On Monday morning, Trace was relocated out of Rikers, and brought to the Metropolitan Correctional Center to await his trial. It’s a medium security holding facility for people that have done crimes similar to his. The media vultures caught up with him, and broadcast the transfer on the news as he was lead out of the back of one of those prison vans. He squinted as the flashes went off in his face, and tripped over the shackles connecting his ankles together, nearly falling flat on his face on national television. It should have made me smile, but I couldn’t do it. The longer I stared at the screen the more I was able to read into his emotions, because I knew him so damn well. He was barely making it. He was fatigued, depressed. But why? He knew what he did...
I can’t continue to dwell on it. This new holding facility...it’s a better place for him, and I should feel good about that and let the rest of it roll off my shoulders. I mean, he didn’t murder anybody, and he shouldn’t have to be housed with the worst kind of scum there is in the world.
One of my partners told me that the judge, the one who wouldn’t grant Trace bail, was the same one who presided over the Merrill Lynch case. Small fucking world. I couldn’t believe it, but at the same time, knew justice would be served. It was more than obvious that the guy hated Trace, and would probably do whatever he had to, to make his life even more miserable.
The bastard can rot in prison for all I care.
I have more important things to worry about.
When that photographer went after my brothers and Abbey, a surge of rage overtook me. I felt like he was taking over my territory, and I went into protective mode. I shoved that guy down, and I’ll probably get slapped with a nice fat lawsuit that Mac will smooth over for me. I don’t care though. I’d rather pay the guy off than have him continue to go after my...
Well, my family I guess I can call them now.
I told Trump about my dilemma with the press. How freaked out my brothers were, how they almost barreled both them and Abbey to the ground after Austin’s soccer game that day. He didn’t ask me anymore questions. He immediately loaned me out two burly men from his own security team to watch over them for me. I’d never been more thankful for anything, asked him what I could do to repay him. His response?
“Just be ready to work hard once this thing runs it’s course.”
He’s great. Really...he’s more like a father to me than anything else. Lately, I’ve been calling him up a lot to ask for his advice on various business trades and buy ins that normally, I would have consulted with Trace about. It’s hit me way too hard, him being gone. I quickly realized how much I relied on him, how much knowledge he’d always been able to give me. Part of me...part of me started to miss him.
Fuck, I almost wanted to go see him.
But I forced myself not to.
I came home from work late Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Abbey and I still hadn’t had the chance to cover the things we’d talked about in the Hamptons or about the things that happened that day of Austin’s soccer game. I’d been overwhelmed at work, holding a lot of meetings with my staff and important shareholders, and ended up bringing a lot of work home with me as well. Trump came by a lot too, took up half of my mornings sometimes. I barely had time to take a break, eat, before I was in the middle of a phone call or was called into one of my partners offices to look at an important stock opportunity. It was like, with Trace gone, my knowledge was needed by my staff more than ever before. Trace had handled so much operationally. I had it so easy then.
It was like, God was playing some sick joke on me, and I almost couldn’t handle it. I was starting to get exhausted.
So when the clock struck five o’clock on Thursday evening, I made it a point to haul ass out of the office. Cheryl even laughed at me, told me she’d never seen me so desperate to get out of work on time before. I smiled, but didn’t say much more than a goodnight to her.
I just wanted to get home to my Abbey.
But what I found waiting for me, definitely wasn’t what I was expecting.
When I walked through the door, the first person I saw was Sydney sitting on my couch, sobbing hysterically into her hands. I glanced around for Abbey and the boys, saw her sitting at the island with them, while Austin did his homework and Davey colored in a coloring book with Kristy. The bodyguards were standing off to the side of the kitchen, looking grim, and I quickly dismissed them before I even started to ask what was going on.
“Abbey...”
“She’s all alone,” Abbey told me quickly. “And Kristy doesn’t deserve to live like this. Sydney is a wreck, Justin. What was I supposed to do, throw her out?”
I sighed and ran a hand over my head. “I guess not.”
“Talk to her,” Abbey muttered. “Do something, because I’m out of ideas.”
I knew I had to do it, even though I detested that girl with everything inside of me. The truth was Abbey had enough issues of her own, making sure the boys stayed sane, and handling the new presence of the bodyguards the best way she could. I sucked it up for her, went back into the living room to confront Sydney. “Why’d you come here?” I asked her, as I slowly sat down next to her on the couch.
“Why aren’t...aren’t you helping him!” She yelled at me. “That judge is a prick! He won’t grant Trace bail no matter how many times his lawyer tries to get him out. You have influence! You can help!”
“I can’t help,” I muttered. “If Trace is stuck in jail it’s not my problem.”
“It is!” She yelled at me again. “He...he did everything for you! This is how you repay him?”
“He stole a lot of money,” I scoffed. “I’m just supposed to ignore that?”
She sniffled and wiped the tears harshly from her eyes. “So what am I supposed to do in the meantime? I can’t get to the funds in the bank. They’re all in Trace’s name and he won’t grant me access.”
I sat back a little bit, crossed my arms. It was strange that Trace wouldn’t provide for his girlfriend and her daughter, because he always had in the past. I started to ask myself what his reasoning would be. I knew him well. His money was a big thing to him, but I knew he loved to spoil the crap out of Sydney and Kristy. “Did he say why?”
She glared at me. “If he had, would I be here? I’m broke, Justin. I have nothing, and Kristy needs to eat. Trace called the bank last week when I went to visit, but he only had them advance me a hundred dollars. That money is gone!”
She was expecting me to hand her money, and had brought her daughter along to make me feel even more guilty about her sudden lack of funds. “How about you just leave Kristy here for a while then?” I told her softly. “We’ll look after her. You can go look for a job or something.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Are you fucking kidding me? A job? Doing what? Cashier at the Duane Reade?”
I shrugged. “I don’t care what you do, but you can’t sit on my couch day in and day out and cry. I have the boys to think about.”
“Just fix it!” She hollered, her tone growing more desperate. “Tell them he didn’t do it!”
I just laughed at her. “But he did do it.”
She stood up, sending me the most hateful look I’d ever seen on her face. “You’re a sorry son of a bitch. You’re nothing without Trace. Nothing. You’ll crash and burn, and nobody will give a shit about you ever again.”
I just sighed. “Get out, Sydney.”
“Kristy!” She hollered for her daughter as more tears spilled out of her eyes. “Let’s go!”r32;
“But I want to play with Austin,” Kristy muttered from the kitchen island.
Sydney became enraged at this, stormed into the kitchen and yanked Kristy to her feet harshly, before slapping her across the face. “I said now!”
“Hey, hey...” I ran over to them, and could tell how freaked out Davey was getting by the whole thing. “Don’t do that.”
Sydney barely looked at me, before she dragged her wailing daughter over to my door and left abruptly.
“It’s okay, Davey,” Austin told his brother as he clung to Abbey’s side. “They’re gone now.”
I let out a harsh sigh as I took a seat at the kitchen island. “Jesus.”
“I’m afraid for Kristy,” Abbey said, her eyes wide with fear. “I’m afraid of what Sydney is going to turn into, and what she might do to her.”
I shrugged, and put my head in my hands. “She’ll be fine.”
“I’m not so sure. Sydney seems desperate for money, Justin.”
“She’s spoiled, that’s all.”
“I think she has a drug problem.”
I looked up at her quickly, unsure where she was getting that idea from. “How would you know?”
“Austin take Davey inside,” she said softly. “Watch a movie in your room or play a game.”
Austin nodded quickly, and the boys were out of sight within a few seconds.
“I...I walked in on her when we were in the Hamptons,” Abbey said slowly. “She was doing lines of cocaine in the bathroom.”
I sat back in the chair and crossed my arms. “You should have told me.”
“I didn’t want you to get anymore stressed out. The weekend was awkward enough as it was. I just figured it was a one time thing. I mean, you didn’t know she did that, did you?”
I didn’t, and that fact made me worried. It made me think about how long she’d been doing it for, and how Trace never bothered to tell me. Was it something he covered up, hid from me because he didn’t want me constantly pressuring him to break up with her? I mean, I know I would have. I never would have accepted somebody like that in his life. But they’d been together for such a long time...he had to know about her habits. But if Trace knew, what were the chances that her issue may have been getting a little out of hand, unbeknownst to him?
What were the chances that she would have been desperate enough to steal money from him?
“I didn’t know, but it doesn’t matter.”
Abbey leaned against the tabletop and ran a hand through her hair. “But Justin...Justin what if...what if Trace didn’t take the money? What if Sydney took it?”
It just wasn’t possible. Trace was the culprit. He guarded his accounts and his money with his life, because it was everything to him. If she’d been taking money, I was sure he would have known about it right away. I scoffed. “There’s no way in hell. She’s not smart enough to break into his accounts and he’d never give her his passwords.”
“He trusted her,” she whispered.
“No.” I stood up harshly. “Trace took the money. It all points to him.”
“Can you just think for a second!” Abbey yelled at me. “Look, I know it seems impossible and of course you don’t want to think that you accused Trace for no reason but...did you see her? She was hanging on her last nerve, Justin. She’s addicted to cocaine...it’s so obvious, and now she’s out of drugs and money. You’re just turning a blind eye to it.”
“Where the hell is this stemming from?” I grunted. “I mean, you’ve thought Trace was a piece of shit from day one. It’s done, okay? He’s going to have his trial, they’re going to find him guilty, and he’ll do three to five before he slithers back into society like the snake that he is. Whatever happens to Sydney isn’t my concern, and it shouldn’t be yours either.”
“I’m not saying I like the guy,” Abbey grunted. “All I’m saying is that, it would be a fucking shame if Trace did a few years in prison without having done anything wrong.”
“He did that shit at Merrill Lynch.”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “Which probably gave Sydney the motive. She knew that everybody would point the finger at Trace, and she’d get off scott free.”
“Who are you now? Sherlock Holmes?”
She rolled her eyes. “If you don’t believe me that’s fine.” She stood up from the table and began to walk away from me. “I’m just trying to help.”
“Abbey.”
She kept walking.
“Abbey, come on.”
I didn’t see her again until I went to bed that night. Before I did, I sat in my living room in silence, going over what Abbey had told me again and again. What if it were true? What if Trace was innocent? What if Trump had been wrong...what if they’d all been wrong. It would be a God damn tragedy. But what could I do? I had no proof of anything...
But maybe Trace knew.
Maybe that’s why he wasn’t giving her any money.
Maybe he simply decided to take the fall for her, because he loved her. Trace, the one who didn’t believe in love, said it was a distraction, taught me that business should come first...always.
Even he had a softer side, and I was sure he wouldn’t be able to go through with turning his girlfriend in for grand larceny, especially when it would affect Kristy so much.
Part of me even thought that he might have been making the sacrifice, because of the kid.
“What should I do?” I asked her gently as I went to bed with her that night.
“Hmm?” She murmured, half asleep.
“Ab.”
She grunted and reached out to flick her light on, before squinting at me. “I hate you. I’m exhausted.”
I sighed, and pulled her a little bit closer to me as I laid down next to her. “I’m sorry. I just...I don’t know what to do.”
“Go talk to Trace.”
“No fucking way.”
“Well, then don’t.”
She turned her back to me, but I didn’t let go. I wrapped my arms around her waist instead, and kissed the back of her neck. “Abbey.”
“Look, I’m really tired, Justin,” she muttered. “I don’t have a solution for you. I just...I don’t have the focus right now. Too much has been going on. I mean, Davey is freaked out by those guards. He won’t go near them, and naturally, Austin thinks they’re the coolest people he’s ever met, so it’s not helping Davey to calm down about it. He’s hiding behind the chair again, and he’s starting to talk less and less. I really, really hate this, and what it’s doing to the boys.”
It wasn’t fair to push her about it. After all, it wasn’t her issue, it was mine, so I decided to give the subject a rest. There would be more time for me to figure it out later, on my own, where I couldn’t burden her about it. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “It’s just for a little while. I promise.”
“I wish you could be here more, but I know you can’t be.”
Her tone was soft, almost a whisper, and I knew there must have been a million emotions brewing inside of her. “I’m busy...you know that. You understand. That’s why...you know, that’s why I want you to be with me.”
“We haven’t talked about that, either.”
I sighed heavily, knowing that I hadn’t brought up the Hamptons since we’d gotten back. “So let’s talk.”
“It’s not the best night.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t know when I’ll have time alone with you again. Who knows what state of mind we’ll be in by tomorrow night?”
“Am I your girlfriend?”
I pressed my lips together, thankful that she wasn’t facing me in that moment. I hated to get emotional, I hated to talk about my feelings and shit. “I...I guess so, yeah.”
“Great answer,” she muttered, miserably. “Never mind.”
“Hearing me say it is really that important to you?”
She turned over harshly in my arms, and stared right into my eyes. I could tell she was pissed, and the most I could do was stare back at her, frozen, waiting for her to yell at me. “I don’t handle relationships the same way you do, so yeah, it is important to me.”
“You know you’re my girlfriend,” I whispered, as I ran my hand down her cheek.
“Then say it.” Her eyes searched mine, trying to find the answers to all the questions that plagued her about me.
I kissed her lightly. “You are. You’re my girlfriend. Satisfied?”
She rolled her eyes. “I guess it’s a start.”
“I’m new to this kind of thing,” I explained. “My dad...he never sat me down and taught me how to treat a woman. I taught myself. I...I’ve run around with different women for as long as I can remember, Ab. I’m sorry that I’m not perfect. It’s like...you expect that of me sometimes. I feel like you want me to be this perfect model boyfriend. I feel like...you compare me to him, even if you say that you don’t.”
“I can’t believe you’re bringing Braeden into this,” she snapped, and pulled herself out of my arms. “Really?”
“This is the way that I am.” I sat up in bed and crossed my arms. “I’m...I’m never going to be the way you want, okay? I can’t...I can’t be that way. It’s not me.”
“So if I said I loved you, it wouldn’t even matter.”
She was staring at me so hard. So, so hard, and I knew...I knew she’d crossed that line with me emotionally weeks ago. I couldn’t say it though. I couldn’t. “That’s not true.”
“Because I do,” she whispered.
“You don’t know that yet,” I shook my head. “Don’t jump on the love thing right now. We haven’t gotten that far. Things have just...they’ve just started to spark a little bit more with us, and I care about you. You know how much I care about you, but I just...I just want to see where this thing goes. You should want the same.”
“I know how I feel,” she grunted. “I know when I’ve fallen in love, and I’m in love with you now. I can’t...just continue to hold it back day after day. If you don’t want this type of relationship with me, just tell me. Tell me right now.”
I stared at her, not knowing what the hell I wanted or how the hell I felt. It was so much to take in among everything else, but Abbey...she was a very straightforward person. She hated to hold back, to keep things and feelings to herself when it came to me.
I knew she was telling me the truth.
“I...I’m not ready for that,” I said softly, but managed to pull her towards me. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t be ready eventually.”
“That’s reassuring,” she whimpered as I kissed her gently. “I’m just not up to your standard or something, right?”
It was the first time she was showing me a side of her that wasn’t so confident. She thought less of herself than she let on. It hurt me, because she was an amazing woman, and she should have had all the stamina in the world. “Damn, that’s not it,” I whispered. “Abbey...I...I just need some time. That doesn’t mean things aren’t good with us, because they are.”
“All right,” she nodded a little, before meeting my gaze again. “I...I guess I’m okay with that.”
I smiled a little bit for her and kissed her on the lips, with as much passion as I could muster. “It’s gonna be fine,” I reassured her as I cupped her face in my hand once the kiss was broken. “We’ll be fine, the boys will be fine. Once this thing is done and Trump and I start to get settled with business, I’ll take us all on a real vacation.”
She smiled, only slightly, and didn’t quite look me in the eyes. “Yeah, that...that’ll be good, J.”
“That’s my girl.” I whispered it and kissed her again, harder and stronger this time. Soon we were on top of each other, making love slowly and gently into the night. She wasn’t as wild. She was more emotional about our sex, but that was okay. I knew she needed to feel that way. She had to get it all out of her system so she wouldn’t turn into a love sick idiot in front of me every day of the week.
Am I scared that she said it?
Hell yes.
But I’m hoping like hell its just a phase. That she’ll realize love isn’t as important as she’s making it out to be. I mean, we can be happy together, do things and spend time together without adding all of the other stuff into it. It’s too much pressure. She’ll realize that quickly.
At least I hope she does, because I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle being with her otherwise.
I’m just not capable of that, of loving somebody. I’m too terrified of what could happen if she decides to leave me, and I have to protect myself. My parents left me in the dust to fend for myself, and I won’t let her do it too. I have to keep that slight bit of distance between us, just in case. It’s fucked up...
But then again, I’ve always been fucked up.
Author's Chapter Notes:
In honor of it being my birthday today, I figured I would try to get another chapter up for you guys :) Enjoy!
Story Tags: triangles justinandtrace executivej
