Chapter 34 #2
I stand up straighter. “Are you okay?” I ask nervously, and that must get the attention of Harrison, who’s up and by her side in one second flat.
“What’s wrong?”
“Braxton Hicks.”
He sits next to her and puts his large hand on her stomach, while she rests her head on his shoulder. “Are you sure? Should we go in and get checked again?”
“I’m not sure since I’ve obviously never given birth, but I am not going back to the hospital until this baby’s head is crowning. They’re going to put a restraining order on us soon.” She looks at me, playfully rolling her eyes. “My husband’s neurotic.”
It’s clear she loves him doting on her.
“It must run in the family.”
“Plus, I can’t go into labor until Becks gets back from her work trip.”
“I’m not sure you get to pick when you go into labor,” Harrison says dryly.
Juliette narrows her eyes. I can see the fumes about to burst.
I take her hand and squeeze lightly as a distraction. “I get that. I wouldn’t want to do it without Addie.”
Ads smiles sweetly. “Aww, thanks, babe.”
“Where is Becks?” I ask.
She rubs her stomach, looking sad. “All the way in Hong Kong. She travels there often for work.”
“Can she come home early?”
She shrugs. “Who knows? Her boss is a real fucking dickhead.”
Oh man. “That sucks.”
“We’re already half in with the Mafia. We can get him taken out,” Addie jokes.
“Adelaide,” I chastise.
Her eyes widen comically. “What? It’s true.”
“Is he that bad?” I ask, “Maybe he can make an exception.”
Juliette nods her head. “The worst, a real tyrant.”
“A relentless bastard,” Seb adds.
Leo smirks. “A Grade A hard-ass.”
I look around the room. “Okay. What am I missing here?”
Mason gets up and walks over to me, pulling me into his side. “Harrison is Becks’s boss.”
“What?” I gasp. “Harrison.” I reach over and push his arm. “Why would you send her on a work trip when Juliette is due any day now?”
“Obviously, because I’m an idiot.” All the girls are glaring at him, and I know he can feel the pressure.
He’s been texting a mile a minute since we started talking about this, so I can only hope he’s trying to make it better.
“Dinner’s ready,” Rosa announces.
Mase keeps his arm around me as we walk into the dining room. “I’m glad you were able to stay, even under the circumstances.”
“I was always coming to surprise you today. I lied about the engagement my coach signed us up for.” He reaches over and tugs my ponytail. “I took off tomorrow, so I don’t have to rush back. Hopefully, we get some answers.”
“Me too. When the season’s over, will you come live in New York for a little while? I miss you.”
“I’ll have about six weeks until offseason workout programs start. I can stay here for a month, then I need a two-week vacation somewhere on a beach. We can plan it so you guys can come.” He hesitates, and I know he wants to say more.
“What is it?”
“Did you forget my contract is up this year?”
My step falters. “I did. Are they going to re-sign you?”
If they don’t, that means he can go anywhere in the country. He could go to Seattle, and he’d be a six-hour flight away.
I already don’t see him enough.
“They probably want me. But I don’t want them.” He replies, shocking me. “New York’s QB is up for trade this year, too.”
What?!
“Oh my god, Mason. Are you going to make it happen or what?”
“Are you suggesting I tamper with the trade?” His eyes gleam.
I check his hip, or more like his upper thigh. “Come on. Seriously.”
“When the season’s over, an interview I did might mention how I’d love to stay close to my sister who lives in the city.”
“And the odds of you playing there?”
He looks at me deadpan. “I’m the best quarterback in the league.”
“Hmm. I think Adrian Delaney would contest that.”
If Nate didn’t just walk into the dining room looking like a ghost, I know Mason would give me shit for that teasing comment, but we all go quiet as he walks to the head of the table.
Javier sits up straight. “What’s wrong, son?”
He looks down at Claud, who is playing with the dogs. “Claudina. Go up to your room for a moment.”
“But, I’m playing.”
Seb picks her up from the floor and settles her on her feet. “Take Skye with you. The grown-ups need to talk.”
“Oh man,” she sighs. “Come on, Skye.”
The two of them head upstairs, and I swoop up the puppy before it follows.
“What’s going on, Nate?”
I don’t like the look on his face.
Not one bit.
“That was Ethan, and while I was on the phone with him, Matteo called. We have an update from both of them.” He rolls his neck, letting out tension. “The good news is D.T. is not a threat.”
“Why’s that?”
I sit between Juliette and Mase when Nate sits down across from me, and everyone follows, settling into the dining room.
“D.T., a.k.a. Denise Thomson, is an eighty-eight-year-old woman with dementia who lives in a senior home. While her husband was still alive, and they were living together, he broke one of the two wine glasses Cherry auctioned off at a charity event. They loved those glasses, so he promised Denise he would replace them, but he died before he could reach out to you.” The room goes silent as he continues.
“Ethan spoke to her son, who is a hacker, and that’s how he was able to get information on you.
He was extremely apologetic and had no idea about his mother’s extremely demanding letters.
He said he only found out about her mood swings recently. ”
“Oh.” My heart breaks for her. “I know the wine glasses. Can you tell the son that I will make the replacement for her?”
Nate smiles. “I already did. Ethan also threatened his life if he hacked into anyone else’s information.”
“So if it wasn’t this woman Denise, who was it?” Addie asks.
And there goes my appetite, because I already know I’m not going to like the answer by Nate’s expression.
Rosa stands and walks over to me, placing her hands on my shoulders in support.
Nate leans back in his chair, crossing his arms. “They finally forced out all the information from the guy. He lasted longer under torture than I thought he would, I’ll give him that—”
“Nathaniel,” Rosa snaps.
He shrinks at her tone. “Sorry. Anyway, he finally admitted he was hired by none other than Corey Wadsworth.”
“What?” I ask in shock. “No. He wouldn’t. Why?”
My ex.
What the hell?
“What we know is that he wasn’t hired to hurt you. He was hired to stalk you. So that feeling of someone watching you. That was him. You were meant to feel uneasy, uncomfortable, and maybe even unstable at times. But his main job was to drug me.”
“What the fuck?” Harrison stands in a rush, causing the pup to jump out of my arms. “I’m calling Matteo.”
Juliette pulls at his arm. “You’re not being a hero today, tough guy. Sit down.”
He sits, then stands again and begins to pace.
“Continue,” Mase says, his voice low, and I can hear the anger boiling deep within him.
“This guy set it all up. He knocked on our door, pretending to be drunk, so he could tell Owen how sorry he was. He asked Owen to call me down to apologize, but he never banked on Leo being there with me, or at least staying by my side. He was going to drug me and incriminate me by leaving pictures of me with other women for Maddie to find.” Nate finally looks at me, his expression unreadable.
“Corey wanted you to suffer, like you made him suffer.”
“I wouldn’t have ever believed those pictures,” I say softly.
“I know, Mads. But Corey doesn’t know that. He was hoping you’d hate me, or better yet, leave me. So both of us could live a life of misery.”
I bow my head, ashamed. “I’m sorry.” I swallow back my emotions, too embarrassed to cry in front of everyone. “I’m so sorry.”
Rosa rubs my back.
Juliette slips her hand into mine under the table, and Addie is there, pushing Mason out of his chair.
Of course, she’s the one who doesn’t let me wallow.
“Fuck him.” She grimaces. “Sorry, Rosa. But seriously. This is exactly what he wanted. He can’t break you. He can’t break either of you.” She looks over to Nate, who nods in agreement.
I look at him through my lashes, and I can tell he’s dying to get me in his arms.
He crooks his finger, and that’s all I need.
He’s not mad.
I walk around the table and settle in his lap, not caring who’s looking, then glance around the table. I open my mouth, but it’s Seb who cuts me off.
“Don’t you dare, Madeline.” He gives me a stern look. “This is not on you.”
“But—”
“Did you know he was going to do this?”
My shoulders sag. “Of course, not.”
“Then you’ll leave it at that.”
“Where is Corey now?” Harrison asks.
Underneath me, Nate’s muscles tense. “We don’t know. Ethan has an active job in Charleston, so he had his men on a plane to Georgia right away, but Corey is MIA. The other guy definitely called him once I spotted and ran after him.”
“Fuck,” Harrison replies.
“So what does that mean?”
“It means we sit back and let Ethan do his job.”
I think for a moment.
“He has a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains, in South Carolina. I’ve never been, but he loves it there.”
Nate takes out his phone immediately and texts Ethan, who messages back just as fast, saying they’re already on it.
“What will happen when you find him? Will you call the police?”
The room goes quiet. Not one person makes a peep.
Finally, Leo, who’s been unusually quiet, speaks up. “No. No police. Matteo’s cousins will handle him.”
A shiver rakes over my body, and a bad feeling turns in my gut.
They’re the Mafia…
Today has been such a whirlwind; I haven’t had a second to really digest who is actually helping us.
The Mafia.
Holy hell.
I swallow my unease and just come out and ask my question, “They won’t kill him, will they?”
“No,” Nate says sternly, holding me tight against his body.
“But he will be taught a lesson,” Leo adds. “In the worst possible way.”
“No one fucks with the Davenport-Morales family,” Harrison states with conviction.