happened while you were sleeping.”
Dax and I had moved to the beautiful sitting room in the Victorian where I was currently curled up on a luxurious chaise lounge while he tried to convince me to stay here while he went to Bellissima.
We had been talking for the past couple of hours, and he told me more about how CIPHER operated.
How they take the lucrative profits from their covert deals and use them to save people from human trafficking and exploitation.
He explained to me he had a connection with a man named Emile who had been helping him track camera footage to gain insights on the people who were after me.
He had gone to see Marty Sanchez, the owner of The Wire, yesterday and learned about some of the seedy side hustles he was operating behind the nightclub.
He didn’t go into much detail, but now we knew about a man named Wrangler who was involved with the shady operations and had connections to Chad and Gabe.
My heart stopped in my chest when he told me the man who had been photographing me was dead.
I should have felt some relief to hear this, but instead the familiar tendrils of dread wove vines around my lungs as he told me about the note he found scribbled on the back of a receipt at Teddy Griffin’s home.
“There’s no fucking way I’m not coming with you,” I told him when he said he was going to Bellissima to talk to Bianca tonight. We needed to see what she knew about Phoebe’s connection to Teddy.
“Like I already told you, your shift is covered tonight. You’re much safer here.
CIPHER is here to watch over the house, and Wrangler probably already had eyes on you when you came to the restaurant before,” he tried to reason with me.
“I’ll only be gone a few hours.” I could catch the scrutiny in his icy blue gaze from where I sat.
“I’m not your prisoner here, Dax,” my chin pointed up at him defiantly. “We’re in this together. I want to be there.”
“You’re not washing any more fucking dishes, Lucy.” His eyes bored into mine.
“Is this your way of firing me?” The pitch of my voice heightened.
“Of course not.” His brow furrowed a little as he continued. “I don’t want to risk you being seen anywhere. There’s already a chance they know you’re with me. That’s actually why I think you need to leave the city tonight.” He pressed his lips together.
“Leave the—what do you mean leave the city? Where the fuck am I supposed to go, Dax?” He was out of his mind. I had already fled my apartment. I had no money. My parents were out of the country. Did he even realize what he was asking me to do?
“Somewhere these assholes will never find you.” He wrung his hands together, the tattoos across the tops flexing. “And I’m taking you there.” The edge in his voice stilled me.
“I’m not going anywhere with you, unless I can go to Bellissima with you tonight.”
And he had the gall to call me stubborn?
“Lucy—” he started through tight lips.
“No! I’m serious, Dax. Helping me doesn’t mean controlling me. We have to be equals in whatever this fucked up situation is.”
He considered for a moment. “Okay,” he said, “you can come with me to Bellissima tonight. But you’re gonna have to lay low until I can talk to Bianca. And no dishes.”
I stood up and walked over to him where he stood near the staircase. “Deal.”