The Enforcer or The Mafia Prince

Chapter 15

The silence that filled the car was like an invisible barrier between Jessica and Tristian. The longer they sat without speaking, the more ridiculous Jessica felt the situation was. Without meaning to, she busted out laughing, filling the car with her cheerful voice. Completely thrown off guard, Tristan turned to see her wearing a smile rivaling the sunset's brilliance. Jess's laughter was infectious, and Tristan couldn't help but join her. The more he was around her, the more he enjoyed life.

"What's so funny," Tristan asked her when the fit subsided.

"I'm not even sure," Jessica managed to say between chuckles. "It's like, everything feels so heavy and serious all the time. But when you look at it from the outside, your ex just yelled at us in the middle of the street, and it seems so- I don't know how to say it. It's like, compared to you, she's so unrefined. What did you see in her in the first place?" Tristan didn't think refined would be one of the ways anyone would describe him, but he liked that Jess saw him that way.

"Well," Tristan looked back to the road and rubbed his nose awkwardly, "I didn't really see anything in her. She threw herself at me in the club one night, and, I don't know, she was easy. I don't even think I liked her as a person." Catching the look on Jess's face out of the corner of his eye, Tristian scrambled to add, "In my defense, she didn't like me either."

Jessica cleared her throat and took a surprisingly critical attitude, "Tristan, have you ever thought women threw themselves at you because they've been ordered to or are trying to harm you somehow?"

"Of course, but that's why I have men like Declan around," Tristan spoke as he made a right turn.

"I know, but it's not like he's there when you're f*****g, is he?" Jess's crass statement made Tristan realize how reckless he'd been. Ryan might have instructed Sophia to get close to him on purpose.

"s**t, Jess! I think you might be onto something," Tristan blanched.

"Wait, what?" Jessica's eyes darted to Tristan.

"I always knew that if I weren't in the picture, she'd go right back to him. I didn't like it, but I knew she would. It never occurred to me how abnormal it was that he took her back every time. f**k, I'm so stupid." Tristan looked like he had just found out Santa wasn't real.

"What has your dad said about her?" Jessica was genuinely curious to find out what Ciaran's thoughts had been.

"He didn't know," Tristan whispered, almost to himself.

"He didn't what?" Jessica didn't understand what Tristan meant.

"Dad didn't know about Sophia until it hit the papers. So other than telling me to end things with her, he hasn't said anything." The two were lost in their own thoughts for a moment. For Jessica's part, she was thinking how odd it was that Sophia had brought up the attack the night before. Tristan was stuck analyzing every interaction with Sophia and wondering if he had missed something. Tristan's eyes went wide, "We need to go to my place right now."

"What's at your place," Jessica asked, absentmindedly chewing on her lip.

"Jess, um, well, think about it. We fooled around yesterday, and suddenly, there was an attack on the building. Even if someone has seen us together, I've only taken you to school and around Chicago. We haven't done anything to draw attention to ourselves. Somehow Sophia knows about last night? Something is off." The severity in Tristan's tone made Jess nervous.

"Is Rick okay?" Jessica was concerned for the guard that was shot. Was that really all that happened?

"Yeah, he should be. He was up and talking last night," Tristan tried to go over the events from the moment they realized something was wrong. Nothing suspicious came to mind.

"I'm such an i***t. Jess, grab my phone. I need you to do something." They were almost to the apartment, but some things couldn't wait.

"Sure," Jess replied as she grabbed it from the center console, "What do you need?"

"If you tell anyone, my father or Declan included, it will ruin everything I'm working on. Do you understand?" Jessica didn't know why but the urgency with which he spoke spurred her to agree not to tell another living soul.

"Good girl. Okay, don't start until I tell you exactly what to do. Press and hold the camera button until the screen flashes, then hit the upper volume button twice. When the screen prompts you to enter something, type the word scan and the number 86. No spaces. Then click detect, not review. Go." Jessica did as instructed. As they pulled into the parking garage, Tristan's phone started showing lines of code that Jess didn't recognize. To her, it looked like the command-line screen on a Windows computer. The phone kept running throughout their trip in the elevator and right up to Tristan's door. A line of orange text made Tristan clench his jaw, but otherwise, he looked relieved.

"What's wrong?" This was a side of Tristan she hadn't seen before, and it scared her. Tristan hasn't opened the door yet. He put his phone in his back pocket and turned to face Jess. He took both her hands in his and kissed them.

"I promise, Jessica, I will answer all your questions. First, we need to make sure the building is secure. We had a lot of police officers in the building last night. Also," he was hesitant to say the next part, "Sophia was at my place last week."

"Well, at least he has the decency to look ashamed," Jessica thought. She knew he had seen Sophia on Thursday; she hadn't realized it was in his apartment. Now was not the time to get upset about something she'd already forgiven him for. Jessica shook her head.

"Thank you," Tristan sounded grateful for her acceptance. He opened the door to his apartment and motioned for Jess to stay near the front door. Tristan composed himself so that he appeared his usual, inattentive self. Tristan walked into his office with a pronounced air of disdain unique to his personality. Jessica could hear shuffling around, like something was scratching the floor. After a moment, Tristan walked into the apartment's main room holding a weird walkie-talkie-looking thing the size of his fist. Click, click, click - the sound was like a Geiger counter in a movie; nothing felt real to Jess. It made consistent beeps. She watched Tristan enter the bathroom, his room, and the kitchen. He then went over to her near the entrance. The sound didn't change as Tristan discretely waved the object around.

Jessica didn't know exactly what he was looking for but understood enough to know he was looking for something like a bug. She held her breath as he returned to the living room. To her horror, it started beeping faster. Tristan walked around the dining table, but nothing. He walked toward the sofa, more beeping. Finally, as he neared the TV, the sound became one long tone. Tristan thought back to when Sophia had been in his apartment last week, and she had asked him to close his eyes. All she would have needed was a moment, a hair's breadth of time. Tristan reached for the edge of the screen and pulled it away from the wall. It swung forward on the mount. That's when he saw it. The tiny button object was attached to the top of the screen with an even smaller wire curving over the top. No one would have been able to see it at all.

"Son of a...," Tristan mumbled under his breath. Pretending everything was okay, he dragged Jess back into the hallway. He immediately pulled out his phone. "Lock down the building. Sweep every floor, every unit, and every person who tries to enter. I don't care how long it takes. Send someone to the hospital to question Rick again."

"Jess," his voice made her jump, "we need to see my father immediately." Tristan knew his father had already been notified of the security alert. He'd be the first to have his office checked. Tristan also knew that his father would beat the daylights out of him if Ciaran felt merciful. He'd messed up. Without waiting for her response, Tristan walked to the elevator.

"f**k!" Tristan jolted as though remembering something and made another call. This time Jess could see 'IT' on the phone's face. "It's Tristan. Sweep the internet, revenge sites, the dark web - look everywhere and then look again. If you see any sign of my apartment or the woman I've had with me recently, scrub it and tell me immediately." Tristan's hand was sweaty. Jessica understood. Someone recorded them yesterday. She felt the blood rush to her head and heard her heart in her ears. What had she gotten into? Before Tristan could knock, the door to Ciaran's condo and office swung open.

"Office," Ciaran gritted through clenched teeth. "Jessica, please come in but stay in the living room. I need to have a discussion with my son." The men entered Ciaran's office. Jessica couldn't hear a thing but her heart beating. If that video got out, she'd be done for. Jessica lost track of time. The meeting between father and son could have lasted five minutes or an hour; there was no telling. When the door opened, and Tristan walked out alone, Jess could tell things had become physical. Fortunately, Ciaran was smart enough not to mar his son's pretty face.

Tristan didn't speak as he took Jess back to her condo. When they entered the apartment, Tristan did a quick walkthrough to ensure no one was inside. While speaking with his father, Ciaran had Jess's unit swept first. No one had found anything. He had them comb it a second time. Still, nothing came up. After he was confident they were alone and no one was listening, Tristan explained what had happened. Sophia was most likely working under the Ryan's instructions to get close to the O'Sullivans via Tristan. The first objective was to undermine Ciaran's accountability by making it appear that Tristan had ruined another couple's engagement by stealing the would-be bride. The second objective was to get eyes and ears inside the building. At the mention of a camera, Jessica looked physically ill.

Tristan sat next to Jessica on the sofa, turning towards her with his head bowed, "Jessica, I'm terribly sorry. I promise you that if a video gets out, we already have plans and backup plans. I will do everything in my power to protect you." Jess wasn't sure how to feel or what to say. Their encounter was consensual, and she wasn't ashamed of her actions. However, this put her in a vulnerable position. If that video were public, what would happen? Would the university expel her? Would her parents be angry? Would men think they could touch her just because of what they had seen her do? The cycle of questions was unending.

Gathering her strength, Jess inhaled a large breath, held it, and slowly exhaled. She did it again and again. When she could finally collect herself and speak, Jess told Tristan, "What happened between us was consensual. I have no problem with people knowing what we did. However, seeing it leaves me vulnerable in public. If it gets out, I won't be comfortable alone outside for a long time. I'm not asking you to take responsibility for that. You are also a victim of this. I'd like your promise that you will make sure I have my own bodyguard if that time comes."

Tristan was shocked by Jess's analytical response but readily agreed; that was already a part of the plan. In fact, he didn't tell Jessica this, but he and Ciaran decided she'd have her own bodyguard and a team watching in the shadows. The cost of which came out of Tristan's own paycheck. That had been his punishment for letting his guard down. Ciaran was docking his pay indefinitely; the funds were put aside for Jessica specifically. That had taken up most of the time with his father. After Ciaran popped Tristan upside the head for being an i***t, he had Tristan sit down and open an account for Jessica. Then Tristan had to fill out payment allocation forms for direct deposit. A whopping thirty percent before taxes was going into that account for her. It put a significant dent into Tristan's wallet, but that's what Ciaran had hoped for. Tristan wouldn't have the money to make such an ass out of himself now.

Thanks to the security sweep, it took hours for Declan to return. He'd only intended to spend an hour or two with his Judo instructor, burning off steam. Then the security alert went out. Declan could have told Tristan something like this was bound to happen when he got tangled up with Sophia. However, once he returned to the condo and Tristan pulled Declan onto the balcony to tell him the part about a camera in his condo, Declan could have destroyed his friend and boss. The night's breeze did nothing to calm him. Jessica was such a good person. She worked so hard. Getting mixed up with Tristan might be the worst thing that ever happened to her. This wasn't fair to her. She'd been with the O'Sullivans for a week and might already have a s*x tape floating around. Despite his loyalty to the O'Sullivans, Declan swore to himself that he'd put Jess first if anything happened.