“You must have heard of the Eastons. They used to be a powerful family, back when Eduardo Viteri was just a young man. In fact, the Viteris were almost like nobodies because the Eastons controlled everything and didn’t let anyone rise. So how do you think Aaron’s grandfather did it?”
“Just spill it out, brother. I’m getting tired of all this.”
“Eduardo seduced Easton’s only child, Samantha, making her believe he’d do anything for her, even renounce his family, which in the end he pretended to do. Even Easton, who opposed their relationship, agreed when he saw that Eduardo was willing to cut all ties with his family and seemed to be a respectable young man. A few months after they got married, old Easton died under suspicious circumstances, and guess who got control over everything? Easton’s men weren’t too inclined to trust a Viteri, but they trusted Samantha, and Eduardo let her rule without even getting involved... He seemed to be a perfect husband... until Samantha got pregnant and gave birth to Roberto. She died a few days later.
Everyone thought it was during childbirth, but later on, it was discovered it had been Eduardo who killed her. He needed everyone to start trusting him, to be loyal to him, and not to rebel against him, and since he had a son who united both families... Well, let’s say Eduardo suddenly found himself with no other choice but to fulfil Samantha’s dying wish to lead their business and secure their son’s future. Everyone believed him, of course. Now you see... the Viteris are willing to play the long game to get what they want. It took Viteri years to achieve what he wanted, but he did it in the end. No one even remembers the Easton name anymore. Everyone thinks it’s been the Viteris all along.”
“You believe Aaron’s doing the same with me,” I said incredulously. “You think he’s playing nice to impress me so he can take over our business? How is he supposed to do that when I have four older brothers?”
“Ah, but we live a dangerous life, Octavia. Something might happen to us. An accident. Like what happened to Easton. You’re still an heiress, and this might not be Roberto’s plan, but it could be Aaron’s. Roberto won’t give up control until he dies, which could be too long for Aaron to wait.”
“You’re crazy,” I said. “If Aaron does the same thing as his grandfather, everyone will know. That would be a shitty plan.”
“Maybe that’s what he expects you to think. That it would never work twice. But he’s arrogant. Why wouldn’t he try? He still gets you in his bed. Besides, almost no one believes the story about the Eastons, because our family was the one who unearthed the evidence, and they all think we made it up or tampered with it to make the Viteris look bad. Not that anyone cares about that anymore, so the evidence we have is useless now. You can still ask Tony to get it for you if you don’t believe me.”
I waved my hand. “Don’t. You’re not getting in my head.” Aaron might have a great poker face, but that didn’t mean he was such a good actor to fake all of his reactions. Jason was just trying to confuse me.
“You let him in,” Jason said. “I don’t know why you refuse to listen to what people who really care about you say.”
“Aaron could’ve died...”
“But he didn’t.” Jason’s eyes pierced me.
“Don’t even bother trying to convince me it was all a setup. The shooters couldn’t have been that precise. They were in a speeding car.”
“I won’t. I’m just putting all the options out there so that you know what you’re up against.” Jason lifted his chin.
“Thanks.” I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
“If you don’t need me,” Jason said to our father, “I’m going to check something with Michael so we can prepare for tomorrow.”
“Go,” my father said.
I turned toward him, chewing on the inside of my cheek. “Is it all true?” I finally asked after a few moments of silence.
“It is,” he said.
“Okay, then. I’ll go see Aaron.” With a bitter smile, I strode out of the office.
Chapter 6
“I still think this is wrong,” I said as Aaron was getting dressed. “Your father is...”
“Enough about him,” Aaron said, putting on a black leather jacket, then sat on the bed next to me. His hand found mine, our fingers intertwining. “Everything will be fine, okay?” He reached out with his free hand and caressed my cheek.
I nodded, pushing back the tears that were forming in the corners of my eyes. “I hope you have a plan. For everything.”
“Don’t worry.” He flashed me a smile. “I always have a plan.”
Maybe he wouldn’t have said that if he knew what my brother had told me about his grandfather. “Great. But you and I also need a plan.”
Aaron tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you’re still recovering, and your father will take you who knows where, but if everything goes fine and your father doesn’t suspect you... I need to know... I need to know that you’re safe. We have to find a way to contact each other, despite the risks.”
“That might not be a good idea.” His brow furrowed. “My father will watch my every move, and if he finds out that I’m talking to you... We can’t risk that. I know defeating him will take some time until I can do it right, but we have to be patient.”
“No. I’ll change the way I look, but I need to see you in person or receive a message from you. How am I supposed to just let you go and not even know for weeks or months that your father hasn’t hurt you?”
Aaron closed his eyes for a moment. “If he kills me, you’ll know. Your family will just know. Everyone will.”
I wouldn’t put it past my family to fake some footage or proof of Aaron’s death. Sure, he was just on the other side of the city, but it wasn’t like I would be going there much if I wanted to stay safe. “But if your father locks you up somewhere...” I gave him a wide-eyed look. “I can’t spend my days wondering what’s going on with you. Please, figure something out. Send me a message or anything.”
“Okay.” He looked down at our joined hands. “If everything goes as planned, I should be able to come to that bar called Sweet Kiss. It won’t be suspicious if I appear there. Too many people go there, so no one can watch them all. I’ll need some three or four weeks, so five weeks from today, come to that bar. I’ll meet you there somehow or leave you a message in the restroom, okay? If I don’t come, wait another week and come again. Just be careful and get a better wig and contacts so that no one can tell they’re fake. If I leave a message, it will be signed with O. A.”
I nodded, then leaned in to brush my lips against his. He buried his hand into my hair, pulling me closer. Our lips crashed together, and my tongue danced with his, making my whole body hum with desire. Why was everyone trying to convince me that this wasn’t real? That Aaron was just using me for some goal of his?
He pressed his forehead against mine, panting. “If something happens to me...” His eyes lifted to mine as he pulled away. “You have to run. Get as far as possible from my father. Find a life with...”
I placed my finger over his lips. “Shut up.”
“Octavia...” he whispered and took my finger into his mouth, sucking gently.
“You should go,” I breathed. “My brothers are waiting for you. I hate that I can’t come with you.”
“It’s better you can’t. My father didn’t request your presence to close the deal and it’s better he doesn’t get tempted to do something to you.” He planted a soft kiss on my knuckles.
“You should be careful your father doesn’t realize what you’re up to.” I was sure he had a good plan, but one misstep and it could all go wrong. “And don’t trust anyone about anything. I mean it. That’s partly the reason why I want to see you in person or at least need a message I can trust... because someone could say something happened to me to distract you and...”
“I know. I’ll try to keep an eye on my father as much as possible so that he doesn’t come after you.”
“And I’ll keep an eye on m
y family too.” Especially on Jason. I wouldn’t put it past him to try to kill Aaron and make him pay for everything the Viteris had done. At least Tony would be on my side and wouldn’t betray me since he still blamed himself for getting me into this whole mess.
A knock sounded at the door, making us both jump. A moment later, the door swung open and Michael waved at us.
“It’s time,” he said. “Roberto doesn’t like to wait and we need to have all the security measures in check.”
Aaron and I got up, and I pulled him in for another sweet and deep kiss.
“I hope I’ll see you soon,” I said when we broke apart.
“Me too.” His gaze lingered on me as he made his way to the door. Michael pulled out a zip tie from the big pocket of his black coat and waved it.
“Need to put this on,” he said, and Aaron stopped, allowing Michael to tie his wrists in front of him. “Let’s go.” Michael said, taking Aaron by the arm. Aaron glanced at me over his shoulder, his blue eyes warm, a bright smile on his face. I followed them into the hallway, and as they descended the stairs, I watched as Aaron’s face turned serious and his eyes grew cold. Tears prickled my eyes, and I stood there, frozen on the spot. Marco was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, bruises marring his face, his hands tied. My mom appeared at the end of the hallway and strolled toward me. She wound her arm around me, kissing the top of my head.
“Oh, honey,” she said. “I always knew this life wouldn’t be easy for you, and your father and I prepared ourselves for so many things that could happen to you, but this is something we never saw coming.” She rubbed my shoulder. “What do you say we go watch a movie? Your father and brothers won’t be back for a few hours, so we could both use a distraction.”
I looked up at my mom and at her chapped lips. She bit them a lot when she was nervous. My family, along with Aaron, would be out there, trying to make a deal with our worst enemy. Their lives would be in danger too, even Tony’s, who was supposed to stay in the car as far away as possible from the meeting spot so he could monitor everything with his computer while Dylan guarded him. Jason and Michael would be with my father and Aaron. If anything happened to any of them... My stomach did a nervous flip. “A movie would be fine,” I said, although I didn’t think there was anything that could distract me. Maybe it would work for my mom, though.
“Good. Come.” She gently led me toward the stairway. I could only hope that the whole deal thing wasn’t just a setup devised by Roberto and that he hadn’t bought the loyalty of the other families that were supposed to stay neutral in this. But surely my family had planned for all possible outcomes. My father had been in this business for years after all, and we were all still alive. For now.
Chapter 7
I downed another drink and slammed the glass on the bar. The guy next to me stared at me with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open, but I didn’t pay any attention to him or react when he tried to talk to me. I glanced at the bar name written on a bright red neon sign. Sweet Kiss. The name seemed to taunt me. I hadn’t gotten the name wrong, because this was the only bar in this city with that name.
My fingers were shaking slightly, so I clenched them into a fist. After my family had returned unharmed and my father told me he’d sealed the deal with the Viteris, I’d been relieved because Roberto had simply taken Aaron with him, and my father swore Roberto hadn’t seemed angry at all. He and Roberto had signed their deal, and our one-year truce had begun, along with Roberto’s promise not go after me.
Still, as I sat on the high stool, surrounded by a bunch of people who had come here to have fun, I didn’t know what to think. There hadn’t been any news that something had happened to Aaron, and my brothers had heard he was back in business, which meant he should’ve been able to come here. But still, he hadn’t shown up and I couldn’t find any messages for me anywhere. This was the fifth week I’d come here. I must have come here a dozen times, at different hours, just hoping I could glimpse him. He’d promised he’d do anything to assure me he was fine, and surely he wanted to know if I was fine too, so where the hell was he?
I twirled a strand of my blonde wig around my finger. After the deal was sealed, my family and I had returned to the city with increased security. I was still using secret exits to go out, despite my family’s protests, but they knew that if they tried to stop me, I’d find a way to sneak out anyway, which they’d like even less. I crossed through a few buildings and houses and changed my looks. I’d bought the best wigs and contacts, and used lots of special makeup so that not even my own brothers recognized me when I was done.
Aaron had to know there was a chance he wouldn’t recognize me in my disguise, so I had to be the one searching for him, since there was no reason for him to hide who he was and make his father suspicious, but I couldn’t see him anywhere. Had he changed his mind about us? Had something happened to him? Was he unable to ditch his guards? Maybe he thought his father’s men would recognize me too easily and that it was safer if he didn’t show up. But he had to know I’d be looking for him, which would put me in even more danger, so him not coming didn’t make any sense... unless something was wrong.
My pulse was racing, and I took a shaky breath. There had to be a logical explanation for this, but I had to be calm and clear-headed enough to find it. I hopped to my feet and went to the exit.
***
“Are you sure this is new?” I asked Tony as I stared at a blurry video he had pulled from a surveillance camera. Aaron passed right in front of it and strolled toward his car, two guards at his back.
“Yeah,” Tony said. “Check the label. It’s from two days ago. I told you, he’s fine.”
“What if someone hacked into it first, or diverted your connection and planted this video for you to find?” If Roberto didn’t want anyone to know his son had betrayed him, then he’d make everything appear as normal. But I hoped Roberto hadn’t figured that out.
“I’m sure it’s the original video.” Tony had a pained expression on his face. “It looks like Aaron’s life is as usual. There’s nothing weird about that. Maybe he and his father came to an agreement. Who knows? Maybe Roberto offered Aaron more of his business and Aaron changed his plans.”
“Okay.” I didn’t even consider for a second that Aaron could’ve agreed on anything with his father, and Roberto definitely wasn’t the one to give up any more power than he needed to. Besides, no matter what excuse Aaron had used to explain how he’d gotten shot and hadn’t realized who I was, his father surely saw him as incompetent and would sooner take away that part of the business he’d given him than give him more control. But I wasn’t about to try to explain that to my brother. “Can you track him down somehow? Tell me where he goes?” Aaron was avoiding other bars he used to frequent too. I knew because I’d checked.
Tony pressed his lips together, turning in his chair so he could meet my gaze. “Hacking too much into the Viteris’ area could break our truce. Are you sure you want to know where he is? It won’t matter. Looks like he’s moved on. You should do the same.”
If Aaron had really changed his mind, then yeah, I wouldn’t have a choice but to move on, no matter how much that pained me, but Aaron hadn’t left a breakup message anywhere for me, and I couldn’t trust anyone to tell me the truth about whether they had really seen him. He could be in some serious trouble and I wouldn’t even know. No, I had to see him with my own eyes and make sure. He at least owed me an explanation. “Can you tell me or not where he might be?”
“Maybe.” With a sigh, Tony focused back on his computer and started typing something. “Looks like he’s come out of his family’s area, and I can hack anything in the free zone as much as I like.”
“Great. Then do it.” I observed him as he switched between a few windows with lightning speed, or maybe it seemed that way to me because I had no clue what he was doing.
“What are you going to do? Go after him?” Tony asked cautiously. “You know I can’t let you do that. It’s too dangerous. A
nd it looks like he doesn’t even want to see you. Maybe you should let him go.”
“Is that it?” I pointed at the red dot on the map that flashed on the screen before Tony could shut it down. “Look, I won’t do anything. I just want to make sure that’s really him and not an impostor. I’m not going to walk up straight to him and beat him senseless for not letting me know he was fine.” Although, if he’d just randomly decided he didn’t want to be with me and let me worry for nothing, I intended to do just that as soon as I got an opportunity.
“Yeah, that’s it.” Tony brought the map back up onto the screen. “But I have to tell Dad...”
“You won’t tell Dad anything.” I couldn’t let anyone follow or try to stop me. “Drawing attention to me would be a terrible idea.”
“But last time I...” Tony swallowed hard.
I placed my hand over his. “Me getting caught wasn’t your fault. I promise I won’t get caught this time, okay?”
“Fine,” he finally said, and I bent my head and kissed his cheek.
“You’re my favorite brother.”
“Of course I am,” he mumbled, but his lips were quirking up a little. As soon as I let go of him, I rushed out of the room. Putting on all the makeup and getting out of this house was difficult as hell and took time, so I hoped Aaron would still be in the area once I got to the location Tony had found.
***
The spot I’d seen on the map was a bar. A crappy, old-looking one. It was too small for me to simply stroll inside and hope no one would notice, and there were plenty of men dressed in black lurking outside. I hoped that meant Aaron was still in there somewhere, although why he would need so many guards with him was questionable.
They weren’t exactly stealthy, which was strange, considering this was no one’s zone. Was Aaron trying to spread into free areas to find support against his father? I doubted it. There was a reason free areas were free, and they would sooner betray Aaron than help him. His father would also know something was up, so what the hell was he doing here? Aside from possibly avoiding me?
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