The Masseuse Page 17

  She blinked. “Why would they harass you?”

  He stared at her long and hard, as if trying to decide whether he should tell her the next bit. Jezebel glared at him. With a sigh, Ramsey said, “Because of my grandfather.”

  What?

  “My grandfather was a gangster.”

  She remembered the pictures of the girls, and the bodies. Had that been under his grandfather? Was he even telling the truth? She was a pathetic. Look how quickly she’d jumped to believe him. She wanted so very badly to believe him.

  There was a knock on her door, and Jezebel tried to look over Ramsey’s shoulder.

  “Ms. Carter, is everything okay in there?”

  “Is it?” she asked him carefully. Ramsey nodded once. “Good. Release me.” Ramsey stepped away, placing a hand in pocket as he waited for her to make the next move. Stepping past, she walked to the door and opened it.

  Two burly officers stood next to Marlo, and they were all looking her over for injuries. “Is everything okay, Ms. Carter?”

  “Yes. Mr. Stone was just leaving.”

  It didn’t matter what he told her. Ramsey Stone wasn’t who she’d initially thought. She’d thought he was a masseuse, and had found out that he was the owner of a spa. She’d fallen in love with that man, the confident, fun-loving, masseuse-owner of The Osiris. If she’d known he was affiliated with some international Mafioso, she would have kept her distance.

  As Ramsey walked past her, he gave her a tired, but understanding look. He walked ahead of the two security guards and swallowed loudly.

  “Ms. Carter…is everything okay?” Marlo asked softly.

  Forcing a smile for her secretary, Jezebel nodded. “Yes, everything’s fine.”

  “So, if Mr. Stone comes back, should I call security?” Marlo looked confused, which she had every right to be. Before, she hadn’t even had to announce him and now, she was asking about whether security was needed.

  Jezebel thought about it. She doubted Ramsey Stone would be coming back to her office after this. “I don’t think it’ll come to that, Marlo. Thank you.”

  Stepping back into her office, she closed the door and leaned against it. Yes, she’d fallen in love with the owner of The Osiris, but the tall, dark-haired man, gangster or not, who’d just walked into her office looked, sounded like, and made her feel, an awful lot like him. Her heart began to thud. She missed him, but someone was lying. Ramsey implied that the FBI was lying, but she’d seen the tattoo on his upper-arm, remembered his talk of his ‘specific’ family, and those things scared her. Maybe he wasn’t a gangster, but Ramsey Stone had some type of affiliation to the Double Dragon, and any association to a gang was dangerous.

  No matter how much she loved him, she wouldn’t endanger herself or her family that way. She couldn’t.

  Chapter 14

  “Uncle Ramsey?”

  Ramsey allowed his niece’s soft voice to pull him from his dark thoughts. It had been a week and some days since his arrest, and he still didn’t know who the mole was. Vince was on it, and he’d brought on a few of his “buddies” to help, but the FBI had hackers as well, and they were putting up blocks and firewalls that were slowing them down. They’d obviously gotten smarter, but Vince was good. In the next days, Ramsey expected a name.

  “Yes, Li?” He looked up from his laptop to find the girl perched between his office doorframe, staring curiously at him. Whenever she was visiting, he kept the door ajar to give her the sense that she wasn’t intruding.

  “Did something happen between you and Aunt Jezebel?”

  “Huh?”

  Lily gave him a little smile as she made her way into his office and took a seat in the first chair facing his desk. She looked like a little girl in her sunflower dress and bare feet, but she’d also drawn a black line above her eyelid and was wearing bright pink gloss—stuff he’d given her. Sometimes, he regretted buying the kit, but she clearly loved it since she wore the make-up everywhere, even at home, with no one to impress but him. As he stared at the make-up, his thoughts ran back to Jezebel. He was giving her time before he went to her again. He hadn’t spoken to her since that day in her office but he knew she was safe. Will and Sam told him as much.

  “Aunt Jezebel?” Lily repeated clearly. “I haven’t seen her for two weeks.”

  His niece pinned him with an intense stare. Considering he usually had Lily once a week during the summer, she’d seen a good deal of Jezebel and had quickly taken to her.

  “She’s been busy lately,” he replied with an easy smile. She raised a dark brow and Ramsey had to wonder at the days when he’d just tell Lily anything and she’d believe him. Those days were clearly going, if not gone.

  “Busy with what?” Lily looked unconvinced.

  “Li.”

  Sadness entered her eyes. “Did you guys break up?”

  He’d never told Lily they were dating but she was eleven after all and smart. She’d figured it out on her own, just like she’d figured out she had to call Jezebel “Aunt” and not by her first name. While he sometimes allowed her to call Bastian by his first name, it was because Ramsey understood why the child had little respect for her father.

  “Li, it’s complicated.”

  “So un-complicate it,” she suggested, looking a bit uneasy. Whenever Lily felt like she was pushing too much, she questioned herself. It was a habit he wanted her to grow out of because it signaled she’d grow to break or bend under pressure.

  He smiled at her. “I’m trying to do that.”

  “Okay.” She stared at him for long moments and Ramsey realized she had a piece of paper in her hand.

  “What’s that?”

  She looked down at her hand before looking guiltily up at him.

  “Li…”

  Standing, she walked around his desk until she was close enough that he could smell the minty shampoo she’d used on her hair. “Can I have a puppy, Uncle Ramsey?”

  Ramsey almost choked. “A puppy?”

  “This puppy.” She shoved the paper in his face. It was a small printout of the fluffiest puppy he’d ever seen. He wondered if it was even real. “He’s on sale.”

  “Did you talk to your mom about this?” Sarah had never been a pet person and while Bastian was, his brother just didn’t seem to care about his family life. While Bastian was no longer a drunk, at least not around him or Lily, his brother still partied and whored like it was a sport. He doubted Bastian would want anything to do with a puppy.

  Lily sighed before shaking her head. “She’ll say no.”

  “Why?”

  “Because…just because.” Lily’s eyes suddenly brightened and her face flushed in excitement. “Can you ask her for me? She listens to you. Maybe you can ask her at the circus on Saturday?”

  Ramsey almost groaned. Right. The circus. He’d planned to take Lily and Sarah to see Cirque du Soleil while it was in New York.

  “You didn’t forget, did you, Uncle Ramsey?” Lily asked in a low, almost understanding voice.

  He shook his head and smiled. “Never, Li.”

  Lily brightened. “Great! So, after the circus, can you ask her? Please? She’ll listen to you, I know she will.”

  As Ramsey stared at her happy face, he could only nod. As if he could deny Lily anything. When she flounced out of his office minutes later, he snorted and shook his head. He hoped Sarah and Bastian were ready for a fluffy puppy.

  ***

  When it rains, it pours.

  That was the saying running through Jezebel’s head as she listened to the torrential downpour outside and stared at the thin white stick with the two red lines indicating that she was right. She didn’t have a stomach virus that only afflicted her in the mornings; she had something worse, something way more permanent and…expensive.

  Not only had she found out that her man was possibly a gangster, and not just any gangster, the head of the largest, oldest South Korean gang, but now, she was probably—likely—pregnant for said gangster.

&nb
sp; She tossed the stick into the trash, ripped open another box, ClearBlu, and stuck the applicator tip into a cup with her pee. She didn’t even care how unsanitary it was. The cup would be tossed, of course, but at the moment, she needed to be certain and she wasn’t going to chug water just to pee on numerous sticks.

  Leaning against the sink, Jezebel closed her eyes and waited for the minutes to pass. She breathed deep, in and out, until she no longer felt as faint. There were a million and one reasons why she shouldn’t have this baby, most having to do with its father being a dangerous gangster, but some part of her rejected that. What did the baby do wrong? If she hadn’t been so eager to jump all over Ramsey, or so eager to let him jump all over her, the baby wouldn’t be here.

  Birth control, Jezebel thought with a snort. So much for that. She’d taken it religiously, every day with her breakfast and it wasn’t as if she’d had any antibiotics.

  Jezebel lifted her head and stared at herself in the mirror. Shaking her head, she groaned. Yes, yes, she had had antibiotics. She’d come down with a nasty head cold when Ramsey had been in Seoul, and she’d received a prescription of antibiotics to clear it up. She’d also been warned about it affecting her birth control, but she hadn’t taken it seriously because Ramsey wasn’t even in the country. And then he’d surprised her, not a day after her final dosage…and well… Her body heated at the memory of his homecoming and she sighed.

  Lifting the pregnancy test, she nodded in acceptance at the two blue lines. She was pregnant. Inside of her, eating what she ate, making her sick, and growing daily, was a fetal version of her and Ramsey.

  Tossing the stick into the bin with other discarded sticks, she dumped the pee into the toilet, flushed it, and threw the cup into the trash-bag as well. Grabbing the bag, she tied it tight, and made her way from the bathroom.

  “Hey, is everything okay?” Delilah was standing just outside the bathroom in her bathrobe.

  Jezebel nodded and gave her sister a smile. “Just fine.”

  “Sure?”

  “Positive.”

  Jezebel made her way down the stairs and out into the backyard, where the garbage was. Rain soaked through her hair and clothes, but she moved quickly, needing to do this. She didn’t need any questions right now. She just wanted to think about everything without anyone giving her their unasked for input.

  As she stuffed the bag into the trash and made her way back into the house, she didn’t see the dark car parked outside of her mother’s house, or the man inside with the binoculars staring curiously at her actions.

  ***

  “How are you?” Ramsey asked the petite woman who walked beside him.

  Sarah had always been beautiful, with her large dark eyes, pale, luminescent skin and delicate features, but age had added a grace to her that was unmatched by few. They’d just come from the circus, and Sarah held a few small toys he’d purchased for Lily. He had the larger toys.

  Smiling up at him, she shrugged her thin shoulders. “As well as I could be, oppa.”

  Ramsey nodded easily. Oppa was a term of respect for an older male, and despite him telling her numerous times she didn’t have to refer to him by that name, Sarah held onto it. She was traditional that way. Born and raised in Busan, South Korea, she seemed intent on keeping certain things with her despite her new setting.

  “How’s Bastian?”

  Sarah’s smile faded slightly, but she answered anyway. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in almost a week.”

  Ramsey frowned. It was times like these when he was tempted to force Bastian and Sarah to divorce. It was clear to anyone with eyes that they were both miserable in the marriage. “Sarah…”

  “Thank you for taking us to the circus, oppa.” She smiled, but the sadness in her eyes remained. “Lily has been asking to go for months.” Her eyes landed on her daughter, who was weaving through the crowd searching out more stalls to buy things. “Cirque du Soleil is one of her favorites.”

  He nodded. “You don’t have to thank me, Sarah. You’re family.”

  Sarah’s eyes caught his again, and she smiled and nodded. “I don’t have to thank you, oppa. I want to.” In her smile, Ramsey remembered a shy but beautiful seventeen-year-old who’d been promised to him. He’d never wanted an arranged marriage and had argued with his grandfather over it too many times to count, but when he’d seen her first, he’d faltered. He’d been young, just twenty-one, and being around a beautiful girl who thought he hung the moon had stroked his ego. Despite her beauty, he’d rejected the marriage, instead choosing to pursue his education abroad, and Bastian had taken his place.

  Not only was Sarah beautiful, she was the only daughter of Kwan Min Ho, leader of the Chil Sung Pa or the Seven Star Mob. Both his grandfather and Kwan had wanted the alliance and didn’t care how it came about. One grandson had been just as good as the other for Kwan, but Sarah hadn’t had a choice. It was why he insisted on giving her one now.

  “If you’re unhappy with this…arrangement, Sarah, you don’t have to stay in it.”

  She blinked rapidly, before shaking her head. “Where would I go, oppa? Back to my father in disgrace?”

  “No.” He shook his head and frowned. “As I said before, you’re family and I take care of family.”

  She stared at him for long moments, before she asked, “Would you take me in, Kang Jae?” Her eyes moved around and fixed on something. He followed her gaze to find Lily standing at a stall with stuffed animals, chattering happily with the vendor. In her white muslin dress and green and white sandals, she looked a vision. “Would you take us in?”

  Ramsey might have answered in the affirmative if he didn’t know there was more behind the question than just giving her a place to stay.

  “Sarah, I...”

  She suddenly shook her head and inhaled deep. A blush stole over her cheeks as she took a step back, “I’m sorry, oppa. I didn’t mean…what I meant was that I’m fine.” She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Lily and I are fine.”

  They caught up to Lily at the booth with stuffed animals.

  “Uncle Ramsey,” Lily began, eyeing all of the other stuffed animals in his arms before holding up another one. “Can I have this one too?”

  “Lily,” Sarah chided. “You already bought so many—”

  “But Ma…” Even as she spoke, Lily gazed at him hopefully.

  “It’s okay, Sarah,” Ramsey said.

  Sarah smiled as she surveyed his arms. “You don’t have space for anymore, oppa.”

  Ramsey chuckled and looked for the two men who’d been escorting him around since the FBI raid. He didn’t usually move around with shadows, but after learning of the leak in his family, he’d been more cautious.

  Looking back to Sarah, he smirked. He’d just found space.

  ***

  “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

  Jezebel gripped the rim of the toilet bowl and shook her head. “No.”

  “Do I have ‘idiot’ stamped across my forehead?” Delilah muttered with a scoff. “You’ve been sick every day for the past week and you’ve been guzzling down my Ben & Jerry’s ice cream like it’s going out of style.” Jezebel frowned. It wasn’t Delilah’s ice cream. She’d bought it. “You’re pregnant with Ramsey’s baby.”

  “Go away.” Morning sickness had just turned into general sickness because it was just after 7 at night and here she was, hanging over the porcelain bowl, feeling like her intestines were about to come through her mouth. It felt even uglier than it sounded.

  When her sister didn’t reply, Jezebel sighed. Delilah had actually listened to her. She flushed the toilet, before pushing her body upward. Moving to the sink, she turned on the tap, and washed her mouth out, before washing her face and the back of her neck.

  She hated Ramsey Stone! Not only was he involved in illegal dealings, he’d knocked her up and in doing so, had given her a perpetual sickness bug! She groaned as her body began to burn up. She needed to get out of this suit!

>   As she stood to her full height and undid the buttons of her shirt, she found Delilah standing just inside the bathroom door, arms crossed over her chest and staring at her.

  “I thought you left.”

  Her sister smirked and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why.”

  Jezebel shook her head, stripping down to her underwear. She heard the water for the shower turn on and Delilah walked past her. “I’ll make you some tea. Tea always made me feel better after being sick.”

  Her sister was at the door when Jezebel sighed and murmured, “Thanks.”

  ***

  After filling Grant’s arms with stuffed animals, Lily was finally satisfied with her purchases. For his acquiescence to her demands, Ramsey had received an enthusiastic hug. Now, arms swinging at her sides, she walked ahead of them in the direction of Ramsey’s truck. There were other children milling around and every so often, one would run into her and they’d talk and laugh, before moving on. A few boys approached her and Ramsey felt his heart swell with pride when she looked over her shoulder and pointed at him. His scowl drove them away fast enough.

  At his side, Sarah chuckled. “What are you going to do when she starts dating, oppa?”

  Ramsey smirked. “She’ll be twenty-one and more than capable of taking care of herself then.”

  She laughed at that, eyes sparkling as her face glowed happily.

  Lily was approaching the parking lot when Ramsey called to her, “Careful, Li!”

  The sun was setting, but there were bright lights in the parking lot to show guests to their cars. As he watched, another girl ran up to Lily and the two began chatting. Very soon, Lily was holding one of the girl’s ribbons and they were chasing each other around happily.

  “Lily told me about your friend,” Sarah began softly, stealing a quick glance up at him.

  “My friend?”

  “Jezebel.”

  He nodded.

  “I thought she’d be here today, and I’d be able to meet her.”

  “She was busy,” he said. She would meet her eventually.

  “So it’s serious, oppa?”

  “Yes.”