CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

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- NOW -

“COME ON, MARIO,” a cajoling voice said through the speakers. I recognized it immediately.

It was Uncle Luke.

I felt a flash of fury at the sound of his voice. He’d seen me suffer for weeks, pretending to be sympathetic and concerned when Dad had first gone missing. The whole time he’d known exactly where Dad was and what had happened to him. I couldn’t believe that he’d had the audacity to show his face around me, day in and day out, for all those weeks. I'd known him since I was a kid. I'd trusted and leaned on him. How the hell did someone like that even live with themselves? The confirmation of his betrayal cut deep.

“No, Luke,” Dad said, his words quiet but sure. “My mistake was ever trusting you”

I trembled and shook in my seat at the sound of his voice, a silent tear making its way down my face. It had been so long since I'd last heard him speak. I thought I’d never hear his voice again.

I couldn’t imagine what Kellan was going through, being so close to him. I prayed fervently that he stayed silent and didn’t make any rash decisions. He was hopelessly outnumbered.

“Think about April–“ Luke said, my name sending a jolt through me. How dare he. How fucking dare he.

“Don’t pretend you care. Don’t you ever fucking speak her name.” Dad practically growled. I sat back, blinking rapidly. I could count on one hand the number of times I'd heard him swear in my life. It was just not something he did. But I was glad to hear his anger. Glad to hear the fight in him. With any luck, it meant that his situation wasn’t too bleak and that he really was okay.

My cell phone lit up on the desk, beginning to vibrate. It was Axel, trying to Skype me. I turned it off quickly, not wanting to miss a second of what was going on at the warehouse.

There was a moment of silence through the speakers, and I could only imagine the silent hostility in the air. My heart was hammering in my chest, and I was so aware of how quickly things could change for Dad. In the space of a second, his safety could easily be put on the line. I didn’t put anything past Uncle Luke – not anymore.

“Mario, we’re working on the same side here,” Luke tried again, his voice turning silvery.

“No, we’re not.” Dad’s words were biting. “You’ve been a part of this for years, right from the start. God Luke, is that why you joined the force in the first place? I never asked, never really wanted to know.”

There was a heavy pause, only broken by the static making its way through the speakers.

“You were in college, Mario, and where was I? I was headed nowhere fast. The family helped me get into the academy. I'd probably still be trailer trash, working for less than minimum wage. If it weren’t for Antonio, I wouldn’t be the Chief of Police. I wouldn’t be where I am now. I owe him. I owe Cosa Nostra everything.”

“And what about your loyalty to the force? To me?” Dad said, his voice hard and unforgiving. “You dragged me into this mess. You were the one who helped me get my license and a firearm permit. You encouraged me to quit my job and take up bounty hunting. It was all premeditated. I took all your advice, believing you had my best interests in mind. But you intended, right from the fucking start, to get me to join the LSG.”

“Mario, what else were you going to do?” Luke said placatingly. “Slave away and barely keep your head above water? I helped you get in the clear. You’d be paying off Louise’s hospital bills for the next decade if it wasn’t for me.”

“And it would have been preferable to this mess.” Dad’s voice was aggressive. “Why the hell are you here, Luke? Why now, when you haven’t shown yourself in front of me for weeks?”

I felt a small measure of relief that he hadn’t had to spend the whole time he’d been gone in the presence of a friend who’d turned around and betrayed him.

“Where’s the USB, Mario? Our men searched that office of yours from top to bottom. I searched it myself and didn’t find a single thing. We kept our end of the bargain. We promised that April wouldn’t be there when we searched, but you haven’t held up your end,” Luke said, voice turning unpleasant.

For a moment, I was really confused. Then realization set in. Had those two guys that had broken in told their bosses that they hadn’t found the flash drive? I understood how it might have been more preferable to telling them they’d found it and lost it. I couldn’t imagine that going over well. Is that what had happened? Had those guys been acting on their own when they’d broken into Kellan’s apartment?

Kellan and I had been so sure that the LSG had known, that they’d tracked us to his apartment to retrieve the flash drive. But maybe it hadn’t been the whole of the LSG that was looking for us.

“Is that why they brought you in? They thought you’d be the one to get information out of me?” Dad chuckled harshly. “They couldn’t have been more wrong.”

He wasn’t saying anything, I realized. He wasn’t assuring them that the flash drive had been in his office. Maybe he’d guessed that I’d found it. He wouldn’t point them towards me.

“Come on, Mario. We were good friends–“ Luke started.

“We were never friends,” Dad snapped. “I should never have trusted you, should have known when our cases kept getting away so easily that something was going on.”

“I gave you the opportunity to join us. You refused,” Luke said. He’d refused? Questions I'd had for so long were finally being brought out into the open, but so far they were serving only to confuse me further. “You wanted to carry on with bounty hunting – slave pay – compared to what we could have done for you. And now, after everything we have done for you, you bring this down on our heads.”

“You are not the wronged party here, Luke. I believed you were my friend. I thought that you had helped me out so much, and in turn, I'd be sending you to prison.” Dad’s voice shook. “And what did I receive for my indecision? A death threat, but more than that, threats to hurt my daughter, and to recruit a vulnerable boy, barely an adult, to your side.”

I swallowed hard. Were they talking about Kellan? Was he even still there? He could have planted the bugs and left, but somehow I knew, just knew, that he was still there. He wouldn’t have been able to leave, not after hearing, maybe even seeing, Dad.

“I did you all a favor,” Luke said softly. I had to strain my ears to hear him. “I know how much it devastated you that April couldn’t go to college. The rate those bills were piling up, and the interest on all the loans you’d taken out... you’d never have gotten out of that shithole of an apartment, let alone sent April to college. Kellan had nothing going for him–”

I winced at that. Kellan was most likely right there, listening to everything alongside me.

“He had everything going for him!” Dad roared, and I flinched back a little from the computer. I was glad to hear him defend Kellan, but fearful, too. Despite their previous friendship, Luke was now Dad’s captor. I didn’t know what he’d do to Dad if he was angered. “And I would have worked myself to the ground, rather than have accepted a dime from you. Money wasn’t why I joined, and you bloody know it.”

Had Dad joined the LSG... because of us?

“What do you want me to say?” Luke was getting antsy, I could hear it in his voice. “It was better than the alternative. There were some that wanted me to just get rid of you–“

I sucked in a sharp breath at the thought of that happening. A world without Dad in it was a world I couldn’t imagine living in.

“Get rid of me?” Dad’s voice was almost sad, and it cut through me like a blade. “You say it like you’re talking about throwing out an old pair of jeans. Were you ever truly my friend?”

“–but I didn’t listen. Instead, I got you to see what would happen if you didn’t join. I got you to see the benefits,” Luke insisted.

“Keeping my daughter alive? Keeping Kellan out of your clutches? Yeah, I saw the benefits,” Dad said, the vehemence behind the last word strong.

It sounded as though years of bottled up thoughts and feelings were finally coming to the surface in this conversation. There was righteous anger on Dad’s part, and an uncomfortable denial on Luke’s.

“You can’t accuse me of going back on my word,” Luke said, his voice fluctuating through the speakers. It sounded as though he was moving around, perhaps pacing. “Kellan was never recruited. You and April are alive and fine–”

“Only after I promised to join,” Dad retorted. “Only after it benefited you.”

I bit my lip hard, feeling faint. He really had done it for us... for me, and for Kellan.

“The last laugh is still on you, Mario. What do you think is going to happen if the USB isn’t found? You’ll end up behind bars for your part in it all, and that’s if you don’t end up dead before that. What do you really stand to gain?” Luke was derisive.

“The knowledge that I did the right thing,” Dad said simply. “That I did what I had to do to make things right.”

More tears trickled down my face. I would have given anything in that moment to be able to see him. Guilt, for ever having doubted him, weighed heavily on my chest. I'd spend the rest of my life making it up to him if I could.

I prayed that I was given that chance.

“You were always too proud, Mario, and that’ll be your downfall.” There was scorn in Luke’s voice.

“Pride had nothing to do with it. I hated feeling like a criminal,” Dad said, self-loathing clear behind his words. It hurt to hear it. “I’m just sorry that it took you wanting to recruit Chambers – a rapist – to get me to finally do something. He deserved to rot behind bars, and you wanted to give him a way out, an opportunity to do it all over again.”

“That was very stupid of you, Mario,” Luke said, sounding closer than ever before. I tried to tamp down the alarm mounting within me at his proximity to the bug and perhaps to Kellan. “You should have known that we’d find out if our computers were breached.”

“My only regret is the pain my daughter must be feeling at my disappearance,” Dad said finally, the first hint of emotion in his voice. I swallowed hard, the ache in my chest almost unbearable.

“Enough of this chit-chat,” Luke said, realizing that a heart-to-heart wasn’t going to endear him to Dad. “Where is the USB, Mario?”

“Why the fuck is he even still here?” Another voice joined the conversation, jarring me. I'd almost forgotten that they weren’t the only ones inside the warehouse. “He obviously ain’t gonna tell us shit,” the unpleasant voice said.

“Mario, what have we done to deserve this?” Luke implored. “You’re out of debt. You have a beautiful house that’s fully paid for. We did this for you.”

“I'm not stupid enough to think that I’ll be getting back to any of it if I cooperate,” Dad scoffed and I heard something that sounded like a chair being pulled back.

“But what about that blonde bombshell of a daughter? How about we pay her a little visit?” the other voice said. I stiffened in my seat.

Dad didn't say anything for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was laced with rage. “You wouldn’t fucking dare.”

There was a sharp sound, flesh hitting flesh. A groan of pain from Dad. The few bites of dinner I'd had threatened to rise back to the surface.

“How do you think Frankie and his men are going to react?” Luke said, taking a different route. I had no idea who this Frankie person was, and I didn’t particularly care to find out. “They won’t take this lying down, especially as that USB has information about them on it. You think we’re bad? We’ve got nothing on them. They’ve been doing this for decades, and another generation before them. They will destroy you.”

That didn’t sound good. In fact, it sounded downright awful. We needed to get both Dad and Kellan the hell out of there.

I lowered the volume on the computer, though it nearly killed me to do so. Skimming through my contact list, I found Nathan’s number, grateful that I'd taken the time to program it in. It rang a few times before he picked up.

“Yes?” he said tersely.

I remembered at the last second that I wasn’t supposed to know what was going on in the warehouse. “Hasn’t it been a while since he went in? You need to get him out of there.”

“I'm already on it.” His words were clipped. “A diversion is being set up right now.”

Without another word, he hung up. I stared at my phone for a second, before turning the volume on the speakers right back up.

“... despicable. Prostitution. Murder.” My eyes widened at the turn the conversation had taken. “They will have no qualms, Mario. Tony’s kept it quite, not wanting to alarm anyone, but you will be as good as dead if they find out. You were relatively safe at Tony’s, but men are constantly coming and going here. Anyone can slip into this room if they were so inclined. And believe me, if they learn what you’ve done, they’ll be lining up to get to you.”

If he wasn’t scaring Dad, he sure as hell was doing a good job frightening me.

There was a bang, the sound of a short scuffle. My heart jumped to my throat.

“What the hell was that?” another voice said. I heard keys jingle and a door close. There was silence through the speakers, the slight static filtering through letting me know that the microphone was still working, but little else. I could only hope that Kellan had left the bugs there after successfully attaching one to a power supply, and had left the warehouse.

I called a taxi and waited impatiently for it to arrive on the main road. The only reason I'd managed to pry myself away from the computer had been because of the silence coming through the speakers. Even though everything was being automatically recorded and backed up onto Phoenix’s computer system, I probably still wouldn't have been able to drag myself away. The chance that I'd miss hearing Dad's voice – perhaps for the last time – was almost too much to bear. My worry over Kellan's unanswered calls, and the mounting quiet coming through the speaker, had finally gotten the best of me.

I hadn’t left Phoenix’s house without Kellan before so I hadn’t had the chance to miss my car, or find its absence inconvenient. Until now.

I fidgeted the whole way to the meeting point where the vans were parked, my knee bouncing up and down the whole time.

Kellan’s cell phone had gone straight to voicemail, obviously switched off. It had been a long shot, knowing he wouldn’t have taken it into the warehouse with him, but I'd tried just in case. Nathan hadn’t picked up either when I tried to call him again. The unanswered calls did little to settle my nerves, and I was close to a break down by the time the taxi dropped me off a block away from the vans. If I found Kellan there, he’d be receiving a sharp jab in the ribs for not calling me.

When I rounded the corner five minutes later, I saw Kellan immediately. He was sitting down in one of the vans, the door open. A strand of dark hair fell into his face as he leaned his elbow on a knee. He looked tense and on edge. Relief filled me at the sight of him. He was here. He was okay.

He jumped up when he saw me, putting his drink down. He seemed to hesitate a little, but I didn't. I collapsed into his arms, wanting to smile and cry and kick him all at the same time. 

“You’re here."

“I am,” he murmured, stroking my hair. I pulled back a little and stepped hard on his foot. He winced – though he didn’t look too surprised. It was the hug that he hadn’t seen coming.

“You could have called me!” I said indignantly, but I was too relieved to be truly angry. For a moment, I was reminded of the many stupid fights and pointless arguments we’d gotten into, back when we were both still teenagers, living under the same roof.

“He’s alive, April. He’s alive,” Kellan said, voice filled with wonder.

“I know. I heard you. Phoenix had everything connected in his den. I heard Dad. I heard him speak,” I said, still marveling that I’d gotten that chance.

“You’re not angry?” His eyes searched my face.

“Angry?” I said blankly. “Why would I be angry?”

“I couldn’t get him out.” His face was torn. “I had to leave or they would have found me. We’ll get him out, though. We will,” he said, determination filling his face.

“Of course we will. I'm just glad you got out okay. There wasn’t anything else you could have done,” I told him, realizing that Kellan was shouldering some guilt for leaving Dad in the warehouse. “Did you see him?” I asked, throat tight.

He shook his head. “I couldn’t get close enough to the room he was in.”

“How did you manage to get out?” I asked.

Nathan cleared his throat. I pulled away from Kellan, having forgotten, for the moment, that Nathan was also there.

“Trace arranged for a... small diversion outside the warehouse.”

“All I heard was an impressive racket outside. It was enough to distract them, and I managed to slip away.” Kellan swallowed hard, looking at me. “I would have gotten him out, if I could have.”

“I know that,” I said softly. I hadn’t even let myself hope that Kellan had somehow managed to get Dad out. However, now that we knew where he was, I wouldn’t let another minute go to waste.

Dad was alive. That was the main thing. It hung in the air between us – a silent ray of hope.

I turned to Nathan, straightening my shoulders.

* * *

“We’re going in tomorrow. Our goal is to get Mario Mansten out of the building, and to arrest as many individuals on the property as we can. A SWAT team will go in first to liquidize any threats. You'll be there as a backup of sorts–" there was a stir in the room, nobody seemed to like that very much, "–to make sure that nobody manages to get away. The warehouse will be on immediate lock down afterwards with only a few select seniors going in to view the place and catalogue the possessions inside,” Nathan said to the room at large. It had taken a lot of phone calls and a lot of hustling about, but a plan had finally been made. “Kellan, any words?”

He shook his head, hair falling into his face. “The only thing I noticed was that one of the exits, the one at the back, was blocked off.” He pointed at a spot on one of the floor plans, his face dark and thoughtful. "There were piles of boxes stacked in front of the door. They could be gone by tomorrow, but we can't know for sure.”

Nathan nodded seriously, turning to Max, who'd shown up about half an hour ago with a few other guys, a bloody bandage on his face. He'd shrugged cheerfully enough when I'd exclaimed at the sight of him, so I assumed it wasn’t too serious.

"There were a number of men at the exchange tonight. Most weren't even helping with the shipment – I guess Tony wanted a good show of force. He was there himself, with a man named Frankie,” Max told us. Frankie. I'd heard the name before, a few hours ago, through the speakers. “Frankie had quite a few blokes with him tonight, way more than us, more men than probably the whole LSG. He was in charge of the shipment, and was giving out orders left and right.”

Nathan nodded, turning to the rest of us. “Many of them will talk to avoid prison time – especially the cops who will not have an easy time of it in there,” Nathan said with relish. There were similarly pleased murmurs around the van and from the guys gathered by the open door. “Anyone not there tomorrow, I'm confident we can track down later.”

He turned to Trace, who straightened his jacket. “I think that’s it. Any questions?"

There were headshakes from everyone.

“We'll be moving as fast as we can. Go home and rest, we'll be meeting back here at fourteen-hundred, and we go in at eighteen-hundred on the dot. That seems like the busiest time of day. We’ll get that bastard Antonio Rossi back behind bars.”

“And this time,” Trace said with quiet conviction, “it’ll be for good.”

* * *

“This time tomorrow, it could all be over. We could have Dad back,” I said, hardly able to comprehend it. "It seems too good to be true."

“I can’t believe I missed everything. I was only gone a few hours,” Phoenix said, shaking his head in amazement. He’d just gotten back from his date about half an hour ago, and we’d all listened to the recording on the computer in fast forward. Not one word had been spoken since I'd left – though occasionally the sound of closing doors and operating machinery came through the speakers.

“More like several hours,” I said, looking at the clock on the wall.

“I guess the date went well, then?” Kellan asked, smiling good-naturedly.

“Yeah, it did.” He blushed to the tips of his ears. “But still.... I'm gonna miss having you guys around.”

“We’ll come and visit all the time,” I told Phoenix encouragingly. “And you’ll have to venture out of your den every now and then.”

“I will.” He looked determined.

"Do you and Poppy have another date planned?” I asked curiously.

“She’s coming over for lunch tomorrow. She'll be working for the rest of the day," Phoenix told us, looking a little bashful.

I beamed. “That’s awesome! I'm so glad that you both hit it off.”

“Me, too,” Phoenix said, smiling. He checked the time, a yawn interrupting his smile. “I should head up to bed. I didn’t sleep a wink last night.”

There was a short silence after he left. Bracing myself, I turned towards Kellan. He was already looking at me, his stare smoldering and intense. I moved closer to him, watching the greys of his eyes darken to considerable depths.

“You’ll come and see me, won’t you?” I asked, Phoenix’s question having raised one of my own. Once this was over, and Dad was back, would things go back to how they were before?

“Nothing will keep me away,” he promised, his eyes never leaving mine.

My breath hitched in my throat as he leaned towards me. His warm hands moved my hair behind my ear, lingering at my neck. He kissed me slowly at first, but it built up in intensity, until we were both breathless.

His jaw was clenched, his arms tense as though he was trying his hardest to gain some semblance of control.

“Why do you do that? You pulled back before, too,” I whispered, biting my lip as soon as the words left my mouth. His gaze lingered there, and despite my uncertainty, heat pooled deep in my gut. 

"I respect your Dad a lot," he said, slowly.

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" I asked, mystified. 

"We haven’t even been on a date,” he said, eyes on mine. “I wouldn’t... I want to do this right. I want a relationship with you.”

“You do?” My heart was hammering in my chest now.

His laugh was breathless as he shook his head. His hand moved slowly, deliberately, down my back, pushing me ever closer to him. "April Mansten, you drive me crazy with your stubbornness and persistent attitude. I love watching you play your guitar. I love the way you constantly challenge me, and the way you bite that bottom lip of yours when you’re unsure. I've loved every minute of being around you these past few weeks, even when you were driving me crazy. I want to be with you. Of course I want to be in a relationship with you.” 

“Good,” I breathed, and he chuckled.

“After all of that, all I get is ‘good?’”

I nodded, struggling to form a coherent sentence.

I kissed him, my hands tugging at his hair. “Let’s go upstairs,” I whispered against his mouth.

Holding hands, we quickly made our way to my bedroom, moving in a flurry of motion. Both our shirts were swiftly discarded, and I unbuckled his belt as his mouth ravaged mine.

His lips moved down my neck, his nose nuzzling me slightly. I felt hot all over, my body thrumming everywhere he touched.

He leaned his forehead against mine, beautiful grey eyes, that had grown so familiar to me, gazing into my own. "Are you sure?” he whispered.

In response, I kissed him again, need encompassing every cell in my body.

“So sure,” I told him, loving the feel of his warm, hard body pressed intimately against mine. I ran my fingers through his hair, the heat between us mounting to an impossible level.

We fell back onto the bed, a deliciously slow ache forming below my stomach as his body covered mine. I trembled when he ever so gently bit my bottom lip, my hands clenching hard on his massive shoulders. God, he was so big. Everywhere. It made me feel safe and enveloped.

In that moment, I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life.

He pushed back when my hands moved to his boxers, unwinding his arms. "I'll be right back," he said. Placing a quick kiss against my mouth, he disappeared through the door. 

I stared after him, my body aching, and my mind struggling to think. Where the hell had he gone?

He was back the next instant, slightly breathless, clutching a box to his chest.

He shut the door, his eyes moving slowly over every inch of my body. “God, you’re beautiful. So beautiful.”

This time the kiss was slower, more reverent. He stroked my face and my hair, placing warm, hot kisses all over my body.

His boxers came off. The condom came on.

"A whole box?" I said breathlessly when he placed the pack back on the bedside table.

He shrugged, his dimple flashing as a wicked smile played on his lips. “We have all night.”

And that we did.

Once wasn’t enough. Neither was twice. Our bodies moved in tandem, almost as though they were made for each other. My legs buckled once he was inside me, the orgasm coming immediately. His lips quirked in a small, satisfied smile, and then he was kissing me all over again, making sure I came again, and again, and again. I rode the waves of almost unbearable pleasure, loving every moment.

Later, much later, he pulled me close to his side, his big arms warm around me.

"You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me," the words were barely a whisper against my skin. He moved back, brushing damp hair away from my face.

His eyes met mine in the darkness of the room, and I was mesmerized by the intensity, the pure adoration, in them.

I moved closer, laying my head on his chest, as his hand moved in slow circles on my back. I could feel his heart still hammering in his chest, and I smiled softly when he pressed a kiss against my forehead.

For the moment, all my thoughts, my hopes, and my fears lay blissfully forgotten.