by Amy Daws
His chest heaved as he took in deep breaths, regaining his control. When his heartbeat slowed, he lowered me to the ground. I slipped. He caught my waist and held me against him until I could trust my feet once more. Was it possible to fall more in love with a man who could take you, fuck you, and love you all at once?
“Your heart is pounding,” he whispered, holding me in his arms until I could stand on my own.
I didn’t trust my voice just yet. My throat was raw from the screams he ripped from me. Even so, they weren’t the ones I was suddenly concerned about: Beating on the bathroom door, men were yelling, demanding that Leo come out. One voice sounded oddly like Blake’s.
CHAPTER 48 ~ Leo
“Get out here, Leo. Right. Now.”
A booming pound echoed off the tiled walls of the shower. I instantly recognized the voice. What in the flying fuck was Sedric Rossi doing at the fraternity house? This was unprecedented…even for the Gold. My heart hammered in my chest at Adeline’s wide, terrified eyes.
“Who is that, Leo?” she asked, her voice hoarse.
“Sedric Rossi, Blake’s Dad,” I ground out, killing the water and throwing back the curtain. I grabbed the huge white towel and wrapped it around Adeline. Fuck. Seeing her naked and scared made me want to murder someone. I swore to protect her and now all I’d done was dropped her right in the middle of my shit. Outside the door, Chase’s voice echoed as he argued with Sedric, and whoever was with him, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying.
I wrapped a towel tightly around my waist and said, “I want you stay in here, baby. I’m serious. I’ll go out there and then I want you to lock the door after I leave. You promise?”
“Leo! No! Are you kidding me? I’m no letting you go out there then! You stay right here with me. What does Blake’s Dad want with you anyway?” She clenched the towel tightly around her chest. All evidence of our mind-blowing shower fuck was completely obliterated.
“This is Brotherhood shit. The Gold,” I whispered and her face paled. “I told you they are really powerful and fucked up and I don’t know what they want, but I can’t have you out there. I won’t be able to focus on anyone but you. If they try to say or do anything to you, I’m going to go fucking nuclear.”
Her jaw dropped and her lower lip trembled. I kissed her on the forehead.
“I need to put this shit to bed, once and for all,” I said. “And I need you to trust me that I know what I’m doing.”
“Leo, you can’t take them on by yourself!” She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward her.
I turned and cradled her face in my hands to reassure her. “I’ll be careful, Adeline. I know shit that they won’t see coming, and they won’t be able to touch me.” I kissed her on the lips. “Now stay here.”
Adeline threw on my boxers and T-shirt, and I tucked her back into the shower and closed the curtain. I knew it wouldn’t protect her if they wanted her, but at least they wouldn’t be able to see her when I opened the door.
As soon as I stepped out of the bathroom, Blake’s buddy, Dominic, grabbed me by the neck. He tightly clenched his hands, holding me in place. Anger surged through me. This fucker had put his hands on me one too many times this year. I would have loved to fight back right now, but I was a little busy holding the towel around my waist.
I looked up and saw Braden restraining Chase in a full nelson hold while Sedric and Blake stood ominously in front of him. Tommy, Wade, and three of our other brothers watched from the side fidgeting nervously. Micah held his hands up to them to prevent them from intervening.
“Blake, you know this is fucking bull shit!” Chase shouted and was promptly elbowed in the gut by Blake all while Braden held him still.
Chase flinched but didn’t topple over. His forehead vein bulged as he contained the inner anguish that a sock to the stomach had to cause. Wade lunged forward and Micah shoved him back easily.
“This isn’t our fight,” Micah shouted. “Leave it.”
Finally, Sedric slowly strode toward me. He cocked his head to the side. “I’m just trying to decide if we’d like some entertainment where we plan on taking you.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I asked, flinching as Dominic’s fingers wrapped further around my neck and dug in, applying pressure to my windpipe.
“I’ve always hated the ballet,” he replied, leaning forward to whisper in my ear. “But I don’t mind a screamer.”
“She’s a screamer all right,” Blake chortled.
I lunged at Blake, but it was in vain. Dominic’s grasp on my neck only tightened and then his elbow came crashing down onto the sensitive pressure point between my shoulder and my neck. The pain was instant and fire spread out beneath the muscle, dropping me to my knees.
“Your issue is with me,” I huffed, seeing spots from his hefty blow.
Sedric’s gaze traveled down to my towel. “Get dressed,” he barked nodding his head down the hall.
Dominic manhandled me into my room where I threw on the same clothes from last night. I was barely able to shove my feet into my boots before he started pushing me back out of my room. I didn’t fight them as they ushered me into their black Cadillac Escalade. My biggest concern wasn’t fighting these guys; it was getting them out of here and away from Adeline.
CHAPTER 49 ~ Adeline
Leo wanted me safe. That was his first and foremost concern. But to stare at the porcelain tub while Rossi’s entourage knocked him around outside the bathroom door was too much. Slammed doors were accompanied by yells for Leo to hurry the fuck up. I peeled back the shower curtain and stared at the space under the door like the people’s shadows could give me any indication of what was going on.
Only when tires squealed from the street did I step over the tub. I rolled Leo’s boxers down so they wouldn’t fall off of me. Tears swarmed my eyes like they were the God damned S.W.A.T. team. I held my hands together, wishing they would stop shaking long enough for me to open the door to peer out when Chase pushed it open.
“Are you okay, Adeline?”
I shook my head. How could I be okay right now? I wanted to scream. I wanted to punch something. I wanted to hurt something. They’d taken Leo.
“Where did they take him?” I asked.
Chase took my hands and pressed them together. “They aren’t going to hurt him.” He looked back at Wade and the others. “Guys, can you give us some space right now?”
“Did they tell you they just wanted to talk?” I shot back. Being angry was easier than sinking into worry. Rossis entourage just dragged Leo out of his house, and Chase was trying to tell me that everything was going to be okay.
Do I look like an idiot?
“Does the Brotherhood make a habit of kidnapping their members because of a love spat?” I demanded.
“Brotherhood? You know?” He dropped my hand and dragged his own through his hair, mumbling that Leo was a moron for involving me. “Leo should never have said anything—a love spat?” He repeated like he’d just pieced together what I’d told him.
I brushed passed him. I was no good to anyone in Leo’s T-shirt and boxers. I pattered into his room and hunted down my dress from the night before. It seemed like a lifetime ago that I woke up to him, safe in his arms. I found the dress in a pile at the end of the bed.
“Adeline, this isn’t just about you and Blake,” Chase called out as I scavenged for my clothes. “This Rossi/Richards tension has been around for years.”
“Yeah…and?” I muttered and turned my back to him as he entered the room. There was a time and a place for modesty. Now was not it. I pulled off Leo’s shirt and shoved my head into my dress. I bent over to pull Leo’s boxers off beneath the skirt.
When I turned around, Chase’s jaw was hanging open. I didn’t know if he was more surprised that I had just changed in front of him or if I gave him a peep show when I bent over.
“And this has been a long time coming I think.” Chase’s eyes were glued to my legs.
�
��So does the Brotherhood make a habit of kidnapping their members?” I asked again. Chase seriously needed to let it go and concentrate. We didn’t have time to recap the history of the Brotherhood. “Does Blake—the Rossis—do they bully everyone? Leo said that some pretty shady stuff went down at the meetings. He assured me the Richards don’t get their hands dirty. Are there others who feel the same?”
Chase seemed to focus the longer I talked. “They have enemies within the circle, but no one will stand up to them because—”
“They are afraid of getting dragged out of their house,” I finished. We were talking too slowly! I found my jacket on the other side of the bed along with my shoes. “Have the Rossi’s pissed off enough people over the years for anyone to do anything about it?”
Chase shoved his hands into his pockets. “I don’t know about the previous generations, but if anyone would know how many people have gotten screwed over by the Rossis, its Douglas Richards.”
Great! I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Douglas. I’d never been happier for this perfect gift.
“Douglas, it’s Adeline Parker, Leo’s girlfriend,” I took a deep breath. “He’s in trouble.”
There was rustling on the other end. “Was it the Rossis?”
“Yes and a few other members of the Brotherhood,” I added. We needed to pick up the pace and I could think of no better way to do so other than reference the Gold. I knew Leo wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, but if it meant keeping him safe, I’d fucking tell Sasha. Unless she already knew?
“Call his phone,” Douglas instructed. Over the other line I heard him call out to someone named Marge and told her to cancel his next appointments and then I heard pounding on a keyboard.
I covered the phone’s receiver with my hand. “Dial Leo’s number.”
Chase dug into his pocket and did as I asked. I listened for the rings. Nothing.
“It’s ringing,” Chase announced. “Now it went to voicemail.”
After I repeated the information to Douglas, he said. “Good. One of the perks of being in the Gold is that we have access to everyone’s services. The Rossis are—”
“Big into GPS,” I finished. “NetMapping…which means you can track him—”
“—using his phone,” Douglas finished.
CHAPTER 50 ~ Leo
“Mind telling me where we’re going?” I asked, sandwiched nicely between Dominic and Blake in the backseat. Braden drove while Sedric rode shotgun.
“Let’s call it…a Brotherhood retreat,” Blake whispered into my ear.
After driving for forty minutes, we pulled into a shipping yard that housed enormous houseboats owned by the wealthiest of Manhattan.
I followed my supposed brothers to the end of the pier and saw that we were heading toward the biggest yacht on the harbor. This was the Rossi’s family yacht. I had been on it several times for elaborate parties and even some Brotherhood meetings. This was all feeling like a fucked up mafia scene, and my skin prickled with nerves.
Dominic ushered me into the lush lower level seating area inside the yacht. It was covered in bright, white carpet and black leather furniture. It was enclosed all around except for one wall that opened up to the boat deck and views of the Hudson River. The glowing morning sunlight sparkled on the autumn leaves. If I were on any other boat, I might have appreciated the view.
“What? No rope to tie me down with?” I asked.
Dominic shoved me down onto a double wingback chair. Blake and Braden laughed evilly from behind me.
“No, Leonardo,” Sedric answered, coming to tower above me. “We’re businessmen. We’re not abducting you. This is simply an impromptu meeting of the Gold.”
I huffed out a forced laugh and refrained from rolling my eyes. “So let’s get on with it then.”
Sedric smoothed his black hair into place and paced back and forth in front of me. He was doing his best to intimidate me any way he could as the rest of his motley crew positioned themselves on the couch behind me. Damn, for a man who hated the ballet, he sure had a flare for the dramatics.
“You know,” he began. “When Blake told me about your run in with Adeline, I thought it was just a passing fancy. I thought you would get your rocks off and be done.”
“And then.” He laughed. “And then I heard that your mother had revoked that poor girl’s scholarship, and I was just tickled by the irony of it all!”
“What do you mean, irony?” I asked, turning my head to glare at Blake and Braden as they snickered behind me.
Sedric smiled. “You see, Leo, your father…he had to beg us to let your mother start that scholarship fund at Joffrey. He begged and pleaded! It’s not that the Gold isn’t charitable. But we only donate to those who can scratch our backs in return.”
He crossed his hands and brought them up to his chin. “But in a moment of weakness, I let them do it. So it felt rather ironic when it was your own mother to take it away from someone that you were stupidly beginning to care for. See? Irony!”
I rolled my eyes and bit hard on my tongue to stop myself from telling him to go fuck himself. He stepped closer to me and crossed his arms, squinting his eyes at me.
“But then you went back to her, like a fool. And not only did you go back to her…but you started showing her off! And acting as if you didn’t give a damn what the Gold thought.”
“That’s because I don’t,” I scoffed.
Sedric’s good humor evaporated as he cut me a menacing look. “We arrange relationships for a reason, Leonardo. A very specific reason. Our society only remains elite when we hand select who we let in and who we tell about the Gold. And we cannot let in trash like that ballerina fuck you’ve been prancing around town with.”
It took every ounce of restraint I had not to fly out of the chair and toss Sedric and his evil fucking face into the Hudson. But I was too interested in what he was going to say next.
“So we took matters into our own hands,” he continued. “And now your family will be paying the ultimate price.”
“How so?” I asked, tired of how long this all was taking.
His eyebrows rose with glee. “You’re going to lose everything!” he practically sang. “R&B signed a huge contract with Focal Pointe. I used my connections to see just how big and discovered that they sunk their entire savings into this ridiculous military campaign your father has them doing. So when R&B goes down for IRS fraud…so will Focal Pointe, and so will your precious love affair with that twirling sex on a stick.”
I swallowed, biting on my tongue at the rage bubbling up from his snide remarks about Adeline. Punching Sedric in the face would have felt good. But punching him in the mind was going to feel a hundred times better. I just hoped my dad was able to come through for me.
“So that’s what you think you have, huh? A little IRS fraud is going to fix all the problems I’ve caused.”
Blake joined his father in front of me. “This IRS shit is going to show the rest of the Brotherhood of the Gold that the Rossi’s won’t take shit from anyone. Not even a legacy.”
I laughed at that.
Blake strode forward, leaning down so he was eye level with me. “You laugh all you want, dick. But Adeline won’t stay with you after of this. And the Brotherhood will see that the Rossis mean business and aren’t to be fucked with.”
“That’s what you don’t get, Blake!” I said, standing and turning to address Sedric. “You guys might think you have the upper hand right now Master…what with the IRS combing my dad’s fucking office. But what you don’t know—what I think you’re prodigal son has failed to think of—is that R&B is clean. Sparkling clean. My father and my grandfather have never, not even once, used insider trading information or any of the other unethical bullshit you assholes have been pulling for years now.”
“Bullshit. You’re bluffing!” Blake shouted, shifting nervously on his feet. “Tell me then why R&B is so successful. How are they a Fortune 500 still? They weren’t like that when your grandfather left the G
old. That’s why your precious daddy had to come crawling back!”
I shook my head. “He didn’t come crawling back to break the law. He came crawling back to use the Brotherhood the way the Brotherhood was intended to be used. To make connections, network. Lawfully claw his way to the top. My dad worked his ass off for everything R&B has now and it’s going to take a lot more than a bullshit anonymous tip to take down the Richards.”
Blake scoffed and looked over to his father whose eyes were bugging out of his head. His expression was frozen in rage.
“If that is true, Blake,” he said slowly but surely. “If that is true, then you do realize what you’ve done, don’t you?”
“What?” Blake sneered, like I was the joke, not him.
“You made your own bed, Blake,” I said. “You’ve outted the fact that the Richards are above the line and have been for years. You see, we’ve looked the other way all this time while the Rossis have dragged the Brotherhood down into a deep dark hole of incestuous greed and arranged fucking marriages…but now, you’ve given us a whole new platform.”
“What do you mean? What platform?” Blake asked.
His head snapped back and forth from his father to me. I smiled broadly feeling a euphoric sense of victory at the clueless look on Blake’s face right now.
“You’ve shone a big beautiful spotlight on the fact that there are people within the Gold who aren’t corrupt, gold digging, money greedy bastards like you guys,” I said with confidence. “I think you’d be surprised to learn how many of our brothers would rather be like us…than like you.”
“Like who?” Braden asked, coming to stand beside his brother.
“Off the top of my head, I could give you forty-eight names,” my dad’s booming voice cut in.
My head swerved as my father, Chase, Micah, and several of my fraternity brothers came strolling into the yacht.
CHAPTER 51 ~ Adeline
Leo didn’t see me, not right away. Too many men blocked his view. Nevertheless, I saw him and was overcome with a huge sigh of relief when I realized that he wasn’t hurt. I didn’t know what I would do if they had done something to him. Surely my soul would have crushed along with my heart. Destroying Leo would have destroyed me. However, the Rossis hadn’t harmed him and destroyed my life like Blake had promised…