Talia

“Want a slice of pepperoni, veggie, or loaded with meat?” Sebastian asks me across the kitchen table in the BLACK Security office.

“Pepperoni,” I say, holding my paper plate out.

“You sure you don’t want a beer, Talia?” Calder asks as he grabs one from the fridge.

“If I have a beer, Sebastian will be carrying me out of here. It’s been a long day.”

“Let’s try that some time. I think it’d be fun to cart you home drunk off your ass.” Sebastian shoots me a wicked grin before he gulps down half his bottle of water in one long swig.

“I’m with, Talia.” Calder snorts his agreement and lifts the bottle in salute to me. “It’s not every day I think my cousin has gone off the deep end.”

“How did you two convince Banks to go along with your plan?” I ask once I swallow my bite of pizza.

“I didn’t really give him a choice,” Sebastian says, tossing his plate into the trash.

Calder points to his cousin with his pizza slice. “That, and the fact he wanted to screw Paulo over once he learned of his betrayal.”

Nodding my understanding, I shift my gaze to Den and Elijah, who are so busy eating, they haven’t said a word. “Once you two vacuums are done consuming a whole pizza each, we need to compare notes from the day and see if we missed anything.”

Just as Calder lifts the beer to open it, Sebastian says, “You probably should limit yourself to one, Cald. We’re expected at the precinct first thing tomorrow morning to make our statements.”

“Might as well skip it then.” Calder stares at his beer with a forlorn expression, then stands to return it to the fridge.

Crumpling my napkin, I say, “Paulo has a partner. He said that his partner wanted him to run drugs and guns through his neighborhood. And that he would be untouchable.”

“We know that they used tech beyond anything I’ve seen to gas us,” Den says. “I checked with my UK contacts and they hadn’t heard of anything like that either. They’re definitely connected to someone with money or have access to high tech equipment.”

“Who else from Banks’s Boys or contacts were working with Paulo?” I ask, looking at Sebastian and Calder.

“Vinny the shop owner,” Calder says. “And Banks’s girlfriend, Sierra.”

“We haven’t been able to find Sierra.” Sebastian looks at Elijah. “What did you find out about Vinny?”

“Nothing. His bank accounts seem squeaky clean. No large sums of money have been deposited.” Elijah wipes pizza sauce from his lips and swallows some soda. “Unless he’s hiding money under other IDs, that’s all I could find.”

“You don’t have any idea why Vinny threw Banks under the bus?” I look at Sebastian.

He shakes his head. “Vinny blew Banks off when he tried to confront him about it earlier.”

I frown and gnaw my bottom lip. “How well does Banks know Vinny? He might give us some insight.”

“Can’t hurt to ask. What’s his number, Talia?”

I look up Banks’s number in my contacts and Sebastian dials it, putting his phone on speaker.

Two rings later, Banks grates into the phone. “Who is this?”

“It’s Sebastian. I have a question.”

“What are we, besties now?”

“Bite me, Banks. This is important.”

“You’d better be calling me to tell me you’ve written a check to cover all this damage.”

“That ‘damage’ saved your life. Now shut it and listen. Paulo was working with a man who wanted Paulo to take your place so he could run drugs and guns through your neighborhood. You’ve still got an enemy out there. Now that Paulo can’t follow through with his plans, this guy will look for someone else to take his place.”

“Hell no, he’s not bringing that shit in my neighborhood! Who the fuck is this guy?”

“If you don’t want that to happen, then talk to me about Vinny. What do you know about him? Why would he lie about you?”

“I have no clue why. Vinny did have a gambling problem in the past. Ran up a good bit of debt. Thought he’d gotten clean though.”

“Maybe not.” Sebastian looks at Elijah. “Go back a bit further in his finances.”

“Are you talking to me?” Banks says.

“No, you’re on speaker. Members of my BLACK Security team are here, helping me dig into this.”

Once Elijah pushes his plate away and then opens his laptop, I speak up. “Hey, Banks. It’s Talia. Something’s been bothering me. Did you get my message to you in the pizza delivery box?”

“What message? The last time I heard from you was that voicemail about the article being delayed.”

“Talia tried to warn you about the police, Banks. The Tribune called the police without her knowledge.”

I smile at my husband, appreciating that he wanted to set the record straight, but that wasn’t why I was asking. “If you didn’t get my message, then how did you manage to avoid getting arrested for having the painting in your house?”

“Paulo gave me the heads up the police were coming and what they’d be looking for early in the morning. I almost ripped his head off when I found out the painting was stolen. He promised me that it was a one-time deal and he was done with that kind of stuff.”

Sebastian and I exchange a glance. “I didn’t send my message until lunchtime, so who warned Paulo?”

“I never got your message, Talia. I knew because we have a police contact,” Banks grudgingly admits.

“What?” Sebastian leans forward at this news. “Who?”

“Don’t know. He was Paulo’s contact and said it was best if he only interacted with one of us, so I didn’t push to learn his name.”

“Fucking hell. What if Paulo’s partner is a cop, or a cop working with Paulo’s partner? Paulo won’t make it to trial if we don’t get him protection.”

“You think I give a shit if Paulo makes it to trial?”

“Dead men can’t tell us who his partner is, Banks!” Sebastian grabs my phone and walks away to make a call.

“If a police officer is involved with this whole thing, that would explain Paulo’s access to that high-tech ink used to gas us earlier,” Den says. “Think about all the items that get seized during raids and entered into evidence.”

“British guy’s there too?” Banks snorts. “He’s a damn big guy.”

“Still right here,” Den says in a dry tone.

“Speaking of evidence,” Elijah says in a low voice to me. “Phil dropped off an evidence package with your necklace earlier today. It’s in Sebastian’s office.”

When I nod, he looks back down at his laptop and taps on his keys. “Okay, I went back a bit further on Vinny, and yep, he drew down his savings account to the tune of forty-thousand dollars over a period of three months less than two years ago. And then the account stopped bleeding.”

“How are you seeing his finances?”

“Owing a huge debt like that can shift loyalties on a dime,” Calder says over Banks’s question.

“Are you saying you don’t think he got clean?” Banks says, his suspicious tone sharpening.

“When have you ever known a gambler to just stop cold turkey?” Calder answers. “They’re either beat to a pulp and forced to pay up, or they pay the debt and finally join groups to get help.”

“Or, the other option is…someone takes care of their debt and they straighten out their lives in gratitude.” I glance Sebastian’s way, thinking about what my husband did for Phil.

“Most people don’t erase debt without an agenda,” Sebastian says as he returns to the table. “To Calder’s point, having his debt wiped clean would explain Vinny’s sudden about face with you, Banks.”

“Yeah it would,” Banks grouses. “Sierra hasn’t shown her face. I’m pretty sure she was hooking up with Paulo. She won’t be back, but looks like I’ll have to pay Vinny a visit tomorrow.”

“No, stay away from Vinny,” Sebastian says in a harsh tone. “You could tip Paulo’s partner off and we’ll lose our advantage. Right now the guy doesn’t know that Paulo told us his plans.”

“What did the police say?” Calder asks before Banks can argue.

“The police chief is moving Paulo to a secure location with a couple trusted guards, but he only agreed to do that if we all came in tonight to make our statements.”

“The police already have my statement,” Banks interjects. “Are we done with the twenty questions now?”

“Yeah, we’re done. And, Banks…I shouldn’t have to remind you not to repeat anything we’ve talked about or it could blow this case, right?”

“Got it, Blackie. The next time I hear from you, it better be you telling me you’re sending a check.”

“Blackie?” Elijah mouths to Sebastian, curious amusement dancing is his gray eyes.

Ignoring Elijah, Sebastian snorts and says, “It’s in the mail,” then hangs up.

“What time are we going to the station?” Calder asks, as he types out a text on his phone. “Cass is on her way back from visiting her parents and planned to stop by here for a slice.”

“How far out is she?” Sebastian asks.

“About fifteen minutes.”

“We’ll wait for her.” Turning to Elijah, he asks, “What’s the latest on Paulo’s phone?”

“Been running a diagnostic on it. I’ll go get it.”

He starts to stand, but I wave him back into his seat. “I’ll grab it on the way back from Sebastian’s office. I want to see just how badly damaged my necklace is.”

“It’s at my cubicle workstation, not in my office. Bring the cord too.”

“Do you need the lights?” Sebastian calls as I leave the room.

“No, I’m good.”

On my way to Sebastian’s office, I wind my way through the dim rows of cubicles until I find Elijah’s workstation and Paulo’s phone. “Who knew the guy had his own office? No wonder I hadn’t seen him yet,” I mutter to myself as I unhook the phone from Elijah’s desktop computer but leave the USB cord attached.

Once I reach Sebastian’s office and locate the envelope with my name on it, there’s enough light from the street lights outside to allow me to see just how bad off my necklace is. It’s truly beyond repair. Sniffing back unshed tears, I drop the necklace back in the envelope and slide the envelope into my purse. With a sad sigh, I wind the phone’s USB cord around my hand as I start back across the office space toward the hall and the lunchroom beyond. The guys are laughing uproariously about something, and their amusement makes me pick up my pace. I could use a good laugh to lift my spirits right now.

A click of the Emergency exit stairwell door just ahead draws my attention and I instantly slow my steps. Is Cass early? Why is she coming in the back way?

When a man walks through the door, I move next to the wall near the copier hoping he won’t see me. His chest is the only part of him lit up by the dim lighting and he’s right in my path to get back to the lunchroom. He takes a couple of steps into the room and as he turns to scan over the cubicles and lifts his hand with something in it, the phone in my hand lights up with an incoming text.

Test

I glance up to see if he noticed the light. Oh shit, it’s the detective, Phil Mayhew, who was working the limo bombing. He turns in my direction, his gaze narrowed on me.

“Give that to me,” he hisses and starts toward me with determined strides, pulling a gun from underneath his jacket.

Heart racing, I pivot and bolt for Sebastian’s office. The only reason Phil would risk coming here is if the phone contains evidence that’ll tie him to Paulo. He must’ve traced its signal.

I drop the phone as I quickly turn and shut the door, but the dead bolt doesn’t budge, so I throw my back against the door and wedge my shoes on the carpet to keep him out.

A heavy thump shoves against the wood behind me twice, then stops.

Just as I exhale a shaky breath, several light pinging sounds hit the glass that runs along the top half of the wall to my right.

I need to warn Sebastian, but the damn phone bounced away from me when it dropped on the carpet.

Phil must have a silencer on his gun. I squeeze my eyes shut, ever so thankful for my husband’s paranoia. The bulletproof glass seems to be holding. The pings continue until all I hear is the click of an empty gun.

A couple seconds pass and then the door shoves toward me once and then again. Each time inching my feet forward. My pulse thunders and I feel slightly faint. I take a deep breath, while my legs shake to hold the door closed. At this rate, he’ll be in here in seconds.

This button is all it takes to lock down this office in seconds, Talia.

Sebastian’s comment about the office security system comes to me, and my gaze zeros on his desk. I just need to push the button underneath. But I’ll have to leave the door unblocked long enough to get to it. How the hell am I going to do that?

Glancing down at my toes straining against the edges of my wedge sandals instantly reminds me of Cass reprimanding me for not wearing toenail polish with open-toed shoes. She’s going to give me so much shit tonight…Oh God, tonight! Cass could walk into this standoff at any moment! I have to find a way to get to that button before she arrives. As I continue to stare at my shoes, my chest tightening with worry, I realize that I might be able to buy myself a tiny bit of time.

Two more hits against the door and Phil’s angry growl of frustration is enough to make me take the chance. Resetting my footing, I quickly bend my leg and remove my shoe, then return my bare foot to the carpet. Now I just have to wait for him to try once again.

My feet slip with the next powerful slam of his body against the door. I grit my teeth and use all my strength to keep him out. The moment the second hit happens, I quickly drop to my knees and slide the toe of my shoe under the space between the door and the carpet, pushing the thick wedge heel forward as much as possible to jam the door closed.

I don’t even look behind me as I quickly crawl over to the desk. God, please let Cass still be on the road. My gaze shifts back to the door as I push the lockdown button several times and hope like hell it has an alarm attached to it.

At the same time the bolt on the door electronically flips into place, a loud siren begins to blare throughout the office.

Pumping a victory fist that the traitorous detective is now trapped in an office with no bullets and a group of well-trained alpha men bearing down on him, I slump over to my side on the carpet and exhale an exhausted breath of sheer relief.

* * *

“Yes, sir,” Sebastian says as he beeps his car and we walk across our apartment’s underground parking lot to the elevator. “First thing in the morning the BLACK Security team will be in to make a full statement.”

He slides his phone into his pocket and we step on the elevator. I wait for him to punch in our code before I speak. “I’m so glad you got the Chief to agree to wait until tomorrow morning. I’m so tired I might fall asleep before we get to our floor.”

Sebastian hooks his arm around my shoulders and pulls me against his solid warmth. “A police officer’s involvement and arrest adds a whole other layer to the investigation. Now internal affairs has to get involved. The Chief wants to tackle setting up the meetings in the right order and we’ll sit down with him after we’ve all had a good night’s sleep.”

I look at his knuckles hanging over my shoulder and grimace at their roughed-up state. “You’re going to need to put some ice on that.”

“Beating the shit out of Phil was worth the pain,” he says, curling his hand and flashing a dark smile.

His alpha ways frustrate just as much as they fascinate me, but I wouldn’t have him any other way. “What did the Chief say? It sounds like you got some updates.”

Sebastian nods as we reach our floor and step into our living room. “Once Paulo learned that Phil had been arrested, he started talking. He maintains that he never put the igniter on the gas tank flap. He said he only wanted to blow the tire, so that’s where he put the device. He says that Phil must’ve moved it that night. According to him, Phil started that heist ring—the one that was responsible for that stolen art collection among other things—to fund his true desire to run his own drug and gun running business in the Lower East Side. What Phil didn’t know was that Paulo kept one of the paintings they stole. It was Paulo’s way to protect himself in case things went south.”

“How would the painting protect him?”

Sebastian smirks. “Phil cut himself during one of the heists. His blood is embedded in the scrollwork of the frame. Turning on Phil could possibly reduce Paulo’s sentence.”

“Did Phil confess to moving the device?”

“I haven’t gotten information on Phil’s interrogation yet, but I can’t imagine him admitting murdering Isabel, even if he was guilty. Either way, both men have enough charges against them to put them away for a long time.”

I’m bothered by the fact Paulo claims Phil had to have moved the igniter. Even though it fits with what he told me…that he wasn’t a killer. I will have to review the tapes from that night to appease that nagging doubt that something doesn’t quite add up. Whether he’s guilty of that part or not, I really don’t like the idea that Paulo might get less time for turning on Phil. “I’m sorry about Phil turning out the way he did.” I wrap my arm around my husband’s waist and shake my head.

Sebastian gives a wry smile. “Who better to know how to bring a gambler like Vinny to his side than the guy who’d been through it with his own kid? Without Vinny lying about Banks’s involvement in the threat against my family, I might never have gone after him.”

“Well, I just hope Phil’s betrayal doesn’t stop you from helping others, Sebastian.”

He curls his arm on my shoulders, pulling me fully against his solid frame. “That’s what I have you for…to remind me to be human when the ugliness of the world closes in.” Kissing my forehead, he lifts my chin up. “You impress the hell out of me in so many ways. What do you say to a Red and Black investigative team?”

My heart races, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. “Are we talking about fiction? Or in real life?”

“I’m serious. You’re such a natural, Talia, and we work so well together. I’d like you to come work with us at BLACK Security.”

Before I can speak, he continues, “You’ll have your own office, and I’ll make sure you get enough downtime to write your books between cases.” A cocky smile crooks his lips. “Maybe I’ll even give you some inspiration for Aaron White. What do you say?”

I grin my happiness and wrap my arms around his neck. “It’s about time you recognized that my awesome investigative skills have BLACK Security written all over them!”

“Your skills were never in question, sweetheart.” His expression settles to a serious one. “I knew how much working for the Tribune meant to you, and I didn’t want to take you away from that.”

“Priorities shift,” I say, shrugging. “By the way, I…um quit the other day. So this career opportunity comes at a perfect time for this jobless girl.”

“What?” A dark scowl instantly forms around his mouth and he steps back to grip my shoulders. “Did they fire you? I’m going to—”

“No, Sebastian. I actually quit. I’m married now and have a family I would do anything to protect.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t want you to bring me on BLACK Security out of some kind of kindhearted move on your part. I wanted to earn my seat at the table.”

“You’ve more than earned it, sweetheart.” The tension in his hold eases and his expression softens. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

I give him a “duh” look. “I asked to join BLACK Security a while back, remember? But fair warning, I will be suggesting some changes, starting with: Holy cow, can we please change the deadbolt on your office door to a manual one?”

Nodding his agreement, a pleased smile spreads across my husband’s handsome face as he gathers me in his arms once more. “We’re going to make one hell of an unstoppable team, Little Red.”

“I wholeheartedly agree, Mister Black.”

We both look down at his pants’ pocket when his phone pings with an incoming text. “Who would be texting you this late?”

Retrieving his phone, Sebastian sends a quick response, then slips it back into his pocket. “That was Mina saying thank you for catching Isabel’s killers.”

My chest feels like it’s sinking. “I’m sorry she didn’t call to say that, Sebastian.”

“She called me earlier today.”

“She did?” My heart rate jumps right back up. “What did she say?”

“She told me she understood my decision and asked if we could watch Josi overnight and on the day of the funeral, because she’s already feeling overwhelmed with all the preparations.”

I release a soft breath, so happy that Mina came around. “You told her we would, right?”

“Of course.” He leans close and kisses the tip of my nose. “You truly are a quiet storm.”

“Huh?”

“Just something my dad said about you,” he says, cupping my face. “Thank you for bringing my sister back into our lives, Talia. I never could’ve told her the truth about her mom.”

“You really didn’t think I was letting stubborn Blake genes interfere with our goddaughter time, did you?”

Sebastian snorts and quickly sweeps me up into his arms. “Off to bed with you, Little Red.” As he carries me through the doorway to our bedroom, he says, “So about my ring…how wide is the band?”

“Sebastian!” I laugh at his persistence and kiss his jaw, whispering into his ear, “Your ring is covered in red fur with black trim, for your comfort of course.”