by Casey Diam
I understood why my seeing the girls tonight would be a problem. He had known Caleb’s name would come up in conversation. Maybe I had, too, but I was the master of disguise when I wanted to be, but for the first time ever, I didn’t want to be. But I had to be, so I squashed the tiny doubts creeping in and smiled.
“Calvin gets enough of Caleb and me at home. I’m sure we’re the last thing he wants to talk about when he’s out, trying to have a drink. But how about you, Calvin? You promised I’d be seeing girls waltzing in and out of your bedroom, but I haven’t seen any. What happened with that?”
“Well!” Lisa twirled a finger in the air as drunken words tumbled out without a thought behind them. “I would say, by the way that bartender almost spit in his drink, you haven’t been paying much attention, Paige. This one’s sneaky. You have to watch him.”
“What?” I looked toward the bar in time to see Chelsey passing a dirty look our way, and as I swung my head to Calvin, I saw his oh shit look.
He slept with Chelsey?
My eyes must have conveyed the question without me having to voice it because I saw his answer loud and clear.
Later.
Although, “That’s old news,” was what he actually said to everyone else.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Caleb
The lawyer who was at the closing with me on the New York condominium sat in front of me inside a coffee shop. We were a few blocks from the real estate office where we’d closed an hour ago.
My fingers caught the handle on the cup, and I brought it to my mouth while I read through the new deed to my Quincy condo, which had initially been bought under my power of attorney. I signed in the appropriate places that would make the property officially owned by Madelyn Wells a.k.a Paige, and Calvin, though they would also get to use the same method I had used to protect my identity. They could schedule a meeting with this lawyer once I mailed them these documents. I didn’t know what would happen once I returned to Boston, but I felt the need to finalize these documents before I found out.
My accounts in the States had already been turned over to the FBI on the case as well as all of Alex Connor’s accounts that I knew about. I’d already reached out to my bank overseas to grant the only two people I could call family access to my legitimate accounts. The accounts the FBI didn’t know about. Those were my authentic accounts, including the condo I was gifting to Paige and Calvin, but the FBI wouldn’t see it that way. They would see everything I had as connecting to illegal activities. But, since I hadn’t ever had to pay for rent or for anything until recently, all the money I’d made from my position at the hotel and property management were deposited overseas. That account, along with my investments in Bitcoin some years ago, was still worth at least ten million.
I didn’t know why I’d isolated my accounts. One would think pussy was the only thing on my mind at eighteen, but I guessed I hadn’t been as distracted as I wanted to be—or maybe I’d just known this day would come.
❧
“I was fourteen at the time, and Brad, my brother, was eleven.” I positioned my arms before me on the metal desk as I looked into the camera. “I heard a scream that day. A woman. She was screaming for someone to stop, like she was being raped or abused. Maybe both. I wanted to help, so I tried to get out of the house, but I was caught by one of my father’s men. I got upset and told him I was going to tell someone and that they couldn’t keep me indoors forever.” My throat echoed in the still room as I cleared it.
“After that outburst, one of his men escorted me to a room in the building, and I was left there for a few days until one of them came to get me. He covered my head with a black cloth, and I was put inside a vehicle. I remember the drive taking a while, and when the cover was removed from my head, I was standing inside some room, could have been a basement. There weren’t any windows, and the floor was just concrete, covered in a clear plastic.
“Brad was there with me. He looked just as confused as I was. A man was standing in front of us, against the wall. A rope hanging down from some wooden planks in the ceiling was looped around his neck, and duct tape covered his mouth. I don’t know who he was. I’d never seen him before, but he looked to be maybe in his thirties, Caucasian.”
I sighed, trying to keep my mind in focus. I needed to verbalize enough without sorting through all the explicit details stowed at the back of my mind.
“Three of my father’s men came in with some huge fucking knives. I don’t know what kind, but they could have been butcher’s knives or something.” In my mind, I saw the blades glinting in the light from the ceiling. “Then, my father came in.”
“Would you be able to identify any of those other men today?” the attorney sitting across from me asked. He had salt and pepper hair, and the crow’s-feet around his sunken eyes indicated he was in his mid-fifties at least.
I shook my head. “They looked the same. Each of them had on a helmet with long, thick black gloves almost reaching up to their elbows.” Their outfits had made a lot more sense with what happened after.
The attorney’s head dipped and lifted in a quick nod. “Continue.”
I looked at the camera again, keeping Bailey’s and Langley’s doubtful glares at the other end of the table out of my periphery. “My father came in and handed me a gun. Told me it was my fault that this man was about to die.”
“If you’d minded your own business and kept your mouth shut, this wouldn’t be happening. So, now that you’re old enough, I’ll paint the picture for you. It’s becoming clearer every day. You’ll never be good enough to be a part of this family, but this might be your chance to change that. I’ve upgraded your paper targets. Let’s see you practice,” Alex Connor spit, pointing to the man against the wall.
My hand trembled at my side with the heavy weapon as I shook my head, my heart sinking as I stared into my father’s eyes. “I can’t.”
“But you will. Look at him.”
The hunger I’d felt with the little food I’d had over the past couple of days evaporated as I saw the fear in the man’s eyes.
“Each time you so much as think about snooping into things that aren’t specifically told to you, someone gets to die. Each time you get the urge to disagree and question anything I do, this will happen. You tell anyone about this, and we will come back here to do this again and again until you learn. Shoot him.”
“He directed his men to dismember the man until I shot.” Fuck, I didn’t want to get into the details. “Now that I’m older and think about it, I think the man had passed out from shock after both his hands were”—I swallowed—“chopped off, but I didn’t shoot. I kept telling my father the guy was already dead. When he saw I really wasn’t going to shoot, he took Brad out of the room and sent back one of the guys with a chainsaw. Left me to watch them finish dismembering the body. He told me that I would be back in that room, watching someone else die, if I disobeyed him or said anything to anyone about what went on at the house. After that night, they brought me back to the house and locked me inside the room again as a part of my punishment, and that was where they left me for the next two months.”
“Did it happen again?”
“No.” Not like that, I finished in my head, but just as fucking ruthless.
“We can stop here if you two are okay with this,” the lawyer said to Bailey and Langley.
“Yeah. That’s good for now. He needs to get back. We’ll pick this up next time,” Langley answered.
I left the building and headed to my car, feeling a weird prickling at the back of my neck. I’d been feeling it all day. Ignoring it, I hurried to my next stop at the post office. Since I’d left the condo yesterday, I’d been itching to check in on Paige, though I was still fucking pissed at her and Calvin. I mean, fuck, they were the only two I trusted not to use me as a pawn in their games, the way my father had.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and when I pulled it out, I saw AC lighting up the screen. I pressed the Answer key to see what the hell Alex Co
nnor wanted this time.
“Come to the house. We have some things to talk about.”
My jaws tensed and I swallowed.
Fuck.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Paige
Snuggling myself tighter into Caleb’s sheets, I stared at the wall from his bed.
Twenty-six hours.
That was how long it’d been since I saw or heard from him. He’d been so angry with me when he left that each second that he didn’t return, my hope lessened.
I just wanted to tell him I was sorry.
But what if this was really it? Where the road ended, where we each walked in our separate directions? He would go to jail, and I would...I would, what? Be pathetic?
I’d had a life before Caleb, yet here I was, wearing his T-shirt and moping in his bed. I’d even called in sick so I wouldn’t have to work at the bar tonight.
This was stupid. I didn’t need him.
Though every part of me was fighting that lie.
He shouldn’t have turned himself in and not told me. How fucked up was that? Like what we’d had and what we’d shared in this bed was nothing.
God, he’s such an asshole.
A few tears fell from my eyes, and I wiped them away, inhaling a breath as I brought his shirt to my nose.
Sometime later, a knock came at the door, and I sighed. “Come in.”
Calvin peered inside. “So, you’re going to spend all day and night in bed?”
“No, just until I figure out what I’m doing with my life.”
“Well, I hate to break it to you, but I’m five years older, and I still don’t know what the fuck I’m doing with my life, which means you might be lying there for a while.”
“Thanks.” My eyebrows furrowed, but my lips twitched, wanting to smile. I couldn’t believe he’d admitted to sleeping with Chelsey. “Don’t make me smile. You’re a douche, and you’re sleeping with the enemy. Now, go away, so I can mope.”
“It was one time, and she was being a bitch to you. No one messes with the family.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You slept with her out of spite?”
He shrugged. “More like flirted with her until she broke up with Ian. Then I fucked her and quit.”
“Calvin!” I scolded. “I don’t even know you anymore.”
He crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned against the wall. “I know. It was horrible, but I needed to get laid anyway. But, I will grant you your moping wish before I leave.”
The solemn expression taking over his nonchalance was telling enough, but I waited for him to speak.
The rest of the guys hadn’t stopped following Caleb. So, even though he had left for New York this morning, Rob had been watching Connor’s house all day, and Luke had been at Luxe, waiting for Caleb to return.
“Caleb returned to Connor’s house five hours ago, and we don’t know if he’s left.”
“What do you mean?”
Calvin jerked his head around as he gathered his thoughts. “Luke said, after Caleb arrived, a guy came out and pulled his car into the garage. About an hour later, his car pulled out, but you know with the tint, it’s impossible to know if it was really Caleb driving. Also, the car never made it back to the hotel.”
I grimaced, pulling myself up into a sitting position in the middle of the bed. “It wasn’t him. That’s why they pulled his car into the garage. Because, if his car was in the garage, then whoever might be watching wouldn’t know who drove that car away. That means—”
“They know someone is watching.”
“Yep.”
“Shit.”
We stared at each other for a moment before I let out a breath and shook my head. “If it’s the cops, if Alex Connor knows Caleb has been talking to the cops...” I didn’t have to finish that sentence.
“Shit,” he said again, inhaling.
“Yeah.”
Suddenly, I wished I hadn’t voiced my thoughts. I didn’t want to involve Calvin any further because Caleb had been right about that. There was no need to put a target on Calvin’s back. Connor wanted me. He would get me and hopefully one of my bullets in the process. I didn’t care. It was ridiculous how he kept getting away with this, and I’d be damned if he kept Caleb locked away in his freaking little world again. And, if he hurt him...
My fist curled into the sheets, and I looked at Calvin.
“Damn it, Paige. Your eyes are doing that thing again,” Calvin complained.
“Shut up. Ugh! I’m not killing you with my eyes...yet.” I scrambled out of the bed while I plotted inside my head. I needed to call Bailey. Find Caleb’s brother. He was probably at the gym, or if he wasn’t, maybe Alex Connor’s men were still there watching, waiting for me to show back up. And I would, tonight.
I threw on my disguise as I told Calvin, “I need you to drop me off at the gym.”
“What?”
I punched him in the gut with no force behind it as I headed to my room. “I don’t want you involved beyond driving me to places, Calvin, and that’s only because I don’t know how to drive.”
“Wait, you don’t know how to drive? What the hell?”
“Good. We’re on the same page.”
“Paige, what? Don’t do anything stupid. Just because Caleb isn’t here doesn’t mean I’m going to—”
“Calvin,” I said, calm, as I entered my room. Turning to him, I forced a smile on my face as I looked at him with the eyes he was so scared of. “Whatever I plan to do, you were on board with it before. I just didn’t give you all the details, which I’m still not planning to do because you won’t like it. A week from now, it will be exactly five years since that bastard came into my life and killed everyone I loved. Twenty years, if we’re counting my real parents. A month and a half ago, I found out who he was. That he wasn’t dead. He didn’t get caught, and most importantly, he wasn’t just a figment of my imagination. Alex Connor was still living, breathing, and ruining lives. He is still out to get me, and I have no freaking idea why.” A tear streaked down my cheek. “I’m done. You can’t stop me. Bailey can’t stop me. I can’t sit in fear, looking over my shoulder, waking up in the middle of the night, crying for no fucking reason, or being scared awake by a stupid fucking dream. And, now, I have to wonder what the fuck he’s doing to Caleb. I can’t do it, Calvin. I can’t. So, I’m done. I’m done sitting, and I’m done freaking waiting.”
“At least wait until tomorrow. Maybe he’ll come back. We’re still not sure they took him. With Caleb disappearing tonight and then you showing up at that gym, it’s too simultaneous. They could have caught sight of us or the FBI tracking Caleb. We don’t know anything, and it goes without saying that he still wants you safe, no matter what. So, let’s wait it out for tonight and then—”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” I bit out. “It makes me want to do the opposite.”
“Fine. Fuck! How did he do it? Jesus, bless his heart.” He squeezed his eyes shut, and then he caught my glare. “Fine. Sorry. Just cool it with the eyes, Evil Partner In Crime. Whatever you—”
“Stop. Just stop.”
He was trying to make light of the situation, but I couldn’t, not when Caleb was in harm’s way.
“Okay.”
I inhaled a long breath and paced as I let it out. “I won’t be able to sleep tonight. He left the phone he used to call or text us on in his room. I need two of the guys to keep an eye on Brad. He’s the only way I’ll be able to get to Caleb. But, fine. For tonight, what do you want to do?”
“Stakeout?”
Doubtful I’d be able to sit still for long with all the thoughts running through my head, I nodded. Anything was better than sitting around here, waiting.
Chapter Forty
Caleb
A set of fingertips grasped my chin and turned my face from side to side. My back was lying flat on the cold floor, and I didn’t want to wake up. Every time I did, it got worse.
But, as the fingers left my chin, I heard Alex Connor�
�s voice, “Have you figured out a way to fix this yet?”
My eyes squinted open to the room they had placed me in. Not even a chair was in here. The only thing besides Connor and me were the ropes binding my wrists behind me and the piece tying my ankles together because blocking the hits was not allowed. But at least I wasn’t in the dark room. It’d been so long that I couldn’t remember which was better. Darkness or pain?
I closed my eyes to remember.
A fist connected with my jaw, snapping my head to the side and smacking a side of my skull onto the floor. Sucking in air, I opened my mouth, tasting blood as I tried to work out the pain and the muscles that had tensed on impact.
This was the first time I’d seen Alex Connor since I walked through the front door today. This wasn’t the first time he’d taken the time out of his day to hit me on his own, though it’d been years since he had done it. I hadn’t expected it. I must have really fucked up to have this privilege. I still didn’t know how much he knew, so I wasn’t about to say shit. I’d been there, done that, and I didn’t care what they did to me. Being mute and keeping him uninformed was the only way I could be of help to the FBI, and with that, he could go where he needed to be—behind bars where he couldn’t hurt anyone else.
“Fix what?” I uttered, my voice hoarse and the metallic taste of my own blood for the past few hours sickening. I needed water.
“You’re a fucking disgrace to this family,” he roared. “Thirty fucking years, I’ve been running this operation, only to get sold out by my own.”
The tip of his shoe landed into my side, close to my already-bruised ribs, and I rolled away onto my side, bringing my knees to my chest.
“I should have eliminated you a long time ago, like I did your mother and her pathetic family. I should have fucking killed you before you were born, but I thought, Why not have someone who can take over my legacy one day? What a fucking mistake. I’d let you choke on your own blood before I let you bring me down, you son of a bitch, so I suggest you think real fucking hard. Just in case you need encouragement to help you think about how to fix what you’ve done, we still have your little nurse friend. Don’t think I’ve forgotten any of my promises to you over the years.”
