“Let’s go outside, Lara,” he murmured, looking me dead in the eye before disappearing back into the party, leaving me alone in the room.
And there, I stood still for a minute, desperately holding back the tears that eventually spilled.
Chapter Thirteen
Jake
“Place looks good.” Sawyer gave me a pat on the shoulder once we had all gotten our drinks at XIII, the lounge on the fortieth floor of the Monarch Hotel. He followed my eye line to the row of VIP tables, the last of which sat the investors’ wives and girlfriends, including Lara. I could feel his demeanor darken as he looked down into his drink, rattling the ice. “Listen, what I’m about to say to you comes from a place of concern so don’t kick my ass for it.”
“What is it.”
Sawyer heaved a sigh. “Look, I’ve known you for a long time. I know you’re not actually behind Jackson right now, and that you have your reasons for acting like you are. But whatever it is you’re doing to get Lara out of this situation, you need to do it faster. Because if I managed to catch you two, Jackson’s not far behind. And we both know what he’s willing to do to anyone who comes between them.”
When I turned to him with narrowed eyes, he laughed.
“Come on, you’re not a detective or something. I mean who else would’ve had it out for Gabby Winter?” he asked. “It’s obvious enough that you and I aren’t the only ones whispering about it. But you know this circle. These guys all have their own secrets and they cover each other’s asses no matter what. Especially when it comes to their women. They’ll rat you out for messing with Lara but they won’t tell a soul about Jackson killing Gabrielle, so if I were you, I’d be a whole lot more careful than you were the night I saw you two kissing. Same goes for her. I’ve already heard from someone that she was at Dane’s office the other day.”
Something twisted in my chest. Sawyer’s voice was grim.
“Yeah. Just because no one’s told Jackson yet doesn’t mean they don’t know. It’s just a matter of time.”
I was outwardly calm but Sawyer’s words had my heart crashing hard enough against my ribs that it felt like they’d break. A million anxious thoughts ran through my head as I muttered some form of a thank you and turned my gaze back to Lara. Her cat-like eyes were wandering the room, vacant and glassy from the drinking. It was unlike her but I knew why she was pounding back vodka like water. Despite what had just happened at the duplex, it wasn’t about Dane. It was about me this time. I was the asshole. The piece of shit. I was the reason she’d been crying and as much as it killed me – as much my body became a hollow fucking void when she was out of my reach – the last thing I could do right now was walk up to her, wrap her in my arms and tell her that everything would be okay.
Because Sawyer was right. I’d been brazen as of late. I’d met Lara in public, stripped her naked ten feet from her friends, done a million things that could easily get back to Jackson and send him flying off the handles. I’d been careless because all I thought about these days was her. So much so that I’d forgotten about Jackson. About what he had done.
He had hired someone to murder a girl we’d watched grow up. He had held Gabrielle when she was a newborn, just a week out of the delivery room at Lenox Hill. The day was still clear in my head. I was in middle school, Jackson a freshman in high school. We complained about having to dress in pastels before going to see the Winters at their famous penthouse, where they welcomed Gabrielle into the world among dozens of friends and even more polka dot balloons. When it was my turn to hold her, she wrapped her little fingers around the end of my tie.
The memory hit me so hard I felt winded. She had always been a happy kid. She’d still been that just a few months ago. But now she was in the ground, forever nineteen because of my brother.
Like a snake, my gaze slid across the room to Jackson as he laughed behind the turntables, letting the busty deejay put her headphones on his ears. He had no regrets – barely a care in the world. And if he knew I’d slept with Lara, he’d have me dead. But my biggest concern was the new question sprung into mind as Jackson caught my eye from afar and gave me a zealous thumbs up.
Only he was allowed to have Lara. What would he do to her if she ever chose someone else?
~
An hour later in the bathroom, I saw Jackson again – or rather his feet behind a pair in heels. As the door closed, the blaring music and voices outside faded so I could hear the sounds coming from inside the stall. His grunting and her moaning. My stomach turned as I recognized the sound of those voices together. Jackson was in there fucking Audra.
“Fuckin’ Jackson – are you kidding me?” I couldn’t hold back my anger. Under the door, I saw their legs suddenly freeze. Then came Jackson’s laugh.
“It’s just Jake,” I heard him murmur before calling back out. “Hey man, you mind coming back in like, five minutes?”
Audra’s giggle came as I stood there, willing my blood not to boil. It was counterproductive. I was running out of time to win my brother’s trust and find proof to nail him with. And considering what I’d just heard from Sawyer, I needed to do that with the urgency of a life or death situation. Because that was exactly what this was – a matter of time before more secrets came out to get someone killed. It was by no means certain but when it concerned Lara, I wasn’t exactly willing to take any chances.
So despite the disgust throttling my stomach, I mustered the strength to not only play it off, but play it up. “Can’t a guy take a piss without having to hear his brother fuck his stepsister in the bathroom?” I snorted as Audra started to whine.
“Come on, Jackson, fuck me.”
Jackson rapped on the door, his drunk hyena laugh coming out. “Heard that, brother? She still wants it. Mind if I proceed?”
Something inside of me probably died as I stood in front of that urinal and replied, “Nah, man. Go for it.” In front of the mirrored wall, I then stared into my own pupils as I took a piss and tried to drown out the sounds of Jackson ramming into Audra, shamelessly loud when he came. Didn’t sound too different than the benches at the gym. Still, I wanted to fucking vomit.
My eyes rolled toward the ceiling when Audra finally teetered out in her heels, her hair a mess and her dress still peeled down to her waist. She eyed me through the mirror, taking her time to get dressed again. “Jealous?” she smirked quietly when I finally looked at her through the reflection. As Jackson made his way out, tossing his used condom haphazardly toward the trash, she slinked toward me and hugged my arm to her chest. “Pretty sure you haven’t even said hi to me yet,” she purred. I looked at Jackson’s grin of amusement before turning back to my stepsister. I wanted to fling her off of me like a rabid animal but instead, I stretched my lips into a smile.
“Hello, Audra. Happy?” I asked with a teasing lilt to mask my contempt.
Jackson laughed as he came up behind Audra, grabbing her ass. “She thinks her tits make her look fat in this dress but I told her she’s crazy. Tell her I’m right, man.” Jackson faced her to me. “Tell her she’s crazy.”
“I don’t have to look at her to know she’s fucking crazy.”