It took Joe about an hour to get to us. Once the adrenaline had worn off, we each sunk into the freezing temperatures and biting cold. It was hard to focus on anything but the wet, stinging snow touching our skin. We huddled together to fight off the chill, and I watched Gavriel with trepidation while Ryker ran his hands up and down my arms.
When Joe showed up looking like a knight in his muddy Jeep and wearing a frown, I was equally relieved and anxious. “It’s not good, boss,” he said to Gavriel as we crammed inside the warm Jeep, our legs pressed up against one another as Grace curled into Nix’s lap, and I settled on Ryker.
“No shit, Joe. Your wife okay?” Gavriel asked. Now that someone other than us was here, he was slipping back into his natural leadership role. My teeth were still chattering, and Ryker eyed me with concern.
“She’s okay. Glad we didn’t accept Grace’s offer to stay the night though. It was a bloodbath, Boss. A fucking bloodbath.” I looked over at Nix and reached out to hold his hand, knowing that he was worried about Alessandro. The moment we had time alone, I was getting to the bottom of the nature of their relationship.
Joe started driving away from the main house. “Wh-where are you taking us?” I asked, my teeth chattering from the residual cold.
“To a guard house about eight miles from here. You need to finish this,” Joe said through angry, clenched teeth. He was surprisingly bossy when he was worried, and I couldn’t blame him. I bet he was thinking about having left Mrs. Joe alone.
Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, he then dug under the seat, pulling out various pistols and a bag of medicine for Gav.
“Thank you for coming to get us,” Gav said. “How many bodies?”
“There was no one left. All seven men stationed around the perimeter—dead.”
“Fuck,” Ryker said under his breath. Blaise glanced at me from the front seat in the rearview mirror, his eyes lacking their usual flirtatiousness.
“Seven? Only seven?” Nix asked. “Back in New York, you had at least thirty people in and around the building at all times.”
“Back in New York, people felt loyal to me. Loyalties go where the money and protection are these days, and Santobello keeps stealing my business. The only men really loyal to me are currently in this Jeep.”
Grace mumbled something so low that I couldn’t hear. “What was that?” Gavriel asked.
“I said,” she began while straightening as much as she could while Nix held her close on the bumpy road, “that you can trust Alessandro, too. He saved us.”
“Or he brought Santobello’s men to us and wanted to still appear on our side,” Ryker interjected, nearly taking the words out of my mouth. I wanted to believe he was good, but I didn’t know him as Nix and Grace did, and I didn’t necessarily trust him either.
“Did you...did you see his…”
“Body?” Joe finished for Nix. “No. He wasn’t one of the victims.” A weighted silence fell over the Jeep, and everyone mulled over their own theories about what had just happened.
When we arrived at the guard station of the property, I was so cold that I was sure my skin had turned blue. We each filed out of the Jeep and made our way towards an old farmhouse that looked like it had recently been renovated. Piles of snow lined the front, and bare trees towered over the roof, likely offering shade during the warm summer months.
Joe didn’t get out of the car though, he merely leaned out the rolled-down window and called out to us. “I’m going to get Sherrie.” I paused and turned around, as did Gavriel.
The rest of the group gave shaky nods of thanks to Joe before filtering inside. “You know it’s not a loyalty thing, right?” Joe asked Gavriel. “I’ll just be holding you back, and they’ll be looking for me, too. I’ve been tied to your family for a long time, Moretti.”
“I’ve never questioned your loyalty, Joe,” Gav replied stoically. “You just take care of Sherrie. Don’t worry about us.” Joe leaned his arm out the window, and they shook hands in that stiff macho way that made me laugh with how repressed it looked.
“Uncle Joe, I’m going to miss you,” I pouted, not able to help myself. It was freezing, and I needed to strip out of these clothes and into something warm, but I still wanted to say goodbye. I was glad that he wasn’t coming. I wanted him and Mrs. Joe to retire happily on a beach somewhere. They deserved that much. “I’ll tell Nix to deposit a nice little donation in your bank account once shit slows down. Should buy a pretty house in Florida.”
“Florida has gators and hurricanes.”
“Fair point. Why does everyone talk about retiring there then?”
“Hell if I know. I’m not old enough to retire, Sunshine.”
I laughed, committing every wrinkle of his to memory so later I could keep imagining our happy little family.
“I’ll see you again,” Joe said in a gruff tone. The wind picked up, blowing a strand of hair annoyingly across my cheek. I swiped at it, and my fingers grazed some moisture collecting on my cheek. Damn, I was crying, something Joe hated. “Oh,” he began while pulling something from his pocket. “I went back to Blaise’s apartment after the shooting and found this. Figured you’d want it,” he said, albeit a bit awkwardly as he handed over my knife while staring at the ground. Fresh tears filled my eyes, and I momentarily forgot about the troubles, fear, and my freezing skin.
“Sorry, I know you’re allergic to emotions. I can’t help it. I’m going to miss you, big guy,” I said while swatting away some of the moisture in my eyes and taking the knife from his grasp.
Then, Joe did something I’d never in a million years expected him to do. He looked up at me and smiled. A real one. And he had a perfect gap between his two front teeth that made me feel warm and familiar. He was so perfectly ordinary.
“Be safe. Keep your cool,” were Joe's parting words as he rolled the window up and pulled out of the drive. The bastard might as well have said that he loved me.
When we went inside, I immediately went to Nix and started stripping out of my wet clothes right there in the open, praying that Grace wasn’t a prude. He was sitting at a small desk against the wall in the living room, typing at a laptop that was covered in dust.
“When we’re settled, can you make an anonymous donation from Gav to Joe and Mrs. Joe?” I asked through gritted teeth while sitting in his lap. He too had already taken off his wet t-shirt, and I pressed my chilled skin to him with a sigh.
“Fuck, you’re cold,” he barked. “And absolutely.” He didn’t seem to be really paying attention. He braced both arms on either side of me and continued to keep typing away, looking over my shoulder at the computer screen. After a minute or so of sitting like that quietly, Blaise walked up and gingerly placed a blanket over my shoulders before leaving my best friend and me to speak in private.
“What are you looking for?” I asked while taking in the guard house. The interior was nearly empty. There was a flat screen on the wall and a couple of brown leather couches facing it. A hallway towards the left led towards a bedroom. The kitchen was dated, with curled, yellow wallpaper. It smelled like mold, too.
“Alessandro,” Nix replied in a hurried voice.
I kept quiet for a moment, knowing that he needed silence to work, he was in one of his moods. In the kitchen, Callum, Gavriel, Ryker, and Blaise were stripped to their boxers and standing around the table while wrapped in towels. They were whispering to one another and looking at me.
A fist slamming down on the desk drew my attention back to Nix. He hit the wood so hard it jostled his body, nearly knocking me off of his lap. “Sorry,” he said through gritted teeth. I swallowed a gulp of air and stood up, giving him space. “Come back here,” he quickly said while grabbing my wrist and yanking me closer. I ended up kneeling on the ground with my head in his lap as he combed through my wet hair with his icy fingertips.
“Are you okay?” When Nix didn’t respond, I knew it was severe.
“No.”
“Who is Alessandro to you
?” I asked.
Nix stopped scratching at my scalp, and I sat up to stare at him. His misty eyes looked me over, and I clutched my chest, physically feeling his hurt. “He was my past. I had no idea what sort of danger he got into. You know I thought he was just another spoiled rich kid, trying to piss off his parents?” Nix said.
“So you were in a vigilante group together? Was this the same place where you learned how to hack?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Nix looked distractedly at the screen once more before looking at me. “We can’t stay here long. Are you okay? I feel like a shitty friend, haven’t even really checked on you.” Nix then reached out and grabbed my hands, squeezing them as he sniffled.
“I’m fine. Shaken up, tired of all this bullshit. But I’m fine. If anything, I feel like shit for dragging you into all of this. You should have never chased after me, Nix.”
Just at that moment, Grace walked down the hall, carrying various articles of clothing in her arms. She had changed too, slipping into a baggy pair of sweats and an oversized flannel shirt. She plopped the pile of clothes on the kitchen table for the guys, and I noticed how Nix followed her every move with his eyes.
“It’s not been all bad,” he whispered. No, I guess it hadn’t.
“So what’s the plan, Nix? Seems we’re both at an impasse. You’ve got to go after your man, and it would seem that I need to go with mine,” I said with a half smile. It hurt my heart to be separated from Nix during such uncertain times, but our friendship was stronger than that.
“I’ve always been there for you, Sweets. You think I’m gonna leave you now?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I began. “I think you are. I think you’ve got shit to do and people to care about. You’re always with me,” I said before placing a hand over his heart, enjoying the feel of its beating for a moment before I continued. “But we’re not on the same path. We’ll meet back up again.”
Nix leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead, and I felt eyes on my back. We both stood, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we headed towards the others in the open kitchen.
Blaise was hunched over, resting his forearms on the wooden countertop. “We need to come up with a plan.”
“We need to leave. The longer we wait here, the more of a chance we have that they’ll find us,” Callum said.
“He’s right,” Nix replied. “Just checked, they’re scanning the area for us. I say we have thirty minutes to get the fuck out of here. Tops.”
Gavriel lifted a briefcase and plopped it on the table, making Blaise jump. With two clicks, he unclasped the briefcase and lifted the lid. I leaned around Nix to see what was inside.
A tiny stack of cash. Identities. Papers.
“How many cars do we have, and will they be traceable?” Nix asked.
“Three. And I have a few license plates lying around. The paint is peelable if you’re spotted. All are registered to ghosts.”
“Good. Grace and Nix are going to find Alessandro, and we’re going to visit your dad,” I said, my voice not wavering as I stared my mob boss down. He might not have been feeling like his usual controlling asshole self, but that didn’t mean he would let this plan happen without a fight.
“No,” he replied while counting over the money and supplies.
“Yes,” I replied. “Alessandro saved us. He helped Grace escape. If Nix trusts him, then I do, too.”
Nix piped in. “I think he got away. I saw his signature pop up then disappear. It’s a code, and I think I can find where he’s hiding with it.”
“Yeah, great idea. Then you both can be killed by Santobello,” Blaise replied sarcastically, and I gave him a dark glare. Sometimes his brutal blend of honesty really drove me crazy.
"How much money do you have?" I ask Gavriel, avoiding Blaise’s comment.
"Not nearly enough. Maybe two thousand. I try to keep stashes at all my safe houses, but most have been depleted."
I couldn't conceal my shock, and I felt myself blanch in response. "What do you mean ‘depleted’?"
"He means people are jumping ship and taking his cash with them. We've managed to save a lot of his funds, transfer savings to offshore accounts. He's got enough investments to live a long and happy life. But yeah, he probably only has about half of what he had before," Nix explained in a sort of clinical way before running back to grab the laptop and bring it to the table. "I've been keeping an eye out for any hits on you; I’ve tapped in and have a stream of whispers from Santobello’s crew. When he didn't attack after the church incident, I almost wondered if he'd given up, but look," he said while gesturing to the screen.
Gavriel leaned over to look at it, but I didn't understand anything within the scrolling letters. "The day Grace escaped, he put out hits on all of us. Anyone associated with the Moretti family is wanted delivered in a body bag," Gavriel said in a soft voice of disbelief. “Fuck.”
"You've got the best people money can buy after you," Nix explained.
"After us," Grace interjected before looking longingly at Nix. "You're associated with us, too."
Blaise cracked his knuckles. "The best?" he scoffed. “I’m the best. I'd like to see them try and catch us."
Callum stepped forward. “Can I see that?” he asked. He started typing on the computer, and I remembered that he majored in Cybersecurity. “Shit.”
“What?” I asked before stepping closer to him to peer over his shoulder. Gripping my blanket tighter to my body, I tried to make sense of the screen.
“The FBI has watch lists for everything, but it looks like your main accounts are flagged. If any of you try to take out cash or even think about using your card, you’ll have a team on your ass.” Santobello already proved with my father that he wasn’t above bribing agents to do his dirty work. We couldn’t catch a fucking break.
As I listened to them talk, all I could think about was each tick of the clock. I grabbed some of the clothes and put on a pair of fleece leggings then layered two long sleeve shirts. Unfortunately, my wet boots were my only option for shoes, but at least I had a new pair of socks.
The longer we stayed in one place, the more opportunities they'd have to find us. We didn't have time. Revenge might have been what Gavriel was good at, but I was good at running, and right now that’s what we needed to do.
"We need to leave," I whispered, drawing the attention of Ryker. "We need to go off the grid completely. No credit cards, no public areas. We need to hide for a bit, get them off our trail, then we can go talk to your father.” Ryker gave me a speculative glance that made me wonder what he was thinking. "We don't have time to discuss this. This is one area where I know my shit. We need to split up, too."
I looked around the kitchen, starting to feel that familiar twinge of the run, of getting away. There was a certain buzz I got whenever I escaped. It was an adrenaline rush that made me tingle with excitement but also echoed with the fear I felt when I left Chesterbrook.
"So, what do you suggest?" Gavriel asked in a low tone, and I was surprised that he was so willing to let me take the lead. Was this the new Gavriel? He did let Callum call the shots earlier, after all.
"I think that Nix and Grace should separate from us. You have plenty of safe houses scattered around that are off the grid. Let them hide there and locate Alessandro. They don't have to go after him to figure out where he is." I stood up and started circling the table, eyeing the identification cards and cash in the briefcase. Two thousand dollars wasn't a lot. It wouldn't get us very far, especially with the lifestyle Gavriel was used to. We would have to be very frugal. "How many cars are in the garage again?" I asked.
"Three," Ryker replied. He kept his eyes on me as I spoke, the corner of his lip quirking as he watched me work through the situation.
"Where should we go?" Ryker asked.
“I think if we split up, we shouldn’t tell each other where we’re going. In case—”
“In case one of us is captured,” Callum interrupted.
My best f
riend then enveloped me in a massive hug, lifting me off the linoleum floor before spinning me around, a move I'd only reserved for Blaise. It made me smile to know that he'd picked up on that little greeting. "Just the idea of not being with you is making me anxious again," he said. “When will all this bullshit stop breaking us apart?”
"Don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m not convinced that splitting up is a good idea," Gavriel said while crossing his arms over his chest. I wanted nothing more than to scream. Each ticking second, each moment brought Santobello closer to us. We didn’t have time to question things. Grace rolled her eyes, and I bit back a smile. It seemed that she, too, was used to Gavriel's overprotective behavior, and I felt a momentary sense of camaraderie with her.
"It's better than her going with you," I said, nearly shocking myself with how much I sounded like Gavriel. My voice was stern, but even, power and confidence were bubbling up within me, and it felt good. Running was my domain. I knew what I was doing. "We all might have targets on our backs, but you are a ticking time bomb. Santobello wants to end the Moretti reign, right? Well, you’re the spearhead of that. He's got some sort of vendetta against you, and now it's personal. If you and Grace stay close together, she’ll end up in the crosshairs. You have to decide if you love her enough to let her be safe," I said while keeping my voice steady and stern.
The room went deathly silent, and suddenly we weren’t talking about Grace and Nix. We were transported back to the same decision I faced when I didn’t tell the Bullets I was fleeing my father. I was the girl that decided she loved them more than she needed them.
I glanced at Ryker, who was gripping the edge of the table, his knuckles white. I knew what he was thinking without him saying a word. Maybe it was the familiarity of being in survival mode, but despite the churning of old memories in my gut, I felt my resolve growing stronger by the moment. Perhaps this was what I needed all along—a chance to prove myself to Gavriel.
"So, what’s it going to be?” I asked.
A few more ticks of the clock passed. I could practically feel Santobello’s eyes on me, and it felt eerily similar to Paul Bright’s grey-eyed stare. "Say your goodbyes and head out," Gavriel finally said, coughing a bit before heading to the sink. He turned on the faucet then bent over to take a sip. I fleetingly wondered if it was safe for us to be driving such a far distance with him. Sitting for long periods really hurt him, and the climate change might mess with his skin grafts. Not to mention, we wouldn't have his staff of nurses and doctors to check on him.
Love and Lead Page 9