Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
B ex had spent the day with Wilder in bliss. They’d made love twice, shared lunch together outside, and for several hours pretended they weren’t in the middle of a life-threatening mess. However, it couldn’t stay that way.
Bex’s phone rang at the same time Wilder’s did.
“Hello?” Bex answered as Wilder stepped away to answer his.
“Hey, baby girl. It’s Mercedes. I got some info for you.”
Bex sat up straight and focused on the call. “What have you found out?”
“I told you the more they act all squeaky clean, the dirtier they are. Well, there’s an assistant DA who visits Cherry every week and you know the kinky stuff Cherry is into. Anyway, he casually asked Cherry if she’d seen you doing any more undercover work. She shoved that dildo hard and said no and then asked why. Turns out his boss has a dildo up the ass for you because you questioned him. Something he said he wished he could do himself. He let it spill that the Seabrook dude has been doing all sorts of shady things as favors to people who contribute the big bucks to his campaign for mayor, including the mob. Anyone who stands up to him gets fired and their reputation destroyed.”
Bex wasn’t surprised at all. “Which mob?”
“Cherry tried to find out, but uh, a ball gag was in use and she couldn’t keep up the line of questioning without becoming suspicious. He did say no one believes for a second that you actually committed a crime.”
“Did he say anything about WET?”
“Only that Seabrook wanted campaign money from the fine ass man who owns it and he wouldn’t give it to him. Now there are rumors that WET is being targeted by the police. Doesn’t take a genius to see the connection there.” Mercedes clucked her tongue and it was clear she saw those connections. Cross Seabrook and have your reputation ruined.
“Thanks, Mercedes. Call me if anything else pops up.”
Bex was about to go find Wilder when there was a knock on the door. She didn’t know if she should answer it, but Wilder was in his office. It was doubtful someone who wanted to kidnap her would knock, so she crept up to the nearest window and looked out. She let out a sigh of relief and unlocked the door. “Hi. You’re Rowan, right?”
“That’s me. Wilder asked me to come check on you since you had to leave the hospital so quickly. He wanted to make sure you were still recovering well.”
Bex closed the door behind Rowan and followed him into the living room. “Aren’t you a pediatric surgeon? Do you have much experience with being roofied?” As soon as Bex said it she regretted it. She was a cop. She knew better.
“Unfortunately, probably the same amount you do. How is your head feeling? Any dizziness?”
Bex sat and let Rowan examine her as she answered his questions. He was serious, but gentle. She could see why he would be good with children.
“Hey, Ro,” Wilder said, walking back into the living room. Bex instantly knew something was wrong. His mouth with tight and his lips were pursed. “How’s our patient?”
“Fully recovered,” Rowan said, glancing at his brother. “What happened? You have that pissed-off look.”
Wilder let out an agitated sigh and unclenched his hands. “My security company called an hour ago. My system went down at WET LA. Collins called me to make sure I hadn’t taken the system down myself for some reason before alerting the police. I told her no and she sent the local security office to check it out after calling the police. I woke my manager up and sent her to investigate also. She only lives a block away and got there first. She found a gun just sitting in my office on the desk. Just out in the open. She called me freaking out. I told her to tell the police it was a false alarm and that they didn’t need to search. I got in touch with Bridget and Kale. They’re sending people there to sweep the club.”
“Los Angeles? Why would they plant drugs and weapons in L.A.? Seabrook doesn’t have that kind of reach.” It has to be the same people. It was too similar not to be.
“That’s what I don’t understand. Although, if I get arrested in L.A., I’m sure Seabrook could use it in his case against me in New York. And while Seabrook doesn’t have that reach, I’m guessing the people he used to get those drugs and guns do,” Wilder guessed.
“What are you going to do?” Rowan asked his brother.
Wilder ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “I’m shutting down all my clubs for a “rebrand” this afternoon for a couple of hours. I’ll put up some new matching décor to hide the fact that I’ll either be covering the cameras or cutting the feeds. Kale will send in people he trusts to set up cameras while Bridget will have people she trusts use the dogs to search each club. They’ll be up and running by opening time.” Wilder ran his hand through his hair again and then tightened his fist. “My newest club, in the SA Resort and Casino in Vegas, is in jeopardy. The owner, Sebastian Abel, called me and ripped into me for my lack of security. He refuses to have any bad press at his property. Although, he knows Kale, and he approves of using him as a secondary security company since Kale apparently has done work on the casino’s security too. But I’m walking a tightrope there. It’s my newest club and it’s quickly becoming one of my best clubs. I don’t want to lose it because there’s too much trouble.”
“Do you think Nikolas Luciano will have contacts in L.A. or Vegas? Maybe he can help us tonight with all the locations since larger mafia families have branches in several cities and countries around the world.”
“Wait,” Rowan said. “You’re meeting with the mafia?”
“Don’t worry,” Bex said with a grin. “I’ll protect your brother.”
That made Rowan smile, but he started typing on his phone.
“Dammit,” Wilder cursed a moment later as he looked at his phone. “You sent that out on the group text? You know Damon is going to make a big deal out of it.”
“Yeah, because it’s the mafia,” Rowan said as if Wilder didn’t know.
“Ro, it’s not the first time or the last time that I will deal with the mafia. I know I’m not the badass Damon is or the super soldier Hunter is, but I deal with my fair share of dangerous people on a daily basis.”
Interesting. Wilder’s family saw him as she had. A smiling, happy, non-threatening guy. But there was so much more to Wilder than being the happy-go-lucky guy.
“I know. I guess it’s just different hearing about it versus actually seeing you in that environment,” Rowan admitted. “Damon wants us to meet here and all head to the meeting together.”
“I’m not taking my family to meet with the head of the New York crime family.” Wilder was trying to put his foot down, but Bex could already tell him it was futile. His family would show up whether he wanted them to or not, just like hers. She both loved that and hated it in equal measure, but it was always good to have someone watching your back.
“Sorry, Wilder. No choice.”
“Do I show up when you do surgery?”
“No, but you all showed up when I was arrested for punching the father who abused his infant child so horrifically that I couldn’t save her on the operating table. So, pull up your big boy pants, brother. We’re coming.”
Bex could see the weariness in Rowan that many cops wore. It was the look of someone who loved their job but knew about the dark side of humanity. The side that would make normal people vomit if they caught a glimpse of it. She and Rowan didn’t just catch a glimpse. They lived it day in and day out.
“Thank you for helping me,” Bex said, stopping Wilder from trying to fight the inevitable. Rowan nodded and left with the promise to see them soon. “Tell me about your phone calls.”
“Collins Hanover is the head of the security firm I use. She wanted to meet to discuss options for improving security. I told her I was in the process of visiting all my clubs, so we’d have to do it over the phone for now. She’s going to look into the possibility of someone hacking her system and will get back to me.”
The doorbell rang and Bex and Wilder were once again interrupted. Only this time it was Maggie holding out a pink dress with green and white flowers on it. “I heard we’re going to the club. You’ll need something to wear. Oh, and I got you a matching thigh holder for your gun in case the dress rides up.”
“ We are not going. Bex and I are,” Wilder tried to tell her, but Maggie just rolled her eyes.
“Not happening. Also, I’ll need the code for your office. I’m setting up a sniper position from there.”
“Maggie can come,” Bex said with a laugh. Her family would never believe all of this.