13. Internal Control
Internal Control
Sara
It’s Wednesday and Drew’s people haven’t heard back from Alexander’s people, so we’re still in a holding pattern. I’m sorting the files Dante gave me at the beginning of my internship. Today, I’m working in Dante’s office while he’s at a meeting.
When I lift the folder, I see something stuck to the bottom of the file.
I peel it off and find it’s the Post-it I discovered under Tom’s desk. Should I go ask him about it?
Things have been fairly civil at the house and in the office, but mostly because we’re all keeping to ourselves. Tom and Natasha stay in their apartment except to use the refrigerator. The guys and I have kept busy arranging rooms.
Even though I love having my guys all in the same bed with me, we decided during the workweek it would be better for everyone to spread out. So we’ve been working on setting up the bedrooms on the third floor as their bedrooms.
I flick the Post-it with my finger. Fuck it. I want to know if it was a clue. When I leave Dante’s office, I pause in front of Tom’s door. It feels a little weird to knock. After all, this was where I used to work the most. I spent long days in here without human contact.
I glance down at the numbers and letters, lift my fist, and knock.
Natasha answers and smiles to see it’s me. “Hey, Sara.”
She opens the door farther. She’s got her laptop on a little table with a comfy chair while Tom sits at the desk. He lifts his head from whatever he’s working on. His eyes light up a little when he sees me.
For a moment, he’s the brother whose attention I always craved. Not the one who left me to the wolves.
The light fades in his eyes as he realizes I no longer hero-worship him the way I did. He used to protect me. He used to care. Then he was the wedge between me and his friends. But he still cared.
I can’t make his actions line up with the brother I thought he was. Maybe he believed he had me covered. Maybe he was protecting that child the way I always hoped he would protect me. Maybe he realized I wasn’t a child anymore.
“Sara.” Tom says my name with half hope and half fear.
Good. What he did was still shitty. I focus on what I came in here for.
“When I was using your office, I found this.” I approach and hold out the Post-it. “It was under your desk. I thought it might be a clue. Finn said it was probably your password to something.”
Tom’s cheeks flush red as he takes the Post-it. “Honestly, we change passwords so frequently I can’t always remember them. You always loved to find clues, but this one is just what it looks like. Sorry, Sara.”
I release my breath. “I found your napkin.”
He scrunches his forehead like he’s trying to figure out what I mean.
“The one from the stripper who was bad at math. It was our first clue.” I straighten because I’m proud of finding that.
I’m not proud for bursting in on a meeting to tell the guys.
Or for Dante chastising me. But Tom doesn’t get to know that part.
“Kayla and I went to the strip club to investigate.”
“You did what?” Tom stands and puts his hands in his hair. “Mom’s going to kill me.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, it’s not like I saw anything I don’t have myself.” I roll my eyes at his overreaction. “Besides Wyatt, Finn, and Dante had the same idea so I didn’t get to enjoy it on my own. And then, of course, Drew was there and invited us to his office.”
I stop and smile, but then I remember the feeling of walking down the hall. Not knowing it was Drew behind that door.
I narrow my eyes on Tom. “It could have been a trap and we wouldn’t have known. Because you left us fucking blind.”
“I’ve got her. Thanks, Natasha.”
I turn at Finn’s voice. He leans in the doorway. Natasha stands behind him, wringing her hands.
“Come on, flower. No yelling at your brother during company hours.” He holds out his hand to me. “You can beat him up at home. I’ll hold him down for you.”
“I didn’t know, Sara.” Tom sinks into his chair. “I thought you’d do what I asked and go stay with the guys.”
“It wouldn’t have done any good.” I shake my head. “Even if I’d gone right away, Peter was always watching. Always waiting. Do you know how many black cars sit and idle on that street at night? There was a time Dante stopped me from walking out in front of one.”
I drag in a breath. “It still would have happened. I would have gone out by myself earlier because I didn’t know what kind of danger I was in.”
“Flower.” Finn touches my waist to draw me back into him, but I step away.
I don’t want his comfort right now. No, I want my brother to understand what he did to me. How fucking selfish he is.
“If it had happened sooner, we would have had no idea about any of this. The guys would have lost me and had no way to find you because we didn’t have all the pieces. No way to fucking contact you, because you ignored all of us.”
Tears well in my eyes. “You abandoned me.”
“This is all my fault,” Natasha says. She sits on the couch and tears run down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Sara.”
“No, Natasha.” I soften my tone for her. She’s pregnant and emotional. “You might have had more knowledge, but Tom wasn’t blind. He knew what he was getting into. He knew what he was leaving behind or he never would have texted me that and left the guys that note.”
My eyes find him again. He’s pale. Honestly part of me wants to go hug him to make it better, while the other part wants to slap him again for all the shitty things that happened to me because of him.
“You and I will be okay someday.” I put my hand over my stomach as it roils. “But honestly, I can’t wait until this is figured out and the internship is done so I don’t have to see you every day, because I’m not even close to over it.”
Finn draws me against him. This time I sink into him, needing his comfort and strength.
“I am sorry, Sara,” Tom says, but I don’t acknowledge it.
He can be sorry but it doesn’t change what happened. It doesn’t restore what we had before. That faith I had in my brother to always protect me. Nothing will fix that. Finn guides me out of Tom’s office and into his.
He shuts the door and brings me over to the chair. When he sits down, he draws me onto his lap and just holds me. I’m not crying. But I’m hurt. It’s all welled up again. The anger, the betrayal, the hurt. How could Tom do that to me?
“I wish I’d known, flower.” Finn presses his forehead against mine as he smooths his hand down my back. His words are soft, but they don’t make sense.
“What do you wish you’d known?” I search his green eyes, needing answers I know he’s searching for too. Why would Tom do this to us? His sister and his best friends. We were his life before Natasha. And while I know it would have changed because he clearly loves her, he straight up left us.
“That night,” Finn says. “I never should have left you. I should have stayed with you instead of freaking out and going home.”
“You mean when you interrupted my date with Drew?” I draw in a breath as some of the hurt eases.
If Tom hadn’t left, I never would have crossed the line with Finn or Dante.
Wyatt would still be hurting, holding himself away from me.
Maybe Drew would have been enough if I didn’t know I could have them all.
Finn grins. “I liked Drew and I could tell you liked him too. I get it now, but then I just wanted you. But that night, fuck, Sara, I thought it could just be a one-off. That we could be a one-off. How fucking stupid was I?”
“Not as stupid as Tom.” I give an unladylike snort.
He chuckles. “No. I don’t think anyone can be as stupid as Tom.”
He rubs my back and we sit there for another moment or two. I absorb how much I love this man. How much I need him to feel complete.
“Do you think I’ll ever be able to forgive him?” I rest my head against Finn’s shoulder, basking in the fact that he loves me and will always protect me.
“Maybe this time isn’t about forgiveness, but more about acceptance.” Finn blows out a breath. “What he did was avoidable and unacceptable. So many things he could have done differently would have ended with a better outcome. But he was desperate to protect Natasha.”
I nod and stare at the wall. It would hurt more if there hadn’t been someone who needed his help. But he could have done it without putting me in danger.
“I don’t know if there’s anything Tom could do to make this right, flower.” Finn presses a kiss to my temple. “But he’s still your brother, and we did make it through everything so far.”
I nod. So far we have, but we’re still not out of danger.
Drew
Time keeps slipping away from us. It’s been days, but we haven’t heard back from Alexander. I step into my loft apartment on Friday afternoon. There’s not a lot left here except my play room.
I didn’t really want to move that in until we had a designated space for all of it, especially with Tom and Natasha at the house too. I’m all about hitting the guy for leaving us flat-footed, but I don’t need to flaunt our sex life with his sister in front of him.
Okay, maybe I would, but Sara wouldn’t appreciate it. And I’d do pretty much anything for Sara. I take a couple glasses off the bar and set them on the counter. A bottle of whiskey waits for me there and I pour myself a glass.
The elevator comes up and I lean against the raised counter in the kitchen. When the doors open, Sebastian Cross walks out with all the cockiness of an apex predator. No fear someone might be waiting to ambush him.
I smirk. That would be stupid of anyone to attempt. Yes, he runs with Cormac and Xander, who are definitely the muscle of their group, but I’d put money on Sebastian in a fight with Dante. There’s something about him that makes powerful men tremble.
His green eyes miss nothing as he strides across the room.
“You rang?” He stops before me and crosses his arms. His black t-shirt strains around his bulging muscles.
“Alexander Petrov.” I hold up my glass to ask if he wants something to drink, but he shakes his head. “We’ve been trying to reach out to settle this thing once and for all, but he’s a hard man to pin down.”
“What do you need from me?” Sebastian smirks and rubs his finger beside his lips. “His phone number? Maybe you need me to go offer him a personal invitation? How much are you willing to pay this time, Drew?”
Sebastian is all about the transaction. Money talks in his world. Even though he grew up one of us and probably has a trust fund with more money than anyone needs. But he turned his back on his inheritance and legacy.
“You know I’m good for whatever it costs.” Sometimes his fees aren’t monetary but secrets, which I don’t mind trading for secrets.
Sebastian nods and gestures to the whiskey and glass I have sitting out for him. I bow my head to indicate he can pour his own. He does and scans the room like he doesn’t already know everything about this apartment from his first step out of the elevator.
“Place looks a bit sparse. I’d ask if you got robbed, but...” He sips the whiskey and grabs a bar stool next to me. “How’s the shacking up going?”
I smile. There aren’t many secrets Sebastian doesn’t already know. “Who wants to know?”
He chuckles. “Just me. It’s curious that your girl is friends with Madison Harris who is in a similar relationship.”
“What can I say? It takes a lot to fulfill my princess’s needs.” I hate small talk, but I’ve perfected it to not give away anything.
Sebastian knows this about me, so why is he fishing? What does he hope to find out?
“How’s Leah and Elijah?” I ask. Unlike Tom, I didn’t leave the people I care about unprotected. Sebastian’s team made sure they didn’t need anything or have any problems while I was gone. Not that anyone in our circle knows who they are or how they’re connected to me. But Sebastian does.
“They’re good. The boy was upset you weren’t at his games.” Sebastian watches me carefully.
“It couldn’t be helped.” I run a hand through my hair. I hate missing his games. “He’ll understand.”
“You need us to stay on them?” He arches an eyebrow.
“Until Alexander is taken care of, yes.”
“You putting out a hit?” His words are curious, not judgmental.
“Nah. We need him to clean up what Peter left behind.” I sigh. “We need him to be secure in his new position.”
“Your boy isn’t willing to give up the Mafia princess to make him king?” Sebastian gives me a knowing smile.
“No.”
“So what’s it going to be, blackmail or bribery? Both can have a limited shelf life.” He glances at me as he takes a drink.
He’s not wrong. Natasha seems to think Alexander will be willing to walk away with the keys to the kingdom and a handshake that she and her heirs won’t come for it. But that’s not the way our world works.
Someone will want to use her to gain power if we don’t do this carefully. Either her or her child, and I can’t let that happen. Because as much as Sara’s angry at her brother, she still loves him and doesn’t want him hurt.
“If we find something, do you have anything to sweeten the pot?” I ask Sebastian.
“Maybe.”
Fuck, how much will this cost me? “What do you want in return?”
Sebastian smiles and downs the rest of his drink before setting the empty glass on the counter. “I’m sure we can come to some sort of arrangement.”