Chapter 14 Antonio
“Come on, please?” I bat my eyes at Marcus, but he merely scowls at me as he grabs a few granola bars from the kitchen. I wrinkle my nose at it, because eww, but otherwise, I ignore the travesty.
“You want me to take you to check out the house of Special Agent in Charge Cecily Dowing? Now? While Carter is still down?” He pauses to stare at me like he questions my sanity, which is fair, but still…
He’s my best friend. If anything, this should not come as a surprise.
“There is no way in hell. Until there’s an order for it, I’m going to watch out for my love, which means staying here.
The only reason I’m not with him right now is because Roman is, and I need to check in with my son. ”
“And you’re feeding him granola?” I ask, horrified he’d do that to my nephew.
That’s just cruel. I’ll have to sneak him some chocolate later.
Marcus makes a noise in the back of his throat that sounds disapproving, but I shrug it off and redirect him to what really matters.
“Look, you want Carter safe. I also want Carter and our families safe. The best way to do that is to find out what the fuck is going on. Since Queen Bee was found to be a troublemaker, let’s go take a look.
And maybe I can even slip a tracker on her car.
I mean, the more data the better, right? ”
“You’re bored, aren’t you?” I feign an innocent look, but he sees right through me. “Fucking hell…”
“Come on! It’ll be fun!”
“No. It won’t. It’ll be dangerous. And we don’t have any information from Hollis yet. It’s better to first make a plan. You know this.” He heads out of the kitchen, but I dart in front of him. “Move, Antonio.”
Holding up my hands, I say, “Hollis is going to be busy for a while. Don’t you want to get this taken care of? To protect our families?”
“What do you mean Hollis is going to be busy?” He narrows his eyes, studying me as if he can see all of the secrets I’m holding. Thankfully, that’s never possible, even for him.
Batting my eyes, I smile sweetly at him. “If you want to find out, you’ll need to take me to Cecily’s house. It’s roughly forty minutes away. I’ll tell you on the way there.”
He drops his head back and stares up at the ceiling, as if praying. With a deep sigh, he turns his attention back to me. “Fuck. Alright, let me drop this off to Keegan and Cole. Meet me by the front door, and I’m warning you, if you get us in trouble…”
Snorting, I wave his worries away. “It’s not like Il Padrone is still in charge of us. What’s the worst that can happen? A lecture? That’s nothing and you know it. But I promise, it’ll be fine. I won’t get close.”
Grunting, he passes me, heading toward his family suite.
I don’t mention the granola again, even as I shudder from the thought.
I almost skip toward the front door, because I’ve been so fucking bored lately.
I want this shit to be over, so I can get everything back to whatever our new normal will be.
Is that too much to ask? Hmm. Better not jinx it.
Bouncing on my toes, I wait for him to get there. He watches me warily as he passes, jingling his keys as if someone will hear and come to stop him. I roll my eyes behind his back and head toward the SUV, climbing into the passenger seat with a grin.
Grumbling, Marcus starts the vehicle and pulls out, following the circular drive and merging into traffic.
I struggle to sit still, impatient to have fun.
I plug in my phone, which already has the GPS set on it, and bite back a chuckle that my plan is already succeeding.
From Marcus’s snort, I didn’t quite hide my excitement. Oops.
“We’re just going to take a look, right?” Marcus gives me a sideways glance before focusing on getting onto the highway.
Waving my hand without concern, I say, “A look…and possibly the tracker. Maybe poke around a bit.”
“No. No poking around. She’s going to have guards, with her position. And that means a tracker won’t be useful anyway. They’ll check for shit like that regularly.”
“Eh. I grabbed a special one from Hollis’s collection. Turns out, having a hacker extraordinaire and technological genius is extremely helpful. It’s supposed to be damn near undetectable. I overheard him talking about it to Leandro.”
I glance out of the window, watching as we travel through the city.
Cecily is further out, but in the opposite direction of where we’re located.
Thankfully, it’s still not far. Although, from the information I found, it’s only one of her residences.
Which begs all sorts of questions… After all, LEOs don’t make that much money, even ones that are in charge.
Marcus’s hands tighten on the wheel. “I…have no words.”
“I know, I’m a genius myself. It’s fine. I don’t need the compliments.”
“That is not what I was thinking. At all.” I ignore his lack of respect, and thankfully, he changes the subject. “But, speaking of Hollis, explain what you meant by him being busy.”
“Ah, so many reasons.” I shake my head regretfully.
“There’s the Carter situation, and taking care of Roman.
Although, from what I hear, Ignacio is stepping in beautifully there, which still blows my mind.
Then again, he’s always been the type to act as a caregiver, so meh, maybe it shouldn’t.
You just wouldn’t expect it from him, you know?
“And then, of course, there’s Tennant and Cristian.
Fuck, that situation is rough. So that’s two lovers hurting.
And oh! Lio. Poor kid. Turns out, Allesandro is on suicide watch.
I heard Dr. Ranlen talking to Doc about it over the phone.
I’m not exactly sure how aware Lio is of the issue—hopefully, not much, as he’d probably be tempted to try and fix it, but I’m sure Hollis is worried.
So yeah, three lovers struggling, plus trying to do his work is going to keep him busy.
Which is why we’re helping by taking initiative. ”
Marcus blinks rapidly, to the point I’m concerned about him driving, but he finally snaps out of it. “Uh, well…I’m actually surprised about Allesandro. And worried. That…no matter what, he saved my life.”
I sneer, anger bubbling up against any pity.
I mean, fuck yes, Allesandro did a hell of lot for us Boys, but that doesn’t excuse what he did to Lio.
I’m not sure I can ever forgive him for that.
Still, I understand where Marcus is coming from.
It’s…hard to imagine, and if I had to see it, I may think differently, but thankfully, I don’t.
“Luca is still in town. I’m sure he has it covered.” I shrug one shoulder, putting all thoughts of Allesandro to the side.
Marcus mutters, “Of course, he fucking is. We can’t ever get rid of the asshole.”
“Mmm… You may change your mind when you see the video. I’m currently a Luca fan.” I smirk at the memory, although I have a feeling Marcus cares too much for Allesandro to really appreciate Luca’s work. It truly was inspiring though.
He doesn’t bother to respond, or even ask how I managed to watch it already. They’ve been keeping that video locked down, but I have my own sources and abilities. I do agree with their actions, though. There’s no reason for Lio to see that right now—or possibly ever.
For the majority of the trip, we argue over music, and discuss random things.
It’s peaceful. There’s been so much going on that I’ve missed my best friend.
When the GPS signals that we’re closer, I become silent, letting adrenaline flow through me.
Some say calm is the only way to approach being a ghost. For me?
I need that extra shot in my veins, reminding me that I’m alive and could die if I fuck up.
It keeps me on the edge, pulling me back from the sense of invincibility that skulking sometimes gives me.
Marcus slows as we pass Cecily’s house and whistles quietly, because fuck, that is one large house.
It has to be two-stories—possibly more with a basement—with two sprawling wings on each side.
I tap my lips, noting the guard shack in the front.
I’m not seeing any roving guards, but that doesn’t mean anything.
I did see some cameras though, which will make this more fun.
I point to the perfect spot for him to pull over, and I’m surprised when he does.
I almost expected him to leave immediately.
When he reaches for his phone and pulls up the camera app, it makes more sense.
I open the glove compartment in the SUV and rummage around.
Eventually, I pull out a baseball cap, shrugging as I look it over before putting it on.
There’s no logo, or any type of marking on it, which is good.
It’s a sunny day, so it won’t look odd to wear it.
Neither will the wide sunglasses I grab next, shoving them on my face.
The best disguises are usually the most simple.
Marcus cusses as I open the door and give him a salute, ignoring his protests.
I walk toward Cecily’s house, like I don’t have a care in the world.
However, I make sure to take in every detail there is, no matter how small.
I carefully keep my face blank, even when I realize she’s having a party right now.
So I don’t have to worry about making a distraction, as one is already going on.
A catering van pulls into the driveway, and while it takes exact timing, it’s easy enough to get in there.
The guard is distracted by the van, and by the time I reach the driveway, I just need to make sure I’m hidden by the van as it goes through the gate.
I break off immediately once we’re through, not wanting anyone to notice I’m in.
Thankfully, as a rich fucker, she has plenty of landscaping, giving me all sorts of places to hide.
Thankfully, I grabbed a handful of the trackers from Hollis’s office—not just one. Since I’m far enough away from the guard shack, and there’s enough room to maneuver in the open, I only need to worry about cameras.
I take a moment and send a text to Marcus, asking for a distraction in ten minutes, even though I really want to take the time to look around.
By the time I’ve slipped all of the available trackers on the vehicles—only missing two—I’m able to head back to the entrance in plenty of time.
I had only just made it to the outer gate when an ambulance comes screaming in.
Followed by two more. Chuckling softly, I have to give it to Marcus.
That’s one way of making sure they’ll actually open the gate.
And with that much chaos, I can slip back out.
I hit the sidewalk as the last ambulance passes. Once I’m out of sight, I jog back to where Marcus is and open the door, sliding into the SUV without a word. I turn toward him, smirking. I open my mouth just as a voice comes over the speaker.
“And don’t think we won’t be discussing this. If Hollis didn’t have every vehicle tracked, we would never have been alerted. Pizza? Really? You thought calling pizza places would be a distraction? You’re lucky Hollis stepped in.”
I wince, not only because they’re right, since the guards wouldn’t have opened the gates for a pizza delivery, but fuck, Lio sounds pissed. This is not good. Every bit of cockiness drains from me. Marcus gives me a withering look before putting the car in gear and pulling out.
“It really was fine.” I interrupt Lio’s tirade. “I’m back out safely, we were successful, and we’re on our way back now.”
“Oh, really, Antonio.” I gulp at Jude’s voice, and the use of my actual name. Holy shit. I may not have thought this through completely. “We will definitely be having a…conversation when you get here.”
Lio snorts as he mutters something we can’t hear, and after making it very clear we’re to come straight back, he hangs up.
“Uh, well, at least we were successful?”
Marcus sighs as he pulls onto the highway. “I don’t think any of them are going to count it as a win. I sure the fuck don’t right now.”
“Well, to be fair, the ambulances were a much better idea than a pizza delivery.”
With a disgusted sound, Marcus shakes his head. “Just…sit there and shut up. And maybe start thinking about how you’re going to explain, to the Bosses and your Dom, why they shouldn’t kill us.”
I open my mouth, but at Marcus’s glare, I shut it again. Crossing my arms, I look out of the window. I try out various arguments in my head, discarding each one. Somehow, the truth of “It sounded fun” doesn’t seem like it’ll go over well. Fuck. We’re so screwed…