Page 10 of Burned
When I heard Wilkerson’s voice come over the intercom, I knew it was my chance to get the evidence I needed to clear my name. With a little coercion and a recorded confession, I would have the means necessary to put him away for good.
“You’re lying,” Wilkerson seethed. “If you knew, you sure as shit wouldn’t be here.”
“The only reason I’m not with her is because you framed me for blowing up Margot’s bookstore. I just want to know why.”
“You have no idea what would happen if that building didn’t go down. I wasn’t about to lose millions because you decided to get noble. You fucked me over. It seemed only right to pay you back. You should have done what I told you.” Wilkerson swiped his thumb across his lip, removing the trail of blood making its way down his chin.
“Who did you get to do your dirty work? Was it Levi?” I hissed.
Wilkerson moved his eyes off of me and toward the door. I turned my head to find Levi standing in the doorway. “Damn right. You didn’t have the balls to do the job, so he found someone who could. Too bad for you. This job set me for life. With you in jail permanently, Kenzi and I can finally be together, just like it should be.”
Levi was delusional. No way Kenzi would ever be with a man who shattered her mom’s dreams to smithereens. Little did he know that his confession would land him in a jail cell right next to Wilkerson. Levi was on a roll and the more he spoke, the deeper the hole got. A man could only take so much. I was doing pretty well listening to his BS until he mentioned marriage and building a family with Kenzi while I rotted in jail.
Unable to hold back the anger building, I walked toward Levi with one goal. He needed to be put in his place. Reaching Levi in a matter of seconds, I gripped the collar of his jean jacket and held him in place. “You are dreaming. There is no way in hell Kenzi will ever be with you once she finds out what you did.”
“That is where you are wrong. You, Van, and Niles are the only people who know the truth about the explosion. Van and Niles won’t say shit to Kenzi. And you won’t either, because you’ll be dead.”
Before I could get a punch in, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. My vision blurred and everything around me went black. I should have kept a closer eye on Wilkerson.
~8~
River
I should have been pissed that Kenzi was still thinking about Axe, but then again, she made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. If I wanted to win her over, I had to get Axe out of her head permanently. In order for Kenzi to feel more comfortable with me, I had to show her how much I cared about not only her, but everything and everyone that surrounded her. I wasn’t keen on her relationship with Reyna, but only because she was married to a man I despised more than my two brothers.
Finishing up the last of our breakfast, I stood up and held out my hand to Kenzi. “How about we go for a drive?”
“Where to?” Kenzi asked, confusion written in her smile.
“How about first you show me where you are going to make a difference and then I can show you what Chicago has to offer?”
Excitement replaced her confused smile as she took hold of my hand. “It would be my pleasure, Mr. Stevenson.”
Instead of calling for a driver, I opted to drive Kenzi myself, but only because I wanted us to be alone, enjoying each other’s company. Driving her would also allow for a private conversation with no other listening ears.
As we headed out of the penthouse, my cell vibrated against the lining of my pants pocket. Pulling it from my pocket, I looked at the screen to see it was a call I wasn’t willing to take. My brother, whatever he wanted, would have to wait. Scrolling through my apps, I pulled up my phone’s settings and placed it on ‘do not disturb.’ I couldn’t have any interruptions for the next couple of hours if I wanted my focus to be on Kenzi.
The unlocking of the door to my Audi sounded as I pressed the unlock button on my key fob. My designated parking spot was only a few cars down from the elevator door. I looked around to make sure we were alone—paranoia settling in. My brothers weren’t stupid. Sooner or later, they would figure out where I had taken Kenzi. I was starting to have second thoughts about bringing her to Chicago. Whenever Van or Niles reached out, it had trouble written all over it. The last 15 years had been silent. Silence, I had welcomed. But now, after all these years, once again they were turning my life upside down, interfering with my routine by causing nothing but havoc in my otherwise perfect life.
I kept my uneasiness at bay as I opened the door for Kenzi and helped her inside my car. As I rounded the car, I second-guessed my decision to put my phone on ‘do not disturb.’ With the possibility that Gretta might need to get in touch with me—just in case, I pulled my cell from my pocket and switched it back to vibrate after checking for important notifications. There was only one missed call from Van, which indicted he left a voice mail. I refused to listen to it. Not even Van would ruin this day with Kenzi.
Taking my place behind the wheel, I looked over at Kenzi as I started the car. “I’m looking forward to seeing where you’ll be working.”
“Thank you for letting me show you. It will give me the opportunity to know how far it is from your place.”
Giving her one of my signature smiles, I entered ‘Saxton, Marsh, and Peters Law Office’ into the GPS and waited for the navigator to do its thing. I pressed ‘start navigation’ on the screen, which showed that we should arrive at our destination in twenty minutes. I had hoped that the law office would be much closer to my building. Twenty minutes was much too long to get to Kenzi if ever something happened to her. I made a mental note to reach out to my security team to keep an eye on her. I could do it myself, but the last thing I wanted was to be clingy.
Placing the car in reverse, I backed out of my parking spot and headed out of the underground garage. The light coming from the entrance showed that it was a perfect day and the weather would be kind to us. After our trip to her new firm, I would take her to some of my favorite places.
Something about Chicago made my adrenaline flow. I felt free, more so than I ever did in Atlanta. If it hadn’t been for Joselyn, I would have said, “Fuck Atlanta,” and moved back to Chicago. With her gone, maybe it was time for me to move on. Saving Kenzi had triggered something inside me, bringing back something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Before I could even think about relocating, I had to fix this thing with Kenzi first. I wanted nothing following us and ending up biting me in the ass later.
I wasn’t sure what Kenzi’s plan was once we reached the law office building, but I knew what mine was. I wanted to see the inside of the building and scan every inch. Knowing I couldn’t protect her 24/7, I had to, at the very least, be comfortable with the security the building offered. Statistically speaking, someone always targeted lawyers for outcomes that were less than acceptable to their clients. Threats were not new to them, hence neither was security.
Twenty minutes later, the GPS brought us to the front of the Monadnock Building. As I pulled the Audi into an available parking spot on the street, I let out a sigh of regret. Why did the law offices of Saxton, Marsh, and Peters have to be in this building? I had to believe that the firm Kenzi was going to work for wasn’t the same one I dealt with before. Clearing all the negative thoughts, I walked over to the nearest paybox to pay for parking while Kenzi waited in the car.
I pulled out my Black Amex card and punched in parking for two hours. When a receipt became available, I walked back to my car. Kenzi was standing next to the car, looking up at the tall old building, while using her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. With the receipt for parking displayed clearly on the dash, I took hold of Kenzi’s hand and walked toward the building's entrance.
Paranoia seeped in and the feeling we were being watched struck. When I looked around, the same black SUV from moments ago moved slowly past the building. Of the thousands of black SUVs in the city, this once stood out. Maybe the driver was lost, but it was highly doubtful given the Chicago plates and the NRA sticker on the front bumper. We were definitely being followed. I might have been wrong, but I wasn’t about to take any chances.
