Total Surrender

by Erika Wilde

  It all happened so fast she didn’t even have time to scream. But she did hear Maddux yell her name right before the door slammed shut and the car merged back into the flow of traffic, leaving her sitting next to a scary-looking man with a jagged scar slashed across his face, and ice-cold fear running through her veins.

  Chapter 19

  Considering the outstanding way his meeting in the city had gone with ethical law enforcement officials, Maddux ought to be in a fucking fantastic mood. Instead, as he parked his car in his designated spot in the underground parking structure and headed into the lobby of his building, dread settled like a ten-ton weight on his chest because his elation was coming at the steep cost of ripping Arabella’s entire world apart.

  But there was no stopping the wheels that had been set in motion for what was going to take place tomorrow, and as much as he’d come to care for Arabella—more than he’d ever believed was possible—he’d already disappointed his brother and sister once, and letting them down again wasn’t an option. He’d promised them both that he’d make things right, and he refused to let this golden opportunity slip through his fingers when Theodore and Gavin deserved to rot in hell.

  Or in this case, in prison. Possibly, for the rest of their lives.

  Maddux wearily scrubbed a hand along the light scrape of beard covering his jawline, honestly wishing that he’d met Arabella under better, more normal circumstances, instead of taking her in exchange for her father’s debt. Maybe things would have ended up differently for them, but he’d never know and he wouldn’t dwell on the recent past. What was done was done, and after he sat down with her tonight and revealed what was going to happen to her father tomorrow, she was going to hate his fucking guts and never want to see him again. He was sure of it.

  It was time he told Arabella everything so she understood his reasons for going to the lengths he had to bring Theodore to his knees. Securing her father’s debt and assets had only been a small preview to Theodore’s destruction. What no one else knew, not even his brother or sister, was that Maddux had spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in resources trying to build a solid case against Theodore and Gavin for their criminal activities.

  What he hadn’t expected was all the corrupt political representatives and law enforcement agents who had road blocked Maddux’s many attempts to get the duo arrested . . . because as Maddux had uncovered, the case against Theodore and Gavin was much bigger than just the two of them. With a whole lot of insistent digging, he’d learned that Addingwell Financial—where they and many others were “employed”—was actually a front for organized crime.

  A lot of palms throughout the local, state, and federal agencies were being greased on a regular basis to deflect the heat off of their illegal activities. Those bribes and hush money were also keeping the higher-ranking Mafioso untouchable. The cesspool of fraud, nepotism, and misrepresentation Maddux had encountered over the years had sickened him, and it wasn’t until very recently that he’d found a reputable group of attorneys who were just as eager to bring down the organization as Maddux was, and who helped in breaking the case wide open.

  For months, Maddux didn’t think it was going to happen, which was why he’d kept everything close to his vest. But it had been a matter of persistence and weeding their way through all the obstruction to finally get the attention of the ethical agents within the FBI.

  And now, as of tomorrow morning, there would be over a dozen raids and arrests all over the city, and Theodore and Gavin were on that list.

  Reaching the lobby elevator, Maddux stepped inside the lift and pressed the button for his penthouse, then took off his suit jacket and tugged at the tie around his neck to give the material some slack so it didn’t feel like a noose strangling him. With each upward level he passed, the knot in his stomach tightened. This wasn’t the way he wanted things to end between himself and Arabella after everything they’d shared in a very short time, but she would undoubtedly find his actions unforgivable. And a part of him understood the anger and resentment she was going to feel toward him . . . an ironic situation when he and his siblings had lived the past fourteen years feeling the same way about her father.

  The elevator chimed as he reached his floor, and after the doors slid open and he stepped out, he heard the emergency stairway door slam shut, which was odd since nobody used that exit unless, well, there was an emergency. He shifted his gaze to his brother, who was standing only a few feet away, an abnormal look of panic and dismay flashing across his features.

  “Fuck!” Hunter said, and jammed his hands through his hair, pulling on the strands in agitation. “I’m sorry . . . I’m so goddamn sorry!”

  Confusion filtered through Maddux, and he tried not to let his brother’s rattled composure worry him until he found out what had caused it. Hard to tell with Hunter lately, since his behavior had been running hot and cold since the night of the ball. Maddux wasn’t sure if it was a result of everything that had, or rather hadn’t, gone down with Theodore or the fact that the woman Hunter had met and slept with ditched him without a trace.

  “Sorry for what?” Maddux asked calmly as he dropped his suit jacket on the back of the nearest chair in the living room. “What’s going on and who was that that just went out the stairwell?”

  “It was Arabella,” Hunter blurted out. “I came up here to talk to you, then she arrived and I said some things out of pent-up anger and I told her about her father killing our parents. She didn’t believe me and was insistent she talk to her father, and she ran out.”

  Maddux’s entire body tensed and he tried to hold back the fury rising up in him. He’d wanted everything with Arabella to come out in a controlled environment, and in a way that he could soften whatever he could, and not just yell out the fact that her father and Gavin were murderers without giving her the whole, complete picture.

  He jabbed a finger toward his brother. “You had no right to tell her,” he said heatedly.

  Hunter went from apologetic to defensive in a hot second. “I had every right because she needs to know what a prick her father is. And you weren’t going to tell her, so I did!”

  Maddux felt torn, because a part of him understood his brother’s fury, while another part of him wanted to protect Arabella from . . . everything.

  “She’s not what you think,” Maddux said, his voice dropping to a low growl. Arabella was soft and gentle and sweet. And so fucking crushable when it came to her emotions. “She’s nothing like her father, and so help me God, if anything happens to her as a result of her running out of here, I am going to kick your ass for letting her go.”

  Hunter gaped at him. “Are you fucking serious?”

  “Dead serious.” Yes, at the moment, he was choosing sides. He was choosing to go after Arabella, making it clear to his brother that she was more than just a pawn to him. And trying to explain his feelings to Hunter was impossible when he’d never felt like this toward any other woman.

  But all that was eclipsed by a rush of fear . . . that something might happen to her once she ran out of the building and was no longer under his protection. Once she was with her father, or with Gavin, who Maddux didn’t trust with a ten-foot pole. The other man was a user, an abuser, and when it came to Arabella, Gavin wouldn’t hesitate to use her for leverage, to avoid his arrest tomorrow.

  Maddux had to get to Arabella first. Not wanting to waste any more time arguing with his brother, he ran for the stairs and jumped over the handrails to make his way down to the lobby twice as fast, but when he arrived, Arabella was already gone. He bolted for the main doors, and once he was out on the sidewalk, he glanced down the street just as a black Mercedes came to a stop by Arabella.

  As soon as Maddux saw a guy open the back door and realized what was about to happen, panic twisted through his entire being as he rushed toward her. “Arabella!” he yelled, but she was too far away for him to reach in time, and the other man yanked her inside the car so fast and so rough she never had a chance to f
ight him off.

  Then the car was driving away as Maddux’s worst fears were realized. She’d been kidnapped, snatched right off the street by the kind of guy who looked more like a mercenary than a friendly citizen offering her a ride. He had no idea where that car was taking her or what fate awaited her once she arrived, but his gut was screaming at him that she was heading straight toward something, or someone, dangerous.

  Maddux ran back into his building, guilt already twisting through him for failing her, for not being able to get to Arabella before someone else had grabbed her. The spike of adrenaline surging through his veins made his heart race at an alarming speed, but it also gave him the strength to power back up the stairs to his penthouse in less than a minute.

  He needed to make a call to authorities, the ones he’d been working with and who were preparing for tomorrow’s arrests. As far as Maddux was concerned, Arabella’s abduction changed everything, and he’d pay whatever it cost to any agency to make finding her a priority.

  He would tear this fucking city apart until he knew she was safe and, hopefully, unharmed. He wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt and soul-deep pain if anything horrible happened to her, and he refused to think that anything would before he found her.

  Chapter 20

  “I knew if we waited long enough the opportunity to grab you would eventually happen.”

  The man sitting with Arabella in the back seat of the Mercedes smirked at her, looking pleased with himself. Despite the luxurious Mercedes they were being chauffeured in, the guy looked like a hoodlum with his greasy hair, stained teeth, and that jagged scar on his face. Based on his comment, he must have been watching her for a while now, but up until her leaving the building this evening on her own, she’d always been with Milo. She’d made herself an easy target, but for whom?

  She did her best to keep her fear in check, because she refused to show this man any weakness. “Who are you and what do you want?”

  “Who I am doesn’t matter,” he said nonchalantly as he unlocked his phone and pressed a button to make a call. “What do I want? Payment for delivering you to the man who hired me to take you.”

  “What man?” she asked, though she had a sinking feeling she already knew. This scheme had Gavin written all over it.

  “Not for me to say.” He put the phone to his ear, waited a few beats, then spoke to whoever picked up the line. “It’s done. We have her. ETA in ten minutes.”

  He disconnected the call, and Arabella was at least grateful that he stayed to his side of the back seat. Clearly, the money awaiting him was far more enticing than messing around with her. “Where are you taking me?”

  He smirked at her. “It’s a surprise.”

  Asshole. Arabella took note of her surroundings as the car drove to the outskirts of the city, the direct opposite of Gavin’s place, or even her father’s, which she found disconcerting. She still had her cell phone, and keeping it down low near her door, she tried to swipe it open so she could at least try to text Maddux to reassure him that she was okay. Or at least she was for the moment.

  “Don’t do it,” the guy next to her said, his voice sharp with warning. “Put your phone on your lap so I can see it, along with your hands.”

  Not wanting to test him, she did as she was told, though she was surprised that he hadn’t confiscated the device. A few minutes later, they arrived in a lower-income neighborhood and pulled up to a house that was clearly in need of repair. The garage door opened for them when they turned into the driveaway, and the man in the front seat of the car pulled into the space. A moment later, the garage door sealed shut behind them, and Arabella swallowed back the apprehension threatening to overwhelm her.

  Scar Face opened his door, slid out, and glanced down at her. “Out,” he ordered, indicating with a hand motion that she was to vacate the vehicle from his side of the car, not her own.

  She slid across the seat, and as soon as she was standing in the dark, dank garage, he grabbed her arm and pushed her toward a door that opened as they approached. Standing on the threshold was Gavin. She couldn’t say she was shocked, but she had no idea why he’d bring her to such a dilapidated place, and that’s what concerned her the most.

  Once she was shoved into the house and into an outdated kitchen that needed a major overhaul, Gavin and the other man made a quick monetary exchange. Payment for her delivery out of the way, Gavin closed and locked the door with an interior key before turning to face her, an insolent smile on his face as he brandished a gun from the back waistband of his pants.

  She sucked in a startled breath as he pointed it directly at her, showing her he meant business. Fear wrapped itself around her, but the last thing she wanted to show Gavin was weakness. But seeing him with a gun directed at her? Jesus, her heart was racing a mile a minute.

  “Ahhh, Arabella,” he said in a smooth, calm, almost affectionate tone. “So nice of you to join me here.”

  She narrowed her gaze at him, a little unnerved by his weird behavior, not to mention having no idea what he intended. “I was kidnapped right off the street by a shady-looking man. You didn’t give me much of a choice but to join you here.”

  It was like watching the flip of a switch as Gavin went from civil to antagonistic. “And Maddux isn’t giving me much of a choice, either,” he snapped.

  She had no idea what he was referring to. Or what would make him feel the need to direct the barrel of a gun at her. “What are you talking about?”

  Gavin inclined his head toward an area with an old, beat-up couch and two worn wooden chairs. “Come with me into the living room so we can have a little chat.”

  When she didn’t move, he nudged her in the side with the weapon, forcing her to walk in that direction. Trying desperately to keep her panic at bay, she followed him into another room. The curtains were drawn over all the windows, and while there was one lamp on, it was dark and felt very secluded inside the house. From what she could tell, the two of them were alone, which kicked up her anxiety a few notches.

  “What is this place?” she asked, turning around to face him again. She still held her cell phone, but she tried her best to keep it out of sight. It was the only lifeline she had. “And why would you bring me here?”

  He gave her a grin that seemed borderline psychotic. “Why, you’re my catnip to lure the beast to his demise.”

  He was beginning to sound like a madman in a cartoon except this was real life and that gun probably had very real bullets. Knowing she needed to keep calm and buy time, she kept talking. “Why do you want Maddux here?” She shook her head in confusion. “Because of the debt and asset situation?” It was the only thing that made sense, but his tactic seemed extreme.

  “No, that’s your father’s petty issue with Maddux,” Gavin said as he picked up the bottle of whiskey off a small wooden table and poured himself a generous amount. “My problem with that asshole is much bigger than that. You see, it’s been brought to my attention that he’s digging around in places that he shouldn’t and that aren’t any of his fucking business.”

  He was talking in riddles. “Digging around in what places?”

  “The organization your father and I work for.” He took a long swallow of the alcohol and didn’t so much as wince as the fiery liquid made its way to his stomach.

  She frowned, trying to make some kind of sense of what he was saying. “You mean Addingwell Financial?” Why would Maddux concern himself with the company Gavin and her father worked for?

  Gavin exhaled a long-suffering sigh, as if he was dealing with someone dense. “It’s all a front, Ari. For organized crime. Your father and I have always worked for the mafia, and Maddux has taken it upon himself to make it his fucking crusade to expose and take down the organization. He’s been at it for years, but now he’s getting close to threatening my livelihood, and it’s time to get rid of him for good. And this hellhole is a little investment I made just for this occasion. A few gunshots in this part of the neighborhood won’t be a cause
for concern.”

  Arabella’s stomach cramped at the realization of just how serious Gavin was about his threat against Maddux and his deranged plans to kill him. “Where is my father?” she demanded, doing everything she could to beat back the fear clawing at her insides. “Does he know about me being here? He couldn’t have agreed to any of this.”

  Gavin tossed back the rest of the whiskey and slammed the empty glass down on the table, making Arabella jump from the sharp noise in the too quiet house. “Yes, your father knows you’re here,” he said, his eyes glazing over as the considerable amount of alcohol he’d just consumed in such a short period of time started making its way through his system. “No, I can’t say that he agreed to this plan of mine. In fact, he was adamantly against it, but he’s an old man who no longer has the capacity to do the kind of dirty work that needs to get done in this business. He’s gone all soft on me and has decided to grow a conscience, despite all the blood he already has on his hands.” Disgust laced Gavin’s voice.

  “And as for where he is . . .” He walked over to what looked like a coat closet and unlatched the lock securing it closed. “Well, he’s already here, actually. Why don’t we have him join the party?”

  Gavin opened the door, and seeing wooden stairs heading down to a dark lower level, Arabella realized that they led to a basement.

  “Get up here, old man,” Gavin called out, his tone rude to a man who’d always been good to him.

  Arabella was shocked that Gavin had locked up her father, when her dad had treated him as the equivalent of a son for so many years. With Gavin’s current agenda, which her father didn’t seem to agree with, that relationship had swiftly changed.