Defiance (New Adult Romance) (Isaac & Maya) (38 page)

49

Maya

I have a horrible nightmare on the fifth night after I get home. It’s not the normal kind, Luke isn’t there. I’m back in the hospital searching for Isaac, but he’s nowhere to be found. My eyes fly open to a dark room and I turn over to see if by some miracle Isaac is sleeping next to me, but he’s not. Maybe these dreams are so awful because they’re so true.

I can’t fall back to sleep, I don’t even want to, so I climb out of my lonely bed. It’s just getting light out. I can picture Isaac standing out on the balcony watching the sun come up like I’ve found him so many times before. Instead, I find Piper sitting alone on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, watching the news. The volume is low, but her father’s face is on the screen. What the hell?

“Does this have anything to do with that secret you won’t tell me?” she murmurs when I walk up beside her.

“What?”

Her gaze finally leave
s the television, her eyes are so wide and childlike. “They arrested my dad. They’re sayings he’s corrupt. He’s being charged with racketeering, fraud, conspiracy, all kinds of stuff. Did you know about any of this?”

“No.”

“Maya, is that really true?” my best friend asks me, her voice cracking.

“Of course,” I answer. She doesn’t believe me. “I don’t know anything about this, I swear.”

“Then what’s the secret?” Piper confessed a while ago that it’s hard for her to trust me. I’m just starting to earn it back, I can’t screw it up now.

“I… I saw him having a super kinky threesome with Gloria Monroe and Baron Kavanagh in his office at the Lake House when I was twelve.”

Somehow Piper’s eyes get even bigger. “You
what
?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was afraid your parents would get divorced. I didn’t want you to think he wasn’t a good person just because of some weird sex. You know how I used to feel about cheating…”

“Oh, my God.” She claps her hand over her mouth as we watch the list of charges come up on the screen. “Do you think he really did this?”

“I have no idea. I really didn’t know about any of this stuff. I swear.”

Piper doesn’t respond, so I run to the spare bedroom to wake up Jace. He’s too tired to understand what I’m saying, but he doesn’t even hesitate. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Jace stumbles out of the bedroom and sits next to her on the couch, tentatively wrapping his arm around her shoulders as she stares at the newscast, completely shocked. Eventually she leans her head on his chest. I’m so glad he’s here.

I flop into the big chair that makes me miss Isaac even more because we always cuddle here and watch as more familiar names and faces make headlines
, including Baron. I’d been expecting to see Isaac’s father on the news this whole time, I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t happening yet. Gasping when Gloria’s face pops onto the screen, I glance nervously at Jace who is just as shocked as I am. That wasn’t supposed to happen. That wasn’t part of the plan, she was supposed to get immunity.

It starts to make sense as more information comes in. Her charges aren’t related to the sex trafficking scandal, but they are intertwined with Carl’s. It goes a lot farther back and it’s all financial. Her assets have been frozen, but she hasn’t been arrested yet because they don’t know where she is.

The local news ends and we flip to the national channels to keep following the story. It’s been hours and Isaac’s name or face hasn’t been brought up at all. That’s a good sign, right? Eventually, those 24 hour news networks grow tired of repeating the same current information and have had enough time to dig into the backgrounds of all the public figures. Piper chokes out a sob when they start talking about her mother, who can’t answer the phone because she’s too busy dealing with the fallout. Then a picture of my best friend standing next to her parents at her mother’s election victory party a few years ago appears in the corner of the screen next to the plastic looking announcer and Piper
totally
loses her shit. I guess the shock wore off.

She always hated having well-connected, influential parents because she felt it diminished her accomplishments and she feared everyone would assume that nepotism got her wherever she was destined to go instead of her own hard work. Now she’ll never get a chance to prove herself because of his mistakes. I’d tell her that she’s wrong, but I’m not sure that she is.

I’ve seen so many similarities between Piper and Isaac since I first met him. The way I can see right into their souls through their wild eyes, the way they struggle to control their fiery tempers, the inspiring, passionate way they love and fight for what they believe in, their truly ridiculous potty mouths, those sad little kid faces that pop up whenever they make a mistake and need forgiveness. It’s why they butt heads so hard and why I love them both so much. Looks like I can add their fathers ruining their reputations before they’ve even got a chance to build them to the list. I wonder if Piper will want a new name, too. I guess she can get it from Jace, if they stay together.

It’s been a long time and still no mention of Isaac. That has to be good. Piper is reeling in her room with Jace at her side, but I’m still glued to the TV. Then I hear the sound of keys sliding in the door and my heart jumps into my throat.

“Isaac?” I murmur as he appears in the doorway. I’m too shocked to run toward him like I usually do.

“Hi, baby,” he whispers. Isaac doesn’t need any time to process the fact that we’re actually seeing each other in the flesh, rushing over to me in an instant and scooping me into his arms. “Are you okay?” he chokes, holding my head to his chest.

“I am now.”

“Did he hurt you?”

“No. Well, he slammed my head against the window, but I didn’t have a concussion, just a headache.”

“Maya, did he…”

“I don’t think so, but I wouldn’t remember. Piper insisted that the doctors look at me while I was out cold, but they didn’t think so either. I’m fine, I swear.” I twist in his arms so that I can pull my face up to his. “I have been
so
worried about you, baby,” I say, my lips dancing around his perfect features. “Are
you
alright? What happened?”

“I’m so fucking sorry. I couldn’t risk calling you.” Isaac sits me down only to pick me back up again, locking his arms under my ass as my legs wrap around his waist.

“Did they charge you?”

“Yes and no. My father sent lawyers over right away to represent me, which could have been a disaster because they wanted all the evidence they had on me and started digging into the case right away. I wanted Nigel, obviously, which pissed my Dad off. It worked out okay, I don’t think they know anything about what we did, but… I’m afraid that they’ll figure it out as they get closer to trial. Maya…”

“Let’s just go,” I say because he can’t.

“I’m not sure if we have to.”

“I don’t want to take any chances. We should just run. If it works out, we can always come back. If not then…” I press my forehead to his, kissing the tip of his nose and grinning. “At least we’ll have each other.”

“Rookie, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Has, um… Glory called you by any chance?”

“Didn’t you see the news?” I ask.

“Of course not, I came right over here. What do you mean?”

“Isaac… there’s a warrant out for her arrest. They can’t find her.”

“What?” he gasps.

“Yeah, not for the sex scandal, though. It’s fraud, embezzlement, extortion, stuff like that.”

“Are you serious, Maya?”

“Yeah, it just happened this morning.”

“Fuck…” he whispers, blinking in disbelief.

I can see the wheels turning in his head, this definitely changes how he feels about running away. Nodding, Isaac’s lips roll together as his brow furrows. He was so afraid this would happen one day. I’m about to tell him that it doesn’t mean he ruined my life, but then he looks up over my shoulder, the worry on his face transforming into shame as he puts me down.

“Isaac,” Jace exclaims, grinning ear to ear. My boyfriend doesn’t look nearly as happy to see him, dropping his chin. “What, you think I’m afraid of you now because I watched you get all medieval on Luke?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Isaac murmurs.

“Dude… I always knew you were fucking crazy,” Jace laughs. “I still don’t care, that didn’t change anything.”

Laughing, Isaac steps forward and hugs his friend. They hold onto to each other for a few seconds, patting each other on the back the way guys do, but I can tell Isaac is whispering something. Jace’s smile is gone when they pull apart and he nods before asking Isaac if he’s sure. He is, unfortunately.

I can’t believe this is really happening. We’re getting in car in the middle of the night and driving down to Florida. Then we’ll meet up with a guy Jace knows and the adventure begins. At least I get to see Piper for a few hours first. She says she’ll also probably end up in Costa Rica or wherever we go, her life is over anyway. I won’t get to say goodbye to Garrett, though. I hope we get Internet access one day, maybe we can still play WoW every once in a while.

Amongst many other things, Isaac makes Jace promise to be nice to AJ and tells him that he’s in charge of the catnip supply now. Don’t get the cheap stuff. Isaac is
so
serious about that, his expression is hilarious, and the rest of us bust out laughing. I’m hugging my cat, nuzzling my face into her fur and hoping that she’ll start purring one last time, when there’s a knock at the door. We all freeze for a moment before Jace convinces Isaac that they should stay out of view while I answer it.

Standing on my toes, I look through the peephole and see a woman in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, staring at the ground. Holy shit, is that Gloria? She’s carrying a large bag, but doesn’t have a particularly menacing stance, so I open the door.

“He’s here, right?” Gloria’s eyes meeting mine. I haven’t see her in person in so long, it’s surreal. She’s still so beautiful. “Is he?”

“Yes,” I whisper, my mouth going dry. I still hate her, right? That feeling should kick in any moment now.

“Can I come in for a minute?” she asks, her jaw shaking and her eyes pleading with me.

“Sure. Yeah, that’s fine.” I snap out of the tra
nce and step aside.

“Your place is cute,” she says as she walks into the living room. I wonder if she really means it.

“Glory?” Isaac gasps, emerging from our bedroom. “What are you doing here?”

“Hi. I, um, just wanted to see you before I left.”
Her voice wavers a little and I can tell she wants to hug him.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m not sure yet. Some third world hellhole, probably, though I hear Antarctica is nice this time of year,” she laughs, glancing over as Piper opens the door to her room, curses, and shuts it again.

“Glor, what the hell happened?” Isaac asks.

“That fucking cunt Miranda happened,” she spits. “That bitch has been digging around on me ever since your father collared her. I can’t believe he was so careless. She got arrested and I didn’t. I guess she just figured she’d drag me down with her anyway because she could.”

“Is the stuff they’re saying on the news about you true?”

“True enough that I’ll be spending a lot of time in prison. Luckily, people owe me favors and one gave me enough warning to get the hell out of my house before they came to haul me away. I didn’t have enough time to warn Piper’s father and I’m sorry about that,” she whispers, glancing at me. “I would have, I swear, though I doubt he’s the kind of person that always has an escape plan ready to go like I do.”

“Um…” I stammer. “I’ll tell her.”

“I did have enough time to bring you this.” A melody of metallic clinks emerges from the big bag she was holding as she plops it on the ground.

“What’s in there?” Isaac asks.

“All of my jewelry. There’s some gold coins, too. And the collar your father gave me, it’s got to be worth four or five million dollars.”

“I don’t want any of that, Glory.”

“Give it to charity then, perhaps. I can’t. I just needed to leave you with
something
, you’re my... Or maybe I wanted a valid excuse to come see you one last time,” she chokes.

“You didn’t need an excuse to say goodbye,” Isaac says.

Gloria laughs, wiping her eyes and sniffling as she breaks eye contact with him and looks around the room. “Why are your bags packed?”

“Because… he’ll find out, Glor. He has to suspect something, I refused when he tried to set me up with his attorneys. Eventually, they’ll figure out that Kasia tipped them off.”

“Who’s Kasia?”

“The girl he gave me,” Isaac murmurs.

“Isaac, you don’t need to go anywhere. Just stay inside for a few days and keep watching the news. He doesn’t know you’re here.”

“He probably does now. He knows about me and Maya.”

“Shit, that’s right… Well, hide somewhere else for a while then. It shouldn’t be long now.”