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I try to swallow the lump that’s begun working its way up my throat and become lodged halfway, almost choking me. Finding my voice, I say, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean you and Simone. You two have been the best of that ten years, the best of me.” He steps forward and wraps me in a hug, squeezing me tight. “But this is who I am, Mitch. It’s who I was always meant to be.”
“I know, Roxy. I know. It’s just…never mind.” Pulling back, he looks at me, and I see the unspoken questions in his eyes.Where does that leave me? Who am I?But I can’t answer that now. I can’t answer that for him either. Only he knows the answers to those questions, and he’ll have to discover them for himself.
He holds the piece of paper up. “I’ll see what I can do. If James is involved, then I imagine finding someone to testify against him is going to be almost impossible.”
“Then let me suggest that you start with Judge Collins and Judge Roberts. I’m sure they’ll sing for you if it means they can stop the beatings, reduce their sentences or stop being some guy’s bitch for a while.”
The mention of those two does make me wonder at James’ involvement in the trafficking business. Women, children, they are all the same to men like James and Rogers.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if James let them take the fall for him,” I joke, but there’s a small part of me that knows it’s probably the truth. But if it is true and they haven’t sold him out yet, why not?
We head back to the kitchen where the conversation has moved on, and the guys are listening raptly as Kavanagh tells them about some heist him and his father did when he was younger.
“…just as we get inside the kitchen, I realise I’ve been here before. I ask my father whose house it is again, but before he can answer, I spot a picture on the wall in the hall…”
Star nudges my arm, and I look to her. “What you thinking about, Roxy?” she whispers.
“Nothing. Everything.”
“That’s quite the contradiction,” she says with a laugh.
“Yeah, story of my life.” Then I shake my head and snap out of my sombre thoughts. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. No. See, I have my own contradiction.” She gives a little huff of a laugh.
“I love you, Star.” The words catch in my throat on the way out, but I make sure they come out as strong as I can.
“Love you too, Roxy. Everything will be okay, you know.”
I nod, not very convincingly, then say, “Yeah, it will.”
Laughter from the guys drowns out the chance of anymore conversation, and now isn’t the best time anyway. I slip away when Star’s attention is occupied by Maria, who catches my eye but lets me go.
I head back to the lounge where Zak has left his laptop and all the documents from Theo. Picking up his laptop, I sit down and click the audio file folder.
I scroll through them looking at dates and times, hoping for something. Then about a third of the way down, I find one from the day before Theo was murdered and the same day I went to Ireland. Clicking on it, I hold my breath while I wait.
“Where is she?”A voice I don’t recognise asks.
“Just leaving now.”
Holy fucking shit! Everything stops as the sound of that voice washes over me. It’s like an artic blast freezing me in place. I try to focus on the conversation, but all I can think about is how I was standing right fucking next to him when he took that call.
Son of a fucking bitch!
ChapterTwenty-Four
Zak
Icheck my watch and see that it’s almost time for us to leave to meet Laskin. As I get up, I give Maddox a chin lift as I head for the door. Roxy hasn’t come back from wherever she disappeared off to earlier. If she thought we didn’t notice, then she’s delusional. I feel her everywhere. She has an energy that calls to me. It’s always been there. It feeds my demon, stops the pacing, the blood lust. But lately, it’s changed, evolved into something more, like she’s a part of me, and I can feel her pain, her happiness and her sorrow.
She’s hurting right now, but more than that, she’s angry and looking to avenge her mum’s death, avenge what happened to her sister, which she feels a huge amount of guilt about. Ten years’ worth of every emotion possible is about ready to be unleashed. It’s going to hit like a fucking Force 12 storm and flatten anything that gets in her way.
How sick am I that my dick is hard just thinking about it?
As I reach the top of the stairs, I pause to adjust myself. Like I said, sick, but I don’t give a fuck. When I turn the corner, Rox is standing outside what was her bedroom door, looking unsure.
She looks up as I approach, a small smile on her face.
