Markdown
Dante
Based on the moans coming from Finn’s room, he’s busy. While this is important, there’s not much we can do about it until the morning. I go to Wyatt’s door and knock. When after a minute he opens it, I say, “We need to talk.”
He nods and glances at Finn’s door.
“Leave them. We need to talk to Tom too.” I walk down the stairs with Wyatt behind me. Tom doesn’t need to see his sister like that. Freshly fucked. And I doubt Sara wants Tom to see her that way either.
Drew comes up from the basement with a rumpled Tom behind him. He must have already been asleep. We head into the kitchen and I start the coffee machine with some decaf.
“Where’s Finn?” Tom asks, running a hand through his red hair.
I roll my eyes.
Wyatt says, “Do you really want an answer to that?”
Drew opens his mouth, but I cut off whatever insinuation he had in mind.
“He’s with Sara,” I say. “We’ll catch them up to speed in the morning at breakfast.”
We need Tom receptive to what we’re saying. He’s gotten better about the little PDA we do, but he still doesn’t want to think about us fucking his sister, and I don’t need to rub it in his face.
Tom sighs, but at least we have a whole floor between us and them.
We sit at the table with our cups of coffee and Drew lays out what just happened at the club. It’s not very complicated, but the moves we have to make to make this work are.
“We have a timeline, which means we need to get our ducks in a row.” Drew leans on his elbows and runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t think Noelle is in serious danger yet. He gave us three days.”
“We can’t hand him Natasha.” Tom looks paler than normal.
“No, we can’t.” Wyatt puts his hand on Tom’s arm. “But we do need to make sure what we have for him will be enough that he never comes after Natasha again. Or tries to use Sara to get to you.”
“Can our business handle us being wrapped up in this for the next three days?” Tom asks.
“It will have to.” I scrub my hand down my face. Part of me wishes we were all sleeping in the big bed tonight so I could pull Sara into my arms and hold her.
The ease with which Alexander took Noelle hostage is terrifying. Drew reviewed the footage before we left. She definitely went into that room without hesitation, but we don’t know what Alexander said to her.
“It’s possible that Noelle is just a plant.” Drew blows out a breath. “She’s been to Peter’s house. Alexander knows her and she went with him. She said willingly.”
“I never went to Peter’s house parties.” Tom looks into his coffee cup. “The one he had while I was working with him, I called off so I could spend time with Natasha.”
It’s not surprising. But it would have been helpful to have an inside view.
“Do we know where Alexander is living?” I ask.
“No,” Tom says. “Peter always kept a distance between me and Alexander. I wasn’t all the way entrenched in the business. He was giving me little pieces without giving me a clear overview.”
“Tomorrow morning then.” I stand. “We’ll get Finn and the women filled in and we’ll make our plan.”
Sara
I’m going to need a gallon of coffee this morning. Finn stands in the shower with me and rubs my wrists gently as I rest my head against his chest.
“Sleep is for the weak, flower,” he says softly.
“I’m going to use the couch in your office for a nap today.” I lift my head and search his green eyes. “And you’re not going to be there.”
He chuckles. “I had to take full advantage of my night since Wyatt and Dante are being dicks about me sneaking into their rooms to ravish you while you sleep.”
I shake my head, but I’m not really mad at him. My body still sparks with every touch and caress from last night. I just wish I would have gotten more than three hours of sleep total. Finn was on a mission.
I step out of the shower and grab a towel. My clothes are still downstairs in the primary bedroom. I blow Finn a kiss and wrap the towel around myself to walk there.
“Hey, pip.” Dante is coming up the stairs and stops at the top. It’s clear he’s been working out.
My body hums in appreciation of his scent.
“We need to talk at breakfast. So no time to take another shower.” He grins and leans in to kiss me softly. “Maybe we’ll have time to talk about what you want tonight.”
I get to sleep and other things with Dante tonight. “Sounds good, boss.”
By the time I’m dressed, ready for work, and downstairs. Peabody dances around my feet. I let him into the courtyard and he does his business. Low voices come from the kitchen.
When I let him back in, he leads me into the kitchen and settles on his doggie bed. Everyone looks up at me when I enter.
“Morning.” Wyatt scoots out the chair next to him. “Coffee and omelet, trouble.”
I glance up at Tom, but he’s got his serious face on this morning. Something tells me Drew’s text last night wasn’t good news.
I settle into my chair and take a sip of my coffee. Bracing myself, I ask, “Okay, what now?”
“Alexander made contact last night.” Drew leans back in his chair. “He took my waitress Noelle and said I have three days to bring him Natasha for a trade.”
“What happens in three days?” I’m afraid I don’t want to know.
“We don’t really know,” Dante says before Drew can say anything. “But it won’t be good.”
I swallow. Just being held captive was bad enough. “Whatever Noelle is going through, we need to get her out of there.”
“She agreed to go with him.” Drew runs a hand through his hair. That’s when I notice he’s not wearing his suit.
“Aren’t you going to work today?” I ask.
“No, princess. We need to make plans. I told my parents I need a few days off.” He blows out his breath. “We need to talk logistics and figure out what we need to make this trade work.”
“Natasha and I can go to her father’s houses to see if we can find anything on his other accounts.” Tom rests his elbows on the table.
“I’ll come with and ask if we can use Theo for the day.” Dante already has his phone out and types on the screen.
“We need to go through the files we have to see if we can find anything else.” Wyatt puts his hand on my shoulder. “We’re still going into the office, but we won’t be working on client work today.”
“We need Alexander to believe it’s still business as usual for most of us.” Drew sighs. “So I’ll be going into the club, but I’ll be working on files as well.”
Finn clears his throat and his gaze settles on Tom. “You can’t run from this.” Finn looks like an indulgent king at the end of the table. “This won’t go away.”
“I’m not running anymore.” Tom looks serious. He meets my eyes. “I need to protect all of my family.”
The jingle of Peabody’s collar catches my attention. He puts his front paws on me and whines. I rub the soft hair on his head, but I know what he wants.
“I need some air and to stretch my legs. Peabody wants a walk. Who’s going with me?” I go grab his leash.
“I’ll go.” Tom’s voice startles me.
I narrow my eyes on him.
“It’s time you and I talked, Sara. Too much shit is hitting the fan.” Tom glances around at the others. “If you guys don’t mind?”
“As long as Sara is okay with it.” Wyatt looks to me for the decision.
I draw in a breath. Am I ready to talk to my brother? Things have been tense. The guys seem to be doing better after the boxing this weekend. But I can’t just hit my brother and feel better. We have to start somewhere.
“Yeah, okay.” I drop down to hook Peabody’s collar.
“Max will go with you. He’s ending his shift.” Finn walks over and kisses me softly. “We’ll wait to go into the office until you get back.”
Tom and I head out the door and Max walks about three feet behind us, giving us a hint of privacy. For a few seconds, neither of us speaks. I’m not being unreasonable with needing time, but since we’re living together, it doesn’t hurt to start working through some of this.
“I never meant for you to get hurt, Sara.” Tom glances at me as if to read how that was received.
“I know you didn’t want me to get hurt, but you also didn’t properly prepare any of us.”
Peabody pulls on the leash and stops to sniff at a tree.
“I didn’t know what to do.” Tom breathes out and puts his hands on top of his head as we wait for Peabody. He scans the road. “She was going to be forced to marry that man and she’s pregnant with my child. I couldn’t let the woman I love be forced into that.”
“Why didn’t you talk to your friends about this? Did you really think none of them would understand?”
Tom looks at the ground. “And have them tell me I’m foolish and being rash?
That I don’t know what love is?” He lifts his gaze and his sincerity shines through.
“That I was stupid to go this course and should have told them from the beginning? The problem was, I was in too deep before I realized what I’d done.
I couldn’t risk any of you getting too involved in this.
I knew if they thought you guys knew anything, they might believe you’d go to the Feds. ”
Tom steps toward me. “It’s why I told the guys to look after you and told you to go to them.
I know you hate me for keeping them away from you.
For driving a wedge between you, but I know these guys.
Maybe they were trying to make it so I wouldn’t realize they all wanted you, but as much as I love them, I wouldn’t want you to be with someone like me. ”
I shake my head. “Dante, Wyatt, and Finn aren’t like you. Yes, they were trying to bury their feelings for me, but I was trying to do the same thing. That’s the only reason I refused to go with them in the beginning.”
“I didn’t know Peter would come after you.
” Tom’s green eyes meet mine. “Natasha had vanished before and her dad let her. I thought there might be a slim possibility he’d come after you.
That’s why I told you to go to the guys.
The people I was working for are dangerous, but I never imagined they’d use you to get to me. ”
“What’s important is how we go forward,” I say. Rehashing this over and over won’t change the past. Peabody decides to walk again and I follow him. “I know you have a family now and I’ve got the guys, but you’re my flesh and blood. I can’t imagine a life without you in it.”
“I know I didn’t do everything I could have.
And trust me, I’m paying for it.” He rubs the healing cut above his eye.
“Dante and Finn don’t even want to talk to me about it.
Wyatt is still my friend even after all the shit I put him through.
I’m sorry for all of it, Sara. You have to believe me.
I’m not running anymore. This time, I’m staying and fighting to protect what’s mine. I’m staying to protect you.”
I turn to talk to him and something flashes against a black car. A small pop fills the air. Max collapses to his knees behind us.
“Gun! Get down!” he shouts.
“Sara.” Fear fills Tom’s voice as he turns for me.
I squat to grab Peabody, but suddenly Tom’s covering me with his body as two more pops go off.
“Fuck,” Tom mutters as a squeal of tires heads away from us. “Are you hurt?”
It was over so quickly. I barely had time to take a breath. Peabody squirms in my arms.
Tom straightens and holds me at arm’s length to look me over. “Oh god, Sara!”
There’s blood on my shirt. But I don’t feel any pain. I pull my shirt out of my skirt and check my skin underneath it, but there’s no wound.
“I’m fine. There’s nothing.” My eyes land on Tom’s shoulder and the blood still coming out of it. “Tom!”
His eyes go to his shoulder. He’s pale and must be in shock as he collapses to the ground. “Must have nicked me.”
I take off my shirt and press it to the blood flowing out of his shoulder. My heartbeat throbs in my ears. “It’s not a nick.”
“I’m just going to lie down.” Tom lowers to the sidewalk. Peabody comes over and licks at his face with a whine as I press down on the wound. Pressure. Keep pressure on the wound.
I glance up and Max is on the phone, leaning against a tree. He’s holding on to his arm.
We’re a couple houses down from our place, but I see the door burst open.
“Sara?” Tom says. “I think I’ve been shot.”
I turn to Tom’s voice. His eyes close. Fuck!