10. Tess
Tess
My life is strange—in the best possible way.
I stretch in front of the mirror, which is kind of a silly thing to do. But I'm not a virgin anymore, and it's fun to look at myself as a sexual being for the first time.
That's also the most I've ever opened up to anyone in my life. I have a feeling Logan can say the same.
Ha. Life is so weird. Go into witness protection single, walk out with a boyfriend. Amazing.
I'm chuckling to myself, thoroughly on cloud nine, as I head to the closet to get dressed. Logan went out to get food, and I'm starving.
I promised not to leave the house and to keep the alarm set while he's gone. A reasonable trade.
The house feels a little cool, so I pull on leggings, a thick sweater, and socks before I go check the thermostat.
"Ugh, he better not have done the guy thing and set it to sixty-eight. That's too cold!"
Complaining to myself isn't new, but I'm still tickled by how good a mood I'm in. Nothing could bring me down right now.
All Logan and I have to do is wait this whole mess out. Then we can go on a real date, like a real couple.
When I leave the bedroom, it's even colder, and that makes me uneasy for some reason. Autumn's rolling in, sure, but shouldn't the sun be warming the place up by now?
I find the thermostat halfway down the hall. I go to turn it up, but the screen isn't lit.
"What?"
Tapping it does nothing. It's not getting power. Why isn't it getting power? I flip the hallway light switch.
Nothing.
"What the—I was just using it. Goddamn it."
I head down the stairs, grateful for all the windows letting in morning light. At least I can see where I'm going. But I'm still confused about the power.
Wait. First things first.
I stop at the window at the top of the stairs and look out over the side yard at the other houses. It's daytime, so I can't tell if anyone else has lost power too.
How do I even check that?
I hurry to the living room and try the lights there. Nothing. When I peek through the curtain in the sitting area, I catch a neighbor backing out of their garage.
A garage that's clearly running on electricity.
"Okay. Just us, then. Dammit." I head for the kitchen and yank open the basement door. "Come on, come on."
Downstairs, I'm not surprised to find there's no breaker panel down here. It's outside, like most new construction.
Fuck.
I jog back up, my steps pounding against the bare wood. I'm a step from the top when the door starts to open.
"Logan, thank god. I think the power's out. I don't know what happened, but—"
The door swings open all the way, and I freeze.
That's not Logan. But I know exactly who it is.
"Morning, Tess."
My pulse slams into my throat as my stomach drops through the floor. "Cilento."
Logan
"Why am I buying so much food? It's just the two of us."
I shake my head as I ring up the last of my items at the self-checkout. I'm overcompensating, riding some kind of good mood, flustered as hell.
Do I have a girlfriend? God, what is my life?
I can't wipe the smile off my face as I load the groceries into the truck and climb behind the wheel.
I want to get home. Tess is waiting, and I intend to make good use of our house-bound time together.
It hits me that I just called the safe house "home." That's got nothing to do with the place and everything to do with who's in it.
The five-minute drive back feels endless, but a stupid kind of giddiness grabs hold of me as I pull into the driveway.
"First, coffee. I know how Tess likes her—"
I stop cold. The garage door won't open. What's going on?
I get out, try the remote closer to the door. Nothing. I'll have to go in through the front and carry the bags in by hand.
Annoying.
I jog to the front door, keys in hand. The blue light on the security lock is dark.
"What the—Tess."
My whole body goes rigid. That light should always be on. It runs on a battery backup even without power, and when I pop the panel, I see the wires have been cut.
There's still the alarm. I put it on its own independent grid—the thing that took me so long to install.
I run to the side of the house. That hookup's been tampered with too. I sprint back to the front door, ready to go in.
Locked. Of course it is.
I don't care about the damage. I grab the display chair off the porch and hurl it through the bay window into the living room.
Glass shatters. I climb through, careful of the shards, and scan the room, waiting, listening for any sound.
Then I hear it.
"Uff!"
A muffled scream. Tess's scream. It's coming from the basement. I'm through the door and down the stairs before I can think, and there they are.
Cilento has a gun pressed to Tess's temple.
"Well, hello there, Mr. Bodyguard. So lovely of you to join us." Cilento sounds cool as ice, but I catch the tension in his fingers, his shoulders. "If you want this pretty little thing walking out of here without a hole in her head, you're going to call the FBI. We're going to make a deal."
"If you so much as—"
"Ah, ah, ah. Don't get testy. Remember who's holding the gun, pretty boy."
I hate that he's right. I've got nothing on me. Fear got me moving too fast. I came in here without a weapon, without a plan.
Some part of me knows it's my feelings for Tess that made me sloppy. But those same feelings are making me dangerous.
Because I am pissed.
"She's not leverage with the FBI, Cilento. They're a bunch of suits. You think they'll drop charges to save her? They'll let her die. Gives them more to charge you with."
Tess's eyes go wide. I shift my gaze just enough to let her know I'm playing a card. If she's not valuable to him, maybe he backs off.
"Let's hope you're wrong. For Ms. Beaumont's sake." He sneers—the same look from every photo in Tess's article. "Because if she's not worth my time, I kill her. No witness, no trial."
So much for that plan.
"What do you want me to do?" I hold up my hands, careful not to rile him further. He's on a hair trigger, eyes bloodshot. Wouldn't surprise me if he'd dipped into his own product.
"Call your contacts, stronzo." He swings the gun toward me for a beat, his other arm still locked around Tess's throat. "Then hand her the phone. Speaker."
I move slow, dial the number. No point keeping the Feds out of the loop.
They'll send the cops. And if I can get Cilento angry enough to lose focus on Tess, I can get her out.
He's touchy. Alpha-dog energy with something to prove.
The phone rings. Reynolds picks up, and I set it on speaker.
"Logan? This is unexpected. What do you—"
"Cilento wants a word. He's got a gun to Tess's head at the safe house."
I set the phone on the floor and kick it across to them. Cilento loosens his hold just enough for Tess to grab it, though his gun stays trained on her.
She holds the phone out for him. There's a little more space between them now. I like that.
"Hello, Reynolds. Don't believe we've had the pleasure. Your man Logan's right—Tess is in a bad spot. If you want her out of it, you're going to drop those charges against me. Get the judge on the line yourself and tell him you made a mistake."
"Cilento," Reynolds growls. I hear movement on his end—he's already got people moving. "You piece of shit. Let her go. This isn't helping you."
"I hold the cards here, fellas." He's figured out Reynolds isn't alone. "Drop 'em, or she dies."
Luigi. A hell of a name to grow up mocking, thanks to Mario Brothers. He's losing focus on Tess, distracted enough by the call that his gun hand is loosening.
If I can knock the weapon away, I can take him myself. But how?
I scan the room without moving my head much. Cilento's still barking demands, and the FBI is keeping him talking, just like they should.
Not much down here to use as a weapon. There's a rake clear across the room. Too far.
Come on, Logan. Think.
Behind me—I can only glance for a second—there's a box of spare floor tiles. Marble, heavy.
If I can grab one, I can throw it. And I've got good aim.
"I'm not sticking around for you assholes. My people know how to reach me if you get squirrely. So order me a jet."
Of course he wants out of the country. Makes sense.
I catch Tess's eye and mouth, Stand in front of him.
Her brows shoot up, confusion all over her face.
"Just do it," I whisper.
She hesitates, then starts shifting her weight like she's uncomfortable, slowly working her way in front of Cilento.
The second she's clear, I move. I slide across the floor to the tile box, grab one, and roll so she's out of my line of fire.
I'm lining up the throw when Cilento catches on and swings the gun toward me.
Boom!
The shot cracks out just as I let the tile fly. For one endless second, everything stops.
Then sound rushes back. Cilento crumples, a gash torn open across his skull where the tile connected. Tess is on the ground, facing away from me.
I'm at her side in an instant, turning her gently. "Tess!"
She blinks, looks down at herself, then up at me. "I'm—I'm okay. You're—are you hit?"
I wait for pain. There isn't any. "No. I think—"
"You son of a bitch!" Cilento's head snaps toward me, blood pouring down his face. Somehow he's still got the gun, and it's swinging toward us.
I shove Tess out of the line of fire and lunge at him, grabbing his wrist and wrenching his arm up. Another shot fires—into the ceiling, thank god.
"You're both dead!"
We grapple for the gun. He's stronger than I expected, and we jerk back and forth as I fight to keep the barrel pointed up.
Two more shots. My ears ring in the small, echoing space. Tess screams. I twist us both further from her, keeping my body between them.
Cilento drives a fist into my gut with his free hand. I cough but don't let go.
I use my weight to force him under me, then drive my knee into his crotch.
"Argh!"
The gun drops. I snatch it up, back away, and level it at him.
"Don't move, Cilento. It's over."
"You piece of shit. I run this town. My whole Family runs this town. Even if I die, they'll come after you."
"I think you overestimate their loyalty, Luigi. You were about to fly off to Italy and leave them behind. Doubt they'd appreciate that."
"They won't find out." He scoffs.
"All calls to the FBI get recorded, Cilento." Tess flashes him a smug little smile, arms crossed. "They'll find out. I'll make sure of it."
Cilento screams and lunges at her, fury boiling over.
Bang!
One more shot. He drops. Dead.
Tess's eyes fly to mine, her breath ragged. I nod and toss the gun to the floor.
"No one touches you."
She runs straight into my arms. That's when we hear the sirens outside, and footsteps pounding above us.
Tess
The house fills fast—detectives, FBI, crime scene techs, all of it. Logan and I are questioned for what feels like hours before the cops finally rule it self-defense.
"I'm not sure it counts if you were defending me."
I keep my voice low, still not quite believing they're letting this slide so easily.
"Of course it counts. I was protecting my wife. There's legal precedent for that."
I laugh before I can stop myself. "Your wife, huh? I don't remember a ceremony."
"We'll have to fix that."
My heart swells. I look at him. "Are you—are you serious? Do you actually want to—"
"I love you, Tess. I'd marry you right here in this basement. Though it is a little gruesome for a proposal."
From terror to this—I've got whiplash. But I like this part a lot better. I pull myself up and wrap my arms around his neck.
"Yes. I love you too. Yes, yes, yes."
We kiss, and for a second I forget where we are. Then Reynolds walks in, buzzkill that he is.
"You two are free to go. We'll need you both around for follow-up questions—a long while, probably—but you can head home." He glances between us. I don't bother letting go of Logan. "I'll be in touch."
"Keep me posted on the trial. I'm more than willing to testify against the rest of the Cilento family." Logan squeezes my hand, eyes narrowing at me. "Mitigating any risk, of course."
With a chuckle, he sweeps me up, and we walk out of the safe house without looking back.