Chapter 52
Dixie
The sun shone on my first solo trip outside the warehouse. At several weeks on from the Marchant vote, no one was harassing me anymore. Public interest had moved on to the court cases in progress, and I was a free agent. No cameras in my face. No need to hide.
Even if I was certain someone from the crew had a crafty security camera angled my way.
Mila crossed the carpark, coming my way, her tailored skirt and blouse perfect for the spring morning. Though she and Convict had moved back into her flat, they were at the warehouse practically every day, just like Tyler and I lived between here and the ridge cabin.
“Been to work this morning?” I asked.
She shouldered her bag, her pretty manicure the same as mine. We’d got our nails done together last week. Purple with little skulls. It matched my favourite hairband that Lovelyn had returned to me after discovering it in that bus station forever ago. I wore it today, feeling entirely myself again.
“I have. We got payroll approved at last. I’m so happy we can pay staff what they’re owed.”
With the company likely to be under investigation for a long time, it couldn’t operate as normal, but Mila was the one at the helm.
“Sweet. The relatives still bugging you?”
“They can try. I just pass them to Kane to handle.” She grasped the handle of the big door, but paused and turned back.
“There’s something I meant to say to you.
Thank you. Back when Austin died, I was desperate to resurrect his business.
I felt it was my duty, but more than that.
I believed in it. That faded when all the bad stuff was revealed.
It cut me up, not only for everyone who’d suffered, and for the lies, but in my heart.
I had no purpose anymore. Now, I have that back, because of you.
I’m not doing it for him anymore. I’m doing it for us.
That makes me happier than ever before.”
I hugged her, a liberty I really liked getting used to. She squeezed me right back.
My sister released me and chewed her lip. “I was thinking of changing the name.”
“To what?”
“Two Sisters.”
“Oh my God. That’s disgustingly cute. I love it.”
“Really? I made sure Kane didn’t want to be included. You can imagine his answer.”
I laughed, because our brother could never.
Mila gazed at me. “Sure you don’t want to work for the company when it’s up and running again?”
I wrinkled my nose. Unlike Mila, I hadn’t found a purpose again since giving up sex work. But I knew for certain it wasn’t that. “I don’t mind sitting in on board meetings about how the money is spent, but otherwise, it’s all yours.”
Not that I had a clue about how we’d do that, either. For all the claims I’d made about what I wanted Marchant Haulage to become, I didn’t have the first idea of where to start.
She grinned. “Okay. Got to run. Love you.”
She skipped inside before I’d even managed a reply.
“Love you too, sis,” I sent after her, my chest so full it almost hurt to say it out loud.
The warehouse’s rear door opened again, Clem, Liliana, and a small group of other dancers came out. Just who I’d been waiting for.
Clem lifted a small basket, her expression soft. “Ready?”
Together, we walked down to the banks of Deadwater River.
Clem stooped to the edge of the rushing water. “Lex was no angel. He was sexy as hell, good at his job, and I miss him.”
Liliana smiled. “His dick got him into trouble as much as it did out of it. He made me laugh more times than I could count. He mattered to me. He was part of the family.”
The others said similar. None of us pretending we knew the right words for a funeral.
We didn’t get the option of taking home his ashes.
Instead, we’d put together items that reminded us of him.
His name tag from the strip club’s dressing room.
A photo of him used on Divine’s social media, Lex making an L-shape with his hand over his angular jaw.
A box of matches and nasty cigars from his locker.
Hot underwear and a condom packet because we didn’t shy away from anything.
I finished with, “Lex, you helped me. You were messy as hell, but no one’s perfect. You didn’t deserve the end you got. Boy, we’ll never forget you. Don’t be mad that we made you sentimental.”
Clem smiled with shining eyes, and released the basket into the sparkling waves. It bobbed then sank, taken by the flow.
I wiped my tears, hugged my friends, and returned indoors.
Upstairs in the apartment I shared with Tyler, I texted him about the next thing we had to do. A matter that made me feel sick but I wasn’t prepared to leave.
Tyler: Back in fifteen minutes. Come to Arran’s office. I love you.
He’d taken to writing that at the end of his messages, like I’d forget if he didn’t.
I tapped back agreement, then my phone buzzed in my hand, an unknown number on the screen.
Usually, I’d leave it to go to voicemail. Though the media circus was over, who knew who it might be.
Except an odd sense built in me that it could be important.
I answered it. “Hello?”
“Ah, you’re there. How wonderful.”
It was Primrose. Oh God.
For weeks, the police had been searching for our grandmother. Detective Lyle had repeatedly asked if she’d contacted us, and they’d searched her home multiple times. She’d spoken to them on the phone but they hadn’t tracked her down.
I forced myself to breathe. “How are you?”
“Perfectly well. With the dust settled, I wanted to speak to my favourite grandchild.”
“You’re checking up on me?” My voice came out high and tight.
“Perhaps I am merely enquiring if you have resolved on hating me or understanding me.”
I opened and closed my mouth. “Neither? I don’t know if I should be more afraid of you than anything.
You killed three people.” I added a thought that had dogged my late nights when I’d processed all the drama and all that was left.
“I’m with someone I love. Mila and Kane have their forever people, too.
We don’t want to live in fear for their safety. ”
“Dixie,” Primrose admonished. “Why on earth would I harm them? It wouldn’t even occur to me.
” She sighed. “You must know that if I had understood what was done to you, I would have razed this entire world to the ground to stop it. The three people were a symptom of that same care, expressed when I had no other way.”
“Promise you won’t hurt anyone else? No spree killings to keep up the avenging work?”
She tutted. “I have no reason to, child. But if you need to hear it, I swear never to hurt anyone you or my other grandchildren care about. Besides, I’m not even in the same country as you anymore. Nor shall I return. Austin had his bolthole and I have mine. Do you accept my word?”
Probably, I shouldn’t have. But my gut said different.
I believed her. I told her so.
My grandmother’s tone brightened. “Then we are in agreement. I shall move on to my next point. Your inheritance. It is more than just money. It is responsibility also. I have enjoyed reading about the changes you intend to make to Austin’s company.
If you’re going to run that empire in the way you’ve described, you’ll need help.
I will give that to you. I know what to slice and where to bandage.
Where damage was caused and in which places the company suffers bloat.
A memorial fund for those who had been hurt would be my starting place.
You will keep my involvement a secret, of course, but you will find my contribution of value. ”
“I don’t know what to say.” That was actually a great idea.
“If I call again with thoughts, will you answer?”
There was weight behind her question.
“Yes,” I answered. Because I would. Even after everything, the tiny hint of the relationship we’d once had still glimmered in my heart. Now I felt safer with her, as much as was possible, I knew I wouldn’t reveal her either.
“Do you need anything?” I added.
Primrose declined and said she had other calls to make. A voice in the background calling her madam and offering her tea told me she was doing just fine.
It was only after we’d disconnected that I realised something else important. She’d used the right name for me. Darcy was no more.
Without fanfare, she’d given me a gift. I’d cherish it.
A short while on, having recovered myself from the shock, I trotted downstairs. Arran was alone in his office.
He set aside the tablet he’d been working on. “Come on in. Tyler won’t be long.”
Slightly awkwardly, I took a seat. Once upon a time, I’d flirted with Arran. I’d wanted to make myself feel safer, but I’d made a mess of it. Looking back, it was embarrassing as heck.
But I didn’t hide from mistakes. “That time I came in here…” I started.
Arran grimaced. “Stop. We are not discussing that. Tyler will murder me.”
“Can I apologise?”
“I dumped you on the floor. There’s no need to say anything.”
I laughed despite myself. “Fine. Then we’re even.”
The door opened and Tyler stepped in. As always, his gaze came straight to me. Slipped down me. Lingered. “Hey, doll.”
My heart melted. “Hi, right back.”
He leaned on the wall next to me and addressed Arran. “Thanks for your help.”
I took my cue. “That’s my line. I had no idea what to do about my mother.”
Only that she had to be punished in some way.
She’d rejected me, lied to my grandparents, taken their money, and not cared whether I lived or died.
Tyler had suggested we go see her so I could tell her off in person, but she wasn’t worth it.
I didn’t want her apology, or excuses. I didn’t want her pain and lies.
I didn’t care about her enough to need that closure in person.
But a little revenge wouldn’t hurt.
Arran lifted his phone. “I’ll make the call.”
I pulled a face. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”
“No one ever is.”
I took a breath and nodded.
He dialled a number. A woman answered.
“Thea,” Arran said. He introduced us, then added, “Thea’s family owns the island of Torlum, and all properties there are rented from her.”
“I understand one of the tenants has caused problems,” Thea said. “So I went ahead and arranged for an eviction. As of four p.m. today, Mrs Dixon, who is illegally subletting from an elderly resident, will be served notice and told to leave. Does that work for everyone?”
I uttered a short laugh. “We’re kicking her out?”
Tyler smiled. “It’s a start.”
It was. A boundary drawn.
I agreed with Thea and set the evict-Mum train in motion.
No regrets troubled me. It felt like divine justice that the woman who’d made me homeless now found herself in the same situation. I wondered if she’d end up working on her back, like I’d had to. I doubted I’d take the time to find out.
I thanked Arran and made to leave. He paused us.
“There was one more thing. Cassie says that you don’t want to work for her anymore.”
The job that I’d run away from. I turned a toe on the ground. “True.”
“And you’re not struck on joining Mila day-to-day,” Tyler added.
I peeked up at him. My man was up to something.
Arran revealed it. “We have a hole in our team here. Alisha’s role of managing the dancers and sex workers has never been filled.
Cassie makes schedules, but she has other work too.
We need someone here most days. Who knows the staff and cares about them.
Do you want it? I can’t think of anyone better. ”
I stared. “You’re offering me Alisha’s old job?
” I’d missed Alisha so much, and I knew how important she’d been.
She kept the staff in line, hired and fired, managed all the schedules.
She’d also stripped on occasion. More importantly, if I took it, I would be right where I wanted to be.
With my friends. Safe when Tyler wasn’t around.
Right in the centre of the city I loved. My heart lifted. “I’d love to.”
Outside the office, Tyler hugged me to him. “Congratulations.”
“Did you ask him to do that?”
“Actually, it was suggested first by the staff, approved by Cassie, then given to Arran to make the offer. He didn’t decide on anything. They all did.”
Everyone wanted me here. I couldn’t stop my smile.
“Careful or I’ll start bossing you around.”
He groaned and kissed my throat.
A group of staff entered the hall, carrying decorations into Divide. Prettying it up for the party happening this evening.
Tyler hit the button for the lift. “Don’t give me those eyes. We have a wedding to get dressed for. We’ll celebrate later.”
That was a promise I knew he’d keep over and over.