“Then what point are you trying to make?"
“That you put other people’s needs before yours way too much. And now it’s time for those other people,” he gives my arm a pat, “To return the favor.”
I want to argue with him, tell him there’s no need for the three of us to suffer through this—again, whatever this is—but he looks dead set on not backing down. And once Gaige decides to do something, usually there’s no convincing him otherwise. El’s the same way, too.
Gaige gives me another pat on the arm before turning in a circle and skimming the area. His gaze settles on a rusted truck parked out in a dry field. “I’ll be right back.”
Scratching my head, I watch him make his way across the park and jump over the fence into the field. Once he reaches the truck, he sticks the tracking device underneath it, and then hikes back toward me. Hopefully, whoever ends up driving the truck won’t get freaked out when Winston shows up. Hopefully, no one gets hurt. Hopefully, we get away.
I’m worried I might be putting too much hope into hopefully.
“Ens?” El says, her voice cautious.
I turn and find her standing beside me with an uneasy expression and clutching her phone.
“What’s wrong?” I ask worriedly.
She anxiously nibbles on her bottom lip. “Carter wants to talk to you?”
I warily glance at the phone. “Why?”
She cups her hand over the receiver. “Because he needs to explain a few things to you about what’s going on.”
The idea of talking to Carter sends a flurry of nervousness through my body. Not only because he betrayed me, but I also feel like I need to tell him the truth about the plan El and I created because I feel guilty.
“Can’t he just tell you?” I ask, acting like a big chicken.
“He says there’s some stuff that you need to hear and he doesn’t want to tell me first.”
“Do you think I should?”
El lifts her shoulders, shrugging, worry written all over her face. “I don’t want to make the decision for you, but I think considering the situation, you probably should talk to him, just so we can have more deets about what’s going on.”
I decide to put my big girl panties on, woman up, and deal with the problem. I mean, what other choice do I have? The problem isn’t going to just go away.
As I reach to take the phone from her, I feel like I’m in grade school all over again, getting ready to talk to a bully. I hate that I feel that way. Wish I could go back to the other night at the lake and never find out about Gregor and Carter’s deal.
“Hello?” I answer, putting the phone up to my ear.
“Hey.” He seems nervous and very un-Carter like.
“Hey.” I sound stupid, but I don’t know what else to say.
A beat of awkward silence stretches across the line.
“Are you okay?” he finally shatters the silence. “Fuck, that was a stupid question, right?”
“It’s fine… I’m fine.” I decide to focus on the problem at hand. “El said you needed to talk to me about something?”
“Oh… Yeah… I did… Do…” He blows out a shaky breath. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“Maybe start with the most urgent thing.” I recline against the side of the car, chewing on my thumbnail. “Like why this Winston guy is after me.”
“It has to do with your father. He’s at war with Winston and Winston wants to use you to get to Gregor… Gregor’s your father, but I think you might know that already.”
“Yeah, I do. I saw his name on the text I read in your car.” Bitterness creeps in my tone. I’m a wreck, even though I hate admitting it. But I can’t believe what I’m hearing. That what’s happening is because of my father. That the Fareland mafia leader is chasing me because of my father.
What the shit kind of alternate universe is this?
No wonder my mom tried to keep me away from him.
Suddenly, I feel bad for ignoring her for the last few days. I’m sure she thought she was protecting me by not telling me who my father is. And she probably was. But I wish she'd told me a long time ago, so I could’ve at least had a heads up that something like this might happen.
More heavy silence trickles across the line and El motions for me to get in the car.
“We need to go now. Carter gave me instructions to where we can hide out for a while,” she whispers as she opens the driver’s side door. “You can talk to him while we drive.”
I climb into the backseat, giving Gaige the passenger seat for the first time during our road trip, mostly so I can talk to Carter privately. Well, as privately as one can have a conversation while being in a car.
“Where are you right now?” Carter asks as El starts up the engine and peels out onto the road, skidding the tires and sending dust everywhere.
“We were at a park, but now we’re on the road again.” I position the phone between my ear and shoulder and fasten my seatbelt.
“Good.” He exhales in relief. “El said Gaige was taking the tracker device off the car. He got it off, right?”
I recline in the seat, fully aware he hasn’t told me much about what’s going on. Part of me wonders if he’s being evasive on purpose, either to mess with me or to keep me from learning exactly how bad the situation is—it really depends on which Carter I’m talking to at the moment. The one I grew up with or the one who kissed me at the lake.
“Yeah, he took it off and put it on some old truck in the middle of a field.” I cast a nervous glance out the back window to make sure no one is following us. To my relief, not a single car is on the road. “Hopefully that’ll throw them off for a while.”
“I’m sure it will for a bit, but that’s not going to stop them.” His voice is laced with fear. “You guys need to be extra careful. Don’t use credit cards. Ditch El’s phone when you have a chance. Gaige might want to ditch his phone too, just in case they figure out he’s with you guys. Don’t text your mom, unless it’s from a burner phone. And I don’t think you should tell her what’s going on. It’ll only worry her and could put her in danger. Tell El the same—to keep this between the three of you.”
“Okay,” I say. “We haven’t really told anyone where we are anyway.”
“Good.” His voice is strained, but he quickly clears his throat. “And keep an eye out for any cars tailgating you. When you make stops, make them short and keep an eye out for big dudes in suits.”
“Big dudes in suits?” I repeat questioningly.
“I know it sounds cliché, but it’s pretty accurate. All of Winston’s men wear suits.” He gives a short pause. “I don’t want to scare you, but I think it’s better that you understand the severity of the situation, so you’ll keep your guard up.” The line momentarily goes quiet. “These guys are bad news, Ens. They carry guns. They do awful things… They hurt people—kill people.”
My oxygen is nearly ripped away from my lungs.
“How do you know that?” I croak out.
“Because my dad’s been working for them for a while.” A long, unnerving pause passes. “He’s their lawyer and has gotten Winston and a lot of his man acquitted for a ton of bad crimes they’ve committed. And I know this because my dad’s been training me to take over his business since I was a kid… I’ve seen and heard a lot of the twisted shit that’s gone on, which usually I hate, but today it came in handy.”
I cast a glance at El, wondering if she knows all of this. She catches my eye in the rearview mirror and her brows furrow.
“What’s up?” she whispers.
I hold up a finger, indicating for her to give me a second. Then I ask Carter, “You mean, when they were talking about coming after me?” I press my hand to my chest where my heart is racing. Is it possible for a heart to stop beating from exhaustion?
“Yeah… I was doing… something for my father. Then Winston and his men showed up, along with my dad and I overheard them talking about you…” He doesn’t finish.
I don’t want to ask, but feel like I should. “Carter, what’re they planning to do to me?”
He doesn’t respond right away and I swear my heart almost stops beating.
“I don’t really think you should worry about that right now,” he finally says. “Just let El take you to this safe place and when we meet up with you, I’ll answer more of your questions.”
His evasiveness makes me worry even more.
“Is he going to kill me?” My voice is barely a whisper, but Gaige still glances at me worriedly.
I rotate to the side, not wanting to endure the worry in his eyes. It only makes my worry amplify.
“No.” But the way Carter’s voice slightly trembles makes me wonder if he’s lying. Before I can ask, though, he hurriedly adds, “Look, I need to get off the phone. If my dad finds out that I’ve bailed out, he might track my phone and we’re currently on the road heading to meet up with you guys. In fact, I’m supposed to ditch the phone after I talk to you so we probably won’t be able to communicate for a while. But just make sure to lay low until we get there. Then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do next.”
It’s crazy. Ten minutes ago, I didn’t want to be near him. Now I can’t wait to see him again. But that might be because I want more answers.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Ensley.
I sigh. “Okay.” I pause as I replay his words. “Wait, you said we? Who else is coming with you?”
“A… friends.” He hesitates. “Of your father’s.”
My heart throbs even more. “So my father knows about everything that’s going on?”
“He does,” he answers. “And I know you’re upset with him and me—all of this—but I promise you there’s more to this story than you know. And your father wants to protect you.” A beat ticks by. “I do too.”
A ton of questions pour through my mind, but I don’t have time to ask them. So I settle with an, “Okay.”
“Good.” His voice is a mixture of worry, relief, and fear. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Okay.” Wow, two okays in thirty seconds. Way to up your social skills, Ens.
It doesn’t really matter, though. I have bigger things to worry about than whether or not I’m acting like a spazz. Like trying to outrun the mafia and trying to stay alive.
Reality abruptly crashes over me.
Holy crap. How quickly life can change. One minute I was worried about whether Carter really liked me and now I’m on the run from a mafia leader who may or may not want to kill me. Sure, Carter never said the word, “kill,” but his avoidance to tell me what Winston is planning on doing to me said enough.
I’m not just running away from the mafia.
I’m running for my life.
Four
Carter
I’m speeding down the highway toward a motel located in town in the middle of fucking nowhere, where I’ll meet up with El, Ens, and Gaige. I have a bag of weapons in my trunk, and Holden is in the passenger seat, giving me directions to the motel. How I got in this position is beyond me.
Well, okay, that’s a lie. I know exactly how I got here, I can backtrack it all the way back to when I drove off from the grave-in-question I had been digging for Nicholas and Winston.
After I left the woods, I made sure no one was following me. Then I drove downtown to Gregor’s office. I didn’t park near the office, though, too afraid one of Winston’s men would spot my car and rat me out.
Unfortunately, when I walked into the office, Ruby informed me that Gregor was currently on a plane that was leaving the country; that he had an urgent business complication that needed to be handled. She said she maybe could set up a conference call while he was on the plane, but insisted she needed to supervise it. I didn’t like that she was going to know so much about what’s going on, but arguing with her was completely pointless.
“I’m his business associate.” She reclined in the desk chair and crossed her arms. “What Gregor knows, I know as well. That’s how businesses work.”
“I hate to break it to you, but that’s not how businesses work. I work for my father and I don’t know half the shit he does—and I really don’t want to either.” I sank down in a chair across from the desk and yanked my fingers through my hair. I was veering toward a panic attack, knowing Ensley was out there, unaware that the mafia was coming after her. I wanted to protect her, wanted to be near her, wanted to know she was okay. Wanted to have her, but that was a completely different problem. One that could wait. “But whatever. I don’t have time for this. I need to talk to your father ASAP.”
She slanted forward in the chair and overlapped her hands on the cluttered desk. “Why?”
“Because…” I didn’t want to tell her the entire truth, mostly because it was my fake father and real father going after her. “Look, Ens’s life might be in danger, and I don’t know what to do.”
She grew serious then and picked up the receiver of an old-school phone. “Let me see if I can get him on the line. He’s on the plane right now, but I still might be able to reach him.” She pushed some digits then put the phone to her ear.
I tried not to flip out as I waited, but I was freaking the fuck out. I needed to get to Ensley. Needed to protect her. But I had no clue how to outrun the mafia without help. I just hoped Gregor knew what to do. And Ens or El would call me back.
“Carter needs to speak to you. Says it’s an emergency… Hold on, I’m going to put you on speakerphone,” Ruby said, causing a tiny drop of relief to wash over me.
She pressed a button then put the phone down.
“Carter.” Gregor’s voice crackled through the speaker. “Ruby said there was an emergency. I’m hoping that’s the truth and that you didn’t just make my daughter take time out of her busy schedule to call me.”
I didn’t know where to start, so I decide to get straight to the point. I gave him a quick recap of what Winston and Nicholas had spoke about in the woods and how I had been digging a hole I was pretty sure was Ensley’s grave. I also accidentally let it slip that Winston was my real father, at least according to my mom. He didn’t seem too surprised by that.
“I knew it was him,” Gregor said after my slip up.
I shook my head. “How?”
“It was in the file I’ve been using to blackmail you with.” The way he dropped the word, “blackmail” so casually made me grind my teeth. “Your mother had a DNA test done on you two a little after you were born. I’m not quite sure how she managed to get some of Winston’s DNA, but your mother’s always been good at manipulating and tricking people into getting what she wants. Like telling your father she was pregnant with his twins so he would marry her.”
“Why would she rather marry him than Winston, though?” I wondered, anxiously bouncing my knee up and down. I just wanted to know where Ens was, if she was okay. I wanted to get to her, be near her. “Winston has more money.”
“Yes, but Winston is a dangerous man,” he explained. “And more than likely, he wouldn’t have married her. He might’ve even tried to get rid of you and your sister. He still might if he finds out the truth.”
I worked my jaw from side to side. “Why? We’ve never done anything to him. Never asked him for anything.”
“You sound upset about it,” Gregor noted. “Were you hoping he’d step up and become your new father?”
“No,” I answered truthfully, glancing at my phone. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Neither Ens or El had responded to my messages or voicemails. Where are they? “But that doesn’t mean I want him to kill my sister and I either.”
“I’m sure he won’t as long as he doesn’t find out.” He paused. “I know this is probably not something you want to hear, but I’m going to do you a favor and tell you anyways… Winston Maerriellie has been preparing for his oldest son to take over as boss for a very long time—since before he was born. He chose his wife based solely on her bloodlines and her last name. It gave him connections and ties to other families—families that have
a lot of power. But you and Elodie were born a few months before his oldest son, which means you’re technically his oldest son, which means, according to Fareland mafia tradition, you should be taking over as boss. But Winston wouldn’t want that to happen. Not only does your mom not have the right last name or bloodlines, but it’d mean all the time he put into training who he thinks is his oldest son would be for nothing. He’d either have to start over and train you, or he could get rid of you. And considering your mom kept this a secret for eighteen years, my bet is Winston will go with the latter choice if he finds out. Or he may know you’re his son already and has threatened your mother to keep quiet about it.”
I didn’t know what to say. I felt sick to my stomach. “And what about Elodie? Why would he hurt her? She’s not a threat.”
“He might not. Who’s really to say. Mafia bosses can be unpredictable.” He dragged out a pause. “But anyway, enough with the small chitchat. We have an emergency that you need to handle—my daughter’s life depends on it.” He sounded freakishly calm about it.
“You act like you’re not surprised this happened.” I rested my elbows on the desk.
“That’s because I’m not,” he replied simply. “From the day Ensley was born, I knew eventually my line of work would put her life in danger. It’s why I kept my distance—why I left her mother in the first place. Her mother was relieved … after what she found out what I did for a living, all the illegal stuff I was involved in. She wanted nothing to do with me and wanted me to stay away from Ensley.”
I guess that made sense. Sort of. Although, it felt like he had omitted some of the details. “If that’s true, then why didn’t you leave Ruby too?”
“Ruby’s different,” he said. “I didn’t have a choice with her since her mother died giving birth to her. It was either let her go into a foster home or take care of her myself. But don’t think I let her go unprotected. It’d take an army to get to her.”
“Why not give Ens the same protection?” I asked bitterly. “And actually see your daughter?”