Virtue & Vengeance (Empire Sevens #2) Read online

  When I heard the receptionist’s voice on the other end, my stomach flipped with relief.

  “Can you please connect me with Mr. Hale?” My voice was shaking, and I cleared my throat to keep it from giving me away.

  “I’m sorry, but is Mr. Hale expecting your call?”

  “No, but-”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, but Mr. Hale isn’t taking calls right now.”

  “Please, if you just tell him Ed-”

  “I’m sorry. If it’s urgent enough, you can call him on his cellphone.”

  And then the line went dead, and I was sure she had just signed my death warrant.

  “Well?” Allen demanded impatiently as I hung up the phone.

  “She hung up. He wasn’t there.”

  “You expect me to believe that you have no other way of getting in contact with him? Call back and don’t hang up until you’ve talked to him.”

  I sighed but redialed the number.

  “Empire Seven’s, how can I help you?

  “This is Eden Vaughn. I need to speak to Mr. Hale.”

  There was a slight pause, and then she responded tightly. “I’m sorry, Ms. Vaughn, but Mr. Hale isn’t taking any calls.”

  I could tell by her tone that the gossip of Zander and I had reached her.

  “Please, it’s an emergency.”

  “I’m sure it is, but as I said before, you can call him on his cellphone.”

  “I don’t have that number.” I did, but it was on my cell which I didn’t currently have.

  She scoffed as if she thought I was lying. “Well, then I guess you’re out of luck, Ms. Vaughn. Good day.”

  “Wait!” I shouted, and then took a deep breath. I didn’t have time for her petty bullshit. “If you don’t put Zander on the phone right now, I will make sure you don’t have a job tomorrow.”

  I was breathing hard, and my heart was hammering inside my chest. I hated talking to the receptionist like that, even if she was being a bitch.

  “Hold, please,” she said so tightly, it was almost inaudible.

  The line began to ring, and I almost cried.

  “Eden? What’s wrong?” Zander answered.

  I took another breath and tried to sound as nonchalant as I could. “Nothing’s wrong, but I need my car back. No, I want my car back.” I corrected my voice, sounding harder than I expected.

  “Your big emergency is to demand your car back?”

  “Yes. You’re the one who got it impounded; you can be the one to return it.”

  “What makes you think I care enough to?”

  My heart was aching and more than anything I wanted to break down and tell him what was happening, but I cared too much about him to drag him into my mess.

  “It’s obvious you don’t care about anything but yourself. I don’t need you to care about me. I just need you to get my car back so I can finally be completely free of you.”

  He didn’t say anything for the longest time, and when he finally did, it was only one word. “Fine.”

  My heart broke into hundreds of tiny fragments. Each one feeling as though it was cutting me up inside. “Fine.”

  “I’ll bring it over to Kennedy’s tonight.”

  “No!” I shouted. I didn’t want him getting any more involved than he already was. “Just park it outside the impound lot, and I’ll pick it up. I … I really don’t want to see you.”

  “Fine,” he said again, his voice much harder this time. “It’ll be there at six.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  Then I slowly hung up the phone.

  Allen’s deep chuckle sounded at my side as he snatched the phone receiver from me and dropped it onto its base.

  “You’re quite the actress, Eden. You just better hope my shit’s still there.”

  He moved away from me and dropped down onto the motel bed, stretching out. He laid back, his eyes closed, but then he sat up a little and glared at me.

  “No funny business, Eden.”

  Only when the sound of his snores filled the room did I let the tears fall. Even if I got the drugs and money back, there was still a good chance I wasn’t going to see tomorrow.

  15

  ZANDER

  EDEN HAD DONE SOMETHING no other person had ever been able to do.

  Shake me down to my fucking core.

  Did she love me?

  She had all but said it.

  But I refused to believe it.

  She was young and naive, and I’d shown her a different kind of life than she had been used to. She was confusing infatuation with the fucking L word. She was hurting now, but soon she would realize I’d done her a big fucking favor.

  I couldn’t love Eden the way she deserved because I didn’t deserve what Eden was offering.

  I was a monster.

  Worse.

  I was a murderer.

  I told myself that it was better we stopped this charade now, and for the first few days the following week, it worked. But then it didn’t, and I was left feeling like the ground had been pulled out from beneath me.

  By the third day, it was hard to keep telling myself that it was better this way when all I wanted to do was walk across the lobby and feel the softness of her lips against mine. It was hell not going to see her every night, even though I still had my guys watching her, it wasn’t enough. I wanted to be the one to keep her safe.

  I knew her schedule, and it was a different kind of hell not seeing her around Empire Sevens on her day off, but when she called out the following day, I wasn’t sure I could take much more. I wanted to go and check on her since my guys weren’t expecting to be at her place today. Like me, they had expected her to be at work.

  I was sitting at my desk, contemplating going over to Kennedy’s, but knowing there would be hell to pay if I did, when there was a knock on my office door.

  “Come in,” I snapped. I couldn’t help the tone of my voice these days.

  The door opened, and then Vinny’s familiar face appeared from the other side. He was of average height, with a large round stomach and a receding hairline. He reminded me of a forties mobster whenever he wore his pinstripe suits, which was every time I saw him.

  “Nice to see you, too,” he said.

  I sighed. “I’m sorry,” I said, but I wasn’t.

  “I get it. You run an Empire. I’m sure the job gets stressful.

  I nodded, not wanting to quibble over semantics. “What do you have for me?”

  “It’s the file you wanted.”

  He stepped toward my desk and handed me an envelope.

  “I’m positive you’re not going to like what you find in there.” He nodded toward the envelope. “So please assure me you’re not going to do anything stupid.”

  “You know me. I rarely do anything stupid.” As I said the words, my mind went to Eden.

  I’d been stupid with her.

  “That’s what I’m counting on. Let me know if you need anything else?”

  “Thank you, Vin.”

  Once Vinny was gone, I made sure no one disturbed me as I pulled out the documents inside the envelope.

  My fist clenched as I read the first few pages and then the phone on my desk rang, interrupting me.

  “What?” I growled into the phone. “I said I didn’t want to be interrupted.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Hale, but it’s Eden Vaughn, and she says it's an emergency. I can tell her to call back if-”

  “No, put her through.”

  I waited until I heard the line connect. “Eden? What’s wrong?”

  The entire conversation that followed had me on edge, and by the time I hung up the phone with the agreement to leave the car outside the impound lot, I knew something wasn’t right.

  I could feel it in my chest, and after what I’d found in the file that Vinny dropped off on Allen Payne. I knew whatever had been terrifying Eden the past couple of weeks had to do with him looking for her here in my Casino. The pictures of him inside the file confirmed he
was one and the same.

  Everything Vinny had found on him told me he was a piece of shit that had infected Eden and her mom like a sickness. Destroying them both in two very different ways.

  Eden was in trouble.

  I knew it deep down in my gut.

  I told her I would have the car outside the impound lot at six and I would, but I would be there, too.

  Shoving my cell into my pocket, I stood from my desk and made my way to the front.

  “Car,” I said, as I passed the front desk.

  I stood out front for a minute when my car pulled up. I took the keys from the valet and took off.

  I made it to Kennedy’s place in less than three minutes. A dark feeling passed over me as I rode the elevator to the top floor.

  Something wasn’t right.

  My fear was suffocating as I approached the door to their condo. It was left slightly ajar. I couldn’t picture Eden leaving the door open that way, which further let me know that something was wrong.

  Eden was cautious and was always looking over her shoulder. Leaving the door open wasn’t something she would safe doing. I pushed the door open and stepped into the entryway, and then I knew the sinking dread I’d been feeling was right.

  The kitchen stools were knocked over and the glass bowl by the front door that Kennedy used for her keys was smashed on the floor.

  The broken glass crunched under my shoes as I rushed through the place searching for Eden.

  “Eden!” I called out, my voice echoing through the white, streamlined condo. “Angel, where are you?”

  I was panicking.

  I wasn’t one to panic ever, but the gut feeling was expanding into every other part of my body, and my heart was beating at a high rate of speed.

  Eden was in trouble. She’d been in trouble this whole time, and I’d been too stupid to get down to the truth of her fear. I wasn’t going to make that mistake any longer. After checking every square inch of the condo and finding her not there, I drove like a bat out of hell back to Empire Sevens. When I reached my office, Jerome was already waiting there for me.

  “Do you want to contact the authorities, boss?” Jerome asked.

  I shook my head; my eyes stuck on the city outside my office window.

  “She’s of age. She’s not missing. She’s gone. For all we know she hauled ass back to wherever she came from. That’s what the police will tell us if we contact them.”

  Jerome nodded, understanding what I was saying without saying it.

  No cops.

  They wouldn’t kick up any dust over Eden for forty-eight hours. Even though Kennedy’s place was trashed. Even though there was obviously a struggle. They would wait.

  Me?

  I wasn’t waiting.

  For all I knew she could have left on her own, but it didn’t look that way.

  Worry pressed against my chest, making me feel a bit nauseated. My gut was telling me things were bad. My core was screaming to go out and save her. The problem was, I had no idea what to protect her from.

  “Make the call, Jerome,” I said, referring to the people I called when I wanted something shady done.

  I wanted Allen found, and I wanted him gone.

  “Yes, sir.”

  And then he was gone, leaving me alone in my office to stew.

  16

  EDEN

  THE SHITTY MOTEL we were staying in had roaches. As I sat in the chair Allen tied me to, I watched three of them scatter across the ceiling above me. Closing my eyes, I prayed one didn’t fall on me, which was funny considering I had much more pressing things to worry about.

  Allen had left the TV on for me, and an old episode of Cheers was playing. I watched without much attention, my focus mainly on thoughts of how I was going to get away from him.

  There was money somewhere with the car.

  And there were drugs.

  Both of which were locked in an impound lot. I prayed it was still there, but the fact was, the car had been impounded twice now. There was no telling if the money and drugs were even still under the car, but if they weren’t, I knew there would be hell to pay.

  If I didn’t come up with something, chances were Allen was going to kill me.

  I froze when the door to the motel room opened, and Allen came inside. He tossed a bag of food on the bed and kicked off his shoes, filling the small room with the disgusting scent of stinky feet and greasy burgers.

  “Please,” I begged. “Just let me go. I’ll go get the car from the impound lot at six, bring it back to you, and I’ll disappear. You’ll never have to see my face again, I swear.”

  He turned, his angry eyes taking in my expression, but he didn’t respond. Instead, he sat on the bed and dug through his bag of food.

  I watched from my chair as he stuffed his face with burgers and fries. He burped several times and guzzled a beer. When he was finished, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and chain smoked until it was almost time to leave.

  When it was almost six, he tugged on his shoes and stood from the bed. My body stiffened when he started my way.

  “I’m going to untie you from the chair. If you try anything, I’ll kill you. It’s that simple.”

  I nodded, and when he untied my hands from behind my back, I flexed my wrists to get the circulation back to my hands. I hadn’t even realized my fingers were numb, but now they were tingling and full of pain.

  I followed Allen out of the motel room and to his car, rubbing my chafed wrists the entire way. I searched the parking lot for people, but again there were only rodents.

  Instead of putting me in the trunk, he let me sit up front with him.

  “What’s the name of the impound lot?” he asked.

  I gave him the information he wanted and sat quiet and still as he keyed the address in the GPS on his cell.

  I kept my eyes wide open as we pulled out of the parking lot, taking in every single place so I would know precisely where the motel we were staying in was located.

  Luckily for me, it wasn’t far at all from Kennedy’s condo. It was just a few streets over on the wrong side of town.

  Finally, ten minutes later, we pulled up to the impound lot. Unfortunately, Zander was waiting just outside the lot, leaning against the Oldsmobile waiting.

  “Fuck!” Allen roared. “I thought you told him to leave it parked out front?”

  I shivered when he snatched my arm and tugged me. “I did! I swear. You heard me. I don’t know why he’s here.”

  I said that, but I knew why.

  Zander wasn’t stupid. He knew something was up with me, and even though I knew he didn’t care about me, he cared about Kennedy. Since Kennedy loved me, he would make sure I was okay. Even if that meant sitting outside the impound lot and waiting for me to show up.

  “What are you going to do?” I asked.

  Part of me wanted to open the door and make a run for it. At least scream out and catch Zander’s attention. He wasn’t that far away. I’m sure he would hear me if I screamed loud enough.

  But the other part of me—the part that was in love with him—wanted him to stay out of it. Allen was dangerous. He was going to kill me, and I had a feeling that was going happen whether or not I got his money and drugs back. I didn’t want Zander’s life at risk also.

  So even though it killed me, I remained silent as I watched him wait for me. I memorized his stance. His long powerful legs and his slim hips. I memorized the rise and fall of his chest with each breath.

  His shoulders.

  His perfect jaw.

  I couldn’t see his eyes from this far away, but if I closed my eyes, I could see them clearly as day.

  Glittering emeralds.

  He was beautiful, but he was treacherous. He was everything I never knew I wanted, but he also everything I could never have.

  An hour later, he began to look at his phone. I could see in the rigidness of his shoulders that he was angry that I hadn’t shown up.

  “Is he ever going to fucking leave
?” Allen hissed, rubbing at his greasy forehead with dirty fingers.

  I worried that if Zander didn’t leave soon, Allen was going to get angry and pull his gun. Maybe even do something like shoot Zander from across the way.

  I didn’t trust him. He was obviously on drugs. People on drugs only cared about two things.

  More drugs.

  And money.

  Both of which were possibly nestled beneath the car Zander was leaning against.

  I needed to do something to get him to leave.

  “Maybe if I call Empire Sevens and have them call him. I could tell them to have him meet me at Kennedy’s place. He can’t drive his car and the Oldsmobile. He’ll leave, and that could buy us some time.”

  Allen thought it over for a bit, his wide eyes full of paranoia as he scanned the area around us. Relief filled me when he conceded.

  “Fine. If you think it’ll work. Don’t pull any shit, Eden.”

  He handed over his cell, apparently forgetting about caller ID showing up. Either that, or he just didn’t care anymore. Quickly, I dialed the number for Empire Sevens. The same receptionist as before answered.

  “Hey, this is Eden Vaughn again, could you connect me to Mr. Hale please?”

  She sighed on the other end. “Mr. Hale isn’t in at the moment. I could take a message, or you could just call his cell number.”

  I was hoping she would say that. I knew Zander wasn’t there. That was the point.

  “Yes. Could you please call his cell and let him know that something came up and I can’t meet at six. I’m at Kennedy’s, and I got caught up. Tell him I need him to come to Kennedy’s right away. It’s an emergency.”

  Again, she sighed. “You’re just full of emergencies today, aren’t you?”

  “Listen!” I snapped. “This is serious. Either call him and pass on the message or lose your job. It’s up to you. Also, I could do without the sarcasm. Thanks. Have a nice day.”

  And then I hung up.

  All I could do was hope she would call him.

  Allen and I watched from across the way as Zander remained against the Oldsmobile. Five minutes later, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell. He answered it with an angry expression, and then he sat and listened.