Aaron looked at me as if I had lost my mind rushing him out of the building, but the shock on his face when we just made it out and away before an army of Ettore’s men came rushing into the building was hard to ignore, and I tried. The last thing I need is questions I am not sure how to answer, so I come with whatever excuse I can to get away, and using Jamee seemed to be the best option. I meet him head on before he can get the question out of his mouth. “Aaron, Jamee is asking if we can all go have dinner at her place and discuss the details of what we know so far. She is planning to show everyone her new bedroom suit. She is very excited to show you especially.”
His attention is clearly distracted as he looks over my shoulder at Jamee who gets excited by his sudden attention. “Not sure I can do that. I suddenly feel very ill. Besides, Billy is feeling neglected lately and wants some bro time.”
“I do?” Billy asks as he is dragged into the conversation.
“Yes, you do. Remember how sensitive you are? You need some good bro time to strengthen our friendship,” Aaron says with his arm around Billy, shaking him close like he is a teddy bear.
“You better stop touching me like that or our friendship is going to turn into a beat down,” Billy says with a scowl.
“Okay, we will talk tomorrow.” Aaron kisses my cheek with a quick hug as Jamee looks on confused. “Love you.”
I turn towards Jamee with a shrug. “His adrenaline is flowing too much; he gets goofy that way.”
“If I didn’t know better, I would think you two are hiding something. Did you find something in there? Why did you run out so fast? Did you know those men were coming?” she asks, watching me reaction closely.
“I found a camera room and saw them coming down the road. I planned our exit from there,” I say, turning away with a proud smile. Now to get home and get into that bath.
I am on such a high by the time I get home that I can barely contain myself. Thankfully, the hot bath eases all of that. In a tranquil state, I exit my bath with a towel around me and drop my hair from its clip. Staring at my bed, I wonder whether to prepare for him or assume he lied and go to bed as I would normally? I don’t want to look like I am willing to put up with his games or his criminal behavior. No, I should not show any sign of acceptance of his behavior at all. So, I am going to bed naked. That’ll teach him. Time passes quickly, and I begin to believe he did lie to me, that he isn’t going to be here at all. Then, I feel a strange sensation and open my eyes to see his beautiful thick waves moving their way up my body. His tender lips kiss my legs and my thighs before I feel his heated breath against my clit and his plush tongue sending a titillating vibration up my body. I sink my hands deep into his waves and guide him back up to my lips.
“You need to understand something. I do not approve of your criminal activity or your behavior, and I will not condone or participate in any activity that goes against my values. I need you to understand that.” His blue eyes smile with a cocky attitude behind them. “Do you under … oh …stand,” I say as his hand fondles me roughly into position, spreading my legs wide around his hips. “So do you?”
“Do I what?” he asks, continuing on as if I didn’t say a word.
“Do you understand that I don’t agree with your criminal behavior?” I breathe with a deep moan.
“I understand a lot of things, Trouble, but the one thing I think is clear after your illegal entry into a privately owned building today is this…,” he takes my lips in deep with a simultaneous push of his cock deep inside of me. He tugs on my bottom lip and continues. “You love to be bad and are a lot naughty. Admit it, you wanted to fuck me right there in that moment.” He raises up and back down again, sending me back into my bed with an exhilarating exhale. “I know I wanted to fuck you, strip your ass naked and bend you over in front of me and slide my dick between your legs and right into your pussy.” His dirty mouth tastes so good that all I want is more. “Is that what you wanted, Trouble, to be captured by the criminal and taken from behind?” His pulsating cock swells more inside of me, and I suddenly have no breath to speak. With a kiss to my cheek, he whispers, “I know I briefly considered doing just that, teach you a lesson for breaking into my vault like you did.” His hips thrust into me, and he leans back with a groan. I call out to him, pleading for leniency for my bad behavior, but he continues on and on until I meet his eyes and watch him rise up with a roar, coming inside of me. I caress his face, and he kisses my hand. “I would have done all of that to you today, no matter who was coming for you, that is, if I was really a heartless criminal. Instead, I am a criminal in love. I don’t want you with Michael, Austin, I want you with me. Damn them all.”
He stares deep into my eyes, completely vulnerable. My heart beats more rapidly now than it has all night. “I love you too, Dace.”
Lying in his arms, I can hardly believe the feelings I am having. I can’t stop smiling or touching him. I don’t want to let go of him—ever. Then, I realize our situation. “Dace what about your brother?”
“Which one, the one that wants to kill you or the one that wants to marry you?”
“Oh this is worse than I even considered.” I shut my eyes in panic.
Kissing me on the head, he pulls me in. “Trust me, I know. I have thought about it a million different ways. Every time I knew you were with Michael, I wanted to kidnap you and run away. And I will, I only need to take care of something first so Antony will be okay.”
“Runaway where? What good does that do?”
“That gives us the opportunity to be together without scrutiny and allows Michael to move on without us rubbing it in his face. Besides, I have these friends who go to all these amazing places and help people. You would love it. You’d get to help people and kick bad people’s asses all at the same time.” I look his way as he raises his eyebrows with a nod of expectation. “See… I knew that would get your attention.”
“That does sound like fun, and I guess since my career here is obviously never going to go anywhere, thanks to my father, then I wouldn’t be opposed to getting away for a while. But what about my brother? Your brothers? Are they going to let you go? Are they going to leave my brother alone?”
Dace sits up and grasps my chin to look at me. “I have thought about it all. It doesn’t have to be forever. Like I said, once Michael gets used to the idea and finds someone else—which he will—we will build our life together. My brother is prince charming in a suit, and he’ll find the perfect woman for him. While he does, we will settle in a place we both love and make sure to have plenty of room for family when they come to visit.”
“I take this to mean that you’re planning for Ettore not to be an issue at all anymore? That scares me, Dace. You keep telling me how dangerous he is, and you seem to be deeper than anyone into his dirty deals.”
“Let me worry about him. I have help, trust me. It’s all working out fine. We just have to keep us a secret for a little while longer.” Dace leans in with a tender kiss. “What do you say, Trouble? Want to run away with me and kick some international bad guy asses?”
I climb on top of him with a smile. “I say, yes. I love adventure, you know that, but I love you more than anything.”
He wraps his arms around me, kissing me with a crazed happiness. “You know there is this quaint little white chapel on a cliff that is amazingly beautiful in the spring. Maybe we could … if everything works out with us … we could?”
“Wow… is Dace Colletto really speechless, stumbling over his words?” I laugh as he shakes his head and pushes me away. I pull him back and kiss his smiling face. “All you have to do is ask, and I will be there—anywhere—at your side, forever. Of course, I will be the one in the better shoes.”
“Probably, because you most likely stole my shoes, knowing your affinity for men’s footwear.”
“Argh!” I yell, smacking him with a pillow until he pulls it away from me and pins me down underneath him.
“I love you, Austin,” he says with an honesty that h
ighlights all the wonderful edges of his masculine face, seeming to release a great weight off his shoulders.
Chapter 22
Dace
“Why are you smiling so much?” Ettore asks, interrupting his meeting with his valued associates. I shrug, not understanding why he is bothering to pay attention to me at all. He never has before unless he wants something. “Don’t shrug at me like I’m crazy, you’re smiling and happy. What, did you finally screw that blond bitch in your building? She seemed like a good fuck,” he says, pissing me off.
“Oh I’m sorry, Ettore, I forgot that happiness was not allowed in your house, only grief and misery,” I say happily until I notice his squinty stare. I instantly change my expression to match his. Ettore rolls his eyes off of me and back onto his business at hand. My mind checks out of the monotonous conversation until Ettore gets a call, and we are excused. I try to rush out but don’t get too far …
“Dace, come back here and shut the door,” Ettore creaks out of his enlarged neck. He continues on talking on the phone while I wait. With a deep sigh, I step back in and shut the door. “Have Mays take care of the evidence. Call our attorney, and get my plane ready. I want him taken to my house on the island. Send someone with him and make sure no one else knows where he is. Call me when it’s ready.” He hangs up and folds his hands in front of him as he looks at me.
“What do you want?” I ask him impatiently.
“Why must you always have an attitude?” he asks with his own type of attitude.
“Why must you, Ettore? Don’t talk to me like I should be afraid of you like everyone else, because I’m not.”
He rolls his eyes. “Sometimes, I wonder why I bother with you. Then I remember you’re the only family member that actually is similar to me. Our family is full of bullshit, and you know that as much as I do.” I nod, sitting back in my seat. “I understand you don’t want to be here. I get it, and for your great work lately, I am rewarding you with a little trip.”
I perk up curious, but then I notice an odd change in his mannerisms. “What’s that? What are you getting ready to lie to me about?”
Ettore laughs, shaking his head. “Damn you’re good, and that’s why I’m doing this. I need you to go away for a while until I take care of something. I wish you would just go and not ask me questions, but I know you better than that, so I’m going to be honest with you. Somehow, the police think you’re involved in Olsen’s murder.”
I sit up with wide eyes. “I thought you said everything was taken care of, that everything was wiped clean?”
“It was. There is no evidence that you were ever even there, but someone knew you were there and is setting you up. I don’t know how you made enemies so quickly, but you did, and apparently, a very serious one because the police are listening to whoever it is and they are trying to build a case against you or rather make up evidence against you.”
“That’s crazy. Who would hate me that much?”
“I don’t know, Dace, but please take my plane and leave with one of my guards and stay put until I tell you to come back. I need some time to investigate this closer and remove the threat.”
“You know who it is, so tell me. Who is it Ettore?”
“You don’t need to know that right now. All you need to know is that you are in danger, and I need you to leave right now for your own good. It shouldn’t be long before my people can have this taken care of. While you’re there, you can relax at my home on the beach. Enjoy yourself, but make sure while you’re there you don’t contact anyone. I can’t have you alerting people to where you are until I take care of this.”
“Wow Ettore, are you being nice to me? I didn’t know that was possible for you. Why should I believe you? Maybe this is a set up?”
He sits back, sighing. “You need to trust me, Dace. Whatever you have been told about me is a lie, and I will prove it to you, but for now, I need you to use that incredible instinct of yours and realize that I am helping you.”
“If this is true and you trust me, then I need you to do something for me—approve something for me when I get back. Then, let me go back to my friends and live my life the way I want to. I don’t want to be a part of this business, Ettore. I want to dictate my own life without worrying who is trying to stab me in the back,” I say, leaning forward and hoping that maybe Ettore really is out to protect me. If I can get him to be on my side, then I can convince him to trust my relationship with Austin is not a threat to him.
“I really would prefer you here with me, but if you can promise me that you will stay here long enough for me to get our father to fully step down and hand me the reigns then I promise to approve whatever life you want to live. Now, what are you doing?” Ettore snarls at me.
“Nothing, why?”
“Stop the damn smiling. I swear you look like a human Snoopy.” Now, I roll my eyes. “Just go, and by the way, my plane will be ready to take you out of here in an hour, so don’t take time deciding on your favorite outfits to pack.”
“An hour?! Ettore how am I supposed to be ready to go by then?”
“Fuck Dace! What exactly do you need to do?” he yells, but I can’t say why I need more time, not yet, so I give in and accept the time frame. “Oh, and Barrett is going with you. He’s packed and waiting for you outside. I have made sure he understands that you’re not to leave his sight. You may think you’re fine with taking care of yourself, but I’m not.”
“Ettore! I swear I can take care …”
“Of yourself! I know! I have heard you say it a million fucking times, but you can forget trying to persuade me to leave you alone like you did with Father. You’re too valuable to me right now.” I glance his way, and he looks up. “Oh and also because you’re my brother and shit.” I sigh. “Go, and don’t worry. Barrett is only going to stand guard; he’s not going to sleep in your bed. Please feel free to fill that spot with whomever you like.”
“Thanks,” I say, walking out and meeting Barrett immediately. I try to find a way to text or call Austin, but fucking Barrett won’t give me any kind of breathing room as he constantly reminds me of the time and our destination time. I decide to go with him and explain everything to her when I get back.
Chapter 23
Austin
I couldn’t be more on top of the world when my father calls me in a panic and asks me to see him. It’s never a good thing when my father calls me, but when he asks me to see him, it can only be something horrible. Dreading the possibilities, my curiosity forces me to go to our old family home, despite the unknown. I walk into the house and find my father sitting in the dark, crying.
I rush to his side and grab his hand. “Dad?! Oh my God what’s wrong? What happened?”
“I’m so sorry, Austin. I am. I just can’t help myself.”
“What are you talking about, what did you do?” I ask, suddenly noticing the wrecked house and the papers thrown across the room. I find myself picking up betting forms, past due bills, and even a foreclosure note on the house. “What did you do? What did you do?!” He buries his head under his arms, but he can’t hide from me. I grab his arms and jerk him up to look at me. “What did you do, you stupid old man?!”
“I tried to win it back, but the only one who would give me any money to try was a man named Beringer, and as it turns out, he works for Colletto. Michael Colletto helped me the first time for a trade of favors.” I stare at him in disbelief. “Yes, I gave him my support for office and …”
“And me!”
He holds his shaky hand up to me as if he is asking for forgiveness. “I have only been setting up meetings and encouraging the relationship. I did not promise anything, but now, things have changed.”
“What things have changed, and where is Aaron? Why call me and not your favored son?”
“Because they have him.” My body goes weak, and my father stumbles to my side to support me. “I called him to meet me some place safe, but when he got there with Billy, they ambushed them.”
I push away from him. “Where’s Aaron?” I am barely able to breathe.
“They took him. They shot Billy and took Aaron to force me to find the money any way I could. Billy is in a coma, and I don’t know where Aaron is. They have friends everywhere. I am not even sure they are going to allow Billy to live. We can’t say anything. We have to just let the police think they walked in on a drug deal that went bad.”
“How much do you owe?”
“Too much for you to handle on your own. But if you go to Michael and ask him to give you another chance, then maybe …”
I shove him away from me. “Are you insane?”
“It’s your brother’s best chance, Austin. We need the money and who else can talk a Colletto into surrendering a man but another Colletto.” Shaking my head, I step away from him, holding my weighted head and heavy heart. “Austin, you have the power to get your brother back safely and save this house that your mother loved.”
“Why did they take Aaron? He’s a cop. That’s a huge mistake. Ettore will have every cop in the city after him. Not to mention the chief’s son?”
“We can’t tell them why, or who, all we can do is let them spin in circles looking for him. They think he’s dead. They have fake leads pointing to some small time drug dealers. We have to let them continue on believing that; otherwise, I will lose everything.”
“You’re worried about your own skin right now? You got him into this, and you are worried about yourself?!”
“I am worried about both of your futures. What do you think it will do to you both if anyone finds out?” One look in his direction, and he knows my answer to that question. “Fine, but do you really think anyone can touch Ettore, right now? It will only lead to someone who covers for him. It will only lead to Aaron being killed with no chance of ever bringing the person to justice for it.” The silence doesn’t help me think any clearer. My brother’s face keeps flashing in front of me while Dace’s image begs me to consider other options.