CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
SAINT
The door creaks ahead of me, and I lift my hooded gaze to the entrance. Virgil and Syn enter through the plain white door. I sit up against the hospital bed, eyes tracking them as Syn settles down on the visitor’s chair while Virgil stands by my bedside.
I have been awake for the past thirty minutes. My body hurts less since the doctors have administered some painkillers and antibiotics to help me heal. A sigh of relief escapes my lips as I recall Virgil’s words.
Cyrus held us captive for almost two weeks.
“Did you find that fucker?” I ask them and sit up slowly.
“No. Relax, Saint, you’ve both been out for four days.” Syn answers from the seat. “Who was he?”
“Cyrus Deveraux.” I mutter. Syn shifts in his chair and leans forward, hands resting under his jaw.
“The Gravedigger.” He whispers to himself with an edge of helplessness.
We know who Cyrus Deveraux is. How powerful he was when he stood by my father’s side.
He had helped raise us after all. He trained Virgil and me in hand combat, taught us how to use a gun, and even led us on our first operation.
All that didn’t matter to my father when he gave me the order to kill his son.
“They were gone for three days before we even found you.” Virgil reveals.
“He left us to die.” I couldn’t believe it. Cyrus didn’t put himself through all of that to hand me mercy on a silver platter. He wanted to kill me, but he wanted to torture and break me first. So I didn’t just believe that he took his soldiers and abandoned us at the Greyhouse.
“You’re both alive. That’s all that matters.” Virgil huffs a breath.
“Is he awake?” I look up at Syn.
“He’s not important, Saint. We have a problem.
” Virgil cuts me off. I glance up at him, meeting his apprehensive expression.
Something’s wrong. Something must have happened at Kingston City in my absence.
“Law enforcement raided our mansion. They investigated our businesses. Looked into everything.”
My heart sinks instantly. I clench my patient gown and breathe hard and look at Virgil for answers. “And? Did they find the ledgers at the house?”
“They found nothing. Father moved it to a safe house on Red Island.”
Territory of the Zaire family. We still had ties with their syndicate. I had been on the island a few times, and I even had the honor of meeting the mafia boss.
“Is the case still open?”
“Syn’s sister buried everything. But we need to be really careful, brother.”
“What evidence did they have?”
“Our family’s map.” Virgil pulls out his phone and shows me a picture of the evidence. “They got a warrant and stormed the mansion.”
My jaw flexes as I hand the phone over to him. “And when did they raid the house?”
“Thursday morning.”
“It happened after Cyrus took us.” I whisper to myself. It couldn’t have been Mason. Bernard is the only man who knows about the private house I own in Genesis City. He’s the only man aware that I have some important things hidden in that house. “And have you found anything on Neo?”
“No. We were preoccupied with keeping law enforcement off our tail.” Virgil responds monotonously.
“And father? Is he alright?”
“He isn’t speaking to any of us, Saint. You need to come home.”
“We’ll leave tonight.”
“Alright. We’ll both be outside.” Syn cocks his head toward the door and gets on his feet. As they both head out, I call out to Virgil. “Well done, brother.”
He gives me a tight-lipped smile and enters the hallway with Syn. After a while, the doctor comes in to check my vitals. When he finishes, he removes the IV infusion and leaves the patient’s room. Virgil comes in right after dropping off a suit.
As I put it on, a knock rasps against the door. I turn around, hands on the buttons of the shirt as Prince enters the room. I called off the deal the last time I saw him. But he put his neck on the line for me. Maybe that calls for another chance. “Thank you for saving me.”
“Of course,” Prince smiles. “Your friend woke up a few hours ago.”
My eyes widen, and my heart thuds in my chest. The reality of everything that happened between us in that godforsaken place hijacks my thoughts.
Fuck!
I had so many other things to take care of besides Mason.
My family’s business empire almost crumbled.
Bernard might have sworn allegiance to another family right under my nose.
My father is months away from dying, which leaves me as the successor of the syndicate.
If we had lost everything, then there would be nothing to succeed.
We’d be standing trial in a courthouse right now and possibly be sentenced to prison for the rest of our lives.
Worst of all, I still didn’t have any information about our shipment or the torched warehouse.
I can’t think of him because he doesn’t matter to me.
He shouldn’t matter to me.
What matters is my family.
I may have lost sight of that when I was with him, but I’d never forget.
“We need to talk about our deal.”
“I called it off.” I don’t look at him as I wear my jacket. “But it’s back on.” His expression relaxes, full of hope. He steps closer and extends his hand to me. I shake him firmly, and he grins. “We have a deal.”
“I have some questions for you.” I don’t release his hand.
“Go on.” He says.
“Bernard’s still alive. How did you find him?”
“We arrived shortly after they took you. My men brought him here while I took a few soldiers to search the perimeter, but we came up with nothing.”
“And?” I push for more answers. “What happened to Bernard?”
“He went back the following evening with one of my soldiers. He said he had to take care of business. But he didn’t spend the night at your house. He returned shortly after.”
“Hmm.” I nod and give him a full smile. “See you at the wedding.” I tell him before I leave him behind, meeting my brothers in the hallway. “Is the car ready?”
“Yes, we’ll make it to Kingston City in a few hours.”
“And Mason?”
“He’s already waiting outside.” Virgil supplies as we march toward the elevator. The machine takes us to the first floor of the hospital, and we leave through the double entrance doors, joining Bernard in the parking lot.
What I don’t expect to see is Mason leaning against the bonnet of the vehicle.
Our eyes meet the moment he comes into focus, and my breath stutters, a warm, familiar feeling clutching my chest. Every nerve in me wants to close the gap between us and seal myself to him in an embrace.
But I school myself. There are far too many important things to look into.
Not this meaningless thing I feel for him.
It can wait forever. Family is too important for me to prioritize over a man who’s worth nothing to me.
The excitement in his eyes slowly drains when he realizes what I’m trying to hide. But there’s still a glimmer of hope there. He stands and waits, watching as I step closer and closer.
I take that hope in my hand and crush it with my boots.
“Syn, you’re driving us home. Bernard, you’re still healing. Ride with Virgil.”
Virgil could have easily driven me, but I didn’t want him to catch up with whatever was happening between Mason and me. He doesn’t have to know.
“Yes, sir.” He salutes and marches toward the other car.
I get into the passenger’s seat, watching through the windshield as Mason leans off the bonnet and circles over to the car door.
I expect him to sit with me, but he gets in the front seat with Syn.
A feeling of discomfort twists in my stomach, and I look in the rearview mirror, where our eyes meet briefly.
Syn turns on the engine, and the car rumbles to life; we peel off the parking lot, tailing Virgil and Bernard.
Syn turns on the car stereo, and a song I don’t know the name of comes on.
I wasn’t exactly the music type. Well, I used to play the guitar.
Cyrus’s son had taught me, but I stopped after his death.
What pulls my attention is the way Mason relaxes back against the leather seat, humming silently to the song.
I shouldn’t think of him, but soon enough, I realize I can’t erase what happened in that cell.
The things I said.
The things I did.
The things I felt.
I have other things to focus on. Especially getting law enforcement off our backs.
Facing my father and telling him I couldn’t make it home because I underestimated a longstanding friend who turned foe.
That I left him to deal with everything all on his own.
That I didn’t escape my captor, or put all the training I’ve had to good use.
I never wanted to leave there. I wanted to feel the consequences of what I had done. I wanted Cyrus to have his way, to take out all the anger he’s felt for the past twenty years on me.
But he disappeared. He left me behind.
He didn’t finish the job.
“We are here.” Syn says. I look out the window and watch the city come alive around me.
Home.
We are home.
“Take Mason home first.” I tell him without looking away from the window.
“You really don’t have to. I can take a cab.” He counters.
“I insist.” I press in, and he doesn’t argue further.
“Alright.” Syn agrees. “Where’s your place?”
“Take the next left.”
“Got it, captain.” Syn looks at him, and Mason chuckles under his breath. Jealousy takes root, curling around my heart as I look at them both. He got him to laugh, and I never have. Not even once.
“You work at the company?” Syn asks.
“Yes. I’m Saint’s personal assistant,” Mason mutters. “The experience has been great.” He lies through his teeth.
“Well, if he’s a jerk. You can work with me. I pay my employees well.” Syn’s eyes snap to me, and my jaw clenches, regarding him with a lukewarm stare. Whatever he’s doing is working because I want to punch him in the face. “Do you have a boyfriend?” He continues.
“Aren’t you getting married in two weeks?” I cut in even before Mason can respond.
“Mind your business, Saint.”
“You mind your fucking business.” I mutter under my breath, nostrils flaring as I fume.