Blitz (Emerald City/Black Family Saga Book 1) (21 page)

By the time the cab pulls up to Sydney’s building, the memories of Dad and my assumptions of what she’s done are brewing inside me like the perfect storm. I hand the cabbie some cash and stumble across the street.

Fumbling for my robe, I wrap it around my half-naked body and stumble toward the door.
 

Who the hell?

I swing it open and step back, unable to deny the relief I feel. I’ve been thinking about him all night. Wanting him more than I should. Touching myself in all the right places. Wishing it was him. And now he’s standing here in my doorway, hopefully wanting me too.
 

“I’ve been thinking,” I say, as he brushes past me, not waiting for an invitation. “About what I said back in Moscow. I…wait, are you drunk?”

He grunts an affirmative and I close the door behind me.

“What’s going on?”

“You don’t watch television? I know you must have been online today.” He doesn’t look at me when he speaks and there’s a hardness in his voice.

“No,” I say. “I’ve had a busy day.”

“I’ll bet you have.”

“Are you okay?” I ask and sit down on the futon.
 

He paces, slowly back and forth in front of me, his hands clasped, index fingers resting on his lips. He looks down at me, but doesn’t say anything.
 

I raise my eyebrows. “Hello?”

Ray drops a sheet of paper in my lap and turns his back.

“What’s this?” I ask, skimming it over.

He scoffs. “Like you don’t know? Tell me something, Sydney. Are you an agent? No, I guess not. You’re not exactly qualified are you? You’re an assistant, but that’s just a front, huh? A means to a bigger pay day.”

I hold the paper in front of me. “Ray, I don’t—”

“Don’t.” He turns a glare on me, and I shrink back. “Just stop talking. You did this.
 
You may not be a licensed private investigator but that doesn’t mean you’re not a good one. When did you first figure it out?”

“What?” I ask quietly.

“This!” He knocks the paper out of my hand. “My fucking life story!”

I jump to my feet, my hands clenched at my sides. “Get out,” I say calmly.

“I’m not going anywhere. Not until you explain—”

“Get the fuck out of my apartment,” I scream so loud it grates my throat.

Ray freezes and stares at me for a few moments before bending to pick up the fallen sheet. “Why’d you do it, Sydney? Why would you…?” His voice breaks.
 

Something inside me goes soft. Even though I’m pissed at him for speaking to me like that, there’s another, smaller part of me that actually feels bad. “I didn’t do anything,” I say quietly. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

Ray silently hands me the paper and sludges toward the door.

I take care reading it this time, focusing first on the title.

Roscoe Gold makes a comeback (and it’s not what you think)

The first part of the article goes into detail about a legendary guitarist who landed in jail after a car accident.
 

“Luke Black?” My words stop him in his tracks. “What does this have to do with you?” But as the name comes back to my memory, I look up to meet his gaze. “Your dad? This guy is your dad.”

Ray doesn’t answer. Instead, his shoulders drop. And he lets out a sigh so heavy I feel it from where I stand. I step forward, the paper fluttering to the floor again, as I meet him at his side.
 

“Ray…” I touch his arm and he looks down at me.
 

His blue eyes glisten and the expression on his face practically breaks me in two.
 

“I’m so sorry.”
 

I don’t know what I’m apologizing for. His dead father? There’s more to it than that. But I don’t know what to ask. If I keep reading, I’ll have a clue, but all I want to do is make him feel better.

“I just don’t…why? When I’m with you, you make me feel like everything’s normal. Like I can handle all the unpredictable stuff. Why would you take that from me?”

“I swear to you I didn’t do anything,” I say. “I wish I…could make it all go away. Whatever it is.”

“You can, Sydney,” he says
 
“You did.”

I don’t know what else to do, so I wrap my arms around his waist and lean my head on his chest. “Just tell me what to do,” I say.
 

For several moments, he just stands there, letting me hug him. His heart is beating a mile a minute and his breaths are coming hard and fast. Then he finally hugs me back, holding me so close to him I couldn’t pull away if I wanted to. After a while, when his breathing has calmed, he holds my head between his hands and pulls back.
 

“I think I’m falling in with love you, Sydney.”

I don’t respond. I’m pretty sure I don’t feel the same way, but then again, I’ve never been in love. Maybe I have no idea what it feels like. Instead, I stand on my tiptoes, close my eyes, and kiss him.
 

He receives my affection hungrily, backing me up toward the wall. In one swift movement, he tears my robe off, exposing me. I gasp, but I don’t protest. I want this too. It’s all I’ve been able to think about since that night in Moscow. Hell, before that even. As Ray pulls his own shirt off, I slip out of my shorts, standing there almost completely naked, in a thong. Ray stands back, his gaze never leaving my body and steps out of his jeans. Just as I’m about to make my way toward the futon, he hoists me up, slamming me backwards.
 

The coolness of the wall shocks me more than the force, and I tangle my legs around his waist for leverage. Our lips meet again and I can taste the alcohol on his tongue. It’s the hard stuff, the stuff he vowed to stay away from and it’s changed the way he touches me completely. I pull back, but he pulls me closer.
 

“Ray—”

He silences me with rough kisses. His fingers slide my thong to the side as he caresses my center. I close my eyes, reveling in the feeling of his fingers skating across my dampness. A feeling that blows my own efforts out of the water.

I tighten my thighs’ grip around his waist and lean my head back against the wall when his warm tongue traces my nipples. I gasp and moan, digging my nails into his skin. My body goes limp when his fingers slip inside me.

“Ray,” I moan. It only makes him more eager. He makes his way to the futon, dropping me down on my back.
 

He hovers over me, eyes shining as he takes in the view of my body.
 

“Wait,” I say between breaths. “You’re drunk and—”
 

“I don’t care.”

He moves toward me again and I push him away, scooting back. “Well, I do.”

His eyes narrow and he shakes his head.
 

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” I say.
 

“Don’t bother,” he snaps, turning his back. “I get it. I was just a means to an end right?”

“That’s not true and you know it.” I get up from the futon and make my way over to where my robe lies in a heap on the floor.
 

“I’m sorry about the article. But I’m not going sleep with you to make you feel better.”

“Then do it because you want to. Because it’s inevitable.”

Coming from anyone else I’d probably laugh. Then eventually kick his ass out, with plans to never speak to him again. But he’s right. I do want him. A lot more than I probably should.
 

“What can I do?” I ask, wrapping my robe around me. “How can I help?”

He stands there, still in his boxers. Arms crossed as he peers down at me. “Do you actually want to? Or is this just your way of stringing me along?”

“Wouldn’t I have opened my legs for you if I wanted string you along?” I raise an eyebrow.
 

Both of his shoot up and he chuckles. “I guess you’re right.” He bends to pick up his clothes and turns back to face me, his cheeks slightly red. “I’m—”

“Don’t be.” I smile. “I’m not entirely pissed off that you find some kind of comfort in me. It’s kind of nice. I just want—I don’t want to be with you just to make you feel better. I want to be with you because you just want me.”

Ray lets out a heavy sigh and lowers himself onto the chair. He hasn’t bothered to get dressed and I can’t say I’m disappointed. I sit on the arm of the chair, resting a hand on his bare, hard shoulder.
 

“I really am sorry about that article. What does it…mean? For your family? For everything?”

“Everything about Mariah is out there. Every arrest. Every mistake. And then there’s the fact that for all these years I’ve had a father and an uncle who never once bothered to see how I was doing. And an aunt who lied through her teeth every day of my life. It kind of stings to be honest.”

I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. I shake my head slightly and Ray takes my hand.
 

“You didn’t read the whole thing. My dad’s alive. Apparently he just never wanted anything to do with me. So he stayed as far away as possible. I have an uncle too, his brother. I never told you this, but they were in a pretty popular band in the nineties. They were huge for a couple of years, until around the time my mom died. Around the same time there was an accident, but I never really knew the details. Just that my dad was gone. By the time I was old enough to ask, we lived out in Sagle far enough away from anyone who knew the real truth and my aunt just let me believe he was dead.”

“But he’s not.” I still can’t believe it. It almost doesn’t even make sense.

“The accident was his fault. Sent him to jail. I don’t know how long and I don’t know what happened after. All I know is he’s alive and, when he got out, he never bothered to look me up.”

I rub his arm and before I can even react, he snakes the opposite one around my waist and pulls me into his lap. I rest my head on his shoulder, as he squeezes me to him.
 

This I don’t mind. I close my eyes. Not one bit.

“What are you going to do?”

“I guess I need to find him. Not to mention I need to figure out a way to help my sister. She was going on and on about how the article ruined her life, how she’s going to have to find another place to live. But she refuses to come home. I don’t know what her deal is. Then there’s the draft. I need to be in New York in couple weeks. Everyone thinks I’m staying in Seattle but what if that doesn’t happen? What if they don’t want me?”

“Of course they do.” I tilt my head. “Everyone does.”

“That’s even worse. What if I end up somewhere I don’t really want to be?” He groans. “Sydney,” he murmurs into my hair. “I need you. Will you help me?”

I close my eyes, reveling in his breath against my scalp, listening to the sound of his heart.
 

“Of course. Anything you need.” I get up from his lap and reach my hand toward him. “Come on. You should probably sleep this off.”

I awake to the buzzing of my phone. It takes a few minutes for me to locate it somewhere on the floor. By the time I do it stops, but quickly starts up again a few seconds later. I don’t recognize the number.

“Hello?”

There’s a sniffling on the other end. “Ray?”

“This is Ray.” I glance over at Sydney. There’s not another girl I know with my number. And it isn’t my mom. “Who’s this?”

She sniffs again. “It’s me. Mariah.”

I bolt up out of the bed and tiptoe into the kitchen.

“You called. How did you get my number? Are you okay?”

She clears her throat. “Pete gave it to me. Nosey bastard. And I’m terrible. Thanks for asking.”

“What happened?” I do my best to keep my voice low but panic is beginning to rise.

“You did. My life is ruined. I’m…” Her breaths are uneven and I swear she stifles a whimper. “I have to get out of town because of you. Why did you have to come here? How did you even find me? I was happy, Ray. Perfectly fine without any of you. And then you waltz in and ruin everything. For what? Your own ego? Trying to fix your life before the world finds out what kind of family we really have?”

“Em, I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I’ve been worried about you all this time. So I asked Sydney to help track you down.”

“Your girlfriend?”

“She’s not my girlfriend. She’s…she works with the agent I’m signing with, but she’s also a private investigator.” I sigh. “I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble. I swear.”

“Well that doesn’t matter now, does it? They all hate me.” She hiccups. “I had it good too. I was happy. This was my home. Now I don’t have a choice but to leave.” She laughs a little. “The Chase’s are practically throwing a party. They never wanted me here.”

“Avery Chase?” My heart is beating me up from the inside now.

“How do you know Avery Chase?”

“I don’t…we had an altercation when I was in town but…what did he do?”

“Nothing illegal, but that family has never made me feel welcome. Not that I can blame them.” She scoffs. “The things I’ve learned about our special little family.”

“Things like what?”

“Like our drug dealing grandfather who killed one of their relatives a while back.”

“What? What are you talking about? Grandpa? Are you kidding?”

“Not that one, Ray. The darker side of the family.” She snorts. “The Blacks.”

I suck in a breath. “What did they do to you?”

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing does anymore.” She sighs. “This world sucks. It’s like every time I get a little bit happy something comes and takes it all away. Maybe I’m cursed. Maybe we all are. I just can’t believe people make money off other people’s pain. It’s not fair.”

“It’s not.” The back of my neck prickles and I suddenly feel sick to my stomach. “It’s not right at all.”

“I have to go,” she says quietly.

“Wait. Where? What are you going to do?”

“Don’t know,” she says more faintly. “But I’ll figure it out. I always do.”

She hangs up before I can respond, so I dial the number back right away. But when the automated voice on the other end of the line reveals it doesn’t take incoming calls, my heart breaks for my sister just a little bit more. And the anger I feel toward someone else quickly resurfaces.