Finding Gary (The Romanovsky Brothers Book 4) (5 page)

Gary sniffled, his eyes reddening.  “How is Zoey?”

Taken aback by the change of subject, Jessica’s head fell.  She avoided his eyes for a moment.  When she looked up and saw nothing but naked pain looking back at her, she breathed in deep and pushed her hands on her hips.

Gary’s eyes went big.  He dragged his nails over the palm of his hand, leaving red marks.  “How is she?”

“Let’s just say you’re not the only one on an island right now.”

Gary shook his head, squinting in confusion.

“The night you confessed…” Jessica licked her lips.  “Zoey had a few complications with the baby, and she went into premature labor.”

A cold silence swooped in as Gary’s mouth fell open.  A heave from deep in his gut tightened his abs, and he curled over.

Jessica planted her feet, bracing herself to jump out of the puke zone.

“Jesus Christ.”  Gary buried his head in his hands, stifling a sob.  “Fuck.”

Once he began breathing normally, Jessica relaxed.

His head flew out of his hands.  “Fuck, is she okay?  Is the baby okay?”

“The baby is in the NICU, fighting for his life.  So… no.  Zoey’s not okay.  But she is under police protection at the hospital.  She and the baby are safe.”

“Why would she need police protection?”

“Like I said, your confessing only added more flames to the fire.  All you’ve done is piss off Victor King.  If this scandal catches wind and hurts his campaign, who do you think will be the first person to endure his wrath?  It’ll be the person you all love most.”

Gary made claws with his hands.  “All I wanted was to free my family from this hell.  I just wanted them to be safe, for once.  But all I’ve done is… is murder my own nephew?”

“You haven’t murdered anyone.  Marcus is still alive, but he’s weak.  They need to keep him at the hospital until he’s stronger.”

Gary sputtered, his eyes going big.  “Marcus?”

Jessica nodded.  “The nurses call him Little Baby Black.  Saw him myself.  Tiny as all hell, but I think he’s going to make it.  Has that fighter’s gleam in his eye.  I could hear his roar all the way through the incubator.  Or maybe it was just a yawn; I don’t know…”  She tried to smile at him, but it felt false.  It must have seemed false because he didn’t smile back.  “I know you felt like you had no other choice that night, but confessing is not what’s going to end this nightmare.  Confessing is not going to help Zoey, who is suffering terribly.”

His gasp trembled.

“Gary, if you’re hoping for forgiveness… if you’re hoping to ever see Zoey or your nephew again, agreeing to end King is the only way to do that.  Not tomorrow, not in a few hours, right fucking now.  If you commit to helping me destroy King, you might stand a chance of keeping Zoey in your life.”

“King may have played a hand that night, but it isn’t enough to bring him down.”

“Look at it like this, Gary.  You’re essentially the tip of an iceberg.  Above the surface, your testimony seems insignificant. Minuscule.  It’s not until you delve deeper that you realize that tiny tip is actually expansive, extraordinary, teeming with gems yet to be discovered.  Trust me… the police may be protecting him now, but you’re not the only person whose life King has controlled.  He has shackles around the ankles of a lot of people.  People more important and more powerful than you, and even Val.  Those are the people still wafting below the surface, too afraid to bring their heads above water.  Your testimony can change that.  All it takes is one person brave enough to come up for air.”

Gary came to the edge of the couch.  “That’s what I told them.  I told all of them the police would be on our side if they knew we were willing to throw King under the bus, but they wouldn’t listen.”

Their gazes danced across the small space between them, both of their arms crossed tight, chests rising so quickly it made their panting breaths meet and warm the area like a space heater.

“Time is of the essence, Gary.  King is leading in the polls.  The American public loves the shit out of him.  Soon that love will become blind, and at that point, there’ll be no stopping him.  He’s collecting delegates like penny candy and is well on his way to the nomination.  And if he gets that nomination?  It’s a wrap.  We have two months to make sure that doesn’t happen, and your testimony will ensure an indictment.  Don’t plead guilty at this arraignment tomorrow.  The FBI can get the charges dropped if you agree to help us stop King.” Jessica blinked slowly.  “All you have to do is agree to be my informant.  All you have to do is say yes.  All you have to do is take that first step with me.  Will you take that first step?”

Gary’s wide eyes held hers.

“Say yes, Gary,” Jessica whispered.

Gary thought it through, and before his body betrayed him; before he could stop himself, change his mind, he responded.  “No.”

Jessica’s shoulders fell.  “I’ll give you some time to rethink that answer.”

When she turned and stomped towards the door, Gary called after her.

“Don’t bother,” he said, but as she stepped out and slammed the door closed behind her, he didn’t even believe the sound of his own voice.

***

Val grunted, sweeping his bicep over his parted lips, distantly aware of the cool feel of saliva as he let it plop back down on the couch.  His eyes remained closed, and soon, he was falling again.

Then, another blow, this one with more elbow grease behind it, so hard against his chiseled cheek that his eyes flew open just in time to see the back of a massive, tattooed hand come soaring at his face, again.

Val cursed, voice still hoarse, as Leo’s hand connected with his cheek, not terribly hard, but with just enough “love” to keep him from dozing off again.  Val’s shoulders lifted, and he brought his hands to his face, shielding himself with a cringe as Leo continued his assault long after Val had opened his eyes.

“Get up,” Leo said, his peaceful voice a stark contradiction to his walloping hand.

“Alright,” Val cried, squinting up at his twin brother while attempting to fight his hands away.  Through his blurry vision, Val saw Leo’s eyes get wide.  He slapped Leo’s hands away and tried to blink past the blurry sight.  The world wouldn’t stop spinning, not even when Leo dodged his blocks and clocked him in the head, again.

“Get up.”  Leo’s amber eyes widened.  “Now.”

Leo’s voice had always been deep and buttery, perfect for bedtime stories; so crisp and tranquil it made Val’s eyes flutter.  The moment they did flutter, however, Leo leaned down and snatched the neck of his shirt, yanking Val to his feet.

“Get up.”  Leo’s voice rose, and he took Val’s shirt into tight fists, shaking him.

Val pressed his lips together as his head seemed to become disconnected from his neck, bobbing back and forth along with Leo’s agitated lurching.  He was distantly aware of the beer bottle that tumbled from his fingers and clanked to the floor.  Through unfocused vision, he saw a tiny woman scurry in behind Leo and sweep up the bottle.

Val couldn’t see the woman’s face, but he recognized her maternal scent.  It had always reminded him of his own mother.  He wondered if they wore the same perfume. 

“Consuela…” Val hardly recognized his own, slurred voice as he squinted down at Leo’s Spanish maid.  “Consuela, I’d like another of that…”  He tried to point to the Bud Light she’d picked up from the floor, growing annoyed when he couldn’t seem to force his finger in the right direction.  It was always a little too far to the left, and when he shifted it, a little too far to the right.  “Another of that Bud Light, Consuela…”

“Val!”  Leo screamed, reclaiming Val’s hooded eyes, his shakes growing in frustration.  “Consuela is not bringing you another Bud Light.  You look like shit.  You smell like shit.  You haven’t showered in days, and frankly we can’t take it anymore. Now Consuela’s made you a glass of her amazing Bloody Mary.  It’s the only hangover remedy in the city that doesn’t leave you feeling like you want to kill yourself.  As a former drunken asshole, I can attest.”  Leo bent down and swiped up the glass, offering it to Val.

Val instantly turned his head, choking back the bile that rose in his throat.

“Drink it,” Leo demanded.  “It’s Sunday.  We’ve got dinner in a few hours.”

Val’s eyes went to the floor to ceiling windows of Leo’s apartment, wondering why the setting sun was burning his irises more than usual. He nudged past Leo, tripping over his feet the instant he tried to take a step forward.

His legs got tied up, causing him to fall.  He attempted to catch himself on the edge of the couch and the coffee table, but he was too heavy, and both objects slid across the floor under his exceptional weight, making his knees hit the floor with a fury.

Pain sliced through him like a rocket, and he cursed under his breath as he tried to clench his teeth and fight through it. No matter how patiently he waited, the pain didn’t die down, and in the next instant, his face was buried into the couch cushions as a sob tightened his abs.  It warmed the cushion smashed under his downturned lips.  Another cry followed, and another until he was so shaken he could hardly breathe.

Leo’s arms came around his waist from behind, attempting to bring him back to his feet. Val let his limbs go limp, and not even Leo’s brute strength was enough to bring him up from his knees.

In seconds, Leo’s warm breath was in his ear. “We’re going to find a way.” Leo’s voice trembled, and though his words were meant to reassure, the authority wasn’t there.  “We’re going to find a way to get to Zoey, and a way to get to the baby.  But, Val?  Letting yourself deteriorate, and drinking yourself to death is not going to do it.  She’s angry right now, and we can’t blame her for that.  We just have to let her deal with what she’s dealing with, and be the best men we can be for her once she’s ready to see us again.  This isn’t the man you want to be for her.” 

“She has police at every door, blocking me from him.” Val heaved.  “Like I would do anything to hurt my own son.  I would never do anything to hurt him.  I just want to see him.  I just want to know that he’s healthy.  They won’t even tell me if he’s… that he’s…”

“I know.” Leo’s sigh was heavy in Val’s ear.  “I love him, too, Val, and I want to see him, too.  I do.  But Zoey just got her entire existence rocketed to hell and back, and you don’t get to decide for her.  Shit, I’m still processing it, I can’t even begin thinking about what she’s going through.”

“That’s my son…”

“Be the man you want her to see when she decides she’s ready.  That’s all you can do.  That’s all I’m going to allow you to do.”

Leo’s hands came around Val’s waist again, and Val’s breathing relaxed.  He dug his fingers into the couch cushions and lifted his head.  The world was still spinning, but Leo’s words had somehow registered.

Leo shook him.  “This ain’t it, all right?  This ain’t good enough.  Not for her, or him.”

“She won’t even see me,” Val croaked, covering his mouth when the urge to empty his stomach came roaring back.  “She won’t even see me, and you’re talking about Sunday dinner.”

“While you were drinking yourself into oblivion, Ma kicked Pop out of the house last night.  Her world just got turned on end, too, and I don’t want her in that big house alone, so get the fuck up…”

Val snatched his arm when Leo tried to take it, turning his body.  He plopped down on the floor, pulling his knees up and leaning against the couch. 

They glared at each other.

“You think I’m going to Sunday dinner?” Val spat.  “Where that son of a bitch is going to be?  He’s the reason Zo won’t see me. He’s the reason I can’t look at my son, touch my son, hold my son, and you think I’m going to sit across a dinner table from him without putting a steak knife through his heart?  I don’t know my son’s
name
. He’s laying in an incubator on the verge of death.”  Val snatched his arm again when Leo tried to take it a second time.  “I’m not going to dinner because I’ll break his fucking neck.  If I see him, I’ll kill him, and I’ll do it in front of Ma.”

With a roll of his eyes, Leo stood tall.  “Gary—”

“Don’t say his
name
to me.”

“The truth was going to come out one way or the other.  If he hadn’t come forward, you would’ve sold Novsky to Reggie King.  He stopped that from happening.”

“If you think I wouldn’t burn Novsky to the ground to undo what he did, you don’t know me at all.”

“Even if Gary hadn’t blown the lid off this whole thing, Ashley Williams eventually would’ve.”

“Ashley Williams.” Val cut a look at him.  “Don’t you mean Jessica Borgia?  Maybe this whole thing is on you, letting a nice pair of cans distract you from the fact that a woman was using you to investigate our family.  To tear our family apart.”

“Or maybe this is on you, Val, for doing a really fucked up thing and keeping the truth hidden for all these years.  But I know you can’t fathom that because you’re a pillar of perfection.  It’s always someone else’s fault.  Never you, right?” Leo’s jaw tightened.  He sucked in a breath.  “Yo, fuck this.  I’m out.”

Val gave him a disgusted farewell wave, and they both scoffed at each other as Leo turned to leave the living room. 

Leo pointed at him as he circled the couch.  “And don’t think just because I’m gone Consuela is giving you any more beer.  We’ve already thrown it all out.  And don’t even think about trying to go to the hospital again.  They’ve already warned you that if you even breathe in their direction, you’re under arrest.”