Chapter Twenty-Seven #2
‘No, you haven’t,’ Harmony argues. ‘Nobody knew. And you don’t work there anymore.’
I take another deep breath. ‘What if the wrong person knew though? And they found out retrospectively?’
‘What do you mean?’ Harmony asks. ‘Which wrong person knows about it?’
I look at Jake. He gives me a small nod of encouragement.
‘I’m being blackmailed,’ I admit.
‘By who?’ Dalton demands, and there’s fury in his tone.
I look at my fingers, entwined with Jake’s. It’s like I can feel his strength seeping through into my bones, but I still hate that I have to confess.
I lift my head and look Dalton in the eye. ‘Brody Conway,’ I say.
The room goes silent again. Very slowly, Dalton leans back in his chair. I can see a muscle flexing in his clenched jaw. Hudson looks at his brother, who in turn raises his eyes to his wife. I glance behind me. Ally Briar has locked eyes with her husband.
‘I told you, didn’t I?’ she murmurs softly.
‘I don’t understand,’ Harmony blurts before I can say another word.
Hudson shakes his head. ‘That no good motherfucker,’ he whispers.
Dalton lowers his head, running his fingers through his closely cropped hair.
‘Wait, what are you all talking about?’ Jake asks.
‘I can’t fucking believe it,’ Dalton says.
‘I can,’ his brother responds.
‘You mind if I tell them?’ Dalton says to his wife.
Ally consents. ‘Go ahead.’
‘About four years ago,’ Dalton says, addressing me in particular, ‘Ally starts getting these explicit messages sent to her phone. Sexual stuff, fantasies, that kinda thing. We didn’t know who from.
She blocked the number, but each time, more would show up.
Then one day, at an event at the Danube, she gets talking to Brody Conway.
He follows her to the bathroom, grabs her, presses her up against the wall and starts telling her what he wants to do to her. ’
I look at Ally in surprise.
‘He used the same language as the phone messages. We took it to the police, but nothing was captured on CCTV, there were no witnesses, and they couldn’t trace the phone numbers back to him.
He denied it; cops said there was nothing more they could do.
I almost resigned my position, especially when it seemed like Samantha Conway was working double time to have the whole thing hushed up. ’
‘I didn’t know that,’ Harmony says to Ally. ‘I mean… there have always been rumours but I’m so sorry.’
‘It’s okay,’ Ally responds. ‘Thank you. I didn’t sleep for weeks after that.’
‘And there’s been nothing since?’ Harmony asks.
Ally comes further into the room. ‘Nothing. Thank god. Everything stopped after he cornered me. But I’ve avoided him and the next time I saw him was at his wedding.’
‘Which we didn’t wanna go to,’ Dalton adds.
I can feel the tension in Jake’s fingers. ‘What rumours?’ he asks.
‘That Brody Conway has always been creepy as fuck,’ Hudson growls.
‘When I was a rookie,’ Harmony interjects. ‘We had a cheerleader leave the squad. No notice, no reason, nothing. One day she was there, next she wasn’t. We heard rumours later that she left because Brody was obsessed with her. Wouldn’t leave her alone.’
Dalton levels his eyes on me. ‘I need to know everything.’
All attention returns to me. Heat flushes the base of my neck.
‘He came to the club once, about two months back. I had to give him a lap dance. By order of the boss, it had to be… without any clothes at all. We call it Surly’s rules.
I didn’t know it was Brody at the time, then when we went to the wedding, I knew.
’ I look at Dalton and Ally. ‘After that, the messages started coming. He had me to go a waterfront apartment at the bay. I had to dance for him then. Then the time after that—’ I look at Harmony and I feel the sharp sting of tears.
‘He had Persia’s CMC uniform waiting for me on the bed, so that I could take it off in his presence. ’
Harmony explodes. ‘He had what?!’
‘He bragged about taking it from her locker.’
She shakes her head. ‘That asshole!’
‘I’m sorry that I did it,’ I tell her.
‘Don’t be. By the sounds of it, you didn’t have a choice.’
I feel a heavy weight on my shoulders as I exhale. ‘Now he’s threatening to tell everyone that I’m a stripper if I don’t spend the night with him.’
‘You are kidding me,’ Ally blurts in disgust.
‘He’s expecting me tomorrow night,’ I confess. I reach for my phone and bring up tonight’s message and hand over the handset to Jake. ‘This is the message he sent me twenty minutes ago, on my way over here.’
I watch Jake read the message. A moment later, he’s on his feet, his fingers ripped from mine. He paces the room, looking at Dalton, shaking my phone in the direction of his captain. ‘I wanna thrash this worthless prick,’ he seethes. ‘No mercy.’
‘That shitbag is a total momma’s boy,’ Hudson reminds us all with a gruff sigh. ‘Got full protection from his mother. He’s untouchable.’
‘What are you gonna do?’ Ally asks me.
‘I have an idea. If it doesn’t work, then I don’t know what I’m gonna do. But I know I’m sure as hell not gonna sleep with him.’
‘Does he know you’ve quit working at Surly’s?’ Harmony asks.
‘No. Not yet.’
She shrugs. ‘So, can’t you simply tell him you don’t work there anymore? That the deal is off?’
‘I don’t think he cares. He requested that I come to his apartment to get me away from Surly’s.
He did it on purpose, I see that now. It won’t matter to his mother either when it comes out.
And if I don’t do as he asks, it’s only a matter of time before it will come out.
She’ll fire me from the squad quicker than she did Persia Takeda. ’
‘I won’t let that happen,’ Jake interjects.
‘Nor I,’ Dalton echoes.
‘Me either,’ Harmony says, getting to her feet. ‘And it’s another reason why you two… your relationship can’t come out. At least not yet. It’ll only give them more ammo.’
I’m touched by their coming to my defense, but I hear Hudson Briar snort.
Harmony turns on him. ‘And you! You are keeping this a secret too. Keep them talking about us instead.’
His tone is lazy. ‘What? How you’ve resisted me all these years?’
‘If that’s what it takes, then yes.’
‘Your wish is my command, princess,’ Hudson fires back with a roll of his eyes, before he gets to his feet.
‘You know what? I’m getting out of here.
Serenity, it’s been a pleasure meeting you.
’ He holds his hand out to Jake. ‘Walsh, whatever happens, I got your back. Should you need any assistance with Brody Conway, I’ll gladly punch his lights out. ’
I watch his sister-in-law square up to him. ‘And just where do you think you’re going?’
Hudson crosses his arms over his chest at Ally standing in his way. ‘You don’t need me here. And I can’t sit in a room with her any longer.’
Behind him, Harmony is visibly crestfallen.
Hudson looks back at his brother. ‘Can you please call off your attack dog?’
Dalton’s lips twitch. ‘Naw, I’m just gonna let her bite.’
‘Quit it!’ Ally blurts. ‘Hudson, no matter what you might think, tonight is not about you, or your long-running, will-they-or-won’t-they relationship with Harmony.
Tonight is about Jake and Serenity, who, in case you didn’t figure it out yet, need our help.
So, sit your butt back down in the chair, get on your phone and order us some Doordash, pronto. ’
‘I love my attack dog,’ Dalton drawls with a grin, putting both his hands behind his head.
I press my lips together. They’re all so nice.
‘What am I ordering?’ Hudson bites out.
Ally cocks her head to one side and grants him her best smile. ‘Why don’t you ask Harmony what she’d like to eat?’
I notice Dalton chuckling to himself. Unimpressed, Hudson pushes one hand into his pants pocket.
‘I wouldn’t say no to some Chinese food,’ Harmony says.
Hudson doesn’t even look at her, just reaches for his phone and wanders over to the window next to Jake. I watch Harmony closely. I know yearning when I see it. When her eyes flit back to mine, I mouth I’m sorry at her.
Don’t be, she mouths back with a shake of her head.
‘Nobody goes anywhere,’ Ally announces, and takes a seat next to her husband. ‘Not until we figure out what to do about Brody Conway.’