XLVIII
Atlas Lucio
“ You do realise that Theo and Dawson will kick off as soon as they get back,” Andros warns. He’s sitting in the chair opposite my desk, slouching as he types on his phone.
He looks a lot better since he found Alexei. He’s showered and had his cast taken off his leg, meaning he can wear a suit again. His face is still tired though, none of us getting enough sleep since being separated from Hazel.
“I know,” I nod, downing the rest of my whiskey. I light a cigarette between my lips and take a long inhale, letting the smoke hit my lungs and calm me for a second. Although I told Theo to release Alexei, it’s taking all my self-control not to head to the warehouse and kill the man that threatens Hazel.
My laptop draws my attention and I look over to see an incoming video call from the Irish. I take another drag from my cigarette before stumping it out and answering the call.
“Atlas,” Cormac greets me, his Irish accent thick.
“Cormac,” I nod at him, tapping my fingers on the desk impatiently. Andros looks up from his phone with a frown.
It’s not every day the leader of the Irish Mob calls the Don of the Italian Mafia.
“I’ll cut to the chase. We have our people watching over the apartment in New York, as requested.”
I nod my head once, glad he came through in making sure Hazel is safe. Andros raises his eyebrows in shock, probably disgruntled that Cormac knows the location of the apartment when I won’t disclose that to the others.
“We also received word that the Russians are trying to expand into America… specifically New York.”
“So, they know she’s there, then,” I respond, keeping my face and voice neutral despite the spike in my heart rate.
“I would assume so. They’re trying to purchase property as we speak but I have a team stopping them. I won’t be able to hold them off forever, but I thought you should know.”
I nod my head as Andros starts to type furiously on his phone. After a few moments, he gets up and leaves the room, his phone now pressed against his ear.
“Keep me updated,” I respond to Cormac as the door shuts behind Andros, “Theo said he sent a weapons order to you?”
“We’re working on importing it. Might take a few days to source all of them but shouldn’t be a problem,” Cormac responds with a sigh. After a few more minutes of talking, he announces he has to leave and ends the call.
My phone immediately rings and I rub my hand over my face with a stressed sigh. Seeing Sean’s caller ID, I answer it almost immediately, anxious for an update about Hazel.
“Sean, what’s going on?” I ask, trying to hide the nervousness in my voice. Knowing that the Russians have likely found her location is making my anxiety spike.
“She’s eating again. Sending Sabrina was definitely the right call, no matter how annoying she is.”
I chuckle at his tone, knowing when a woman has gotten under one of my men’s skin. It doesn’t surprise me that Hazel’s best friend is similar to her, especially since they’ve been friends since childhood.
Sean’s just going through what we go through with Hazel - the brattiness and cheek that we miss getting from our girl on a daily basis.
“Keep her in the apartment, okay? I’ve heard that the Russians may have her location,” I tell him.
“Will do. May need more men, though. It’s like there are two of them,” he sighs, sounding pained and exhausted. I bite my lower lip to stop myself from laughing at the almost whine in his voice.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I offer before ending the call as Andros walks in with a determined look on his face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him as he drops his tablet on my desk and crosses his arms.
“They’ve been fucking tracking her,” he growls. My back snaps straight as I lift the tablet to stare at the software Andros has loaded up. My heart drops and anger radiates through me when I see a pulsing small circle, situated exactly in the apartment I’ve been hiding her in.
“Fuck,” I mutter through clenched teeth. I look up at Andros with narrowed eyes, “How did you find this? Who else knows?”
He sits down in a chair opposite my desk and sighs, rubbing his temples, “My team have been working on the Russian firewall. We finally got through a few hours ago, and I found this within it. The team don’t know I’ve found it, and I’ll keep it that way but we have a big fucking problem, Atlas.”
“I know. She must have a microchip or something like a trafficking victim,” I rub my hand down my face in despair.
“We’ve got to get it out and move her,” he points out the obvious to me.
“It’s not that easy. Not only do we not know where the chip is, but she will never forgive us if we relocate her again.”
“I don’t think she will forgive us, now,” he sighs, looking pained at the thought of Hazel being mad at him.
He’s always been one of the first to fall in love in our group. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and I know that as soon as he saw Hazel, he was head over heels. To know she isn’t speaking to us right now must be killing him.
“She will forgive us. I’ll make sure of it,” I try to reassure him. He stares at me blankly, still not convinced but I pull out my phone and send a text out to our group chat without Hazel.
His phone buzzes and he opens the message, his eyebrows raising in surprise.
“You’re going to New York?” he asks me as he tilts his head in curiosity, still staring at my message.
“Yep, and if all goes well, I’ll bring our girl back with me when I return.”