CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Jamie gently shook Phoebe awake when they reached his mansion, she stirred and the first thing she did was raise her left hand in front of her face. Jamie felt pride swell inside him, he had enlisted Hailey to help him in his search for the perfect ring for the perfect woman.

"We've reached?"

"Yeah."

He watched as she got out of the car, stretched, and went into the house before he followed suit. He resisted the temptation to go straight to Phoebe and just kiss and hold her and instead, went down to the holding cells beneath the house. Where Michael and his father were sitting, alongside Phoebe's parents. He knew he would have to release her parents; they might not be in her favor now but they were still her blood and she would be pissed if she found out that how her parents were treated like prisoners.

Jamie stood just outside of Michael's cell before he moved down to Whitman's cells. He had put them three cells apart from each other. Michael and his father in one and three cells down, Johnny and his wife in another.

"I don't really like it when someone tries to steal something from me."

"Fuck you!"

"Oh, no, Michael. I don't swing that way."

He could see the anger written on all their faces, just waiting to explode. All except Phoebe's mother. She looked quite calm, a little too calm considering the situation they were in. Jamie decided that it was an assignment for another day.

"And then you thought, let's gather and bring him down…but you forget one thing. I am the king of this jungle! You can't steal from me!"

Michael's father laughed, drawing Jamie's attention to the old snake.

"So, you think you've won. Oh, you just wait till Lorenzo…"

"Ah, Lorenzo, an old friend of mine. It is so unfortunate to hear that he and his miserable daughter committed suicide last night." Jamie enjoyed seeing the color drain from their faces, Lorenzo had been their backup plan in the whole grand scheme and he was enjoying the look on their faces too much.

"Now, where were we?"

Jamie motioned to one of the guards to bring him a seat, he sat down and crossed his legs, taking a huge sip from the bottle of Bourbon he had come down with, and settled the bottle on the floor beside him.

"Let me start with you, Johnny." Johnny spat on the ground and huffed. "You decided that selling your daughter to this old weasel was what was best. You didn't even think to research his past relationships."

"Michael was…is…the perfect man for my daughter, not a piece of trash like you."

"Is he? I don't think so. See, unlike you, I actually care about Phoebe and so one of my first moves was to dig into Michael's past, and you wouldn't believe what I found." Jamie took another sip of his bourbon before addressing Jamie but keeping his eyes on Phoebe's father.

"Michael, does the name Christabel ring a bell?" As Jamie expected, Michael was silent. "Well, Christabel was one of your girlfriends a few years ago, one who you raped repeatedly and killed. Does that bring back some fond memories?"

"You piece of shit…"

"Hold on to your horses, boy. I haven't gotten to the interesting part yet." Jamie raised his bottle up to his lips and took another sip, slowly this time. Knowing he had everyone's attention. What shocked him though was that Phoebe's dad didn't seem shocked or even bothered by the news. Jamie was an expert at reading people and he could tell that if Phoebe's father had this information before the wedding, it would still have held regardless.

And then his gaze shifted to Phoebe's mom, her eyes were wide with fear and anger, the only real emotion she had shown since he stepped in here. Besides that, all he saw was emptiness. He could only imagine why. Married to a man like her husband can definitely suck a soul out of a person.

"Well, get on with it!"

"You will watch your tone when talking to me, chap. You are quick to forget that I hold all the cards here." Jamie held his gaze and took another sip from his bottle, just to aggravate him more. He dropped it and heaved; he was becoming exhausted.

"The interesting part is, when I was snooping about, I found that before Christabel died, she sued you for rape. She had proof. So, you killed her but you couldn't find the proof. They couldn't nail you for rape and couldn't nail you for murder. You were free…or so you thought…"

Jamie raised his bottle to his lips and took another swig of his drink, he had everyone's attention. He was relishing being in control and making the little brat squirm.

"Well. I am apparently, smarter than the police and I just so happened to find what they missed. I found the evidence and I have handed it over to the police. That and also proof of all your illegal dealings, that's a federal case. So, I'm guessing that you'll never be seeing the light of day again."

Jamie watched as Michael tried to wipe the sweat that had broken out on his forehead. He was flustered and scared. Jamie enjoyed the look on their faces, they were all going down. Above all, he enjoyed seeing the smug face of Phoebe's mother. He could tell they were going to be very good friends.

"And also, as a patriotic citizen of this great nation, I offered to get you for them and hand you over. They should be here any moment now."

On cue, they could hear the sound of sirens and his gates opening. Jamie summoned two of the guards and had them release Phoebe's mother. One escorted her out of the room while the other held back her husband. She left without even looking back. Only the Lord knew what she had endured in the hands of her husband.

Jamie stood from his seat and picked up his trusty bottle of alcohol, turned to one of the guards, and left an order to round up more guards and have the prisoners outside to be taken away by the FBI. He went out to greet his visitors and was more than happy when they all left his property. Good riddance.

Jamie sighed and went back into the mansion, straight up to his room, unbuttoning his shirt along the way. He found Phoebe sleeping on the bed in one of his shirts, her wedding dress discarded in a corner of the room. He quickly took a shower and joined her on the bed, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her into him, and drifted off to sleep.

***

Jamie woke up to someone placing kisses on his face, he smiled knowing who it was. He opened his eyes and was met with the most beautiful face he has ever seen.

"Hello."

"Hi."

"I'm guessing you slept very well, seeing as you seem to be energetic."

"I did. And you know what else?" Jamie shook his head. "I'm hungry too. Very hungry."

Jamie grunted and they both got off the bed, his eyes straying to the clock on the nightstand. It was almost time for dinner. They had slept that long. Jamie took Phoebe's hand in his and they went straight to the kitchen but they were not expecting what they saw. Phoebe's mother cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Their stomachs grumbled when they inhaled the tantalizing aroma in the kitchen, Phoebe even forgot that she was mad at her.

"Oh, hey you guys. I was just cooking something for you, I didn't know that you were already awake. I'm almost done."

"It's okay, mom." Phoebe hugged her mother and went to take an ice cream tub from the kitchen alongside two spoons, they both took seats at the dining next to each other as they devoured the ice cream.

Phoebe's mother was done in no time and set down two steaming plates of food in front of them. They quickly abandoned the ice cream and began to fill their stomachs with the sumptuous delicacy. Phoebe's mother joined them at the table with her plate in hand and they ate in companionable silence. They finished and dissolved into small talks when Phoebe dropped a bombshell on them.

"So, what is going to happen to my dad and Michael and his dad?"

"Well, the feds took them all away this afternoon. I was going to tell you but you were quite invested in your sleep."

"It's okay. I guess it's better than you killing them." They all laughed at the joke and continued chatting but then Jamie's phone rang, he looked at the caller ID and went to his office to take the call.

"Kieran?"

"Boss, I have news but it's not so good." Jamie's back tensed and he took a seat on the plush couch.

"What is it?"

"It's Phoebe's father."

"What about him?"

"The feds released him." Jamie sprang from his feet and began to pace.

"What?!"

"Yes boss, apparently nothing is incriminating on him. They can't nag him based on his been friends with them."

"So, where is he now?"

"I don't know where he is headed, though but information reaching me right now is that he just took the next flight out of the states. Don't know where he is headed."

"Fuck…keep your eyes and your ears open, but stay invincible. Okay?"

"Would do. And Jamie?"

"Yes, Kieran."

"You proposed to her, didn't you?"

"Yes. And she said yes. And she loved the ring you and Hailey chose for her. I know that's exactly what you want to hear."

"Got all the information I was looking for."

And with that, the line went dead. Jamie sat on the couch for a few more minutes, thinking of his next line of action, he knew for a fact that Johnny wasn't one to accept defeat just like that. And that was what made him uneasy, he was going to come back. That was for sure. Not knowing when or what he planned to do didn't sit well with him. Jamie picked up his phone again and called Kieran.

"Boss?"

"Kieran, this is what you will do. Find out by any means necessary where he flew to and once you have it, find out what and who is there and have some of our men tail him. I want to know what he will have for breakfast before he does. Okay?"

"Sure thing. Anything else?"

"Yes, Kieran. Take care of yourself. I don't want Hailey chopping off my balls. I still need them."

"Sure thing, Jamie."

Jamie threw his phone down on the floor, took off his shoes and socks, and lay down on the couch, closing his eyes. He didn't hear the door open and close but when Phoebe came close enough, the scent of her perfume made him smile. She straddled him on the couch and lay her head on his chest.

"You okay, Jamie?"

"Now that you're here. Yes."

"Something is bothering you. What is it?"

"It's not something you need to worry your pretty little head about."

"Okay." Phoebe began to grind on him and move her hips on his groin eliciting a groan from him.

"If you keep doing that, you won't be able to walk by tomorrow"

"I was counting on it." All of a sudden, Phoebe stilled her movements on him making Jamie sit up with her still on him and so that they were face to face with each other.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. It's just everything that has happened, when I think about it…it doesn't…I don't know…"

"Shh, it's okay. No matter what, I'm not going anywhere, you'll get sick of me."

"I hope so."

He pulled her down with him as he lay down on the couch, she buried her nose in his neck as he ran his hands up and down her back.

"Jamie?"

"Yes."

"What about my father?" Jamie stopped rubbing her back and looked down at her, his neck was going to feel it, that's for sure but he needed to see her face when she spoke about this topic. One he would rather keep away from her for as long as it can be put off. He pulled her chin up and she rested her forearms on his chest so she was looking down at him.

"I don't know…what is going to happen to him?"

"The cops will take care of him."

"Will they kill him?"

"That is up to the courts to decide, Phoebe. Why, do you want him dead?"

"No!" Phoebe sprang up from his chest faster than the speed of light and Jamie had to hold her to him by her waist so she didn't fall. She placed her palms flat on his chest and looked down at him.

"I don't want him to die…the opposite."

"You know that when he comes back here, he will try to get revenge on me, right?"

"No, he won't. He loves me, and he'd understand that you are my choice. He'll let us be."

Jamie had half a mind to tell her just who her father was and that everything she said was the exact opposite of what will happen but he held his tongue and pulled her back down to him. That, and he didn't know how to explain to her that he lied, her father was out of the country in only the gods know where and Jamie was sure that he was coming back. But that was a problem for another day. Until then, they would enjoy whatever time they have to spend together.