Page 31 of The Perfect Lie
Contemplating my next move, a meeting with my brother was in order. No matter how much Davian hated Crosby, he was my only hope of getting to Reyna. When my brother informed me of the warehouse where Davian had Reyna hidden, I knew he would be the one to find out about the security. I had to know what I would be up against. No measure of protection taken was foolproof. I, for one, was well aware of that, given what happened at my mansion in Toronto, Canada. I hadn’t been able to go back there. The RCMP, to this day, still secured the property.
Sooner or later, Davian Cross would make a mistake, and when he did, I would be there to take back what was mine. In return, he would be left with nothing. His so-calledSocietywould be non-existent, but more importantly, his precious Reyna would be mine once again. Grinning, a superior thought came to mind. Once Davian Cross’s empire crumbled, I would have everything—more power, and respect unimaginable. Like the title I had earned, I just might be a devil in disguise.
~21~
Davian
After leaving the pier, I drove away just far enough to watch for any other vehicles leaving. I wasn’t stupid and knew Salko and his men surrounded the pier. When Gwen began fidgeting with her ear, I realized that she was wearing an earpiece and Salko was instructing her what to say or not say. I was well aware of this kind of safeguard. I had one of my own safely tucked inside my glovebox. So, before I met with her, I made sure I placed it in my ear and that the men could hear me loud and clear. It would be stupid of me to meet her blindly, without the added protection. If at any moment the men sensed something was off, they would close in.
As I waited for movement, two cars pulled up beside each other, which I found rather strange. Something was going down. It was half-past eight, and the pier was mostly lifeless, with only a few visitors remaining. My eyes were on two cars when a large-built man exited the driver’s side of one of the black sedans and walked over to the other sedan parked a few feet away. God, how I wished I had binoculars to see who the man was and who was in the other black sedan. I remained focused on the two cars. When the bulky man opened the back door and dragged a woman from the other vehicle, I realized it was Gwen he had slung over his shoulder.
The bulky man opened the back passenger door of his car and practically threw Gwen inside. Once he drove away, I had a clear view of the other vehicle that Gwen was forcefully extracted from. Forcing my eyes to focus on the back of the car, I made out a male seated in the back seat. I gripped the steering wheel, wanting to punch something. It was Salko. It might have been my imagination, but I could have sworn a smug grin of satisfaction, meant for me, was etched across his face when he looked my way. Even though I no longer loved Gwen, that wasn’t to say that I didn’t care about what happened to her. She didn’t deserve to be handled the way she was.
I had seen enough, and it was safe enough to leave the pier and get back to the warehouse to mend things with Reyna. I had granted Reyna her wish by leaving her alone, but her time alone was over. No longer could I allow her to shut me out or give up on us.
Hitting the handsfree button on the steering wheel, I called out, “Call Patton Thomas,” and waited for him to pick up.
Patton was driving Reyna back to the warehouse, so it didn’t surprise me that it took him a while to pick up. “Hello, Davian.”
“I gather you didn’t have any problems taking Reyna back to the warehouse.”
There was a long pause before he responded. “Reyna knows about Sean. I tried to avoid telling her, but she put two and two together when she saw the crime tape on the suite door where Gwen stayed. There was no getting around telling her what happened.”
Reyna was a persistent woman, that was for sure. If I had to guess, she put Patton on the spot, and he had no other choice but to tell her the truth. Was I angry at him? No. I wasn’t even angry with Reyna. More than anything, I was angry at myself for allowing Salko’s men to get to Gwen and kill Sean.
“Listen, don’t beat yourself up. Sooner or later, Reyna would have found out.”It was the truth. “I’m just glad she is safely back at the warehouse. As you well know, my conversation with Gwen was disturbing, to say the least. I’m afraid Salko is working on a plan to get to Reyna in order to get his diamonds back.”
“I agree. I think we should think about beefing up the security at the warehouse. With Sean gone, we are one man short. It wouldn’t hurt to initiate a few more men intoThe Society.” Patton couldn’t have been more right. Losing Sean weakened our security, a loss Salko was going to pay dearly for.
Keeping the emotion of Sean’s death at bay, I said, “Prepare a list of men you think would fit. Tomorrow we will take a look at the list and decide together who would be the best addition to our team. Tonight, I need to focus on the mess I’ve created with Reyna. Hopefully, with enough groveling, she’ll find it in her heart to forgive me.”
“She loves you, Davian. I don’t think you will have to grovel too much.” I could hear Patton chuckle at my expense. Either way, I hoped she would come back to me, no matter how much groveling I had to do.
Patton gave me the incentive I needed to push a little harder on the gas pedal. After what happened tonight, if I had any hope in getting Reyna back, I needed to come clean about Gwen and why I let what happened between us occur in the first place. If I hadn’t been interrupted, things might have gone further than just finger fucking her.
Hitting the button to open the garage door to the warehouse, I pulled the Mercedes inside and parked it next to three SUVs, probably already fueled and ready to go, with the front ends facing the garage door.
Patton and Marcus were already standing by the overhead door, weapons drawn, scanning the alley for any threats. Placing his gun back in his holster, Patton pushed the button to close the overhead door. It was one of the precautions we put into place when we moved the operation center here. No matter who drove through the garage door, we were always on high alert whenever the alarm sounded that a door was being opened. It didn’t matter if we knew it was one of us or not. The possibility that any one of us could be in danger was always a factor until we knew it was safe.
Patton and Marcus stood near the Mercedes as I opened the door. Another precaution. Suddenly feeling exhausted, I stepped past Patton and Marcus and headed up the stairs to speak with Reyna. What was supposed to be the most enjoyable day for her had gone to shit, and I was the cause.
Once I reached the top of the stairs, I thought for sure Reyna would be in Kenzi’s room getting the comfort she needed from her friend. I was surprised to find that Kenzi was the only one in her room, headphones on, and listening to music. I doubted Reyna would seek comfort from Mika or Helga, so I walked past the room they shared without stopping. The door to our room was closed, and I prayed that she hadn’t locked the door to keep me from entering.
Thankfully, when I turned the knob, it made a full circle instead of stopping a quarter of the way. When I pushed the door open, I found Reyna lying on the bed with the comforter pulled up just enough to leave only her head exposed. It was only a quarter after nine, much too early for her to go to sleep. Standing unmoved by the door, I watched her flip from one side to the other and back again. How long had she been tossing and turning like this?
Closing the door, I walked over to the bed, never once taking my eyes off her. Her body stirred even though I tried to be as quiet as possible. When her eyes met mine, they were red and filled with sadness and regret. I wasn’t sure if she was ready to let me in, but I wouldn’t leave, no matter how much she begged me to do so.
Moving toward the bed, Reyna shifted to a sitting position, pulling the covers with her—using them as a protective shield against me. Piece by piece, my heart was breaking knowing that our relationship had come to this point. I had to make it better.
Without asking for permission, I sat on the bed a safe distance from her. “Reyna, please let me explain everything. I think I at least deserve that.”
“I’m listening.” Reyna barely spoke, and it was like a knife to my heart.
Refraining from taking her hand like I always did when I spoke to her, I kept my distance. “When I found out that Gwen was alive, you couldn’t imagine how I felt. Then when she was spotted at the Four Seasons, I didn’t know whether to be angry that she had been alive all this time and never once reached out to me or relieved that I would finally find out the truth.”
I rose from the bed, finding it harder than I thought to tell Reyna the truth. Gathering my composure, I sat back on the bed, a little closer to Reyna. “The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you.”
“You did hurt me, Davian. You hurt us.” Damn, if the way she looked at me didn’t make me feel like a worthless piece of shit.
