Chapter Twenty-Five #3
Over the time I had been brought to events with Papa, I noticed the men used it as an opportunity to bond and boast. This was the ultimate event masked in secrecy that bound them together through a web of lies and debauchery.
“You vowed to honour and protect your wives, and yet you hand them over to be violated without thought,” I said in a low voice.
“You break them, and then expect them to love and respect you. Every single one of you should be ashamed of yourselves.” I kept my head down as I didn’t want to look at any of them.
These men believed they could hand over money, and use my body without consequence.
“Control your wife,” the master of ceremonies said in a tone that made my stomach clench in fear. “Or I will order every man in this room to take her on the piano. It would not be the first time it has happened.”
This was the dark heart of an organisation I believed was rooted in crime and villainy, but that still had an illusion of respectability. In reality, it was a club created to indulge the fantasies of sick and depraved individuals, with nothing to stop them but their own jaded moral compass.
“We’re leaving,” Maximus said, moving to grab my hand. “I didn’t agree to this, and I certainly will not tolerate the exploitation and rape of my wife. Have a pleasant evening.”
He pulled us toward the door, pushing his way through the crowd. I felt hands brushing against me, and knew they were no mistake.
“These doors don’t open until business is finished.” One of the masked men stepped in front of Maximus, and anyone who knew my husband would know that was a mistake since he was full of rage, and barely containing it.
“Open the fucking door,” Maximus grated out. “Or I’ll open it myself.”
“My job is to keep this door closed until instructed by the magister,” the masked man replied in a monotone voice.
Magister? What sort of shit was going on here?
“Open it myself it is,” Maximus said. He grabbed the man, and rapidly twisted his neck resulting in a sickening crack, before he dropped him to the floor.
I jumped when Maximus kicked the door open, shattering the lock in the middle, and allowing light to flood in.
With one act, Maximus had just started a war.
An arm wrapped around my throat to pull me back. “I think your husband has gone too far,” he said against my ear, gyrating his groin against me.
My clutch bag was still in my hand, and my fingers found what I was looking for, the small perfume diffuser holding a toxic substance similar to mace. I sprayed it over my shoulder, and the man hollered, releasing me.
I spun around to face them, and felt like a hunted animal. They had never been my friend, but tonight they were my enemy.
“You’ll regret this,” Tobias said, appearing from the shadows to my right.
“I doubt it,” Maximus replied, tugging me back. “I never regret anything when I make a decision.”
“This organisation is the only thing that protects you,” Alexander said.
Maximus laughed. “Just keep telling yourself that. This is not the only organisation I belong to, and the other one I chose to join myself. Let me assure you, this organisation will not protect you against the storm that is coming.”
That sparked their attention, with covert glances being exchanged.
Maximus’ fingers found mine, and he tugged me into walking. When we had arrived earlier, he insisted on me leaving my cloak in the car, and parking his car himself instead of using the valet service.
It was all beginning to make sense now.
He strode outside, squeezing my hand.
“Don’t look back, head up, back straight,” he said in a low voice. “Everything we do is being monitored.”
My legs felt like jelly, my head thumping. As soon as we were in the car, Maximus hit the controls on the dashboard to open his phone.
“We’re in position,” Jake said instead of Hello.
“We’re in the car, but don’t know if we’re going to get out,” Maximus replied.
“I’ll have a team at the gates,” Jake said, and I realised Maximus had organised a lot I knew nothing about.
“Put your seatbelt on,” Maximus ordered. “We might have a rough exit.”
My hands shook, and it took me more than one attempt to click the belt into place. I slid lower in the seat as we travelled down the curved driveway. The house was hidden from the road because evil existed there.
Maximus was right, with armed men emerging from the bushes to stand in front of the gate. They formed a barrier to prevent us from exiting the property.
“Oh god,” I said, sliding further down into the car.
“Keep our teams out of the line of fire,” Maximus instructed.
“Roger that,” Jake replied.
Gun fire was louder than the movies, and more terrifying than my heart could cope with as it fluttered dangerously fast in my chest. I waited for the moment that the bullets would make their way through the car into my body.
“Keep your head down,” Maximus shouted to me. “We’re going through.”
My head snapped up, and eyes widened as I realised he meant the gates that were still firmly closed and foreboding. There was no way this car would survive a high speed collision with them, and that would leave us surrounded by a group of very angry men.
Loud booms sounded like thunder inside the car, shaking the foundations under me.
I screamed, covering my ears with my hands, while staring transfixed at the disaster outside.
The massive stone gateposts exploded into rubble, and the bushes on either side vibrated with the attack.
Men jumped out of the way, waving their arms, and it was at that moment I realised that the gunfire was coming from our car.
The more Maximus accelerated, the faster the explosions happened around us, until the gates were left in tatters, and although the car collided with them, the impact was minor.
“I could have just picked the locks,” Jake’s voice echoed in the car.
Maximus laughed. “I’ve been waiting to test the new toys on my car.”
“Test successfully completed,” Jake replied.
All the energy released from my body, and I collapsed back in my seat, closing my eyes. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Maximus’ fingers wrapped around mine on my lap. “You’ll be fine, baby.”
I didn’t think so, but didn’t have the strength to argue right now.
“I’ll keep people in place and monitor the situation,” Jake said. “What do you want?”
“We are going to level black. No one communicates with Dad since he knew exactly what was about to happen in there, and didn’t try to warn me. All relevant people to report to our beta site. Tell Ryan we are dark, and restrict information with our people only.”
“Shit,” Jake muttered. “Giovanni will be pissed, and we all know he doesn’t react well to being kept out of the loop.”
“I don’t take well to having my wife threatened with rape, so I guess we’re even,” Maximus grated out, his knuckles white with the grip he had on the steering wheel.
“Tell Ryan to take all our trackers offline. This is the moment we planned for from the moment I took control of the family business.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing. I’ll wrap up here, and see you back at base,” Jake said before hanging up.
“Do you know what you’re doing?” I asked in a low voice, terror churning deep in my stomach.
“I love Dad, but he overstepped a line tonight. He knows that I’m a jealous bastard and don’t share, and yet he let us walk in there like a lamb to slaughter. He either isn’t the man I thought I knew, or he wanted me to start a war.”
“Papa did as well,” I replied, turning to look out the window. “It makes me view Roberto in a different light. Maybe he was trying to save me and my sisters from what happened to those daughters in there.”
“He certainly had a lot to say to Lucio,” Maximus said, accelerating around a corner. “We need to take a moment to assess our allies. To do that, we need to take a step back and breathe.”
I sat in silence as the city sped by, before we arrived at somewhere we had never been before in a part of the city I didn’t know. The house behind the huge gates and wall had a main building with outbuildings to the right side of it as we travelled up the driveway.
“I bought this land a few years ago under a different name which no one knew, and had this built piece at a time,” Maximus said without me asking. “At one point, I didn’t want to go into the family business, and then Willow was taken, and I was needed.”
If I thought our home was high tech, this place had been designed by the space agency, using biometrics to activate all the systems inside.
“I’ll get you programmed into the database,” Maximus said absently as he wandered around to check for monsters in all the rooms.
All I wanted to do was crawl into bed, and hide under the duvet.
Maximus was on the phone, so I followed my instincts to hunt for the kitchen, kicking my shoes with too high heels to the side of the hall on the way through. There had been no expense spared in the decoration of this house, with luxury oozing from every fixture and fitting.
Black marble gleamed in the kitchen, the overhead spotlights highlighting the hidden patterns in the stone. The refrigerator had bottles of water hiding inside, so I took one and found myself a seat on the sofas overlooking the patio, curling myself up after taking a cooling drink.
I didn’t realise I had fallen asleep until I woke up, covered with Maximus’ jacket. There was talking in the distance, so I followed the noise, sliding my arms into his coat since the scent gave me strength.
The living room was full of men, most of whom I had never met, and a stunningly beautiful woman with blonde curly hair. The room fell silent as all eyes moved to me.
“Guys, this is my wife Olivia,” Maximus said. “Olivia, this is Jordan Berkeley and his wife Megan. I reached out to him a few days ago, and he’s brought some friends to help.”
I had heard the name, but the man was more than I expected. He should be on billboards in Hollywood.
“Pleased to meet you. Sorry we didn’t make it to the wedding, but Max didn’t seem willing to wait to get a ring on your finger,” Jordan said, moving forward to shake hands with me.
“This is my wife Megan. I promised her that I wouldn’t go on any more adventures without her, although we had to get a babysitter for Simon to ensure he doesn’t destroy the house in our absence. ”
“Oh, how old is he?” I asked, shaking hands with him.
“Ignore him, he’s being dramatic.” Megan pulled her husband back to hug me. “Simon is a squirrel that Jordan fights with for control of the garden. They love to hate each other.”
It was only when this woman hugged me that I started to break down, and realise how much I needed the genuine affection of a hug.
“Oh, come on,” Megan said. “Let’s make some tea, and everything will seem better, especially if there’s a chocolate biscuit to dip in it.”
She sounded like my Grandma and Aunt, and that brought a comfort that touched my soul. Tea and biscuits fixed everything in England.
“I believe you did us proud, Shortie.” I spun at the sound of a familiar voice.
Caine.
I threw myself at him, his strength infusing into me.
This man had taught me to fight, had given me skills which kept me alive.
He taught me to fire a gun, and taser someone if required.
Caine was the reason I survived the attack at the Opera.
In my darkest days of loneliness, he had been a friend, and brought his little sister along to keep me company.
Savannah and I still had tea and a gossip every time I was in England.
“What are you doing here?” I asked when I finally broke free from his brotherly hug.
“Jordan needed some boots on the ground, so Flynn and I tagged along. Nicklas and some of his guys will arrive tomorrow.” Caine nodded to the man introduced to me earlier.
“I guess Megan and I will need to make a large pot of tea by the sounds of this,” I replied, turning toward the door.
Maximus was standing watching me with the look on his face which confused me lately. He moved his attention when he caught me watching him. The man was driving me insane with his constant mercurial mood swings. The problem was that I had given him my heart without realising the consequences.