Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
W ilder was still trying to tell his family not to come when Forrest and Rowan arrived. Rowan made sure to have his surgical bag with him as if he were going to have to perform a trauma surgery on the VIP bar.
“Quit bitching,” Damon grumbled as he, Hunter, and Kane walked in the open front door. Stone was at an away game, so at least three siblings were not coming.
“Mafia date on a Saturday night. Who wouldn’t want to come?” Pen asked.
“No! No, no, no,” Wilder said at the same time Damon did as Pen and Olivia walked in together.
“I figured a lawyer might be handy.” Olivia had her briefcase. She could bury him in legalese if she wanted.
“I just thought it would be fun,” Pen said, giving Wilder a wink.
“What is it with you and mob bosses?” Damon growled. Pen just smirked and Damon growled again. Wilder was pretty sure some of his black hair just turned gray.
Bex placed her hand on Wilder’s arm. “Sometimes it’s just easier to fight the battle another day. It won’t hurt to have backup. You know Nikolas isn’t going to come alone.”
“Fine, but don’t interrupt. Just sit there quietly.” Wilder had a sinking feeling they would not listen to him one bit.
Wilder was correct. His siblings did not listen to him. Maggie had taken a sniper position in his office where she could look down on the VIP section from the two-way glass. Rowan and Forrest were sitting behind the seating area Wilder had reserved for them and were pretending to drink beer. Damon, Hunter, and Kane were acting like bodyguards just one breath away from feral. Olivia and Pen were drinking martinis and laughing. Bex looked beautiful in one of Maggie’s dresses and kept scanning the club for trouble.
“That’s him,” Bex whispered.
Wilder followed her line of sight to the two men dressed in suits almost as expensive as the one Wilder was wearing to the bodyguards behind them. “The one on the right is Nikolas.” Wilder almost smiled. “The one on the left is Nico Saccone. He’s former mafia, now clean. We know him.”
“That’s good, right?” Bex whispered as they climbed the stairs toward them. The place was packed since it was a weekend and that made their process across the club slower than normal.
“We’re about to find out.”
The two men climbed the stairs as they went to their table. Nico smiled, but it wasn’t at Wilder. In fact, he didn’t look at any of them. His eyes were glued to one person only. “Hello, Penelope.”
Wilder had his hand fisted and Damon was practically baring his teeth with his growl of displeasure. Pen looked ready to say something but then Nikolas looked around and his eyes landed on Bex. Wilder instantly reached out, placing his hand protectively on the small of her back. “Detective Moretti. You’re a little outside your jurisdiction, aren’t you?”
Wilder felt Bex stiffen under his touch. “How do you know who I am?”
Nikolas just smirked and Wilder felt his blood run cold.
“Nik. Tell them.” Nico’s voice was low but held the weight of the order to it.
“I’m not telling them just because you want to screw—”
Nikolas didn’t get to finish his sentence. Wilder was reaching for Nikolas as Damon vaulted across the table, but Nico had Nikolas by the throat and shoved against the wall before any Townsend could reach him.
“Do not disrespect her by finishing that sentence. Now answer their questions or I will rip your fucking throat out and send it to your mother with a note that I have decided to take New York back under my control,” Nico growled so impressively that Wilder bet even Damon was impressed.
It was then Wilder saw that Bex had a gun pointed at Rocco, Nikolas’s bodyguard, keeping him from interfering.
“Don’t look at him like that,” Damon hissed to Pen as Nikolas agreed to Nico’s terms.
Nico dropped the hold he had on his cousin. Nikolas straightened his wrinkled suit and they all came back to the table and sat down. “I know who the entire criminal enterprise team is. I also know several of the DA’s and many of the patrol officers in our areas.”
“You mean, you have them on your payroll,” Bex said, not putting her gun away but hiding it in the fold of her dress.
“It’s smart business.” Nikolas shrugged. “We tried to get several Morettis over the past years, but none of them would agree.”
“Who is on your payroll?” Bex asked, taking charge of the questioning.
Nikolas shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. You ask specifics and I’ll answer. But I’m not turning over my entire network.”
“Captain Sean Kilpatrick,” Bex asked.
“Nope. I don’t tend to go for higher ups. They really don’t know what’s going on in the streets. They’re not showing up to bust me. But, is this why you called me here? To find out who I pay to get insider information?” Nikolas frowned.
“No, it’s not. It’s about drugs.”
“Yo, I don’t mess with drugs. Nico put a stop to that. I kept up that policy when I took over.”
Wilder pulled out his phone and gave them a rundown of what had been happening at his clubs. “The guns were traced to unsolved murders or to owners who were in jail. But the drugs? We think they’re the key.”
Wilder handed the phone to Nikolas. He and Nico looked at the photo and frowned. “Have you identified the mix?”
“Some GHB, Rohypnol, Ketamine, and Fentanyl,” Wilder answered.
Nikolas and Nico shook their heads in disgust. “They put Fentanyl in everything nowadays. There’s no reason for that.”
Nico’s eyes were on Bex and Wilder felt as if he needed to put his arm around her, but knew she wouldn’t appreciate it. She could take care of herself in this situation. “You know whoever is behind this is using you, right? Now that you didn’t set Wilder up, they’re going to pin it all on you. In fact, it’ll be easier to do so if you were dead.”
“That’s why Wilder called you. We need information. The kind people won’t give to cops. Where did those drugs come from? Who on your payroll would know who could be behind this?” Bex somehow remained completely calm as she talked to Nikolas and Nico.
Nikolas nodded. “I’ll look into it.”
“And I’ll look into Seabrook. He’s already left three messages for me to call him regarding a donation to his mayoral campaign,” Nico added.
“I’m sure I can get answers to the drugs quickly, but there’s something I want in return.” Wilder waited for Nikolas to name his price. “Lift the ban you have on me at all your nightclubs.”
“Only,” Wilder said dead seriously, “if you find out about these drugs and if you swear that you will not do anything illegal on my property. No threats, no extortion, no guaranteeing protection, no deals. Nothing or I kick you out again.”
Nikolas stood and held out his hand. “Deal.”
Nico and the rest of them followed suit and stood. Nico nodded to Wilder, but once again his eyes were on Pen. “Sweet dreams, Penelope.”
“I wouldn’t call my dreams sweet, exactly,” Pen replied to Nico. Damon sprouted ten more gray hairs as Pen sipped her martini.
Nico stumbled but quickly collected himself as Hunter told Pen to stop flirting with the mafia. Wilder closed his eyes and counted to ten as he felt Bex’s shoulder move next to him.
“Are you laughing?” Wilder asked her.
“I am. Rowan came thinking he’d have to patch up bullet wounds, but he’s more likely here to save Damon from a heart attack caused by your sister. What does she do exactly?” Bex asked as Nikolas and Nico left the VIP area.
“She works mostly in Europe but has some clients here. She describes it as a little bit of this and that.”
Bex stared at him and then laughed again. “You have no clue what your sister does for a living, do you?”
“Something to do with business.”
Bex laughed harder. “Come on. We got our help. Let’s get a drink and dance.”
“Dance?” Wilder asked, hoping he heard her wrong.
Forrest patted his back and he joined them. “You don’t know?” Forrest asked in a way that made Wilder want to elbow him in the gut.
“Know what?” Bex asked.
“Wilder can’t dance. Like, at all.”
“That’s not true,” Damon said, coming to Wilder’s defense. “He can do this.” Damon stood and swayed back and forth as he held his arms as if he were sitting in a chair. It was the most basic dance move ever.
Wilder groaned. “Is it too late to have Nikolas shoot me?”
“Wait,” Bex said, her eyes as wide as her smile. “You’re telling me you own nightclubs but you can’t dance?”
Thank the gods of music, because right then the DJ played a song that Wilder could manage to slow dance to. Was it meant to be a romantic slow dance? No. But maybe he could distract Bex with some kissing and touching and she wouldn’t notice he was only swaying. “Let me show you have much you’ll love dancing with me.”
Bex looked as if she didn’t believe him, but he made sure to lay on the charm, place the kisses at the right spots to distract her from when he stepped on her toe, and then when Wilder was desperate, he looked over his shoulder to his manager and sent the signal.
“Mr. Townsend,” LeeAnn said, rushing toward them as the song went on and on and Wilder had used up all his moves. “You’re needed in your office.”
“Thank you. Sorry to cut our dance short, Bex. Let me handle this and we can leave.”
Once Wilder returned from his fake work emergency, he found Bex and Pen on the dance floor. Olivia, Hunter, and Kane had headed home to their spouses while Rowan had been called into the hospital for an emergency consultation.
“Do you think Nikolas will come through?” Forrest asked.
“Is it bad I feel better that Nico was here?” Wilder asked in response. “But, yeah, I think he’ll find answers. Most drug dealers have a mark identifying the drugs as theirs. Nikolas will find it much faster than I will.”
“Can we kill Nico after you get your answers?” Damon asked, tossing back the rest of his beer and looking very uncomfortable in the VIP section of the club with all the southern socialites eyeing him.
“What is going on with him and Pen?” Forrest asked.
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it. Pen has always liked to push boundaries, but flirting with a mobster? That’s too much.” Damon motioned.
“At least he’s no longer a mobster, right? He’s reformed and runs all legal businesses. Quite well, actually. Plus, he did help out with Natalie and Stone and he funded Waverly’s laboratory. He can’t be all bad,” Forrest pointed out.
Damon grumbled. That wouldn’t sway him. However, Wilder really hoped that meant he would live up to his promise to look into Seabrook.
“Dammit,” Damon cursed. “The girls are drawing too much attention. I’m taking Pen home. You might want to grab Bex.”
Wilder looked down at the dance floor. Guys had surrounded them and were trying to get their attention. “Nah, Bex can handle herself. She’ll come back up when she’s tired of dancing.”
“Oh, someone has it bad with that level of trust!” Forrest punched Wilder’s arm. “Why don’t you just drop to one knee already?”
“He will when he’s ready,” Damon spoke for him. “I’d guess that will be next week by the lovesick look on his face.”
“Hmm,” Wilder said, keeping his eye on Bex as she moved to the music. Every now and then she’d glance over her shoulder to make sure Wilder was watching the little show she was putting on just for him. If she kept this up, they weren’t going to make it back to Shadows Landing tonight. His condo was a lot closer.