The best thing to do was to get out of town, keep a finger on the pulse, and see who survived the night.
“Keep me updated, Marco.”
“Will do.”
She ended the call and whipped the car into her garage, waiting until the door descended to get out.
All it would take was a whisper, a word, and there’d be people out to kill her.
She dug in the center console, reloading her gun. The days of going out without protection were over. From here on out, she’d be carrying wherever she went.
Seattle was a good enough place to go as any right now. Once she was there, she could figure out her next step. If it involved pinching the head off Taylor, well, all the better for it. Julia would need to take care of that rat, one way or another. Julia couldn’t control the FBI out west like she could here. Unless...
Hadn’t one of the boys been transferred?
What was his name?
Julia could picture his face—but what was his name?
She pushed open the door to the house, still grasping for the letters.
It was right there, just outside of her reach.
“Julia,” a man’s voice roared.
She gasped and skid to a stop in the kitchen.
Vito barreled through the archway, his face red, eyes bulging. The bruising made his face a grotesque mask.
“What the hell, Vito?” She pressed her hand to her chest, the tattered remains of her bag hanging off her arm.
“What did you do to Taylor?” Vito stalked around the island.
Julia circled around the other side, keeping the slab of stone between them.
“I—I haven’t done anything. What are you talking about?”
“Danny told me you sent Ciro after Taylor. With Angelo.”
“Because you let her get away with those files, remember? Danny wouldn’t be so sweet on you if he knew the truth.”
“What have you done?” Vito clenched the side of the counter. He’d shed his suit jacket and now the buttons down the front of his shirt strained. It was so easy to dismiss him as a mild-mannered giant of a boy. She’d never seen him enraged.
“She’s alive. She’s fine.” Julia sighed and rolled her eyes.
“You sent them there to kill her.”
“I sent them to get the files and her. Not to kill her. She’s no good to me dead.”
“You’re lying, Julia.” Vito vaulted up onto the island and slid across so fast Julia barely had time to get out of his way.
Vito lunged for her. Julia brought the bag up and squeezed the trigger. Vito howled and went to the floor, clutching his leg.
“God damn it, now look what you made me do!” She threw the bag down and set the gun on the counter.
Vito clenched his teeth and gripped his leg.
It was just a leg.
It wasn’t his heart or head or anything.
“I have to think.” Julia paced to the other side of the kitchen and set the gun down.
There was a chance two bosses were alive.
Two.
Including hers, who’d already wanted her dead.
And now here, she had to go and shoot her husband.
If she killed Vito, the cops would match the bullet in his leg to that at the crime scene. She couldn’t leave Vito here.
Which meant he had to come with her. Now.
Good thing she had a private plane chartered tonight. The bad part was that the plane was owned by one of the more influential members of MS-13. That little bit of damning evidence would not work in her favor. If anyone found out. So, she’d need to make sure no one knew where she’d gone or with who.
“Well, Vito, I’m afraid you did this to yourself.” She sighed and shoved the gun back into her ruined purse. “Better hope you don’t bleed to death.”
20.
Taylor kept her gaze down, as though the answer to life, the universe and all her problems was written on the old, threadbare carpet.
They hadn’t spoken much since last night. Ian had stammered out something, but she’d saved them both the awkwardness of discussing what he’d said by reheating their lunch for dinner. She was pretty sure they’d both lain in bed without sleeping much.
Her back and neck were a wreck, completely tense, knotted up. She had a headache just from waking up.
A bit of movement across the room caught her eye.
Taylor glanced up at Ian shrugging into his jacket.
He’d said he loved her.
It was likely just a statement made in misguided passion.
He barely knew her.
How could he possibly love her after a couple weeks?
Taylor wasn’t sure she knew what love really was.
She cared for people. She wanted the best for Stacey. Vito. Ian. But did she know what love was? Was it this warm, sort of fuzzy feeling that made her want to do stupid things? Like stay in Seattle longer than was necessary?
And every person who’d ever claimed to love Taylor eventually left. Or died. Or were lying. Why should Ian be any different?
He had less reason than her mother or ex-husband to stick around.
The smart thing to do would be to leave. Now. Walk out of here, go to a bus stop, get on a Greyhound headed hundreds of miles away, and figure it out when she got there.
The ruthless thing to do would be to use the help Ian offered, and when she was ready—leave.
Taylor didn’t want to do either.
She’d given up the home and life she’d made for herself because she had no other options. Staying in New York was suicide. But out here? She had family. Stacey didn’t know it, but they were sisters. George wouldn’t want Taylor anywhere near them, though. Which left Taylor facing the exact same question.
Why was she staying?
Ian had the files.
He was the kind of Dudley Do-right who would make sure they got in the hands of the proper authorities. Likely even people who could do things. But damn, that took time. And she couldn’t find it in her to put more faith in a system that’d already failed her twice. A third time was just...stupid.
Which left Taylor circling the same drain she’d been struggling to crawl out of.
Why was she staying?
Julia would come for her. It was too much to hope that she’d forget.
If Taylor wanted to survive, if she had any hope of getting away alive, she needed to go now.
And yet, every time she sucked down a breath to suggest running to the corner store or grabbing something...she couldn’t make herself speak.
Ian wouldn’t see her deception until it was too late. He was blinded by his we can do this mentality. She knew it well. She used to believe in that sort of thing, too. Back before reality bit her in the ass.
Taylor turned, watching Ian sort through his clothes, still not looking at her.
She opened her mouth.
A knock at the door silenced the words in her throat.
Ian gestured, waving her into the bathroom. He grabbed his gun out of his suitcase and instead of peering through the peep hold he crossed to the far side of the room.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” He peered out of the window onto the front walk.
“Who is it?”
“Is Julia a shorter-haired version of you?”
“Well, uh, some people think we look alike. Is she—are you saying she’s out there?”
“Go out through the bathroom.” Ian loaded a bullet into the chamber of the gun, the metallic snick of the slide sending ice shooting through Taylor’s veins.
“Taylor, I know you’re in there.” Julia knocked once more at the door. “If you care about the welfare of your cousin, you’ll open this door now.”
“No, Taylor. Stop!”
Taylor was across the room before Julia finished speaking. Ian rushed Taylor, batting her hand away from the door.
“She might have hurt Vito, because of me.” Taylor stared up at Ian, wiling him to understand.
“You wa
nt to walk right into her trap?”
“What if it was Chloe? Or Delilah?” Taylor nudged him aside and unlocked the door. She still had the files, so Julia couldn’t kill her outright, could she?
Taylor opened the door, Ian at her back, and stared the devil in the face.
Julia stood on the other side of the doorway in an elegant white dress, her auburn hair coifed and curled, her red lips smiling. Probably the better to bite with, but what did Taylor know?
“Dear me.” Julia tsked, her gaze traveling down Taylor’s body. “Put on some weight, have we?”
“What do you want?” Taylor asked.
“Are you going to invite me in?” Julia’s smile widened, but her eyes didn’t move. Her beauty was artificial, but it hadn’t seemed to matter to anyone.
“No.”
“And Vito put his life in your hands?” Julia sighed.
“Are you alone?” Ian asked.
“Well, now, who is this?” Julia stepped forward, sliding past Taylor. “Aren’t you handsome?”
Ian brought his gun up, pointing it at Julia, who ignored the weapon.
“What have you done to Vito?” Taylor pushed the door shut and faced her stepmother.
“You don’t even have anywhere to sit. What a dump.” Julia wrinkled her nose at the room.
Yeah, it was basically a one-room apartment, little better than a hotel room, but at least there was a bed and running water.
How had Julia found them?
Where was Vito?
“I can put your ass on the floor right now,” Ian said.
“Oh, I like this one.” Julia chuckled. “Save the foreplay for later.”
“Vito.” Taylor snapped her fingers. “What did you do to him?” Was he alive?
“Your cousin’s not looking too good, Taylor.” Julia grasped the strap of her handbag. Her expression might have been called sad, if her brows moved.
“What did you do?” Taylor repeated. Again. Her hands and knees shook.
“I shot him. He needs medical attention, which I can ensure he gets—if you do me a favor.” Julia’s smile was back, as evil as ever.
“I don’t have the files,” Taylor said. It was a truth, but for all Julia knew they’d burned up with Angelo.
“Well, then Vito is going to die a slow, painful death. Poor thing.” Julia shook her head and sighed.
“What do you want?” Ian asked.
“I want my step-daughter to do as she’s told.” Julia leveled her dark stare at Taylor and pulled out her cell phone, holding the screen so Taylor and Ian could see it. “I want the files, and Taylor, delivered to me by...I’ll be generous and say tomorrow at noon. If not, then Vito’s going to regret ever helping you.”
“Oh—oh my God.” Taylor covered her mouth.
Was that Vito?
He...all that blood...was it his?
Ian took two steps and pressed the barrel of his gun to Julia’s chest.
“What’s to keep me from marchin’ you out o’ here right now, huh?” His voice was a dangerous growl.
“If I don’t pay my friends a visit in the next hour or so, they’ll start looking for me.” Julia stared back at Ian. “The first place they’ll check is with your sister. Chloe, right?”
“You, bitch,” Ian snarled.
“Ian, Ian—stop.” Taylor shoved him away from Julia.
There were parts of the story Taylor hadn’t told Ian, because they weren’t significant enough to mention. But now...
Holy shit. Trouble had just come to roost, and it was a mean motherfucker.
“Tomorrow. I’ll have Vito text you where. Kisses.”
Julia turned and sashayed her way out the front door. If Taylor didn’t hate her stepmother as much as she did, she’d admire her balls. It took a big, brass pair to pull the shit Julia did and get away with it.
“What the fuck, Taylor? Seriously, what the fuck?”
Ian slammed the door shut and cranked the engine. He’d probably left half his shit behind in the mad dash to get out the door. He peered into the rearview mirror. It would make sense for Julia to have a tail on them.
“Drive, just—go.” Taylor buckled in. If anything, her pale complexion told him this was every bit as bad—if not worse—than he suspected it would be.
“How the hell does she know about me? An’ Chloe?” He needed to call his sister, tell her to go. Now. He picked up his phone from the cup holder. Taylor slapped the phone away. “What the fuck?”
“Listen to me,” she snapped.
“Then talk.”
“Drive.”
He shifted the SUV into drive and gassed it a bit too hard out of the parking lot. He didn’t know where he was going, only that he needed to move.
“I might have...understated a detail when I told you everything.” Taylor leaned her head back against the seat and stared at the top of the truck. “The guys Julia was using to rough up the neighborhood? They were MS-13. She has some sort of agreement or truce or something with them.”
“What the—really? Are you fuckin’ serious?” He stopped at a yellow light just to gape at her.
MS-13 was quickly becoming the next, biggest, baddest thing when it came to organized crime. The mafia had arguably had their golden days. MS-13 was still building steam. Born in jail cells across America, the organization had grown to other countries through deportation and spreading influence of arms and narcotics trafficking.
“I didn’t know. I mean, I recognized them from the tattoos, but I had no idea Julia was working with them. That’s why I was so confused when they took out all the shops and then family stuff sprung up after.” Taylor shoved her hand through her hair.
“I have to call Chloe. She needs to get out of here.”
“No!” Taylor thrust her hand out. “No, that’s the wrong thing to do. If Julia’s confronting us, that means people are watching Chloe’s house. If she runs, if she does anything out of the ordinary, they’ll grab her to hold her as leverage. It sounds counterintuitive to let them continue on, but if I get the files back and go to Julia, they’ll never know they were being watched.”
“What the fuck are you sayin’?” Ian whipped into the parking lot of a not-yet-opened fast food chain and stared at Taylor.
“It’s over. Julia wins. She has all the leverage. Vito. Your sister. The only way to keep everyone safe is to give her what she wants.”
“Don’t you fuckin’ talk like that.” He thrust his finger at her. Didn’t she know she was just as important as her cousin or his sister? “She got one over on us, that doesn’t mean she wins.”
“What are we supposed to do, Ian? Tell me. Please.”
He stared at her dark eyes, the deep lines of worry.
Taylor would trade herself in a heartbeat, for a woman she’d never met if it came to that. God, Taylor and Chloe, the two of them would drive him out of his mind, but he loved them both.
Zain was going to haul his ass all the way back to headquarters to face the big boss for this, but it had to be done.
“Give me my phone.” He held out his hand.
Taylor bend and grabbed it out of the floor board.
“Ian, please don’t do this,” she said.
“You don’t know what I’m goin’ to do.”
He jabbed out a quick text and an email.
For this sort of thing, he needed backup. Guys he could trust. And a couple of badges. He double-checked the time and turned his phone off.
“Where’s your phone?” he asked.
“In my pocket. Why?”
“Take the battery out.”
She held her phone in the palm of her hand.
“Take the battery out. Now. Think about it. How’d they find us?”
“I don’t know.”
“The only person who knew where we were was Kade. So how would Julia know where to find us?”
“Ciro.” Taylor’s eyes went wide.
“Who?”
“Ciro. He was this guy who worked for my dad.
Julia had him do things, he was always the person they called when they got a new TV or tablet. He’s sort of their go-to for anything techy.” Taylor pried the pieces of her phone apart.
“Keep them. We might need that to make contact with her.”
“What if... What if Julia’s known all along where I was?” Taylor stared at the dash but he doubted she was seeing anything in the vehicle. “Back when you first got here, Vito sent me a weird text. Usually, we talk on the phone, but we haven’t lately. I just assumed he was busy.”
“We’re gonna get him back.”
Ian pointed the SUV toward his stomping grounds and put on the speed, a plan taking shape in his mind. He doubted Taylor would like it. She was more of a one-woman army sort of fighter, but the way he saw it, they needed every man on board.
Half an hour later, Ian pulled into the alley behind Trinity Hall and slid into one of the parking spaces. Just his luck Erik’s beat up old truck was there along with his aunt’s VW bug.
“What are we doing here?” Taylor’s eyes widened.
“There’s an apartment up over the bar. We can stay here tonight, or as long as it takes us to put together a plan.” Ian got out of the SUV and circled around to open Taylor’s door.
“What plan?” She sat there, unmoving.
“I’m workin’ it out as we go.”
“I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
“And no one will, if we’re lucky. Come on. Trust me?” He held out his hand and willed her to take it. He couldn’t force her to believe in him. She had to cross that bridge on her own.
Taylor turned her head, staring first at his hand then him.
Her brow creased, and he thought for a moment she might have been about to cry. Instead, she pushed a hand through her hair, muttered something, and placed her palm in his. He lifted her knuckles to his lips.
They’d get through this. He knew they would.
“Okay, what army did you call in?” She let him lead her through the back door of the pub.
“Zach, Tali’s brother, is goin’ to come in and go over your phone. He’s a real tech whiz. Hopefully, he can swing by Tali’s, get the files, or somethin’ that’ll pass for them. I want you to tell Owen the full story. From the very beginnin’. He’ll know someone we can trust.”
Alpha Prince (Twisted Royals, #1) Page 19
