51. Declan
Chapter fifty-one
Declan
T he court is full of low murmuring. The prosecution called Serenity up to the stand for questioning, but when she didn't come up when called. Scanning the room, I realize she's not here. Daniel, and Harrison have gone to look for her in the hallways and foyer and Cas is checking the lady's room.
Where the hell has she gone?
We arrived together an hour ago to show solidarity, but I haven't been able to keep an eye on her because she's sat behind me.
Cas said she left twenty minutes ago because she was agitated. She said she needed fresh air.
Anderson is up at the podium, chatting with the judge about options if she can't be found. Can't be found? What the fuck does that mean?
And then I notice who else is missing. Fucking Volkov. I swear if he did anything to her, I won't stop at revoking his membership. I'll fucking kill him.
"We'll have a thirty-minute recess to find our key witness," the older woman says with a glare at the prosecuting lawyer who has the good graces to look apologetic.
I throw the doors open with more force than necessary and find Cas, Daniel, and Harrison huddled together in the busy hallway. People glare at us as they walk by and I'm sure they're from the same religious group that always complains at the town halls, but I couldn't care less. Angry fear has heat crawling up my neck and me clenching my fists.
"Have you called her?" Cas asks.
I shake my head. We were all ordered to put our phones on silent when we entered the courtroom. I pull my phone from my slacks and find a notification from an unknown number.
I dismiss it and call Serenity's phone. It rings through to voice mail. I hang up and am about to call again, when something tells me to check the unknown number.
I open the text message to my worst nightmare. I close my eyes and feel every moment of my heart breaking. It hurts. God, does it hurt. My eyes are closed but I can still see the picture seared behind my eyelids. That image will haunt me for the rest of my life.
But what life? What is my life without Serenity in it.
"Dec? What is it?" Cas's voice sounds far away, and I can't physically say the words out loud. I simply thrust my phone at the general direction of her voice.
There's whispering, but I can't hear a word. My breakfast threatens to reappear as I focus on breathing simply in and out of my nose. Can you die from a heart break? Because it feels like I'm dying.
Vikki's death broke me, but our love was new, and my grief was mixed with the injustice of a life lost young, and having a future taken away from me.
This pain? This pain makes me wonder if I ever loved Vikki at all. This pain makes me want to collapse on the floor and just give up. My sweet Serenity. She absolutely could have seduced Volkov. She's beautiful, innocent, and sweet and kind beyond reason. I've seen how he's wanted her from the first time he saw her.
I thought she was mine. I thought she was as in this as I was. And that's when the doubt creeps in. Serenity is in love with me. Everything she's said to me over the six months apart, everything she's done for me. We didn't have a falling out; we didn't have a fight.
People who are happy in a relationship don't cheat. We were happy. She was happy, and so beautifully in love with me.
It's not adding up.
"Are you sure that's her? They cropped out the faces," Cas says hopefully.
I dig the heels of my hands into my eyes until they hurt.
"Serenity has a mole under her left breast. That's her."
"Who is she with?"
"Volkov. I recognize his watch."
Even if she was cheating on me with him, why in the middle of our trial? We don't live together anymore; she could have slept with him any time. Even if this picture was old, why would she disappear during our trial when she was just as passionate about protecting The Envelope.
None of this is adding up.
" It's my turn now? " Harrison asks, reading the caption.
"What is with her hands? That's not the way you lay with a lover. And she's still partially clothed. This just doesn't make sense. I've seen the way she looks at you. That woman loves you more than life. She would die before hurting you," she says.
"Her hands?"
I hadn't noticed anything about her hands. I closed the picture quickly to avoid the hurt.
Cas hands me my phone again and then I notice her hands. Her right one is on Volkov's chest, but in a thumb's up configuration. Her left hand is wedged between her body and his and only half of it is visible but it's flat, the fingers tight together.
Oh my god.
It's ASL for help .
If her hands were together, it would be asking for help.
"She's in trouble. She's signing for help. He's taken her."
Fear chills my veins as panic replaces pain.
Three sets of wide eyes take in my panic before Harrison curses a quiet fuck . She may be the love of my life, but she's also their friend, and they've adopted her as a member of The Envelope family just as much as Cas. My heart belongs to her, but she belongs to all of us.
Cas turns, immediately on the phone with someone. I scroll through my contacts, looking for Rico. I'd considered the police officer that Ser talked to, but I don't remember his name.
Daniel grabs Anderson as he exits and tells him she's been taken, and we need to postpone the trial until she can be found. With a tight nod, our lawyer spins on his heel and heads back into the courtroom.
"Bueno?"
"Jefe, I need some help. Now. My woman's been taken."
"The one you had us look into?"
"Yes. And we know who took her," I say in a rush, heading towards the exit. I wave an impatient hand at Cas, who I'm assuming is on the phone getting Volkov's address.
"Would he take her to his place?" Daniel asks from beside me.
"The bed in the picture looked fancy enough to be his. It's the only lead we have right now. We can at least start there."
"How many?" Rico this time.
I run my hand through my hair. "Fuck. I don't know. Three? Four? Everyone?"
Joseph startles as he sees us rush out in a clear panic.
"1155 23rd St., Northwest. Penthouse," Cas says and I repeat the order to Joseph and Rico simultaneously.
Cas piles in behind me but Daniel and Harrison go to their car and relay the address.
Sixteen agonizing minutes later, we pull up in front of the high-rise. I'm out of the car before it's even stopped, running into the newer building.
I rush to the front desk.
"Penthouse. I need Penthouse. Now!" I shout at the older, kind looking black man working there.
"I'm sorry sir, only those with the Penthouse card can use the personal elevator. Are you on Mr. Volkov's guest list?"
"Fuck no. Of course I'm not. But did you see him walk in earlier with a beautiful young girl? He's kidnapped her."
The man behind the desk looks like he's heard all of the excuses and seen all the things because he patiently shakes his head. It's not condescending, he does it in a way that's actually quite kind, but I still want to rip his head off.
"I'm sorry, sir. Rules are rules and if I don't follow them, I don't get to put food on my table."
I don't blame the old man, but fuck. I punch the marble counter until my hand bleeds, the old man looks mortified, and Cas pulls me back.
He threatens to call the police, but a few seconds later, the doors burst open and ten men wearing black pour through them. Once they're off the street, they draw their guns and spread through the foyer with military precision. They've done this before. Rico and his second, Santiago, head towards me.
Head hanging low in shame and still vibrating with anger. I point to the orderly. "I need the penthouse card to access the elevator and door."
Santiago points a pistol at the man's head and pulls back the hammer.
A small part of me feels bad for making the man wet his pants. A bigger part of me would burn this city to the ground to get to my woman.
With a shaky hand, the man thumbs through a binder and finds the right key.
Rico, Santiago, Cas and I run to the elevator. Daniel stays to soothe the older man, while Harrison stays to keep the mafia in line, I'm guessing.
The ride up is painfully long, and I'm shifting my weight like a boxer. My hands itch with the need to get to her. To hold her. To keep her safe. I need to know she's safe.
Every muscle in my body needs to know she's safe.
Finally, the elevator lurches, pings, and the doors slide open. I'm through them sideways, before they've even opened enough to fit an adult male's body and lose a few buttons in the process, but I don't fucking care.
I run through the small entry room to the front door, slamming the card against the reader.
Within half a heart beat a number of things happen. The door clicks to unlock. I throw it open. I rush in blindly. I stop a few feet into the penthouse. Santiago pistol-whips the blonde, Rico draws his weapon, and I take in the glorious picture in front of me.
My woman, feet placed wide, strong, is standing in just her bra and underwear. But that's not the glorious part. The glorious part, is that she has Volkov on his knees in front of her, one hand wrapped around his tie and the other with a knife to his throat.
"Give me my phone...." she was growling at him when we burst into the room.
Both of their heads turn towards us, and on hers I read relief and some trepidation. On his I read embarrassment and anger. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, asshole.
"I didn't do anything. You have to know I didn't do anything," Serenity says in a rush, tears pouring from her eyes. She looks equally heartbroken and hopeful.
"I know," I reply.
I walk toward her and wrap her in a hug. With Rico and Santiago having guns on Volkov, I'm not worried about him anymore. I wrap my arms around Serenity, pulling her against me, where she belongs.
The knife falls to the floor.
"You got my message..." she says on a sigh and wraps her arms around my waist, holding me to her.
I nod against her hair. "I did. Clever girl."
She looks up at me, lower lids wet with tears. "I hated the thought..." Her lower lip trembles and her body follows, so I hug her tighter.
"Cas. Her clothes?"
Cas tries a few bedrooms before she finds them and hands them back to Serenity, along with her phone. Now shy, she looks at the two new men.
I guide her to a guest bedroom so she can get dressed in private. But I can't quite let go of her, so even as she dresses, I have to touch her. Her arm, her hand, her leg, her hair. I don't fucking care.
She dresses quickly, and seems to need to touch me that much, too, because her hands rarely leave me.
I feel my heart find its regular rhythm again, now that I can see her and touch her and protect her. A deep need for her sits low in my belly, and I know I'm going to push her. Something like this can never happen again. The need to steal her away and lock her up in our bedroom gnaws at me.
Once she's dressed and we've exchanged a handful of comforting kisses, we walk back out into the living room where Volkov is still on his knees, face stormy.
"What do you want to do with him?" Rico asks. Both Rico and Santiago have their guns pointed at his head.
Fuck, I'd love to see them just fucking put him down like a dog. But I wouldn't subject Ser to that. Witnessing a murder on top of being kidnapped would be too much for her, and I want to protect her from everything. In fact...
"Ser?"
She's the one that suffered at his hands. She's the one that was kidnapped and forced naked. It should be up to her.
"Let him go," she says simply. I whip my head around to look at her. Nothing? Not a single punishment? For what he put us through?! My need for revenge, for retribution, for destruction is through the roof and she just wants to let him go. No punishment, no retribution, no nothing.
She squeezes my hand, though, and explains. "He'll have to live knowing he failed. That I'm not a prize to be won, or something to be taken. That I'm in love with another man and could never love him the way that I love you. He'll have his membership revoked, of course, and we're going to get me a bodyguard or guard dog or something...because I don't think Hank's going to guard anything...so he can't try it again...but..." and she turns to address him directly. "He is not a man who is used to not getting what he wants." She repeats in a Russian accent. "But I think it's time he learns."
I've admired her strength, her resilience, and now I admire her grace. It's got a bite to it, for sure, but she could have had him killed. She could have had him beaten. She doesn't know who Rico and Santiago are, but they don't appear to be on the right side of the law, either. So, I'm sure she knows she could have asked for anything, and we would have given it to her.
Volkov is absolutely seething in his defeat. His nostrils flare, his chest heaves, but the guns pointed at his brain make him comply. Even if he hates it.
So, with a nod to Rico, we back away to the elevator. They follow us, guns still drawn. Once the elevator doors close, we all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Rico and Santiago uncock their guns and slide them into the back of their pants as easily as they breathe. It's strange. Guns are outlawed in DC, so we rarely see any. By nature, they make me nervous, but I trust these two men to know what they're doing.
Ser is tucked into my side silently. She may need some time to process all of this, maybe some therapy.
We hug and say goodbye to Cas, Harrison and Daniel. Joseph wraps Ser in a long hug, as if he needed to reassure himself that she's okay. And she hugs him back.
Not only has Ser gone from jumpy, scared, and timid to someone full of grace and confidence, she has a family now. A real one. Cassidy, Daniel, Harrison, Joseph, Magda, and her friends from The Envelope are her new family. They love her, worry about her, and would do anything for her. They care. And it's so much more than the parents she came from. My heart swells with gratitude for her new family.
I wrap her in my arms and let Joseph drive us home.