Aftermath Book Two Crash Series

Chapter Eleven

Mason

            My blood is boiling under my skin, turning my cheeks pink. Pulling at my collar I nod to Dr. Tussing before following Crash out the door. If my gaze could start a fire there would be a path burning behind her heels.

            I stalk behind her as I work on ridding my face of any emotion. Since I was born, I was thrown into a world that demands a master's in manipulation and iron poker face. You must smile when told but not too much. You don’t want to show any emotion, but you also must always remain polite, so you can’t show too little. Jaxson and I were always a reflection on our parents and on Dixie that meant always toeing the line.

            Our image was everything even at five when I wanted nothing more than to watch the new episode of The Power Rangers I was to turn the T.V. off and walk away with a “yes ma’am”. No tears, no angry rants or tantrums, there was no time in the day for any such behavior and god forbid anyone saw a five-year-old acting like a five-year-old does. No matter the age there were clear expectations we were to uphold.  

            I pull my mask on now, wearing it like a shield and grateful to have had all the practice. Not only was it an excellent tool to have against my parents when the day finally came, but it was also how I was so successful in the business world. And now I’ll use it to keep my anger in check with a beautiful, infuriating, self-sabotaging woman.

            The same woman I’m hopelessly in love with. Which is really the problem here. How dare she sit in there and pretend like she’s fine when she isn’t? When she’s hurting. I’ve never been in love before, not really. I love Jaxson and I loved my grandfather and I care about a handful of acquaintances, but I’ve never been in love. Or felt anything close to the way Aria makes me feel.

            She has more control over me than anyone ever before. She has more of me, the real me the vulnerable me, the emotional me. The me that doesn’t wear an iron mask but she’s forcing it on me now. Shifting our relationship and the ground we stand on. She’s lying and hiding, to me, to herself, to Dr. Tussing.

            Catching up to her I slow my steps to match hers, with my voice even and my face still I ignore my anger and instincts. “I’ll see you later.” She was standing tall and proud anticipating the fight that my anger demands but I don’t give it to her, and she doesn’t know what to do with that. Her eyes shoot to mine with surprise mixed with confusion.

            Leo is walking close behind us as Wyatt pulls up the car for him and Aria while Ray pulls up behind him with mine. I don’t bend low or grab her around the waist like I usually would but instead, I grab out my phone and head to the back of the car Ray’s driving, without waiting for him to walk around to open the door.

            Leo gets in the passenger seat as Ray jerks back into the car as fast as an old man can. I scroll through my emails answering what I can and sorting the rest as we drive to my lunch meeting with Jaxson. Pushing everything else aside. There isn’t enough time in the day to deal with everything at once. I tried helping Aria and if she doesn’t want the help, if she keeps refusing, I won't force her. And I won’t waste more of my time focusing on it.

            Jaxson lives in a high rise in the city so it doesn’t take long until we're at his building. Leo is walking beside me as we head towards the penthouse.  I don’t notice him much anymore if I ever really did. I’ve had people following behind me, in front of me, and trying to grab my attention from all sides of me for as long as I can remember. Leo was just another person always there.

            He’s a good guy, easy to get along with, and not overly friendly. He blends well, doesn’t bud into conversations he has no business in but when we do have some quiet time a conversation is easy to start up. I don’t mind having him around and often forget he’s there. But it’s better that things have settled down a little, it’s made it easier for meetings like this one. He’ll wait outside his penthouse and Jaxson and I can have an open conversation.

            Not that I don’t trust Leo or any of the guys, you just never know when money can buy someone. Bribing the right someone for a little “harmless” information could be the difference between the downfall of an empire or the rise of a new time. I trusted Dibb and his men with Aria’s life, I trust them against a physical threat and to keep our privacy.

            But I would be a fool to forget how powerful and how dirty Edward and The Mob are willing to go. So I keep my circle tight with limited knowledge given to any one person, Jaxson having most of the big picture but I haven’t even given him everything either. He’s as devoted to this as I am but I don’t dare give Edward the opportunity to ever get his hands on the full plan.

            There’s too much at stake.

            Cracking my neck and shoulders I nod to Leo as he hangs back in the hallway. The penthouse is the opposite of any place I’ve ever owned or lived in but fits Jaxson perfectly. It’s exotic and bright. Unique custom-made artwork hangs on the walls and rests on tables throughout the opened space. The colors are vibrant and busy only calmed with the addition of the dozens of plants that take up the remaining spaces.

            It’s not cluttered or overwhelming, the air is as clean as space stays. The floors marble and shiny, the furniture sleek and modern. The windows are tall allowing natural light with a crank bar that allows them to open enough for a slight breeze but not enough for anyone to be tempted to jump.

           I think he was meant to grow up in the Midwest or farther in the country on a ranch or farm somewhere. He was always sneaking off to nature even at Boarding school if he wasn’t in his room I could find him in the woods that were behind the dorms. He’d be sitting in a tree bird watching or digging in the dirt finding “cool” rocks and fossils. His fingers were always caked in mud and my mother hated it and that made Jaxson love it more.

            And as much as he loves nature or doing anything that makes our parent's skin crawl he also loves to instigate his way into any altercations he can. From the funny to physical my brother been pulling pranks and egging on fights since he could talk. It’s made for some good entertainment but a lot more headaches for me to clean up, I’m just happy lately it's been more entertaining than disastrous.

         “I still don’t understand how you manage to be just on time to literally every life event ever,” Jaxson complains as he unpacks some take-out he grabbed on his way here. He’s wearing the same suit he was wearing this morning meaning he only beat me here by a minute.

        “An organized schedule is important.” Unbuttoning my jacket, I slide it off my shoulders and hang it on the back of a kitchen chair before grabbing across the table for a takeout container and settle into the seat.

        “You’re a control freak is what you are. I thought you were with Aria are you getting sick of her already?” Looking away from the grilled chicken wraps he ordered for us I glare at his smirking face.

        “We both had places to be,” I respond. He’s working at his buttons ignoring his warm food so he can get out of the tight suit and into a t-shirt and jeans. “You should worry about your own love life and leave mine alone.” I don’t like thinking about Jaxson and Crash getting close, not because he’s a flirt, he is. Or because I don’t trust them in that aspect because I do.

       But I definitely don’t trust them. The two of them together working against me sounds just like a nightmare I want to avoid. God help me if a prank war ever breaks out between the two of them and I get stuck in the middle. I have enough to deal with as it is, adding the two of them acting like children? No, thanks.

      “I’m fine staying far, far away from love. Random, no strings woman do me just fine, but that’s never been your style huh brother?” He shrugs out of his shirt as he walks towards the stairs and to his room.

      “Aria is better than random no strings woman any day. You’re the one missing out,” I call after him.

       “Should I throw my hat in the ring? Give you some competition?” He shouts back. I just laugh thinking about him trying. I see the way Aria looks at him and it’s a 180 to the way she looks at me. Like I said I have no worries of any kind of romantic relationship between the two but damn I don’t ever need Jaxson being around her, ever.

         Now that my mind went there I’m stuck panicking over the pranks I can feel in my future. My heart is pounding and my hands are sweating as I try to wolf this wrap down before Jaxson gets back so I can do the talking and he can eat and listen. I have another meeting in an hour so I don’t have much time.                      Unfortunately, I can’t shake the thoughts of Aria and Jaxson messing with a business meeting or my schedule and all the ways I can plan for anything they might pull because it’s only a matter of time.

     “Is your silence a yes?” A much more relaxed-looking Jaxson comes back into the room with another annoying smile.

        “No, it f*****g isn’t. You need to stay away from her. Seriously Jaxson I don’t have time for your s**t. And I definitely don’t need you involving her not right now.” I growl and shove my plate away.

         He settles into the seat across from me and pulls the other take-out container towards him. He takes his first bite before lifting his smirking eyes to me and chewing through his words, knowing it’ll annoy the s**t out of me. “You know that makes me want to it more right?”

           “I’m sure it does. But it’s a good thing you’re a grown-ass man with impulse control and a lot of responsibilities to juggle.”

            “When has responsibility ever stopped me from having fun?” He rolls his eyes like a child and takes another massive bite forgetting all his table manners.

            “Leave me and Aria out of your fun Jaxson.” I lean forward in my seat trying to intimidate him but it’s never worked before and it won’t work now.

            “Sounds to me like you need more fun in your life and so does she.” He takes a second to swallow before turning more serious. “How is she doing?”

            “She’s alright. Still processing it all. She’s strong and resilient.” I look away and clear my throat not wanting to talk about any of that right now. An abstract orange, red and blue painting takes up the majority of the sidewall, it’s intriguing to look at the paint thick in some spots but smooth like the artist drug their finger through the paint. Other spots are choppy and thin like they used a card or knife to cut the paint away and smooth it out.

            Turning back Jaxson I get serious and shift direction. “I’m going to London next week. I’ll need you to keep an eye on Dad.”

            “Yay me!” He groans dully before taking another bite.   

            “I found another account. It’s promising I can look into it more in London and check in on the corporate offices over there.”

            “What caught your eye?”

            “Too many deposits are going in too frequently for the sales of the product the company supplies. Their warehouse is in London along with all the paper records. I’m hoping I can find some proof. If I can’t we might be fighting a losing battle.” I crack my neck again as exhaustion hits thinking about the possibility of failure and how little information or proof we’ve gathered yet.

            I have lots of loose ends and theories I can’t prove and f**k if that doesn’t eat at my soul.

            “He’s been at this too long. We have the shares lets just go to the board and f*****g take it over.”

            “You know how disastrous that’ll be. We have no idea what he can implicate us in if we piss him off. And we definitely don’t have the loyalty of the board members like he does. We go in prematurely and we could end up in jail with nothing and he’ll get away scot-free.”

            “He’s a bastard but he’d never want his only two kids in jail. Mom would murder him in his sleep.” He’s not wrong about our mother, Cynthia would never accept the shame that would bring.

            “If it’s him or us you know he’ll choose himself every damn time. We need to corner him and shove him out. The mob won’t ever leave Dixie alone if we don’t blow their relationship to shreds. You know as well as I do we need to get him arrested and take down a few of Stasevich’s men along the way. Prove right away that we will be different and we want nothing to do with their illegal, disgusting bullshit.”

            “I guess I should clear a post on the wall for his mug shot, huh?” That breaks the growing tension enough to make the rest of the conversation a little easier but no less serious.

            I’m as excited to see Edward in a bright orange jumpsuit as much as he is.