by Malone, Nana
I shook my head. “I’m not doing it, so you might as well kill me now.”
He reached down for Jinx and grabbed her by the hair. She squealed, kicking and screaming. “No, I’ll kill her.”
My eyes went wide, and I put up my hands. “Okay, okay. I’ll call him.”
Jinx winced when he released her, and she clamored to her feet. “You’re an asshole.”
“Fair enough,” he scowled. “You’re not the first one to tell me that.” He turned his attention back to me. “Make the call.”
29
lucas
This is hardly how I wanted to spend the evening. Sebastian and I were going over the books for the charity, making sure we’d found all the missing spots in Tressel’s accounting. “You know I’d rather do something else right now, right?”
Sebastian chuckled. “Yeah, me too, but this has to happen. If we want to put an end to Tressel once and for all, we need to settle the accounts for all of it. Blake Security’s forensic accountant is working on it as well, but I want you and me to have a full understanding. I don’t want things to get this far out of hand again, trusting the wrong people. I trust you.”
What the hell was that in my chest? That tightening, the warmth? It’s called love. I nodded. “Yeah, good point.” My phone rang, and a quick glance had me smiling. I picked it up. “Sweetheart.”
I ignored Sebastian mimicking me from his desk. “I thought you were with Jinx. Are you back in the palace?”
Because if she was back at the palace, then I was ditching Sebastian. I’d spent enough time away from Bryna, so if she wanted to hang, we were going to hang.
When Bryna spoke, her voice was shaking. “Lucas, you have to come. He’s here and he says he’s going to hurt Jinx, and—"
“Bryna? What are you talking about? Who’s there?” The moment the words were out of my mouth, the pit dropped out of my stomach. Oh hell, he’d found her. Sebastian stood immediately, pulled out his phone and began talking to someone. “Bryna, is it Tony?”
“Yes. He said if you don’t come—"
“I’m on my way. Stay calm. I’m coming for you.”
“No, don’t. It’s a trap. He wants to—"
It seemed the phone had been yanked out of Bryna’s hand. “My boy. Like your little girlfriend said, I will kill her.”
Fuck. “Tony, you bastard. You lay a hand on her, and I will kill you.”
“Kid, you’ve been threatening to kill me since you were sixteen. Did she forget to mention that I have her little friend too? Pretty blond, short hair, nice rack.”
Oh God, he had them both.
“You have an hour. I want my money kid. As a matter of fact, I want that royal money. I know who you are, and I want what you’ve owed to me all these years. Five million. Wired account. Or your girlfriend and her pretty roommate die. One hour. I see cops, I kill them. You fuck with me, I kill them. Hurry up kid. Clock’s ticking.” Then he hung up.
I stared at Sebastian. “He wants five million or Jinx and Bryna—" I couldn’t even finish the thought. My stomach churned, my head spun, and I couldn’t get enough air. I had to get to her.
The muscle in Sebastian’s jaw ticked. “Stay calm. I already have the Royal Guards on the way to the house. Police as well.”
Was he insane? “No. He said no cops.”
“These men are very good. He won’t see them.”
“Sebastian, that is my—"
“Your what?”
“It’s the woman I love. If something happens to her, I won’t—"
“Nothing is going to happen to her. This time, you’re going to have to trust me. In the meantime, I’ll have the bankers start working on funds. I’ll call Willy.”
“You’re going to pay him? He’ll just come back for more. He’ll threaten everything. This, this is what I was afraid of.”
“And this is what I’ve been preparing for. Together, we’ll fight this. Stay here. I’ll go talk to Ethan and see if we can mobilize rapid response too. They aren’t under purview of the Royal Guard but we can call in a favor. Basically, they’re like SWAT. We’ll get them out unhurt. I promise you.”
He took off running and left me in his office, as if I was going to sit there and let someone else go deal with it. Oh no. Bryna was in danger, and that meant I was going to her. It didn’t matter what it cost me.
* * *
Lucas
My heart pumped erratically as I swerved and skidded on the streets of Pacifica. The roads were familiar now. I’d driven there dozens of times, coming to see Bryna, picking her up and taking her back to the palace. I just had to get to her, and quickly.
When I reached her apartment, I didn’t even bother with finessing into a parking spot. I just went ahead and parked in the fire lane. It was a parking violation, but I had royal plates. I could park wherever I wanted, and I figured this constituted a freaking emergency. I took the stairs two at a time. As I reached her unit, I started banging on the door. Inside, I could hear Tony shouting. “You need to back away from the door. Back away, or I will start shooting.”
I panted as panic started to take over the adrenaline. Overflowing. Overtaking rational thought.
“Look, you’re here for me. The money is coming. It’s being wired as we speak. And with me as a hostage, you’re guaranteed a way out of here. If anything happens to her or Jinx, you’ve got a one-way ticket to the dungeons.”
Inside I could hear Jinx say, “See, I told you there were dungeons.”
And then I heard a thud of some sort. Oh God. “Hey, don’t get nasty. You want me, it only works if they’re unharmed.” I said a million prayers to every deity I could think of that I wasn’t even sure I believed in. All I cared about was Bryna being okay. Safe. Unhurt. I’d always known my past would come back to haunt me. I just hadn’t thought it would be like this. I’d done everything in my power to avoid her paying the cost, but maybe it hadn’t been enough. “Come on, what do you say? I’m the one you want anyway. What better bargaining chip is there than an actual prince?”
“Lucas, don’t you dare.”
Bryna’s voice was muffled by the door, but I knew that there was no way she wanted me sacrificing myself to save them.
“Yeah, I know. But, better you safe than anything else.”
Tony yanked the door open, gun raised and pointed. He did a quick sweep of the hallway and made sure that no one else was with me.
“You came alone?”
“You said I had an hour. I’m buying you time by giving you me as a bargaining chip. With me as your hostage, they’ll have to comply. They are obligated to. No BS, no nonsense. I’m the prince. They’ll have to give you what you want.”
Inside, I could see Bryna. She was shaking her head. Tugging furiously at the ropes on her wrist. I shook my head at her. “Bryna, relax. I know what I’m doing.”
“Stop it, doofus, he’s just going to kill you.”
“Yeah well, if you’re safe, that’s all that matters.”
Okay, that was meant to calm her down, but it had the exact opposite effect because she just stomped harder. She and Jinx. Except, Jinx had a—what was it? Was it a knife? She inclined her head at me, and I could see that she was almost free.
Okay, so no matter what I did, she’d get Bryna out of there.
“You want to be free, take me. Walk away. Leave this place. You can go wherever you want and wait for your money.”
“I swear to God Lucas, if you do this…”
I ignored her and shook my head. I kept my gaze on my stepfather. “What do you say? Offer expires in thirty seconds.”
He glanced at me and glanced back to the girls. And then with his gun pointed at me, he stepped out and closed the door behind him. “Okay. Let’s go.”
I could no longer see Bryna, but they should be safe. Jinx would be free in seconds, and they would get to safety. I just hoped that my brother was able to get his people to her. Tony and I were ending this once and for all. And it wouldn’t be at Bryn
He led me down the stairs and around the back of the building. The pit fell out of my stomach when I saw the dingy Oldsmobile. I knew what he’d want.
“You know the drill, kid. Get in.”
“You really think this is necessary?” The trunk of the car was always his favorite way to transport me from job to job so no one would ever see us together.
“No, but this shit is fun for me.” He handed me a black bag. “Now put this on.”
Thirty minutes and a mild panic attack later, the car stopped. I could hear the trunk of the car opening. There was a familiar sound too. The ocean. We were on an island so that wasn’t’ a surprise. The surprise was how close it sounded. Through the bag, I could smell the saltwater.
Tony yanked on my arm. “Come on asshole. Gotta stash your sorry ass so no one knows where to find you.”
I ripped the bag off my head. “Fuck you.”
He laughed as he shoved me toward the caves near Jack’s beach. That was the reason I’d heard the water. We were on the cave cliffs above the beach. Just one problem; The beach in this area was mostly secluded thanks to warning signs and barricades on the road warning about unstable rocks in the caves, so no one would happen by us.
Rumors were that the caves had been pirate hangouts back in the day. Get your shit together. Figure a way out. Bryna will be safe by now.
“You know kid, you always were an idiot. With them, I would have settled for the money. Now that I have you, I want the money and your head.”
“You can have whatever you want.” I put up my hands. “As long as she’s safe.”
He rolled his eyes. “God, it’s like I never taught you anything. Never ever fall in love with the mark.”
“And that’s what you don’t get. Bryna was never a mark.”
I gave him my dangerous smirk then delivered a jab to his nose before struggling with him, the two of us eventually tumbling from the cliff and landing in the water.
30
lucas
We thrashed in the water, but something was pulling us back down. Was I blacking out? Even as the fatigue set in, my muscles started to loosen. I held on tight. If I could just keep locked on his wrist, I could make it work. I could not let him escape. He must not. Tony still fought in my arms though. Thrashing. All I had to do was hold on tight. My life for her life, I could do that. But I wasn’t being dragged down. I was being dragged back up. Finally, cool air hit my face and I blinked up.
“Oi, mate.”
“Roone?” Did I dare let go? Did I dare relax? Maybe I was dreaming. I tried to lock my hands and my legs again, I couldn’t let go. I couldn’t fail her.
If I could do one thing right, I could do this.
But then someone was tapping me on the arm and my gaze shifted. I saw Ethan pointing a gun straight at me and Tony. Oh, I wasn’t asleep. This was real. They were real. Sebastian… He’d come through. Jesus Christ! I unlocked my hands and my legs, and the fatigue hit me like a tsunami.
Roone shook his head at me. “Mate, why is it you are always actively trying to get yourself killed? Honestly. I’m just curious. How many times have I saved your ass now?”
“I didn’t know we’re keeping track?”
“Up you go. You two were going to drown fighting with each other. I want to get this asshole into jail,” Ethan said.
Roone and I grinned at each other. He reached out a hand, and I clasped it as he pulled me to my feet. I swayed a little as I tried to get the earth back under me. “Are you all right?” Roone asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I guess I didn’t exactly think I was going to make it.”
“Yeah, about that, please try not to kill yourself. I can’t keep coming back for ya, man. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to learn how to save your own ass.”
“Shut it. Tomorrow you’ll get to fuck with me. Until then, I need to see Bryna.”
Roone nodded. “Come on. Of course she insisted on coming. The two of you deserve each other, I swear.”
“Yeah, we do.” And then I considered for a moment. “Hey, do you mind keeping that—”
He finished my sentence for me. “That you were willing to kill yourself just now to keep him away from her for good? Your secret is safe with me.”
“Thank you.” I followed Roone out of the cave, and when I came up on the shore, Bryna tore free of the guard that had been crowding her, and she ran straight into my arms. Then she wrapped her body against mine, spider-monkey style. I held on tight. “Man, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”
And then she hit me on the arm several times. “If you ever do that to me again, I will kill you myself.”
“What? What did I do?”
“You offered yourself in my place. That was so stupid. What would I have done if I’d lost you?”
“As if that was ever going to happen.”
“You’re not invincible, you know?”
I shrugged and then just squeezed her tighter. “Maybe not. But having you makes me stronger. I wasn’t going let him interfere with us in any way. I’m just grateful you’re safe.”
“I am. I know that you never wanted to be a hero, but I’m glad you were my hero this time.”
God, I loved her. I leaned over and slid my lips over hers. “I hear you.”
“Great. Now, do you want to tell me why you’re wet?”
I kissed her soundly, then murmured against her lips. “You ask too many questions.”
Bryna nodded as she clung to me. “Okay, then how about we go back to the palace, get you naked, and you can explain.”
I kissed her again.
“Woman, I love how you think.”
* * *
Lucas
“You seem like you’re enjoying this a lot.”
I smirked at my brother as we climbed out of the car in front of Dominic Tressel’s office. “Oh, like you’re not?”
He shrugged. “I’m the picture of decorum and restraint.”
I glanced back at the follow car stuffed with four Royal Guards. “You call them restraint? They look like bruisers.”
My brother grinned at me. “Yep. I could have brought Ariel and Penny. Tressel would have nothing left if I’d brought those two. As beautiful as she is, my wife is surprisingly uncompromising.”
The visit hadn’t been announced, so as soon as we approached the door, everyone from guards to reception fell all over themselves to bow or curtsy and get the hell out of Sebastian’s way.
One executive assistant tried hard to both please her king and protect her boss. Brave little thing. “Oh, Your Majesty, Your Highness. I’m afraid Lord Tressel isn’t available at the mo—”
My brother was having none of it though. “What’s your name?” he asked as he interrupted her midstream.
She cleared her throat. “Sarah, Your Majesty.”
“Sarah, does Tressel pay you well, or treat you with respect?”
Her mouth hung open as if she hadn’t thought this through before. “I—well, not particularly.”
“Then why stand up for him?” He sounded genuinely curious.
“It’s my job, sir.”
Sebastian nodded before reaching a hand inside his jacket pocket and pulling out a card. “When you are looking for a new job, please use this. I could use that kind of dedication to work.”
We left her in our wake, and she stared after us.
Tressel was at his shredder when we walked in. He nearly jumped a mile when he saw who had barged in. “Y-you can’t be here. You have no right to be here.”
“Actually, Lord Tressel, I do.” Sebastian took a seat and motioned for me to do the same before turning his attention back to Tressel. “You can stop with the shredding. We had the evidence we needed of your crimes long before we marched in here. There’s nothing you can shred that we haven’t already seen. And that includes your mistress files.”
Tressel paled. “How do you know about that?”
“I’m the sovereign of the Winston Isles. There’s not much I don’t know. Now have a seat so we can have a civilized conversation.”
Tressel dropped his papers he’d been attempting to shred. “Fine, Your Majesty, but I will not have this conversation in front of him.” The old man spat the word ‘him’ as if I were a rodent.
It was okay, he wasn’t that far off. I just wanted this business done. “I’ll wait outside.”
Sebastian slanted me a glance that pretty much said, ‘You sit the fuck down.’
Fair enough. I stayed put, despite my inclination to fight against being told what to do.
Then my brother turned his sharp gaze back on Tressel. “So, here’s how this is going to go. You are going to hand over all files you didn't keep online. Everything in your safe, everything you have. Then I am going to have my forensic accountant work with you to trace and recover every single dime you stole from the trust.”
Tressel swallowed hard as Sebastian continued.
“But before all of that, you’re going to make a public apology to the new head of the Artistic Trust.”
I sat up straighter. Say what now? I wasn’t aware Sebastian had named someone new. Granted, we’d had our hands a little full between dear old stepdad and the slice of betrayal by Marcus, so we hadn’t had much time to talk. Also, I’d been pretty much keeping Bryna tied to the bed so… there was that.
Tressel sputtered. “What the hell? I haven’t resigned.”
Seb’s smile was evil. “You don’t need to. I’ve assigned someone.” And then he turned to look at me. “How do you want your apology, Lucas? I can make him kneel and kiss your ring if you’d like. That’s a bit Joffrey for me but hey, he tried to dick you over, so it’s your call.”
A second ticked by, then another, and I blinked at my brother. Me. He’d assigned me? Was he insane? We’d have a whole conversation about this later. He was clearly out of it. But for the moment, I rolled with it. “You know what? I don’t even want the apology. I want him to give it to his daughter.”
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