Into the Light (University of Isles #2)

17. Chapter 17

Chapter seventeen

When Ember left this morning, all I wanted to do was go to the library and finish some of the work I needed to get done for my classes, but Mr. Ortiz had a different idea.

Just as I was reversing down the driveway, his familiar entourage of cars pulled to the front of the Den, which was a surprise because none of us were notified of his departure from Dansport.

Pico came running out the front door before glancing over at me as I dismounted the motorcycle, letting out a large exhale.

“I can entertain him if you need to go somewhere,” Pico offered.

“Nah. I was just going to study because I’m still failing, but he’ll tell me this is more important and I need to sit my ass down.” I cracked my neck, the tension rippling through me.

As I parked the bike, took off my helmet and walked over toward him, he exited one of the middle cars.

“Rain.” His smooth voice echoed throughout the property, and a few more guys rushed to the front door. He looked so much like Ash it was uncanny. He had the same brown curls framing his face, and although there were far more lines etched in his face than Ash would ever have, there was something so sinister about Mr. Ortiz. Ash may have looked like the villain from the outside, but he was always warm and fuzzy when you got to know him. Nothing about Mr. Ortiz gave anyone the warm fuzzies.

“To what do we owe this pleasure to?”

“I need to talk to you.” He glided past me with his gazillion bodyguards, which he believed made him impenetrable, but it was more obvious than just going under the radar.

“Oh-kay,” I grumbled once he was out of earshot and striding into the house. I stood there on the porch of the house and took a deep breath before I walked in.

“Sit next to me,” I told Pico because, little did anyone know, I had a plan for next year and part of it required Pico’s help.

Once inside, a few guys brought Mr. Ortiz his cigar cutter and a glass of whiskey on the rocks before we all gathered in the formal living area. He settled into one of the oversized mustard chairs in the corner while Pico and I took the couch.

As I sat down, I couldn’t help but think of the last time I was in here the morning after we found Ash passed away and I made Ember sleep on this exact couch and stayed up watching her. That night. It haunted my dreams. It kept me up when I thought about the way I saw him. The day I lost a part of my heart.

“We found him,” one of the members of the Den told me as I paced around the house waiting for this call. None of them would let me go look. They feared something with the Alpha house because the bonfire technically was supposed to happen tonight.

“Where is he?”

“We sent you coordinates. You need to come here now.” I nodded, hanging up, and then realized where they wanted me to go was off campus.

I looked to Pico. “Come with me, but leave everyone else here. I don’t want to risk anyone being off-campus.”

The implications of finding Ash off-campus penetrated through my brain because I knew this would not be good. I’d been calling him for hours, but this couldn’t happen. He tried ending it all when we were in high school, but I thought he was doing better. I thought he was okay.

Yeah, I knew he and Ember were going through a rough spot, but I thought with being away from Mr. Ortiz and the confines of the house, he was doing good. Fuck.

I jumped on the bike, and Pico hopped behind me before we peeled out of the driveway and followed the directions that the guys sent us. Why would Ash have even been found off-campus?

As we veered off the road into the darkness, I quickly scanned our surroundings to ensure we were alone before heading toward the location he was last seen.

Upon arrival, the first thing that caught my attention was his car. I swiftly brought the bike to a halt and dismounted, discarding my helmet on the ground. As I circled the vehicle, I realized the car was in pristine condition. There were no signs of it being rammed into this small clearing along the woodland path. Instead, it seemed deliberately parked here, hinting at one unsettling possibility.

“Please,” I muttered as Pico raced down the path, maintaining a stoic silence, refusing to confront the looming dread. As he bolted toward the other members of the Den, I followed the trail, meticulously documenting the track marks on the dirt road, capturing photos obsessively as I pressed forward.

Thankfully, we were blessed with a brief spell of decent weather in Isles, which prevented the total obliteration of crucial evidence but a lot of the mud was washed away already. As I traced his path leading to a clearing, my breath caught in my throat. Even in the dimness, an eerie tranquility hung in the air, and a dreadful certainty settled over me.

My gut churned with an attempt to betray me as I approached what I already knew. I looked down over the ledge.

“Retrieve the body,” I whispered to Pico, who had his hands over his eyes, kneeling on the ground, seeking solace from a god who couldn’t change the grim reality before us. However, I needed to distance myself, otherwise I would be ensnared in the same anguish as he was despite my knowledge. I didn’t want to accept it, but he had suffered in silence for far too long.

“I’m going to handle this,” I vowed, for ultimately, there was no one to blame but Mr. Ortiz. He had forged the monster that had taken residence within Ash. He had coerced him into leading a life that was a charade, void of authenticity.

“Do you want—” Pico began.

“I said get the damn body,” I screamed, then scanned my surroundings. Mr. Ortiz wouldn’t react well to the revelation that he had played a role in his own son’s death. None of us could have rescued him, not even Ember.

Damn it.

I ran my hand through my hair. What was I going to say to her?

As I meticulously inspected every inch of the rock, with the others retrieving the body, Pico joined me.

“She needs to know,” he murmured.

“I intend to tell her,” I asserted, halting him in his tracks. Then I realized I could no longer live in Ash’s shadow. I needed to carve my path outside of it. This had to be avenged for him. Ensuring this tragedy never recurred, that this senseless ritual ended, became a necessity. The senseless feud between these two underground organizations had to stop. They were too blind to realize that by joining forces, they could be stronger.

However, none of this was pertinent at the moment. Right now, it was about my brother—the one person I would protect to the ends of the earth—who was now gone, leaving a void in my heart. Something so irreplaceable I didn’t know—

“Fuck,” I cried out, the tears threating to come as Pico placed a gentle hand on my back. It was a gesture so foreign to us, neither of us ever feeling this emotion.

“Someone came after him . . .”

“No,” I whispered. “No one but his own demons . . .”

“Rain Fortin.” My name snapped me back into my current reality of sitting on this godforsaken uncomfortable chair in a house I had no desire to ever be a part of.

“There is a significant amount of money that was intended for my son that is missing—you told me you were looking at this. Where is it?”

I knew where the money was. It was built into a business that Ember owned. A fake business with only one owner that was basically impenetrable by anyone except the IRS, but even then, I could probably pay someone off to get them off her back, too.

“I’m still looking into it.” I paused.

“Remind me, who gave Ash the money?” Pico did a double take at me, knowing exactly who had the money. It was in Ash’s will. The will that also had mysteriously gone missing.

“Ash’s mother left him a fund that was dedicated solely to him. I had no access to it unless he died and gave it to someone else.” Mr. Ortiz’s eyes glared into mine.

“Where is the will?” And now Pico could understand why it took me so long to figure out what happened to Ash. I could see him, brows furrowed, as the puzzle pieces suddenly came together.

“I’m still looking for it. I told you that I have to figure out what happened that night and that particular piece of information is coincidentally missing.”

Mr. Ortiz took a slow pull from his glass of whiskey before setting it down. This plan was fucking stupid, to say the least. I was trying to one up the biggest head of the Cartel. This man dealt with people far larger than my pay grade, but I had one thing on my side. He maybe had a small soft spot for his child and desperately wanted to know where the millions he had thought he would make were going.

“I am still figuring out what happened.” I repeated.

A resounding sound of glass hitting glass echoed throughout the house, and I winced, but Pico stayed stoic. He really should have replaced Ash. He had all the qualities of being the one in charge—a true leader.

“I need to know what happened to my son.”

I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. The only other instance in all the years I’d known Mr. Ortiz refer to Ash as his son was during the funeral in front of everyone. Otherwise, he simply called him either the leader of the Den or Ash. It was undeniably disheartening.

“I know you do, and I’ve been tirelessly working to unravel what happened—”

“Is that why you’ve been getting close to the Solis girl?”

It was like a punch to the gut. I had always been aware that Mr. Ortiz had eyes and ears everywhere in Isles, but I foolishly believed that we had maintained our discretion. I should have anticipated that bringing Ember to the house would inevitably expose her, and by making the entire meeting about not interfering with her, I had essentially laid it all out.

“She’s a valuable asset in all of this, sir.” Pico interjected on my behalf, and I silently thanked him once more. He was a born leader.

“How so?”

“Because she was close to Ash and Walsh. She’s just as determined as we are to solve this mystery.”

“Is that why I have one of my former associates tailing her at all times?” Mr. Ortiz responded with an air of composure that made me struggle to remain still in my seat.

“Exactly. Now you’re grasping the essence of what we mean. We’re merely safeguarding our asset here.”

Mr. Ortiz cocked his head to the side, sporting a smug look that made me wish I could rip the words right from his mouth. “So, where did the funding originate from to employ this Mr. Santiago Torres?”

“From my trust. Before my father passed away, he set up a trust fund for me, so it’s coming from my resources.” It was a half-truth. Santiago’s annual salary was covered by Ash, but the majority of the initial funds to hire him had come from my pocket.

Honestly, it all seemed absurd because Ember didn’t even require the money. Her father had amassed enough wealth to provide for her comfortably for the rest of her life. However, I desired to give her the life she deserved. I yearned to be the one to protect her, and that’s why I had made it my personal mission to do so.

“And you are doing this all for the betterment of the organization? Because after the little stunt you pulled this week by gathering all my men, I needed to come by to make it very clear what was happening, and I think maybe you needed a reminder of who is in charge.” That was it. I fucking lost it. The rage I’d been working hard on repressing in my soul was finally coming out to play.

I leaped to my feet and turned to leave the room. Nobody left Mr. Ortiz unless they were properly dismissed, but I was changing that rule because I didn’t give a fuck about what this man said, I was thoroughly pissed off.

“You think I asked to be in this position?” I bellowed as if I was trying to awaken the spirits inside the walls. “Yeah, fuck you man.”

Shit, I was on a roll, because rule number two was that no one screamed or dared tell Mr. Ortiz he was wrong. The man was never wrong . . . until today.

“Excuse me?” Mr. Ortiz said while folding his arms across his chest. His demeanor hadn’t changed. While I was throwing my version of an adult temper tantrum, he was stoic.

“I never wanted to be a part of this family. I shouldn’t have to pay for the sacrificial lamb you used my father in some greater scheme at getting back at the Mafia. I shouldn’t have to atone for him getting caught and your whole operation fucking sinking. I didn’t want to fucking live with your tyrant ass nor did I demand it.” I shoved my hands in my pocket.

“Therefore, when Ash passed away, really you should be taking a fucking mirror and looking back at yourself when you speak about him or want to figure out what happened to him.” That was a low blow, but the words came out before I could register and pull them back in.

Pico stared at me and cocked his head to the side in a gesture I didn’t quite recognize, but the bubbling rage and anger grew from inside me like a demon desperate to claw its way out. There was no stopping it.

Call it whatever you wanted—a product of the trauma I had to endure growing up, the guilt and shame I carried over Ash’s life, or my own insecurities, but the deep-rooted pain was on the surface. There was no way to tuck it back now.

“Rain, you need to watch what you are saying because words are irreversible,” Mr. Ortiz stated.

“Good because I mean every damned thing that I am saying. I don’t want this life. I never fucking did. I want to live in a small house, write thriller novels in the country, and live peacefully away from all of this shit.” My breath was harsh, my breathing ragged, and the pain in my chest was exploding throughout my entire body.

Pico was coughing, and it took the time of my entire body regulating back to normal before I shot a look in his direction. He was cocking his head to the side, but still trying to play it cool, and while Mr. Ortiz stared at me, I attempted to look in the direction he was silently gesturing to.

And that is when I saw her. Standing in the dark shadows of the room, was Ember. I looked behind me. It was dark, and I hadn’t checked my phone because I was too busy prancing around with Mr. Ortiz to even know. She had tears glossing her eyes, and I so desperately wanted to shove this motherfucker out of the way so I could run to her and ask her what was wrong.

“I’ll figure out what happened with the . . . account,” I stated, uncertain of how much Ember had overheard. I wanted to fill her in later, but also needed to leave calmly to avoid alerting Mr. Ortiz to our guest.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to go,” I mumbled, but his hand shot up toward me, grabbing right underneath my elbow and squeezing tightly.

“You do not go until I give you permission to,” he grumbled.

“No.” I stood my ground this time. “I need to leave. I’ve done enough of hosting for the evening. I have classes that I need to finish.”

“Listen to me, boy. You sit your ass down . . .”

“Or what?” I shrugged. At this point, anything was better than staying here, and this fucking asshole wasn’t dumb enough to shoot me in the living room of the Den, so I didn’t give a fuck what he was threatening.

“Listen,” I calmly added, regaining the normalcy throughout my body, with Ember’s presence grounding me further. She felt . . . safe. “To be honest, whatever plan you have concocted to figure out where the money went, the schematics are going to go over my head. Pico here is a better person to understand all of this. In fact, dare I say he probably is the better person to lead this entire fraternity, but I don’t think you’re quite ready to have that part of the conversation just yet.”

Mr. Ortiz rose after I concluded my little speech before looking at Pico. “Is this why you gave the girl the tattoo? I know my son didn’t agree with my command, but you were the one who gave it to her.”

Swallowing hard, I felt ashamed. Giving Ember the tattoo wasn’t my choice; this place forced me to do it. But I also knew that by doing it, she would be safe. He’d protect her. I’d protect her. She was ours in some twisted way.

“I gave it to her because it was a command my higher up demanded. I gave it to her because I couldn’t imagine her being drugged and worse happening to her so at least if she was with me, then she was safe.”

“You had one thing that my son lacked,” he said as he reached his hand out toward mine. “And I can respect that.”

“Which is?”

“Brains.”

My eyes darted into the corner of the next room over Mr. Ortiz’s shoulders where Ember was breaking down. She was walking in this direction. As if Pico noticed the same thing, he moved me out of the way, and I grumbled a goodbye, and Pico changed the topic, talking about matters that likely interested Mr. Ortiz more. Money.

I glided into the back of the house, where I caught Ember midstride, and I shoved my hand to her mouth, begging her to be quiet. If she said anything, it would make things worse for the both of us, so I didn’t want to startle Mr. Ortiz to look in our direction.

“Come on,” I whispered in her ear as I gently wiped away some of her tears.

Just as we got outside, I paused but not before shoving her up against the house.

“What do you think you were about to do?” I barked. “Run up in there and suddenly be involved in the fucking Cartel business?” Fuck. I didn’t mean to scream at her. Regret churned in my stomach, making me feel nauseous.

“I-I—”

“I’m sorry. I was . . . pissed.” I admitted, interrupting her to genuinely apologize. “When I am around him, I become a different person, someone I don’t recognize at all, and I hate that it happens, but it does, and I am only human.”

Her delicate fingers pressed against my lips before her free hand wrapped around the small of my back, pulling me tight into her.

“Shh,” she murmured. “It’s okay. I get it.” God, the way she spoke felt like feathers tickling the back of my spine. It was melodic and beautiful, yet safe and comforting. How a voice could create those emotions from within me was beyond my understanding.

“Rain—”

“What did you hear?” I asked, my voice softening as I gazed into her eyes, my possessive instincts flaring, a deep longing in my chest.

“Everything,” she whispered, her voice trembling, her lower lip quivering. The moonlight painted her delicate features with a silvery glow, making her look ethereal in the dark woods surrounding us.

“I’m so fucking sorry, Ember.” Her fingers went up behind her ear as a single tear fell.

“Y-you did this?”

“Yes.” I would not start lying.

“Why?”

“They already had given you medicine to make you tired and pass out. It wasn’t a choice I had. Ash didn’t want to do it, but we knew without being marked you had a bigger target on your back especially when you went back to Dansport. I did it because you needed it and I was trying to do the right thing.”

She shook her head. “I-I cannot believe it. I always thought Ash did.”

“No. I was the one with the tattoo machine. I did it because he couldn’t. He gave the directive.”

“Why didn’t he ever tell me this?”

I shrugged because I had no idea. “The only reason I can think of is to protect me. He wanted us to get along. We were both so important to him.”

I paused as she processed the information she’d learned. “I’m so fucking sorry, Ember.”

My raspy tone was full of the pain and guilt I held onto.

“Our parents…” She trailed off.

“I know but we are not our parents. We do not live by their rules. We are not history repeating itself.”

She nodded. “No,” she whispered softly. “We are not.”

I pulled her closer, unable to resist the warmth of her body pressed against mine, my heart racing at her softness against the rugged backdrop of the forest. The ancient trees towered around us, their branches creating a canopy of secrets.

“Come with me,” I said with urgency, our connection palpable, the moonlight casting enchanting shadows on her face. I looked up at the stars, and it felt as if some of them were twinkling down at me.

Good one, brother. In some alternate universe, this was Ash’s permission, all the assurance I needed to take Ember there.

“Where are we going?”

“A place that is special to me,” I said as I handed her a sleek, blacked-out helmet, its matte finish seen faintly in the night. Without hesitation, she mounted the bike, her arms wrapping around me, her body fitting perfectly against mine. It surprised me how much I loved holding her close, the possessiveness bubbling within me, a fire I couldn’t contain. I pulled out of the driveway without a second glance at the house because I had everything I could ever want right here.