Laikyn
I woke up the next morning alone in my hotel room.
Granted, I wasn’t sure you could call what I did last night sleeping, so I probably should’ve said I got out of bed. I’d tossed and turned, cried and blubbered, but I hadn’t really slept.
I knew I looked as horrific as I felt, but I didn’t care. At this point, nothing mattered. My entire life was a lie. Worse than that, it was a lie I hadn’t been privy to but also one that I had perpetuated by my refusal to ask the difficult questions. I had known something was going on, but I’d chosen to put blinders on and live out a new existence in the dark.
It pained me to admit it, but I couldn’t put the blame entirely on Rule and Jinx.
I wanted to. God, how I wanted to. In fact, numerous times through the night, I flip-flopped on where I stood, insisting I was the victim while knowing you can’t be a victim when you played an active role in the plot. I knew going in that my marriage to Rule wasn’t real, but I had played along, never thinking he’d done it for selfish reasons.
As much as I wanted to hide out here for eternity, I couldn’t. It was time to go home. To return to whatever was left. I doubted there was anything to salvage, but it was time to face the music regardless.
As I was stuffing my clothes in my suitcase, there was a knock on the door. Creed hadn’t told me when the flight was leaving, but I intended to be ready when he did. Since the sun was just coming up, I figured that was him at the door, coming to tell me it was time to go.
Without looking in the security hole, I unlatched the door and pulled it open.
Creed wasn’t standing in the hallway.
Knox was.
He smiled. “Good morning.”
“I can tell you now, there’s nothing good about it.”
“May I come in?”
I shrugged. I honestly didn’t care what he did.
“Thank you.”
He stepped back and motioned to someone behind him. A moment later, a man dressed in a uniform pushed a large cart into the room.
“I thought you might be hungry.”
“Not really.”
“Then how about coffee?”
“I don’t drink coffee.”
His eyebrow quirked, but my surliness didn’t thwart him. “Juice?”
I shrugged again and watched as the man with the food placed everything on the dining room table.
While we waited for him to finish, we stood there in awkward silence. I was relieved when Knox finally turned to the guy and handed him a bill.
“Thank you, Phillip.”
I couldn’t see the denomination, but considering who Knox was, I was sure it was more than enough to keep that smile on Phillip’s face for the rest of the day.
“You’re very welcome, Mr. Montgomery.” Phillip looked at me. “Ms. Montgomery.”
“I’m—”
Before I could tell him I wasn’t who he thought I was, Knox touched my wrist. “Merely a pleasantry. I informed the staff you’re my sister. Evidently, I wasn’t clear we had different last names.”
“Whatever,” I said, unable to conjure up an ounce of politeness. It was petty, but my heart hurt too much to worry who other people thought I was.
“Join me, please,” Knox said, gesturing toward the dining table where Phillip set up what appeared to be a five-course breakfast.
I didn’t want to, but I took a seat, figuring that would be the fastest way to get this over with.
“I realize you’ve got some things to deal with at home,” Knox said as he took a seat after I did.
I shrugged.
Knox chuckled, but I couldn’t figure out what he found amusing.
“Okay, clearly, you have nothing to say, so I’ll do the talking.”
I waited, but he took his time getting around to the conversation. I watched as he poured juice into my glass, then his, as he took the linen napkin from under the silverware and placed it in his lap, as he removed the silver dome from the plate in front of him.
As soon as he did that, my stomach rumbled. I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday morning before we left the house. I was starving, and the food smelled divine.
“Eat,” he said. “I won’t tell anyone. I’m good at keeping up appearances. All anyone else knows is you’re on a hunger strike.”
I couldn’t keep from smiling as I relaxed and grabbed my silverware. Knox removed the lid from my plate, depositing them both on the other end of the table.
For the next few minutes, we ate while Knox took care of the small talk. He explained how he lived in New York, but the Monolith Casino was their home away from home. He told me that they traveled here at least once a month and had a residence on the top floor of the hotel. I listened, pretending not to be interested in the tidbits he gave me about his wife and husband. I was curious. About all of it. Him. Them. I wanted to know everything there was to know about my brother, even if I wasn’t quite ready to admit we were related.
When he finally ran out of things to say, I turned to him. “Why are you telling me all this?”
He paused, placing his fork down and wiping his mouth with his napkin. His patience was unnerving because I had to wait some more while he sipped his coffee.
When he looked at me this time, his expression was sober, not an ounce of amusement in his eyes.
“I learned about your existence three days ago, Laikyn.” He leaned back in his chair. “When Creed told me, I think he expected me to be angry. And I was.”
“Of course you were. Long lost sister looking to take your money.” I rolled my eyes. “I don’t even want your—”
“I was angry because I felt like I’d been cheated,” he continued, talking right over me. “Cheated out of twenty-two years of knowing you.”
I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. I hadn’t expected that.
“I don’t have any siblings. Growing up, I was an only child. My mother married a man she claimed she loved. He had a daughter. Emily. I wasn’t around much, so I didn’t know her well. I encountered her at family functions, but it wasn’t until she was an adult that I even started paying attention.”
I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to elaborate.
“Emily’s now my wife.”
“You married your stepsister?” I blurted, and yes, that was a bit of shocked incredulity in my tone.
He chuckled. “She’s no longer my stepsister. And she hasn’t been for a while. My mother and her father divorced years ago.”
I wasn’t sure that made it any better, but I decided not to offer my opinion. I doubted he cared.
“But my point is, I was never close to my mother. She’s somewhat of a…” He canted his head, and a smile formed. “A manipulative bitch.”
I huffed a laugh. “I’ve got one of those.”
His smile brightened. “I think it’s safe to say our father had a type.”
“Sounds like it.” I took a sip of my juice. “Based on my calculations, your father … Jeremiah … he cheated on your mother with mine.”
“In a sense, that’s probably true. But my father never married my mother. He knew she was after his money.”
“So why’d he stay with her?”
“Because of me.”
Oh.
I dropped my gaze. “At least he wanted one of us.”
“I did some digging,” Knox continued. “My father did a good job of hiding your existence, but not for reasons you might think. At least if he’s to be believed.”
He produced an envelope from his jacket pocket and passed it to me.
“What’s this?”
“A letter from Jeremiah. It’s addressed to you. His lawyer’s been holding onto it. His instructions were to give it to you when you turned twenty-five unless you married before then. Then he was to give it to you after you turned twenty-two and had been married for ninety days.”
I didn’t pick up the envelope. I didn’t want to read it.
“He left one for me, too,” Knox added. “Explaining your existence and his reasons for doing what he did.” He exhaled. “I don’t agree with how he handled it because I would’ve preferred the chance to know you growing up, but I understand why he did it.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Why what?”
“Why’d he do it?”
Knox nodded toward the letter. “If he doesn’t explain it to you in there, you can ask me again, and I’ll tell you. But for now, I’d prefer you heard it from him.”
I wanted to tell him that it didn’t matter, that I didn’t care. However, Knox made it very difficult not to care. At least about him. I genuinely liked him, and I got the feeling he was being sincere when he said he wished things had been different.
So I didn’t tell him that.
“What happens now?” I waved a hand. “I mean, for us. Not the money.”
“I’d very much like to get to know you, Laikyn. I’d like to spend time with you. I want you to meet Emily and Kieran. As for the money, it’s set up in a blind trust. The lawyer my father hired is someone he had complete faith in, and based on my conversation with him last night, he made the right decision there. Your money … it’s yours free and clear in fifteen days. The amount is in that envelope. He’s been investing it over the years, producing some rather impressive returns for you.”
The envelope was sealed, but that didn’t mean Knox hadn’t read it.
“No, I don’t know how much it is,” he said, as though he could read my mind. “It’s not my business. And that’s not the way I do things.”
I wasn’t sure I believed him, but I had no reason to call him out, so I didn’t.
“Rule married you because he wanted you to access that money as soon as possible. He didn’t bring it to my attention because he believed it would impact me financially.”
“Doesn’t it?”
Knox gestured toward the envelope. “Whatever money he left you is not something I’m privy to. I never knew about it. It was kept private for your protection. I think he partially did it so my mother couldn’t get her hands on it.”
I sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I’m divorcing Rule. He doesn’t love me.”
Knox chuckled. “Well, I disagree with you there, but that’s a topic for another time.”
I wanted him to elaborate, but he didn’t.
“As for a divorce, it won’t matter. It takes six months for a divorce to finalize in California, so even if you filed today, you would still meet the requirements for the trust to become yours.”
I stared at the envelope. “I honestly don’t care about the money. Maybe I will one day, but right now…”
“He loves you,” Knox said when I trailed off. “I only met him yesterday, but I saw it in his eyes, Laikyn. Everything he did, I have no doubt he did it for you. Not for himself.”
I couldn’t stop the tears that formed. “I want to believe that.”
And I honestly did, but why would I?
“Ask Creed,” Knox suggested. “He knows Rule, and he agrees with me.”
I knew that already. Creed told me as much yesterday.
I lifted my gaze to his. “So what am I supposed to do?”
“About?”
“Rule? Jinx?” I sighed. “Us.”
“I should tell you, I’m not the authority on relationships.”
“Is anyone?” I muttered.
Knox smiled, and there was more of that sincerity I saw before. “Stop fighting it. Just let it be. Trust me, it saves time.”
He sounded like he knew from experience.
“I suggest you go back to LA and confront Rule and Jinx. Tell them how you feel. How you honestly feel and see where it goes from there.”
“If only it were that simple.”
“I think you’ll be surprised how far an apology goes when you mean it.”
I stared at him, trying to fight the tears. “And you and me?”
“I’ve got a house in Malibu,” Knox said. “I’ve already told Emily and Kieran we’ll be making more frequent trips to California.” He reached out and touched my hand. “They’re very excited to meet you. Especially Emily. I think she likes the idea of having a sister-in-law. Plus, she’s been wanting to invest more time in the LA location. ”
“Location?”
“Delta June’s.”
“That huge auction thing?” I said, realizing how dumb I sounded. I didn’t know anything about it other than having seen some of the huge auctions that were televised.
Knox grinned. “Yes, the auction thing.”
“Sorry,” I said, embarrassed.
“Don’t be. When I told her you are an artist, she got very excited. She’s been hoping to move Delta June’s impressive art collection to one location. She mentioned wanting to talk to you about that.”
I swallowed, my heart jumping right into my throat. He knew I was an artist? He talked to his wife about me already? That made my heart a little lighter. I liked that idea, as well.
“We’ll figure this out,” Knox said. “I promise.”
I believed him because every fiber of my being wanted to. I didn’t want to walk away from him and never see him again.
I nodded. “Okay.”
Knox pushed his chair back and stood. “Good. Now let’s get you to the airport. Creed’s already pissed that I changed his flight plan without his knowledge.”
I giggled. “Seriously?”
“He’ll be the first to tell you I always get what I want. He’s not wrong. But he’ll get over it. He always does.”
The best part about taking a private jet from Vegas to LA was that I never had a chance to dwell on anything. Well, that and going through security. Missing that was definitely a bonus.
During the short flight, I spent the entire time talking to Journey Zeplyn, who, as it turned out, was engaged to Creed, Hawk, Garrison, and Nick. Legally, she wouldn’t marry all of them, but they were having an official ceremony, and based on her radiance, she was very happy.
At least one of us was.
Listening to her gave me a chance to ignore the heartache that threatened to choke me, as well as to pretend there wasn’t a letter from my father burning a hole in my pocket. I was afraid to read it, but I figured I needed to before I got to Rule’s house. I needed all the ammunition I could get if I had any hope of trying to salvage our relationship.
And I did. Have hope, I mean. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew I had to try to understand this from Rule’s perspective. I had to stop making rash assumptions and hear him out. If he even wanted to look at me. I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t.
“Hey,” Journey said as the plane was beginning its descent. “I know it’s not my place to try to sway your opinion of Rule, but I thought you should know something.”
Her tone was serious, so I gave her my full attention.
“He’s a morally gray kinda guy, I know that.”
That was definitely a good assessment.
Journey continued. “I didn’t truly understand what that meant until he did what he did for Creed. I will never—”
I interrupted before she could continue. “What did he do for Creed?”
Journey glanced in Creed’s direction, then her husky voice lowered slightly as she continued. “We had some issues earlier this year. It was bad. Hawk was shot, and Creed was…” She swallowed, and tears formed on her lashes. “Sorry. When I think about how close I came to losing them…”
I waited her out because I could tell what she had to say was going to change something inside me.
“Rule saved Creed’s life. And Rhyan. She was there.” She exhaled slowly. “I won’t go into details because it’s a morbid story I don’t like to dwell on, but just know this. He walks the line between good and bad, but when it comes down to it, he’ll walk through hell to take care of the people who are important to him. You should know that.”
I nodded, fighting tears. Deep down, I knew Rule had more good in him than bad. Like Journey said, he was morally gray, meaning he wasn’t evil or good, he lingered on the line between the two, doing what was necessary. It didn’t surprise me that he saved Creed’s life. After all, he’d saved mine when he put a bullet in Diggy’s head. And, unlike my mother said, it wasn’t because he’d been hired to find me. He’d done it because he felt guilty that he hadn’t stopped my mother from staging my kidnapping. No one would ever convince me that he didn’t have a heart. I knew better.
“If you ever need anything, please call me.” Journey smiled. “Let me text you my number so you’ll have it. I’m serious about us getting together. I love these men of mine, but trust me when I tell you there are times when I’m jonesing for female companionship.”
Chuckling, I gave her my number, and she sent me a text. I saved her info in my contacts so I could reach out. She wasn’t the only one who needed a friend. I had none and wasn’t about to turn down an offer when it was presented.
When we landed, I learned that Creed had arranged a car to take me home. I sat in the back of the SUV, staring out the window, wondering if Rule or Jinx would even let me in the house when I got there. I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t.
No, I wasn’t completely over what they’d done, but deep down, I could forgive the lies because I honestly believed Rule hadn’t done it viciously. Whether he wanted the money for himself or for me didn’t matter. What transpired between us these past couple of months had changed our course. Reflecting back, I could see it. Rule’s original plan had been to marry me, and that was about the only thing that worked as he’d wanted. After that, we veered onto an alternate path, and the three of us ended up in a very different place than where we started.
Lust and manipulation turned into love. There was no denying that.
At least not for me.
And if I had anything to say in the matter, they would own up to their love as well.
Perhaps once that happened, I could read the letter still burning a hole in my pocket.
* * *
Jinx
When the front door opened, I didn’t bother to move from my spot on the back patio. I was expecting to see Rule. He’d slipped out earlier with an excuse that he had some things to take care of. He hadn’t asked whether I wanted to go with him, but I knew I wouldn’t be good company, so I would’ve turned him down anyway.
I waited, expecting Rule to appear. A few seconds later, Waldo jumped to his feet, barking once before taking off inside the house.
Although Waldo was always happy to see Rule, he never reacted like that. Not since he was a puppy, anyway. These days, he couldn’t be bothered to greet anyone unless he knew for sure they were going to give him something.
Instantly, I was on my feet, moving slowly, fearful of what I might find. It wasn’t the who that concerned me. It was what Laikyn was here to do that had my chest constricting and my throat tightening.
“Hi,” she said, peering up at me as she overwhelmed Waldo with hugs and pats from where she was kneeling on the floor.
“Hi,” I responded.
Laikyn stopped moving, her eyes wide and her jaw falling open.
“I know,” I told her. “It’s weird.”
My voice was rough, likely from years of not using it, but I didn’t have fear or anxiety constricting my vocal cords.
She stood slowly, shaking her head as tears began to drip down her cheeks. “Not weird.” She swallowed hard. “Wonderful.”
I was glad she thought so, but that didn’t do anything to diminish the anxiety that was circulating in my bloodstream. It wasn’t debilitating yet, but it would get there depending on what she did or said next.
“Is Rule home?”
“He went to take care of something.”
Laikyn moved closer, and she didn’t try to stop the tears leaking from her eyes. She stared at me as though she was seeing me for the first time in years, not merely hours.
I didn’t get a chance to ask her what her intentions were because she kept coming until the only place for her to go was into my arms.
She put her arms around my waist, pressed her face against my neck, and sobbed. I held her, worried I would never be able to let her go and hating that I would eventually have to. I fought the emotion that bubbled up in my throat, choking it down. I didn’t want to cry. If I did, I might not stop.
When she finally pulled back, she wiped her eyes and sniffled. “I should’ve asked. Is it okay if I’m here?”
“Where else should you be?”
Laikyn smiled. “Your voice … it’s so … sexy.”
I laughed, some of the tension easing.
“It seems to be here to stay,” I admitted. “Though I can’t guarantee that’ll always be the case.”
Since I didn’t know what had caused me to stop talking or why my brain had refused to work in tandem with my vocal cords all these years, I figured there was a chance I would one day relapse. For now, I wasn’t going to worry about it.
“You need anything?” I asked.
Laikyn shook her head. “Maybe to sit with you for a while. If that’s okay.”
I took her hand and led her onto the patio. I pulled her down next to me, not releasing her. I was afraid to. I didn’t want her to disappear.
When she leaned against me, I put my arm around her shoulders, holding her close. I didn’t know how long we sat like that, but it was long enough for Laikyn to fall asleep, safe in my arms for a little while longer, at least.