Forever Wicked: A Wicked Lovers Novella (1001 Dark Nights) (17 page)

Daddy nodded fiercely and wrapped his arms around her mother, breathing loudly into her hair as if trying to get a hold of his emotions. A long moment later, he kissed her head. “His death probably saved lives. And right or wrong, I feel a sense of closure now.”

Gia didn’t. She was relieved in a way, but even more, she felt cheated. The whole swirl of emotions barely made any sense to her. But right now had to be about her family.

Beside her, Mila sobbed quietly. “I know Wayman’s death doesn’t bring my husband back.” Her breath hitched on his name. Still, she pressed on. “But I feel better knowing that man doesn’t walk the streets any more and can’t pull the trigger again. He can’t rob any other woman of her husband or son. Maybe now, we can all move on with our lives.”

Beside Gia, Jason squeezed her hand. She knew she should let go of her anger against Wayman and her driving need for revenge to focus on tomorrow, on building her own family with her husband. On the surface, that sounded great. But how did she just forget the fact that she’d
needed
to give her family—and herself—some finality before she moved on?

“We certainly weren’t going to get closure from DPD,” her father added cynically.

“What do you mean?” Gia frowned. Did her dad know something she didn’t?

“Think about it. A good cop died and no one lifted a finger? The story of an officer murdered on the streets within days of Thanksgiving barely made it to the press. And Patrick recanted his eyewitness testimony after a few days.”

“Yeah,” she drawled. “And I have little doubt he bought a boat with the bribe that made him suddenly ‘unsure’ of what he’d seen. I even reported him to Internal Affairs. It’s like…they’re stalling or they just don’t care.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Wayman was paying off most of the precinct, including the brass. I can’t prove that, but I know he targeted your brother because Tony refused to be bought.”

Gia sat back, feeling flattened all over again. It all made sense, and she should have seen it sooner. But no, she’d wanted to believe that the people she worked with weren’t corrupt assholes more concerned with lining their pockets than justice. She felt damn naïve.

How was she going to return to work when her stay with Jason was up and look those people in the eye without wanting to rail and scream at them all?

Jason’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and glanced at the screen, then stood. “I should take this. You okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

Sort of, anyway. She might self-combust in the next ten seconds if her head didn’t stop spinning. Hell, what else didn’t she know?

“Excuse me for a minute.” Jason nodded and ducked out of the room.

Gia watched him ease out the front door with his phone pressed to his ear, his posture telling her he was already in business mode.

“It’s been a hell of a night,” her father commented with a sigh.

She nodded, then reached for Daddy’s hand. “It has, but I want you to know that I’m here for you all.”

“No,” Mila insisted, jumping out of her chair with her hands on her hips. “Hell, no.”

Blinking, Gia stared at her usually reserved sister-in-law. “What the…”

“You listen to me.” Mila wagged her finger. “Don’t you dare give up one more minute with your husband! Tony and I had six wonderful years together. Even though they ended terribly, I wouldn’t trade a second with him because I loved him. You gave me a year when your place was with Jason. Don’t spend more time apart from him that you may someday regret. I should have been standing on my own two feet all this time. I will from now on.”

“If we had known you were newly wedded, honey, we would have done so much more to pitch in and help.” Mama’s expression looked somewhere between miserable and guilty. “I let you handle everything because I felt lost myself. Taking care of the kids would have given me purpose and allowed me less time to wallow.”

“You weren’t up to it.”

Her mother snorted. “I’m not ancient. I would have managed.”

“I’d hoped dealing with the kids would give you less time to hunt Wayman,” her father admitted. “I damn near did a jig when you were put behind a desk. You were too set on revenge to be looking for that killer.”

“Daddy, I can take care of myself.”

“I thought Tony could, too.” He shook his head solemnly. “I kept fearing I’d get a phone call about your murder next.”

“I wouldn’t have risked myself.”

Her father scoffed. “Don’t lie to me.”

Gia sighed as guilt ricocheted through her. “I was careful.”

He shook his salt-and-pepper head. “Bullshit. You went into Wayman’s ‘hood with guns loaded and cocked. I made a couple of phone calls and tried to get you reassigned or put behind a desk, but I don’t have any influence since I retired. Whoever finally realized that you were going to get yourself killed and did something about it, I want to shake his hand.”

“I’m glad you approve.” Jason closed the door behind him suddenly and crossed the front room into the kitchen with his hand outstretched.

Daddy took it, pumping vigorously. “You got Gia desk duty?”

“Yes, sir. I’m acquainted with the mayor. I might have suggested that if he wanted a healthy donation for his reelection campaign, he needed to make sure a certain beautiful female officer didn’t get hurt in the line of duty.”

“Well, hot damn!” A grin broke out across her father’s face. “I like you even more.”

“Thank you.” Tears trembled in Mama’s eyes.

Mila nodded, wearing a mirror expression.

She glared at them. They all approved of Jason’s manipulation? What the hell?

Jason looked surprisingly grim. “Don’t thank me yet.” Then he turned to Gia and took her hands. “You know I’d do anything for you, that I would move mountains to keep you safe and happy.”

“Yes,” she said cautiously.

He’d proven it again and again these past nine days. Really, since they’d met. She might not always like the boundaries he gave her, but she couldn’t deny that he had her best interests at heart.

“Always,” he vowed, then faced her family. “That phone call I just took was from an associate of mine. A week ago, I hired him to spread the word in Wayman’s neighborhood that I would pay anyone who brought information leading to the thug’s capture a hundred thousand dollars.”

Her father choked. Her mother gasped. Mila’s jaw dropped.

“What are you saying?” Gia demanded.

“Once word got out, one of his fellow criminals didn’t want to just give us information. Apparently, this one decided he could run the hood better, so he tried to turn in Wayman and collect a little money, too.”

“Wayman would never go in quietly. He’d fight to the death… Oh my god.” She pressed her hand to her mouth, shaking.

“Your reward put an end to him,” Mila said.

Jason shrugged. “His fellow gangster’s greed prompted him to turn on his ‘buddy,’ and Wayman chose to die rather than go to the station for questioning. Maybe I should cry or feel guilty, but I don’t. I don’t always get to use my money for something good, but I think in this situation, we got the best outcome possible.”

“You
knew
I wanted to bring Wayman in myself,” Gia said through her shock.

He nodded. “I knew it was going to kill you, too.”

She couldn’t argue that he hadn’t done everything possible to keep her safe, but he’d completely missed the point. Later, when she was less stunned, she might not be so angry. But not now. “You didn’t even discuss it with me.”

“I saw no reason to mention it unless my plan actually worked. And I didn’t know Wayman would rather die than be questioned.”

“Did you think he’d just go quietly?” She tossed her hands in the air.

“Most people do, so yes. My intent was simply to get him into the station, which I hoped would lead to his arrest and eventual conviction. I did this for you.”

She knew that logically, but somehow she had a hard time simply thanking him. “What gave you this crazy idea?”

“The night we met for Mexican food, I knew you needed closure. The way you spoke suggested your family did, too. I knew you’d kill yourself trying to provide it. So I took care of it. It took me a few days to find the right person and another week for results but—”

“That phone call this morning, the one I overheard after I first woke up… That was him.”

“Yes.”

“You threatened to fire him.”

“I wanted results. How does that make me the bad guy?”

It didn’t, and in her head Gia knew that. But right in her gut where the anger and rage over Tony’s death lived? Not so much. “You didn’t talk to me about this.”

“So you could tell me not to and go on risking your life?” he challenged.

She held up her hands, feeling seconds away from explosion. She didn’t even know how to put everything she felt into words. Jason’s heart had been in the right place, but that didn’t excuse his interference.

“You had me put behind a desk, then you blackmailed me into spending a few weeks with you. You bought me clothes without consulting me, forced me to introduce you to my parents. And now you tell me that you had my brother’s murderer turned to dust. When do I get to make some decisions about my own life?”

“Gia!” Mila screeched. “I couldn’t be more grateful to him.” She turned to Jason, then rounded the table to hug him. “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, really. Thank you.”

He put an awkward arm around her. “I’d do it again.”

Meeting Jason’s stare over the top of her sister-in-law’s head, Gia dragged in a breath, trying to get ahold of herself. They’d been so happy an hour ago. She’d been almost convinced this could work.

Almost.

Her father grabbed Jason’s hand again and shook it. “You did what I wish I’d had the means to do. My wife and I are grateful.”

Mama nodded. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re a permanent member of this family.”

“That means a lot.” Jason disentangled himself from Mila.

“Let’s leave them alone,” her mother suggested to the others.

Bella started crying, and Little Tony called for his mother. The women sent Jason one last grateful smile before they disappeared into the family room. Her father followed. As they retrieved the children, turned off the TV, and disappeared into the back of the house, the yawning silence suddenly enveloped she and Jason, threatening to swallow them whole.

“You’re really angry with me?” he challenged.

“Yes.” Fury growled at her, threatening to break free from its chain. “Apparently, I’m the only one. I know you did it for the right reasons, but…I can’t believe you went around me like that.”

Jason tilted his head. “You left me so few options. As long as Wayman was at large, you weren’t going to stop obsessing. It takes two to have a marriage, and I can’t be the only one fighting for us, Gia. I might make choices you hate, but damn it, at least I’m trying. What are you doing to keep us together?”

“You only offered that reward because you didn’t think I was good enough at my job or strong enough to bring Wayman in.”

“No. That’s your insecurity talking. I did it because I knew you were brave and determined to keep going until the day one of you died.”

His words knocked her back on her heels. For a long moment, Gia couldn’t quite breathe.

“You’ve always made me feel so special and cared for—until this. Now you’ve just taken away my sense of purpose. Poof.” She tossed her hands in the air. “All gone—without saying a word to me. Yes, I know you did it to protect me. But you tried to distract me with pretty baubles that don’t mean a damn thing. I needed to make this world a safer place for my family by bringing Wayman down way more than I needed new designer clothes. And you just didn’t get that love is more important than Prada. Or care. You might be able to buy another wife, but not this one. If you don’t see that, I’m not sure we need to stay together.”

He stiffened, then clenched his jaw as he stepped back from her deliberately and slowly. “You haven’t discussed any of your plans with me for nearly a year, especially this obsessive, dangerous manhunt. Or your decision to move in with your sister-in-law and totally ignore your husband. But I digress… I’m sorry for not consulting you and for trying too hard. Neither will happen again. I’ve done everything I know to make you care about our marriage, but it’s clear to me that we will never be a priority for you.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Tell your family that it was nice to meet them. I have a reward to pay out tonight. Good-bye, Gia.”

Jason raised his hand like he wanted to touch her. But he didn’t. He simply clenched his fist and turned on his heel before he walked away. Her chest imploded as she watched him, the jagged and raw pieces of her heart a splintered heap. Gia wanted to call him back…but why? Loving Jason wasn’t enough. She couldn’t change him any more than he could fit her into the mold of women, like his mother, he understood.

As her husband shut the door quietly behind him for the final time, Gia knew that nothing would ever be the same again. A sob tore through her chest.

* * * *

Jason paced his condo. The November sun streamed through the floor to ceiling windows, blinding him. If he’d been able to drink himself into a stupor after last night’s debacle, his hangover would be bitching at the light. As it was, he had nothing to blame his squinty, vampiric avoidance of the sun on except his bad mood. Why should the day be so fucking cheerful when he wasn’t?

Stalking back into the kitchen, he grabbed a bottle of water and downed long swallows. He hadn’t been able to run this anger out of his system, even after a punishing eight-mile jog on the treadmill. Business hadn’t distracted him during his sleepless night. Neither had trying to logic his way out of this mess. No matter how he told himself that he’d failed at marriage and now he should move on, Jason couldn’t make himself listen. He’d even tried to convince himself that Gia was just another woman who could be easily replaced. On paper, maybe. Something inside him wasn’t buying it. He had no idea why.

She’d been a pain in his ass, with her quick Italian temper and headstrong ways. The woman wasn’t logical. She’d taken a long time to give him her submission, railed every time he tried to set boundaries or keep her safe, insisted that she didn’t need his money or his protection or…much of anything from him. Jason sighed.