Temporary (Indelibly Marked #2) (22 page)

“Did you ever think that out of all the Elliotts, we’d be
having this conversation?”

“It is a strange turn of events.”

“By the way, Courtney called me last night, right out of the
blue. She’s coming back to LA, and I’m going to see her soon. Suddenly
everything’s different.” Dillon snapped his fingers.

He glanced over at Dillon. Once again, he noted how fast
life could change. He brushed away the shudder racing though him and headed for
Permanent.

Chapter
Twenty

In California, especially Hollywood, the world played out
like a film. Emily swore that she spent most of her life posing for cameras
which were never on her, singing and dancing for videos though she was never in
a band, or acting on a stage of her own making.

As she listened to Ivan, Dillon, and Billy tell a tale about
breaking and entering, cracking into his computer, and going through his
personal possessions, she glanced around the shop, praying that a director
would pop out of a corner and yell ‘Cut!’

“Look.” Ivan handed James the consent forms.

Throughout the whole story James said nothing, but his tight
jaw, tapping foot and crossed arms told her she wasn’t wrong in her assessment
of their actions.

“I made print outs of everything for you. The guy had this
planned all along.” Billy thrust a stack of papers at James. “I have backups if
you need them.”

James rubbed his chin and pointed at Dillon. “Do you have
any dead mice you want to drop at my feet?”

“I took some photos.” He held his phone out.

“Oh, my God.” For the first time in her life she had no one
to turn to for help. No Shane, no Ivan, no Dillon. Her stomach bottomed out and
she swallowed hard. No wonder she felt suspicious all day. The bad karma from
their excursion reached far.

“You took pictures?” James put one hand in his suit pants
pocket and paced in a circle, the leather soles of his designer shoes echoing
on the shop’s linoleum floor.

“Dude!” Billy ran up to their attorney. “Don’t you see? We
got everything. I was right all the time.”

Ivan approached Emily and wrapped an arm around her.

She froze. The man chose that moment to show her a bit of
affection in front of others? Something she’d wanted and obsessed over for as
long as she could remember suddenly made her nauseous.

His energy vibrated through her. Since the day they met,
he’d emitted something special, something magic. With his admission, his disregard
for everything, she finally saw behind the tricks. Hell, at that moment she
could foresee the future, and she shrugged his arm off.

James spun toward them, his eyes wide and his face red. “Do
you see what you’ve done?”

The three men remained silent, glancing between themselves.

“We got the evidence you need to prove the guy is a
criminal.” Ivan answered in the same steady voice as when he gave out his
little pearls of advice. Where were those pearls when they were breaking and
entering? How on earth did Dillon end up with them?

She pressed her hand to her forehead.

“Are you a private investigator?” James shook the consent
forms in front of Billy’s face.

Billy stepped back.

“Did you have a search warrant?” He glared at Ivan, then at
Dillon. “Did you ever think to ask me before going rogue?”

“James.” Ivan broke the silence.

“Okay, here’s how we are going to handle the situation.” The
attorney held up his hand and walked another circle. “This never happened. It
never happened and we are going to go to that mediation tomorrow and finish the
case. No matter what happens, or what big scary article appears in the paper,
you are going to get down on your hands and knees and thank whatever entity you
believe in, that you aren’t sitting in a jail cell calling me to get you out on
bail.”

“What are you saying?” Ivan stomped to him, getting up in
James’ face. “That what we did was for nothing? You have the proof!”

Normally she would have rushed to Ivan’s side, pulled him
away and begged him not to be a thug and assured him that he was an artist.
Instead she stared at them and said nothing. No point in telling him not to do
what he already did, no point pleading or fighting.

James squared his shoulders. “Do you want me to use the
proof and get you all locked away?”

“Can’t you use anything?’ Ivan clenched his fists but held
them at his sides.

“The best I can do is try to get Lipson to crack without
giving anything away.” James shook his head.

“What if that doesn’t work?”

“Then we’re back where we were before you broke the law.”
James exhaled.

“Wait, what about the consents? They were clearly stolen
from us.”

“How did you get them back?” James held them up. “How? It
could implicate all of you.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll take the rap.” Ivan raised his
chin. “Blame it on me.”

“And that’s the risk you want to take?” James shoved the
consents into his briefcase.

“If I have to. This is my best friend’s shop.” Ivan
followed. “Nothing else matters.”

Numb. With Ivan’s words, Emily’s world went numb. Nothing
else mattered to him. She knew it years ago and she knew it now. What made her
think he would commit to her after he spent the year telling her they couldn’t
be together the way she wanted?

“Tomorrow, the only thing you need to do is remain quiet or
you’ll blow the case for everyone.” James slammed his case closed.

“Tomorrow you do what you have to and use every tool that we
gave you.” Ivan pounded his fist on the counter.

Stupid her, she should have listened. She watched them all
argue, but thankfully the numbness had completely encompassed her and the words
were muted. They were all actors in a silent, senseless movie.

Not caring how the show ended, she tiptoed through the empty
shop, slipped into the storage room and took inventory of the latest delivery.

“Hey.” Ivan knocked on the doorjamb and joined her.

She closed her eyes, praying the numbness continued, but
even as he came up next to her the electric sizzle gave her goose bumps.

He took her hand. “Let’s get out of here and go home.”

She bit her lip at the way he said home and pulled her hand
away. “You go ahead and go. I’m going to go to my place.”

“What?” He wedged himself between her and the shelving unit.
“What do you mean?”

For weeks all she’d done was agonize over everything, the
shop, Ivan, her job. At the end, all of the anxiety netted her a big fat stupid
nothing. “I’m breaking up with you.” The sentence came out as flat as her
heart.

“What?” he said and took hold of her shoulders.

“I know we’re not really together, but we were to me.”
Refusing to shed any more tears, she cleared her throat. “So I need to say it
so I hear it. I’m letting you go, and I’m breaking up with you.”

“No you are not.” His grip tightened.

“Don’t worry, I’ll never tell Shane. You don’t need to worry
about talking to him. If you wanted me, it would have been easy.” She backed up
until he released her and turned toward the door. Her broken heart felt like
shards of sharp glass in her chest that might rip her open.

He beat her to her destination, blocking her exit. “Why are
you doing this?”

“When breaking the law and risking your livelihood and
everything else is a better alternative than being with me, I think it’s time
to see that you don’t really want me. We’re not good together, we make each
other nuts.”

“I did that
for
you. For us.” He shook his head.
“Emily?”

“I’m glad you think you did, and I want to thank you for
what you did for my brother.” At the end of the day she needed to remember who
she was and she stomped forward, facing him. “Let me out.”

He stepped aside. “Did you ever notice how fast life
changes?”

She stopped, glancing down at the threshold between the
storage room and the main room of the shop, saying a silent goodbye. Goodbye to
the boy who stole stickers for her, goodbye to the almost man who took her for
rides on his motorcycle and made her feel bad ass, goodbye to the man who would
always own a part of her heart. “Yeah, and it never seems for the better.”

“Don’t ruin us, Emily.”

She arched her back, abating the shivers he caused whenever
he stood near her. She stepped over the threshold. “I didn’t.”

~~*~~

Ivan shoved two fingers to his temple, but nothing,
absolutely nothing would take the away the pounding in his head or the ache in
his chest. All he could do was focus on nothing and let the world happen around
him. He’d only experienced such a mix of emotions once before, the day after
his mother died. After tossing in bed all night, he awoke with the knowledge
that his life would never be the same. It turned him into a walking zombie,
barely going through the motions.

In the waiting room of a sterile office in a bland building
off of Olympic Boulevard, he waited for the mediation to begin, and for the one
person who could bring life back to his existence. The magic they possessed had
vanished in smoky, disappointing poof the second he betrayed her trust.

The door opened, and his heart sped up as if it were the
organ’s last mile. Maybe there was enough time to talk to her before their
shindig began. He should have committed to her a long time ago. He should have done
a lot of things.

“Good morning.” James entered followed by Billy, both in
suits and ties. He glanced down at his clothes. While getting ready, he had to
wade through all of Emily’s clothes to locate his costume for the day. The last
time he wore a suit was at Shane and Lindsay’s wedding, and before yesterday,
he would have guessed the next time would have been at his own.

To prevent a scream from erupting, he pressed his lips
together.

“Where’s Emily?” Billy rubbed his hands together. “No matter
what, we’re going to win.”

Since he didn’t know the answer, he remained silent.

“She’s coming in with Dillon.” James typed something on his
phone and glanced at Ivan.

At the end of the day, it wasn’t Shane he needed to worry
about beating him to a pulp. In a bizarre twist of fate, it was Dillon. He
wouldn’t fight it. Maybe Dillon could knock him out.

James motioned to both of them. “Remember what we talked
about. We cannot let on about
anything
that happened yesterday.”

If only they could erase yesterday entirely. If only he had
taken Emily aside and explained what happened. If only he hadn’t kept her in
limbo for a year. His what ifs turned into if onlys. Which was worse?

“Ivan?” James waved his hand in front of his face.

As he swiped James away like an annoying gnat, the door
opened and Emily entered with her brother.

Her pale complexion and puffy eyes told him she’d had the
same kind of night. Along with him and Billy, she had toned down her
appearance, pulling her hair back, applying light makeup and wearing a skirt
and sweater that reminded him of the kind of clothes Lindsay owned. In fact, he
was pretty sure they were Lindsay’s, which made sense since all Emily’s clothes
were in his closet in front of his only suit. No matter what she wore, she was
beautiful.

“Emily.” He pushed Billy aside and made a beeline toward
her.

She stood silent, not looking him in the eye.

Ignoring everyone else, he bent down to her ear. “Before we
start can we go talk?”

“What is it, Ivan?” Her voice sounded flat, lifeless.

“Can we talk?”

“Just ask what you need to.” She crossed her arms, a shield
against him and his evil forces.

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I just
want to make sure I’m still part of your family.”

At last she looked him in the eye. Her lower lip pursed out
as she took him in. “You will always be my brother’s best friend. Too bad you
never knew that.”

“Emily.” Everything came out wrong. “Please, let’s go talk.”

She opened her mouth.

He held his breath. His future hung more on her next words,
than it did on the outcome of the mediation.

“If all parties are here from Permanent Tattoo, we are ready
for you.” The wrong female voice interrupted them.

Emily closed her mouth and turned to Dillon.

“Are the opposing parties here?” James asked.

“Yes, why don’t we start?” The woman’s voice was much too
cheery, as if she was guiding them on to a Ferris wheel ride rather than taking
them to face their doom.

“Wait.” He stood in the middle of the room, lost.

“Let’s get started.” James pointed to the door.

“Emily.” He touched her back. Maybe the two of them could
come in a few minutes late.

She flinched, spun back around and walked toward James. “I
want to get this over with.”

“I’ll wait here for all of you.” Dillon stared at him. “Good
luck.”

Ivan lagged behind, following the group into a nondescript
white room with a long dark wood table and the same kind of powder blue chairs
one might find in a free clinic waiting room.

At last he got the first glimpse of the man trying to
destroy them.

Only it wasn’t a man. It was a kid, a skinny kid younger
than Emily. “What?” He tried to catch Emily’s attention, but she took a seat
between Billy and James leaving him to sit on the end.

The older man next to the kid was Gary Lipson’s attorney. He
was overweight, wearing a suit that didn’t fit with his stomach hanging over
the waist. Based on lawyers alone, they should kick the fat guy’s ass.

“Let’s all take a seat.” The too-happy woman in an
ill-fitting lavender suit took her time to smile at each of them as they sat.
“My name is Nancy McNeil, and I am your mediator. Let me start by stating that
the goal of mediation is not to win or lose, but to come to an amiable decision
where both parties are satisfied.”

Well that shot Ivan’s whole strategy in the ass. He leaned
over the table, trying to catch a glimpse of Emily.

Under the table James kicked him. He sat up straight and
folded his hands on the table. If nothing else he needed to prove to her that
he could behave.

“I will begin the process by summarizing the case before us.”
Ms. McNeil opened a file.

Though he wanted to ask if they could fast forward, he
stayed silent.