by Kaylee, Katy
Saving Beth
Katy Kaylee
Copyright © 2019 by Katy Kaylee
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover Photography by Sara Eirew
Created with Vellum
Contents
Description
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Epilogue
Best Friend’s Li’l Sis (Excerpt)
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Description
She’s the one that got away… ten years ago.
I am the head of the Diorno famiglia,
Duty. Responsibility. And above all, Family.
These are the only things that matter to me.
Nothing else. Nothing and no one.
That is, until she walks back into my life.
Elizabeth…
Blue eyes, luscious lips, and devastating curves.
She tells me that I mean nothing to her.
Looks at me like I’m a mere stranger.
But her eyes tell me a different story.
They beg for me to claim her.
To save her.
She’s trying to track down a serial killer.
Her life is at risk.
And now, Beth is not just the love of my life.
She’s also carrying our baby.
I’d be damned if I let anyone lay a hand on either of them.
Prologue
The sound of the rain against the sodden concrete was a dull roar in Leah’s ears but she barely noticed. The entire city was soaked to the bone by the chilly March storm. It was early spring, but winter still held on with a tenacious grip, refusing to break for the warmer weathers that April and May would bring.
Tall steel and glass buildings jutted into the night sky, metal teeth piercing the cloudy indigo night sky. Their lights shining like eyes peering into the darkness, standing watch over the city that she loved.
It was more than just her home. It was her heart. Her pulse. She loved the people, the crowded sidewalks, the bars that were sure to be bustling with those city-dwellers that were brave enough to face the rain. That feeling of never being alone but still anonymous if she wanted to be.
Leah inhaled deeply, drawing in the clean scent of the storm, the loamy smell of the greenway that she stood on, the tang of ozone that filled the air. She expelled it all with a soft, muffled laugh.
She knew anyone standing alone in the middle of the night, in the middle of a rainstorm shouldn’t feel excited. But she wasn’t most people.
With another laugh of pure pleasure, Leah ducked under a nearby bridge just as a bolt of lightning split the sky. A second later, the crash of the thunder followed, booming so loud that she could feel the noise reverberate in her chest.
She gave a hasty shake of her black rain coat, trying to get off the excess moisture from the rain and it splattered down in a puddle around her tall leather boots.
At least I dressed appropriately, Leah thought to herself with a grin. It was more of a coincidence than anything else. She’d left her small uptown apartment in the oversized black coat and boots because they were the darkest, most obscure articles of clothing she owned.
She couldn’t exactly go to a secret meeting with a liaison dressed in her everyday sunflower yellow pea coat. She’d stick out like a…well…like a sunflower in the middle of the dingy warehouse district she was now huddled in.
The goal was not to draw any more attention to herself as possible.
Leah glanced down at herself, nodded in approval, and then up at the massive red steel bridge that rose over head, protecting her from the torrential rainfall.
It stretched across the winding river that bisected the city and she watched its waters flow faster and faster as it rose higher on either side, flooding with the storm. She lost track of time as she watched the river rush back towards the city. Her dark gray eyes looked like wet charcoal and her blond hair, so light it was almost white, was so sodden that it was nearly falling out of the messy bun she usually wore it in.
She was on the outskirts of River west, in the middle of the warehouse district that sat on the very edge of the city. She was far from her cozy one-bedroom Uptown apartment. For a minute, Leah let herself daydream about being warm and dry, curled up under a pile of blankets and watching her favorite old detective movies.
Only for a moment, though, before she banished the thoughts. She knew she was there for an important reason. Just letting her thoughts drift to why she was standing there in the rain had excitement and adrenaline flushing her system all over again.
Leah flicked her dark gray gaze up to the bridge. A part of her was glad it was keeping her mostly dry, but it was also helpful to stay hidden from unwanted eyes. Not that there were many to see her amongst the deserted looking factories and industrial buildings that sat in the shadows behind her.
Leah felt a chill sweep down her spine but refused the urge to look behind her, to scan the darkness to see if she really was alone. Instead, she kept her gaze locked on the city skyline, marveling at the beauty of the place.
She loved living there. Feeling the pulse of the city. The hustle and the energy. She loved it all. She especially loved her job at the Chronicler, the city’s major newspaper.
As Leah waited, her mind wandered, thinking about how far she’d come from the college town that she had grown up in. The old stately brick buildings and hushed, venerated silence. Her sister had loved the university life, but Leah had gotten out of that town as soon as she could.
The day after she’d turned eighteen, Leah had packed up her things and headed for the city. Her parents had been aghast at the reckless move. What about college? What about her studies?
Leah felt a wry smile twist her mouth at the memory and then the pang of loss that always followed thoughts of her parents. That had been over eight years ago, that she’d left. And only two since the terrible accident that had taken both of their lives.
Ever since, it had just been her and her sister but they had always been polar opposites. Leah was the guts. Elizabeth was the brains. Her sister was the smartest person Leah had ever known, had graduated with her doctorate early and then went on to work in some high tech lab that studied…whatever it was that they studied. Leah knew it had something to do with astronomy and physics but beyond that it was…well, it was beyond her.
Leah’s wry smile twisted even further. The lab her sister worked at was only thirty miles outside of the city but they rarely saw each othe
r more than once every few months or so. Usually when Leah needed to ask to borrow some money. Guilt ate at her. She knew her sister didn’t understand her, or the life that she’d chosen.
No more after tonight thought. This will change all that. This will change everything. Leah had always dreamed of living in the city. Had always dreamed of being a top journalist, her finger on the pulse of everything that was happening. Anticipation rattled inside her as she looked down at the tan envelope clutched in her hands. This was her chance. Her ticket to the life, and career, she’d always wanted.
No more scrounging for stories or borrowing pennies from her overbearing sister. No more scraping by. No more bottom of the barrel assignments. What she held in her hands was going to be her golden ticket straight to the top.
Leah held the envelope full of printed photographs even tighter, protecting the paper from the damaging rain. She fought back a tiny kernel of doubt. She knew what was on these photos would cause a lot of trouble for some very dangerous people.
You couldn’t live in the city for long without hear the name Diorno, or the mafia family behind it. They were in charge of a major operation running drugs and weapons, amongst other things. The photographs Leah had would implicate them in something far more nefarious.
Her stomach roiled with unease. She had heard of people going up against the Diorno’s. They were never heard from again. Those were all just stories, she was sure. She had the law and the public on her side. Besides, she wasn’t stupid enough to bring her only copies of the photos, and she’d even sent copies of them to others, for safe keeping and for insurance.
With an impatient click of her tongue, Leah dug her cell phone from her back pocket. She didn’t know how long she’d been waiting there but she knew her contact was running late. Not that it was something out of the ordinary. She was used to waiting on sources and informants. They were, by nature, a secretive and scurrying lot.
Leah glanced at the clock. They could have been there ten minutes ago. From experience she knew she might be standing there in the cold and damp for up to another hour. Tapping her foot impatiently, her thoughts still on her sister and how rarely they’ve talked lately, she quickly dialed the number before she could second guess herself.
The other end of the line rang several times before switching to voicemail. Her sister hadn’t even bothered to leave an away message. After the robotic voice told her to leave her message after the tone, Leah opened her mouth. Just as she did, she saw her informant scurry out of the dark, his form still obscured by the surrounding shadows.
Her sister’s call forgotten, she let the phone slowly drop as she fought back another surge of excitement. This was going to be the biggest story of her life. Hell, it might even be the biggest story of the year.
It was going to make her career. She was going to be a legend.
But as the man crept closer, careful to stick to the deepest shadows she realized too late that it wasn’t her informant at all. It was someone else. And he had a gun pointed straight at her chest.
“No! What are you– who are you?” The stunned words fell from Leah’s suddenly numb lips and she took an instinctive step back but there was no escaping the man and his gun. He was right on top of her now. There was nowhere to run.
She cried out, trembling, pleading for her life but the man just stood there, staring at her with blank eyes.
“Please. Don’t hurt me. Don’t kill me. Whatever you want. Just tell me! I’ll give you whatever you want!” Leah pleaded desperately for her life but the man barely registered the words. She railed at him, screaming and shouting before trying to run. She only made it a step before a loud pop sounded in her ears and a terrible agony blossomed in her back.
She didn’t feel the concrete as she fell, her blood mixing with the rain, washed away towards the river. The open phone was still clutched in her motionless hand as the whole world spun away into nothing.
I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I’m so sorry. I should have called more. I love you, sis. I’m so–
Her dark gray eyes stared unseeing as the man crouched and grabbed the cell phone with gloved hands, tossing it into the raging river before taking the blood-stained envelope and tucking it beneath his dark trench coat. The man disappeared back into the dark shadows he’d emerged from, leaving the girl’s body laying crumpled on the ground behind him.
Chapter 1
Aiden
I stared at the men sitting in front of me and had to fight to relax my jaw. The urge to grind my teeth in frustration was almost too much to resist but I’d learned iron self-control at a young age. My father had demanded nothing less of his only son and the boy who would one day take over as the head of the Diorno family.
Billy and Remy were both staring at me in wide eyed fear and I knew why. It was said that my eyes, an icy blue so pale it was nearly white, could see into men’s souls and tell when they were lying to me.
It was a useful rumor, one that I let grow. In reality, I was just good at reading people. The increased pounding of a pulse at the neck. Pupils dilating. The hint of sweat on a brow in a chilly room. All were tells. And everyone had one.
The men in front of me were as easy to read as a god damned book, but I didn’t like what I read from them one fucking bit.
Billy and Remy both had the same dark brown eyes, twitching nervously around the room but never quite able to look straight at me. The cousins had nearly the shame shade of hair as well, so dark it was nearly black and both tousled as if they’d been ringing nervous hands through the strands.
Billy’s foot tapped incessantly on the gleaming hard wood floor of my office and Remy at least had the composure of a Diorno but he swallowed hard as if he were physically struggling to keep himself from vomiting all over said floors. Wise decision on his part. I fucking hated any show of weakness and even more so in my own men.
“Well?” I finally ground out the word. Soft and low. I never raised my voice. I’d found that this was so much more effective. Both men jerked in surprise at the sound of the single word, and both looked at me with identical wide-eyed expressions. I ground my teeth as frustration ate at me, but I had an iron-will control over myself and nothing showed on the outside. I had no tells. My father had made sure to beat them all out of me long since.
Remy shot Billy a sideways glance.
“Well what, boss?”
I leaned forward, steepling my fingers on top of my desk and made sure to keep my voice in that same even tone. Like glass grinding across bone.
“Which one of you are going to tell me what the fuck happened?” My voice didn’t change, just stayed even and calm. Both men swallowed hard at that. They knew it meant I was even more angry than usual.
They both started talking at once, both trying to claim no responsibility as they blamed the other. I let the sound of their cowardice wash over me for another minute before I raised a hand. That was all. Just a slight raise of one hand but they both cut off instantly.
I just looked at them for a long moment. I already knew exactly what had happened. Billy and Remy were lower level members of my crew but I knew it was often the lowest on the totem pole that could send the whole thing toppling to the ground.
I already knew that Billy and Remy had both fucked up. They’d been assigned a job to guard a shipment until it could be picked off their hands. Bored, Remy had wandered into a local bar for a beer and Billy had fallen asleep on the job. The shipment had been picked clean by a bunch of local teenagers. Little more than kids and they’d gotten the better of them.
I felt the pounded start in my left temple and let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose as the silence stretched on and on. They wouldn’t dare break it. Even those morons weren’t that big of idiots.
I had been the head of the Diorno family for the last ten years, ever since my father was murdered by a rival in the area. And today, I felt every single day of it.
It was times like this that I wished my father was still alive. This was th
e part that I hated. The politics of running the family business. And I meant family. The famiglia.
These two men in front of me were technically my cousins, so distant we weren’t hardly related at all but their father was an important man in the family and I couldn’t just ordered them taken out, which was my first instinct. One, for their mistakes, and two, because they were irritating the hell out of me.
I forced myself to sit back, looking casual when I felt anything but. I knew the urge was just a passing whim. I would never hurt one of my own, and as much as it made me grit my teeth, these two numbskulls were part of the Diorno famiglia.
“I know everything,” I finally stated, my face expressionless. Billy and Remy gave each other long, nervous looks, their faces going pale. I had to fight the urge to shake my head at them, or grab them both and shake some sense into them.
“I’m assigning you to the docks.” It was the worst job, but it was also the least essential, watching for boats to come in and keeping track of the security schedule. And I would make sure to have eyes on them at all times. It should keep them out of trouble, at least I hoped.
But as soon as the words came out of my mouth, both men grew even paler which was something to see with their olive Italian complexions.