Won't be updating tomorrow cause I've got plans. But enjoy!
Crystal's POV
I watched her carefully. I didn't know what she really wanted. Why she was actually talking to me, but I suspected there was a bigger reason. She was, after all, the wife of a killer and completely unbothered by that.
And yet, the way she smiled, the soft way she spoke, was completely at odds with how I was feeling toward her. Something inside of me was screaming to walk away . . . no, to run away. There was no reason I should feel that way. After all, she had done nothing to me. But something about her just wasn't right. Then again, to be married to Kurt Branson, I suppose she would have to have a screw or two loose. But it was more than that.
Maybe it was because outwardly, everything she did, every move she made, was friendly, soft, like to put whoever she was with at ease. Like she knew what she was doing. And maybe I recognized it because that was how Jackson had first gotten to me.
I had every reason not to trust her. Every reason to be wary of her and yet everything she was doing to put try and put me at ease, was working. And as I studied her, I wasn't even sure she was aware she was doing it. It was just something that she seemed to do unconsciously. I also noticed that she was far younger than I had previously thought.
"He's really robbing the cradle with you," I muttered as I looked over at Branson who had his back to us, now on the phone.
She continued to smile. "I'm as married to Kurt, as you are to your . . . husband."
I looked at her out of the corner of my eyes. "I didn't catch your name."
"I didn't give it," She said as she turned to fully face me, and even with the mask over most of her face, I could see just how strikingly beautiful she was.
I copied her movements and turned to face her fully. "Then what have you got to do with Branson?"
She waved a hand dismissively. "We're business associates. Of sorts."
I stared at her for a beat. "I know what sort of business he's into, but what about you?"
She shrugged. "I have certain . . . talents."
"Care to elaborate?"
She locked eyes with me. "Now why would you want me to do that?"
I stared her down. "I'm just trying to understand why someone like you would voluntarily hang around him."
"Someone like me?" She laughed. "Crystal Carver, you have no idea who I am."
"And that puts me at a disadvantage since you clearly know who I am. I wonder, have you informed your husband of that fact?"
"I haven't said a thing to Kurt about that," She said as she took the drink the bartender placed in front of her. She shrugged. "You're trying to trick me into saying something I shouldn't." She once again locked eyes with me and she took a sip of the champagne. "It won't work."
I crossed my arms over my chest. "Who says you haven't given me anything?"
"You do," She said as she set down her glass. "Your mannerisms, facial expressions . . . the fact that you're still here talking to me instead of watching Kurt." She looked over to Branson as she spoke.
I glanced at him briefly before turning back to her. "What are you doing with Branson?" I asked her.
She didn't even look at me this time. "He's getting something for me."
"In exchange for what, exactly?"
"My services."
I continued to watch her. Every move she made was elegant, smooth, like something out of a storybook. There was a sort of innocence about her that she seemed to radiate, but still, something about her was ever so slightly off. And normally, I didn't think I'd ever actually notice it, except that it was similar to what Jackson did to put people at ease, and I knew how to recognize it.
"Now that doesn't seem like a fair trade," I said, hoping to get more out of her. Hoping that she'd start talking a little more and let something slip, but I knew it was unlikely. Every answer, every word she said was purposefully vague. Like how she was answering my questions without actually answering them.
She shrugged and looked briefly out at the dancefloor. "What can I say?" She said as she turned back to me. "You play the hand you're dealt."
She finished the rest of her drink and set the glass down next to me. "I will say this, Crystal Carver," She said as she pushed off from the bar and looked over her shoulder. "You've begun to piss me off with your insistent meddling. So I will warn you to stop. To leave Kurt alone, for now at least. After he gets me what I want I really don't care what you do with him."
"And if I don't?" I asked her before she walked away.
She smiled sweetly at me, but the expression in her eyes was deadly and downright frightening. It would have made me take a step back from her if I'd had anywhere to go. "Then you'll soon learn that between the two of us, Kurt Branson is not the one you should be afraid of."
She turned to leave only to stop and turn back to me once more. "A word to wise as well, a black dress blends into a sea of suits and tuxes much better than any other color. You really want to go unnoticed next time, wear black." She smiled sweetly once more. "And another thing, I'd take your . . . husband, up to his room. The drugs I slipped in his drink should be kicking in right about now."
I tensed up and she waved her hand dismissively.
"Don't worry, it won't kill him. But if you had any plans for the evening, I think you'll find they'll have to be rescheduled." She gave me a finger wave over her shoulder as she walked away. "Goodnight, Crystal Carver."
I waited until she was out of sight before I let out the breath I hadn't even realized I was holding and put my head in my hands.
A hand was placed on my back. "Are you alright?" Julie's voice floated to my ears.
I nodded and removed my hands only to rub at my forehead with my fingertips. "Where is Jackson?"
"I don't know," Julie replied. "Little Miss Rat pulled him off the dancefloor as Branson took you dancing." I could feel her gaze on me. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine," I muttered.
"Your hands are shaking."
I looked down at my hands only to realize that she was right. I crossed my arms over my chest. "I need to find Jackson."
"Take a breather first. He's not going anywhere . . . regretfully."
"She drugged him, Julie," I told her.
She let out a sigh. "Is that so bad?" I gave her a look. "Fine, fine," She said. "Come on, I'll help you find Mr. Full-of-Himself."
He wasn't in the room, at all. He wasn't in the hallway, and Julie even checked the nearest restrooms, regardless of all the men shouting at her to leave as she just kicked open the door and strutted in.
She shook her head and let out a sigh. "I asked the woman at the front desk, she hasn't seen him. Of course, he's changed his appearance since the last time she saw him, he could have walked right by her and she wouldn't even have noticed."
"Did you ask her if she'd seen Branson's 'wife' walk past?"
Julie nodded. "Yep, she said she hadn't come by with someone or otherwise. The only place we haven't checked besides the room, or the parking lot is the beach. We could try there before going up to the room."
"He's not in the room," I said. "I called Noah, he says that Jackson hasn't come back to the room yet."
"Noah's still here? I would have thought he would have gone back to the yacht for the night by now."
I shrugged. "He had said he was going to stay late tonight, in case we ended up needing him for something."
Julie nodded. "Well, then besides the parking lot, we've just got the beach."
I followed her out onto the beach, both of us stopping briefly to remove our heels to walk barefoot through the sand.
There were a couple of bonfires lit here and there with tiki torches spaced out every so often for light. Otherwise, the only light was the light shining out of the event room, or the light of the moon. There were quite a few couples sitting on lounge chairs, or just in the sand, talking and looking up at the stars.
Julie looked up at the stairs as we were walking around looking for Jackson. "It really is very beautiful here," She said.
I nodded as I looked up into the night sky along with her. "It is," I agreed. I looked away from the sky to look back out at the guests on the beach, and there, by himself, seated on a lounge chair a fair distance away from everyone else, was Jackson.
I pointed. "There he is," I muttered.
Julie laughed. "You sound so happy about that," She said sarcastically and I laughed along with her.
We walked up until we were both standing in front of Jackson, who was staring down at the sand until we walked up, and then his eyes moved up our bodies to our faces.
"I think," He started. "Branson's little minx may have slipped something my drink," He said, and then proceeded to nearly face plant off the chair into the sand.
Both me and Julie caught him and pushed him back into a seated position.
"Yeah," I said. "she did."
He just nodded before looking back up at me. "I figured," He said. "When I started seeing like three of you actually looking concerned for me." He still managed to pull off his reckless smile. "I knew I wasn't that lucky."
He reached out with one of his hands and grabbed hold of my arm. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" He asked as he began inspecting my arm as if he was going to see something there.
I pulled my arm from his hand. "No," I said. "the only bruises I'm going to have are the ones you've given me."
He glared at me, though his eyes almost closed at one point. "Not fair," He said. "that was an accident." He suddenly frowned, a faraway look in his eyes. "And I'm pretty sure you have given me more bruises . . . not accidentally."
I just shook my head. "Why didn't you call one of us?"
He pointed out to the ocean. "She made the phone fly."
Julie snickered. "I don't know what she gave him, but this is getting more and more entertaining."
I knelt down in front of him. "And you didn't think to come find one of us before the drugs really kicked in?"
He moved and held up one of his arms, or at least, he tried to. His arm was cuffed to the arm of the chair.
Julie burst out laughing. "Oh, I think I might like the rat a little after all."
Jackson still managed to glare at her.
I pulled one of the bobby pins from my hair and bent it out of shape before inserting it into the lock. I fiddled with it for a moment before finally, the cuff on his wrist fell away.
He just stared down at his wrist for a long moment. "I'm not going to ask," He finally said.
I rolled my eyes. "Like you don't know how to do the exact same thing."
He frowned down at the cuff in concentration. "Do I?" He questioned. Though he seemed to be asking himself, and he seemed to genuinely not remember the answer.
"Okay," I said as I grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him forcefully to his feet, he swayed and nearly fell over, but I managed to keep him upright. "Let's just get you back to the room and into bed." I motioned for Julie to grab his other arm and we both slung one of his arms over our shoulders and began and half guide, half drag him toward the elevators.
"The bed," He said.
I frowned and turned my head to look at him. "What?"
"You're not leaving me on the couch," He said, though his eyes were half-closed as he said it and he was beginning to stumble more.
I smiled overly sweet at him. Not that he noticed. "Of course not, I would never."
It took far longer than I would have liked to get him back to the room, and that was after Damien came over to help us as well. Julie shoved open the door while Damien and I practically carried Jackson into the room, before promptly discarding him on the couch.
Noah shot up from the chair he'd been sitting once we entered. "What happened?" He asked us, concern on his face.
"He's drugged," I said as I looked down at Jackson lying on the couch. "He should be fine in the morning."
"How do you know that?"
I shrugged. "That's just what I was told . . . vaguely."
Julie clapped her hands together. "Well, this was fun." She waved a hand. "Goodnight."
"You're seriously not going to leave me with him like this, right?"
Julie shrugged as she looked down at Jackson. "The worst that happens right now, is that he chokes on his own drool. Which-if we're being honest-at this point is probably a good thing. Besides you're more than welcome to join me for a sleepover in my room." She walked out of my room with a wave.
I turned to Damien who put his hands up in surrender. "Yeah, you're on your own with this one," He said. He waved to me as he walked out same as Julie.
I blew out a sigh and looked at Noah. "You can go back to the yacht for the night," I told him. "There's nothing you can do here."
Noah continued to stare at Jackson in concern. "I think I'll stay if that's alright," He said. "I can sleep in one of the chairs."
I shrugged, too tired from the events of the day and too freaked out from the events of the evening to care. "Suit yourself," I said before pointing over my shoulder to the bathroom. "You can shower and freshen up if you want."
He glanced toward the bathroom briefly and made a move like he was going to go before instead sitting down and shaking his head, his eyes going back to Jackson. "I'm good," He said, but I noticed how his eyes kept darting between Jackson and the bathroom.
Clearly, he wanted to go freshen up and change into something more comfortable, but his loyalty and concern for Jackson were keeping him from leaving his side while he was incapacitated.
I groaned and threw my head back. "Kid, go freshen up, I'll watch him," I muttered.
He looked up at me in surprise. "Really?"
I nodded with a grimace. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."
He smiled at me. "Thanks," He said before grabbing the backpack next to him and walking off.
I looked down at Jackson who was completely out. Eyes shut, mouth open, an arm and leg each hanging over the side of the couch. I shook my head. "Somehow you brainwashed the kid," I said to him even though he couldn't hear me. "Cause he seems to actually like you."
"What's not to like?" Jackson mumbled, eyes still closed.
"And here I thought you were asleep," I said as I sat on the coffee table across from him.
"Not yet," He said as he opened his eyes and looked at me. His eyes were still half-closed as he was just about out of it, and he was slurring his words. He frowned. "Why are you still here?"
"Because Noah didn't want you to be left alone."
"Noooo," He said as he shook his head. "I mean why are you still here?"
I looked down at him and shrugged. "Honestly Storm, I don't know."
He nodded with a serious look on his face like he totally understood exactly what I was talking about.
He rolled over on the couch so he was completely facing me, though he closed his eyes again. "You know," He said after a long moment of silence, his voice just barely audible. "you remind me of her," He whispered.
I rested my arms on my knees and looked down at him in amusement. "Who, the chick who broke your nose?" I questioned. "Cause I still want to send her a gift basket."
He shook his head ever so slightly. "Ella."
I frowned. "Who's Ella?"
He didn't reply and just rolled over once again, this time so his back was to me, his breathing evening out as he began to fall unconscious.
"Storm," I said. "who's Ella?"
I wasn't actually expecting a reply, but he gave me one anyway.
"My biggest mistake."
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