She looked in her rear view mirror to make sure Diavolo wasn’t right behind her. But when she met her own eyes in the mirror, she couldn’t help but cry harder. No, Caterina didn’t see hope when she looked at her self. She never saw hope, and she doubted she ever would. There was no god, there was no hope.
The New Council, they were her only choice. She wondered what they would do when a human showed up asking for sanctuary. She had always had protection from Adolfo, now she was going into the wolfs den, literally with no protection. She only hoped they were as human as they seemed
Excerpt from Dangerous Series Off Limits
Prologue
Phoebe walked quietly down the corridor to her boss’s office. Well, he was her half-brother, but he didn't know that. She would never tell him either. He was a pig, and his brother, Sam, was worse. After she found out that she belonged to this family, she had been heartbroken. Her biological mother died a year ago. Phoebe plotted and planned for the last year, reinventing herself and setting up a new identity. The seedy places she went to actually accomplish her tasks made her feel sick even now.
She dreamed of a joyous reunion, with hugs and kisses, when she discovered she was adopted years ago, most adopted children do. What she got was far from what she dreamed, and unfortunately, Phoebe never could let things go. Her father was a mob boss, and brothers little Mini Me’s of him. The Digrossi family had so many secrets hidden in their closet; she didn't know what to expect next. It was scary.
Mary Stone applied for a job as a personal secretary. Her alias passed the background check, thankfully, and she stepped into her new identity. Mary started her first day with the intention of getting information to destroy the family who killed her mother. What she found was vastly different, she discovered brothers and sisters, and piles of incriminating files that could keep the government busy for years. It scared the shit out of her, the levels of corruption that were documented. She refused to believe at first that they were involved in so many illegal activities. But after checking and rechecking the logs she received, she knew that it was true. She was an accountant and a computer nerd. She had been trained at the best school her adoptive parents could provide. And she knew numbers. Theirs did not add up.
The amount of money that transferred through their company daily, being laundered, and then hidden in an off-shore account, was staggering. After being transferred, it looked like it split off into several other accounts owned by well-known officials and family members. Who knew that many people held off-shore accounts? It would take her weeks to actually figure this out, and she didn't think she had that long.
This whole ruse had been set-up so she could get revenge, but it turned out to be so much more. Although her intentions were still the same. They had killed her mother because she asked a few questions for her. Phoebe made the mistake after hearing her mother's story, wondering about other siblings. Her biological mother had been out of contact with her past life, and so she made a few calls. It got her killed.
Her birth mother explained to her about her father. How he tried manipulating her into giving him the child she was carrying to raise. He was married, which should have been her first clue as to what kind of scum he was. But Tami Shoen, her mother, had been young and stupid, believing everything the asshole told her. Until the fateful day she ran away, that was a truly frightening day. Even as Tami explained it to her, Phoebe became incensed with rage.
Tami planned a romantic dinner, ready to tell her lover the child she carried was the product of their love. Senior Digrossi did not respond as she expected. At first he had been pissed, telling Tami she needed to have an abortion. And when she refused, he then said his wife would raise the child when it was born. Of course when she refused he slapped her, demanding that she obey him. Instead, Tami ran. Now that she knew, it was hard to think of the Digrossi's as her family. They were the family who destroyed her chance at finding a happily ever after.
Her adoptive parents had not approved of what she wanted to do when she left home. They wanted a perfect, little girl who followed the rules and went to parties and made them look good. That was totally not her. So she looked for her biological mother; she needed someone to connect to.
When she found her, Phoebe had been thrilled. She was nice and caring, and told her the truth about her father. When her mother died, she knew it was because she had begun to ask questions, someone had felt threatened.
Chapter 1
Blake and Shane were sitting in the coffee shop that Phoebe came to every morning. They had been watching her and knew her routine down to the last minute. The girl was on a mission. They had all been wrong. Phoebe knew that her birth father was dirty, and she was trying to find out the same thing they were. They just didn't know why.
Blake broke into her house, planted a bug, and searched her computer. She wasn't storing anything or making notes, but she did have Andre and Rex’s name. They assumed she was trying to find the rest of her family.
Shane and Blake had been surprised when they saw her for the first time. She was a mousy, little girl who probably only came up to their chins. She dressed like a matron; they didn't know if that was her style or if she was playing a game. Looking in her closet and underwear drawer, they figured that she wasn't playing a game. But the picture that her adoptive parents had showed a completely different girl. They could not figure out for the life of them what the hell she was doing.
Shane saw her for the first time when he posed as a delivery man and went right into Digrossi’s office. She looked up at him with her big, brown eyes that were hidden by the large framed glasses, and he was lost. When he returned to Blake and told him about his reaction, Blake demanded to see her.
He went and waited outside the office building until she came out, and then he followed her home. Walking with his raging hard-on had been difficult. When she first stepped out wearing her business suit that was cut modestly, his cock stirred to life. Her skirt was below her knees and she wore sneakers, carrying what looked like old lady pumps. When she tripped over the curb and almost fell over, he wanted to run and grab her, but he held back. It was too soon, and they knew nothing about her.
For three weeks now, they watched her and made sure she was safe. Rex and Drew gave them the okay last night to make contact with her. That conversation had been a little odd. Shane told Rex that they would bring Phoebe in tonight, but they wanted him to know that they fully intended on convincing her to stay with them. She was the one they had been looking for. Now it was time to claim their woman.
Rex warned them about going slow. She was his sister and needed time to adjust to what they were going to tell her. Blake assured him that they would, but she needed to know that she was their responsibility. After a brief argument about where they were going to take her, finally Rex relented and said they should take her directly to their cabin. He wanted her to stay at the main house at first, so she could get used to her surroundings.
Shane had been the one to point out that if Rex were in their shoes, it would be a different story. Shane had always been the calmer one. Blake was more reactive. When he wanted something, he went for it.
They were large men; all of their best friends were. They used to work for the FBI in covert affairs, so they had to keep in shape. Just recently, they found themselves retiring and going into business with their friends. Not that they needed it, all six of them were independently wealthy. Thanks to the wonder twins; that's what they called Shane and Blake. They joined the agency when they were fresh out of MIT. They had been roommates and recruited to the cyber division of the FBI. Blake and Shane could hack any database. They also had an infinity for numbers; they invested all of their money and won big. They made a pact after the first million, all the money was put into joint Swiss bank accounts. They were to use it if they got in trouble on a mission, and for retirement. They had all decided a long time ago that they would retire together. They were a family.
The minute that Rex and Drew found
Jazz; they knew she was the one. All of them found that they liked to share their women. Over the years, they had all paired off and begun to search for the woman that they would spend the rest of their lives with. It was difficult, considering up until the last few weeks, they were all still active agents. Jazz led them to Lily; Bear and Trent knew she would be theirs. That left Blake and Shane, they asked for the mission to find Phoebe to get away from the reminder that their friends had found their women. Never would they have suspected that they would find theirs.
Although Shane and Blake were computer nerds, you wouldn’t know it to look at them. They both stood about six-four, and were trim and sturdy. Blake had bleach blonde, shiny hair, and Shane had shiny, caramel brown hair. Their faces were similar in that they were sculpted and angular, with long, regal noses and green eyes. They drew female attention wherever they went. Not that they weren't interested. But they had a specific kind of woman they were attracted to. Phoebe fit the bill.
She was small and petite with brown hair, and didn't seem to notice her beauty. She wasn't like all the other women who stood in front of a mirror and made their faces up to perfection. Neither of the men liked heavily made-up women. She had brown hair that was always up in a ponytail. Blake longed to pull it out and run his hands through it. The thought made him hard.
“So, what do you think?” Blake said to his best friend.
“Man, I can’t wait. We have to be perfect,” Shane said and looked across the street at the door their woman would exit in a few hours.
“She already knows about Rex. When she gets home, we knock on the door and just hand her the phone. Rex said he would take care of it. She may be a little scared, but I bet when Rex is done, she will be willing to leave with us,” Blake said.
“You hacked into Junior’s computer this morning. What did you find?” Shane asked. They had both been involved in hacking this morning and had yet to talk about it. Blake took the oldest son’s and Shane the old man's. Shane didn't find much. The old man was in jail, so he hadn't used it in months. But someone had. He would bet it was the dumbasses from the FBI they hired to replace him and Blake. Whoever it was left a trail. Shane hadn't had time to follow it yet.
“He is a sick fuck. That's what I found out,” Blake said quietly. “You should have seen the shit he looks at on his computer. Man, I almost lost my breakfast.”
“He got that from his dad. They probably share the same twisted mind. I swear I thought I had seen it all. But this shit? Wow. I can’t wait until Phoebe is away from that filth. She has no clue what she’s gotten into. Thank God her background checked out. I don’t know what I would have done if she had been dirty,” Shane said grimly.
“Yeah, well, getting her out is gonna be what’s best. She's been snooping in files. I found her trail—she's good but not that good. She's looking for evidence and also for her brothers and sisters. She found the kill list. I think it freaked her a little, but at least they don’t know about her yet. But they're getting close. Junior has started to do research on all of his father’s mistresses,” Drake said. “He wants to eliminate the competition before he kills dear old daddy.”
Shane nodded and looked across the street again. Phoebe stepped out of the door, and he straightened. She was wearing her normal work clothes, and he smiled. She looked like she was fifty instead of being in her mid twenties. She wore a brown tweed suit and ugly, brown shoes. Her hair was pulled back into her normal pony tail. She carried her lunch just like every other day. She walked towards the park that was in between them. That’s why they picked this Starbucks. They would be able to watch her without moving too much. She kept her head down, walked to her normal park bench, and sat down. Shane chuckled when she opened the brown bag she carried. It reminded him of a child’s school lunch.
Blake had looked in the bag the last time he broke in. She made her lunch every night before she went to bed. It was a PB&J with the crust cut off and a bag of Lays chips. In her bag she carried a small bottle of water. She was so predictable it was scary. Blake and Shane had discussed the fact that she was in danger just from her predictability. Anyone could watch her for a day and get down her habits.
Shane laughed and smiled when she dropped her bag on the ground and huffed frustrated. She must be having a bad day. Today would be the last bad day she had if he had anything to do about it. Blake moved his chair around until he could see her too. They watched in silence as she did her normal routine. Blake pulled out his cell phone and called Rex again.
“Rex, hey, we're taking her after work so we don’t raise any suspicions,” he said into the phone, and Shane nodded.
“We're ready,” his friend’s gruff tone said into the phone. “Make sure she knows you are friends of mine. Maybe that will at least stop her from screaming bloody murder until you get here. If she thinks she's being kidnapped, she may try to attract attention.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. We already have a plan,” Blake said into the phone and smiled.
He finished his conversation and hung up. Blake rubbed his hands together and smiled. “Finally.”
Shane chuckled and looked at his friend. “Yeah, finally.”
***
There was that feeling again, she thought, and looked when she threw away her lunch. Someone was watching her. She walked slowly to the entrance of her building and then paused and glanced behind her. No one.
Shaking off her feelings, she walked back into the building to finish up her work and get the hell out of there. Today was the day she left, she had enough information; Phoebe just had to find someone to give it to.
She walked into her office and stored her purse under her desk so she could slip the drive out and back in without anyone noticing. Phoebe became good at it; so far, she had downloaded hundreds of documents the bosses would be pissed about if they found out. She refused to let up though. She needed one last document to make sure she had it all to tie together.
Looking around and smiling politely at the other people surrounding her; none of them realized or cared who they worked for, she thought. It was terrifying to think this many people would work for a mob boss and his sons. The rumors were floating around the office the boss, who had been arrested already, was still calling the shots. If she had been working here for any other reason than what she was, she would have quit. Her morals would never allow her to work for these type of men.
Glancing around the office, she bent over and pushed the small drive into the USB slot. Now to finish what she started, then she was going to go and find her brothers. After researching them, she had discovered that they were honorable men. She knew they would help her. One was in the FBI, and the other was a lawyer who had blown his father's cover and had him arrested.
The file she was looking for was protected. She was able to crack the encryption fairly easily; it contained the bank accounts all the company's illegal activities went to. There was also a list of people that were paid to do different jobs (she assumed that the police would want to know who these animals had killed). They had a list. It wasn’t even very inventive. The file was called the Kill List, which is where she found her brother's names, as well as her mother's. She had been shocked.
While she knew that her birth mother had been killed under suspicious circumstances, but to see in black and white that they had hired some guy named Rocco to kill her, seemed unreal. Where the heck do they come up with these names anyway?
Phoebe looked around and then slipped the drive back into her purse in the side area she had torn out for a hiding spot. When she sat back up, she could see a large, scary man walking toward her with intent. Oh crap, she thought, and sank back into her chair and waited. She knew it was a crap shoot if someone would find out she had been copying things. When the beefy man stood in front of her desk he said, "Mr. Digrossi would like to speak to you."
Phoebe nodded and quickly gathered her things and took them with her. At least if they were going to search her, she would know if they found the drive in fro
nt of her. Then she could try to explain that she was taking work home. The files she had copied were encrypted on her drive as well; unless they had a smarter computer geek than her, they would never get inside it. Looking at how easy it was to get into the files herself, she knew they didn't have anyone quite as smart as she was working here.
This is when she hated that she had been so smart growing up. Her adoptive parents were very cold. She had never wanted for anything in her life, but when it came to affection, she was starved for it. They tried, but when they adopted her, they thought they couldn't have children. When her adoptive mother found herself pregnant with their own child, they had already completed the adoption. Phoebe knew if they hadn’t signed the papers, they would have given her back. As it was, she was a token child; they had to show how generous they were.
Phoebe made the most of it though. She went to school, and when they learned how smart she was, they put her in accelerated classes, and touted how their daughter, who had come from nothing, had been allowed to flourish under their care. She couldn't count the times she heard her adoptive mother say that if they had never adopted her, Phoebe would have turned out to be a criminal.
When she turned eighteen and they gave her a trust fund, she had thanked them and left. Never contacted them again. She felt bad about taking the money, but she had needed it to make sure she could start a new life. So she had bought a new name and made a new life and researched her biological family.
When she found her birth mother, Tami Shoen, she had been excited, they had met several times, and Phoebe finally thought she found someone who would love her for who she was. They talked about her birth, and she had been surprised to hear that she had been given up in order to protect her. Tami explained who her father really was, and Phoebe had been horrified when she heard all the things he had done, including trying to kill his own children.