Crystals (22 page)

“Start talking or
so help me, I’m going to brand your smug arse face with crystal. I bet you
won’t be able to ignore me then!”

Ollie’s mock
reticence disappeared at her warning. It was as though from one minute to the
next, he had reached a decision. Shane immediately picked up on the change, and
his muscles bunched in readiness as he pulled Crystal out of harm’s way.

“I knew what you
were working on before I met you. I always make it a point to know the nature
of the people who surround me. You were no exception–”

“I don’t give a
toss about any of that. Get to the point!”

“Maybe you don’t,
but that’s part of the reason you’re here all the same. They were only supposed
to bloody your nose and give you a few bruises. The throat cutting came about
because you decided to fight back. So utterly difficult to find good help these
days!”

Shane disregarded
the other man’s arrogant nonsense and got directly to the point. “What made you
think I wouldn’t fight back?”

“Because up to
that point, the only emotion or reaction I’d ever seen you display was about
her.”

“Such a bloody
fool,” Shane mumbled under his breath.

“Yes, you were.
And I’m pleased to say everything worked beautifully because of that fact,”
Ollie mocked around his laughter.

It was then Shane
realized how much pleasure Ollie continued to take from having manipulated his
life for so many years. Yet, standing in the glow of the tastefully decorated
room, he felt a strange level of detachment towards the other man.

If any
reservations remained regarding his final move, Ollie’s humor eradicated them.
When he was finished, Shane would be interested to see if he still found amusement
from the chaos he’d instigated.

“I don’t think you
understand the trouble you’ve caused by interfering in Shane and my lives.”

Ollie took the
time to uncross his legs and stretched them out before he spoke. Only then did
he smile at Crystal. “Oh, do you mean the baby?”

“What do you know
about that?” Crystal snapped out.

With the mention
of his son, Shane felt a resurgence of his rage. The Shane he once was urged
him to rip the smug bastard apart—but he resisted. Instead, he curled his
fingers into a tight fist and allowed the pain of his nails piercing into his
palms to stabilize him.

Ollie’s attention
remained on Crystal. And Shane was sure that the sick bastard wanted to observe
and relish her anguish. He wasn’t about to give him that sort of satisfaction.

“I was the one who
ensured Shane didn’t speak to you when you wanted to distract him with tales of
your pregnancy. Poor little Emmie was so distressed when I wouldn’t let her
take your call.”

It was obvious,
Ollie spoke for shock value, hoping his words would hit a nerve. But he had
already told her all about the way Emmie
had been blackmailed
by Ollie.

“Because you
mentioned my son in the hope of hurting his mother, I’m going to fuck you up!”

Ollie’s gaze swung
over to him. “I find you incredibly entertaining—fu
ck me up
. Who do you
think you are… me? I made you. Now that you have a bit of money in the bank,
you think you’re rich enough to come into my house and threaten me?”

“Mate, it’s not a
threat. Do you want me to tell you how I’m going to do it, or do you want to
wait for the surprise?”

Shane would have
been offended at Ollie’s laughter, but for the fact that he was a coward who
used all manner of subterfuge as his hall of mirrors. “Nice try, but you’re
bleeding anxiety and sweating like a pig. So, I’m calling you out for a fake
arse pussy!”

Shane only had to
wait a beat, as that was how long it took for all traces of Ollie’s feigned
amusement to dissolve.

“You can think
whatever you like, but I got what I wanted when I wanted it—that makes me a
winner!”

“So anything goes
as long as you get what you want?” Shane inquired in a mild tone.

“From my position,
yes.”

He didn’t think it
possible, but his level of distaste towards Ollie and the situation increased.
Unable to remain in the same space as the arrogant bastard for much longer, he
decided to move things along.

“You may as well
tell us everything. Seeing as you’ve won, you don’t really have anything to
lose.”

“I knew everything
about you before I even made that first call. Granted, you were rather more
reserved than I had expected, but I’m not easily daunted. You made me work for
it, but in the end I won you over.

Although you
attempted to keep what you were working on quiet, those in the know within the
racing industry were already talking about it. Getting to know you personally
meant I could be one of the first to test out your D.R.S., and to use it on my
cars before the rest of the industry got their hands on it.

Then you started
to be difficult once you met her,” Ollie nodded in Crystal’s direction. “Your
stubborn refusal to work for me meant I had to take matters into my own hands.
All that driving but never coming onboard the team had to end.

As I said before,
my instructions were implicit, all they should have done was mess up that
handsome face of yours. Oh, and I can’t say I would have minded if they had
broken a few ribs in the process. After that was accomplished, you were to be
warned to stay away from that girl.”

Ollie’s lack of
remorse spoke volumes about the man’s character. And, as far as Shane was
concerned, his refusal to call Crystal by her name, was another mark against
him.

“Is there anything
else you want to tell me?” Shane asked in a mild tone.

“No, I think that
just about covers everything. Oh, silly me, there is one last thing. Thank you
for making me a very rich man!”

“You have to be
one of the most detestable men I have ever met. What did I ever do to you for
you?” Crystal asked as she leaned forward to get a better view of the blond
man.

“You exist, my
dear. That was reason enough. You also had the potential to obstruct what I
wanted. I couldn’t let that happen, and for the record, I regret nothing!”

Before he could
stop her, Crystal darted around him and slapped Ollie with so much force the
sound reverberated and hung in the air.

Ollie raised his
hand, whether to touch his stinging face or to return the blow, Shane never
knew. Moving Crystal aside, he was on him in an instant.

He grabbed the
shorter man by the collar and used all his strength to lift and flip him down
onto the wooden floor. Ollie’s back hit the ground so hard, Shane felt the
shockwaves shoot through his arms and chest.

“Are you crazy?
Raising your hand to her. Thinking you can fuck with my life. Do you want me to
kill you? Taking me for a pussy,” Shane punctuated each of his disjointed
sentences with a punch to Ollie’s face.

Shane lost all
sense of reality. He wasn’t thinking. All his attention remained fixed on the
man who had nearly ruined his life—who had caused him to lose so much. Even
when he stopped speaking, he still rained blows against the hapless man’s face.

“Shane stop!
You’re going to kill him!”

Something in the
frantic way she spoke and pulled at him finally registered through his haze of
rage. Swinging his leg from across Ollie’s supine body, he shuffled backward
and landed on his backside, as his vision began to clear.

Memories of
Molly’s voice merged with Crystal’s and he finally looked at what he’d done.
Ollie’s face was a blood encrusted mess. His eyes were already beginning to
close and his once patrician nose was now twisted and broken.

“I’m sorry, Crys.
I didn’t ever want you to see me like this.”

“He looks bad,
Shane.”

He didn’t look at
Ollie again. Instead, his gaze turned to his hands and all he saw was his raw,
bruised reddened knuckles. He looked at Crystal. He had always known something
like this might happen. That was why he hadn’t wanted her here. He never wanted
her to see what he was capable of. Shane waited for feelings of remorse for his
actions to wash through him. But they never came.

“He may look bad,
but he should be thankful you were here, or he’d be much worse!”

“Will… have…
arrested,” Ollie gurgled as his blood spurted into the air. “Join …worthless
brother… in jail.”

A feeling of
resolve encapsulated him, as the voice he had long tried to suppress whispered
that prison was where all
Tierneys
’ ended up.

“No, he won’t!”

“Stay out of this,
Crys.”

“He’s hurt and
threatened you for the last time. He’s going to say nothing. Isn’t that right,
Ollie?”

“You too… end up
with him… prison!”

“Get out of here,
Crys. Take the car and leave!” Searching his pockets for his keys, Shane held
them out to her.

She didn’t take
them. In fact, she wasn’t even looking at him. All her attention was on Ollie.

“We came here
together and we’re leaving together. Ollie is going to say nothing about our
visit—isn’t that right, Ollie?”

“Stupid bitch–”

“What did you just
call her?” Shane demanded, his fist already bunched with Ollie’s jacket. When
Crystal grabbed hold of his arm, he released him, but not before he’d slammed
his head against the floor.

“No more, Shane.
He’s not going to say a thing. Because if he does, I will have to play this
recording of him confessing to having your throat cut. I’m not sure, but I
think his actions
would be considered
much worse than
ours. Either way, we know a pretty good lawyer.”

“You recorded
him?”

“Why, yes, I did.
I had to do something while he was running his mouth.”

Shane was in
shock. Here he was, imagining a life behind bars and Crystal had the situation
completely in hand.

Pushing himself to
a sitting position, Ollie glared in their direction. “Don’t… believe you.”

“I thought you
might say that, so listen carefully.”

As the sounds of
their conversation carried around the room, no doubt remained that she spoke
the truth.

“Bloody hell,
Crys. Remind me not to piss you off!”

“Oh, I’m not done
with him yet. Should you,” Crystal pointed at Ollie, “in the future consider
calling my bluff, I will ensure that both Dara and Emmie give the police
statements about the way you blackmailed them.”

Seeing her in a
whole new light, all Shane could do was watch on with a new found respect. “Are
you finished now, Crys?”

“No, there are two
more things I have to say. If you’re contemplating using those images you have
of my cousin—forget it. If you do, we will ruin you!”

“Get out of my
house!”

“I always wondered
why you disliked me so much and I think I finally understand. I feel sorry for
you do you know that–”

“Keep your
sympathy, I’m the last person who wants or needs anything from you.”

“That might be the
case, but you have it all the same. You
were handed
so
much by virtue of your birth. Yet, here you are, riddled with jealousy of a man
who has worked for everything he has.

You didn’t need to
manipulate Shane to get your way. All you needed to do was speak to me and I
could have made it happen. Well, everything apart from getting him into your
bed that is.” Looking over at Shane, Crystal smiled. “Now I’m done.”

At the door, he
turned back and looked at Ollie, who had yet to gain his feet. “Oh, by the way,
the meeting you attended in Switzerland was only for you to show your hand. All
the important discussions took place while you were busy playing with your boys
and girls.”

“What?”

“You’ve made a lot
of enemy’s at the team. Nobody wants you there. They’ve been complaining to me
for years. Wanting me to back them to get rid of you, I finally agreed.”

“Team Sinclair is
my mine!”

“Actually, it’s
not. Between the other shareholders and me, we hold eighty percent of the
company. I know I’m the better driver so when you nearly ran me off the track,
although it pissed me off, I let it go. But what you did to Crystal and
me, that
I refused to let go.

You’re no longer
the CEO of Team Sinclair. In fact, you’re not even the second driver. You
should think yourself lucky that there wasn’t a way for me to strip you of your
shares. But I know the loss of the fame and attention of not being a part of
the team is going to hurt you for the rest of your worthless life.”

“Let’s get out of
here, Crys.”

“You can’t do
this,” Ollie tried to shout.

“Actually, mate,
it’s already done!”

~~~

Ollie was furious. Who did those people think they
were coming into his home and treating him this
way.