by Land, Alexa
* * *
We spent all afternoon with my friend, and when it was finally time to leave, I threw my arms around Sage and said, “I know you’re super busy these days, but please come and visit whenever you find the time. I’ve really missed you.”
He gave me a big squeeze and said, “I will. I’ve been way too focused on this place and my research. But I need more balance in my life, so I’ll plan on visiting the ranch in the next couple of weeks.”
“That’s great! In that case, I’ll see you soon. In the meantime, take good care of Stevie for me.” Lee thanked Sage and shook his hand before we put on our helmets and climbed back on the ATV.
The motor was too loud to carry on a conversation as we drove back across the island, but I could tell something was different with Lee. He held me a little tighter, with one hand pressed against my chest, as if he was feeling my heartbeat. Once we reached our destination and parked, he said, “Thank you for bringing me to the lab. Sage is a great guy, and that place was fascinating. I never got a chance to attend college. In fact, I never even finished high school. So to me, that was a whole new world.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“I did, and it was a great distraction from…well, pretty much everything. But now I should get cleaned up and change. It’s almost time to leave for L.A.”
When we approached the courtyard, the first person I saw was my grandmother, who was watering the large planters. I muttered, “Shit, my relatives are still here. I was hoping they’d be gone by now.”
Instead of trying to engage her, which would have been completely pointless, we entered the main building by a side door and went straight to my room. Lee took a shower and shaved before changing into the pants that went with his dark suit, along with a new gray dress shirt and tie. I said, “It’s funny. I saw you like this for a year, but I’m already used to the other version, the one in a polo shirt and sneakers.”
He frowned at his reflection in the full-length mirror, then turned to me and said, “It was nice to get a break from this for a while.”
I changed into a fresh T-shirt and a dark blue V-neck sweater, since Stevie had gotten my other shirt soggy, and as I put on a baseball cap, I asked, “Do you have time for dinner before you go?”
He glanced at his watch and said, “Not really. Rus is going to be here in less than fifteen minutes.”
“Should we wait for him downstairs?”
“Sure. I just need to do one more thing.” He glanced at me self-consciously before retrieving the gun and holster from my closet.
“You swore this meeting wasn’t dangerous.”
“It’s just a precaution,” he said, as he shrugged the harness into place over his broad shoulders.
The anxiety I’d been trying to keep at bay started to well up in me, and I blurted, “Maybe you shouldn’t go. I have a bad feeling about this, Lee.”
He put on his suit jacket before crossing the room to me and running his hands down my arms. “I have to. My people are worried, and like I said before, they’re looking to me for reassurance. I’ve put them in danger, Beck, and I can’t just abandon them. As for the gun, think of it like a security blanket. I just feel better knowing it’s there.”
I exhaled slowly and met his gaze. “I’m trying really hard not to freak out on you. The people at the meeting are all trustworthy. You said that.”
“They are. I’ve known Douglas Poulos since I was a kid, and he’s like family to me. Dave Fuller, Jake Jackson, and Seth Kaplan have each been working for me for well over a decade and have proven their loyalty time and time again. I trust all of them with my life.”
“That’s everybody?”
“Yes, those four, plus Rus and me. It really is just my innermost circle, and we’re meeting in a hotel chosen at random and booked with a fake I.D.”
“What about the helicopter? Who knows about that?”
“Rus chartered it under a bogus business name. Nobody can link it to me.”
I asked, “Will you come back here afterwards? Please?”
“I will. I promise.”
“And call me as soon as the meeting is over.”
“Definitely.” He drew me into his arms, and I clung to him as he rubbed my back and murmured, “It’ll be okay, Beck. I’ll only be gone a few hours, and then I’ll come right back to you.”
I made myself let go of him and said, “I know I’m overreacting, and I’m sorry about that. This is the last thing you need right now.” He kissed me, and then I took his hand and said, “I’ll walk you downstairs. Rus will be here any minute.”
“Are you sure? Your relatives are probably still around.”
“I can ignore them just as easily as they’re ignoring me.”
We took the staircase that led directly to the lobby. When we got downstairs, Colt greeted us and said, “A bunch of us are getting ready to head into town for dinner. I was going to ask you to join us, but it looks like you’re on your way out.”
I said, “Lee is, but I’ll join you, as long as my relatives aren’t part of this outing.”
“Ren is about to give them a ride to the ferry dock, and then he’s meeting us at the restaurant afterwards.” Colt squeezed my shoulder and added, “I’m sorry about today, Beck. I’m the one who asked them to come here, and I’d really hoped your grandmother would be ready to forgive and forget after all these years.”
“It’s alright. You didn’t know what was going to happen,” I said, as we crossed the lobby with him and stepped into the courtyard.
Ezra and Isaac were already out there, waiting for the rest of the group that was headed to dinner. My grandmother, aunt, and cousin walked up a moment later. Frankie gave me an awkward half-smile, while his mom studied the pavement and my grandmother literally turned her back on me. As if I was dumb enough to try to talk to her again.
Lee put his arm around my shoulders and guided me away from them. I looked down the road and spotted the black, open-topped Jeep Rus had rented in the distance. Somehow, he’d decided puttering around in a golf cart was beneath him. Meanwhile, Uncle Ren and Dante Dombruso got up from a patio table and started walking toward us, deep in conversation.
When they were maybe fifteen feet away, Dante glanced at my boyfriend and me. Then he jerked back so abruptly that it was as if he’d hit a wall.
I turned to look at Lee, who’d also stopped walking. His expression hovered between bewildered and shocked, and he pushed me behind him. In the next instant, Lee reacted. Dante made a move a second later.
Both men drew guns and pointed them at each other.
For an impossibly long moment, it felt like the whole world went silent and out of focus. All I could see were those two figures in dark suits with weapons in their hands. My breath caught, and fear prickled down my arms and into my fingertips.
I didn’t recognize my own voice when I yelled, “What are you doing?” Acting on pure instinct, I threw myself in front of Lee to keep Dante from shooting him. My heart pounded in my ears as I stared at Dante’s gun, which was now aimed directly at me.
Lee pulled me out of the way and tried to shield me, just as Rus appeared behind Dante, pointed a huge handgun at him, and growled, “Drop your weapon, or I’ll blow your fucking head off!”
Dante glanced behind him, then raised his hands before crouching down and placing the gun at his feet. “Kick it to Leonidas,” Rus barked, and when Dante complied, Lee pocketed the weapon.
My boyfriend grabbed my hand, and we ran to the Jeep while Rus kept his gun trained on Dante. After I clambered into the backseat, I turned to look at the courtyard.
It was like watching a nightmare unfold in slow motion. Colt had reached Ren, and he grabbed him in an embrace. Behind them, my aunt and her son were crouched down and hugging each other. Everyone else was rooted in place with fear and disbelief on their faces, including my grandmother, who was staring right at me.
Meanwhile, Dante turned around slowly with his hands raised. His expression w
as menacing, and he narrowed his dark eyes as he glared at Rus.
Lee got behind the wheel and shouted, “Let’s go!” His cousin took a few steps backwards, then ran to us and jumped into the passenger seat. A split-second later, the Jeep shot down the driveway.
I grabbed the roll bar to steady myself and yelled, “What the hell just happened?”
Lee looked in the rearview mirror as he exclaimed, “I don’t know! Nobody knew we were here, so how the fuck did Dante Dombruso appear out of nowhere?”
“Dante is my uncle’s business partner. Why did you pull a gun on him?” Why the hell was Dante carrying a gun, for that matter?
As Lee swung the Jeep somewhat erratically onto the main road, Rus turned to me and said, “That man back there is the head of arguably the most powerful crime family in the western U.S. He’s also a known associate of the McGrath organization.”
“The people Harris brought in to help him find Lee,” I murmured.
“That’s right.”
I slumped in my seat and tried to make sense of that as Rus rattled off some directions and we wove through a residential area. I had no idea where we were going, especially since the airport was in the opposite direction. In a few minutes, the neighborhood ended, and we climbed a hill to an abandoned construction site. A sleek, black helicopter was waiting on the concrete slab of what would have been a shopping center if the developer hadn’t run out of money.
Lee cut the engine, and as we all climbed out of the Jeep, he tossed the keys to his cousin. Then he grabbed me in an embrace and asked, “What the hell were you doing, getting between me and Dombruso like that?”
“I was trying to keep you safe.”
“But it’s my job to keep you safe, Beck, not the other way around.”
“Bullshit. We protect each other.”
Lee kissed my forehead and said, “Promise me you’ll never do anything like that again. I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you.”
“I can’t promise anything. If I think you’re in danger, I’m going to react.”
He caressed my cheek as he murmured, “You’re so stubborn.”
“I know.”
Rus joined us and asked his cousin, “What do you want to do with him?”
I shot him a look and snapped, “I’m right here.”
Lee took my hand and said, “Come with me to L.A. I don’t want to let you out of my sight.”
The three of us jogged to the helicopter and climbed aboard. After we were seated and wearing headphones, the pilot turned on the engine and set the huge blades in motion. They revved up slowly and gathered speed until they were a blur. Once we lifted off, the pilot swung around in a smooth arc and took us out over the Pacific.
The channel crossing took a matter of minutes, and soon Los Angeles sprawled before us. It looked like a dreamland from above, with traffic on the freeways transformed into rivers of light. Up ahead, the downtown skyline burned orange as a thousand windows reflected the sunset.
We landed on a helipad atop a skyscraper in the heart of downtown, which was surreal. The pilot’s voice came through the headphones, telling us to keep our heads down as we exited. Rus slid the door open, then hopped out first and waited while we followed him.
Lee grabbed my hand again, and we both crouched down and ran across the rooftop. The sound was deafening, and the wind whipped our hair and clothes. As soon as we stepped inside the building, the helicopter took off again.
There was a posh restaurant and bar on the top floor of the building we’d landed on, and we all decided we could use a drink. On the way in, I pulled my phone from my pocket. When I unlocked it, Lee took it from me and accessed the settings, and I asked, “What are you doing?”
“Making sure the GPS is off so no one can track us.”
When he handed it back to me, I saw that I already had five messages from my uncle asking what the hell had just happened and if I was alright. I messaged him with: I’m fine. I’ll call you in a few minutes and explain everything.
Once we were seated in a quiet, corner booth and our order had been placed, Lee asked me, “How long has Dante Dombruso been working with your uncle?”
“About a year, but they’ve known each other nearly a decade. They were neighbors when my uncle lived in San Francisco and ran an IT business in the Silicon Valley.”
“You mentioned your uncle had a silent partner before, but you never told me his full name. You also left out the fact that he’s a major player in the world of organized crime.”
“He isn’t really,” I said. “Is he? I mean, we all know his family used to be in the mafia. That’s not a secret or anything. But I got the impression he was talking about past generations. As far as I know, he’s a legitimate businessman…although that doesn’t explain the gun.”
Rus leaned back and stretched his long legs under the table. “The Dombrusos are a dynasty, Beck. By that I mean their involvement in organized crime goes back generations. Dante is the head of his clan, so that means the family business didn’t come down to a choice for him. He was born into it, and that isn’t a world anyone can really walk away from, so I sincerely doubt he’s gone legit.”
I turned to Lee and said, “You could walk away if you wanted to. Couldn’t you?”
“It’s hard to say.” He stopped talking when the waiter brought us our drinks, then continued once he was out of earshot. “I’ve pissed off plenty of people over the years, including men like Theo Harris who might want to make sure my past doesn’t stay buried.”
I mulled that over as I took a long drink from my martini, and then I said, “Dante had been planning this visit for months, and his entire family is joining him at the end of the week for spring break. Even if he’s associated with the McGraths, that’s not what brought him to Catalina. It’s just a coincidence that you and he were there at the same time.”
“In that case, I have the worst luck imaginable.” Lee scrubbed a hand over his brow, as if to fend off a headache. “I’m so sorry for bringing all of that to the ranch.”
“It’s not your fault. You didn’t know you’d be recognized there.”
“But I was, and now the ranch isn’t safe for either of us until I resolve my feud with Harris.”
“It isn’t?”
Lee shook his head. “Dombruso just learned I have a boyfriend. When he passes that information along to his colleagues, the McGraths won’t think twice about using you to get to me.”
“Dante might not say anything.”
Rus chimed in, “As if you could trust a man like that to keep a secret.”
I finished my drink and slid out of the booth. “I’ll be right back. I need to call my uncle.”
Rus warned, “Don’t tell him where you are, in case he repeats that information to his business partner.”
I said, “No shit,” before leaving the bar.
Once I was out in the hallway near the elevators, I dialed Ren’s number. He answered on the first ring with, “Are you really okay?”
“I am, I swear.”
“What was all that about? I heard Dante’s side of it, but I want to hear it from you.”
“Lee recognized Dante and mistakenly thought he was there to cause him harm, so he pulled his gun. When Dante saw him drawing his weapon, he must have reacted out of instinct by drawing his own,” I explained. “There are some very dangerous men looking for my boyfriend right now, and some of them are Dante’s associates. That’s why Lee jumped to conclusions.”
Ren whispered, “My God.”
“Is everyone alright? Your mother didn’t have a heart attack from all the excitement, did she?”
“We’re all fine. My mom’s on the ferry with Angela and Frankie. Colt and I dropped them off at the dock a few minutes ago, and we’re on our way back to the ranch. She’s furious, and she says she’s never coming back here, but that’s probably a good thing for a lot of reasons.”
“What did Dante do after we left?”
“He asked us ab
out you and Lee, but we didn’t have a lot of time to talk because my mother was flipping out and demanding to go home. When we left for the ferry, he was pacing and talking on his phone.”
“Shit,” I muttered. “It’s already too late.”
“Too late for what?”
“To beg him to keep my relationship with Lee a secret.” I shifted the phone to my other ear and asked, “Did you know your business partner is involved in organized crime?”
“I knew his family used to be, but he told me he’d gone legit.”
“If that’s true, why was he carrying a concealed weapon?”
“I don’t know. That’s one of the many questions I plan to ask him,” Ren said. “I have one for you, too: how long have you known your boyfriend is a criminal?”
“I had my suspicions for a while,” I admitted, “but it was only confirmed this past weekend.”
“Come home, Beck. Whatever Lee’s involved in, you don’t need to be a part of it.”
“Yes I do. I’m in love with him, so what affects him affects me, too. Besides, Seahorse Ranch might not be safe for me right now. The people looking for Lee could try to use me to get to him.”
Ren swore under his breath, and then he asked, “What can I do to help?”
“As soon as you get back to the ranch, beg Dante to keep quiet about all of this, including the fact that Lee and I are a couple. It’s probably too late, but it’s really important that he doesn’t share this information with every thug on the west coast. You and Dante are close, so make him listen to you. Tell him Lee won’t be back, so there’s no reason to bring more trouble to the ranch.”
“Okay. I’ll do my best to fix things so you can come home,” he said. “This is where you belong.”
“I love you, Uncle Ren. Please take care of yourself and our family at the ranch. I have to go, but I’ll talk to you soon.”
“I love you, son. Be safe.” The word ‘son’ almost made me break down in tears. Ren had been more of a father to me than anyone in my life, and I was ashamed that I’d repaid his kindness with secrets and half-truths. When this was over, I vowed to finally be honest with him about the money, the prostitution, all of it. He had a right to know.