by Lolita Lopez
Knees wobbling, Lexi descended the stairs. She wondered if she would ever come up them alive. All the things she’d never told Tom and Frank came to mind. She choked back the tears threatening to overwhelm her. They knew she loved them. She’d have to find comfort in that.
Worse was the awful episode with her father last night. She loathed the idea of that nastiness being the last thing between them. If Ramon and Allie got her parents down those steps, Lexi was sure the three of them would never make it out of the cellar alive.
Down on the floor of the cellar, Lexi waited for Ramon to give her some instruction. She glanced around the massive room. The temp was cool and the humidity level perfectly situated for the best storage of the expensive wines. The room had been modeled after an Old World estate. A long table ran the center of the room. Red velvet chairs sat on either side. There were casks for show and an iron chandelier. It was a truly beautiful space and one the family didn’t use often enough.
It also housed millions of dollars of wine and spirits. The walls were lined with bottles. As a child, she’d loved to come down here to count the bottles and look at the pretty labels. It had been a nice place to hide while her parents fought upstairs or partied hard.
Swallowing hard, Lexi finally worked up the courage to ask, “Now what?”
Ramon stepped close enough to her back that she could feel him breathing against her neck. “Now we play.”
She barely registered his arm swooping high above her head. She never had a chance to shield herself from the blow that fell. Pistol whipped, she crumpled to the floor and lost her battle to stay conscious. The trickle of blood dripping onto her eyelashes and obscuring her vision was the last thing she saw before succumbing to the darkness.
*
Frank frowned at his cell phone as he waited for Tom to return from his trip to the taco truck parked down the street. That wasn’t like Lexi not to answer. He scratched his jaw and wondered if she and her parents were getting anywhere with their discussion. He put his money on no. Frank had a hard time believing Eddie Cortez would ever admit he’d done wrong or apologize. The man had big, brass balls.
The door opened and Tom hopped inside the driver’s seat. The smell of delicious breakfast tacos filled the interior. “She call back?”
Frank shook his head. “No text either.”
“Huh.” Tom fastened his seat belt and put the SUV in drive. He checked the mirrors before merging onto the street. “Must be some fight they’re having.”
“Probably,” Frank agreed. “Step on it, okay? I don’t want her to be alone any longer than necessary.”
Tom glanced at him. “She wanted to go alone, Frank. Don’t feel guilty about that. I think she knows she had to do this one on her own.”
Frank eyed Tom. This was one of those times when Tom understood Lexi better than he ever would. His childhood had been idyllic compared to theirs. His parents were loving and supportive. Neither drank or did drugs or even smoked. When he and Tom had met in elementary school, Frank’s parents had realized things weren’t good at home and had often invited him to stay over or have dinner. After Tom’s mother died and his father disappeared, his folks had all but adopted Tom.
“What?” Tom shot him a questioning look as they barreled down the highway toward the lake house.
“Just thinking,” Frank said. “It’s hard to accept that I don’t get Lexi like you do.”
“Well it’s hard for me when I consider that I have no fucking idea what a normal, healthy relationship between two loving people is really supposed to look like,” Tom replied. “Sure, I saw your parents and was lucky to spend time at your house but it’s not the same. Deep down inside, I’m pretty sure I’m rotten like my old man.”
“Stop.” Frank reached for Tom’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “You’re nothing like that miserable old bastard.”
“Only time will tell.” Tom turned his wrist and entwined his fingers with Frank’s. “What are we going to do about the picture?”
“I don’t know.” Frank stared out the windshield and considered Lexi’s reaction last night. “I think we wait and discuss it with Lexi. If she wants us to pay, we’ll pay. If she wants to tell them to go fuck themselves, we do that. The two of us with one woman wouldn’t really be much of a scandal in our worlds. You’re a professional athlete. I’m supposed to be a playboy business man.”
Tom snorted. “Yeah, right.” Then, more serious, he added, “If I didn’t think I’d go to jail, I’d whip Ramon’s ass.”
“Probably best to let me handle him,” Frank gently warned. He’d seen Tom in enough bar fights to know Ramon wouldn’t come out of that fight alive. Ramon had done the very worst thing in the world. He’d threatened to hurt someone Tom loved. For his man, that was the line in the sand.
“We should do something nice for Lexi.” Tom switched on his turn signal as they neared the turn for the private road.
“I was hoping this Cinco de Mayo getaway would be that something nice. We’ve burned a lot of our vacation time on this nightmare.”
“Dude, you own the business. If you want to take a month off, you can.”
“True,” Frank conceded, “but I can’t make a habit of it. We’re in expansion mode now and a lot of shit can go wrong. I’ve got to be there to put out fires as quickly as they start.” He rubbed the back of his neck and stretched side to side. Last night’s sleeping position had left him tight and aching this morning—and not in a good way. “But Lexi deserves a proper vacation. It won’t be easy but I’ll try to figure out a way for us to get away soon.”
Tom shrugged. “If you can’t, I’ll take her myself.”
Frank didn’t miss the playful warning. “Trying to muscle in on my woman?”
Tom laughed and lifted his arm. He flexed the rippling muscle. “I’m pretty sure I’ve got you spanked in that department.”
“If anyone is getting spanked—”
“It’s Lexi,” Tom interrupted as he turned off the highway. “She actually likes having her ass smacked.”
“So did you,” Frank insisted. Tom could protest all he liked but the few spankings Frank had administered to that taut backside had left Tom dripping pre-cum and begging for a good, rough fuck.
“Whatever.” Tom’s ears were red as he rolled down the window and eased to a stop at the gate. He punched in the code but the gate didn’t open. The alarm keypad beeped noisily. Tom typed in the code again, this time slower. Again, they were denied. “That’s weird, right?”
“Yes.” Frank picked up his phone and hit the speed dial key for Lexi. It went straight to her voicemail. His gut rolled with unease. “Something’s wrong.”
Tom sighed. “We’re jumping the fence, aren’t we?”
“We’ve done it before for her.” Frank alluded to the night they’d jumped the fence at Lexi’s home after she’d failed to show up at the gym for a few days. They’d feared the worst then but had been proven wrong. He prayed that was the case this time.
Cell phone in his pocket, Frank climbed out of the front seat. Tom backed off the road and pulled under a nearby tree. He killed the engine and jogged over to join Frank. The lighter of the two, Frank went over the gate first. Tom hefted his bigger body over and landed a bit more clumsily at Frank’s side. It was a five minute drive from the gate to the house. Rather than walk, they jogged the distance. A natural runner, Frank moved ahead of Tom by a few paces.
What he saw when they neared the house stopped him dead in his tracks. A large moving truck was parked near the garage. Barely breathing hard, Frank glanced at Tom who had finally caught up. Tom had a worried look on his face. “What the fuck, Frank?”
Frank shook his head. “Maybe Lexi’s mom is taking her things from the house? Or her dad? You know, paintings and furniture?”
“I don’t know.” Tom grabbed Frank’s arm and dragged him off the road and behind one of the massive crape myrtles lining either side of the road. The fuchsia flowers were in full bloom and provided good cov
er. Tom pushed him down into a crouching position. “The code is changed? Okay, I can believe that’s because Lexi’s mom wanted to keep Ramon out. A moving truck out front? All right. Maybe it’s like you said.” Tom’s fingers tightened on Frank’s shoulder. “But Lexi not calling or texting us the new code? Never.”
Frank didn’t argue. He noticed movement near the gap between the garage and the truck. The sight of Ramon dragging a dolly loaded down with cases of wine across the pavement made his heart race. A bigger man followed him with another dolly stacked high with cases. “A robbery?”
“That sneaky bastard,” Tom growled. “But where the hell is Lexi?”
“And her parents and Allie?” Frank wished they could get closer and get a look in the windows. There was too much wide open space to make it safe to run. Before he could ask Tom what he thought of trying to sneak from crape myrtle to crape myrtle, the other man inhaled sharply. His fingernails bit into Frank’s shoulder hard enough to make him wince. “What?”
Tom pointed to Ramon. The man had turned around and, there, clear as day was a pistol tucked into the waistband of his jeans. The sight of blood smeared on the back of Ramon’s shirt made Frank sick. He grabbed hold of the thick trunk in front of him for support. Whose blood was that? Oh, god. Not Lexi, he prayed. Not my Lexi…
“Call 9-1-1,” Tom hissed. “And request an ambulance.”
“We don’t know that Lexi is hurt.” Frank reached for his phone and started to dial.
“She’s not the one who is going to need it.”
His threatening words spoken, Tom vanished from Frank’s side. He tried to grab his lover and haul him back to safety but couldn’t move fast enough. Frank watched as Tom moved like some sleek jungle cat. He drew no attention as he stalked his prey, the big goon loading those cases of wine into the truck. Ramon had already returned to the house. Even though Tom had been out of the military for a while, he clearly hadn’t forgotten the skills that had served him so well in multiple deployments. Frank never thought he’d ever see Tom in action and had never imagine he’d see the things that had earned Tom all those medals. Now he had a front row seat.
And it was fucking hot.
Frank acknowledged it was wrong to find Tom sexy at a time like this but damn. Tom had that deadly soldier bit down pat.
The emergency operator finally answered. Frank gave the address of the lake house and described the scene as Tom disappeared behind the truck. He heard nothing coming from Tom or the goon and wondered if that was good or bad. A few moments later, Tom walked out and signaled for him to come. Frank finished his quick discussion with the 9-1-1 operator and hung up the phone. He silenced it and shoved it back in his pocket. The last thing they needed was for the damn phone to ring and give them away.
He raced across the open grass to Tom’s side. His lover wiped his bloody knuckles on his shirt. “She’s in the cellar with her parents. Ramon and Allie are the only other people in the house.”
Frank glanced into the back of the truck where Tom had tossed the unconscious man. Apparently a few good punches had been it all it took to get that information. “Do you believe him?”
Tom nodded. “There’s no way to fit a crew of burglars in this truck after it’s loaded down with cases of wine.” His gaze moved over the half-full truck. “That Ramon is such an arrogant prick he probably thought he could pull this off with just a driver and himself.”
“And Allie,” Frank reminded him.
Tom nodded. “You think this is why they pulled that crap with us?”
“To get us out of the house?”
“Makes sense, right?”
Frank agreed. “The sheriff’s department is on their way. I told them they’ll have to knock down the gate.”
Tom hopped up and grabbed the nylon strap attached to the van’s cargo door. He slowly pulled it down so as not to make much noise. He locked the door from the outside, sealing the goon inside. Frank almost felt sorry for the man. “Let’s go.”
Frank shadowed Tom to the open garage door. They slipped inside the air conditioned garage and hugged the wall. Tom entered the house first and motioned for Frank to follow when he was sure it was safe. Of course, safe wasn’t really the right word. They were knowingly walking into a house where at least one man was armed and had probably already shot someone, if that blood smeared on his shirt was any indication. Frank wouldn’t allow himself to even consider that person was Lexi. It couldn’t be her. It just couldn’t.
Tom crossed the kitchen and Frank was close behind. He could hear the voices from down in the cellar. Someone was yelling. He heard sobbing too. His gut twisted. Please. Not Lexi.
Tom motioned for Frank to hide behind the island. Frank scurried to the spot and flattened himself against the wood. He strained to hear Tom’s footsteps but the other man was so damn quiet Frank didn’t even realize he’d left the kitchen. Frank desperately tried to slow his breathing. Nothing could have prepared him for this. Adrenaline spilled into his blood stream and made him feel jittery. He could hardly hear over the whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of his elevated pulse.
Frank’s eyes widened as Tom suddenly appeared. His longtime lover crouched down and pressed his forehead to the cool wood. Frank had never seen that expression on Tom’s face. Whatever he’d seen or heard had both rattled and infuriated him. Frank needed to ask but he clamped his lips together. Something was thumping up the stairs. A body?
The squealing wheels calmed Frank. It was the damn dolly.
“You better give Allie the code or I swear to god I’m cutting off your daughter’s fingers next!”
Frank’s stomach dropped like a runaway elevator at Ramon’s shouted threat. Was he fucking serious? A worse thought intruded. If he’d reached the point where he was ready to hack away at Lexi’s hand, what had he already done to the woman Frank loved madly?
Ramon wasn’t going to get a chance to fulfill that threat. Tom moved into position. His piercing gaze warned Frank to stay put. He nodded to show Tom he understood. The dolly squealed as it carted its heavy burden across the butler’s pantry and into the kitchen. By the sound of it, Ramon had just passed the island and was turning toward the mud room. Tom was gone in a flash.
Frank held his breath. The seconds seemed to stretch on forever. The loud thud and gurgle told Frank Tom had his target. In the next instant, he heard a body hit the tile. He peered around the corner and spotted Ramon on his back. Dazed and bloodied, he gawked at Frank who rose slowly.
The murderous look in Tom’s gaze didn’t bode well. He extended the gun. “Take this, Frank. If he moves, shoot him. Empty that whole fucking magazine in this maggot.”
Frank took the gun from Tom’s hand. The handle was bloody and warm. Apparently, Tom had used Ramon’s own weapon against him. Before Frank could ask what Tom was going to do next, he raced out of the kitchen. Frank kept the gun trained on Ramon. He’d never liked guns—in fact, he’d insisted Lexi leave hers at home—but he’d never been more tempted to actually fire one.
Ramon was smart enough not to say a word. He held his hands up in front of him and didn’t even try to wipe away the blood gushing from his nose. Frank had to give him credit. He was smart enough to know when he was beat.
When a woman screamed behind him, Frank didn’t even flinch. He knew if he gave Ramon the chance, the other man would take it. Instead, he schooled his expression and remained unmoved. The scream hadn’t been one of pain but one of surprise. Frank had been around enough hardcore D/s clubs to know the difference. Besides, pissed off as he was, Tom wasn’t the kind of man who would hurt a woman, especially a pregnant one.
“Is that really Eddie’s baby?” Frank pointed the gun at Ramon’s balls. He was fairly certain that was the one place the man actually cared to protect.
Ramon swiped at the blood pouring down his chin and laughed, the sound thick and nasal. “You think that old fucker can still get it up?”
“So it’s yours.” Frank couldn’t believe the level of deception the pai
r had gotten up to. “Was that the plan all along? You two decide to con an estranged, wealthy couple? But the baby wasn’t enough, right? You realized you could get your hands on some real money. The wine cellar, huh? And then we showed up here and you realized you could blackmail Lexi?”
Ramon shrugged. “It’s rough out there, man. A guy’s got to make money however he can.”
Frank couldn’t believe the man’s audacity. “You’re a real pig.”
“Oh, that’s something coming from you freaks. What? You think Allie and I didn’t figure it out? I heard the three of you that night.” He made a face. “What kind of man wants to share his pussy with another dude?” Ramon eyed him with disgust. “What’s wrong? Your dick doesn’t work? Or maybe you just love dick more?” Ramon laughed. “That’s it, huh? You’re a fa—”
Frank stepped closer and put his finger on the trigger. “Say it, and I’ll blow your balls off.”
Ramon seemed to realize Frank wasn’t joking. That word was one Frank wouldn’t abide in his presence.
“Is there a problem?” Tom returned to the kitchen. There was blood around his mouth and on his face. Frank thought he’d been hit before he realized it was transfer from another person.
“Not if he keeps his mouth shut,” Frank replied. He started to hand the gun to Tom but he shook his head.
“You better keep that, Frank. Give it to the deputies when they get here.” The murderous glint in Tom’s eyes didn’t bode well for the other man. “I don’t need a gun to make my point.”
Frank touched Tom’s arm and brought him back to reality. “Don’t kill him, Tommy.”
Tom smirked down at Ramon. “He’s not getting off that easy.”
Flicking on the safety, Frank lowered the gun and spun on his heel. He headed for the wine cellar. Just inside the butler’s pantry, he heard Ramon start begging. “No! No! No!”
