Chapter Five
TOMMY WAS WAITING for him in the office. It wasn’t surprising. Tommy worked his ass off for their family. He started earlier and worked longer than anyone, except maybe Liesel. Which is who it sounded like he was on the phone with at the moment.
“How much?” Tommy asked and waited several minutes for the explanation. “Fuck Liesel, and you can’t find out where it’s going? Do any of the usual suspects have the tech capacity to pull this off? I thought you monitored all that?”
Tommy’s tone was frustrated, but not accusatory. He knew Liesel would be doing all she could to fix whatever had happened. Several more minutes of explanation went on before Tommy spoke again. “Yeah, I know. I was just hoping not to need any new contracts. If that’s all missing we’ll need to evaluate what’s left and how far it will go.”
More talking Rex couldn’t make out. “Yeah, I’ll get Rex on it. Send him the details.”
Tommy hung up the phone and dropped his head back on the chair.
“Trouble this morning?”
Tommy didn’t even start, so he must have known Rex was there.
“Always,” he whispered, and Rex’s chest tightened. It did seem like it was just one hot mess after another in the five years since Tommy had taken over. Rex wanted to make it better, but as second in command, there was only so much he could do. All the major decisions and the consequences of those choices rested squarely on Tommy. Rex wasn’t sure, but he didn’t remember it ever being this hard for their own parents. Maybe because it was so very obvious that neither he nor Tommy had a true affinity for this ruthless business. They’d been working to diversify and legalize a lot of business, and it was causing waves in the organization.
In reality, Liesel was probably the best candidate of the three of them to head the business, but as a daughter of the youngest Nardone brother, no one would ever take her seriously. Liesel had turned out to be most like their father’s than either he or Tommy. Liesel was no frills, no nonsense and dedicated to the family through and through. Her particular specialty was technology and in this day and age she was more valuable than almost anyone else in running the business. He and Tommy had spent many hours strategizing with their prickly cousin to decide how they would bring up taking their business in a different direction. It wasn’t right in this day and age that she could be dismissed by gender and birth order, but in their world tradition and patriarchy still ruled. It all made Rex very uncomfortable. Not that he didn’t enjoy holding power over someone, but only in very…specific…circumstances.
Rex forced that thought away. He hadn’t been to the club in months. Luster wasn’t holding his interest anymore. It was the same people each week. He needed something new. He knew what he wanted, but there were so many things standing in his way, not the least of which was the disdain of his older sister, Kayla. He’d gotten the chance to see her a few months ago and her hatred of all things to do with the family made him think he wouldn’t be welcome in her clubs. Maybe if he talked to her and explained his new vision for the family, she might reconsider. That was a problem for another day, though. It sounded like he was already going to have one on his plate for today.
“Trouble in IT land?” he asked.
Tommy grimaced. “No, trouble in finance land.”
Rex frowned. That was odd. He and Liesel had worked together to set their finances up with the safest banks on the planet. Liesel had been the one to develop security for several of them in order to get them in.
“What kind of trouble?”
“The five-million-dollar kind.”
Rex’s jaw dropped. “How?”
“That’s what I want you to find out. Liesel is sending you the reports. She says she can’t find the mistake, so it wasn’t one big sum taken, but something being skimmed off. She wants you to go through it and see if you can figure out where it’s going.”
Rex ran a hand through his hair. “What accounts?”
“I don’t know. Liesel is sending you what she has. I need your reports on where it went, if we can get it back… and what our plan has to be if we can’t.”
Rex grimaced. He and Tommy had done their best over the last five years to pull most of their illegal money-making businesses back to the bare minimum. Rex had personally taken over the optimization and investment of what they had and grown it substantially in their five years of being in charge. His degree in accounting and finance had paid off big time, and now Tommy was telling him that a sizable portion of that was gone.
“How is your house guest?” Tommy asked, changing the subject.
“She’s good. I sent for some clothes and showed her around this morning.”
“Did she give you any good information on what went on?”
“No, I haven’t asked her yet. She’s still pretty skittish. I want her to settle in a little first.”
Tommy cocked an eyebrow at him. “Don’t give me that look,” Rex snapped. “I’m not keeping her. I’ll get her set up with online private school through Liesel and get her diploma. Then I’ll work a new identity for her and then get her settled.”
Tommy shrugged. “If you say so. I’ll be gone most of the day. There’s a council meeting,” he finished with a heavy sigh.
“I’m sorry. Do you want me to go?” Rex offered, even though he really didn’t want to. The council was the heads of the five most powerful family organizations in Chicago. Three Italians, one Irish, one Russian. It was as close to a peaceful gathering as that group of men ever got, but it wasn’t without risk… or headache. Rex thought Tommy deserved sainthood just for attending. It was a necessary evil, though. The balance of power could shift so easily in what they did. Even though he and Tommy didn’t want their part of it, they had obligations to the businesses and people they protected to keep things running. If the other families found out they were pulling back, there was no telling what kind of chaos might ensue on the streets they currently kept peaceful.
“No. As much as I hate them, you’re better off here doing what you do best.”
Rex studied Tommy for a moment before he asked a dangerous question. “And what about what you do best?”
Tommy met his gaze before his shoulders fell with a deep sigh. “I’m best at doing what I was born to do. Even if it’s not what I want. I don’t take my responsibilities lightly, you know that.”
“I know, and I’m grateful. I just don’t want you to feel like it’s all on you.”
Tommy stood abruptly. “But it is. No matter how much you and Liesel stand behind me, you can’t be me for these men. Nothing will ever change that,” he finished and stormed from the room. Rex considered going after him, but unfortunately, Tommy was right. So he would do his part today and work on his own projects in his spare time. It wouldn’t do to get distracted no matter how worthwhile his goal was. His first concern needed to be the family.
Ari made a point of looking disheveled and tired as she made her way down to dinner. She’d put on the clothes from earlier. Changing into the warmer and sturdier clothes might give her captors a clue that she was going to try something. She met Rex halfway down the stairs.
“Oh good, you’re awake. Are you coming down for dinner?”
Ari swallowed and forced out the words she needed to say to put him at ease. “Yes, sir.”
She glanced up at him through her lashes and saw the flash of heat in his eyes before he could school his expression. Ari let her eyes drop down. That answered the question of whether he desired her then, didn’t it? If he did, though, why wasn’t he doing anything about it? Not that she wanted him to. She was grateful he hadn’t. He’d done nothing to show he wasn’t telling her the truth when he said he wouldn’t hurt her. She almost spilled her entire story right there, standing on the stairs with him, but she managed to stop herself. If he was the good man and citizen he claimed to be, he couldn’t help her, and if he really wasn’t, then she was in trouble. Either way, she still had to get out of here.
He placed a hand on her elbow, presumably to guide her down the stairs, but the contact was electric. Ari bit her lip to keep from gasping at the way warmth pulsed away from the spot where his hand was resting. Even through the thin fabric of the tunic, she could feel it. She risked another glance up at him and saw the heat in his eyes was there again. After an initial pause, he applied a little pressure, so she kept coming down the stairs until she was walking beside him. Ari forced herself to keep her breathing steady as Rex escorted her all the way to the dining room.
There were two other people in the dining room and enough staff bustling around when they walked in that no one heard her tiny sigh of relief after Rex removed his hand from her arm.
“Ari, this is Tommy. You met briefly last night. And this is Liesel. They’re both my cousins.”
Both Tommy and the woman nodded at Ari. Ari’s eyes were drawn to the woman. She was striking with pale creamy skin and a pile of caramel brown hair piled in a sloppy bun on her head. She didn’t look much like either of her cousins, but the look in her eyes and the way she carried herself told Ari she was definitely related to them Her clothes seemed designed to detract from her beauty, but the simple black jeans and oversized sweater failed miserably. Ari didn’t think she’d ever met anyone this beautiful before. The only feature that didn’t fit was her eyes. They were a sharp, arctic blue, and the iciness Ari saw there made her want to step back. She didn’t, though. She held her ground. This woman, this family radiated power, and Ari had gone to school with enough people like them to know how to handle it.
Ari wanted to shrink and run away, but she did neither. She stood tall. She wouldn’t let anyone intimidate her anymore.
“Liesel.” Rex’s sharp voice next to her made her jump.
“What? I’m just seeing what a quarter million looks like.”
The snarl Rex let out made Ari shrink in on herself. “You know it’s not like that.”
“Then explain to me what it is. You’ve had me tracking the transactions for months from this ring. That’s a big number by any standard, especially just to prove a point. So tell me why I shouldn’t suspect something.”
Ari suddenly understood. The ice in this woman’s look hadn’t been for her, it had been for Rex. Was it the amount of money spent on a supposed decoy or more? Did she suspect Rex wanted more from Ari than he was telling?
Ari turned that thought over in her head. She was supposed to be sixteen as far as any of these people knew. What if he was attracted to her and planned to keep her until she was old enough to be legal before he… well, before he did what all men did with attractive women. Ari felt her cheeks flushing, and she looked at the floor. It was a good thing she had a plan already to get out, because now she was sure he’d never really planned to release her. She’d been foolish to believe it even for a minute.
Strained silence continued for several minutes, and Ari realized she might be the only one who could break it. She took a deep breath and lifted her head before saying, “It’s nice to meet you both,” before turning away to get herself a plate of food. No one else spoke, but everyone followed her example and fixed plates before sitting down to eat.
No conversation flowed over dinner, but the tension seemed to be gone. Like there were things to talk about, but probably not things she could hear. She felt eyes follow her when she went back for a second plate of food, but she didn’t explain herself. Let them think she was still catching up. All she could do was hope they didn’t realize she was preparing for anything. She was even more thankful now that she’d stuffed herself this morning, too. Rex wouldn’t be suspicious of her eating a lot now.
There was a dessert platter of cookies and pastries after dinner, and Ari helped herself to several of those as well. Finally Liesel stood. “Well, boys, it’s been fun, but I have to get back. Rex let me know if you find anything.”
Ari looked up and saw Rex nodding, but he didn’t answer. Ari felt safe getting up now that someone else had left. She stood and looked at Rex. “I’m going to head to bed. I’m still exhausted.”
“Of course,” Rex said standing. “I’ll walk with you.”
Ari cursed internally. She didn’t want him following her upstairs and listening to see if she got into bed. Schooling her face into a neutral blank look, she said, “Thank you,” and turned to leave with Rex on her heels.
He guided her up the stairs just like he had when she walked down, and the same feelings burned through her shirt from his touch. She had to force herself not to lean into him. Just for a minute she wished she could, though. She hadn’t felt safe since Stan entered her life. It was ridiculous to feel like she was in this moment. The man next to her had literally bought her at an auction for sex slaves. It didn’t feel wrong, though. In fact, a part of Ari insisted that even though she’d known him less than twenty-four hours, she could trust this man more than anyone who’d been in her life since her father. Maybe even more than him since he might actually have been trying to sell her in marriage.
Ari gave herself a mental slap. It didn’t matter. This man couldn’t help her get her siblings, and that was all that mattered right now. Who knew what Stan might be doing to them in her absence? Her mother certainly wouldn’t help. She hadn’t been the same since her father’s death. Even marrying Stan hadn’t helped the dark hole of depression she’d sunk into. If anything, she’d seemed much worse since the wedding.
Ari turned to Rex at her door. She had a part to play. She let a yawn go, not a fake one either, she really was tired. Maybe a quick nap before she tried to escape? She wasn’t sure how that would work with nothing to use as an alarm, though.
“Is there anything you need from me tonight or something I need to do tomorrow, sir?” she asked, keeping her eye lowered now.
“No, get some rest. I’ll leave you alone tomorrow. The day after that we’ll start working on enrollment in school.”
“Thank you,” Ari said, keeping her voice small and letting a tremble enter it.
Rex put his hand on her shoulder. A gentle touch, innocent, but one that had her reeling. Ari locked her knees to keep from leaning into it.
“You’re welcome. You’re safe here, Ari. Please let me or one of the staff know if you need anything. If not, I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.”
Ari nodded. “I will. Good night.”
“Goodnight.”
Ari let herself in the room and then moved around with enough noise and purpose to give Rex the idea that she was undressing and then getting into bed. Rex wasn’t stupid. She knew that. She just hoped he was fooled enough that she could get a good head start. She changed into actual pajamas and laid down, turning on the TV for noise. She heard Rex in his room next door and cursed. He wasn’t going to bed too, was he? She’d have a hell of a time sneaking through his room if he was in it to get to the bathroom with the window. Ari forced herself into sitting and listened carefully. It took about a half an hour, but eventually she heard Rex leave the room. She let out a long sigh of relief. She got up, and this time made a point to be silent when she slipped into the clothes she’d picked out to leave in. The backpack was a comforting weight on her shoulders that she wasn’t going out into the world with nothing.
Carefully, she opened the door between the rooms and then shut it with the softest click. She’d left the TV on in the room behind her to keep up the illusion that she was sleeping. In the bathroom, she felt carefully around the edge of the window for the latch. Casting one last glance behind her, she pushed it open and hoisted herself up.