27. Chapter 27
27
Chapter 27
Blue
Within minutes, Stroup and the other US Marshalls had Jonah and all the bad guys in cuffs. The storm started to die off, and for the first time in maybe . . . ever, Blue felt safe. Really and truly safe. She’d faced her biggest fear, what her brother had become, and had lived to tell the tale. She’d almost been shot. She’d almost seen Sean get hurt. And then she was in his arms, and the danger was gone. He’d protected her. Promised he’d never leave her. And she believed him. With everything in her.
Her only regret was that she hadn’t had more time with Dom. Just a few minutes to let him know how much she’d thought about him, prayed for him, all these years.
Blue stood with her back to Sean’s front with his arms wrapped around her, and her hands resting on his, as the Marshalls took everyone’s statements. Every now and again, he’d brush a feather-light kiss to her temple, or the top of her head, or her neck. With every touch, she melted a little further into him. She was so, so tired, yet wired at the same time. Sunset wasn’t too far off now, and all she could think about was a warm bed and Sean’s arms wrapped around her as she slept.
“And this tall guy in a black suit with dark hair came strolling out,” Knox narrated the past hour to Stroup.
“He had a scar on his jaw,” Wolfe added helpfully.
“Right!” Knox slid a finger down his jawline. “It was here. Anyway, this tall guy came waltzing out of the dark. We hadn’t even seen him there.”
“Ye didnae see him,” Mack said. “I saw him just fine.”
“Right,” Knox chuckled. “Anyway . . . he walks right up to Jonah and—”
Stroup held up a hand. “Wait, he had a scar on his jaw here.” He pointed to his own jaw.
“Exactly there,” Knox said.
Blue’s body tensed as Stroup faced her.
“What’s wrong?” Sean asked.
Stroup marched over to her, his big feet slapping against the concrete and reverberating around the room. “You failed to mention that Dominic showed up.”
Sean moved to put Blue to the side of him, and she was certain, if he let her, she’d end up peeking around him to talk to Stroup. His protective instincts were set on high, and she loved it—even when she hated it. She turned in his embrace just a little and placed a hand on his chest. “It’s okay, Sean.”
Dad marched over.
“Why didn’t you two tell me Dominic was here?” Stroup asked again.
“It didn’t seem significant,” Blue said, truthfully. His presence here was still kind of a mystery. And so short-lived.
“Not significant? Did you say not significant?” Stroup’s face began to redden. It was the most emotion she’d seen on him—ever.
Blue’s stomach churned as warning bells screamed in her mind.
Stroup turned to another agent. “Would you consider finding and capturing The Fixer for The Outfit significant?”
“Yes, boss.” Marshall Shaw nodded her head.
“He’s probably long gone by now anyway,” Dad said.
“Shaw, Dominic Rockefeller is known for liking expensive cars, correct?” Stroup placed his hands on his hips below his round belly.
“Yes, sir,” Shaw said as a small smile crossed her lips.
Stroup raised his voice so everyone could hear. “Any bets that Ferrari we passed on the way here was his?”
“No!” Blue said, stepping forward. “You can’t. He helped us.”
Stroup lowered his voice. “He’s a nuisance. The most effective fixer The Mafia’s had since Al Capone was El Capo, and he’s wanted for murder.” He stepped closer to Blue. “I want him and I’ll get him.”
“Who did he kill?” A lump formed in her throat—maybe her worst nightmare wasn’t over yet. Sean squeezed her hand.
“An informant of mine from before you two turned state’s witness,” Stroup said.
Blue sucked in a gasp. “What was his name?”
“Tommaso Pesci,” Stroup said.
With that name, a name she hadn’t heard in nearly fifteen years, the world began to slant, give way. Her knees went weak, and a low buzzing sound filled her ears. Sean held her up.
“What’s wrong,” Sean whispered in her ear. “Tell me.”
Stroup turned his beady eyes on Dad for just a moment, then faced his men. “All right, Shaw, Riggs, Danver, and Kline. Chase this lead down. I want a bolo on a black Ferrari within the hour, and check the video cameras on our cars to see if they caught a plate. Have all the borders closed, and put his name and face on the do-not-fly list.”
Blue lurched forward and grabbed his arm. “No stop! Dom didn’t kill Tommaso.”
Every person in the room turned their gaze on her.
“I did,” she whispered. It felt so strange to say it out loud. She never had before. And somehow, keeping it in had made it feel less real. Less real than when it happened than now fifteen years later.
This time, Dad was at her back. “Blue, don’t.”
Stroup held up a staying hand to Dad, but never took his eyes off her. “Talk.”
She swallowed over the lump in her throat, once and then again. “Tommaso worked for Vito Barbieri, an underboss to Capo Salvatore Amato. Vito was Sal’s right-hand man.”
“I thought your dad was Sal’s right-hand man?”
Blue shook her head.
“I was his consigliere, like an advisor,” Dad said. “Consigliere are often mistaken for the second in command, but they’re usually only third or fourth down the line of power. Powerful, but not right-hand man.”
“Continue,” Stroup said.
Blue glanced at Dad, and he nodded for her to continue. “When I was fifteen, Vito petitioned Amato for my hand in marriage.”
“He’s twenty years older than her,” Dad said, and Sean’s free hand fisted. She couldn’t look at him. Dad continued, “He was violent and cruel and beloved by Sal—he was the son Sal never had and the next in line to take over The Outfit. By the time he asked for Blue’s hand in marriage, he’d already been married twice. His first wife died under suspicious circumstances. His second wife just disappeared. I couldn’t say no to Amato, so I started making plans to take my children and leave.”
“And that’s when you turned state’s witness?” Stroup asked.
Blue shook her head. “No, there was three years to my eighteenth birthday, and they wouldn’t force me to marry him until then, but then Dom and I made friends with this boy who used to work at the fairgrounds. Ian.” Ian’s face, sweet and innocent, smiling at her and Dom as they shared pizza popped into her mind. “He was like an older brother to us. We met him at the Ferris wheel every night during the summer at six p.m. We’d go on the rides, then have dinner.”
“When do we get to the part where you killed Tommaso?” Stroup asked.
His sharp response hit her like a fist and she almost stepped back, but her gaze darted around. Everyone in the room, from Sean’s friends and Don to Jonah’s men to the Marshalls were riveted by her confession.
“Vito found out about Ian and—” Blue choked on the words.
“What did he do, Blue?” Sean’s voice cut through the room with razor-like clarity. “Tell me.”
She didn’t want to tell him. She didn’t want to tell anyone. It was bad enough she’d had to live it, she certainly never wanted to relive it.
Dad scrubbed a hand down his face. “For a boy to become a full-fledged member of the mafia, he has to become a Made Man. And to be a Made Man, you have to kill. These rituals start when they’re young before boys have truly learned to think for themselves.”
“At what age?” Liam asked, arms folded over his chest, jaw tense. His older brother stood just behind him in much the same posture.
All of the SEALs were tense, especially Sean. She’d yet to look at him, but she could feel the tightness in his body next to her.
“They ordered Dom to kill Ian when he was fourteen,” Dad said, sounding defeated.
“So Dom killed this boy Ian?” Marshall Shaw asked.
Blue shook her head to clear it of the forming cobwebs. They were back to accusing Dom of murder again, and she wouldn’t have it. “No, he didn’t. He was going to. Vito sent Tommaso with Dom to make sure he did. But I found out and stopped him.”
This time Gray spoke. “By killing Tommaso before Dom could kill Ian.”
She nodded. “Yes.” She remembered it all like it was yesterday. Dom had the gun and was aiming it at Ian. Ian got to his knees, but he didn’t beg. He didn’t plead. He didn’t even shed a tear. If anything, he’d just looked resigned. Like somehow he’d known this was coming, and he wasn’t going to make it harder for Dom.
“Tommaso got Ian on his knees and stood behind Dom, taunting him, telling him to be a man and prove himself,” Blue explained. “But I—”
“Yes?” Stroup demanded.
“I took the shot.” She let the confession lift off her like a boulder and suddenly felt as though she could really breathe. Though the words were still hard to say. “He came at me, and I . . . I took the shot.”
She’d gotten there just in time—taken the gun from Dom. Tommaso had come at her, his fist raised to strike and she’d shot him. In part, yes to save Ian. He was their friend after all, but really she’d done it for Dom. She’d killed, so Dom wouldn’t have to. She could only imagine how many shots Dom’d taken since then.
Stroup looked at the ground and shook his head. “I wish you hadn’t told me that.”
Yeah, she wished she hadn’t either, but Dom was her brother, and she would protect him no matter what.
“Shaw put Bluebell St. James under arrest for murder.” Stroup took a step back to let Shaw pass.
Blue’s eyes nearly bugged out her head. “Wh-what?” And to think, she was going to have him officiate at her wedding!
Shaw took a step forward, Blue took a step back, and Sean, Mack, Liam, Wolfe, Knox, Dad, and Don, closed ranks around her. To her, they looked nothing short of angels of mercy—or arch angels preparing for battle to save her.
Blue couldn’t believe it. Only two people had ever put themselves between her and the horrible thing that was out to get her. Dad and Sean. And now there were eight people going to bat for her. Suddenly her fear vanished so completely, it was as if it never existed. The weight she’d been carrying around on her shoulders for years lifted, and the world seemed to open to so many possibilities.
“Not her.” Sean fisted his hands at his sides. The line of his shoulders was so tight, she could see the cords of muscles flexing under his damp t-shirt.
“Stand down soldier,” Stroup said. “You don’t want to start a fight with me.”
“I’ll start a fight with whomever comes between me and my woman,” Sean said in a tone so intense, even Stroup seemed nervous.
Stroup pointed at Blue. “She just confessed to murder.”
“All our girl here did, was confess to self-defense,” Knox said.
“That’s what I heard,” Liam agreed.
“Same here.” Mack folded his arms over his huge chest.
Wolfe stepped forward. He didn’t have to say anything, his piercing gaze was intense enough to peel the skin off a man.
Don cleared his throat, and everyone looked his way. “What do you get by arresting her but a lot of paperwork? Give me five minutes and I’ll have her pardoned.”
“You can’t do that.” Stroup glared.
“Didn’t Don tell you on the way over here?” Gray asked. “He’s a three-star general in the army, and a lot of people owe him a lot of favors.”
“So, stand down, soldier,” Knox parroted his words back to him. “You don’t want to start a fight with him.”
Stroup glanced at his men, then back to Sean and the guys and Blue. “You were lucky today, Bluebell.”
Blue laced her fingers with Sean’s. “No, I was lucky ten years ago, when I stepped into a library at five in the morning hoping no one in my study group would be there, only to find this one waiting for me.”
Sean hadn’t taken his glare off Stroup.
Stroup stepped forward, speaking in confidential tones to the SEALs at large. “But maybe you can answer me this—seeing as I’m doing you a favor.” He nodded back toward Jonah and his men. “These guys keep going on about some shipwreck and treasure worth millions, maybe even billions. Do you know what they’re talking about?”
Mack stepped forward and lowered his voice. “Worth billions? Are you shinin’ me on?”
Stroup shook his head. “They seem so sure—and are even more convinced you guys know where it is.”
“Wooeee,” Mack said, rolling back on his heels. “I can’t say we do. Hey, Liam. Do you know where there’s a sunken ship worth millions?”
“Billions,” Stroup corrected.
Liam shook his head. “I can say with a hundred percent certainty, that there’s no shipwreck with millions—”
“Billions,” Knox corrected this time.
“Right, billions on board that we know about,” Liam said.
Stroup leaned back, looking more amused than anything. Blue knew that look well, and after what he’d just pulled, she didn’t like it one bit. “Well, if you hear of one, let us know. We’ll call it interdepartmental cooperation. You know, you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours?”
“We’ll be sure to do that,” Gray said.
Stroup headed out, waving an arm in the air. “Let’s get our bad guys and get!” The Marshalls gathered up Jonah and his men and headed out. Only the pitter-patter of rain could be heard on the roof now.
Sean leaned over to Mack and whispered. “You got it out of the ocean?”
Mack nodded. “Every last euro, franc, gilder, krona, and peseta.”
Blue stared with fascination from one man to the next. They really were on a secret mission.
“Want to tell me where?” Sean asked.
“Let’s let it lie for a few days,” Mack said.
As his men headed out the door, Stroup came back. “Are you two ready to go?”
“We told you, they’re not going,” Don reminded him, and she could’ve hugged him.
“Not going to jail,” Stroup said. “But they’re both still very much in witness protection.”
“We want to stay,” Dad said.
Sean turned, and for the first time since story-time started, he looked Blue in the eyes. She didn’t see hate or disgust in his gaze as she’d unreasonably feared after story time, only love. He glanced from her dad to her. “You don’t have to stay for me. I’ll go with you.”
“Uh . . . I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Gray interjected.
“Court—” Knox coughed in his hand. “—martial.”
Don grunted and whispered under his breath so Stroup couldn’t hear him. “A bunch of retired Navy SEALs, huh?”
Knox shrunk under Don’s scrutinizing gaze.
“Blue,” Sean said, grabbing her attention back. “I mean it. You name the destination, and I’m with you to the end.”
Blue felt a smile splitting her face. “Anywhere?”
Sean pulled her into his arms. “Anywhere. As long as we’re together.”
She went up on tiptoe and whispered in his ear. “Diamond Cove Ferris Wheel, please.”
Stepping back, Sean blinked those long lashes of his at her in shock.
Blue looked at her dad, and getting the go-ahead in the form of a smile and a nod, she turned to Stroup. “We’re staying here.”
“You sure you want to risk it?” Stroup asked and pointed toward the door. “Your ex and his friends have seen you; they know where you are.”
The SEALs moved again, their large statures seeming more and more imposing as the minutes ticked by.
“We’ll take care of that,” Don said.
“And we’ll take our chances,” Dad added.
Stroup jerked his chin once and spun on his heel. With his departure, the team disbursed.
“You know what would have been cool?” Gray chatted to Knox. “A smoke bomb. We should get one of those . . .”
Turning in Sean’s grasp, Blue hugged him tight about his middle. She breathed in his glorious laundry and saltwater scent. Running her hands up his arms, she promised herself that she would hear every story, every moment of the time they were apart. Then she’d kiss every scar and then kiss his lips until they both passed out with exhaustion. She was finally home. He kissed her ear, making her shiver, and whispered, “Now what’s this about Diamond Cove’s Ferris wheel?”
* * *
“Okay, when you said Ferris wheel,” Sean said, parking his car in the lot by Beach Park, “you actually meant Ferris wheel.”
Blue nodded. It’d hit her when she was telling her story to Stroup. On the way out, Dominic had said he was going to see Ian. They always met Ian at the amusement park at six p.m. However, she doubted Dom would be sticking around another twelve hours—so six a.m. it was. Or at least she hoped.
“You think he’ll be here?” Dad asked, sliding forward in the backseat of Sean’s Jeep to get a better look at the Ferris Wheel.
Beach Park was a disaster. Palms, brush, trash, and other debris littered the ground, but the trees were intact and not uprooted, and the storm was over. It would take the town a week or two to clean up the damage, but all in all, they’d been really lucky.
Blue nodded. “He came down here for a reason, Dad. I don’t think it was just to taunt Jonah and leave.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Sean said, shutting off the Jeep. He got out and walked slowly around to Blue’s door, giving her a moment alone with Dad. How he knew to do that, even after all this time, was a mystery. One she would be thrilled to spend her life discovering.
“He wants to see us,” Blue said. “I’m sure of it.”
Dad stared at his hands clasped in his lap. “You go ahead. I’ll wait here.”
“Dad?”
Dad cleared his throat. “If he shows, I’ll get out.”
In all of Blue’s life, she’d never once thought of her dad as afraid. He’d always seemed so imposing, so larger than life. To see him sinking in on himself in fear was completely foreign to her. She decided not to push.
“If that’s what you want,” she said.
“It’s the right thing,” he said.
She reached back and grabbed his hand. “I love you, Dad.”
A small smile touched his lips. “I love you.”
Sean opened her door for her, and she stepped out, her hand finding his without looking for it. Her heart started to sink as they got closer and closer, seeing nothing, until, Dom stepped out from behind the platform of the ride, and under a street light.
Her heart picked up speed, and before she knew it, so did her legs. She ran to him, throwing her arms around his middle, and squeezed him for all she was worth. Seconds later, a deep chuckle found her ears, as Dom patted her on the back. Despite the smoking, she could only smell mint on him, just as when they were kids.
“Good to see you too, little sis,” Dom said, employing the nickname he’d started using on her the moment he’d gotten an inch taller than her.
“You’re alive!”
Dom pushed her back by her shoulders and smiled down at her. He was so handsome. So handsome. Just like their dad had been at this age, but with Mom’s sharp features. “So are you.” He kneaded her shoulders as if assuring himself that she was real.
“What are you doing here?” Blue asked, her hands shaking where she held tight to his suit coat. In her peripheral vision, she caught sight of Sean sitting on the steps leading up to the Ferris Wheel. Close, but not too close to give her some privacy.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he said. “Ever since the day you and Dad ran away, I’ve been looking.”
Tears welled in her eyes again. Ugh, she sure had been crying a lot lately. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to leave you.”
Dom gave her one firm, but subtle shake. “You didn’t leave me. I stayed. I chose to stay.”
“Why?” Blue heard herself asking even though she knew the answer.
“I couldn’t leave Mom,” he said. “She was never strong like you or Dad. I couldn’t leave her even if she could leave us to save herself.”
An idea struck her. “You can leave now. Mom’s married again. Stay here. Don’t go back.”
Dom’s smile fell just a little as he shook his head. “Can’t. I have to report back that you weren’t here. Shouldn’t be too hard. It’ll just be a second case of mistaken identity.”
“Second case?” Blue asked.
“Yeah, I guess there’s some barber that lives here named Ryker Rockefeller,” he said. “What’s the likelihood of that? Anyway, Vito sent a hit out on him last summer. Poor guy almost got wiped out by a few of our stupidest hitmen—until they finally realized that Ryker was about twenty years too young to be Dad.”
Blue chuckled, though her heart was breaking again little by little. “Vito’s capo now?”
Dom smirked. “Just what he always wanted.”
“You couldn’t run away after that? Vito’s dangerous. Unhinged.”
“Which is why Dad took you and ran. But there’s something else Vito is. Stupid.” He shook his head. “No, I couldn’t run away.”
“Why not?” Blue feared the answer, but she needed to know.
“Because I have Vito’s trust, and I’m not leaving until I’ve torn every inch of The Outfit down, brick by brick,” he said. “No one will ever have to suffer what we have, or worse than what we have ever again.”
“That’s impossible,” Blue said. “People have been trying to end the mafia for decades. It always rises from the ashes.”
“Not this time, Blue,” he said, using his favorite nickname for her.
There was no fighting him. He had that look in his eye, the gleam that said he was up to something. Had a secret that no one else knew. There would be no stopping him. So she gave up trying. “This whole time, I thought you hated me.”
“I could never hate you.” He laughed. “You’re my big sister. My hero. I always looked up to you because you always had my back.”
“That’s what big sisters are for,” she sniffed and swiped at her nose.
“I never thanked you for what you did.” Dom looked down; the ruthless confidence that seeped out of every pour faded for a moment.
She grabbed his hand. “You don’t have to thank me for that.”
“I do because that shot would’ve killed me.” A dark cloud shadowed the light in his eyes that she’d started to believe would never fade until now. And that’s when it hit her. All these years, she’d thought she’d ruined him. Ruined her dad. Ruined Sean. Ruined every good thing in her life, but that wasn’t how the people she loved the most saw her. They didn’t think she was a ruiner, a hurricane. They loved her.
He straightened his shoulders then, his confidence returning in a blink. “And now I have your back.” He glanced toward Sean. “And I see I’m not the only one.”
Sean gave him a little salute.
Dom laughed. “I heard what he said in there, saw what he did. He’s a good man. I’m glad you have him in your life.”
“A good man with owl-like hearing,” Sean whisper/yelled in their direction. “Thank you!”
Blue and Dom laughed.
Blue reached up and pulled him in for another hug. “Thank you for coming. Thank you for . . . this.”
“This isn’t the end, Blue,” Dom said, pulling back. “We’ll see each other again.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Until then, be happy.” He chucked her on the shoulder and winked.
Glancing toward Sean, she smiled. “I will.” Happiness had always been some distant thought that others could achieve. Blue, Blue had just spent the last fourteen years with one hit and miss, in the happiness department, after another. But now, after these last few crazy days, after her almost marriage to a psycho, a hurricane, and after finding Sean again, she knew she’d finally get there.
She lifted her chin. “You too, lil bro. You too. And just so you know, Dad’s in the car.”
Dom shook his head, then pointed behind Blue with his chin. “No, he’s not.”
Blue glanced over her shoulder. Dad stood a good twenty yards back, hands in his suit coat pockets, kicking at the grass with the toe of his Oxford shoe.
“He’s been there for the last ten minutes,” Dom said.
Blue gave Dom’s hand one more squeeze then stepped aside. It was Dad’s turn now. Tonight, the St. James’s were facing their pasts straight on.
“By the way,” Dom said. “Ian says hi.”
Blue smiled. “Ian? How is he?”
Dom grinned. “Good, married with three kids.” He wandered off in Dad’s direction, and Blue made her way to Sean. She stepped between his knees and wrapped her arms around his neck at the same time he wrapped his arms around her middle. The sky was just starting to brighten on the horizon—a new day was here.
“Not as bad as you thought?” She looked over her shoulder and watched her dad and brother. One moment Dad had his hands in his pockets, the next, he was pulling Dom to him in a hug just as fierce as the one she’d given him.
She chuckled. “No, not bad at all.”
Sean stood, took her hand, and led her up the stairs to the Ferris wheel. He lifted her over the chain, then jumped in after her. The carriages all had roofs, but the seats were still soaked. Sean quickly wiped it dry with his shirt sleeve, then took a seat, and opened his arm for her to sit next to him.
She snuggled into his side, shivering in the cold morning air, and together they watched the sun rise over the clearest sky she’d ever seen. Golden fractals split the sky, shining like diamonds over the cove. The sky lit in brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and red, brighter and more glorious than the dark looming clouds from the day before. Now more than ever, Blue felt her new beginning was really happening. Right now, in this moment, with Sean’s arms around her and that sky.
“Now what?” she asked.
Sean glanced down at her, the morning rays lighting up his hazel eyes like mini suns. “We can do whatever we want.” He smiled, putting those dimples of his on full display. “As long as we’re together.”
“Always together?” She returned his smile.
He leaned closer, his lips barely brushing over hers, and she almost forgot how to breathe. “Always,” he said, then kissed her. Time ceased to exist in that kiss. The cold, fall morning air vanished as her body became an inferno, as Sean slipped one hand into her hair, and the other around her waist to pull her closer. He pulled her onto his lap and cradled her in his arms as he peppered kisses down her neck.
She never wanted this to end, and suddenly, she realized it never would, and that same sunset exploded in her chest, warm, and brilliant, and a promise of a new day.
He ran his hands up her back, soothing away the last of her doubts and fears, and kissed his way up to her mouth again. And man, oh man, was he a good kisser. All this time, she’d thought she’d aggrandized his kissing ability. She had not.
“You’re really good at this,” she moaned into the morning air as he kissed her under her chin.
He smirked. She could feel it against her skin. “Thank you. So are you.” He made his way up her neck to her ear. “There is one thing I’d like to do.”
“Anything,” she said and meant. She had a feeling that anytime he wanted something, he’d be able to coax it out of her with a few kisses—and the fact of the matter was, she trusted him. Had since they’d first met nearly. He’d always take care of her, protect her. “Name it.”
He chuckled this time, then bit her earlobe. “I’ll tell you my code name if you tell me yours?”
She pulled back and smacked him on the shoulder. “That’s not funny.”
“Isn’t it, Vittoria?” He tickled her side, as she lurched away from him, but he didn’t let her get far and pulled her back into his lap so he could cradle her in his arms.
“Don’t ever call me that,” she said.
“Okay, okay,” he said, with way too much amusement in his voice. “Then what should I call you?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. “Blue. Always Blue.”
“You know I love Blue, but I was thinking more along the lines of Mrs. Clayton?”
Blue’s gaze shot up to Sean’s face, and she leaned back to get a better look at him. “Are . . . are you serious?”
He nodded. “We’ve already wasted so much time. I don’t want to waste anymore.”
She hesitated for only a beat before smiling at him as joy ran from her head to her toes. “Just name the date.”