Underground Secrets (The Underground #1) (27 page)

My heart is hurting too much right now and I regret the day I let him in it. I’ve kept my heart guarded for this very reason. I began to let go and trust, all for it to be thrown in my face in such a short amount of time.

I hate the fact that the only two men who I have ever felt anything for have hurt me. Though, I have a thought lingering in my head about how the hurt from Wes is not even close to comparing to the hurt from Carter. I spent years with Carter and only a few short months with Wes. Who knows what kind of damage Wes could cause if I somehow found this understanding. I have not spent the last two years trying to fix myself, some irreparable, to let it all happen again. But as I stand here trying to reason with myself, my stomach turns at the thought of never seeing him again. I feel so damn conflicted. What the hell am I to do?

Images and memories of both Carter and Wes flash through my mind as I try to decide whether or not to hear Wes out - to listen to this kind of madness. The only thing I can come up with that’s even close to my considering going with Wes and hearing him out, is the fact that even on Carter’s good days, he never treated me or made me feel the way I do for Wes and I loved Carter with my entire being. I did things to please him, to please his uncle. Things I will never be able to forget or forgive myself for.

I don’t love Wes, but before tonight I think I could have gotten there sooner rather than later and it scared me, but I welcomed it. Carter isn’t Wes. At least I don’t think he is. Carter is a psychopath. Wes, well, I am not sure and the only way to know is to listen. I know Wes won’t force me and that’s the only reason I am considering this. And if someone really is after Gemma, then he’s right. I’m going to need help.

I turn and walk back towards Gemma and Wes, who are both speaking in hushed tones. “Alright, I will come with you and listen to what you have to say, but under two conditions.”

Wes seems to perk up when I say I will come with him. “Oh yeah? And what are those?”

“If and when I am ready to leave, you don’t try to convince me otherwise.”

“Deal,” he agrees, “and the other?”

I reach my hand out to him, palm facing up, “You let me hold on to your gun until you’ve told me, everything.”

He stands there for a moment considering my second condition. I don’t think he’s going to do it, but he reaches behind his back, pulls out the gun, flicks the safety on and places it into my palm. “Fine, but that one is my favorite, don’t lose it.”

I freeze when he insinuates he has more than one. Wonderful. At least I have one gun to protect myself with. I may be going with him, but I’m not letting my guard down.

TWENTY

W
ES DIRECTS ME SOUTHWEST FROM THE
city until we’re in the outskirts of Idaho Springs. After a while, he leads me through the mountains up a narrow road that looks abandoned, filled with rocks and holes that are hard to see, making me worry about my low profile tires and the under carriage of my car. I fear that I am one unseen jagged rock away from blowing my tires but Wes assures me that we’ll be hitting smooth pavement soon.

Sure enough, he’s right. After only a few miles of driving up the beaten path, the road turns smooth and paved. We spend the next mile or so traveling through the mountain and I only wish it was daylight so I can appreciate the drive a bit more.

Before I know it, the smooth, paved road becomes lit up with small lantern-like lights, placed along the side of the nature made rock walls, leading us to a large iron gate. Wes presses in a code into the keypad and the gate slowly begins to part. The first thing I see is a large, round fountain with an elephant spouting a heavy stream of water through its trunk, placed right in the center of the circle drive. It’s magnificent.

“Impressive,” I murmur to myself.

As I draw my eyes from the sight of the beautifully crafted water fountain I see his house and catch my breath. His home is colossal and absolutely exquisite. It’s a cabin style, two story, with vast river stone pillars lining his front porch, which wraps around the entire house. Off to the left appears to be small, manmade pond. To the right, a large garden full of the most beautiful wild flowers perfectly placed, but yet still looks naturally grown. I am in complete awe of his home.

I pull up to the front and we all get out. We walk up the steps and are immediately greeted by an older gentleman wearing a suit.

“Good evening, Wesley.”

“Hey Jenner, these are my friends Marlie and Gemma.” Wes introduces us and it kind of stings a little when he refers me as his friend. But at the same time, I don’t even want to be considered as an acquaintance of his right now. So why does it make me feel awful when he called me his friend?

“Ah, the famous, Marlie. I have been hearing so much about you these last couple of months. I’m Jenner, pleased to meet you.” He extends his hand and I shake it. He takes his other hand and places it over ours and gives me a warm smile. I return his warmth and I like him instantly.

He then shakes Gemma’s and turns to Wes. Wes rolls his eyes at Jenner, “Nice, Jenner.” He mumbles to him, giving me the idea he didn’t like the fact that Jenner had practically said he has mentioned me since we’ve met.

“Ladies, this is Jenner. He is my right hand man here and if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.” He turns to his attention back to Jenner, “Will you go into my office and grab that important information and bring it to me?”

Jenner nods his head and moves from the doorway letting us walk through. If I was awed by the outside appearance of Wes’ home, then I’m speechless when it comes to the inside. I never thought simplicity would render me speechless, but it has. The outside of his house is cabin country, but the inside is vintage glamour. Everything looks antique and perfectly placed, but not over the top.

I walk in and appear to be in a large entry way, with a massive rug covering most of the hard wood floor. To my left is set of chairs and small tables. One with an impressive stained glass oil lamp on it. The walls are covered with the most amazing art work I have ever seen. I look up and almost gasp seeing an extremely large, vintage crystal chandelier. I remove my eyes from that site and look to my right- stairs with a spectacular hand carved railing.

I don’t move much farther passed the doorway, I just stand here, letting my eyes absorb the beauty of his home. Whoever designed and built this place is a genius.

“Wow,” Gemma says having the same reaction as I.

“What do you think?” Wes asks me.

“It’s beautiful.”

He smiles and points towards the left where there is another room. A siting room from what it looks like. “Have a seat and I’ll get right to it.”

We both start to walk into the room when we hear the loud throaty exhaust of a car pull into the drive. I stop and turn around. Before I entered into the life of Carter and the racing scene, I was never really a car enthusiast. But now, I can’t just keep going about my business when I hear or see a car that would make such a noise.

I move to peek out the window next to the front door, but am surprised when the door whips open, making me jump.

Wes’ cousin Jesse comes walking in like he owns the place looking around until his eyes land on Wes himself.

“So glad you could finally join us, Jesse. It only took you two hours after I had called you.”

“Hey! I was kind of in the middle of something. Besides, looks like you all came out of it unscathed,” Jesse defends.

“Yeah, we did no thanks to you,” Wes grits out.

Jesse claps his hands together and looks around at all of us. “So are we all caught up then? Or have I just arrived in time for big reveal?”

Wes pinches the bridge of his nose. “No, Jesse. We were just getting to that.”

Jesse’s eyes narrow and instantly become dark. I swear his eyes dilate. It’s the same kind of look I’ve seen Wes give. “Perfect,” he comments.

That’s the moment Jenner chooses to come back with whatever Wes had asked for. A larger manila envelope. He thanks Jenner and we all walk into the other room.

Yet another impressive room in his home. Chairs and couches are not sparse in here. All leather and luxurious. There’s a large stone fire place lit on the far wall and warms up my suddenly cold body immediately.

Everyone takes a seat on one of the many couches and chairs in the room. Well, besides Gemma. “Um… I need to use your bathroom first,” she says.

“I’ll show you,” Jesse speaks up.

Gemma rolls her eyes at him. “No thank you. I’d rather piss myself than have you lead me anywhere.”

Jesse laughs at her, “Oh come on. I won’t bite.” He holds up two fingers, “Scouts honor.”

“Fine, whatever. But if you touch me, I will scream.”

That’s makes Jesse smile even wider. “And I’ll enjoy it. I love a screamer.”

Gemma flips him the bird and starts to walk out. Jesse follows her, leaving Wes and me alone.

“So… what’s that in your hand?” I ask about the manila envelope trying to get straight to it. I may be impressed with his home but that doesn’t mean I want to be here.

“Don’t you want to wait until they come back?”

I scoff at his question, “Please, I know Gemma. She may act like your cousin is the lowest in the world, but that’s how she is when she’s attracted to a man. Insults them, then bones them. I don’t think they’ll be coming back anytime soon.”

He chuckles to that, then becomes serious. He pulls something out of the envelope and tosses it onto my lap. I flip it over and see that it’s a picture of Gemma shot from a distance right in front of our building. “Where did you get this?”

He eyes me like he isn’t sure he should tell me.

“Just say it already. You know the deal. You tell me everything or I walk out.” I look away and close my eyes. “Unless that’s what you want.” As confused and conflicted as I am right now, it would hurt me if he didn’t tell me and let me walk away. From the truth and from him.

He comes down to my level on his knees and reaches for my hands, but I pull back. I want to know everything before I make a decision when it comes to him and me.

He brings his hands down to rest on his thighs and stays where he is. He looks up at me with his green eyes and he looks sad. “Of course I don’t want you to walk away. But what I am about to tell you, you can’t ever tell anyone else. I am trusting you and Gemma not to utter a word. And believe me when I tell you, trust is something I don’t give out freely.”

“So why me?” I ask, curious as to why he has chased me, and pursued me. Something I have been asking myself for a while now.

He smirks to himself. “That’s simple. When I first met you, you caught my eye instantly. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. Then when you spoke to me that day, you came off so tough in a no bullshit kind of way and I liked you instantly. I couldn’t get you out of my head. Once I really got to know you, I fell for your humor and smarts. You’re also kind and driven. Most importantly, there is one thing I knew right away that had me drawn to you.”

“What?” I ask in a whisper.

“You have a dark side and I felt it. I felt it like a fire burning my entire body. I haven’t once seen it, until tonight when you were driving your car.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I don’t know how to describe it, but I feel like I have been searching for you for a long time and I have finally found you Marlie. You have to understand that relationships aren’t something I have ever really done, except a few casual girlfriends back in high school. This is all new to me, but I don’t care, because I want you. No woman has ever told me no. Never have I chased a woman. Never have I found it so hard to get someone out of my head. Never. When you had finally let me in, I knew it was genuine and not for my money or my looks. You liked me for me.”

“Oh,” is all I can say. I’m speechless to what seems like a confession for him and it’s not even the confession we need to get to.

“So no, I don’t want you to walk away. I want you to stay and understand. To accept me.”

He gets up and starts to pace the room. He stops and turns towards a large window and looks outside. He sighs and drops his head. “I kill people. I am a murderer and I get paid to do it.”

I gasp as he utters those few words. Words that rock me to my core. It makes me want to get up and run. Run away from him and never look back, but I cannot move. My mind is telling me to run, but my body has me frozen in fear.

He doesn’t let my silence and fear stop him. “It started when I was young. I found something out about someone I was close with. I couldn’t live with what I knew, what I had seen. What that person was doing was awful. Only the lowest and sickest of people do what that person was doing. I was only fourteen and Jesse was twelve. He had seen it as well. We were both young, but knew something had to be done. As time passed, we formulated a plan and then we killed him.”

“Who?” I ask, noting how distraught he looks telling me this.

His sad eyes get even sadder. “My father.”

My eyes widen as I take in what he had just told me.

He killed his father.

“Why?”

He shakes his head. “Not today. My reason is something that is hard for me to talk about. Just know he was a bad man, who was sick in the head and didn’t deserve his next breath. I saved many people’s lives by taking him out.”

I try to wrap my head around what he is telling me. He killed his father, but saved people because of it?

“That’s how it all started. The killings.”

“Why keep going?”

He turns away from the window and walks towards the chair opposite the couch I am seated on and sits. “Jesse and I were on cloud nine after we killed my father. We took someone’s life and it didn’t even faze us. For me, it made me feel powerful and unstoppable. For Jesse, I assume the same, since he’s been right here with me. Just killing my father wasn’t enough, I wanted more. I wanted to hurt and rid the world of all the sick and demented sacks of shits who walked the earth, who hurt and made the world as fearful as it is. I loved the fact that we could save people from being murdered, raped, hooked on drugs, and many other things. It made us feel good. Like we are doing everyone one huge favor.” He says this and his facial expression is dark, almost blank. Like he has left reality and is somewhere he visits often.