“Did we set that off?” Antony asks. I shake my head, looking around for anything that we might have triggered, but there’s nothing. “Maybe Austin and her brother caused them to set it off?”
I watch them, and the guards seem as surprised as they do. “Doesn’t look like it. Someone set this off from somewhere else. This was a decoy. We were set up. Fuck!’
“What do you mean?”
“There is nothing here, nothing that they couldn’t afford to lose. They must have found the bugs we set in Rory’s house. They are trying to get us. We need get out of here and quick.”
“How?” Antony asks as I look up at the monitor and watch Austin and her brother sneak past the guards and in towards us. I look over at Antony, and he realizes the same thing. “Okay, but hopefully she isn’t still mad at you and we don’t end up in jail.”
“Like it or not, she’s our only way out.”
“So how do we get to where she is?”
“That’s the hard part, but I suggest we take out whoever we have to in order to get there.” I breathe in deep and ready my gun as he does and we take off out the door, taking on fire immediately. They were waiting for us. Unable to go much more than a few feet down the long corridor, we dive into another room. “Okay, that didn’t work out quite like I had hoped.”
“No, that fucking sucked!” Antony snaps at me.
I look around, trying to think of something, and then I notice the sprinkler system. Okay, let’s try that. I cut some wires and cause enough friction to get some sparks, lighting up the mounds of paper and files they seemed to have stocked up on for decades. I open the door next door and push Antony in, with me following. It’s not overly secure, but it’s a few steps closer to where we need to be. Once the full blaze gets going and the sprinkler system goes off, I peek out the door and tell Antony to go while I cover him. He takes off through the raining sprinklers, and outside of a few slips and slides, he makes it safely around the corner. Taking a deep breath, “Here goes nothing,” I say, rushing out the door, firing at anything that could possibly kill me. I get lucky at first, but one spots me and gets me in the leg as I slide into a wall and sends me crashing to the floor. Antony makes it to where he needs to be, but I get trapped. Then, my girl, who seems to have a lock on my location at all times, rounds the corner. I crawl into a janitor’s closet and wait, hoping for the best.
“This is the police. Put down your weapons now!” she yells.
“You are being surrounded mother fuckers. You can either come out of here in a body bag or in handcuffs, but either way, you are leaving here on our terms,” Aaron yells.
The men begin running the opposite direction while I wait and hope to either be missed or discovered by someone I can convince to get me out of here. I hear them running around outside the door and slow moving footsteps follow after them — all but one set. I steady my gun as the shadow walks slowly past the door and then stops and turns back. The doorknob begins turning, and the door slowly opens.
“This is detective Reed …” she says and then slams open the door with her gun aimed right at me.
“I knew Trouble was coming for me,” I smile.
“Son of a bitch, Dace. What are you doing here?”
“Getting set up apparently,” I say with a groan.
“You’re shot?!” she shouts, rushing to my side.
“And soaking wet, not my sexiest wet look, but it got you to come running for me,” I laugh.
“Making jokes? Really, Dace? Your sense of humor is a little twisted. Now, tell me what you need me to do.”
“Can you help me get out of here?”
“Sure, I’ll call an ambulance.” I look up at her with wide eyes. “Oh yeah. I should arrest you. You deserve to be arrested.” I don’t bother saying anything; I simply wait until the lecture is done. “I swear you are …”
“Oh, good, I am finally getting to repay the favor,” I say as she helps me up. She guides me out through the side door and has me wait for her. I start to wonder if she is ever coming back when I see her pull up with the car and my brother.
“Hey! Look who I ran into, Dace,” the smart ass says as he helps me into the car.
“You two dumbasses please keep your heads down. If I am going to commit a crime, I would prefer to do it without getting caught.”
“Oh… her first crime, and we get to be a part of it. It’s a Hallmark moment,” Antony says as I laugh.
“Oh this is funny, real funny. Now, can you tell me where to take you to get that bullet out of your leg?” Austin asks.
“Just take us to my place, and I will get my own help.”
“No good. I can’t have anyone I know seeing you getting out of my car. We do live in the same building. Plus, I would prefer to make sure you get proper help.” She doesn’t listen to me and ends up taking me to Michael’s. As soon as we pull through the security gate, I roll my eyes. Great.
Austin runs into the house and comes back out with Michael while Antony stares in the opposite direction, shaking his head as I do.
“What the fuck were you two doing?” Michael yells. “I swear you knuckleheads are a constant pain in my ass. No, take them somewhere else because they are not staying here.”
“But Michael, Dace is hurt. He needs a doctor. He needs attending to,” Austin pleads in her drenched clothes that are sticking to her well-formed body. Unless Michael is blind, I doubt he says no to her right now. I would give her whatever she wanted, even if I had to run on this bad leg to get it for her. Then again, I am clearly an idiot. I was much happier in the middle of nowhere with nothing, but no I came back to the big city with my family, buy a big penthouse with everything, fall in love, and become miserable. I look back over Austin as she continues to sweet talk my brother with his dreamy eyes looking down through her white blouse. Damn her breasts look amazing. Have I seen that bra before? Oh yeah, the one with the little pink flower on the front. That one didn’t stay on long—cute but it was unnecessary for what we had planned. Shit, now I’m horny and in fucking pain. This sucks. I glance Antony’s way as he nods with a smile.
“Shut up,” I say as he laughs.
“And why are all of you so wet?” Michael curses some more and paces away before finally calling some of his people over to come and help me out of the car. “Put him in a room and call Doctor Gallagher and have the other idiot checked out too before sending him home.”
Michael looks down at Austin with a smile. “The things you get me to do for you.”
“They’re your brothers. You should want to help them.”
“I do, but sometimes they need to accept responsibility for their stupid mistakes. You should have arrested them, not risk your career to save them, Austin.”
“Well …” Austin looks over at me as I stare at her. “I felt I owed you something for my horrible behavior the other night.”
Michael takes hold of her face and makes her look at him. “Hey, I was more worried about you than anything. Don’t ever feel that you can’t talk to me,” he says to her as I lean down into the seat with a deep exhale.
The doctor nearly kills me taking out the bullet and stitching me up; he is not exactly gentle. Michael must have told him to be harsh. When it’s all over, I lie back, ready to sleep, when Austin walks in. “Ah damn! Don’t you have cop shit to do?”
“You’re welcome, Dace. Don’t worry about me. Luckily, no one found out what I did. They did ask where I went suddenly, but I told them I was chasing down a suspect that got away.”
“Thanks, I do appreciate that. By the way, why were you there in the first place?”
“I found some information on this place in some notes I found.”
“Some notes you found? And where did you get these notes?” She shrugs. I laugh sarcastically. “Where the fuck did you get these notes that are going to get you killed, Austin?”
“Don’t be so overdramatic. It’s only a notebook from one of Michael’s campaign people that died. They seem to be of Etto
re’s comings and goings and other things.”
“Why would one of Michael’s men have information on Ettore? It wasn’t Ettore’s anyway, it was the Ask…” I shut up quickly and look in another direction …fuck.
“It was whose exactly? Fine don’t tell me, but I know the information I have is slowly revealing itself, and it all has to do with Ettore.”
“That’s how you keep ending up wherever I am lately.” She smiles simply. I sit up and grab her arm. “You listen to me. You burn those notes and forget them if you know what’s good for you.”
She jerks her arm from me with a scowl. “No! I will not. This is the best lead I have gotten in a long time, and don’t you dare say a word to him or anyone. No one knows I have them.”
My jaw drops, and I look up at her in shock. “You’re hiding them and working the case by yourself? Oh that’s a lot better. You’re an even bigger idiot than I thought you were!”
“I’m not working it by myself, I have my partner, Jamee, and my brother and Billy.”
“They know about the notes, too?”
“My brother does… sort of.” I turn my head away from her, cursing under my breath. “Don’t judge me. I shouldn’t have even told you, but I was hoping …”
I snap my head back in her direction. “No, don’t even think about it.”
“Come on, Dace. I know you don’t want to be in this life any more than I want you to be. If you help me, we can get you to a better and safer life.”
“Oh yeah, six feet underground. I will surely be safe there. Forget it, Austin. You’re fighting a losing battle. Go fight normal cop crime, like domestic violence, gangs, serial killers, or something. I don’t know, but stay away from my family.”
“Except your brother, right? I don’t think Michael is the best one for me,” she says, looking me over while touching my bandaged leg and my bare chest. I take hold of her hand and start to move it away from me but hold on to her a little too long.
“You shouldn’t be here, Austin. No matter what we may feel, there is no future for us.”
“Okay, I understand, but I still wanted to make sure you were alright. I am allowed that, right?”
“Sure, thanks.” She leans down and kisses my forehead, and holds her lips to me as I wrap my arm around her and feel down her ass. She smells so good. I grasp her ass before needing to feel along her thigh and making my way in between her legs. Stop, Dace! Stop before you can’t. Fuck! It’s too late. I push my face down in between her breasts. I dive in and kiss my way around her wet bra until I can taste the tip of her nipple. Damn, I miss her. Her hand feels down my chest and takes hold of my cock, stroking it with intent. My hand slides down her pants and feels inside her pussy, fingering her in sync with her every stroke of my dick. Fffuckk.
She grips the back of my head, whispering my name as she asks for more. “Dace, it feels so good.”
I lift my hand up a little more into her and kiss her cheek. “I could do better with my tongue.”
She fists my hair. “Damn I know …” she moans, “but … oh.” Austin breathes heavy and suddenly my fingers are covered in her cum. I lie back with a smile as she tries harder to make sure I come too, I groan and grip the sheets under me when she goes down and wraps her lips around my cock, drinking up every drop. She stands back up, gripping my hand as she licks her lips clean. We stare at each other silently when Michael suddenly walks in. I quickly maneuver the blankets over myself.
“Did he thank you, Austin? If he didn’t, tell me, and I will make sure he remembers how to show his appreciation properly,” Michael says.
“Oh he showed his appreciation perfectly.” I take a deep breath, avoiding eye contact with everyone, out of fear of what feelings I may give away.
Chapter 20
Dace
A strange noise wakes me up, and I do my best to try and get up. The pain medicine the doctor gave me isn’t helping much though. Making my way downstairs, I find Michael on top of Austin, removing his clothes and hers. At first I think to leave until Austin whimpers something. I can’t make it out at first, but then she says it again.
“I want to go home. Please, I just want to go home. I don’t feel well.”
“Everything is going to be alright, I promise,” Michael says, continuing to enjoy himself with no sign of concern or stopping.
“Michael what are you doing?!” I yell at him, realizing she’s drugged. He jumps up at me, ready to slam the door in my face but I knock him back. Even drugged myself, I can still out maneuver him. He tries to punch me, and I knock it out of the way, jerking him back into a headlock. “Michael, what the hell is wrong with you?”
“Let me go, Dace. I’m doing what I have to do.”
“You’re raping her!” I scream at him, realizing the truth of it myself in the same moment.
“I love her, it’s not rape, if … I’m going to marry her. She just needs to relax and realize …” he says, suddenly relinquishing his fight and dropping to his knees in tears. “I’m sorry. I am. I was going to leave her alone, but she gave me a kiss on the cheek! She kissed me on the cheek, Dace! I have done everything right, everything, and still she doesn’t show anymore love for me than that of a close friend. I don’t know why. I have had her followed and checked out, and she isn’t seeing anyone else, not even that other cop. He’s sleeping with some other woman. I don’t understand what she wants.”
“So you drug her and try to rape her? What good can come from that?”
“That wasn’t my plan at first. At first I thought maybe a few drinks and she would be put at ease, but when she wouldn’t take more than a few sips, I became desperate and thought I could coax her easier this way and once she found herself in bed with me she would get used to the idea. Maybe I could even get her pregnant.” He tries to look me in the eyes, but no doubt, he is too ashamed to do so. I begin to realize his desperation is insane, and I am afraid for him, for her especially. “Please don’t look at me that way. I really didn’t want to hurt her. I only want to love her. That first moment I saw her, I tell you, I felt the sun come out again. When Wendy died, I didn’t think I could ever feel love again, but then Austin was assigned to her case. I complained that nothing had been done to find Wendy’s killer, and I demanded their best, and they sent me Austin. I thought it was fate. She was so determined and so abrasive with me; she clearly disliked me from the first moment we met. I am sure it was because of my name, but I didn’t care. The more she wanted to dislike me, the more I liked her and the more determined I was to get her to like me. When she slowly started to come around—that first smile, that first laugh she made at one of my jokes—I knew I was in love because it was the greatest feeling in the world to make her smile. I knew it was just a matter of time. I thought I was finally going to be able to be happy and have that family I always wanted.” He eases back into a corner with his head in his hands. “I know she is a lot younger than me, but I know I could make her happy. She is tough as nails but, at the same time, so innocent, and when she looks at me, I want nothing more than to take care of her. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her.”
“So instead you hurt her?” I ask, and he looks up at me, seeming to finally realize his mistake. Closing his eyes, he curses himself. “What happened to you, Michael? Since when do you become so desperate for perfection that you can’t appreciate what you already have?”
“Before you judge me, maybe you should know what it feels like to watch your wife die in front of you, carrying a child you will never know!”
I turn my focus back to Austin and dress her back perfectly, covering her up with a nearby blanket before sitting in a chair near her. “Go to bed, Michael. I am going to sit with her and make sure she is alright, and then I am going to make sure she gets home. I will tell her that you both had a little too much to drink and you left her to sleep while you passed out upstairs.”
He stands and turns to go to his bedroom but stops and returns to stand right in front of me. “Something happened. She wa
s falling for me, I know it, and then, something happened. I don’t know what, but I’m going to damn well find out and put a stop to it,” he says to me with his head held high. He stops near her and adjusts the blanket on her, kisses her gently, and whispers, “Goodnight, my darling,” before leaving for his room.
Taking her hand, I understand how he fell in love with her because it was the same way I did. She has an effect on us Collettos unlike most women. She wants so bad to dislike us, and we want so bad to change her mind and convince her to love us. Maybe we are all crazy and should learn to let go?
There is something to be said for having people wait on you constantly. I think they would call it being one lazy ass motherfucker. I can’t take much more of this. I practically have to run away and hide from Michael’s people just so I can brush my own teeth. The moment I see Franklin, my assigned caretaker, coming, I dart into another room and down the back stairs to find myself in the kitchen where I make my own meal. I’m not sure where Michael is, so I wander his house, looking around at things, seeming to get to know my brother for the first time. I didn’t even know he had an interest in artwork. The extensive paintings and sculptures are amazing and extremely expensive. Why would he keep such things in his house? He has a lot of faith in the idiots guarding this place. The idea makes me curious, exactly how secure is this place? It doesn’t take me long to find a control room to tap into. At first, it seems reasonable for most people, then I find something odd. This place is heavily wired with a secret passage and cameras everywhere, even inside. Inside? Fuck? Scrolling through the camera views, I search for my room and stumble upon Michael talking to someone in the stables. When she turns around, I know her immediately, Austin’s partner—Jamee. Son of a Bitch. What the fuck is she doing here? I can’t make out what she is saying, but Michael is clearly pissed. He throws something into a wall and waves his finger at her until she laughs. He grabs her throat and pushes her into a wall, hard. One of his men calms him down, and he backs off and sends her away. The only thing that makes this even more interesting is when Rory Aksakov walks out of the shadows, shaking his head. Michael seems to be listening to him, and what’s worse is he allows him to leave unharmed. I step out of the control room and get back to the kitchen, crashing into a seat to eat my sandwich where Michael finds me. I look slowly up at him and nearly see the steam of his anger coming from his skull. “Hey, something wrong?”