Scarred - The Complete Series by Kylie Walker (94)

“What if that person calls the police, what then?”

“Then we tell them that Jackson Paine did this and turn over the gun that I know you have. He told you to finish him off and get rid of the gun, am I right?”

“You already think you know every fucking thing so there’s no point in hashing this out right now.” Damien dropped it for the moment and continued his stare down.

“Jules can be trusted. Don’t worry. He won’t be calling the cops.” Alex’s phone was ringing in his pocket.

“Can you get that?” he asked Paige. She pulled it out and looked at the number. It was Roxi. Paige put it to her ear and said,

“Hi Roxi, it’s Paige.”

“How is he?”

“He’s unconscious, but that’s probably because he’s lost so much blood. I have some IV fluids and medical supplies on the way.”

“Is he going to be okay? Is the bullet still in him?”

“The bullet passed clean through and as far as the first question Roxi…I’ll do my best, but he needs to be in a hospital.”

“He wouldn’t forgive me if I did that.”

“Will you forgive yourself if he dies?” Paige asked.

“Don’t let him die. I’ll be there soon.” Roxi disconnected the call. Paige rolled her eyes and once again thought,

“Crazy! They’re all flipping nuts.”

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 41

 

Two and a half hours later Paige had both wounds sutured up and an IV drip running in Kevin’s arm. She also had a bigger audience. Jules had come and gone and then Roxi and Jake showed up. Damien was pacing the room and Roxi had taken over glaring at Alex.

“I’ve done what I can for him…he probably needs a blood transfusion and I can’t promise those wounds won’t get infected. He needs to be in a hospital.”

“No,” the three Paine’s said in unison. Paige met Jake’s eyes, the only other normal one in the room.

“You know…” Jake started.

“Yes, we know that you’re an attorney and just by virtue of being here you could get disbarred,” Roxi said. Paige was sure she was quoting it verbatim. “I’m sorry, Jake…but this is my father. No one is going to know that you were here. Once we move him home we’ll have this place so clean no one will ever know it was used as an operating room.”

“Where are all the people?” Paige asked. It was Friday afternoon. Why wasn’t anyone in the office?

“I called ahead,” Roxi said. “The owner is a friend. They sent the staff home early.”

“Nice,” Paige said, slightly sarcastically again. This world was so foreign to her. “I’d like for him to be awake before we move him again.”

“I have to go,” Alex said suddenly.

They all turned to look at him. “Where are you going?” Damien asked him.

“I need to shower. I have blood all over me. My father is expecting me at the house at seven.”

Roxi stepped up to her cousin. He towered over her and probably outweighed her by a hundred and fifty pounds of solid muscle. “You need to tell me what happened before you go.”

“He got mouthy with my father and then he pulled a gun. In Jackson’s defense, Kevin threatened him first.”

“Bullshit!” Damien said, “He wouldn’t be that stupid.”

Alex turned to his brother and with a scowl he said, “He was protecting you…and you,” he said to Paige. “Kramer is making a lot of noise. Jackson is trying to stop a war from starting. The only way for him to do that is to hand you and the evidence you have over to Kramer. You’re both playing with fire…and like Kevin; you’re going to get burned.”

“Why did Jackson leave him alive?”

“He expected me to clean up…the way I always do.”

“Why didn’t you?” Damien asked him.

Alex looked at his brother again. His blue eyes were blood shot and his shirt was covered in blood and sweat. Paige hated to defend Alex in any way…but she could see just by looking at him that he had given everything he had to save Kevin’s life. None of them had thanked him. On the contrary, he’d been treated pretty poorly. Paige was well aware he was an asshole…but sometimes she could be too forgiving. Damien and Roxi didn’t seem to be afflicted.

“Because…he’s my uncle and your father,” Alex said. “I have to go now or you’ll be pulling a bullet out of me next.” He laughed then and said, “Not that any of you would.”

“Alex…”

“What?”

“Thank you,” Damien said.

Alex’s permanent scowl returned to his face as he told his brother, “Don’t mistake this to mean that I’m going to help you ruin my father,” He picked up his blood soaked jacket, fished his car keys out of his pocket and left.

*****

A while later, Jake ran out and got dinner for everyone and as they sat and ate Roxi said, “So judging from his parting comments, Alex obviously didn’t agree to help you?”

“No,” Damien told her, “But he didn’t really say no either which is a good sign…”

“And let’s not forget the fact that he saved your father’s life,” Paige told them.

Neither Damien nor Roxi agreed with her, but Damien said, “You saved his life. Thank you.”

“Yes Paige, thank you,” Roxi said. “I won’t forget you did this for us.”

“You’re welcome. I just hope you both realize that I meant what I said earlier. He needs antibiotics, he needs an x-ray to make sure he’s not bleeding internally and he probably needs a blood transfusion. He’s been out a long time. That tells me that he probably lost more blood than I’d originally thought he had. If his blood volume stays low for too long it can cause him to have a heart attack amongst other problems.”

“If we take him to the hospital Paige, they’re going to ask a lot of questions that we won’t be able to answer,” Roxi said.

“Especially now that you’ve patched him up,” Damien told her.

“I understand that,” she said. “But you’re risking his life by not getting him the treatment he needs…” Kevin moaned loudly. They all turned their attention towards him. Roxi got up and went over to him. Taking his hand in hers she said,

“Dad…it’s me, Roxanne. Can you hear me?” He moaned again. “Do you think he’s in pain?” Roxi asked Paige.

“Maybe, I gave him some pain medicine through his IV when I first started it…but it might be wearing off.” Paige got up and found the kit Jules brought to her earlier. He’d brought her a big vial of Dilauded and several syringes. She washed her hands and drew the Dilauded into one of the syringes and put it directly into his IV. He groaned again and his eyelids fluttered open.

“Dad, can you hear me?”

Kevin croaked out a “Yes,” and then he tried to sit up.

“No! Dad stay there. You have to keep lying down,” Roxi told him. “You’re going to tear your stitches open.”

“Where---?”

“You’re in a safe place Dad. Jake’s here and Damien and Paige. Paige patched you up. She saved your life.” Paige looked at Roxi and Roxi rolled her eyes. “You and Jake could start your own Girls and Boy Scouts of America chapter. What Paige would like me to tell you Dad is that Alex originally saved your life.”

“Alex? How? What happened?”

Damien stepped up next to the table. Kevin’s eyes found his son’s and focused on them. “We’ll talk about all of that later,” Damien told him. “You need to rest.”

“Damien—“

“Later,” Damien told him. “We’re going to get you home so you can rest. We’ll talk about everything in the morning.” Kevin grunted again and then drifted back to sleep.

“Can we move him soon?” Roxi asked.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Paige said. “I’m not sure sitting up in a helicopter is going to be good for him.”

“We can take him to my penthouse,” Jake said.

Roxi looked at him with worry in her eyes and said, “It’s one thing being here, Jake. No one can really prove you were here when this happened. But having him at your house…”

“Where are you going to take him? Jackson thinks he’s dead, right? He can’t go to his house. The only way we can send him home on Derek’s copter is sitting up, or lying across the seat with no harness on which I don’t think the pilot would approve of. We’ll have to walk him in though, make it look like he’s drunk until we get him through the lobby.”

Roxi nodded. “Thank you.” She looked at Paige and before she asked Paige said,

“I don’t mind staying with him. I’m getting stir crazy doing nothing every day. But, my mother…”

“I’ll make sure she’s taken care of,” Roxi said. “I’m not really the domestic type, but I have a housekeeper that comes in a few times a week. I can have her come in.

“Okay then,” Paige said with a smile. “A mother for a father, I guess.”

“Really Paige,” Roxi said seriously. “Thank you.” Paige gave her a smile and a nod. She was like Jake, just by virtue of her being here she could be throwing away her entire future…but how could she not help him?

“Damien, you can go with Paige and I’ll stay with Roxi. I don’t have anything going on in the city this weekend,” Jake told him.

“Thanks,” Damien had that worried, intense look on his face that Paige was coming to know so well. She waited until Roxi and Jake started cleaning up before asking him,

“What’s wrong?”

“I was just thinking about this big family meeting my…Jackson called tonight. I wonder how he’s planning to explain Kevin’s absence to them.”

“Do you think this will have any bearing on Alex’s decision to help us or not?”

“I think that Jackson is having the worst few months of his criminal career. Now would be a perfect time for Alex to overthrow the king. I’m just not sure if my brother has it in him. He never disagrees with my father.”

“He did today. He didn’t kill Kevin.”

Damien nodded. “Yeah…I guess it’s kind of nice to know he has some small bit of conscience.”

“To me it’s nice to know that family means that much to him…at least I don’t have to worry that he’ll hurt you.”

Damien slipped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. He kissed the top of her head and just held her there. Neither of them spoke and they were both rapidly becoming content in each other’s silences.

Chapter 42

 

Three days passed before Damien got a call from his brother. “Meet me back at the pier,” Alex told him.

“I’m in New York.”

“Where?” Damien wasn’t about to tell Alex that. It wasn’t so much his brother he was worried about…but he wouldn’t put it past Jackson to tap Alex’s phone just in case he did call Damien.

“Huh uh, just tell me where to meet you and I’ll be there.”

Alex snorted. Damien knew it pissed him off that he was asking for help from him, but still didn’t fully trust him. “There was a time when I was the only person you trusted.”

“There was a time when you didn’t remind me so much of Jackson,” Damien said.

“Meet me at Battery Park by The Sphere at noon.”

“Will you be alone?” He heard Alex sigh and then he hung up without answering. Damien told Roxi and Paige he trusted his brother to help him…he was going to have to go with his gut instinct on that one. He just wanted this all to end.

He went into the guestroom that Kevin was staying in. Paige had just given him his pain medication and changed his bandages. Damien liked watching her do what she does. She’s so conscientious about everything and he found that actually watching people save lives instead of ending them, was a refreshing change. But then again, he liked to watch her do just about anything. She saw Damien and told Kevin, “I’m going to start some lunch for you. I’ll be back.”

As she passed Damien he reached out and pulled her into him. He held her there for several seconds before placing a kiss on her forehead and letting her go. There weren’t many women in her position that would do all she’d done for Kevin. He wasn’t good with words…he never had been. He wished there was some way to show her how much he appreciated her. As soon as this mess is all over…if it ever is, he plans on taking her out for a nice dinner and a movie or something. He chuckled at that. He couldn’t remember the last time that he’d taken a woman out on a “date.” If any woman deserved it, it was Paige.

“How are you feeling?” Damien asked Kevin. They hadn’t talked about “things” yet. Paige kept him well-medicated for pain and Damien wanted him to be coherent when they talked.

“Like I got shot in the gut,” Kevin said. He chuckled then…and winced.

“Do you remember what happened?”

Kevin nodded. “My own brother shot me.”

“Yeah…unfortunately. Did you know that Alex refused to play “clean-up” crew? He waited for Jackson to leave and then he called Roxi and he took you to the agency where Paige patched you up…”

“That’s hard for me to imagine. I never thought that I was Alex’s favorite uncle.”

Damien grinned. “You’re really not…but I already had Brad…”

Kevin tried to laugh, but it came out in a groan. “Don’t be funny, it hurts.”

“I’m avoiding being serious, Dad.”

“I was wondering if you read the letter. I didn’t think you seemed mad enough at me.”

“I read it. Before I got a chance to kick your ass over it, you went and got shot.” Kevin laughed again.

“God damn it, you’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

“Slowly yes,” Damien said with another smile. “But seriously…I was pretty pissed at you at first. I was even pissed at my mother. But, I know Jackson and I know you had a good reason for keeping the secret. Obviously, you being his brother was not enough to keep him from shooting you this time. I being his “son” was not enough to keep him from sticking a knife in my side either. He’s loyal to his family as long as he thinks they’re all “behaving” the way he wants them to.”

“I wanted to tell you, Damien…so many times. At first it was your mother I feared for. Jackson was hard on her when he first found out she was pregnant. She’d been gone to her mother’s for so long that he knew you couldn’t be his. She didn’t want to tell him you were mine. She thought it would be better if he thought you belonged to some random stranger.

He drove her to an abortion clinic when he first found out. She refused to go in. She told him he could kill her there in the parking lot…she wasn’t going to kill her baby. When he took her back to New York he locked her in a room with him for about eight hours and held a gun to her head until she finally told him that you were mine. I was in California on legitimate business for the company and I didn’t even know that she was pregnant. I stepped out of my car in front of your father’s house that day to a baseball bat across the face. While I was writhing on the ground I looked up and saw my brother’s face. He was smiling at me. He told me that if I ever so much as breathed a word to anyone that you were mine, he would kill me. I was young and stupid at the time. I can’t even remember what I said that day through my broken teeth…but whatever it was pissed him off. I woke up three days later in the hospital. They found me in an alley. Jackson came to see me in the hospital and brought me flowers. He told me the next time, Maryann would be the one found in the alley.”

“The more I find out about him, the more I want to kill him myself,” Damien told him.

“Please don’t,” Kevin said. “Now that you know I’m your father, I’d like you to stick around for a while. We’ll figure this out.”

“Yeah, we’ll figure it out,” Damien told him. He didn’t tell him that he had a meeting with Alex. He didn’t tell him that he wasn’t joking about killing Jackson…if he ever got the chance; Jackson Paine was as good as dead.

*****

Damien stood next to the Spheres in the park and waited for his brother. As he stood there, he watched the “normal” people walk by. There were couples hand in hand…business men with their phones to their ear, women having a girl’s day out…and happy kids everywhere. He wondered sometimes if he would ever get to have that kind of life. He always wanted a family. He wanted kids and a wife and a “normal, boring” job. He wanted to come home at night to his wife and have dinner and spend time with his family. No more killings, drugs, violence…Just a normal guy with a beautiful and blessedly “normal” wife and two point five kids. His ideas of what that life would be or should be like came mostly from television. He had no personal experience with it…but fantasizing about it made him feel at peace in his heart.

“Hey,” Alex walked up behind him. Damien jumped. He had been daydreaming…in his line of business that wasn’t the safest thing to do in public. Alex voiced that out loud. “For a man on the run, you sure aren’t very observant.”

“I saw you.”

Alex laughed. “Bullshit. How’s Kevin?”

“Do you really care?”

“Did someone piss in your Wheaties this morning? I saved his fucking life. Give me some credit.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m just so fucking sick of all of this. Paige’s mother can’t go home, Paige can’t go back to school, Kevin has to pretend to be dead…it’s all fucked up.”

“I have more bad news.”

“Shit, what’s that?”

“Kelsey Kramer bailed.”

“Fuck! Lucas knows where she is, I guarantee you.”

“I’m sure. But, Lucas is not going to tell anyone. The good news is if he has her hidden out somewhere she won’t be able to run around loose with a gun.”

“What about Lucas? Is he still pounding his chest and insisting that Jackson do something?”

“Every chance he gets. Dad has also lost two shipments in the past three days. The first one was on a truck that was hijacked. As far as the police report goes, the truck was carrying a shipment of Video game systems…”

“Guns?”

“Yeah, a lot of them. The next shipment was a boat that has so far, disappeared off the face of the earth. The last time it made contact with anyone it was right outside of Bermuda…”

“Well, there is that triangle,” Damien said with a grin.

“Yeah right. Dad knows it’s Kramer, but he can’t prove it. It’s taking everything in him to keep from putting a bullet in Lucas’s head himself. Meanwhile, Lucas is stirring shit up on the streets with people who did business with Caine. He’s telling them that Jackson’s step-daughter killed Caine and Jackson refuses to do anything about it. Dad’s losing face and you know how he feels about that.”

“It sounds like Lucas is looking for a war.”

“He’s going to get one if he doesn’t back off soon…The only thing keeping Dad from doing it is that once people start turning up dead in droves, the F.B.I. starts getting interested again and snooping around.”

“Which will hurt Lucas as well as Jackson.”

“Yes, but at this point Lucas is so far gone he’s not thinking clearly. He’s running on his anger which is dangerous in our business.” Alex took a manila envelope out from underneath his arm and handed it to Damien. Damien opened it and pulled out the documents inside. A USB drive fell out with them. He looked at the paper in his hand. It was a copy of a handwritten paper. It said:

Kramer Construction, Slate construction and Backwoods buildings: Physical similarities in bids or proposals submitted by different bidders (all of the bids were prepared by the same party) evidenced by: Identical stationery, type, layout etc.

Same calculations, type face, handwriting, spelling errors or corrections appear in four of the five bid packages. Bids or proposals Contain corrections indicating last minute price changes. Multiple losing bidders submit defective, forged or sequential bid securities, or securities purchased at the same bank on the same day, etc. Correspondence or other indications that contractors exchange pricing information, divide territories, or enter agreements. A bidder brings multiple bids to a bid opening and submits its bid only after determining who else is bidding.

“What is all this?”

“It’s called a “Collusive Bidding Scheme,” and it’s something the F.B.I. would be really interested in…especially since the two companies bidding against Kramer are owned by our…my father.”

“I’ll be damned. Where did you get all of this?”

“Do you remember last year when Jackson sent us after Joe Madrid?”

“The ATF agent, right?”

“Yeah. He worked for Jackson for almost two years before he was made as a cop. The USB a lot more information on it…the handwritten paper is proof of who discovered it…”

Damien’s eyes widened and he threw his arms around his brother and hugged him. He felt Alex stiffen. His brother wasn’t much for being touched. “Sorry! Fuck! This is amazing! Joe Madrid’s murder was never solved. They couldn’t find any evidence they could use against Jackson or Lucas. Where did you get this?”

“Off of a dead man,” he told him. “I’ve had it since the night I killed Madrid.”

“But none of this will implicate you…and the evidence all looks like it came from Madrid so Jackson won’t have a clue it was you…You’re a fucking genius!”

“Be careful who you give that to,” Alex told him. “If Dad or Kramer catch up to you and they find that on you…it’s dangerous enough to them to kill for.”

“If Lucas catches up to me, I’m dead anyways and so is Paige. We’ll never get to have a “normal life” as long as we’re running and hiding from them. This is perfect.”

“There are names and dates on the USB. You and I aren’t on there, but Brad is…There’s one more thing that you need to understand Damien.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know if you’re having delusions that this is going to scare me straight…but if you are, you can give those thoughts up right now. I’m in this for the money and the lifestyle, little brother. I like my life. When and if Jackson is behind bars I will run this operation the way that I want…you can live your life the way that you want and Paige will be free to do the same.”

“I had no delusions,” Damien said, only half-truthfully. He had entertained a thought or two…a hope in fact, that Alex would someday see the light. His worst fear was that his brother would get caught in the sights and end up in prison. “Thank you. Are you good, if I give this to Jake right away?”

“I’m so clean I’m thinking of shaving my head and buying a white suit.”

Damien grinned and Alex took a step back. “But don’t hug me again. I might have to take you out right here.”

*****

When Damien got back to the penthouse, the doorman stopped him on his way inside. “Mr. James?” Jake introduced Damien and Paige to the doorman as Mr. and Mrs. James. He told him that Paige was his cousin and they were visiting from out of state. That way, no one would become suspicious of them going in and out of the building.

“Yes?”

“Mrs. James asked me to give you this on her way out.” The doorman handed Damien an envelope. On her way out? She wouldn’t leave Kevin alone…He had a sinking feeling in his gut before he even opened it. Inside was a piece of torn lined paper with a phone number on it. Trying to keep his composure when in reality he wanted to rip someone’s head off he said,

“Did you see her leave?”

“Yes sir.”

“When did she leave?”

“It was about half an hour ago.”

Fuck! “Was she alone?”

“No sir…” the doorman suddenly had a look on his face that said he was sorry he’d gotten involved. Damien took a deep breath. “She was with a gentleman.”

“How did this “gentleman” get into the building?”

“I’m sorry sir…I didn’t see him come in. My lunch break is from twelve-thirty to one-thirty. He must have come in while I was gone for lunch.”

“Who mans the door while you’re gone?”

“I have a regular relief…but he called in sick today. One of the front desk clerks covers when that happens…but after I got back, he went home sick too…” the doorman was getting the idea that something was wrong. It was apparent in his voice and on his face.

“What did the man she left with look like?”

“He was probably in his fifties, light brown hair with a few streaks of gray…I don’t remember really looking at his eyes. He was maybe six foot tall…and very nicely dressed in a suit and tie…”

Fuck! The doorman just described Lucas Kramer to a “T.” Why the hell would Paige leave with him? Why not kick and scream all the way down if she had to?

The doorman was still talking when Damien walked away. He pushed past an older company and got on the elevator. When they started to get on anyways he said, “Wait for the next one!” and pushed the door close button. He jumped off on the twenty-second floor. As soon as he walked into Jake’s apartment, he felt sick.

Things were overturned in the living room and it looked like there had been a struggle. He made his way down the hall towards the guestroom. Before he got there, the doorbell rang. He ignored it and peeked into the room. Kevin was lying there with a needle in his arm and a tourniquet wrapped around his upper arm and tied tightly. Shit! He ran over to Kevin and pulled the needle out of his arm and felt his pulse. He still had one, albeit weak and thread.

Damien untied the tourniquet and picked Kevin up off the bed. He was dead weight and heavier than shit. Struggling to keep his knees from buckling and his back from breaking, he carried him into the master bathroom and laid him down on the rug in front of the tub. He filled the tub with water, picked Kevin back up and plopped him down into it, clothes and all. Kevin’s face went under but he came up quickly spitting and sputtering. Damien called Roxi first. She told Damien she was calling Jake at the office. A few minutes later she got a text message that said,

“Your girlfriend is really pretty.” Damien typed in,

“Fuck you. If you hurt her, I will kill you.”

“Be at the dock at six-thirty tonight with what you have against J and K.”

“Who is this?”

“Just be there…and bring what we’re looking for.” Fuck! Damien yelled out as the line went dead. Lucas Kramer has Paige….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 43

 

“Alex!” Damien called his brother out of desperation. He didn’t know what else to do.

“What’s up?”

“Kramer has Paige.”

“Fuck me! This shit never ends.”

“That’s the worst part, but there’s more. They gave Kevin some kind of overdose. He’s in and out of it but he looks like shit. I don’t know what to do.”

“Shit! Okay, you’re still at the penthouse?”

“Yeah.”

“Give me ten minutes, I’ll be there.”

“Thank you.”

“Fuck!” Alex hung up. Being a helper and a giver was completely contrary to Damien’s brother’s personality even before they became gangsters. Damien knew it better that anyone. But, he also knew that no matter what at any time in his life he’d been able to call his brother and bitch and moan and cuss…Alex would be there.

“Hang on Kevin…Dad…Help is coming.”

It took Alex almost half an hour to get there. When he did, he had a vial and a syringe. “Where’s he at?”

“In there on the bed.”

Alex went in and sat down next to Kevin whose respirations were getting shallower by the second. His skin was as pale as the sheet he was laying on. Alex drew the liquid out of the vial into the syringe.

“What is that?” Damien asked him.

“Narcan.”

“What’s it going to do to him?”

“Save his life…again. This fucker must have nine of them and it looks like I’m in charge of them all.”

Damien suppressed a smile. Being the life-saving hero was also as contrary to Alex’s personality as you could get. If Alex thought he was amused, he might just shoot him. He watched his brother inject the opioid antagonist into Kevin’s vein. Once he took the needle out it was less than five minutes before Kevin started shaking and jerking violently. He sat up all at once and looked at Damien and Alex like he had no idea where he was or who they were and then he tried to jump off the bed.

“Whoa! Kevin, you’re okay. Chill out!” Damien took hold of his arms and tried to get him to lie back down. Kevin was fighting him. Alex was just watching. “Shit! Alex, help me.”

“I did my part. He’s your father, you deal with him.”

With a lot of effort Damien wrestled the older man to the floor. “Kevin! Stop fighting me, I don’t want to hurt you!”

“Fuck, get off my back, you weigh a fucking ton.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Damien slowly rose up off of him. As soon as his weight was off of him, Kevin pulled himself first to his knees and then to his feet. He rocked forward slightly and Damien reached out to keep him from falling. Then suddenly he doubled over and puked all over the floor.

“Gross!” Alex said, still not making a move to help.

“Here, sit down,” Damien told Kevin. “I’ll get you a towel and some water.” Kevin looked wiped out. His skin was a pastry gray now and he was sweating profusely. Damien helped him to the chair and he sat. Damien went and got several towels and a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. He tossed one of the towels over the spot on the carpet and wondered just for a second what Jake was going to think when he got there. Kevin sat there staring at the wall for what seemed like a long time to Damien as he sipped his water. Meanwhile Alex said,

“So who called you about Paige?”

Damien handed him his phone and said, “This is what I got.”

“How do you know it was Kramer?” Alex asked after reading it.

“The doorman described him.”

“So are you planning on taking them the evidence?”

“I don’t know what else to do. You and I both know what they’ll do to her…”

“Then you also know they’re still going to kill her and you too if you show up down there.”

“You have to tell Jackson…” Damien and Alex both turned to look at Kevin. He still looked like he was recovering from getting hit by a truck, but his eyes were finally focused again and some color was beginning to return to his face. Damien ignored what he said for now and asked him,

“How are you feeling? Do you need more water?”

“I’m fine,” Kevin said with a wave of his palm. “Just a little nauseated. Like I was saying, you have to tell Jackson. He’s the only one who can deal with Lucas.”

“He’s not going to help me, Kevin…any of us. He thinks you’re dead because he ordered you killed. He hates me…”

“He loves you.”

“Right! The same way he loves you.”

“He does love me…He just lives in a different world, Damien.”

“Why the fuck are you defending him?” Damien could feel his blood pressure rising. If it was up to Jackson, Kevin would be dead…his own brother. And, he kept him from his own son his whole life. How could he even try to make a defense for that man? Jackson is a monster.

“I’m not,” Kevin said, “I’m just stating the facts. If Jackson were 100% honest he would say he loves us all. Business and family are two separate entities. He wanted to kill me when I slept with your mother. The only thing that saved me was being his brother. There have been at least a hundred more episodes in the past thirty years. This is the first one he really did order me killed…and that was only because he couldn’t do it himself. Jackson loves you Damien and Paige. He will help you…for a price.”

Damien looked at Alex. Alex only shrugged. “You don’t think he’ll help?” Damien said.

“I do,” Alex told him. “He’ll help you…for a piece of your soul. You’ll have to decide if it’s worth it or not.”

“It’s Paige. It’s worth it.”

Alex stood up. He looked at Kevin and said, “Do you think you can manage to stay alive for a few hours? I don’t think I have time for another rescue today.” Alex’s face was dead serious. Kevin smiled.

“Thank you, Alex. I never even thought you liked me and here you’ve saved me twice in the same week.”

“I don’t like you,” Alex said simply. “Let’s go,” he told Damien. “Jackson is at the house. We’ll have more privacy if we catch him there.”

Alex and Damien left Kevin and headed over to see Jackson. Damien’s stomach felt sicker with every minute that Paige was being held by Kramer’s men. Caine was a sick son of a bitch. He learned everything he knew from his father and his father’s brothers. Who knew what they were doing to her. Killing her might be more merciful…but Damien was praying they hadn’t done that.

When they got to Jackson’s estate, the security officer stopped them at the gate. “Does Mr. Paine know you’re bringing him?” the guard asked Alex about Damien.

“No, call him and tell him,” Alex said. They both sat silently and waited until the guard came back.

“He wants your guns left here…all of them.” Alex looked pissed but he didn’t say a word. He stepped out of the car and took his gun from the holster under his jacket. Then he reached down and pulled one out of his ankle holster and handed the guard his keys.

“The automatics are in the trunk.”

The guard took five more guns out of a case in the trunk and then he leaned into the passenger window and told Damien, “You too.”

“I don’t have one.”

“Bullshit, you wouldn’t be stupid enough to come here without one. Get out!”

Damien stepped out and was subjected to a full body pat-down. The guard then proceeded to check the car. They waited impatiently until he was finished and then Alex said, “Are you satisfied Asshole?”

“Yep,” the guard said, smugly.

When they got back in the car and drove towards the house Alex said, “He already knows.”

“He knows what?”

“Everything. He knows that Kramer has Paige. He knows that Kevin is alive…That’s what this search shit is about. I’ve been carrying a gun into his home for ten years. All of a sudden he wants me unarmed. He knows…and he’s going to kill me.”

“Maybe you should let me go in without you.” Damien hoped that his brother was wrong, but when it came to Jackson…who knew? Anyone else would be dead already…but after whatever Jackson had planned for his brother, he may wish that he was.

“No, fuck it! I may as well find out what he’s planning on doing now.”

The two brothers had to wait for another security man to open the door. Jackson must be expecting Damien to come after him; he’s got his security doubled. “He’s in the library,” the man told him. Damien and Alex made their way to the library where they found Jackson behind his desk with a gun trained on them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 44

 

“Isn’t this fucked up? Jackson asked them. “I have to have extra security to make sure my own sons aren’t going to kill me.”

“I’m not your son,” Damien said. Alex glared at him, but Damien ignored him. “I came here to ask you to help me…but let’s be clear that I know you’re not my father and I know that you kept me from mine for nearly thirty years…and then you tried to kill him.”

Jackson smirked and looked at Alex, “Which brings me to you. You were the one person on this earth that I thought would never betray me.”

“You taught me to be loyal to family and then you told me to execute my own uncle.”

“He betrayed me.”

“Then why didn’t you kill him yourself?”

Jackson started laughing then and Alex and Damien waited. Sometimes his laugh was more dangerous than anything else he did…it usually meant that he had the upper hand already. “Don’t worry; it won’t be an issue for much longer. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

Damien swallowed hard. He wasn’t so much afraid of Jackson as he was afraid that Jackson would refuse to help him. “Kramer has Paige.” Jackson didn’t say anything and the expression on his face didn’t change at all. Alex was right, he had already known. “I need your help.” Jackson threw his head back this time and laughed heartily. He was still holding the gun. Alex looked at it and then gave his brother a look that said, “He’s lost his mind.”

“You might not be my son, but you have my balls. It took quite a few for you to come here and ask me that after everything that has gone down lately.”

“So, will you help me?”

“What do I get in return?”

“Whatever you want…as long as you get her out of there alive.”

Jackson smirked again. “Ballsy and demanding…maybe you are mine after-all. You know what I want. I want what Greg left Paige, I want whatever you thought you were slyly keeping over the years and I want your absolute loyalty.”

“Okay, you’ve got it.”

Jackson raised an eyebrow and said, “That was quick.”

“I don’t care what I have to do as long as Paige comes out of this alive and unharmed.”

“I’m warning you…when she does come out of this, I’m sending her away. This family has been involved in one drama after the other since she showed up.”

Damien wanted to tell Jackson this family always was nothing but drama…but he checked his tongue. Instead, he told Jackson, “I just want her to be safe.” He pulled out his phone and said, “I got a text…”

“Tonight, at the docks, 6:30, right?”

“Yes…you did know…?”

“I’m not sure why that surprises you. Some of my men are still loyal to me. Two of them are on their way down there now. They’ll help Paige if they hear from me. It will start a war with Lucas…one that is likely to spill a lot of blood and change the whole face of the city. It’s a lot of grief to be brought down on me and my men because of an out of control girl running around thinking that she can take on seasoned business men and a boy who is letting his dick do his thinking.”

Calling him a “boy” was Jackson’s stab at the ultimate insult. Damien couldn’t care two shits what Jackson thought of him any longer, as long as he helped Paige. He did have to control his facial features when Jackson said, “Business men.” He waited, but Jackson was finished with that tirade. He sat the gun down on the desk in front of him instead and he turned to Alex and said, “You have a job to finish. Brad will be waiting for you at the front gate…I need a witness this time.”

Damien’s stomach fell. He was ordering Alex to go back and kill Kevin. Alex remained expressionless and Jackson went on to say, “I want proof as well. You call me when it’s finished. Meanwhile, your brother will get on the phone with that attorney he gave the evidence to.”

This fucker knows everything, Damien thought. He had sweat rolling down the side of his face as Alex who still hadn’t flinched was already walking towards the door. Jackson was forcing him to choose between Paige and Kevin. It took everything inside of him not to call after his brother or lunge for that gun on Jackson’s desk and kill him with it. Neither of those options would help Paige, and God help him as much as he loved Kevin…he couldn’t let Kramer kill her.

When Alex was gone Jackson turned to Damien and said, “Have him deliver the files here within the hour.” It was like he was ordering pizza. Damien took out his phone and called Jake.

“Hey Damien, I’m here with Kevin. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m doing okay. I need a big favor….”

“Of course. What do you need?”

“I need the files you’re holding for us…I need them brought to Jackson’s house ASAP.”

“Okay, I can do that. Are you sure about this?”

“I have to be,” Damien said.

“Alright then, give me about an hour to get Roxi over here with Kevin…”

“No, I don’t know if Roxi knows the address or not.”

“No…you don’t want Roxi here?”

“No, that’s not a good idea. I’ll just text you the address.”

“Okay, gotcha!” Jake said.

Jackson was listening to every word Damien was saying. Damien disconnected the call and then text the address to Jake. At the end of the message he said, “Tell my brother to remember what day this is.” He sent and then deleted it before sticking the phone into his pocket and turning to Jackson.

“Now what?” he asked.

“Now, we wait,” Jackson said. Damien sat down, reluctantly. The silence was uncomfortable but Damien preferred it to having a conversation with Jackson. Unfortunately, Jackson loved to hear himself talk… “I really had high hopes for both you and your brother. I’m so disappointed…and to be honest with you, I’m hurt.” Damien knew that he was goading him…testing him. He kept his mouth shut at the cost of a few blood vessels popping off in his head. “I honestly wasn’t too shocked when you turned your back on your family…but Alex…he’s always been more like me. Not that it’s really your fault. Out of all of my siblings, Sylvie included, Kevin was always the softest one. Your mother had a bleeding heart as well. Your DNA didn’t allow for you to be tough-skinned.”

Damien had to take a deep breath. Jackson wasn’t only insulting him now, he was branching out. Damien had to give him credit. The man could push his buttons harder and faster than anyone he’d ever met. He changed the subject then suddenly and said, “I’m going to kill Lucas, but once that happens we’ll have to deal with his five brothers at the least. Can I trust you to be on board with that?

“Yes.” Damien was going to do whatever it took to make sure Paige was safe. One Kramer left standing would be too many. He was already thinking about Kelsey…they would need to find her. “Do you know where he hid Kelsey?”

“He sent her out of the country. She’s in Columbia with one of his cohorts. Once the family is gone, there won’t be a reason for her to come back.” That was a relief at least. They sat in silence again until Jackson’s phone beeped. He looked at it and raised an eyebrow, and then he sent a few messages. Damien was curious about what was going on, but he once again decided that keeping his mouth shut was the best option. After a few minutes he looked up at Damien and said, “Okay, let’s go.”

As they stood and headed for the door Jackson said, “You’re not even going to ask?” Damien could tell that he wanted him to. The sadistic bastard wanted him to know what had been done to his father. He only looked at him and waited. He knew Jackson would show him or tell him whether he asked or not. It was all part of his punishment. He watched as Jackson pulled something up on his phone and then held it up for Damien to look at. It was Kevin, or at least it looked a lot like him. It was hard to tell with a hole in the side of his face and one in his chest, but the hair and the build matched.

Damien looked at the number it was sent from. It was Brad’s phone. Two brothers and neither of them bat an eye at killing the third. This family is so incredibly fucked up. Now, his father and Roxi’s father is dead. Fuck! He could feel his blood pressure rising and his heart rate accelerating…but he still didn’t say a word. A trickle of sweat rolling down the side of his face was the only outward sign of his torment. Jackson saw it and smiled. “I have to say again…maybe you’re more like me than you think.”

Damien swallowed the bile in his throat. The only peace he could draw at the moment was that Jackson was wrong. It didn’t faze Jackson that was his brother he was looking at. Damien wanted to puke his guts out and then kill Jackson with his bare hands. Jackson’s phone rang again and he listened for a second and then with a tight smile he handed the phone to Damien.

“Your attorney would like to know you’re alive before he leaves the files.”

Damien took the phone and put it to his ear. “Jake?”

“Yeah, I have the files. They’ll be at the gates. Are you okay?”

“As much as I can be.”

“Should I call anyone?” By “anyone” Damien assumed he meant F.B.I. If they showed up there would be a bloody battle and it would be weeks or months before it was sorted out.

“No. Thanks, Jake.” He ended the call and handed the phone back to Jackson. Jackson smiled and said,

“Soon now, son.” Damien bit the inside of his cheek and his stomach churned once more.

Chapter 45

 

Paige could barely move. She woke up slowly with every muscle in her body screaming out in pain. It took her several seconds to process where she was. She was in a warehouse with two of the Kramer brothers. She had to assume these two are the ones who taught Caine everything he needed to know about how to treat a woman.

She was lying on her side on the cold floor, hog-tied with her arms behind her back and pulled down low to include both of her ankles as well. Her head was pounding…that was likely because the last open-handed slap she’d received from one of the big son of a bitch’s meaty palms had knocked her out of the chair they had her in and onto the floor. Her head bounced twice when she hit and everything had gone dark. They wanted to kill her…as badly as she had wanted to kill Caine.

Lucas Kramer had given them orders not to…yet. She wasn’t stupid however. She knew for certain that the first opportunity they got after they had what they wanted…they would put her lights out for good. She tried to move…her body was screaming for some kind of relief from the position they had her in. She grunted involuntarily…alerting her captors that she was awake.

“There she is,” one of the large apes said. Paige gave him a defiant look and he laughed. “She’s a little spit-fire, this one. Too bad you murdered my nephew; I might like to have some fun with you otherwise.” Paige continued to glare at him. “You want up off the floor?” She did…worse than anything at that moment, but she wasn’t going to ask these assholes for anything. He waited a few beats before saying, “I guess she’s comfortable,” to the other ape. That one wasn’t a big talker. He just shrugged. Paige lay on the cold, wooden floor with nothing to do but think. She thought back to the events of the day….

The morning had started out amazing. She’d woke up in Damien’s arms, a place she was getting used to being. He was still asleep, so she just lay there for a while and watched him. His long dark lashes fanned out and his curly hair was messy in his face. His features softened when he slept and he looked young and vulnerable. She knew that he wouldn’t like to hear that…but she liked it. It was like she was able to get glimpses of the kid he was before Jackson came into his life. Close to an hour passed while she looked at him and imagined what their lives might be like if they had met under different circumstances.

“Are you watching me sleep again?” Damien asked, sleepily. He hadn’t opened his eyes, but he’d told her just the day before that he could “feel” her looking at him.

“Mm hmm,” she said, giving him a light kiss on the lips. “I like watching you.”

Damien cracked one eye open and looked at her through the hair that was in his eyes. “Voyeur,” he said with a grin.

Paige kissed him again. “Yep,” she said, “That’s me. I was thinking about sitting on the counter and watching you shower this morning too. I bet that would be sexy.” She giggled. Kevin was in the room next to theirs and Paige had been self-conscious about making love to Damien the past couple of days. They’d still done it…but she hadn’t been able to let herself go the way she liked to with Damien.

Roxi came and went from the penthouse a lot, checking in on her father, and sometimes Jake would show up. Paige wasn’t used to having so many people in and out and around. She was afraid Kevin or one of them would hear her. She was pretty vocal when she and Damien had sex. When she was with him and he was doing the things to her that he did…it was impossible not to be. Damien grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in tight up against his naked chest.

“I have a strict no watchers policy when I’m in the shower,” he told her with his lips so close to hers that she could feel the vibrations.

“You do…even for me?” her breaths were already beginning to become erratic.

“Especially for you,” he said, at last letting their lips meet. He kissed her and Paige felt herself getting hot all over and her panties growing wet. He’s the sexiest man that she’s ever met…and resisting him in any way is futile for her. When he broke the kiss she whimpered and said,

“Well, if I can’t watch you shower…”

“You can’t,” he said again. “But you can join me in there.”

A slow grin spread across her face. “The water will cover up the noise…and we could turn on the music in there…”

“I don’t know why we haven’t thought of it before. I was actually going to suggest we visit the tree again today. But, I like this idea much better,” Damien told her. He startled her by jumping up quickly out of bed and grabbing her hand. She followed him into the bathroom. When they got there, he tapped a button and music began to flow out of the speakers in the walls. Then he slipped his arms around her waist in front of the sink. She wrapped her arms around his neck. She loved the way his hard body felt against hers. He ran his fingers lightly down her spine, tickling and tantalizing at the same time. She shivered and turned so that she could see his face in the mirror. He was watching himself touch her. It was sexy. He reached down and grabbed a cheek in each hand and began to massage her. She could feel herself getting wetter and almost subconsciously she began grinding her hips forward into his leg. She felt him grin against her face before letting go of her and turning to start the shower.

He let it run for a few moments with his hand underneath. When the temperature was right, he stepped in and took her hand to guide her in behind him. For a few seconds Paige just stood back and watched the water cascade across his skin, rolling across the muscles and tattoos. He closed his eyes and backed up into it and then took her hand again and pulled her under the spray with him.

The water soaked through her long hair and down her back. She tipped her head back to feel it on her face when suddenly she felt Damien reach back for the shampoo. He squeezed a little into his hand and then began to massage it into her hair. He let his fingers massage her scalp and around her face making her whole head tingle. He worked in little circles with his palms all the way to the ends. It felt amazing. Then he held her by the waist and turned her so that she could rinse.

He used his hands to help her rinse all of the shampoo out and just when she thought he was finished; he grabbed the conditioner and gave her the same treatment with that one. Paige was surprised how erotic having her hair washed was. The feel of his fingers and hands coupled with the warm water on her back and the scent of papaya and coconut that was wafting up out of the spray was all intoxicating. “Mm…God Damien, this feels so good.”

“Good baby, just relax.” He filled his hands with body wash then and set about rubbing her body down. He let his hands skim across her shoulders and down her arms. He put his lips on her shoulder while he washed down her back. Paige’s pussy was aching by then and she was dying for him to touch it. He washed across her cheeks and down the backs of her legs and then turned her around and did the front. Her nipples stood at attention as his palms lightly skimmed across them and she moved her hips when his hands made it to the tops of her thighs, trying to get him to touch her clit. He didn’t…that was the only place he left untouched…driving her nearly insane.

He grabbed the shower head and rinsed her clean and then he handed her the shower gel and grinned. Paige poured it into her hands and worked it into a lather. She started with his shoulders and upper back and then started working her way down. She stopped as he had to massage the hard cheeks of his ass before moving down the backs of his thighs and lower legs.

When she was on her knees washing his ankles, he turned around for her to work her way up the other side. The side of his cock standing at attention, hard as a rock was distracting. She tried to pretend it wasn’t there and continue washing him…but it was hard. As she washed around it and upwards, she got back to her feet. He pulled her in for a long, sweet kiss under the water and his tongue slipped into her mouth. The kiss went on forever and did nothing to ease the ache between her legs. She held onto him tightly and lifted one leg, resting it on his hip.

That excited him and he pressed her up against the wall of the shower. She took hold of the towel bar for support. He had one hand holding her hip and the other resting against the bar along with hers. She could feel the tip of his throbbing cock pressing against the outer lips of her pussy…sliding back and forth. She was dying to feel him inside of her.

“Please baby…please…”

“What do you want baby? Tell me.” He let himself slip inside…but only the tip. Paige needed more.

“Please, I want you inside of me.”

He smiled and slipped in a little further, still toying with her.

“Oh Damien,” she said, putting one hand down against his ass and pushing. He held back, only allowing an inch at a time. “Please,” she begged.

"Please what?" he asked. He loved to hear her say it…so she did.

“Please fuck me, Damien. I need you inside of me, baby. All the way…please.”

He put his lips on her neck and held her hips tighter as he slid the rest of the way into her wet pussy. She groaned and he lifted his lips to her ear and said, “Better baby?”

“Yes,” she said in a breathless voice. He started moving slowly in and out of her.

“Is that what my baby wanted?”

“Yes! Oh yeah!” He pulled out again. She whimpered.

“Don’t worry baby, I’m not finished.” He took her hips in his hands again and turned her around so she was facing the wall. Then he used one hand to guide her so that she was holding onto the wall and bending forward. Then he slid back into her…slow and deep. Paige clenched down with her muscles and squeezed him from the inside. Her back was arched and she pressed herself back into him each time he thrust forward. She was beginning to make her noises. She couldn’t help it…it felt too fucking good. They worked together…working up to a harder, faster rhythm. Her moans seemed to be spurring her on. He leaned forward and wrapped one arm around her. He reached down with his fingers and began tweaking her clit. “Oh fuck! Jesus Damien! God, that feels so good.”

“Good baby!” He grunted out as he continued to thrust himself forward and back, increasing his tempo more and more as his fingers worked her clit. She felt his teeth graze across the sensitive skin of her neck and shoulders. His fingers were still moving hard against her clit and she could feel the orgasm building inside of her.

She wasn’t ready to come yet. She tried to hold it back, but he didn’t stop rubbing and she was only human. She went rigid and suddenly felt the rush of warm liquid between her legs. As she came, she got louder but with the music and the water, she wasn’t too worried about anyone hearing her. Damien rode out her orgasm…each thrust made her shudder harder against him. It seemed like she came forever and when she finally came down she was breathing hard and slightly dazed.

He pushed her harder against the wall then and said, “Hang on tight, baby.” He grabbed her hips hard with both hands and shoved himself in even harder and deeper than before. She sucked in a breath as he did it again and again, bending at his knees and thrusting in again and again. He was struggling to keep them both on their feet, gripping her tightly as he slammed into her over and over again. She’d completely lost her breath by that point. He put his mouth to her ear and in a low, deep growl he said, “You’re so fucking sexy baby…God, I love this.”

His words and the sound of his voice sent a fresh wave of arousal through her. She could feel the tension in his body…he was on the verge. His pace had become frantic and she clenched her inner muscles around him as he dug his fingers into the flesh of her hips and cried out as the orgasm rocked through him. She felt his knees bend more and him almost go down. His grip on her hips was the only thing keeping him upright.

Afterwards, they’d helped each other clean up and then he had taken her face into his hands and kissed her hard. His gaze was so intense and he was looking at her so seriously that she was waiting for him to say something…when he didn’t, she was almost disappointed…now that she lay on the ground, trussed up like a pig and waiting to die she was glad that she hadn’t heard those words. Knowing he loved her and how badly this would hurt him would make this that much harder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 46

 

The ride to the docks with Jackson was a long, quiet one for Damien. Thankfully, Jackson didn’t talk to him. He was on the phone a lot, arranging for his men to meet them there. Damien was sick to his stomach. He couldn’t get the image of Kevin out of his head and he wanted to puke. He had no idea how he would ever be able to look at Roxi again. Kevin’s death had essentially been his choice. He’d chosen Paige over him…and now he had to live with that choice. Alex killed him. He knew without a doubt that he’d never be able to look at his own brother the same…if at all. And Jackson was going to send Paige away. He’d never let Damien see her again. His life was essentially over…he was royally fucked. But, Paige was going to be okay. That was what he had to keep in the forefront of his mind. That was all that mattered.

Jackson’s driver let them out of the car two blocks from the docks. There was a large semi-truck without trailers on it waiting. Two of Jackson’s men were inside. Damien and Jackson got in the truck with them and Jackson said,

“Any sign of Brad and Alex?”

“Not yet,” one of the men named Nico told him. Jackson took out his phone and sent another text. A few seconds later it beeped. Damien was watching his face and he saw that his “uncle” was instantly pissed.

“What the fuck?” He pushed in a number and Damien heard it ring. Then he heard a man’s voice answer but he couldn’t hear it clearly enough to know who it was. “Where’s Brad?” Jackson said. He waited a beat while the man said something and then said, “That wasn’t the fucking plan.” The man said something again and Jackson’s face looked a little less angry as he said, “I guess that makes sense. We don’t want the fucking lawyer or his cry-baby daughter finding him too soon. Okay. Get your ass down here.” Jackson clicked the phone off and Damien knew they had been talking about getting rid of Kevin’s body.

Another fresh wave of nausea rolled through him. He sat while Jackson and his meatheads had a conversation about something he didn’t give a shit about and prayed that he wouldn’t start heaving in front of them.

It was almost a half an hour later when Jackson’s phone rang again. He put it to his ear and said, “Okay, we’re on our way.” He clicked it off and told the driver, “They’re in position.”

The driver started the big diesel and they drove towards the docks. Damien was watching through the big window in front. He hadn’t been let in on the “plan.” When they got nearer to the docks, Jackson took out a gun and handed it to Damien. Damien was surprised he’d gotten one at all.

“Thanks,” he mumbled. Jackson shook his head at him and said,

“If you use it on me, these guys will kill you…after they kill Paige.”

“I know,” was all Damien said. He tucked the gun into his waistband. The truck pulled up in front of a set of trailers and then backed up to them.

“Come,” Jackson told him. Damien followed him out of the truck. They went around to where the trailers were. Jackson unlocked the big railroad container and told Damien and the other two men,

“Wait here.” Damien was reluctant, but he didn’t have a choice so he did what Jackson said. When Jackson was gone, Nico…the talker said,

“So you and your Dad had a falling out?” Damien gave him a look that should have set him on fire. Nico had a brain after all. He dropped it.

Jackson came back about five minutes later with Alex and two others in tow. Alex wouldn’t make eye contact with his brother and Damien couldn’t help but think that he was a coward. Yes, he was following orders to stay alive and keep Paige alive…but at the very least he could look him in the eye after he’d killed his father.

“Here’s how it is going down,” Jackson said. He had everyone’s rapt attention, as usual. He shone when all eyes were on him. He really should have been a politician. He would have been great at it and he could have been just as dirty and made just as much money, Damien thought. “Lucas will be here to meet with Damien at six-thirty. Damien’s going to go in, but he’s going to tell Lucas Paige has to be released before he gets what he wants. Once she is out of the way, Damien is going to call Alex to bring it in…we will all go in. I’m taking down Lucas. I’ll need the rest of you to have your guns on the brothers and whoever else he has with him. Everyone got it?”

There were nods and sounds of assent. Jackson looked at Damien and said, “Give me the envelope.” Damien handed it to him and watched as Jackson opened it. He looked inside and when he was apparently satisfied, he tucked it into his jacket pocket. He looked at his watch then and at Damien. “Don’t screw this up,” he said. Damien wanted to take out the gun and shoot him in the face…but he refrained. The entire time he could feel his brother’s eyes on him.

When Jackson was finished with his insults Damien looked at his brother. This time, Alex didn’t look away. His face was impassive, but there was something in his eyes…he was trying to tell Damien something, but he didn’t know what it was. He tore his eyes away from the pair of eyes that looked eerily like his own and took a deep breath before heading out.

He walked slowly along the docks towards the warehouse. There were a lot of buildings in between it and where Jackson had them all hidden it didn’t come into view until he’d walked halfway down. When it did, he could see two of Lucas’s men out front. They were talking and laughing until he got close enough for them to see him and then they stopped and were all business. Damien stopped about two feet away from them.

“Gun?” One of them asked. Damien took out the gun Jackson gave him and handed it over. There was no use in trying to keep it…they were going to pat him down. As soon as the gun was out of his hand, the other brother pushed him from behind into the wall. His big hands roughly searched him and then he said,

“He’s clean. Text Lucas.” The first brother sent a text while the other one stood glaring at Damien. A few seconds later a response came through and the brother with the phone said,

“He said for you to take him in. He wants me to stay out here.” The pushy brother slid the big door open and pushed Damien inside. It took his eyes several seconds to adjust to the lack of light in the warehouse. When they did, they fell immediately on Paige. She was hog-tied to a chair. There was a piece of duct tape across her mouth and Damien smiled inwardly at that.

He was pretty sure she hadn’t been easy on them. The smile died before it hit his lips when he saw the blood crusted in her hairline and the trickle that came from her bottom lip and ran down her chin. The rage he’d felt towards Jackson was intensified by a hundred thousand times. He was using all of the energy in his body to keep from killing someone with his bare hands and he wasn’t sure if it was going to be enough.

Paige had her pretty eyes trained on his face. He tried to draw strength from her. If he had one wish it would be that he could go back to this morning and have the guts to tell her that he loves her…and convince her to run away with him. But, he couldn’t go back so now he needed to man up and get her the hell out of here. Then, he would find a way to tell her…and to be with her. He was sick and tired of living his life according to someone else’s design. If he lived through this day, from this day forward, no one would keep him from her and no one would tell them how to live their lives.

“Welcome Damien, thank you for coming.” The sound of Lucas’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard to him. He shook that off too and turned to face him. Lucas was as well-dressed and confident looking as ever. He looked and sounded like Damien was just there for a social call. That was until he realized Damien wasn’t carrying anything. “Where is it?”

“Alex has it. He’s waiting to hear from me that Paige is out of here unharmed. Although I see that will be stretching the word.” He looked back over at her. His heart ached.

“That wasn’t the way this was supposed to go down.”

“Right, because I was supposed to trust you…not fucking going to happen.”

“Then maybe I should kill you both right now. Alex has as much to lose as I do if those files go public.”

“Nah…not as much. Alex’s name is not on any of them and he’s not the one heard in the video planning to cheat my father either. I think you’re pretty much screwed if any of that comes out. Alex is my father’s golden child. Either way, he’ll be okay.”

“I will kill you…if not today, someday, you can count on that.”

“Bring it. But as far as today goes if you want what I have, you have your goons untie Paige and she walks out of here first. Then you’ve got me…Alex will bring you what you want and if you choose to kill Jackson Paine’s sons…then God help you.”

Lucas looked like he was seriously considering shooting Damien in the face, probably just because it would make him feel so much better. What Damien said was sinking in however. Lucas had no idea that Jackson already knew about the audio file…It was likely that Lucas didn’t even know it existed. He also didn’t know about Damien and Kevin. He was willing to kill Kevin to get at Paige…but killing Jackson’s sons would be signing his own death warrant and he knew it.

“Call him.”

“Let Paige go.” Lucas jerked his head at the two goons standing on either side of her. They untied her, roughly. Once again Damien had to check his temper. They dragged her to her feet but she looked like she wasn’t going to be able to stand on her own. “Take her out front. Alex will be there with a car as soon as I call him. She goes in the car before he steps out. Once she drives away…you get what you want.” Paige was trying to shake her head at him, but Damien turned away. His heart was breaking. The goons looked to Lucas for confirmation.

He nodded. He was pissed. Paige’s eyes looked frantic. Damien was actually glad he couldn’t hear her voice because he wasn’t sure that he could take it. He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned back towards Lucas. He couldn’t watch her being taken away from him without being able to tell her that he loved her…and he would find her, someway, somehow.

 

 

Chapter 47

 

As soon as Paige was outside the door Damien text Alex. Then, they waited. Five guns were still trained on his head as Lucas continued to stare him down. Damien breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the sound of the car driving in out front. He heard a car door slam twice…and he thought he heard Paige’s voice…but he had to block that out. Seconds later he heard the car driving away and his brother was being brought into the warehouse with a package in his hands.

“Welcome Alex,” Lucas said. “I must say that I was surprised you were willing to help your brother. Since he’s fallen out of favor with your father, that can’t be good for your relationship with him, can it?”

“I’ll worry about my father,” Alex told Lucas as he tossed him the envelope. “After you see what’s in there, I suggest you do the same.”

Lucas pulled out what was inside the envelope. He held the USB’s in his hands and called for one of his men to bring him the laptop. The first one he stuck in was the audio of him and the Columbian arranging Jackson’s business demise. Damien watched his face for any signs that he knew his life was over…but he was as good as Jackson, it was blank. He did stop it before it was over and stick in the next one. This was the one that listed out deliveries and cargo. After he glanced at that one, he fanned through the papers in his hand and then looked back up at the brothers and said, “It looks as if I’m in deep shit with your father…I suppose that I can’t make it much worse.” He looked at the two men holding guns on them and said, “Kill them.”

He took a step back and before he could take another, the two men with the guns were thrown backwards as bullets ripped through the chest of each of them. Lucas’s brothers were looking up and a few shots were fired off before they were all dropped like flies in a matter of seconds. One of the men standing in the loft above them tossed Alex a gun which he trained on Lucas. All of that took place in a matter of seconds. When all of the men with Lucas were dead and the dust settled, Jackson stepped into the warehouse. Now Lucas’s face was no longer impassive he looked like he was about to shit his pants.

“Hello Lucas. I’m not sure I heard you correctly as I was coming in…what with all the gunfire. Did you just order your men to kill my boys?” Lucas was looking around the room at the bodies of his brothers. Damien couldn’t tell if what he saw in the older man’s eyes was grief over the loss of his family or the fear of losing his own life. Either way, it was clear that he knew he’d pushed his on again, off-again friendship with Jackson too far.

“I’m not myself Jackson…you know that. Your stepdaughter killed my boy. How am I supposed to think clearly?”

“You’re not. I’d feel the same way…the difference is I would have killed you first before I went after your kids. That was your mistake.”

“They’re all alive…I didn’t kill any of them…maybe we can back up and….” Jackson pulled the trigger and Lucas’s head exploded. That bile that Damien had been choking down all day rose back up to the back of his throat. It wasn’t even that Lucas’s death bothered him…it was that photo he’d seen of Kevin earlier. Jackson brushed off his jacket and put his gun away before looking at Damien and Alex and saying,

“Are you two ready to get out of here?”

Damien looked up; Jackson’s men had replaced the dead Kramer men in the loft. He didn’t have a choice…if he refused to go with Jackson now, he was dead. He glanced at his brother who still looked as calm as if he’d taken a valium right before this all started. They both followed Jackson to the door, stepping carefully around the bodies on the floor. Just as they were going out the door Damien saw Alex check the clip on the gun he was still holding. Jackson got into the car first and then Alex. Damien slid in next to his brother.

“Take us to the restaurant,” Jackson told the driver. In that brief second that he was distracted, Damien felt his brother nudge his hand with a piece of cold metal. He looked down and closed his hand over the Glock 9mm that Alex had laid inside of it. Damien looked at his brother…Alex had just given him permission to kill his father.

Damien wondered what kind of relationship two men who had killed each other’s fathers could possibly have. Unfortunately, he couldn’t worry about that right now. He let his finger hover over the trigger of the Glock. He used his thumb to slide off the safety. “Call Brad and tell him to get over there,” Jackson said to Alex, “We need to have a family meeting.” Alex took out his phone and pressed in a number. In a few seconds he said,

“We’re headed to the restaurant now. Dad wants you there.” He ended the call and Jackson continued to look at him. At last he said,

“My disappointment in you runs deep. You were the one I was supposed to be able to count on…the only child I had left that I could trust.” He paused, but like Damien it was likely that Jackson knew Alex wasn’t going to apologize or beg for his life. His brother sat straight up and returned his father’s stare.

“It’s a sad day when the hired help can be trusted more than family. There was a time when I believed nothing more than that the two of you would lay down your lives for me if you had to…but not any longer. What am I supposed to do with that?” Neither of them said anything, still. He went on to say, “I felt physical pain when I was told that Kevin was still alive…and this,” he said, flapping the file and looking at Damien, “Is the ultimate betrayal. Your mistake was the same one your father made…caught up in the clutches of a beautiful woman. Unfortunately in this business, women who don’t know their place get men killed. I’d like to give you both another chance…I still care very deeply about you both…but Damien, I can see the hate in your eyes for me. You think you’re in love with that girl and the man you suddenly want to call Father is dead. I would have to spend so much of my time looking over my shoulder that I’d never get any business done. And Alex, you’ve proven where your loyalty lies.”

Jackson didn’t seem surprised as the car began to glide off the side of the road. The driver was pulling them into an alley behind the restaurant. Jackson began to slide his hand down inside of his jacket. He laughed when Damien pointed the gun in his hand at him.

“You’re going to kill me, right here?”

“Yes. I wish I would have done it years ago.”

Jackson looked at Alex and said, “And you? You think you’ve got it made if he kills me. You’ll move in and take over…be the big man? Brad won’t let that happen.”

Alex didn’t flinch as he said, “Brad’s dead.”

On that note, Damien pulled the trigger. As soon as Jackson’s chest exploded the driver’s door opened. Alex took the gun out of his brother’s hand and opened the back door. He shot the driver before he'd gotten six feet away. Then he turned to his brother and said,

“Jesus, fuck! I thought you were going to wait until he killed me to use that fucking gun.”

“I wasn’t going to let him shoot you, obviously.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“You’re still alive, aren’t you? What the fuck are you complaining about?”

“Come on, we can’t leave him there.” The driver was sprawled out in the middle of the alley only steps away from being able to turn the corner and make it to safety. Damien helped Alex pick him up and carry him to the limo. They dumped his body into the trunk and Alex slammed it down, then they both got into the front seat and Alex started up the car. He sat there for a long time before finally saying, “I can’t believe that he’s really dead.”

“I’m sorry man. I didn’t have a choice…

“What the fuck are you sorry for? He was going to kill both of us.”

“I know…but he’s your father…”

“You’re still speaking to me and you think I killed your father.”

“You did it to save Paige…Wait, what do you mean, I think?”

“Kevin’s fine. He’s in Rhode Island.”

Damien’s emotions were going crazy. He didn’t know what to feel first. “I saw pictures….Who?”

“Brad,” Alex said.

“Fuck!” Damien grabbed his brother and hugged him again. Alex pat his back and then pushed him away.

“I didn’t do it for you. I did it for me. I was going to have to fight that dumb son of a bitch when we all know I’m a hell of a lot smarter and I’ll make a damned good leader.” Damien laughed. He knew that it was an inappropriate time…but it was either that or cry and he hadn’t cried since his mother died. Alex glanced into the backseat. “Paige is on her way to Rhode Island too.”

“How did you do that?”

“Money and a promise to move the guy up in the organization works wonders,” he said. “Now let’s get out of here. We have a big, fucking mess to clean up. Oh and by the way, I know what fucking day today is.” Damien had almost forgotten about his text. He smiled. Today was the anniversary of their mother’s death…the day they both promised her two things: One that they wouldn’t turn out like Jackson…and two, that they would always have each other’s backs no matter what. Damien wanted to hug him again, but it was likely Alex would kill him if he did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 48

 

Two days later Alex, Damien, Paige and Kevin accompanied Jake to the Federal Plaza in New York City. Alex gathered everything he could find that would bring what was left of the Paine and Kramer organizations to their knees. Damien was armed with the evidence he already had and everything else he’d learned over the past ten years. Kevin’s knowledge went back almost fifty years.

He told Damien he was tired and he wanted it to be over. The only thing he asked was that his sister be left out of it. She could continue to manage the restaurant…her crimes were small compared to the rest of them anyways. None of them had any objections to that. Paige of course had the evidence Greg left for her as well as what Tommy had told her. They were all quietly contemplating their fate as they walked into the office of Special Agent Lee Barber. Jake had briefed them on what would happen and asked them all to let him do all of the talking until they agreed to an interview, and then he’d be there too.

“Jake! Good to see you!” Agent Barber stood up and shook Jake’s hand. He was a huge man, towering over all three of the other men.

“You too Lee, thanks,” Jake told him. “This is Alex and Damien Paine, Kevin Paine and Paige Acosta. Thanks for letting us do it this way.” They all shook hands with the agent as well.

“Have a seat,” the agent told them all. As they sat down, Damien reached for Paige’s hand. She gave it to him and squeezed his. She was trying not to be nervous. Although he was confident, Jake had told them all there were no guarantees that charges wouldn’t be brought against any of them for their past crimes. There was no guarantee that they would be granted any kind of immunity…Paige was afraid Damien would have to go to jail. “To be honest Jake, I’m not sure what it is that we’re doing. I gathered from our conversation that these people have some information they want to share with our Organized Crime Department.”

“Yes, but first we need to know that they’ll be safe from prosecution.”

Lee looked around the room and said, “I’ll need to bring my Special Agent in Charge in on this.”

“Okay, but like I said, before they say anything at all I need to hear the word “Immunity.”

Lee laughed. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

Jake smiled. “You know two things about me Lee, I’m not going to give any less than 100% of myself to my clients and I’m not going to take a client unless I’m absolutely certain they have the potential to rise above whatever situation they’re in. These people have all actually become friends of mine…” he looked at Alex and Alex’s lips quirked. He was the only one that Jake still didn’t trust, but true to his word as always, Jake was going to represent him with the same vengeance he would the others.

“Jackson Paine is missing,” the agent said, “And so is Lucas Kramer. Might they know something about that?”

“They might,” Jake said. “Might your Special agent in charge like to be here so you don’t have to run back and forth like a cheap car salesman?”

Lee laughed again.

*****

Half an hour later they had all been moved down to the hall to a conference room where the conversation could be taped and everyone involved could sit around a table comfortably. Lee Barber had brought in his partner, a man named Agent Sterling and his boss, or Special Agent in Charge, a man named Agent Gold. There was also an administrative assistant in the room to record notes. Agent Gold began by saying,

“I’m authorized to grant temporary immunity to the four of you until we’ve heard what you have to say…” Jake stood up and so did Alex. Kevin was next and Damien pulled Paige up to her feet next to him. “Come on…you don’t expect me to grant four people full immunity before I’ve even heard what they have to say…”

“Apparently you don’t understand what you have here in this room. You have the brother of the head of the biggest drug syndicate in New York State. You have both of his sons. You have his step-daughter who is also the sister of an N.Y.P.D. officer who was murdered by the rival family…the Kramer’s, not to mention her brother’s partner who was also murdered as well. If you’re half as smart as your title implies that you are you’ll be able to get just how important what they have to say will be to you. You can clean up half the crime in this city as well as stop a huge influx of drugs and guns from coming in…or, you can offer them temporary immunity and they can walk out.”

Special Agent Gold looked at his two subordinate agents. It was obvious they wanted him to give them the immunity. They seemed to be dying to hear what they have to say. He looked back at Jake and the others and said, “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.” He stood and left the room. Paige couldn’t help but be impressed with Jake and appreciative that they’d gotten lucky enough to know him. Another attorney might not be as determined to help them.

It was almost an excruciating hour later when he came back. He had another young agent with him who was balancing a stack of paperwork in his arms. He sat back down and motioned at the other agent to do the same. He took the first paper off the stack and handed it to Jake. Whatever it said, Jake wasn’t pleased…he handed it right back.

“Come on Jake, it’s a good deal.”

“We want Transactional immunity,” he said.

“It’s not going to happen for all four of them…maybe the lady…” Jake sighed and rolled his eyes.

“You’re wasting our time.” Jake turned to his clients and said, “He is offering what is known as ‘Derivative Use Immunity.’ That means that they cannot use anything you say during your testimony against you…but, they can still use anything they gather during the course of the investigation however they see fit.”

“That’s bullshit,” Alex said. Paige still wasn’t in a place where she wanted to agree with Alex about anything…but on that point, she had to agree.

“Yes it is,” Jake said. “Last chance here Gold. Transactional immunity or nothing.”

“I need the Attorney General’s okay for that.”

“We’ll wait,” Jake told him.

He rolled his eyes but he got up and left, taking his assistant with him. When he was gone Paige said, “What is Transactional immunity?”

“It means “total” or “blanket” immunity,” Jake told her. No charges related to your testimony can be brought against you now or in the future. So if a crime they uncover later on somehow relates back to something you testified in relation to…you’re automatically immune. He knew that was what I wanted when we walked in here. He’s just playing the car salesman…trying to get a better deal.”

Jake and his FBI friend started talking then about old times and people they knew in common. Alex sat smoldering as usual. Kevin struck up a conversation with the other agent and Damien looked at Paige and said, “Are you okay?”

She smiled. “I’m good, how about you?”

“I’m good too.” He squeezed her hand. “Are you ruing the day you heard the Paine name?”

She laughed. “Never,” she said with a wink. That was somewhat of a lie. If she had to do all over again, she would give up Damien for her brother’s life back…but she couldn’t bring Greg back, and at this point she wasn’t going to be willing to give Damien up for anything. When the agent finally came back into the room Paige held her breath until he said,

“The Attorney General has given me permission to grant the Transactional Immunity to all of you…granted you give us something to work with.”

Jake smiled; everyone else breathed a sigh of relief. “Spread those contracts out here,” Jake told him. “They’ve got a lot to say.”

They signed the contracts and then were split up to interview one at a time. Jake sat with each one as they did. He had already gone over with them what to say and what not to. Paige was told absolutely not to mention Caine as there was nothing to keep them from prosecuting her for murder where he was concerned.

Five grueling hours later they were released to go home for the day. They would be expected back the next day and probably multiple ones after that. Then, when they had enough evidence to convene a Grand Jury against the players who were left, they would have to be present for that as well. The F.B.I. raided the warehouse where the bodies of the Kramer’s and some of the Paine’s laid strewn about while the interviews were in progress. They found the bodies of both Lucas Kramer and Jackson Paine. The next phase of their little drama had begun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 49

 

Paige and Damien drove Crystal home a few days after they met with the F.B.I. and it seemed the danger to her life had passed. Kelsey was still out there somewhere, but she’d have to be a complete idiot to return now while the heat was on all of them and Paige told Damien that Crystal was aching to be back in her own home. Paige told Damien that she was actually able to see first-hand the way that Jackson operated, and understand a little more why Crystal defended him for so long.

“Yeah,” Damien agreed. “Jackson has always had a way of hiding the monster within and appearing to be the kind of strong family man that all of us that he gathered around him had craved for so long.”

“I liked him…the whole time that Mom was married to him. I even held out for a while when Greg insisted he was a drug lord…I insisted he show me proof before I would believe him. He had all of us fooled.”

After they got Crystal settled, they went to the university because Paige had to register for her fall classes. She was already late for this semester, but she’d obtained permission from the Dean. He’d given her a special pass because of her brother’s death and also because she’d been consistently on the Dean’s list every semester for three years straight. As they walked across campus hand in hand, Damien took in the sights around them. Everyone seemed so happy to be here…so “normal.”

“I always wondered what it would be like to just be a normal college student like these kids around here,” he told her.

Paige laughed. “Kids? You’re not much older than some of them and you’re even younger than others. You don’t have to be eighteen to start school anymore.”

He nodded. “I know. It’s just that I feel so much older…the past ten years aged me a lot. Yet, here I am with no job skills.”

She stopped walking and turned towards him. Planting a light kiss on his lips she said, “You’re so smart and capable. All you need to do is decide what it is you like to do and what you want out of life and then go for it.”

He kissed her back. “When you say it, I believe I can do it.”

“You better believe it,” she said. “Did you want to get lunch or anything?”

“I was kind of thinking about taking you out tonight.”

Her face lit up. “Like a real date? That’s hard to imagine.”

Laughing he said, “Really? I don’t seem like a guy who knows how to show a girl a good time?”

She grinned mischievously and said, “Oh, you’ve shown me quite a few good times. No, I just meant that since we met, things have been so chaotic. It will be really nice to go out on a real date.”

“Good, then we have to drive back to New York and get ready,” he said.

“New York?”

“Yeah, I don’t know Rhode Island. I want to take you out in a city that I know.”

Still smiling she said, “Let’s go.” When they got back to the city Damien took her to his penthouse. While she was showering, he took the cash he’d been saving over the years out of his wall safe. He made a few phone calls then and when she came out, he was ready. “What should I wear?” she asked.

She was dressed in a robe and her long hair was hanging loose and wet across her shoulders and down her back. Damien couldn’t resist. He closed the distance between them and tilted her head up towards him. He looked into her eyes for a few seconds and then he claimed her mouth in a deep, hot kiss. She’s so responsive, he loves that. Her arms go up around his neck and she leans into the kiss, letting her body melt into his. The kiss is a rush of sweetness…and heat. It’s comfortable and edgy and as the heat surged between them it sparked a fire that threatened to rage out of control.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in even closer. She parted her lips and Damien groaned and slid his tongue deeper into her mouth. He loved the way she tasted, like cinnamon and peppermint. Desire pounded in his chest as he savored every second. Paige made him feel as high as any drug ever had or could. She overpowered his senses and made him understand what it might be to completely give up your sanity and abandon all self-control. But he was determined to have a normal day with her…one normal day…He summoned all the willpower he had and he broke the kiss, gently nudging her back. She smiled at him and she looked as intoxicated as he felt.

“That was…I can’t think of a word for it…I love kissing you.”

He smiled at her. “I love kissing you too…but, I don’t want to get caught up in the kissing and touching until later. I want to take you out and spend the entire day with you, doing crazy fun things like normal people.”

Paige reached up and touched his face. “I want that too, but you didn’t answer me. What should I wear?”

The doorbell rang just then and Damien winked at her and said, “Hold that thought.” A young woman holding several garment bags on her arm was standing at the door.

“Mr. Paine?”

“Yes ma’am.” He handed her a few crisp bills and took the bags out of her hands. “Thank you.” He closed the door and turned around to Paige. “These three are yours. So you have a choice.”

“You bought me clothes?”

“Yeah…we’ve been so busy running around and neither of us have had a chance to dress up. I want to do this right.”

She was beaming. She looked so happy. Damien could hardly believe how happy that made him. “How did you know what size?”

“I’m incredibly intuitive,” he said. She giggled and took the garment bags from his hands.

“Either that, or you looked in my closet.”

“Intuitive sounds hotter,” he said with a grin. She leaned in and kissed him softly and said,

“Yes it does, but you don’t need anything to make you any hotter. I might not be able to take it.”

He pulled back from the kiss and said, “Go…get dressed before I pull that towel off of you and ruin the whole date day.”

A half an hour later Damien was showered and dressed in an expensive, tailored black suit with a gray silk tie. He waited in the living room for Paige and when she came out of the bedroom he really thought he wasn’t going to be able to make it through the night without ripping her clothes off and jumping her. She’d chosen a silver colored dress that fit like a glove and emphasized her curves that he loved so much. Her hair was still loose but dry now and laying in gentle waves down her back. She had on five inch heels and her gorgeous legs were exposed from her upper thigh on down. Damien’s mouth was dry and his cock was already twitching in his pants.

“Jesus,” he finally said.

She smiled. “Thank you. You look good enough to eat yourself.”

“We better get out of here or this date will be over before it started,” he told her, reluctantly. He grabbed her hand and held her to the door. When they got downstairs he had a limousine waiting for them.

“Wow, this is a going all out kind of date,” she said. The driver got out and opened the back door. He took Paige’s hand and helped her into the back. Damien followed. There was a bottle of champagne chilling with two crystal flutes waiting and there was a vase of blood red roses. Paige’s eyes widened. “You thought of everything,” she said with a tremor in her voice.

“Are you crying? Don’t cry baby!”

She smiled but her eyes were glistening with tears. “They’re happy tears. I just can’t believe you did all of this. Thank you.”

“There is a lot more to come,” he told her.

“I can’t wait.”

 

 

 

Chapter 50

 

The car took them to a club in SoHo. Paige was surprised that there would be a club opened so early in the day. She realized when they walked in that it wasn’t open…for anyone other than them. It was an intimate little club with a tiny dance floor, a bar, and soft music playing in the background. It was the kind of music that you might hear at a wedding…the kind that Paige loved to dance to.

“Do you dance?” she asked.

“Not usually,” Damien said, “But if you want to dance, I’ll make an exception for you.”

“I want to dance with you,” she gushed.

Damien took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor. He put one arm around her waist and held her hand and then he began to glide her across the dance floor.

“You know how to waltz?”

Damien smiled at her surprise as he led her in perfect time. “Are you impressed?” he asked her with a grin.

“I have to admit that I am,” she said.

He pulled her in tighter and he could feel her warm breath against the side of his face. God, she drives him crazy. He spun her out and let her twirl off the tips of his fingers, and then he pulled her back in and relaxed once more to the rhythm of the music. “Wow,” she said, really impressed. “Who taught you to dance the waltz?”

“My mother,” he told her. “She taught me how to dance before my first prom.”

“Wow! Well, she did a great job,” Paige told him. “You haven’t stepped on my toes one time.”

A lump rose in Damien’s throat when he thought about his mother lately. He couldn’t help but wonder sometimes how different his life would be. He could remember the day they’d had their first lesson. He was as tall as he is now but only fourteen years old so nothing but arms and legs. She patiently led him through the steps over and over as he stumbled along after her until it was perfect. God, he missed her, but he had to be glad that she wasn’t there to see how he and Alex had turned out. What would she think of them?

“You okay?” Paige asked him, bringing him back to the present.

He smiled. “I’m fine,” he said, “I was just remembering her.” He pulled her in tighter and breathed in her scent. Paige is the only thing that brought balance to a world his mother no longer lived in. Once again he felt his lips aching for hers. He drew her closer and she melted against him and arched up to meet his kiss. He used his tongue to ease her lips open, licking into her mouth as she did, seductively exploring her depths. She suddenly becomes the aggressor, pulling him tightly against her and biting down on his lips…gently but seductively. She had her hands in his hair now and he shivered each time she dragged her fingers through it.

Damien groaned, once again feeling the heat flare up in his core. His kiss turned demanding then. He began to devour her. He heard her make a noise of pleasure and he growled and gripped onto her hips with both hands as his tongue plunged in deeper, claiming her sweet mouth. He suddenly wanted to rip her clothes off again. He wanted to unravel her completely and see her come undone…but not yet.

He stopped dancing and said, “Lunch!”

Breathless, but with a giggle Paige repeated, “Lunch?”

“Yeah, you eat on dates right? It’s way past lunch time. What do you want?”

She giggled again. “You?”

“Nice…but later. Really, what do you want?”

“A hot dog,” she said.

He laughed. Damien thought she was kidding. “A hot dog? I bought out a club to dance with you in. I bought you a designer dress…I’m offering steak, lobster, shrimp, sushi…and you want a hot dog?”

“Mm hmm. A greasy one. With lots of relish.”

Still laughing, Damien had to admit that sounded good. He took her hand. “Okay, a hotdog is what you’ll get.” He led her back to the limo and he had the driver take them to Brooklyn. There was something there he wanted to show her anyways. The limo dropped them off near a dumpy little bar that was almost hidden in the middle of a run-down strip mall. He led her down a narrow stairwell into a dark little place with vinyl booths crammed together and a floor that stuck to your shoes as you crunched across peanut shells.

“Are we here for a hot dog or some crack?” she asked with a nervous giggle. So much had been going on since he met her that he’d never gotten a chance to show her his New York. Today was the day. Damien held on tightly to her hand so that she would know she was safe and led her to a table in the corner. There were only five or six other patrons in the bar and although we were way overdressed, nobody even looked up at us as they walked across the floor.

“Is beer okay?”

“Mm, yeah. Beer and a hot dog,” she said.

Damien went and ordered their beer and hot dogs. When he got back he was carrying two bottles of beer and four hot dogs. He handed her one, smothered in relish. Paige took a bite, closed her eyes and moaned like she did when they had sex. Damien’s cock twitched again and when she opened her eyes she realized how he was watching her and blushed.

“So good,” she said. He grinned. She ate the whole dog in three bites. He loved that she wasn’t one of those women who put on a show of being on a diet all the time or who only ate things that came from a gourmet restaurant with a pure silver knife and fork.

“I see that. I can’t wait for you to eat another one,” he said. Then unable to resist, he leaned across the table and ran his tongue across her lips. She tasted like mustard and relish and it was surprising to him how much that turned him on. Maybe it was just that everything about her turned him on, no matter what it was. She took a long swig of her beer and then leaned in to meet him. He kissed her, long, slow and deep. Now she tasted like beer and he felt it penetrate his blood stream like a warm glow. He wanted to savor it…stay in the moment forever. He broke it however to get up and go over to her side of the booth. He sat next to her and pulled her against his body. She leaned into him and for the two of them at that moment; nothing else existed there in the dark except for them. He kissed her again and as it deepened he lost himself in the sensations. He kissed her greedily like a kid in the backseat of a car at a drive-in, all tangled up in hands and mouths and tongues.

Paige broke the kiss first, gasping and panting for air. When she did, Damien went for her throat. He put his mouth on the hollow of her neck and kissed along the sensitive skin there, scraping occasionally with his teeth and causing her to shudder. His hand was resting on her upper thigh and he let it slide underneath the edge of the silky dress. Paige had her back arched and her neck hyper-extended as Damien made love to it with his mouth. Time passed…he wasn’t sure how much, when suddenly she said, “It’s so hot in here.”

He pulled his head up and looked at her. His eyes felt like they could barely focus. He wanted her so badly. His breaths were coming fast and he needed air too, but he needed to kiss her again first. He pulled her head lower and claimed her lips, sliding his tongue into her mouth as she melted into him once more. His arms were wrapped tightly around her and his hands were now playing across her back sending goose bumps shooting up her spine. This time when he broke the kiss, Paige was the one who looked completely undone.

He gave her a few minutes to recover and as her eyes began to refocus he said, “You still need that air?” She nodded, picked up her beer, drained the bottle and said,

“Yes, definitely.”

Damien drained his own bottle of beer and then took her hand and led her back to the bar and up the stairs. They both stopped and gulped in a lungful of the fresh evening air when they hit the sidewalk. The sun was beginning to go down and the air was cooling off. Damien led her over to the limo and leaned into the passenger seat. He stood back up with a shoe box in his hands and handed it to her.

“What’s this?” she asked with a laugh. “Another gift?”

“I have time to make up for,” he said. She smiled and opened the lid. It was a pair of walking shoes. She looked at him with eyebrows raised and he said, “I want to walk with you while the sun goes down. If you’d rather not, we can take the car.”

She smiled one of her genuine smiles that melts his heart and said, “I’d love a walk.” She sat down on the curb and changed out of her heels and into the tennis shoes. Damien took her heels and tossed them back into the car.

“I’ll text you later when we’re ready,” Damien told the driver. Then he took Paige’s hand and they began to walk. The previously blue sky was already streaked with the colors of a beautiful sunset. The oranges and crimson combined to give the sky a blood ret hue with hints of the bluish gray of the night sky peeking through here and there.

“So, what is it that you like to do,” Paige asked him, returning to their much earlier conversation.

“I’m good with numbers and money,” he said. “Maybe something in finance…”

“I can see that,” she said, looking him over as if she’d never seen him before. Her pretty eyes left a trail of heat everywhere they went. He dropped her hand and draped an arm across her shoulders.

“You can huh? Can you see me with a bag of lunch in the company refrigerator…or competing in the three-legged race at the annual barbecue?”

Paige laughed. “That’s all a bit of a stretch,” she said. “I see you more as the executive type, dressed in your nice suits and eating lunch at the city’s best eateries.”

He grinned. “I’m thinking for anyone other than family, they’ll expect me to start small. But that’s okay,” he said, pulling her into him once again. “I’m craving normalcy. I need it. I’ve had too much of the other.”

She rolled herself onto him and said, “Me too.” She initiated another kiss and he met it enthusiastically. Her lips parted wider and he drank her in as their tongues caressed in a sexy, dangerous dance. Once again he lost track of everything but the wild, reckless fire that burnt between them. When they came back up for air, he stood there for a few moments with his forehead pressed into hers. Once again he had the words he wanted to tell her on the tip of his tongue…but this wasn’t the place. He reached down for her hand and said, “Come on, we’re almost there.”

 

 

 

 

Chapter 51

 

They walked for another five blocks and he turned onto a street in the business district of Brooklyn and stopped in front of a building that looks like it was in the middle stages of being erected. There was construction equipment all over the place and the entrance to the building was blocked off with caution tape.

Paige looked up at the tall building that didn’t have any glass in the windows yet and said, “What is this place?”

He unlocked the door that obviously wasn’t going to keep anyone out if they wanted in and told her, “It’s mine. Before all of this stuff happened Jackson was going to set me up in a business…another business to launder money through. The building has been under construction for over six months now. There was too much going on to worry about it for a while.”

“So is it in your name, or will you have to relinquish it to the government when he’s convicted?”

“It’s mine. He wanted to start doing more of this to keep out of the reach of the IRS and the DEA, etc. Do you want to see the inside?”

“Sure.” He pulled her into the building and towards the construction elevator there. They got on the elevator and Damien pressed “R.” The elevator stopped on the roof and when Paige stepped off she sucked in a breath. The roof was covered with plants and flowers and it smelled like perfume as the air wafted through it.

When they stepped off and Paige saw the view she gasped. “Wow! This is gorgeous.”

Damien smiled. Next to the construction mess and the plants that needed watering desperately she looked like a diamond in the rough. She sat down on top of a stack of wooden pallets and Damien went over and sat down next to her. He put his arm around her and guided her down so they were lying back side by side, looking up at the stars that were just beginning to appear in the sky. “Someday I’d like to finish this and have my own business doing…something,” he said with a grin.

“I could see you here on the top floor, looking hot in one of your suits and commanding respect in a much different way than Jackson ever did.” Paige was staring up at the stars, watching them appear slowly in a blissful way. Her long hair was fanned out all around her and Damien knew then if he didn’t before that she was the view he wanted to look at for the rest of his life. He was about to tell her so when she said, “Look, it’s the big dipper.” She leaned her head against his chest and pointed up at the sky. Damien looked at what she was pointing at and then back at her. There was no contest as far as beauty was concerned. He would choose her.

He turned enough so that he could once again take those tempting lips of hers into a hot kiss. She rolled her body into his and rose up to meet his mouth. Her hands slid around his neck and pulled him in closer. He could kiss her forever…right here in the middle of the night on top of an unfinished building.

It was perfect…she was perfect. His hands were finished being good and now they roamed freely over her body feeling every curve underneath that clingy, sexy dress. She arched into him as hungry and impatient as he was. He tore his lips from hers and let his travel down across her chin and back to that delicious neck. He wanted to ravish her…but he made himself slow down and savor the moment. He still had plans for the night and he wanted her to remember it as soft and sweet.

He could feel her shiver underneath him and her breaths were coming in short pants as her fingers dug into his back and his hands guided the shoulders of her dress down her arms enough to expose the tops of her breasts. They looked even more gorgeous than usual here in the starlight. He exhaled and his breath brushed across her nipples making them instantly hard. She moaned and arched up. Damien knew what she wanted and he didn’t intend to disappoint. He teased her at first, letting his tongue brush lightly across the sensitive nipples. She had her hands in his hair now, pushing his face down, urging him forward. He finally sucked one into his mouth and he continued to suck as she writhed up against him.

Adrenaline raged through his bloodstream with each whimper or moan. He paid a lot of attention to that breast before switching over to the other. She sucked in a breath as he moved his mouth and the cool air brushed across her nipple…wet with his saliva. She was getting squirmy underneath him as he licked and sucked and suddenly she surprised him by wrapping her strong legs around him and rolling them over so that she was poised above him, straddling his torso. Her dress was up around her waist and her long hair was everywhere. The lights of the city were in the background…and the look in her eyes was pure hunger.

She bent forward and brought her hot, demanding lips to his. As they kissed, she rocked her body against his and slid her hands up underneath his shirt. Biting down on his lower lip, she moaned and any self-control Damien was clinging to was gone. He sat up and pulled her body down to him so her breasts were crushed against his chest and her pelvis against his rock hard cock. She gasped and ground down into him as he sucked at her lips and tongue.

He rolled them again as they kissed and pinned her down to the crate with his arms. He slid her dress the rest of the way off of her as he kissed his way down her body. He let his mouth devour every inch of her, sucking hard and licking every exposed surface. He sucked a nipple in again and bit down on it before moving on down to her flat stomach. He licked and sucked his way down to the strip of black lace between her thighs. Paige was gasping and panting and arching her back to meet his touch.

He slid one hand between her legs and underneath the panties that were soaked…slick for him and inviting. He looked up at her and met her eyes as he slid two fingers deep inside of her. He watched her as he stroked in and out. She was moaning and writhing and calling out his name. He curled his fingers inside of her and she jerked and shook and he knew he’d found her g-spot. Then he bent his head and put his mouth to her. He ran his tongue over her clit and swirled it around the engorged, sensitive nub while continuing to pump his fingers inside of her.

“Oh Fuck! Damien! Jesus!”

“You like that baby?”

“Fuck yes! Don’t stop.”

He grinned. “I wasn’t planning on it.” Instead, he quickened his pace with his fingers and licked and sucked on her clit more rapidly. He repeated his movements and threw in a new one here and there until he felt her muscles begin to clamp down hard around his fingers. He stopped what he was doing and lifted himself up on his elbow. Her eyes flew open and in a desperate voice she said,

“No…no…don’t stop…” He grinned.

“I’m not going to stop. I want to watch your face when you come.”

He shoved his fingers back inside of her, curling them again. She cried out as his thumb came up to stroke her clit in time with his thrusts. “Oh yes, that’s it baby. That’s perfect. Right there. Oh fuck! Oh God!”

Paige reached up and pulled him down into a fevered kiss. Her hands were running through his hair and he continued to pump her as he drowned in her taste. She was groaning and gripping him tighter when suddenly she went rigid all over and let out a little scream. Her body convulsed and she panted and whimpered as the orgasm washed over her little by little. He waited until she’d come down from her high before he pulled his fingers out.

She had her hands at his belt now. One was pulling at the clasp and the other was trying to slide down inside of his pants. He reached down and helped her, undoing the belt and unfastening the waist. She slid the zipper down and slid her hand inside, taking the shaft of his throbbing cock into her hand and beginning to stroke. Damien was the one who gasped now. It felt so fucking good he considered coming in her hand…but then he remembered all of his other options.

Damien reached down and grabbed her hand to slow it, whispering her name in a husky voice. She answered him by letting go of his erection and moving her legs open further. Damien didn’t waste any time getting his pants down and climbing back up on her. He braced himself on his elbows and again he let his lips meet hers in a blazing kiss. Then he began to enter her slowly…inch by inch…and the world stopped as it always did when he was inside of her. For that brief moment, the rest of the world fades to black.

Damien’s movements increased in pace and intensity slowly and with each thrust Paige would rise up and match his strokes. She had her fingernails raking down his back and she looks completely lost in the sensations. She’s so fucking sexy…so hot. Fire was raging like an inferno through his body and his limbs were rigid. “More!” Paige cried out.

“What do you want baby?”

“I want your cock…I want it deep and hard…I need more…”

Damien suddenly shoved himself into her so deeply that he hit bottom. She cried out and he felt her clench against him.

“Yes! That’s it!”

With a growl from deep in his throat he began to slam into her over and over. It was hard and deep and so fucking good. He kissed her again as he fucked her and they moved as one until it was impossible to tell where he ended and she began. He plunged in harder and deeper each time.

He had his hands on her wrists, holding her in place while his cock surged in and out of her. He watched her face as she came apart and screamed out his name. He rode her gently as she came once again. He loved the feel of her trembling beneath him. When she finished shaking he began moving again hard and fast. He was ready and he couldn’t control it any longer. He slammed in and out of her several more times until he groaned loudly and his body shook and twitched as the rush of the orgasm slammed into him.

After they both caught their breath he pulled her lightly glistening body into his sweatier one and he held her. A few minutes passed and he looked down. She had her eyes closed. “Hey baby.’

“Hey handsome.’

‘I love you.’

She was quiet for a long time and he found himself believing she wasn’t going to tell him back. That would be okay…but he’d been hoping she felt the same. She rolled her body so that it was pressing even harder to her and she said,

“I love you too,” she said, sending jolts of pleasure through his body and to his brain like nothing he’d ever felt before.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 52

 

Paige sat in the lounge chair and looked across the yard at what she considered to be her new “family.” Jake was at the barbecue pit with Damien next to him, discussing whatever men discuss when they barbecue. Kevin was sitting in a lawn chair not far away from them, chiming in on the conversation every so often. Roxi had gone inside to meet Jake’s brother Derek and sister-in-law Chloe at the door. Chloe was bringing her baby who had just turned a year old and Roxi was excited to see her. Things were blissfully “normal” and Paige almost didn’t know how to react to it all…but she knew that she loved it.

She and Damien were living in Rhode Island now. She’d started back to school in September and they’d moved into Roxi’s condo on the beach. Roxi refused to take any money from them. Damien was working for her now at the club, doing the books. He’d also started taking online courses to get his degree in business. Every bit of extra money they had now they were putting into his building in Brooklyn. Paige thought back to the discussion they’d had about that right after the Grand Jury had finally convened and they’d given their testimony.

“I know what I want to do with the building,” he’d told her one lazy Sunday afternoon as they sat on the patio of the condo having lunch.

“I thought it was going to be your investment firm when you finished your degree.”

“It will be…a few floors of it anyways. It’s ten stories tall though and I won’t need all of that space. I think the bottom floors would make a great surgeon’s office.”

Paige was suddenly alert. “Really?”

He grinned. “Really. My hot wife to be is going to be a doctor, you know?”

“I didn’t know that. She must be really smart.”

“She’s a genius…although I’ve never been able to say much for her taste in men.”

Paige laughed. “I happen to know who she’s with and I think she has excellent taste.”

“That’s all that matters,” he said. “Let’s work on finding out what all we need to build that office and we’ll start saving money and get it done before you’re ready to hang out your shingle.”

Paige had thrown her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “God I love you so much.”

“I’m so glad,” he told her in a whisper against her ear. She not only heard the sincerity…she felt it. No one had ever made her feel as special or loved as Damien did. She couldn’t wait to finish school and become his wife.

They had all given their testimony in front of the Grand Jury one at a time. Indictments had been returned against twenty-six members of both the Paine and the Kramer crew. The F.B.I. and N.Y.P.D. had investigated and identified the bodies at the warehouse and fourteen men had died that day. Six of them were Kramer’s, Lucas and his brothers. The other eight worked for Lucas. Brad Paine was listed as missing, but there were warrants out for his arrest. Paige and the others knew those warrants would never be served. Caine’s death was ultimately ruled an “accidental overdose.” Warrants were issued for Kelsey and some of the Columbians as well, but the F.B.I. weren’t too hopeful that those arrests would happen any time soon. The deaths of Greg and Tommy were both ultimately ruled “homicide” and credit for them were given to Lucas and his crew. There weren’t many people in his organization left to charge with them, but at least Greg’s death was no longer considered his fault. Paige knew her brother was a hero and not a junkie…and now everyone else knew it too.

“Paige, come see the baby!” Roxi was calling to her across the yard. Paige got up and went towards the other woman who had a pink, wiggly bundle in her arms. Roxi and Jake’s wedding was coming up soon. They were getting married on Christmas. Paige suspected they wouldn’t be far behind Chloe and Derek in the baby making department.

“She’s beautiful,” Paige said, “Can I hold her?” Roxi reluctantly handed the baby over just as a man and woman came out the sliding glass doors.

“Paige, this is Chloe and Jake’s brother, Derek.” Paige thought Chloe was beautiful and next to Damien, Derek may well be the best looking man she’d ever seen.

“Hi, it’s so nice to meet you.”

“You too,” they both said. Chloe smiled at Roxi and said, “You know, I was the boss lady’s stray project before you. I wonder who she’ll find to take care of next.”

“Shit! You all need to take care of yourself from now on. I’m no caretaker.” Kevin laughed and Roxi shot him a look. “You know I don’t go in for all of that maternal bullshit.”

“Sure honey, we all know how tough and mean you are.”

“Shut up,” she told him with a grin. She looked back at Paige who was playing peek-a-boo with the baby and said, “Give me that baby.” Paige laughed and handed the baby to her. She looked up and saw Damien looking at her. He’d mentioned to her more than once how he wanted to have kids someday. The more she got to know him, the more she knew he’d be an amazing father. Not much longer until she was finished with school and they could get married and start trying. In the meantime…they were having fun practicing.

“What do you need me to do?” Paige asked Roxi.

“You can bring out the salads and plates if you want.” Roxi was sitting cross-legged on a blanket on the grass with the baby. She looked adorable with her.

“I’ll help you,” Chloe told her. The two women went inside and as they got the plates and things out Chloe said, “I heard you’re living in the condo now. How do you like it?”

“We love it,” Paige said. “Three nights a week I have to stay in New Jersey with my mother because I’m finishing my last year of school, so I’ll love it more when I can stay there all the time. But, I’m happy.”

Chloe smiled. “Happy is good. From what I hear you had a year like a few that I had a while back. Too much chaos and uncertainty.”

“Definitely. Sometimes I wake up and wonder if all of this is real or if I’m only dreaming.”

Chloe laughed. “Derek and I have been married for almost a year now and I still feel the same. It’s real…just never take any of it for granted.” Damien walked into the house at that moment. Paige’s eyes fell on the love of her life and she said,

“I definitely won’t.”

Chloe went out with a load of plates and Paige stayed behind. When Chloe was gone she said, “Is everything okay?” He came over and put his strong arms around her from behind. He pulled her into his chest and kissed the side of her face.

“Everything is perfect. Alex is stopping by though. He says he needs to talk.”

Paige raised an eyebrow. She was grateful to Alex for everything he’d done for his brother and her and she always would be. There was still something dark and dangerous about him that made her nervous though, and she still didn’t completely trust him. “He didn’t say what about?”

“No. Maybe business…Kevin said things are slow going for him. All of the publicity over the past few months hasn’t been good for business. He still asks me about coming in as his partner every time I talk to him.” Paige’s eyes widened and Damien grinned. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to. I will help him if I can but I think mine and Alex’s days of working together are in the past.”

Paige was relieved to hear that. She didn’t doubt for a second that Alex was not running a completely legitimate business and she didn’t want Damien caught up in all of that again. Kevin and Sylvie had both retired and Alex was starting the business over on his own from the ground up. In other words…he had full reign. He loves money and power and expensive toys and women. Paige couldn’t see him ever giving any of that up to struggle the way most new business owners did.

Damien looked like he was going to say something else when the doorbell rang. He went and let Alex in as Paige took a couple of salads out to the table outside. When she came back in for more the two brothers looked like they were having an intense conversation. She was worried, but she knew Damien would tell her what it was about. She didn’t stay and eavesdrop, although she was tempted. She carried out more food. When she came back in to get more she heard Alex say,

“I’m doing my best to keep it straight brother. But no matter what I do…I needed to tell you that I’m proud of you. Jackson and everyone else in the organization always looked at me as the strong one. What they didn’t see was how much strength it took for you to strive to get out. They didn’t see how much more character and self-respect you have than me. They didn’t see you take care of our mother up until the second she took her last breath because I couldn’t deal with it and they didn’t know like I did how real the struggle was internally. We made her a promise and we both broke it. You felt guilty and tried to change it, I didn’t. You’re a better man than me and I wanted you to know that I know that.”

Paige felt tears spring up into her eyes as she listened to Alex’s words. Coming from any brother they would have been touching. Coming from Alex, they meant even more. According to Damien the way Alex showed his love was by being there to beat or kill anyone who hurt or threatened his brother. He wasn’t one for words, so his words meant that much more when he used them.

“Are you armed?” Damien said. Paige wondered why he was asking him that. Alex obviously knew. He laughed.

“No, but if you hug me I can kill you with my bare hands.”

Damien grinned. He had tears in his eyes too. He held out his hand to his brother and Alex took it. “You’re a good man bro. You just need to believe it.” Alex used Damien’s hand to pull his brother into him and then he did something that Damien told Paige he’d never initiated on his own. He hugged his little brother. Then shocking them further he said,

“I love you, man. I hope you and Paige are happy, always.” Then making her laugh he yelled, “Did you hear that in there Paige?”

She stuck her head around the corner, still laughing. “Sorry, I didn’t know you heard me in here.”

“Please stick to being a doctor from now on,” Alex said, “You’re the worst detective ever.”

Giggling, she went over and stood next to Damien. He put his arm around her. “Thank you for everything, Alex. Thank you for saving my life.”

Alex looked embarrassed by her attention and said, “My brother was the one who walked in there with the balls to tell Kramer how it was going to go down. He’s the hero, not me.”

“Yes, he is my hero,” Paige said, “But so are you. He’s right. You’re a better man than you give yourself credit for.”

He let his eyes flick over hers and then he turned back to his brother. “I’ll see you guys soon. Take it easy.” Paige and Damien stood and watched him go. When he was gone Damien said, “I think if my mother is watching she’s finally happy and proud of us both.”

“I think so too,” Paige said. “I know that I am.” Paige also knew that Greg was watching over her too. She felt him and she knew that he was proud of her. She would make sure that his memory lived on forever no matter what path her life took from here on out.