Hotbox (85 page)

She was fully attentive as she nodded her head.

“First of all,
I’m sorry. Sorry for starting a relationship with you wh
en…when I really shouldn’t have. I mean
I believe you came into my life when I really needed you, but I’m really sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you…”

She was s
haking her head. “I’m not sorry, Ty.
I loved you the first week I knew you, and I wouldn’t take back a single moment with you. Even with everything that’s happened I believe we were meant to be together. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”

Again my heart grew and I took a deep breath. “Okay,” I smiled. “At least we’re still on the same page.”

“Of course we are.”

I nodded, and then carefully considered what I was going to say next. “So… Let me just tell you that everything that happened wasn’t really my fault. I mean it was, but—”

“Cole said you’re not to blame for any of this, so don’t even try to take credit for such misery.”

Her crooked smile
made
me
smile.

“Look, Ty… All I know is that there are some people that have
been a really bad influence on your dad’s life, and it’s kind of trickled down to you. I know that you’ve had to help your dad out of a lot of sticky situations, but no matter what you’ve done, there’s still no shaking these people. Now I can only imagine who they are, but being that one of them is Dean Conlon, I can understand
how awful this has been
.”

“Y
eah, about Conlon… Just
stay away from him at all costs, okay? Or anyone that you know is associated with him. He’s only wanted to cause me pain, and I did all this so he couldn’t hurt you.”

She nodded. “Cole told me what Dean has threatened you with. I’m so sorry
,
Ty. I don’t even k
now what I would have done if I’d
been in your shoes.”

I shook my head. “I’m not even sure that I did the right thing. I just couldn’t risk having you know anything, but I felt like I could tell you just enough to get you to understand. And then that night…” I sighed. “I was so frustrated and scared that I had put your life in danger… I just thought it was better to
let Dean have his way and
end things with you. I didn’t feel like I deserved you anymore.”

She was crying again
as she laid her face against me. We talked about it for a little longer, and I
did decide to tell her more
, minus the other names that were involved
.
She knew
quite
a lot as it was, so it was only a matter of filling in the missing pieces
for her.
It
was
a massive burden lifted from my chest, just having her know the truth.

The weekend was amazing, but the closer it got to Sunday evening, the more anxious I became. I didn’t want my time with her to end. And Cole was right: it was
difficult, and complicated, and
frustrating.
I wanted to keep her forever; I didn’t want to be separated from her again.
I cried when I watched her drive away with Brandon, a
nd it felt like my heart was
being torn in two
.

I spent Sunday night alone in my own bed, dreaming about anything and everything from the weekend. My mind especially replayed one conve
rsation in particular:

“Marry me, Ty. Please? Why can’t we just get married?”

I sighed. I wanted nothing more than to marry her. “We can’t right now. Not until I know certain things have been handled.”

“W
hy can’t we just…go somewhere we can’t be found? Ty, I would live anywhere with you.”

“I know you would,” I replied, kissing her cheek. She had made that clear several times, even to Cole. “Let me think about it, okay? I need to talk to Cole first, and see where things are at right now. And I’ll need a plan to run from your dad when he decides to kill me. Eloping with his daughter would send him through the roof.”

She had laughed at the time, but a serious discussion about her dad quickly followed. He really was pretty livid with me, as I knew he would be. Jayden claimed he had finally cooled down once she stopped crying over me all the time and started
“dating”
Brandon. I joked that her dad was probably going to be pretty
upset
when she trades Brandon in for me again.

Cole warned me that I wasn’
t going to see Jayden for a while
, and
I was disappointed
when it was actually
the case
. However, with my help and the information that I had provided
about Conlon and his crew, Cole’s team was
able to make some progress building the case. It kept me distracted for a
few weeks
, and memories of my weekend with Jayden had only made me focus even more. I st
ill worked at Kent’s auto shop
, but nearly every other minute of the day was spent on the case.
There was even a plan in place to bring this whole thing to an end, and I was eagerly waiting for that day
,
which was soon approaching
.

But t
he day came
when
Conlon
called me up
one
Saturday
morning
.

“Hey, Ty, l
ong time, no see. I’ve missed you, buddy.”

Just the sound of hi
s voice made me grind my teeth, but there was something strange about it. His words were typical arrogant Dean, but he sounded…uneasy.

“Listen, I think
it’s time you came back to town,” he said.
“
I don’t think Jayden misses you or anything—she’s already replaced you, man—but you’re welcome to try your luck again. I’d like to see if you can win her back,” he laughed
awkwardly
.

I paused for a second, wondering if maybe he was just on something.
“There’s nothing left for me in that place. I’ve started a new life where I’m at.”

He clicked his tongue
and his sigh was unsteady
. “Ty, I don’t think you’re
feelin
’ me, here. I have a proposition for you. Meet me so we can talk about it.”

“I don’t work for you.”

His voice took on a little edge. “You will if you know what’s good for you.
” And then he tried sweetening it up when he said, “Come on, Ty, g
ive me a
chance. Y
ou won’t be disappointed.”
             
“It’s a little late for that.”

“It’s business
. I had to do what I had to do. You know how it works. I got the job done, the boss is pleased,
and he’ll
have no problem with you coming back to town and resuming your life.
We’ll make a new deal.
”
             
“I guess when he contacts me and confirms all that,
I might believe it.”

There was a long pause
and he cleared his throat
. “Then maybe I should go talk to Jayden myself; explain to her what happened.”

“Stay away from her. If she’s seeing someone and she’s happy, then just leave it
alone
, okay?”

“Wow, Ty. You love her enough to let her go, huh.
I guess that was obvious
ten
months
ago, but I truly thought you’d jump at the chance to get her back.”

“I guess it wasn’t meant to be.
I don’t want to be with Jayden.
I’m doing fine where I’m at.
”

There was another pause. “I think you’re just being a sore loser, Ty. That girl had some serious issues when you left.”

I could hear the amusement in his voice and it really lit me on fire. “Which is why she’s better off without me.
After what I put her through,
she’d never
take me back.
Look, I gotta get to work.”

“Wait, Ty—”

I ended the conversation and headed to the shop.
I wasn’t scheduled to work that day, but
I met Cole there
and
I was eager to fi
ll him in on my chat with Dean
.
My dad was out on a tow call with Kent, but Cole
and I
hop
ped
into his truck
to
talk. I
t was the safest place we could
be
without fear of being overheard. Cole continued to check my home, our place of employment, and my vehicle
to see if any were
tagged with some sort of device
to keep tabs on me
.
So far nothing had come up, but we were still careful, just in case.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Cole finally said.

“Nothing ever feels right with these people,” I retorted.

“No, I mean… Why would he care if you come back or not? It sounds like…like he’s g
ot a plan.
You said he sounded nervous?”

“Yeah. Or high. I couldn’t tell.”

He thought for a second. “
He
wants you to come back to town? That’s not an order from
Olevsky
…
You’re not exactly an active
member of the team—” He stopped himself short and I watched him with curiosity. “Unless…” He looked at me closely. “Olevsky has no kids, right?”
It was a rhetorical question, but
I shook my head
anyways. A
fter a few seconds of silence, Cole cursed
out loud and grabbed his phone.
“
‘Hotb
ox!
’
I repeat: ‘Hotbox!
’” He put the truck in gear and squealed out of the parking lot.

Hotbox
? Was he serious? Out of all the code words in the world, he used
that
?

It was suiting, I suppose. The story of my life.

“What’s
going on?” I demanded. My heart was racing from Cole’s sudden
change in behavior
.

“It’s Meinikov,” he rushed as he navigated through traffic. “I guarantee Conlon has given you up.
Or he got to Dean somehow. Maybe he’s done with
Olevsky
,
switching sides fo
r good?
Either way
, h
e’s setting you up, Ty.
”

My mind raced to catch up. “
Wh
- what do you mean? I don’t even know this Meinikov guy.”

“Well, now h
e knows
you
, thanks to Conlon. If Conlon’s switched, he’s got nothing to hold back anymore. He’s going for it.
” He took a sharp turn and I braced myself from hitting the door.

“I don
’t understand,” I admitted.
Olevsky
wanted his organization to s
catter for their own protection, but no one had even been sought after yet
.
And he had the highest regards for Dean, despite how much I hated him. Would he really betray
Kristof
?

Cole took a deep breath. “These people hit where it counts. They’re itching to bring down Olevsky.” He paused, like I was supposed get it right off the bat. When I didn’t he added, “Ty, what’s the most important thing to protect?”

“Your family.”

“And…?”

“And… Olevsky doesn’t have any family.”

“Not biologically.” He looked at me hard.

“Oh, no,” I laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I could tell that he was not. I was about to respond but we
landed in
my driveway and Cole hopped out.

“
This had nothing to do with protecting members of his organizat
ion, Ty.
This had everything to do with protecting
Olivia
.
You’re Olivia’s
son
.
You have one minute to grab what you need.
Whatever’s going on, we’ve got to get moving. Brandon will bring Jayden to the cabin and we’ll meet them there until we’ve got word on what’s happening.
”

I’ll admit that the idea of seeing Jayden agai
n put me into a dreamy stupor. M
y life was in danger
because of a rival mob
, but all I could think about was my girl.

Cole
followed me into the house, and before I knew it,
he
drew his weapon and pointed
it
across the room. It was then that I saw Boris doing the same to Cole.