Page 62 of Waiting For A Girl Like You (Haven House #4)
T aylor didn’t order her to be injected again once they boarded the plane. In fact, she all but ignored Jamison, leaving Bruce to handle her while she went off to sit with Parker.
About an hour into the flight, Jamison found she could sit up and form words.
Proud of herself, she took in her surroundings.
The aircraft resembled one of the smaller jets owned by Fairweather Holdings, with four rows of double seating.
Taylor and Parker were in the back row, far enough away that Jamison could speak without being overheard.
“Explain them.”
Bruce took her by the shoulders to straighten her in the seat. “I told you to behave.”
“Everyone tells me to behave, and I’m just not good at it,” she slurred. “Tell me.”
Taylor giggled obnoxiously, and Jamison arched an eyebrow at Bruce, who looked equally annoyed by the sound.
“Parker hung with them in Miami. He was in the outer circle, always wanting more, but Toby wouldn’t allow it.
Your cousin had this philosophy he lives by.
Something about weak links should never be tolerated.
He saw Parker as weak and wouldn’t let him into their inner circle. ”
“Sounds like he’s in now.” Taylor’s giggling slipped into a moan, and Jamison winced. “Literally.”
Bruce snorted, then masked it. “When Toby said it was time to come home, Taylor took a job at Fairweather. She wanted to see if it was worth their time. Her first thoughts are always about monetary gain, followed closely by her more…carnal needs.” The moaning continued, and he didn’t bother hiding his disgust. “Taylor started by applying in the Fort Lauderdale offices and worked her way up to Samuel after a few months before he moved back to north Florida. It surprised everyone that she could do the job. Taylor has always thought she was destined to be famous and never bothered to work a day in her life, yet somehow fooled your brother into thinking she was dedicated to the position.”
“Maybe she is a good actress, after all,” Jamison mumbled sarcastically. “But what does that have to do with Parker?”
“When Samuel opened applications to join him up north, it was around the time baby fever really struck Taylor. She’d already had her tubes untied, but nothing happened.
Toby blamed her. She blamed him. That’s when he started ending his ‘girlfriend’ sessions with flair. Staging it and torturing them more.”
“You mean when he started cutting their legs off and removing their eyes?” she asked, not missing the way Bruce shifted uncomfortably as she spoke. “Or when he would force them to drag themselves across the floor as they bled out?”
“Toby prefers pain. He likes to inflict it on his partners, and he loves to prolong their deaths. Taylor enjoys watching, but for her sexual kicks, she has to get them elsewhere.” Bruce glanced over his shoulder at where Taylor and Parker sat.
“Parker is just one of many submissive dogs she keeps on a short leash.”
Her foggy brain attempted to grasp the information. “And they wanted to bring a baby into that?”
“One way or another, Taylor always gets what she wants. She wanted a baby, and she wanted it with Toby. But they weren’t having any luck even though the tests for these kinds of things showed they were both fine,” Bruce replied, noticeably not giving her a straight answer.
“When they reached the end of their rope, Toby agreed that they should try another way and spread their options around. Use other people to see if they could make it happen. The only rule was that she wasn’t allowed to get pregnant by one of her side pieces in their little friend group.
The baby—a baby Toby would be willing to raise—had to be a Fairweather.
From what I’ve been told, he’s always hated your brother.
He liked the idea of Taylor fucking Samuel Fairweather so she could get pregnant, only for the baby to be raised by Toby. ”
A wave of nausea struck, washing over Jamison and forcing her eyes to roll up in her head. But she wasn’t about to give up. Even though it was never a good sign when the bad guy was willing to part with so many secrets, she wasn’t about to halt this information train. “What about my sister?”
“Toby wanted her and no one else. Taylor knew there was some mild obsession there, but I don’t think even she realized how deep it went.
” Using a finger, Bruce tipped her upright when she started to slide off to the side.
“He would have killed you to have her. I meant what I said about that day in the graveyard, and I honestly can’t believe it went down the way it did.
The idea of finally having your sister got under his skin, and Toby refused to let it go.
He was going to have her, and Taylor would give him his revenge on Samuel. ”
Not far off from where she and Bruce sat, the two women from the van stood just out of sight. Neither had sat for the entire flight. Even during takeoff, they remained standing, holding hands and watching.
“And Parker?”
Bruce huffed when Taylor’s cries for more grew louder.
“He’s moved to the top of the food chain.
Taylor was ecstatic when Madison was born and ramped up Zanmi’s activities to free Toby.
Again, it was luck on your side. If her father had approved of this shit, she would have the muscle, the money, and the power to disappear with Madison already.
“So, Bryan Carroll isn’t okay with his daughter leading some bizarre cult?”
“All this Zanmi crap? Bryan washed his hands of it long ago. He’ll get her fake IDs and passports to live and work for Fairweather or visit Toby without being easily detected, but he’s curbed her funds significantly.
Don’t get me wrong. She has enough to run, but it would be tough, and it sure as hell wouldn’t provide the lifestyle she thinks she deserves. ”
The activity between Taylor and Parker reached its end, with Taylor howling as she finished. Bruce rolled his eyes. “And, of course, what she really wants is a boy. She’s been fixated on getting herself a Fairweather boy since the beginning.”
The plane lurched violently, catching some turbulence. Jamison’s stomach pitched, feeling like it had gone flying up to the cabin’s ceiling while her body remained strapped to the seat. “Oh, that’s not good. ”
Bruce didn’t so much as flinch when the plane dropped again. “Won’t be much longer. I’ve told Mike we’re inbound, and he’s hustling back to the house to meet us.”
“The little,” she paused to swallow vomit, “Haven House?”
The entire jet vibrated, and Bruce let out a yawn. “That’s what she wanted.”
“Taylor?”
Something that resembled a chuckle came from Bruce. “Honey, I know you’re woozy from the drugs, but that doesn’t make you stupid.”
Jamison waited for a heartbeat, listening to make sure Taylor remained occupied. “CeCe.”
“Cecilia was a good person.” Folding his hands across his chest, Bruce closed his eyes as if he were going to take a nap. “Nothing like her brother.”
The thundering heart in her chest felt as if it had dislodged from behind her ribs, floating up into her throat and then her head until it beat steadily in her ears. Michael and CeCe. He was right. Liam was always right.
“Thank you for telling me all this,” she said quietly. “I understand that you don’t have to explain, but it’s nice to finally know the truth.”
“It doesn’t matter what you know and what you don’t. When this is over, no one will be left to care.”
She was definitely going to vomit.
They had landed roughly an hour earlier, the plane touching down in some dark field that turned out to be a landing strip.
Another van met them, driven by a woman in her mid-thirties who looked like a regular functioning human.
Her name was Krystal, and she smiled with her mouth closed, her lips thinning in disapproval as they exited the plane.
“You’re late,” Krystal chided when she got behind the wheel of the transport van. “Mike got back an hour ago, and when he heard what you did, he was pissed. I thought you’d beat him so I wouldn’t get yelled at.”
“He’ll get the hell over it,” Taylor snapped as she buckled into the front passenger seat. “He’s basically family and all, but Jesus Christ and Hail Mary, he’s so fucking full of himself. ”
Krystal said nothing, adjusting her glasses as she drove through the pitch black dark.
Jamison tried to make sense of her surroundings, but she couldn’t see much, not with Parker’s tall frame on her right and Bruce’s bulky one on her left.
Some roads they went down were paved, and some were nothing but dirt or clay.
The last road was rocky, full of dips and big rocks that shook the van like a rag doll.
“How’s my baby?” Taylor asked. “I can’t wait to see her.”
“She’s doing good.” Krystal smiled. “She’s been reading and sounding out the words like a big girl. She takes her nap on time and has never fought me about eating her vegetables. The juice, on the other hand, well, we’re still battling that.”
“Madi loves apple juice,” Parker said. “It helps her—”
“I don’t give a shit, Parker. I have told you this.” Taylor twisted around to snarl at him. “Madison will not be one of those fatties who eats nothing but sugar. I will hold my daughter to a higher standard.”
“Claudia’s daughter.” Feeling brave, Jamison raised her chin. “Madison is Claudia’s daughter.”
Holy hell. The backhanded slap from Parker stung like a son of a bitch, and Jamison’s head went flying. He’d struck her cheek and nose, causing blood to squirt from her nostrils.
“Easy,” Bruce barked. “Calm him the fuck down, Taylor.”
“Calm down? Calm down ? I think not,” Taylor shrieked as Parker shoved Jamison’s head forward. “Madison belongs to me now. She’s my little angel, you worthless skank.”
“Skank?” Jamison laughed directly in Taylor’s face. “What are you, twelve?”