by Olivia Harp
It was their fault. His fault.
She put her arms around him, crying.
The three of them stood there, their arms on each other, the warmth of their bodies the only thing they needed in the whole world.
Nothing mattered but her safety.
They were all fine. She would heal. And maybe, if this piece of shit world was the least bit good to them, she would forgive them.
CHAPTER 47
LEXIE
Crow carried her as if she weighted nothing. They came for me. They found me.
She wasn’t crying anymore. They were fine. She didn’t want to look at Oscar, lying on the floor right next to her a few seconds ago, nor Earl, the fucker who hit her, face up on the hallway.
They didn’t exist anymore. They deserved this.
They had it coming.
She was suddenly full of anger. Oscar played them.
Calm down. It’s done.
They saved her. For the second time, they were there for her, risking their lives.
Lucian walked ahead of them, into a room, the first one on the left.
“Theo,” Crow spat, his words a mixture of anger and disappointment.
She turned and saw the man lying on the floor, his eyes to the ground, breathing hard. He was sitting in a pool of blood.
“I’m sorry, boss,” he whispered.
“We helped you.”
Theo raised his eyes and met Lucian.
“He said we were protecting the business.”
“We are the business,” Lucian said.
He stood in silence for a second.
“I was afraid.”
No one replied.
“He said he was going to take her insurance away.”
Crow’s firm arms relaxed for a second. Lexie took a glimpse at him, and for the briefest moment, she might have seen understanding in his eyes.
“Take care of her, boss,” he said, his voice barely audible now.
“Don’t worry about your daughter,” Lucian said, his voice thick and heavy, “she’ll be fine.”
“Thank you,” he said with a brief smile, “thank you.”
He breathed out softly, his body relaxing, his eyes devoid of life.
She held on to Crow, trying not to think about it. In the distance, police sirens wailed their approach.
They got in their car, Crow driving, Lucian holding her just like the first time they met.
Tears flowed down her cheeks.
Tears of happiness.
She was going home.
CHAPTER 48
LEXIE
The Kovolskis drove her straight to Saint Lawrence Hospital, to the E.R.
They admitted her and the doctors began asking questions. Lucian and Crow were so worried about her that they didn’t care about calling so much attention to themselves.
“But what if they ask questions?” She whispered to them when they went in.
“Tell the truth,” said Lucian, “don’t worry about anything.”
But she did. They needed to prepare a story. Something for the police, in case they asked.
“Whatever happens,” said Crow, “it’s not your fault.”
The nurse cleaned her and checked her signs.
“You’ll be fine,” she said, “your nose isn’t broken.”
He eyed the couple of guys who brought her in.
“You know we have to call the cops, right?”
She didn’t say anything, she didn’t want to have anything to do with the police.
“Are you safe?” The nurse asked, Lexie didn’t understand what she meant. Then it dawned on her. She thought they beat her up.
“I’m safe. Safer than I’ve ever been.”
“Okay,” the nurse said bringing a wheelchair and taking her to a small room, where a doctor looked at a computer screen.
“You’re going to stay for a night or two, see how you—”
“No, Doctor, I’m fine, I—”
“The police are going to want to ask some questions,” he interrupted her, “It’s standard procedure.”
She was so nervous. What would she tell them?
“I can’t stay, I can’t afford it—”
The doctor raised his hand, “it’s already paid for. You will have to talk to the police, anyway. Now, please, raise your arms…”
He checked her more thoroughly. And after a while, he sighed.
“You’re fine, your bruises are going to heal. My advice is don’t get beaten up. I’d hate to see you here again, I’ve seen women—”
“The guys didn’t beat me.”
The doctor looked at her, and found in her eyes she was telling the truth.
“Then thank God they found you. I’m sorry I implied otherwise. Bianca will take you to your room.”
“But I don’t—”
“Lady,” he said, his voice firmer, “please, we can’t make you stay here against your will, but please, consider staying, at least for the night. It will make everyone feel better. Including the people who brought you in.”
She nodded, not knowing how to answer that. She felt like a kid again.
“This will help.”
He gave her some pills and called the nurse. She wheeled her out of there and got in the elevator, she went up five floors. The doors opened to a big lounge, sofas around, floor to ceiling windows lit the place. It looked peaceful and orderly. It looked expensive.
Crow sat on a sofa on the far edge of the waiting room. He saw her and his eyes widened, he was unable to hide his smile. He nodded at her, she raised her hand to wave at him but then noticed Lucian a few feet from him.
Two men wearing ties were talking to him, writing down what he said in a notepad. NYPD was quicker to act than she thought, apparently. Or the fucking hospital called them.
Flowers and balloons already waited for her in her room. She would have smiled if she wasn’t so nervous. The nurse left after helping her change to the hospital robe. Told her she would come back again in an hour.
Then she was alone, the silence in the room her only companion.
Her heart raced, the police were already there.
Someone knocked on the door. She crossed her fingers, praying that it was one of the boys.
“May we come in?” said a man with a thick voice. It was one of the cops interrogating Lucian.
Her eyes welled up, but she pressed her lips and held her tears back.
The detectives walked in before she replied.
“I’m detective Nash, he’s my partner, detective Jones, we’re here to ask you some questions.”
She swallowed.
They began with the easy ones, her name, where did she live, where she came from, just easing her into what really mattered.
“So, tell us what happened,” detective Nash asked, matter of factly.
She turned to the door. The guys weren’t coming. She was on her own. She couldn’t tell them. She couldn’t say Oscar was embezzling money that belonged to them. They owned dozens of illegal gambling casinos and underground sex clubs, she couldn’t just—
“Well?” Detective Jones asked. This was it. What was she going to say?
Tell the truth, Crow said. The truth. She smiled. He was right. She couldn’t lie to the cops, she didn’t need to.
She told the detectives about how the guys saved her from being mugged, and possibly killed. She told them about learning about their business, small hotels on the East Coast, some franchises out west. She told them about the laundromats, the parking lots, the houses they owned.
All of that was in the books. Yeah, the information might be fake, but they didn’t know about that.
She told them about Oscar, about her finding out some errors that could lead them to recover some money from the IRS.
The detectives smiled, they hated the Service as much as anyone else did.
“So, this man, Oscar, cooked the books, showed one thing to Lucian and Curtis Kovolski, then reported the corrections to the IRS, taking
the money for himself, am I right?”
“Right.”
“When he learned about you, he kidnapped you, beat you up and tried to kill you.”
She nodded, with a smile. Crow was right. All of that had happened, to the letter.
“These men are heroes,” Nash told Jones, “I would’ve called the cops.”
“You wouldn’t,” Jones replied, “you wouldn’t have wasted a minute.”
Nash thought about it, “you might be right, Charlie, you might be right—”
“Where’s Lucian and Crow?” She interrupted them.
They stared at her.
“Outside, they’ll have to come with us to the station, to corroborate your story.”
“They won’t be there for long, though,” said Jones, “they have a good lawyer.”
“I think we’re done here. Tell them they can come in.”
Jones sighed, “yeah, sure.”
***
“We’ll be right outside,” Nash said, “don’t take too long.”
Lexie’s heart thundered in her chest, she couldn’t wait to see them.
Lucian was the first to walk in.
She almost fell down the bed, going forward to embrace him. His touch was as soothing as ever.
She was crying, raised her eyes and saw Crow, who joined them.
“I love you,” he said, “I love you.”
“I love you,” she said to both of them, with tears stopping rolling down her face. She was happy and sad and they just came out like a dam breaking.
“I thought I’d never see you again,” said Lucian, his voice breaking for a split second, “I love you, honey.”
They were safe. That’s the only thing that mattered. Being in their arms was all that she needed.
“I told the cops—”
“Don’t worry about that,” Lucian said.
“No, but, I told them the truth. The books and Oscar and he—”
Her voice broke.
“It’s fine,” Crow said, “it doesn’t matter.”
Detective Nash knocked on the door, “come on guys, time to go.”
CHAPTER 49
LUCIAN
“Come on, Crow! We can’t wait all day!”
The Sun shone bright on the Miami sky. This was the first day of their vacation, they left the gray concrete of the city to spend a few days at the beach.
The Beaufount Palace was as luxurious as he thought it would be.
“What do you think?” Lexie asked.
He had to look away or he’d have to deal with a freaking boner in public. Not that it worked, though, she wore a red and yellow bikini that made her look spectacular, he was already having a stiffening problem down there.
“I love it,” he said, trying to sound normal.
“The place is completely packed and it’s not even high season.”
“I thought you were talking about your bikini.”
She narrowed her eyes, “you naughty boy.”
After all this time, he was more and more in love with her each passing day.
She walked slowly to him. Her eyes telling him what was in her mind.
Oh, no. He lowered his hands to cover his junk, fuck, he needed to sit down soon before someone noticed.
“Crow!” he yelled, trying to distract himself, think of something else.
Finally he came down to the lobby, a high ceiling, beautifully decorated, expansive room that lead to some amenities the resort had: the club, the bars (just three out of nine), the spa… and to their right, the sun loungers.
The unique Miami vibe gave the hotel that classic look that he loved. This place was much different than Las Vegas or New York. It was luxurious, yet chill. Sunny but not annoyingly so.
Lexie reserved a sun lounge and he was aching to just lay out there on the soft beds, the pool surrounding them, then maybe they’ll go to the beach.
“I like it,” Crow said.
Lucian turned to him and laughed out loud.
He had never seen him like this, wearing shorts, light green bathing suit, flip flops and a pink shirt with a flamingo in it. His glasses and hat completed the image.
“What?” he said, looking down at himself.
“Nothing, man! You look great!” Lucian said, still laughing.
“Screw you, man!” Crow replied.
“Don’t pay attention to him, babe, you look incredible.”
“What happened to the dark, moody guy I’ve known all my life?” Lucian asked, trying to compose himself.
“He’s on vacation, dumbass,” Crow said, taking Lexie by the arm.
Lucian shrugged, “oh, well, that’s good to hear.”
He took her other arm and the trio walked outside.
“Anyway, nice hotel, honey, it’s better than I thought,” said Crow.
“I saw the numbers, it’s perfect. We can invest here and get our ROI in four years, in the worst case scenario.”
Lexie was now the Head of Accounting and New Opportunities in the organization.
From the moment she started working with them, she’d made the business grow exponentially. Well, he and Crow might helped, too. The three of them were a force to be reckoned with.
Their lawyer helped take compensation for the losses the Kovolski’s businesses suffered. Oscar had no family, no one could stand that motherfucker. In the end, the amount he owed was paid in full after liquidizing his assets. It’d been time consuming, yeah, but worth it, of course.
She took care of the numbers, they took care of expanding. Jason did a good job too. Just twelve months after leaving him in charge of expanding their operations to Texas, they were making money in Houston, San Antonio and Austin. He had some problems with the competition but got rid of it, one way or another.
No one else handled the business as well as they did.
“We shouldn’t talk about work while we’re on vacation,” he said.
Up ahead, a big bed waited for them, surrounded by plants and translucent drapes hanging on four posts for privacy. It had been years since they were able to do something like this.
“Thank you,” he told Lexie.
“What for?”
He shrugged, “we never went on vacation before we met you.”
“What did we do, back then?” Crow asked, genuinely wondering.
He didn’t reply. He honestly could not remember.
This was just a small break from the work routine, but it was truly needed.
And now we’re expanding here. Amazing how things have changed.
He had heard of the families who owned the city. Crow studied them. They were powerful, but nothing they hadn’t dealt with before.
“Stop thinking about work,” Lexie said with a smile, elbowing him.
They walked towards the middle of a rounded pool, over a narrow, blue tiled bridge. A big pool surrounded their sun lounge, they wanted the best one there was, it’s rustic design as welcoming as it looked in his dreams.
“Let’s focus on us,” Lexie continued.
She rushed to the bed. The white, semi-transparent drapes floated softly in the mid-morning breeze.
He couldn’t stop looking at her. He loved her so much it was an impulse he couldn’t resist.
Her hair, falling just below her shoulders, her beach hat, the beautiful contour of her back…
She lay on the bed and raised her legs, “oh my God! It’s even better than I thought!”
His cock was steel hard, he was lucky no one was near the pool. Seeing her dressed like that made him wild.
He balled his fists, trying to hold back. She lay down, then raised her legs up on air, giggling and enjoying life. This was just too tempting.
“Fuck,” Crow blurted out beside him, he was thinking the same thing.
Lucian gave him a quick glimpse and in a sudden impulse pushed him to the water.
Crow swung his arms like crazy, trying to find something to hold on to, his shocked face was a gift from the heavens.
“You’re so mean!” Lexie shouted, unable to hold back laughter, “oh, gosh! Crow!”
Lucian ran to her and lay by her side.
“You motherfucker!” Crow yelled, emerging from the pool, “I’ll kill you!”
Lucian’s finger was already grazing Lexie’s leg. This was a better vacation than he could have imagined. And they owed it all to her. The love of their lives.
CHAPTER 50
LEXIE
Goosebumps broke out on her skin. They had their sexy time right after waking up, but these two men were insatiable.
Lucian wore a tight, boxer-like swimsuit, Crow a looser one. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have met them.
They loved, cared and looked after each other. Each of them wanted her and loved her in his own special way. Lucian showed it with gifts and flowers, Crow with experiences, like finding new restaurants or joining her on a shopping —or business— trip.
In the end, it worked out perfectly. They’d gone through hell to get to where they were, but it was absolutely worth it.
After their little incident with Oscar, her men insisted on her going to therapy. She complied, just to make them happy, and three months later she felt better than ever.
It turns out traumatic experiences like that can be assimilated, understood, and forgotten. Especially when your whole life feels like a miracle.
Lucian’s eyes were practically devouring her.
“Again?” She asked.
“Always.”
CHAPTER 51
CROW
Crow was fuming. He wanted revenge. He was ready to pick his brother up and throw him to the pool like a rag doll when he realized what was happening.
Lexie looked at him and grinned, opening her legs a bit just for him. She could see in the bathing suit he wore he was ready to take her.
He looked around, every sun lounge faced away from here, to the ocean.
Crow drew the semitransparent, beige curtains, making sure anyone outside of their little love spot wouldn’t be able to see what was happening.
He grabbed the two pillows and threw them to the hardwood floor. The soft breeze passed gently through the drapes, holy shit, this is better than I expected.
Lucian was kissing her neck, I’ll have my revenge later.
