Chapter 46
ONE MONTH LATER
One month later
Aria
Ilook out to the ocean and I’m met with all the blues in the world. Dark blue, light blue even a turquoise. All the blues and greens that you can think of are staring back at me and I absolutely love it. Especially this time of day.
It’s early, the sun only rising about an hour ago. The morning is still calm, still quiet from all the noise that comes from the resort that is next door. It’s quiet enough for me to be able to hear every wave meeting the shore that the ocean throws my way.
Seeing the beauty that is before me, and everything that I’ve taken in these last few days has me kicking myself for not agreeing to this trip sooner.
Elliot had brought it when we were still in Texas, that instead of going back to Chicago that we should go somewhere magical for a few days.
It sounded so damn appealing but I wanted to go home.
I wanted to go to my apartment and be surrounded by my stuff and then go to his and get enveloped in his scent from head to toe.
I wanted to go to work and get my fill of the hospital before an urge to escape hit me.
I wanted to be in my safe place so that I could forget everything that happened the days before.
Thankfully he agreed to my request and flew us back to Chicago. He said it was because he loved me and wanted me to be wherever I needed.
I think I fell more in love within that moment.
So we went back to Chicago and for a few days, it was exactly what I needed.
I was forgetting the rollercoaster ride I mentally had been on in Austin, but then the urge that I thought I was months away from started to hit.
I started to think of an escape. Of calling out of work more frequently simply because I didn’t want to walk onto the pediatric floor and quit because I did something wrong.
Elliot noticed and didn’t waste any time jumping into action. I walked into his penthouse four days ago, and told him I felt the urge to escape, to leave Chicago for a few days. He said he already knew and in an hour, the man had us packed and on a plane out to a different county.
I had no idea where exactly we were going, but I didn’t care. I was clearing my mind and the urge I was feeling was fading away.
A few hours later, we landed in Cancun. The sun was bright and the weather was hot and it was exactly what I needed.
For the past five days, we’ve been at this all-inclusive resort doing nothing but eating, drinking, enjoying the pool, the ocean front and each other.
Outside of this paradise nothing else matters, just the two of us.
As my feet dig into the sand of the resort’s beach, my mind does drift. To when we were in Austin and I had asked Leo and Santos if I could go with them to give Jack a visit.
I expected them to turn down my request, but I should have known that they never do what’s expected of them because they said yes.
The only condition was I listen to orders, my safety was the number one priority and I was only going to be in the room for a short period of time.
When they told me to leave the room, I was going to be leaving. I agreed.
Elliot was against it, but he didn’t fight me on it, at least not very much. He voiced his very strong opinions for about two hours, but he still got in the car with me as a driver took the two of us with Leo and Santos to an undisclosed location. Well undisclosed to me.
The dark SUV pulled up to what looked like a distribution center. At least that’s what it looked from the outside. Even though it was a weekday and should have been filled with employees, the place was empty. There wasn’t a soul in sight.
I was about to ask if we were brought to the right place, when the two Muertos leaders started walking inside.
Much like the outside, the inside looked like a large office that on a normal day looked like it would be bustling with employees, but again it was empty. The echoing was a bit eerie.
The eeriness continued when Leo guided us toward the back of the building and opened one of the last doors.
That’s when I realized we were brought to a warehouse. A huge warehouse that only had three things inside.
A man tied to a chair, and two other men stand on opposite sides of it.
The man in the chair was Jack.
His head was bowed, his arms wrapped around the back of the chair, his legs ties to the bottom.
There was a point when I had first met him, that I thought him to be majestic, to be someone that could not be touched. Seeing him like this erases all of that.
I don’t know what I expected to feel if I ever saw someone in this position, but it most certainly wasn’t indifference.
I hate seeing someone like this, I do, but this man hurt me. He deceived me and hurt me with every promise he made. Add what he possibly did to others, and he deserves to be tied up like this and deserves whatever comes his way.
“We’ll give you five minutes with him if you want.” Leo offered, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
Did I want?
There was a reason I asked to come here, what was it?
I remembered. I remembered clearly.
I don’t take my eyes off Jack when I respond. “I won’t need five minutes.”
With a hand squeeze from Elliot, his way of telling me he’s here for me, I walk over to the chair in the middle of the big room.
At the sound of footsteps, Jack looked up. His face was bloody, his area around his eyes had cuts, as if he struggled to be taken and that was the result. For a split second, the nurse in me wanted to jump in and help him heal, but I quickly remembered who I was dealing with.
He still looked like the man I last saw nearly half a year before. Still arrogant, even below the blood coating his face. He still was the man that thought nobody could touch him. Still the man that called me a slut. Still the cheater.
He may have looked as arrogant as ever, but when he spoke, all the fear that he was feeling came out.
“Aria, baby.” The way he said my name made me want to puke. Did he always sound like that? “Help me. Tell them they got the wrong guy. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Lies. All he spoke were lies.
I don’t know what my face looked in that moment, but I hoped it was one of indifference, of uncaring. I was channeling my inner bitch after all.
My voice had no emotion behind it. “But you did.”
Jack thrashed in the chair and spoke through his teeth. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
A snort escaped me. “I can name a thousand things you did wrong. Should I go down the list?”
That statement made him angry. “After everything I’ve done for you, after loving you, I can’t believe you would turn your back on me life this. I gave you everything.”
I wanted to laugh; I truly did but I held it in and did what I came here to do. Destroy him.
“You gave me lie and broken promises. You deceived me into thinking you were the man of my dreams, took advantage of a dark time and inserted yourself in my life no matter how many times I told you no. Your actions drove me away from my home. You didn’t love me, you only saw me as a way of protection because you knew the second the cartel found out you were doing, they would kill you.
You may have started dating me for the thrill of stepping out on your wife, but you kept me tied to you to save your own life. ”
He thrashed in his chair again, as if he wanted to escape to come after me. To hurt me.
I continued my verbal attack. “I hope you pay for what you’re doing. I hope you suffer for every woman you hurt, me, your wife, anyone you involved in your games. I hope you lose everything and never recover.”
His eyes went dark as he spit in my direction. “I will get out of this and when I do, you will pay for walking away from me.
My head went to the side. “You’re not getting out, and if you do, I will have people to protect me. I told them everything. You won’t know peace if you even say my name.”
With that, I turned away from him. The whole way I walked back to Elliot, Jack screamed out my name, begged for me not to leave, but I didn’t turn back around. I didn’t care enough to.
When I reached the men, I asked the one question plaguing my mind.
“Are you going to kill him?” I asked to Santos and Leo.
Both men looked at each other before answering.
“He hurt you. I would think that’s reason enough, but we haven’t decided yet. We might torture him first before we decide.” Leo answered, looking over at the man tied to the chair.
I looked back to, but only for a second. “Make it painful.”
Santos gave me a smirk at my request and Leo gave me a look filled with sympathy.
They both nodded before I turn back to Elliot.
I knew he wanted a hand at whatever happened to Jack. He hated him and wanted to bear witness to Jack paying for his indiscretions, but in that moment, I needed him more than ever.
“Can we go home please?” I asked.
Within two hours, after saying goodbye to Serena and Noah and grabbing our stuff, we were on a plane.
A week later, national news broke that a congressman from Texas has been arrested on prostitution charges.
According to the reports, the DEA got a tip of a ring happening in Texas and sent over the information to the FBI.
The tip had enough information that the only thing the FBI had to do was make sure it was true.
They arrested Jack as he was coming out of a hospital.
Leo and Santos didn’t kill him, but they did give him enough injuries to land him in a hospital bed.
The DEA agent that got a tip? Nathaniel Madden, the guy in a committed relationship with Leo’s sister Camila. Drake helped get all the information the Muertos needed to bring down Jack.
According to what Elliot told me, Jack Harrison could be in prison for the rest of his life since minors were involved.
All I was able to say in response to that, was good.