Chapter 9
The Phone Call
The safe house was barely more than a crumbling basement beneath an abandoned shack on the outskirts of town. The air was damp, thick with dust and the faint, lingering scent of gasoline.
Luca sat on the worn-out couch; his hands still cuffed behind his back. He glanced around, arching a brow. "I must say, this place really is charming. Really sets the mood for our little honeymoon, doesn’t it?"
Caleb didn’t rise to the bait. He sat on the chair, his face in his hands, fingers pressing into his temples. His plan had been airtight; until it wasn’t. Now, he was on the run. With him .
Luca shifted, stretching his legs out like he didn’t have a care in the world. "So, what’s next, Agent? Gonna keep me tied down, or do I get to stretch a little?"
Caleb ignored him, his thoughts racing. He couldn’t afford to slip up. Not now.
Luca sighed, his smirk faltering just slightly. "Oh, don't tell me you've developed an affinity for bondage? Though, I could get behind that. Gonna spank me if I misbehave, daddy?"
Caleb’s head snapped up, his eyes cold and sharp. "Shut up."
Luca raised an eyebrow, his voice still teasing but edged with something else. "Or what?"
Caleb crossed his arms, standing tall.
Luca let out a low chuckle, tilting his head. "You really think I’m going anywhere?"
Caleb ignored him.
Luca exhaled sharply and leaned back, watching him. "Fine. Keep me chained like a dog. But you’re going to need me, Smith."
Caleb’s jaw tightened. "I don’t need you. I’m going to bring you in."
Luca studied him, amusement flickering behind his eyes. "You really think you can arrest me now? Because as far as I know, you’re a damn traitor."
The words hit harder than they should have. Caleb swallowed, forcing his expression to stay neutral. "I’m not a traitor."
Luca hummed, considering him. "The DEA thinks you are. They’ve got their sights set on you now, don’t they? They’re never going to back you up if you try to make an arrest."
Caleb clenched his fists, fighting the urge to react. "I’m still a federal agent. And I’ll do whatever it takes to bring you in."
Something flickered in Luca’s expression; respect, maybe, or something darker. But the smirk was back a second later. "You’re delusional if you think the agency’s still on your side after everything that’s gone down." He leaned in just slightly, his voice dropping. "Face it, Caleb. You’re not the hero in this story."
Caleb’s pulse jumped at the sound of his name. He hadn’t heard it from Luca’s lips in years; not in a way that wasn’t laced with venom or distance. But he didn’t let it show.
He held Luca’s gaze, unyielding. "I don’t need them to back me up. I’ll bring you in on my own terms."
Luca tilted his head, watching him like he was waiting for something to crack. And maybe, just for a second, Caleb thought he saw it; the ghost of something between them, something old and unresolved.
Then Luca smirked again, shifting against the cuffs. "We’ll see how far that gets you."
???
Luca lay on the couch, the cold bite of metal digging into his wrists. He stayed perfectly still, his breaths slow and measured, giving the illusion of sleep. But inside his head, it was chaos.
The meeting with the Castillo cartel had been a disaster. A betrayal. A bloodbath. He’d barely made it out alive, and the adrenaline still clung to him, refusing to fade. His body ached, his head pounded, but none of that mattered. What mattered was the question that gnawed at him, relentless and sharp.
Had Caleb known he’d be there?
Luca hadn't checked in with his brothers after the meeting. He always did. They ran their operations with precision; constant updates, never out of sync. But this time, everything had gone to hell. No signal. No word. By now, Enzo and Matteo would know something was wrong.
He could almost hear Enzo’s voice, calm and controlled, already strategizing how to find him. Matteo, though, Matteo would be a different story. Impatient, volatile, ready to burn down half of Mexico if he thought Luca was in danger. And if Aldo got involved… it would turn into a war.
He missed them. More than he cared to admit. He’d spent his whole life whishing to escape, but now? Now, he wasn’t sure he could get out of this alone.
Luca exhaled, trying to ignore the sting in his wrists. The physical discomfort was nothing compared to the weight pressing against his ribs. He was stuck.
And the worst part?
He wasn’t sure what was more dangerous; the cartel, the DEA, or the man sitting just a few feet away.
Caleb Smith.
The years had changed him, hardened the edges of his face, darkened the blue of his eyes. But Luca would have recognized him anywhere. It had been years, and still, one look at Caleb had sent a jolt through him, something old and unshaken beneath all the years and distance.
He thought about what happened in that room, about the way Caleb had been tortured and still kept quiet. And then how quickly he had folded as soon as the torture was being inflicted upon Luca.
He would deny it, of course, say that he was just doing what anyone would, but Luca knew different. For all his pretending to be a decent, law-abiding citizen, Luca knew Caleb for what he truly was. A wolf. Ruthless and bloodthirsty. Capable of anything if it would get him what he wants.
He knew that if anyone else had been in that chair except him, Caleb would have stayed quiet, watched them die without a blink. Yet, he caved as soon the one in pain was Luca.
Something in Luca’s chest stirred at the thought despite his attempts to crush it. He knew it was stupid, thinking like that, like he mattered, but he was too tired and sore to try harder.
Luca let his eyes drift closed, but he wasn’t resting. He was listening. Every breath. Every shift of movement in the basement. He knew Caleb was watching him.
Footsteps echoed softly against the concrete floor. Caleb was moving, checking the perimeter, making sure they were still alone. Luca could hear the quiet rustle of fabric, the measured way he shifted through the space. The scrape of metal against metal, then a pause. The ticking of the wall clock filled the silence.
Luca didn’t move. Didn’t blink. His breathing remained steady, deep and slow; his body draped in the kind of stillness that could pass for sleep. But through the barest slit of his lashes, he watched. Just enough to observe without being seen.
Caleb walked toward the clock, each step deliberate, careful. Luca’s curiosity sharpened as he saw him slide it aside, revealing a small safe embedded in the wall. A hidden compartment.
His pulse quickened, but he stayed relaxed, his posture loose, his face betraying nothing. This was his chance to learn something.
Caleb crouched before the safe, fingers moving swiftly over the keypad. The numbers flashed; one by one, clean and unmistakable. Luca memorized them effortlessly, the sequence locking into his mind like muscle memory. A skill he hadn’t lost. A habit he hadn’t broken.
The safe clicked open.
Caleb reached inside and pulled out a phone, sleek and black. He didn’t even glance at it before slipping it into his pocket, shutting the safe with the same quiet efficiency. Without hesitation, he moved back to the chair and sank into it, his posture stiff, his shoulders drawn tight.
Luca knew that tension. Knew what it meant when Caleb’s jaw locked like that, when his fingers tapped once against his thigh before stilling completely.
He was trying to make a decision. He turned the phone on and punched in a number.
???
Caleb sat back in the rickety chair, his fingers hovering over the phone, but his mind was somewhere else. His gaze drifted to Luca, stretched out on the couch, chest rising and falling in slow, even breaths. He should look away. Should focus on the situation, on the fact that everything had gone to hell. But instead, his eyes lingered, watching for any sign that Luca might be faking.
Nothing. His posture was relaxed. Natural.
Caleb exhaled sharply. The silence in the room was suffocating, thick with a tension that had nothing to do with the handcuffs biting into Luca’s wrists or the blood still drying on Caleb’s shirt. It was the weight of something else. Something unspoken.
He’d spent years preparing for a moment like this; being trapped with an enemy. But he hadn’t prepared for this moment. Not when the man lying on that couch wasn’t just some criminal. Not when he had once been his .
He forced the thought away, clenching his jaw as he pressed the call button. No time for that. No time to think about the past, about Luca’s hands in his hair, his cock in his ass, about the way they had whispered promises to each other when they were too young to understand that some things were impossible.
The phone rang twice before a sharp, panicked voice broke through.
“Caleb? Where the hell are you? What the fuck happened?”
Ramirez.
Her urgency hit him hard. He squeezed his eyes shut, gripping the phone tighter. “I’m…” He hesitated, his throat tightening. “I’m somewhere safe. Barely made it out. The raid went wrong, Sara. Everything went to hell.”
The words tasted bitter. It wasn’t just that the mission had gone sideways, it was that he had gone sideways with it.
“And now…” He hesitated. “For some reason, the agency thinks I’m a traitor.”
Silence. Not even a sharp breath.
Then, finally, she spoke. “I know.” Her voice was raw, edged with disbelief. “But I don’t understand why. You’re the one who’s spent years trying to take down Castillo Cartel. Now they think you’re one of them?”
Caleb let out a humorless laugh, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, Sara. That’s the problem. I was doing my job. I planned the raid. But everything went sideways. And now it looks like the agency’s got me pegged as one of the bad guys.”
He could practically hear her pacing, her breath quickening through the phone. The silence stretched, heavy and uncertain, and for the first time in years, Caleb felt something he wasn’t used to.
Panic.
“Caleb,” Ramirez finally said, her voice calmer but no less urgent, “you need to turn yourself in. Right now. This is a mess. If the agency thinks you’ve gone rogue, you’re only making it worse by running. You’re running from your own people.”
“I can’t,” he bit out, his voice sharp. “I can’t just turn myself in, not when I don’t even know what’s going on. I’ve been working with people I can’t trust. I’m not going to roll over until I have answers.”
She was silent for a long moment, the tension stretching between them like a wire ready to snap. Caleb’s fingers tightened around the phone as his gaze drifted back to Luca, still lying motionless on the couch. Too still. Too at ease, despite the handcuffs.
Caleb had seen him like this before; playing the long game, waiting for the right moment to strike. He should have known better than to expect anything different. Luca had always been good at turning the odds in his favor. It was part of what had drawn Caleb to him in the first place. And part of what had torn them apart.
“I get it,” Sara finally said, her voice quieter, more measured. “But this isn’t just about you anymore, Caleb. It’s bigger than that. You can’t keep running from your own people. They’ll hunt you down...”
“I’m not running,” Caleb snapped, harsher than he meant to. “I’m trying to figure out who the hell I can trust. And I’m not handing myself over to the agency until I know what’s really going on. I’m not that stupid.”
His fingers curled around the phone as frustration clawed at him. “I need to know who’s behind this. I need to know who’s pulling the strings.”
He heard Sara take a deep breath on the other end; hesitation laced in the silence that followed. She was weighing her options, trying to keep him from doing something reckless. He knew she was scared for him. Hell, he was scared for himself.
“Caleb,” she said slowly, every word deliberate. “I can’t fix this for you. Not yet. But I will figure it out. I’ll get to the bottom of it. And I’ll call you when I have something. But you have to lay low. Don’t do anything rash. You’ve got to trust me on that.”
He ground his teeth together, the weight of the situation pressing down on him. He couldn’t sit around waiting, but he didn’t have a choice. Not right now.
“Fine,” he muttered. “But I’m not sitting around with my hands tied forever. You’ll keep me posted?”
“I will. I promise.”
Silence stretched between them, heavier than before. Caleb knew she meant it. But deep down, he also knew she wasn’t going to be able to get him the answers he really needed.
“Just stay safe, Caleb,” Sara said softly, her voice a thin thread of reassurance in the chaos. “We’ll figure this out. You’re not in this alone.”
“Thanks,” he muttered. The word felt empty, but there was nothing else to say.