Silence Reveals Hidden Answers’ by Michael Anderson novel Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Harvey Prescott.

Just after the show with Jennifer in the bathroom, I got a text from Nate.

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An army buddy that survived the same hell I did. We also went to the same high school. I invited him to Italy to breathe a little, unwind, remember he’s human again. Not everyone comes back from a year overseas and jumps straight into running a multi–million dollar casino… apparently I’m the only lunatic who does that.

I’m still burning off the leftover frustration when I look up just in time to see David climbing out of a car with him. I didn’t tell him he could come to Italy.

This idiot. That means he wasn’t in New York when we talked this morning. He’s wearing mirrored aviators like he’s in a bad spy movie, and waves at me. But it’s Nate I go to first. We clasp hands, pull in for à quick, hard back–slap.

“Good to see you in one piece.” I grunt.

Then I face David. “What the hell are you doing here?”

David pushes his sunglasses up onto his head. “First off, you left me alone to handle the politician situation. His name is Rick, by the way, and he’s already threatened to take the whole casino down if he doesn’t get his suitcase back. I didn’t want to be the one he destroys to make a point. You know how these politicians send the FBI to ruin one guy just to warn another. Yeah. I’m not dying for your pride. Second…you’re literally having a vacation and you haven’t approved my time off since like three years.”

“He’s got a point,” Nate adds with a smirk. “And he damn near talked my ear off on the flight about how the only reason you’re here is to rekindle something with Jennifer. That true?”

1 point at David. “You talk too much.”

The staff come out to collect their luggage’s and they both look around like kids entering Disneyland.

“Are there girls here?” David whispers like he’s expecting hea

to fall out of the sky.

Nate scans the villa. £Is Jennifer here? The guys back home haven’t shut up about how good she looked at the reunion. The group chat’s been blowing up since those pictures leaked.”

“When you see her, you’ll get why they can’t seem to shut up.” I say it with a half–smirk, thinking about how ridiculous she looks today. Before Nate can grill me for details, the entire family pours out onto the landscape. Nisha’s clan, ours, old, young, the dads laughing.

My eyes scan for Jennifer. She said she was in the bathroom. She’s not in sight, and for a second I think she slipped away again until I spot her next to Grandma.

And my damn heart skips.

Nate takes one look and freezes. “Is that her? The snow white fairy tale come to life?”

Jennifer really does look like that. Ivory skin glowing under the sun, that fluttering purple skirt, the white top hugging her like she was stitched into it, her hair dark and glossy in clean, perfect lines. She’s soft, pretty in a way that actually pisses me

off.

David in his Hawaiian shirt like an leans forward with lowered Ray–Bans.

“She looks way better in real life. Whoa. Kudos, boss.”

I cut him a glare. “Stop giving me kudos. It’s already over before it started.”

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“What?” Nate stares at me.

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I sigh. “I kissed her. Yeah, maybe it was too soon. But I kissed her and asked if it made her feel anything worth pursuing. She asked for time. Guess what she does with that time? Runs straight to Baxter’s villa. He shows her some grainy video of a girl dancing near me at the casino, and she comes back yelling ‘no‘ in my face.”

David groans dramatically. “Damn. And imagine if she worked at the casino. We’d blow up in a single freakin‘ night. The lines would be reaching the blocks.”

I snap my eyes at him. “Are you fucking stupid?

“Whoa, no, no!” He holds up his hands.” “I’m not implying we hire her. I’m just saying she’s the type of woman who could shut the whole casino just by walking through the lobby. That’s all.”

Nate chuckles under his breath. “You’re still so possessive. You sure you’ve actually let go? Because…oh, look alive. Baxter’s talking to her now.”

My head swipes back around and sure enough, Baxter is hovering. She’s staring up at him, saying something. He leans in, says something back. She takes a sharp step back and says something else.

Then she walks away from him.

A second later, Bryce slaps him on the shoulder while they both watch her go as if Baxter has just started his big one.

“Baxter is definitely planning something.” Nate mutters it as I pull out a cigarette. My hands aren’t shaking, but my bones feel like they want to.

“You’re gonna let him have her?”

I give him a look. “You say it like it’s up to me.”

“You’re puffing anger right now. It’s rattling you. You’ve been in love with her since high school-”

“Yeah, that’s how long. Imagine how fucking stupid I feel that the first real answer she ever gives me comes filtered through Baxter.”

“Because Baxter’s playing a stupid game and he’s winning.” Nate pulls out his phone. “You know he’s got a group chat? Bryce added me months ago when I met him at a club. They post pictures of some model or some girl they think is out of their league and they bet on who gets her first.”

My jaw flexes. “What?”

“They started a new one. And it’s Jen. Baxter told them to stay clear of her.”

He hands me the phone. I scroll through the messages and the deeper it goes, the worse it gets. Pictures. Comments. Bets. Trash. Then Baxter’s wager if he loses is his new sports car.

My vision goes hot.

“Bro, you could expose him. Air out his fucking laundry. Do your parents even know he’s with Nisha on a contract?“. David asks.

I hand Nate back his phone. “If I do that, the wedding gets cancelled and that wedding has to happen.” I nod at a butler. “Please take them to their rooms. I’ll see you guys in a moment.”

I start walking across the field to meet Baxter. Bryce sees me first and his smile drops before tapping Baxter like he’s warning him a storm is coming.

Baxter turns, stands tall, but when I reach him, it’s obvious that as we stand toe–to–toe. I’m taller. Where our shoulders align,

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I’m bulkier. Stronger. And he knows it.

“Betting on Jennifer?” I ask, hoping my voice is low enough to gut him.

Bryce’s eyes widen. He glances behind me, sees Nate, and realizes exactly how I know about at the bet.

I point at the minion.

“Bryce. When I open my mouth, that means you disappear. Yet your feet are still planted. Are you genuinely stupid, or are you volunteering to become a lesson? Get lost before I gut you from the neck.”

Bryce looks scared…before walking away.

“It’s not like you two are dating, bro. What’s the big deal?” Baxter shrugs.

“The big deal,” I say, stepping closer, “is why you’re such a loser. I swear, I don’t give a rats shit what you do with your life but Jennifer happens to be someone who means something to me. That’s the big deal.”

The fuck boy scoffs. “You couldn’t get her back then, and you sure as hell can’t get her now. You’ve got the mafia look, the bad–boy walk, the cigarettes… but I’m the real man.”

“You’ve got your mother’s fat mouth, you know that?”

“Excuse me-”

“Keep it up and I’ll rearrange your teeth so that when you smile for those wedding pictures, you can see my signature in the gaps.”

That one hits so Baxter swallows.

“You know Jennifer just cried to me. Said she can’t, for the life of her, understand you. You’re her best friend, but she keeps coming to me. Don’t you think there’s a reason? Let’s face it, she’s innocent. She’ll always fall back to the first boy she ever loved.”

My jaw locks. My lip bites down hard.

“Yeah.” Baxter smirks. “That’s right. Me. I’m the guy she first loved. She finds comfort in me. You won’t understand. So in conclusion, you should be afraid of me now, brother.”

“Afraid of a dude I punched?” I whisper laugh. “Don’t piss me off now, Baxter…you’re gonna make me hate this entire conversation. You here isn’t a single person on this earth who’s afraid of you.”

“I’m going

went on

lets

e for that punch too by taking Jen every which way. You know I did some research and heard she into a relationship. I don’t think she’s the type for a one–night stand either. Which means…” He She’s probably still a virgin who knows nothing. And you know how special it is… to be the one

a pinprick of red–hot rage. My hands ache with the need to connect with his throat. I close the The so fast Baxter flinches. god, I want to snap his neck clean-

hit!” he steps back. “The whole family is still here. You put a hand on me and they-”

shit you say about Jennifer.”

walking away. I have to. Looking at his smug face for one more second will end with him in the hospital and me in walking away. dcuffs, and that’s not the play. I’ll put his eyes on the floor. I’ll punch until his nose is dust. I’ll break him so bad his own other won’t recognize the pieces. I’ve got a lifetime of anger in my bones, and right now, he’s the only thing standing

ne and letting it out. So away is good.

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My blood is getting thick, boiling, pumping hard enough I feel it in my teeth.

Baxter follows me.

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“You don’t think I can? Say it, Harv. Come on…I thought you loved a challenge. I can get her in my bed before these two weeks are over. I’ve already started a bet with the boys. How about we have our own? If I do it… you give me the casino.”

“Jennifer wouldn’t.”

“Okay. If you’re so sure, then you’ve got nothing to lose. If I’m wrong, what do you want?”

“I’m not betting Jennifer with a guy who fucks anything with a pulse.”

“You can’t even trust her, can you? You know the hold I have on her. She had a solid crush on me throughout high school, I can still wake it back up. And let’s be honest, with all your tattoos, big dick energy, you do not compare. It’s guys like me Jennifer wants. We don’t plaster ourselves with tattoos to hide rot. We don’t have pasts so sick we can’t even speak them out loud. She needs to feel safe. Not sit there wondering if she’s sleeping with the devil or his fucked–up son.”

“That’s exactly what you are, Harvey. You’re a shadow. And Jennifer is too fucking innocent to deal with the toxic smoke that pours out of you. Your own poor mother couldn’t even stand the stench of it so I’ll ask you straight, do you genuinely believe, in that twisted, fucked–up head of yours, that a girl like Jennifer is meant for a man like you-”

Now, I stop and turn at him.

I swear I can feel veins on my forehead of how angry I am.

It’s a fucking miracle I don’t plunge my fist into his chest. Don’t crack his ribs and tear out that stupid, beating heart. I could do it. I could make him a wet, red mess on this clean floor real fast.

But that’s Baxter’s weak little game. He did it to me once and I fell for it. Once again, he wants me to be the snarling animal, the monster….so they can all point and whisper and say it’s not the first time I was a devil.

“I’ll give you the fucking casino!” I growl. “But if when lose, you’ll stand in front of the whole family and tell them what really happened on that rainy night.”

I watch color drain from Baxter’s face! He knows what I’m talking about and it lands so bad that he tightens his fist. Quickly, he remembers he has to rearrange his face so he scoffs like it’s nothing but I see the panic he tries to swallow.

“Bet.” he says, too quick. “Your casino.”

“For the truth.”

“We’re all going out tonight to a new high–end nightclub. It’s called Saints. I heard it’s big and bougie. We can start from there.” Baxter says.

Saints. The high–end, members–only club that opened its most exclusive location here in Italy actually belongs to me but no one in the family knows. They think all I run is the Kings casino.

I was already going tonight for work. It’s not like this idiot is the one inviting me.

All I have to do is make sure Jennifer doesn’t get drunk enough for him to twist her head around. He’s counting on manipulation; I’m counting on the fact that she’s not stupid.