Page 84 of Ruined
CHAPTER 23
Haley
After digging through thousands of texts and emails, I eventually found a message with Aldrich’s address. Years ago, he had given it to me, when he still thought there was a chance that I would marry him. He lived in the middle of Sage City, in a mansion with huge concrete walls on every side. The front gate had been left open; it looked like there used to be a guard station at the front, but no one was in there now.
In front of his door, I ran my fingers over the gun hidden in my purse. I had never held one before, but I had watched a few how-to videos online before I drove to his house. The adrenaline was coursing through my veins with whiplash. I was glad I had watched the videos ahead of time; it would have been impossible to try to watch those videos now. I wasn’t ready to kill, but if it meant protecting Nora, I would do what needed to be done. I hoped, pleaded,beggedthe universe that it wouldn’t come to violence. I kept telling myself the same line: Aldrich could be reasonable.
At least, that was the possibility I was holding onto.
I took a deep breath. Then I knocked on the door.
Nothing.
I counted to ten, tapping my hands on my sides. Where the hell was he? There weren’t any other cars in the driveway, but there was a huge garage to the side of the house. Tons of people could have been inside and I wouldn’t have known otherwise.
I banged on the door this time, and finally, it swung open. Aldrich sneered down at me, his gray-white hair feathered on the sides as if he had slept on it. A loose silk robe wrapped around his body, similar to the ones I wore, though his was masculine, with gold with white bands weaved in an intricate design.
“Come to beg for forgiveness?” he asked.
“Something like that.” I nodded inside. “May I come in?”
He stepped aside, holding his arm straight to lead the way. There were two floors, but the main walkway led to a vast open room. A few pictures hung on the walls, including ones of him with his two wives on their respective wedding days. There was even a picture of Aldrich’s arm around Lucas as they shook hands. Lucas looked young in that picture, in his early twenties, though his eyes still gleamed in that same piercing way. They must have been close at one point. How badly had it hurt when Isabella left Lucas for Aldrich?
Aldrich went to a small bar on the far side of the room and fixed our drinks. I sat down on a long, curved couch. There were a few obscurely shaped vases throughout the room and a huge modern painting against the back wall. I recognized it; a painting of the coast from Cresting Heights, looking out into the vast sea. The colors blended into each other, making it feel like you might stare off into the ocean and never find yourself again. It was one of Mel’s.
I looked up at the painting. Mel had a way of always looking outward when it came to her work. I had noticed that a long time ago.
Aldrich handed me a glass filled with amber liquid. Whiskey, I think. I said my thanks and put it down on the side table next to me.
“A toast,” Aldrich said, he lifted his glass, “to our pride and dignity being taken away by the same cursed man. May his soul meet a fiery end.”
I scrunched my nose. At the Dahlia District, we went along with the weird, awful things club members said. But here? I wasn’t required to play along with anything.
But if I was more agreeable, he might be more willing to work with me on a compromise. I clinked glasses. I set the drink back down on the table. I wasn’t going to eat or drink anything while I was there.
“Take a drink,” he said.
I shook my head. “I’ve got to drive later.” I smiled. “This won’t take long.”
“I won’t let you drive drunk.” His voice purred as he said that, a jaguar pinning its prey between lethal claws. “Don’t you trust me, Hales?”
The hair all over my body stood on end. He wouldn’t let me drive drunk, because he’d kill me first.
A gleam caught my eye. I glanced at it; a knife was on the table closest to him, shining in the light. It might have been for knife play
Or perhaps something more sinister.
I had to work quickly.
“You know my sister,” I said. He studied his drink. It looked like there was backwash swirling in it. “My sister had nothing to do with us. I’d rather not bring her into this.”
He stayed focused on the glass. “No matter how hard you try to save her, Nora will end up at the Dahlia District,” he said, “Just like you.”
“I’ve worked too hard for that to happen.” Aldrich said nothing, so I continued. “She’s only fifteen, Reeves.” I crossed my fingers that using his first name would show how important this was to me, maybe knock some sense into him. “She doesn’t deserve to be trafficked.”
“Is that what you think the Dahlia District is?” He wiped his nose on the back of his hand. “What do you think I’ll do to her?”
“I don’t know,” I stammered.
