Chapter SIXTEEN
They drove in silence; each one hoping the other would speak first. Britton couldn’t handle the suspense any longer.
“Where are we going?”
“To my warehouse.”
“And what does this warehouse contain.”
“My family.”
What did that mean exactly? Did he mean his club house?
“Is there anything I should know about them?”
“I’ll let you make your own judgments.”
“Jagger, what is it exactly that you do?” She tried to sound innocent, hoping her interest would make her seem na?ve to his situation and status.
He didn’t want to answer this question. He was hoping that she'd already figured it out, and that a reveal to the inner workings of his business would simply fill in some blanks. How was he supposed to tell her about everything he ‘handled’?
“When someone is in trouble, I help him or her out.”
“And what does being ‘in trouble’ involve?”
“You certainly ask a lot of questions.”
“You certainly are vague for someone with so much authority.”
“So you know I have authority.”
“Well, I assumed as much. You don’t handle my stubbornness very well.”
“And yet you continue to test me.” He laughed, happy that she had caught onto his role.
“I just have no idea what I’m about to walk into.”
“Do you think I’d put you in harm’s way?”
She didn’t answer, still haunted by her wrists, ankles, upper arms, and bruised back, “It just takes awhile for me to trust people.” It was the truth, even if she didn’t tell him that he was the root of that distrust. He placed his sprawling palm on the nape of her neck.
“It takes me a while too.” He looked at her, catching her stare. “And because of that, please forgive me.”
She cocked her head, unsure of what he was apologizing for. She saw the pain filling his eyes, and felt his hand tighten around her neck. Her vision blurred and her body caved under his grip.
Blackness.
Britton heard a strange crackled sound, and then a pungent smell entered her sinuses. She opened her eyes as Jagger took a step back. She instinctively prepared to swing at him, realizing that she was tied down to the arms of a chair.
“Seriously?” She cried, in utter disbelief. Did he really not trust her that much? Then again, technically he shouldn’t trust her. With that thought, she froze. He knew about the mission. He knew she was an agent. She would surely be dead in a matter of minutes. “Jagger…”
He took a step back, revealing a slight grin. “Is it wrong how much I like to see you tied up?”
Was he joking? Was this really a laughing matter? How long had he known? She wanted to ask each question before she was undeniably tortured. Would he be doing the torturing? He knelt down in front of her.
“Sorry for the safety measures.” He began to untie her wrists. “I couldn’t show you the directions here until I knew what your reaction would be to this place. And I assumed you’d swing at me, so luckily I carry around rope, just in case.”
It had nothing to do with the FBI; this was all just Jagger being unsure of her reaction. How much more effort would she have to put in? She had already held her tongue during too many instances.
“You could have blindfolded me.” She snapped.
Jagger took in her beautiful face, currently puffed with anger. “I could have, but I…” he stuttered. “Well, I knew if you were conscious, you could talk me out of keeping my warehouse location a secret.”
Britton did enjoy the strange hold she held over him. Yet that still wasn’t enough. She looked around, piecing together her location. They were in an office. It was small and cold, but still an office. The desk was cramped with papers and date books, a calculator, a paper shredder, and…a handgun. It was small, and although she could only see a small piece of it, she would bet money it was a .32 caliber. She planned a number of ways to rapidly grab the pistol if the situation called for it.
Britton prayed that situation would never come to fruition. Still fairly new to the Bureau, she had never shot a gun outside of the shooting range. She really didn’t want her first bullet in the field to be directed at Jagger. She closed her eyes tightly for a brief second; she didn’t want any bullets aimed at him.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, just…guns scare me.”
“Oh.” He grabbed the piece off the table and shoved it into a drawer. “It’s just for safety. I don’t even use it.”
She wasn’t sure how much of that was the truth, but she nodded her head in acceptance. “So why are we in an office?”
“This is my office. I just thought you’d be most comfortable waking up in here.”
“Well, aren’t you thoughtful?” She teased, forcing him to chuckle in response.
“Here, I want you to meet my family.”
He pulled her up out of the chair. Her knees wobbled: still weak from her state of unconsciousness.
“Do you need me to carry you?”
“I can do it. My legs are still tingling, that’s all.”
“Here, wrap your arm around my waist for support.”
He guided her hand to his opposite hip, curling her fingers around his oblique. He flexed at her touch, feeling a spark at her fingertips. Jagger slid his hand across her shoulders and grasped her upper arm. He slowly walked her out of the office door, keeping an eye on her steps to make sure she was steady enough to walk on her own. He led her to another door; this one was very sizeable and needed to be slid on the track to open.
“Are you okay to stand on your own?”
“Yes.”
He let go of her, and pulled on the door. The room was enormous. There were couches, full cars and car parts, a television set, a pool table, a kitchen, and a very familiar face. She stared at him, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Who was this man? He looked like he was about her age, maybe a little younger. He had dark wavy hair, an olive complexion, and giant black eyes. He turned, hearing their arrival, and locked his gaze with Britton. His smile took over his entire face, and he began to move in her direction. Then it hit her. Britton’s knees wobbled, and Jagger caught her before she collapsed. How could this be? Why hadn’t Jagger said anything?
She shot a look up at Jagger, and he responded with a stunted smile. He wished he could read her mind; know exactly what she was thinking in that moment. Was she angry? Happy? Confused?
“Sis!” Dominic threw his arms around her, squeezing her tightly.
“Dom? How can this be?”
“Jagger didn’t tell you I worked for him?”
“No. No he didn’t.” She uncomfortably laughed through her words.
“Nice. I love surprises.”
He was such a happy kid, and she was relieved to see that her leaving didn’t take that joy away from him. She broke out of her trance with the sound of Jagger clapping.
“Hey everyone, I’d like you to meet Britton.” He pushed her forward slightly. The crowd erupted into cheers, everyone stepped up to greet her with hugs.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
“We’ve heard so much about you.”
“You’re even more beautiful than Jagger described you.”
“You’re Dom’s big sister? Was he always this optimistic?”
“We thought Jagger was just making you up!”
As she made her way through the crowd, she was overcome with the love they all shared. The guys at the Bureau were nice, but they all had families to go back to at the end of the day. These people worked with their family. They were a single being made up of twenty or so people. With each hug, she felt her heart grow warmer. She even encountered a handful of women.
“I’m actually happy you snagged Jagger so long ago. If he had been on the market, I wouldn’t have ever gotten any work done!” Said one biker chick, who seemed to be the youngest of the group.
“One day I hope I find someone who loves me as much as Jagger loves you.”
“You guys would have the most beautiful children.”
Britton was overwhelmed. Love? Children? How long had Jagger been telling his club about her? How did he know she would eventually find her way back to him?
“Okay, my turn.” Dominic stole his sister away from the adoring crowd and led her to a bright yellow couch in the corner. “It’s time to catch up.”
“Dom, what? How?” She couldn’t form complete sentences.
“How did I end up here?”
She nodded her head, still shocked at the sight of him.
“Well, let’s see. After you left, mom and dad started to come home even less, and with me being the oldest, I had to take care of everyone. I mean, the money you sent really helped, but I couldn’t hide it from them forever. Once they got a hold of it, I needed to find another source of income.”
He continued on, describing the job he'd gotten at Mike’s Auto Shop. “Only being seventeen, they didn’t pay me as much as the other mechanics. I asked my boss about a raise, and instead he introduced me to the illegal chop shop he was running. It was fine for a while, but by that point, Mom and Dad had completely run out and we started getting eviction notices. So I got nervous and desperate, slipped up, and was arrested. Jagger was the one who bailed me out of jail.
“Jagger?”
“Yeah, and he’s been taking care of me ever since.”
“But what about the others?”
“Lucy, Danny, Carlos, and Rebecca?”
Britton caught her breath. She hadn’t heard those names in so long. She had tried to push her past out of her mind since she left eight years ago, but what about her siblings? They had done nothing wrong. They were innocent kids, and she abandoned them. “Yeah.” She squeaked out, fearing his response.
“They’re all out of here. Lucy writes for a magazine in New York, Danny owns a coffee shop in Louisiana, Carlos is a pre-med major in Philadelphia, and Rebecca is in her first year of college in Washington D.C.”
“She’s in D.C.?”
“Yeah, she was planning on finding you. I guess I know now why she didn’t, but she’s in school to be a social worker. She lived with me until she left for college.”
“But how?”
“What do you mean? Jagger pays me well. I could support her until she left.”
“Did you pay for all of their colleges?”
He laughed. “He doesn’t pay me that well! No. Jagger did. He didn’t tell you any of this?”
“No.”
Britton sunk down further into the couch. How did she have no idea any of this was going on? Why had he paid for all of her siblings' college educations? She felt weak and confused. She looked around and caught Jagger’s eye. She shot him a questioning glance, and he shrugged in return. He had to have known that Dom would tell her everything, but why hadn’t he? He would’ve had a much easier time winning her over had he started out with that bit of information. Then again, it might seem like he was buying her love. Britton couldn’t stop playing out the scenarios in her head.
“You doing okay?” Dom asked.
“Um, it’s just a lot to take in.”
“I’m sorry, I thought you knew all of this. How long have you been back?”
“Three years.”
Dominic sat back. “Oh.”
“I’ve just been busy.”
“You’ve been busy for three years? Did you not even wonder about us?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Then what’s it like, Brit?”
She couldn’t stop the tears from forming. He was right. She had abandoned her family in the worst possible situation. It was Jagger who came to the rescue. He had made sure her siblings had the life they deserved, and she had spent the last ten years focusing on nothing but her hatred of him. How could she have been so wrong? “I was… scared.” She moaned.
Dominic hated to see any woman cry, let alone his older sister. He clutched her head close to his chest and ran his fingers through her hair. “It’s okay, sis. I’m not mad at you.”
“I was just afraid that all of you had been sentenced to a lifetime in the shackles of Vegas, and I always blamed myself for you guys ending up that way...I just assumed...I couldn't deal with that truth and found it easier to just not know for sure. It was a cowardly move...I am a coward and I have no other excuse...I'm sorry Dom.” She started sobbing.
“What did you do to her?” Jagger had dropped his conversation as soon as he saw her crying.
“I really didn’t mean to.” Dominic mouthed over her sobs.
Jagger placed his hand on her back and sat next to her. “Britton, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s an obvious lie. Talk to me.” He pulled her off of Dominic and into his arms.
She looked at him through her tear soaked eyes and reached up to kiss his lips. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Taking care of my family.”
“It was the least I could do.” He truly meant that, it was true. There was nothing in the world he could give her that would make up for leaving her broken and bloodied on that soaked pavement ten years earlier. He had spent his entire adult life trying. He peered deep into her eyes, kissed her forehead, and cradled her head, allowing her cries to subside.
He looked over at Dom, who nodded in agreement. The first step in introducing her to his life was a success. Being reunited with her brother and finding out the truth about her other siblings had hooked her. She wouldn’t be going anywhere.