8. Leo
Chapter eight
Leo
“ W hen are you taking your wife on a goddamn date?”
I choke on my water. My fist pounds on my chest as I regain a breath, using the back of my arm to wipe off the water dribbling down my chin. “What are you talking about?” I ask, narrowing my eyes on Vin.
His hand moves smoothly over the steering wheel, turning us onto the highway. “A date. It’s when two people who like each other go out—”
I scowl. “I know what the fuck a date is.”
“Then why the fuck have you not taken your wife on one?” His brows raise in question.
I shake my head. “It’s not like that with us.”
“Not like what?”
I rub my temple, looking out the window. “That’s not what Scarlett wants.”
Vin scoffs, causing my head to jerk in his direction. “You sure about that?”
“Yes. I think I know Scarlett a little better than you do, and I know a date with me is the last thing she wants.” I place my water in the middle console. “Trust me when I say this marriage is just a safety net for her.”
Vin rolls his eyes. “If you say so.”
As we continue driving, my mind wanders, mulling over his words. Would Scarlett go on a date with me if I asked her to? Would she even want to? I never did have a chance to take her on a proper date all those years ago. Maybe going on one might bring us closer together. Or maybe , I think, with dread filling my stomach, it would only make things worse . Sighing, I rest my head against the headrest, closing my eyes.
“We’re here,” Vin murmurs, slowing down the car as we roll up to the Vasiliev Tower. I reach inside my jacket, ensuring my gun is secure, and glance out the window. “Now remember, stay calm while we’re here. We don’t need a war to start today when it’s only the two of us.”
Igor Vasiliev doesn’t just own the penthouse or even a few floors, for that matter, but the whole fucking skyscraper. It’s his impenetrable fortress where no one comes or goes without his approval.
I glare at him. “It seems to me that the pot is calling the kettle black.”
“I’m calm.” He loosens his tie. “I just get a little antsy when we’re outnumbered.”
My eyes assess the scene outside of the car, where I count four men coming toward our vehicle with their hands on their holsters, ready to draw their weapons in a split second if needed.
“They certainly know how to give a warm welcome,” Vin remarks, putting the SUV in park. “Come on. The sooner we get inside, the sooner we can leave.”
We walk side by side, imposing figures as we approach the guards.
“Gentlemen,” Vin announces with a wide grin. “Happy to see us?”
“Can’t say that we are,” one of them sneers. He’s bulky but short. I could probably kill him in ten seconds. Maybe seven.
Vin tsk s. “Is that any way to greet a guest?”
“Guest?” He scoffs. “You two aren’t anything, but—”
“Vincenzo. Leonardo.” Our heads turn toward the man, appearing behind his guards. Igor Vasiliev . A snake in a wrinkled suit. His broad smile widens, hiding his cold, cruel personality. His fingers push back his greasy white hair. “Shall we go to my office?”
Vin’s lips curl up. “Gladly.” He stands before the bulky guard. “Take note. That’s how you greet a guest.”
The man merely leers at us as we follow behind Igor. He walks steadily through the heavily guarded lobby, not stopping until we approach a desk with another guard behind it.
“Weapons,” the guard states.
Vin and I peer at Igor.
“Just a precaution,” Igor answers. “Can never be too vigilant.”
“Of course,” Vin replies. I arch a brow, boring my eyes into Vin, not wanting to part with my gun, but as Vin unloads his weapon into the container pushed before us, I follow his lead.
We step into the nearby elevator, the three of us, plus another guard, standing in silence. Just as the elevator music grates on my last nerve, we stop at the top level, the doors parting.
Gaudy . That’s my first thought as my eyes scan over the atrociously decorated space, enveloped in gold everywhere the eye can see.
“Love what you’ve done with the place,” Vin mutters, giving me a side-eye and mouthing fucking tacky for only my eyes to see.
“Isn’t it exquisite? It was just redone last year.” Igor proudly scans the space, leading us farther away from the elevator and down a hallway.
“Sir.” A guard appears before Igor.
“What is it?” Igor asks, rubbing his temple.
“We’ve received word that your daughter has run away. She’s left her devices behind, leaving no way to track her…this time.”
Igor has a daughter?
Igor’s hands clench into fists at his sides. “That spoiled fucking brat!” He seethes. “If she ruins this deal for me, I will end her.”
Vin glances at me, arching a brow.
Igor smooths out his tie. “No matter. I expect you to find her and bring her back here before the day is over, and if you don’t, well…I don’t think you want to find out what will happen.”
The guard visibly swallows. “Yes, sir.” He turns and quickly hurries away.
“Children,” Igor muses with an eerie smile. “Sorry for the interruption. My daughter apparently doesn’t understand her place in the world yet, but soon will.” Coming to the end of the hall, he opens a large door, gesturing for us to step inside. As he sits behind his desk, he takes a long look between us as we sit opposite him. “Now, what is it you’d like to discuss? I was told it was quite urgent.”
“It is.” I lean forward, ready to get straight to the point. “Were you aware my wife was kidnapped?”
He frowns. “Was she your wife when that took place?”
I narrow my eyes. “She’s my wife now.”
He gives a slight shrug. “I don’t see what this has to do with me.”
“Were you aware?” Vin repeats for me, his voice deepening.
Igor flicks his wrist. “I heard rumblings.” His eyes land on me, his lips curving up. “Rumors have swirled of the terrors she endured.”
I grip the arms of my chair, my knuckles turning white. It takes everything in me not to jump from my seat and strangle the son of a bitch.
“Such a shame to have happened to such a pretty girl,” he continues. “Wasted goods now, it would seem.”
I snap, lunging for him without a second thought, but before I get the chance to wrap my fingers around his neck, Vin shoves me back down.
I catch a malicious smile appearing on Igor’s face. “Oh my, have I touched a nerve?”
I roll my neck, my heart beating madly. I feel like a caged animal stuck in a room with my prey that I’m not allowed to hunt. Pure fucking torture.
“And you know nothing of her kidnapper? Le Diable?” Vin asks, appearing calm.
“Le Diable? What an interesting name.” Igor hums in amusement but shakes his head. “I’m afraid I’ve never heard of him.”
Vin nods, steepling his fingers before him. “You know what is interesting is that the warehouse she was found in is located on the same route as one of your loading docks. A coincidence? No?”
Igor presses a hand to his chest in mock offense. “You think I would have anything to do with her kidnapping?”
“I wouldn’t put it past you,” I spit out with venom laced in each word.
His eyes darken, a cold smile forming. “Careful, boy. One might think you were disrespecting me in my own home.”
“We mean no disrespect, Igor.” Vin leans back, his body filling out the seat as he narrows his eyes on Igor. “But you can understand how we might think this has something to do with you after what we’ve recently heard.”
“And pray tell, what would that be?”
“Sex trafficking,” Vin says candidly. My eyes catch a quick twitch in Igor’s jaw and a hard swallow before he leans back, smoothing out his jacket. “You wouldn’t be having a hand in that nasty business, would you?”
“Sex trafficking?” He scoffs. “Why would I involve myself in that when I can get pussy wherever and whenever I want.”
“Isn’t the answer always the same?” Vin wipes a piece of lint from his jacket. “Money.”
Igor laughs. “Money?” His arms open wide. “As you can see for yourselves, I have plenty of that.”
“Not according to our intel.”
Igor’s face reddens. Little does he know, Alex took a peek into Igor’s assets just this morning, noticing a substantial amount of money disappearing throughout the year, leaving him with, well, not enough to be owning a fucking gold tower in the middle of Chicago.
“You insult me after I welcomed you into my home, telling me you’ve been having me looked into,” he yells, slamming his fist on his desk. “What right do you have?”
“The right to know who the fuck took Scarlett!” Vin roars, rising from his seat. “You think you can hide in the shadows like Le Diable.” Vin spits on the floor, his body tight with tension. “But you’ve forgotten who you let into your home. We are the Alaries, and we have eyes and ears everywhere. If I so much as find out you had anything to do with Scarlett’s disappearance, then I will hunt you down myself, you sorry sac of balls. You will regret ever fucking with us because Scarlett is one of us, which means if you messed with her, then you messed with me, and that means a goddamn war that you will not win, old man!”
The door bangs open, revealing two guards with their weapons drawn.
Igor smiles cruelly, slicking back his hair. “It appears our time is up. Shame, as I was very much enjoying our conversation.” He stands, straightening his tie. “Always a pleasure, gentlemen. I do hope you find this”—his hand waves in the air—“so-called Le Diable.” He chuckles, gesturing for us to depart.
My eyes bore into him, my feet refusing to move. Vin’s hand clasps my shoulder, and begrudgingly, I walk out of Igor’s office, knowing that this will not be the last time I see him.
And the next time I do, I have a feeling there won’t be so much life left behind those cold grey eyes.
The guards guide us toward the elevator and send us down to the bottom floor. After retrieving our weapons and returning to our car to head to our private plane, I glance at Vin.
“Thank you for having my back with this,” I say.
Vin loses his tie, throwing it to the back seat. “I would do anything for our family. And Scarlett is a part of this family.”
My lips twitch. “You did a good job at keeping your cool back there.”
He lets out a boisterous laugh. “Do you think he’ll invite us to the Christmas party this year?”
“Not unless it’s to hang your balls as mistletoe.” I smirk. The car stops at a light, and I glance at the crowded sidewalk where men in suits are glued to their phones as they meander through the Financial District, presumably heading to their mundane jobs. “Do you think he knows more than he let on?”
He runs his fingers through his dark hair. “Of course I do. And I also know for a fact he was lying to us and is very much involved in sex trafficking.”
My brow arches. “Enlighten me.”
He pulls out a business card from his pocket. “Well, while I kept my cool…I snatched this from his desk. He was too distracted trying not to piss his pants to notice.”
The all-black card appears merely just that until you turn it in the light, revealing a name: Blue Velvet Fantasies .
My brows draw together. “What the hell is this?”
Vin grips the wheel, his fingers tightening. “It’s an underground sex club. But it’s more than that.” I stare at him, waiting for him to continue. “Before Dad died, I went with him there. Or at least, another club with the same name.”
I scratch the back of my neck, feeling incredibly confused. “A little father-son bonding?”
“You could say that. But it’s not what you’re thinking.” His smile falls as he looks straight ahead. “It was used as the place where sex auctions took place on women and…” He stiffens, shaking his head. “Minors.”
“What?” I rear back. “Then why the fuck were you there?”
The light turns green, and the vehicle accelerates. “We went to shut the place down. Dad had a team of men with him, and, as the oldest, I went with him to see everything firsthand. He never told me who it belonged to, but he was furious. I had never seen him that way before.” He looks lost in thought before saying, “Men came to bid on women who had been drugged and were brought there against their will.” His jaw clenches. “It was a place of true horrors. We got in, freed the woman and children, and then lit the place on fire, leaving the perverted bastards inside to die.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“Yeah.” The car comes to a stop beside the flight of stairs leading up to the plane entrance. “I hope I’m not right, but if I am, if this is a duplicate of the same club from seven years ago, then there’s going to be a lot more women kidnapped.” He undoes his top button. “We need to find it fast. We need to burn it to the ground, along with every one of those sick fucks.”
I rub my chin, taking in everything he just said, when something occurs to me. “Did you say seven years ago?”
“Yeah,” he answers. “It was a few days before Dad died.” He gets out of the car and grabs his bag from the trunk.
I sit for a moment. Something doesn’t feel right about the timeline. Vin’s light tap on the window beside me causes me to open my door.
As Vin takes the first step up the stairs, I ask, “Do you think they’re related?”
Vin stops and turns. “Is what related?”
“All of this.” I place my hands on my hips, looking in the distance at nearby planes taking off. “Dad’s murder. Scarlett’s kidnapping. The sex club. Igor. Le Diable. Fucking all of it.”
Vin takes a step toward me, letting out a sigh. His eyes darken as he runs a hand over his stubble. “If it is, then shit just got a lot more fucked up.”
Shutting the door behind me, I lean against it and pinch my eyes closed, dread weighing down on me.
Everything just got a whole lot more complicated.
Pushing off, I walk toward the kitchen, needing a drink, when my eyes spot Scarlett asleep on the couch. I pivot toward her and sit on the side, the cushion dipping slightly, but Scarlett doesn’t stir.
I glide my knuckles across her porcelain cheek, my fingers pushing back her long blonde strands over her shoulder. The blanket that probably once covered her body now lies between her and the couch. Her T-shirt has ridden up, revealing her lower back, and my hand freezes midair, evolving into a fist that comes down hard on a nearby pillow.
Fury engulfs me. My blood turns molten as my vision goes red. It feels as if there’s no oxygen in the room, my chest heaving steadily. My eyes remain fixed on every single one of Scarlett’s scars. Every deep gash. Every thick line. And I feel seconds away from losing all of my self-control.
To torture myself, I try to count them. I try to see just how many times he marked her. But the lines all blur together, with no end and no beginning, becoming one colossal scar.
Without warning, something happens to me that I haven’t experienced since my father’s death. I bring my hand up to my cheek, pulling back to see wetness on the pads of my fingers. Tears gather in my eyes, my throat tightening painfully.
If I could make one wish in this life, it would be that I could take all her pain away. Physical and mental. I wish I could carry it for her so she would never experience it again.
How could someone do something like this to her?
How could they try to break something so valuable?
With a slight tremble, my fingers lightly graze the raised skin.
Lowering my head in shame, I think about how I failed her. I let this happen to her. I let a monster torture her because I didn’t run after her when she was taken from here.
Taken from me.
I let her go, thinking it was safer for her to be as far away as possible from this life. But I was wrong. And because of that, she faced the consequences of my actions.
But I’m going to make things right.
Starting right damn now.
Soothingly, I run my knuckles across her cheek. “Scarlett.”
She rouses, stretching her body and rolling onto her back, her eyes blinking up at me. “Leo? What’s wrong?” She sits up, panic evident in her eyes.
“Nothing.” I cup her cheek and relish how she instantly melts into my touch, no longer flinching. “Nothing at all. There’s just something I want to ask you.” She waits, a little yawn escaping her. “Well, you see, I was just thinking.” I squeeze the back of my neck. “Or, I guess, what I’m trying to say is…” I let out a deep breath. What is wrong with me? I’m an Alarie for God’s sake! Asking my wife out on a date shouldn’t be this difficult. Her eyes soften as an adorable smile forms on her face, and that’s all the encouragement I need. “Would you like to go to dinner with me tomorrow night?”
She bites her bottom lip. “Like a date?”
“Yes…”
“A date with…me?” Her brows scrunch together.
My lips tilt up. “Yes, Firefly. A date with you.”
Her smile widens, and she nods.
“Yeah?” I ask, my thumb brushing over her soft skin.
“Yeah. I’d like that a lot,” she answers as a soft shade of pink caresses her skin.
Relief swarms through me, and my muscles relax.
“Well.” She lets out another little yawn. “I should probably head up to bed.” She swings her legs over the side, rubbing her eyes.
Before she can stand, I stop her.
“Let me.” Standing, I hook both of my arms underneath her and hold her against my chest. She presses her head into the crook of my neck as I walk up the stairs and bring her to her room. After turning on the light, I place her on her bed, pull the blanket around her, and tuck her in. “Good night, Scarlett.” I lean down and press a featherlight kiss to her forehead.
“Good night, Leo.” She turns on her side and closes her eyes, quickly drifting to sleep as if I never woke her.
I head for the door, ready to turn the light off, when I immediately stop myself, knowing it’ll terrify her if she wakes up alone in the dark. The harsh light casts an angry glow over the space as if it knows it shouldn’t be on at this time of night. If only there were something else that could help her sleep soundly. Something that—
That’s it.
I close the door behind me and pull out my phone, swiftly pressing it to my ear.
“Mr. Alarie?” A yawn stretches across the line. “Is everything okay?”
“Felix, I need something made and with a quick turnaround time.” There’s silence on the other end. “Felix?”
“You know it’s one in the morning, right?”
I grind my back molars. “Is this a bad time?” I ask with a hint of authority in my voice. He shouldn’t be questioning when I call upon him for what we pay him.
“Of course not, sir.” He clears his throat, and I hear him stumbling out of bed. “As the Alarie family jeweler, I am privileged to create anything you desire. What is it you are looking for?”
Walking into my room, I ask, “How familiar are you with fireflies?”