Being Zolt Page 9

  Indulging in Irelyn always made things better. I took her in a slow, languorous motion, making her cry out.

  We took our time with each other, exploring and enjoying each other’s bodies. Inside her, I was home, a place I didn’t even know I had been missing. And with our fingers interlaced, we gave into our mutual releases.

  “Mine,” I growled as my body tensed and I came deep inside her.

  “Yours,” Irelyn returned. “Forever yours.”

  The sound of one of our smart phones ringing pulled me from sleep. I tried to move but found myself pinned by Zolt’s heavy, muscular leg draped over me.

  I lifted my head and glanced at the clock, groaning at the time.

  “Eight o’clock,” I cursed quietly so as to not wake Zolt up.

  I yawned and stretched my deliciously-sore body. Last night had been exhausting, but I wasn’t complaining; I liked Zolt waking me up in the middle of the night to make love to me.

  The other phone rang with Rachel’s ringtone and I cringed. We’d sent the video of our wedding to them late last night, and then set our phones not to ring until this morning. The fallout of our impetuous decision had begun. Since I couldn’t reach my phone, I let it ring.

  “Zolt,” I ran my fingers through his bed-mussed, sexy-as-hell hair.

  He groaned and pulled me closer to him, wrapping me in his arms. I wanted to stay like this forever, but when his phone went off again, our brief honeymoon ended. Time to face the music, or ringtones, as the case may be.

  “Zolt,” I repeated again.

  He lifted his head, peeling one eyelid open and then the other.

  “Our phones are going crazy, and you’ve pinned me to the bed.”

  “Screw them. They can wait.” His phone rang again, and he grumbled and gave in to the inevitable. “Can’t we just turn them off?” He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand while the other hand scrolled through the log on his phone.

  “How many missed calls?” I asked, sitting up.

  “Five. Two from Brody, three from T.” He turned to me with a frown. “I think our reprieve is over; time to return to our lives.”

  My display read six missed calls, all of them from Rachel. I cringed again.

  Commence the ass-kicking. Sigh.

  “Yep,” I agreed and threw my phone on the bedside table. “But not before we shower and have breakfast.”

  “Hmm, yes, a shower….”

  Before I could protest, Zolt had me off the bed and in the bathroom.

  An hour and a half later, we sat at the table eating breakfast. The shower had taken longer than I’d expected. It’s hard to shampoo your hair when your husband has you pinned against the wall, thrusting deep inside you. But again, I wasn’t complaining.

  “Two more calls,” Zolt sighed. He sat his phone on the table and sipped his coffee.

  “Three for me.”

  “Shall I call T and see what he wants? I’m sure he found something in the Mustang’s stereo.”

  “No.” I closed my eyes as dread filled me, not opening them until I felt Zolt squeeze my hand.

  “It’s going to be all right, Irelyn. We can handle this.”

  I nodded, hating that our bubble had burst, letting in the ugly reality of our life.

  “Call T. Let’s get this over with. Then, I’ll call Rach.”

  Zolt called T-bone and put the phone on speaker.

  “It’s about damn time, Z-man!” T barked over the phone.

  “You’re on speaker, and Irelyn is with me.” Zolt shook his head and glowered at the phone.

  “Well, you were right. We pulled the stereo from the Mustang and searched through all the mp3 files. My guy found one file labeled Cabo Wabo that turned out to be a text file instead of an MP3. I took the liberty of opening it.”

  “And?” we both said at the same time.

  “Holy shit. Chris documented everything he could on Marcus, providing a list of all the clients of the club. This list includes major players from entertainment to politics. He placed a code beside their names indicating what kind of activities they partook in.”

  I covered my mouth with my hand. “Shit.”

  “Oh, and that’s not all. There’s a detailed description of the Aspen Holdings/Black Swan transaction.” T paused and drew in a breath.

  Zolt and I glanced at each other, knowing what he said next would be bad.

  “Irelyn, I’m afraid what’s in this file isn’t good for your father. Black Swan served as a place to launder money for funds obtained through sex trafficking. Your father’s name is on the corporation of the company that owns Black Swan. It took us a fair bit of digging, but it’s all there in black in white.”

  “Oh, fuck,” I mumbled as my breakfast rolled around in my stomach, threatening to make a hasty retreat. “So, Dad’s name is on Xot International?”

  “Yep,” T confirmed. “Marcus is a master of covering his ass, so when the shit flies, it won’t land on him.”

  Zolt squeezed my hand in support. I tried to take what he offered, but I felt numb—too stunned to even move.

  “I think we need to go to Quebec and confront your father. The only way to stop Marcus is for your father to help us.”

  “I agree. Hold on for just a minute, T.” Zolt put the phone on mute when he saw what must have been horror on my face. “Baby, we need to do this. Time for Jacob to come to terms with what he’s done.”

  “My mom. This will kill her.” Tears sprung to my eyes, and I dashed them away. I couldn’t lose it now. They were right; we needed to do this, and I needed to be strong when we did.

  “I’ll be there the entire time. We’ll do this together.”

  I nodded, and Zolt unmuted the phone.

  “Can you get the jet ready for us to leave as soon as possible, T? We’ll come back to Scottsdale, pick you up, and then go to Quebec.”

  “The sooner, the better. Tamara is less than a month from her due date; I can’t be gone long.”

  “We can be there in a few hours. We’ll grab a few things for Quebec, and then we can leave.”

  “Uh, Z-man, I think you and Irelyn are going to have to deal with Rachel and Brody first. They’re pissed you guys eloped.”

  “Ugh. You’re right, T,” I said, frowning. “I’ll text Rach and have her meet us at the house.”

  “Good plan. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  “Well, crap. I guess it’s time to go home.” I squeezed my eyes closed and shook my head. My entire body tensed with the new information, and I could feel a migraine coming.

  Zolt must have known, because he went behind me and started rubbing my temples.

  “It will be all right. I promise, Irelyn.”

  I opened my eyes and tried to believe his words, but I feared he had a case of wishful thinking.

  “No, Zolt, it won’t be okay. Maybe one day in the distant future, okay will return. Not today.”

  I stood suddenly and stalked the room. “Why, Zolt? Why did my father allow this to happen? How could he carry on all these months, knowing Marcus killed his son? And how could he make an agreement turning me over to him?” I twisted a strand of my hair so tightly around my finger that it started to go numb. “What kind of man does that?”

  Zolt stood in front of me and took my hand, stilling my twisting finger.

  I quit twisting and dropped my hand.

  “I don’t know. A desperate one, apparently.”

  “He’ll go to jail for this. Our family name will be destroyed; Mom will be destroyed. I hate him, Zolt. I really do.” I bit my lip hard and tried to stop the racing tears. I was so tired of being reduced to tears. Why couldn’t I be strong enough to handle this without crying?

  Zolt pulled me into his arms, and I buried my head into the soft material of his T-shirt and firm chest. I let his essence calm me and give me strength.

  “It will be difficult, but I’ll be with you the entire time. We’ll get through this.”

  “What about Kenna? When will we f
ix this for her? What if it’s too late and we can’t fix it for her?”

  “We’ll do our best for Kenna. Unfortunately, taking you away from Marcus forced him underground and probably made things worse for her. I’m sorry for that, I am. But Irelyn, I couldn’t leave you with him. We wouldn’t be here, married if I had. You will always be my number-one priority over everything and everyone.”

  He tipped my head back and kissed me as if to seal his pledge. Zolt broke the kiss, but not before he left one soft kiss on the tip of my nose.

  “We have the information we need to take Marcus down. We’ll be smart about this. Even if it takes a few more days, Marcus will be finished, and Kenna will be home. We’ll make sure we have enough evidence that not even his connections will save him. I promise.”

  “Okay,” I said, and forced a smile on my face, preparing myself for the rest of the shit that certainly headed my way. “Let’s go home.”

  Irelyn and I sat on the couch in my great room, listening to first Brody, then Rachel berate us for going to Vegas and getting married without telling them, getting their permission, or whatever it was that had them the most pissed. I watched as my wife twisted that damn strand of hair, her bottom lip trembling with the tears she tried to hold back.

  “Enough!” I yelled and stood. “You will not make us feel bad for this, and I will not sit here and let my wife’s best friend and my brother scold us. Your bruised feelings are the least of our problems. I’m sorry that our actions caused you pain, I am. But this wasn’t done to hurt either of you.”

  Rachel opened her mouth to say something, but I held up my hand to stop her. “You didn’t see the message that Chris left for Irelyn. Didn’t see the expression on his face and the plea in his voice. We did, and we did this for him. But mostly, we did this for us. After all the shit, we’ve been through…. We needed this. Needed to solidify our relationship—to commit to each other.”

  “No one that includes you, Rachel,” I pointed at her and her face turned beet-red, “or you,” I thrust a finger in Brody’s direction, “will make us feel bad for this.”

  “But didn’t you want a big wedding, Irelyn? The one we’d always dreamed of? What about your mom? What do you think she’s going to say?” Rachel’s shaky voice asked. Cory grabbed her hand and stroked his thumb over her knuckles in an attempt to soothe her, I supposed.

  Irelyn stood up and came to my side. I put my arm around my wife and tucked her into me. If Cory soothed, I protected.

  “That dream started to die with Chris, Rach, and was completely obliterated by my father’s betrayal of his family. A big, society wedding is out of the question now. When this is all over, Jacob Wilkes will most likely be in jail, and our name will be trashed. Not only that, the thought of my father giving me away is disgusting to me after he gave me to Marcus. As far as Mom goes, well, I don’t know where her head is in all of this. I couldn’t trust she wouldn’t tell my father, who might tell Marcus. And Rachel, I did have my dream wedding. I married the man I’ve loved most of my life.” Irelyn glanced up at me and smiled the first genuine smile I’d seen from her today.

  “But I wasn’t with you. I didn’t get to share it with you.” A tear streaked down Rachel’s face and Cory brushed it away. As I watched their interaction, I finally got it; understood the depth of emotion he had for Rachel because I had the same for Irelyn.

  “Yes, I wanted my best friends there, and I know Zolt wanted his brother there, as well. But too much has changed, Rachel. Chris is dead. Kenna is trapped with Marcus. Nothing is the way we imagined it would be when we dreamed of our weddings.”

  “I know,” Rachel said and stared at her hands.

  “Celebrating a marriage didn’t feel right given Kenna’s situation. We chose not to make a big deal, and opted to celebrate the way we feel for each other with each other. I hope you all can understand that. In the end, we’re the only two in this marriage, and I don’t regret beginning it that way.”

  “We do understand,” Brody said, finally breaking his own silence and moving away from the pillar he’d been leaning against. “I just hope you did it for the right reasons and not because you felt compelled by the circumstances.”

  “I’m not going to lie, Brody, Marcus played a part in this decision. I needed to make sure he understands that Irelyn is mine and he can’t harm her anymore. So, yeah, maybe we did rush into this. But Irelyn is it for me; there won’t be anyone else. Why shouldn’t I marry the only woman I love? The only woman I’ll ever love?”

  “No reason at all. No reason whatsoever. Congratulations, you two.”

  I sighed as I watched Brody leave the room. I knew this came from a place of love and concern for the brother who he’d gotten used to taking care of since my injury. I also knew he adored Irelyn.

  Deep inside, Brody was happy for us. For so long, it had been just him and me since our mother basically became persona non grata in our lives. Marrying Irelyn changed that, and I could understand Brody might feel left out, though he wouldn’t admit it. Still, understanding all of this didn’t lessen the sting of his reaction.

  Irelyn snuggled into me. Whether it was to comfort, to be comforted, or all of the above, I didn’t know, but I welcomed the love coming from her.

  This is what it’s all about, I thought as I kissed the top of her head.

  Rachel rose from the couch and moved to us. “I’m happy for you and Zolt, I am. I just wished I could have been there when you married the man you’ve carried a torch for these past six years. Your story is crazy and romantic and it deserves a big celebration; not a quickie ceremony by yourselves without your friends and family there to celebrate.”

  Irelyn left my side and pulled Rachel into a hug. “We did celebrate it. But the one thing I’ve learned, Rach, is that life throws you an interception when you least expect it. Sometimes, you get the ball back, and sometimes, you don’t. When you do have it, you have to score, because the other side will do their best to stop you.”

  Rachel pulled back and narrowed her eyes at me. “Really, Irelyn, a football analogy? Only you would reduce your fairytale story to a football metaphor.”

  I laughed out loud, watching the two women hug it out. I loved that Irelyn’s brain worked in terms of football. And I loved that, because of her, I might not always hate the game I used to love.

  Cory came over and slapped me on the back. “Welcome to our jacked-up family, Zolt.”

  I couldn’t help smiling as I nodded. We were a family of sorts, and I hoped that my brother would come around and be part of it, too.

  “You and Cory will have a huge wedding, and I’ll be more than happy to help you plan it,” Irelyn said.

  Cory winked at me and I had to school my features. He had the ring, and only Kenna’s situation prevented him from asking Rachel to marry him.

  This all needs to be over soon; people have lives to live.

  Rachel gave Irelyn a sad smile and another tear fell down Rachel’s cheek.

  “No tears,” Irelyn said and brushed her friend’s tear away. “You and Cory will get your happily ever after, I promise. Zolt and I need to get ready to go to Quebec so we can make sure we all get our happily ever after.”

  “Yes, you do,” T-bone said as he strolled into the room. “Wheels up in an hour and a half.”

  He came over to me, shook my hand and pulled Irelyn into a big, rib-crushing hug.

  “Congrats, Irelyn. You finally made Zolt into an honest man.”

  Irelyn gasped at the force of T’s hug, and I grimaced.

  “Hey, T, careful with my wife, you big lug. You’ll break her ribs.”

  “Thanks, T.” She reached up and kissed his cheek.

  “You bet. Now go pack so we can get this over with.”

  I took Irelyn’s hand and led her from the great room in the direction of our bedroom.

  “Do you want to talk to Brody before we leave?” she asked.

  “No. We’ll talk when we come back. He needs time to sit with this. He�
�ll be fine once he realizes I’m exactly where I should be and it wasn’t done to hurt him.”

  At least, I hoped so.

  In our bedroom, we emptied our cases of the things we’d taken to Vegas and replaced them with clothes for Quebec.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked Zolt again. I cringed as I replayed Brody’s words to him.

  “Fine,” he muttered.

  “You know what fine means, right? Fucked up. Insecure—”

  “Neurotic and emotional. I know.” He shrugged, and I could tell he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

  “Brody will be okay, right? I mean once he gets used to the idea?”

  “He will. This is all a lot for him to take in, and he worries about my emotional health. Brody prefers for his life to be ordered with everything in its place. Obviously, nothing in our lives is that way right now. He’s always taken care of me and I’ve let him—given him leeway to guide my decisions. But it’s time for that to stop. I’m married. He’ll get used to it—he has to.”

  “So, he doesn’t dislike me?” I asked, stripping out of the shirt I’d been wearing. I wanted the question to come across nonchalantly, as if I didn’t care, but truth be told, I did.

  “Irelyn,” Zolt said and stopped my progress into our closet. He turned me around to face him, and his eyes dropped to my black, lacy bra; he licked his lips. “Brody adores you,” he said, slowly dragging his gaze to mine.

  “His reaction has to do with me and me alone. I’m sure, by the time we come home from Quebec, he’ll be his normal self.”

  “Okay,” I said, hoping he was right. The last thing I wanted was for Zolt and Brody to be at odds because of me.

  “I promise.” Zolt kissed me sweetly. “I also promise that if you don’t put a shirt on in the next minute, I’m going to decide to throw you on the bed and fuck you, and I won’t care if T bangs on the door the entire time.”