He came through the door a couple minutes later, bringing with him the smell of rich, dark-roasted coffee from the deli down the street. He knew it was my favorite, but I hadn't expected him to actually remember. He headed over to the kitchen island without even taking off his shoes, set the coffees down on the granite and began rifling through the bag.
“You want poppy seed or onion?”
“Poppy seed,” I replied.
He tossed me a bagel wrapped in wax paper. I unwrapped it and took a bite, eyeing him suspiciously as he handed me a coffee.
“Why the sudden breakfast date?” I asked.
Enzo put his sunglasses on the counter and fixed me with a serious expression. It was noteworthy since serious expressions were few and far between where he was concerned. I noticed he also had a satchel over one shoulder, yet another peculiarity for my brother. He was just full of surprises today.
“Well, it would have been a breakfast meeting if I'd been able to find you at your office.” He took a long drink of his coffee. “Got all the way there only for your pretty little assistant to tell me you were working from home today. Then had to practically jog six blocks so that your coffee wouldn't be cold by the time I got here.”
“Don't talk about Sandra like that,” I said automatically, ripping off another bite of the bagel. I often forgot to eat when left to my own devices, and Sandra usually reminded me. “She's an extremely talented woman and an asset to our company.”
Enzo rolled his eyes and stepped over to the breakfast bar, where he sat and pulled out his own bagel. I leaned against the counter, trying to figure out why he looked so...suspicious.
I drummed my fingers on the counter. “You never answered my question. Why are you here?”
“Well, to bring you a peace offering of breakfast, for one thing.”
I snorted. “You're not usually one for peace offerings.”
“Yeah, well, I think it was appropriate in this case.”
My eyebrow raised. “Because things have been a bit frosty between us for the past couple of weeks?”
Enzo shifted nervously in his seat, putting the bagel down and picking up his bag again. I watched him unzip it and pull out a large manila envelope, which he slid across the counter to me.
“The peace offering is because I've had your girl tailed by a P.I. for the past week and a half,” he said.
My heart quickened as anger spilled into my veins. “You did what?”
He put up his hands in mock surrender and shifted back in his seat. “You can’t get mad at me. I did bring you your favorite bagel, after all.”
“And you stalked a girl that I’m not even with,” I retorted. “Even if we put aside the problematic morality of the situation, what if she’d figured it out somehow? And why the hell would you want to do something like that in the first place?”
“You’re not seeing her anymore? Ever?” Enzo cocked his head to the side, eyes half-narrowed with interest.
I’d been trying not to think too much about everything that had gone on with Briana. The less I thought about it, the less I hated myself for the way I acted. I'd been an ass, no matter what the circumstances had seemed to warrant. I couldn't fault her for a past, and I'd made assumptions about her present. When she hadn't answered as quickly as I wanted her to, I decided that I knew the truth. But I didn't. Not really.
Still...
“That doesn’t matter,” I said. “Why did you hire someone to snoop on her? What could you have to gain from that?”
His expression softened. “It’s not about what I had to gain, brother.” He pushed over the envelope. “It’s about what you had to lose. I was worried about you. When you came back from Vegas all stressed and anxious, talking about ghosts of girlfriends past, I knew something was up. And I wanted to make sure that your little hostess was worth all the trouble.”
It was kind of touching, somehow, Enzo’s way of looking out for me. In the past, I'd always been the one doing that. But invading her privacy wasn't right. I had my hand poised over the envelope, ready to push it back, when a thought hit me.
Doing this could help. If there was something in these files that proved what I'd accused Briana of, then I could be free of her forever. Sure, it would still hurt. My heart would probably take some time to heal, even though I'd pretend as if it didn't bother me. But at least I'd have some closure.
I gingerly pulled the envelope toward me. “Have you looked in here?”
Enzo shook his head and took a bite of bagel. “Not yet. I didn't think you'd appreciate it if I did.”
I raised an eyebrow, impressed at his forethought. Perhaps Enzo was finally figuring out that the world didn't revolve around him.
Or maybe he just didn't want to get his ass kicked.
“Can you give me a minute?”
Enzo nodded. “There's a game on. I'll be in the living room if you need me.”
With that, he sauntered off. Enzo'd never had difficulty making himself comfortable in my home. There was a point in time where he'd been too comfortable, and I had to kick him out to get back some of my personal space. It was good to see that even if other parts of him were changing, some things were the same.
The envelope contained a few pictures and a couple receipts that I assumed the PI got from the trash. The photos were from interesting angles, like he'd taken them from up a tree or behind a fence. The man was clearly dedicated.
At first, I saw nothing out of the ordinary. Pictures of a little girl I assumed was Mikala playing in the backyard with Briana and the roommate. Pictures of Briana at work in the casino, talking to people. Pictures of Tiffany at work, grinding around a pole. It didn't surprise me to learn that Mikala's roommate was a stripper. It was a tough town to get ahead in, but if you had a good pair of tits, there was always somewhere you could get cash for them, and Tiffany had them.
The final picture was the one that set my hair on end. I gulped, mouth suddenly dry, and stared harder at the photo. It didn't change. I put the photos back in the envelope and tossed them into the recycling bin. The roaring sound of a crowd could be heard in the background as I grabbed my wallet and headed for the door. Enzo would lock up when he left, though whether or not he realized I was gone was completely up in the air.
36
Briana
Pretending was getting harder by the day. It was like the more I tried to project that things were okay and that my heart wasn't in ribbons inside my chest, the more the world seemed determined to bring me down. Sometimes, I pretended like he was coming back, but more often, because it was healthier and easier, I just pretended that I was okay. That the smile on my outside came from within, and that each step through life didn't feel like glass shards on bare feet.
I was doing a particularly good job of pretending on Wednesday evening when I read Mikala her favorite story before bed, and then went out into the kitchen to pour myself a glass of wine. Tiffany was in bed, where she had been most of the day, despite my gentle prodding. I felt horrible for her.
I took my wine into the living room and settled on the couch.
Maybe one day I'd move someplace where I didn't have to share a place with anyone but Mikala. Maybe a house instead of an apartment. Somewhere we could see the stars. I'd take Mikala out at night to go exploring like my dad and I used to do. Before I'd become a disappointment.
And I just made things worse when I started dating Elroy. My family found it hard to forgive me for running off with the school psychopath. I didn't blame them, though a part of me wished I could reach out and fix things with them. I couldn't though. Not without risking them finding out about my past. And that could never happen.
I picked up the remote and started flipping through channels until I found an episode of House Hunters to watch. Normally, I wasn't much for Home and Garden TV, but something about tonight had put me in a different kind of mood, one where I didn't want to think. I just wanted to exist.
A banging at the door twenty minutes later pulled me
away from my thoughts. I checked the clock on my phone. Who the hell was banging on the door at nine-thirty at night? Just because we were in Vegas didn’t mean everyone kept those kind of hours.
Curiosity compelled me to answer the door. On the other side stood Elroy, glowering down at me like I'd done something he didn't approve of...as though any of my life was his business.
I exhaled a long breath. “What do you want?”
He rolled his shoulders back, cracking his neck in the process. I suppressed the look of disgust that threatened to emerge. No need to provoke him when he was like this.
“You gonna let me in?” he barked.
I shook my head. “I don't think so.”
He lifted one side of his mouth in a malicious snarl, then surged forward. Fortunately, I'd moved to the side at the last second. If I hadn't, I had no doubt he would have just bowled me over.
“What's this about?” I asked, suppressing the desire to tell him to get the hell out. I had my suspicions as to why he was here, but I still hoped he'd come for some reason other than to blackmail me.
Elroy often made threats and didn't follow through with them. Today, however, I felt like there was something different. And I needed to know what it was. I needed to protect my daughter.
Elroy didn't answer my question though. He stomped over to the couch and plopped down. I glared at him.
“You have to be quiet,” I hissed. “I just got Mikala to bed.”
“I'll be as loud as I fucking want to be.” His eyes flashed with malice, but I couldn't help but notice that he kept a hushed tone all the same. He angrily slapped the spot next to him. “Sit.”
I reluctantly walked over and sat down as far away from him as I could. I didn't like letting him think he was in charge, but I'd learned the hard way to choose my battles. And I had a feeling that a battle was definitely what was coming.
“Let's get down to business,” he said with a cruel tilt of his lips. “I've got videos of you on your back, from the back, every which way a pathetic slut like you can be fucked. And I'm ready to upload them to the internet and make you the next viral video sensation. Understand?”
I swallowed a thick knot of disgust. It was worse than I thought. The trump card he'd been sitting on for years was finally about to be played. I could see it in his eyes.
I hadn’t realized that Elroy videotaped my “dates” until after I left him, and he told me as a way to intimidate me. It had shocked me then, and I’d spent the past three years trying not to think about them. But they'd always been there, in the back of my mind. They were a huge reason I hadn't tried to get his visitation revoked.
“Why would you do that?” The word came out in a whisper. “Think of what it would do to Mikala.”
“Did I say I was finished speaking?” he spat. “Shut the fuck up and listen before I give you something else to do with your mouth.” He grabbed his crotch.
My head swam as I tried to think my way out of this. But desperation and stress didn't make good bedfellows for logical thought.
“I've also got pictures of you and Dorian together. Couldn't get any of you fucking, but that won't matter.”
“Won't matter to whom?”
His eyes glinted. “To the court, you dumb bitch.”
He reached out and grabbed a lock of my hair, running it through his fingers. The gesture was almost affectionate. Almost.
“I'm going to show them all that you're just a dirty whore. That the only thing that's changed is your client base. I'm going to take Mikala from you. And in my house, she won't even be allowed to speak your name. She'll grow up and forget who you are.”
Panic rose in my throat. I could feel it choking me. If I'd been thinking properly, I would've realized that there was no way for Elroy to expose me to social services without exposing himself. Maybe he could have Mikala taken from me, but he'd never get custody over her himself. And I would have realized that I could fight it, could fight him. But he'd always known which of my buttons to push. Shame was a powerful jailer.
“What do you want?”
He smiled. “Money. We don't have to talk a figure right now, since you seem a little stressed, but it's going to be a big one.”
“I don't have any money.”
“I know that, Briana.” He said my name in that sickly sweet tone that set my teeth on edge. “But your little boyfriend Dorian does.”
“No, no...” I sat up, shaking my head. “I can't get money from him. We're not together anymore. And even when we were, it wasn’t like that. I couldn’t get you money from him even if I wanted to.”
I was starting to babble and forced myself to pull back. I had to stay in control.
Elroy’s expression dipped from masochistic glee to anger. He raised a hand, and I flinched.
“It’s okay, Briana.” He smirked. “You can always work it off like you did before.”
Ice snaked through my veins. This couldn't be happening.
37
Dorian
The flight from New York to Las Vegas helped calm me down a little, but I got riled up again the moment the plane started bouncing on the tarmac. The bright lights of the strip in the distance brought all my memories of this place to the forefront of my mind. Seeing Briana for the first time. Feeling that pull in my chest, the one I'd ignored for so long. And finally, the moment when I realized for the first time that she meant more to me than just amazing sex.
She was smart and funny. She had more potential than most of the young interns fresh from business school, who wound up in my office. But most of all, she cared with her whole heart. In business, there were cold, calculated decisions. There were disputes and resolutions. And there was always a layer of civility and formality that usually had to be hacked through with drinks and cigars.
But Briana didn’t have any of that. She was open and genuine, and she cared unflinchingly for the people she loved. I'd been wrong to leave without hashing things out, but she was wrong to keep secrets from me. Especially one like this.
Twenty minutes later, I pounded on Briana's door, not caring if I woke up her daughter, the neighbors, or the whole damn building. My fist stung with the force of me hitting her door. I was surprised it didn't break from its hinges.
A couple minutes went by, and when it finally opened, it wasn't Briana who stood there. And it wasn't her mouthy roommate either.
It was that asshole ex. Or maybe he wasn't an ex.
Either way, I wanted to shove my fist down his fucking throat.
“Dorian Gianelli,” the douche exclaimed with a wide grin. “Just the man I wanted to see. Come in.”
As I stepped inside, I saw Briana sitting on the couch, expression stricken. She jumped to her feet as soon as she saw me.
“Dorian.”
“What's this asshole doing here?” I demanded.
“I was just laying out some terms of a business arrangement with Briana,” Elroy replied.
My jaw tightened, and Briana rushed forward. “It's not like that. Dorian, please go. I'll call and explain, but you should go.”
Like I was going anywhere. Not until we talked.
“No.” Elroy stepped in front of her. He was close enough for me now to smell his foul, rotten breath. Stale cigarettes and beer. Disgusting. “I want him to stay here, B. Why don't you have a seat, Dorian? I've got a proposition for you.”
His thick eyebrows surged together on his forehead in an expression that was clearly meant to intimidate. It wouldn't work.
“I'll stand.”
He shrugged. “I was just explaining to Briana that all the videos I have of her opening her legs for every guy with a couple bucks in his pocket are going to be making their way to the internet soon, along with some photos I have of you two getting cozy together...if I don't receive generous compensation.”
He was trying to blackmail me? I snorted derisively. “Your plan lacks originality. Now get the fuck out.”
Elroy backed up a few more steps until he was beside Br
iana, who was hugging her arms to her chest. My heart ached for her, for the pain in her eyes. I'd never seen someone look so beaten, so low.
And I knew a part of that was my fault.
“I'm not fucking around, Dorian. You should be paying me anyway. To thank me. If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't be such a good lay.” He reached out and grabbed the back of Briana's neck. She yelped with pain.
I didn't even think about it. I sprang forward, fist sailing out ahead of me and catching him across the jaw. His teeth clacked together audibly. It was the most satisfying sound I'd heard in a long time.
He staggered back, holding his bruised jaw. “You bastard!”
I seized him by the collar of the shirt and dragged him to the front door, making sure he hit the coffee table and a couple corners on the way out. Then I tossed him into the hallway and closed the door behind me, locking it.
When I turned around, Briana was staring at me, mouth hanging open.
I let out a breath, trying to calm down. Trying to dispel some of the adrenaline snaking through my veins. I needed to pull myself together because I wasn't done here, and if I started off pissed, it wouldn’t end well.
When I was back in control, I spoke. “We need to talk.”
38
Briana
My whole body was shaking. It had been such a rollercoaster of an evening that I was surprised Mikala hadn't come out to see what was wrong. Then again, she was a heavy sleeper. And I'd never been more grateful for it. I never wanted her to see her father like that. Even if he was a complete piece of shit, she didn't need to find it out that way.
My relief at Dorian getting rid of Elroy began to fade as I saw how royally pissed off he was. He wasn’t here to apologize for the way he acted, that much was clear. Which only left one other option.
And I was too fucking tired to deal with any more shit today.
“If you’ve come to make more accusations, you can get the fuck out,” I said, trying to force my voice to be as steady as possible.