Billion Dollar Hearts (Inconguity Series Book 3)

by Thandiwe Mpofu

  God, I like this girl.

  “Yeah man, if it wasn’t for fat Alice, you wouldn’t be with us and you know it.” Max says as he re-enters the room with a platter of bacon. “You know McGuire has a hard-on for you, right?” He jokes then looks at me.

  “You look better today.” Max smirks, looking pointedly at my neck where I know Gideon left a huge hickey on me.

  “Max, just don’t.” I try to scowl at him but I can’t keep it up.

  “I didn’t say anything.” He lifts his hands up in surrender, bacon in hand—his perfect smirk that I suspect drives ladies crazy, still in place.

  “Yet.” Sam interjects as she takes a seat directly in front of Max.

  “You want me to say something to you then, doc?” Max says to Sam as he wiggles his eyebrows in a way that is not supposed to be charming or sexy but it comes across as just that.

  “Oh please, I have no interest at all to be told sweet nothings by you. They mean absolutely nothing when they come from you.” Sam says, making me raise an eyebrow at her. Sam is never this heated about anyone, usually she flirts right back but now, she looks like she is not having with it Max.

  “Right on, girl!” Alice encourages Sam and they both high five, obviously they both have ganged up on Max. I don’t know if I should be proud of the girls or feel sorry for Max. Decisions, decisions.

  “Morning.” A deep, oh so damn sexy voice comes from beside me. I swear, I would orgasm just from his voice alone. He comes to a stop right beside me, his front almost plastered to my side and I feel the stirrings of arousal as he looks at me.

  “You look good in my t-shirt.” He says, his gaze possessive as he looks me up and down. Max and Sam’s bickering falls into the background as the center of my attention stares at me.

  “You don’t look too bad yourself.” I say to him, noticing the way he is dressed in another one of his perfectly pressed suits. This time, this one is a dark navy blue, with a shirt to match. I feel my mouth watering just from taking him in. Our voices are low and intimate, for both our ears only.

  “Don’t look at me like that, I don’t have time to fuck you the way you need me to.” He whispers in my ear, snapping me out of the haze of arousal that was beginning to cloud my judgment.

  “Where are you going?” I demand.

  “Take a seat and we’ll talk about it.” He says, nodding to the chair he pulled out for me but I hadn’t noticed. I take a seat and he pushes it in for me and once I’m seated and he takes his own seat at the head of the table, just beside me, the food starts getting passed around, everyone joking and exchanging jibs here and there.

  I’m surprised to see Peter at the table, but there is something about his silent demeanor that calms me and sparks fear within me. It’s almost like he knows he is dangerous but he knows exactly where to unleash his terror. I watch him as he sips his coffee, listening to the conversation going on around him. But, I especially watch the way he keeps looking at Alice—who is unaware of the intense stare directed at her animated face—looking at her as if he is captivated by her every word and by the sound of each laugh that her lips let loose.

  Is there something happening there?

  In that moment as if he senses me watching, he looks up and catches my gaze and before I can feel embarrassed, Gideon clears his throat and silence falls around us as all eyes turn to look at the beautiful man beside me. A beautiful, magnetic, silently vibrating with power and energy but oh so dangerous man.

  “I’m sure you all have noticed that there is a lot of. . . unfortunate incidents that have happened, been happening for a while now.” He starts with that deep rumble of a voice that I am fond of.

  “That’s putting it mildly.” Alice mutters under her breath, making me smile but her brother continues like he didn’t hear her.

  “Secrets and being kept in the dark about what’s going on is not a viable option anymore, nor is it safe.” He looks at me as he says that, “which is why it’s imperative for everyone at this table to fully understand and comprehend that as of thirty-six hours ago, we are at war.”

  A heavy silence settles over each of us, Sam and Alice wide-eyed as the look around the table, trying to understand what Gideon is saying but I think I know, well after my near miss with being kidnapped, I think I now understand the severity of the situation.

  “It’s a war unlike anything we have ever dealt with. We are a target for some highly skilled individuals out there who will not hesitate to kill, maim or destroy each person seated at this table. Others more so than the rest.” He states ominously looking around the table, holding each person’s gaze for a brief but serious second.

  “So, what does that mean? We can’t go in the open anymore?” Alice demands. It’s a question I think we ladies have in mind anyway but more so for Alice as she is a mother of two.

  “The idea does have merit.” Max interjects only to be given a glare by Alice.

  “No, they would be expecting that and honestly, that will just make it easier for them to corner us. So, it’s best that each of you ladies continue your daily routines as normal as you can.” Gideon informs while all the while looking at me.

  How do we do that? How do I do that? Go on with my life as if nothing happened. As if I wasn’t drugged and my body isn’t covered with scrapes and bruises. As if one of my favorite people in the world isn’t in some hospital somewhere fighting for his life, and the other has just been snatched from us. Meeting his end in a cruel and disgusting fashion that makes me sick. And this was all after having put their lives on the line to save my own.

  How do I move on?

  “That’s it then?” Sam demands. “We just go out there and be in the line of danger? Who is to say they won’t try something else again?”

  “You won’t be going alone.” Max interjects, this time, there isn’t a single note of humor in his deep voice.

  “What?” Sam demands as she looks at Max and they engage in some kind of stare that I don’t want to analyze.

  “Max is right. You won’t be alone no matter where you go, which is why Doctor Sam, Max will be with you each day until this threat is dealt with.” He informs, looking at Sam whose jaw has dropped to the table.

  “Alice, you will have a team of your own surrounding you and my niece and nephew at all times. Peter, will you stay close by?” Gideon asks the quiet man who just nods in response and something about that eases Gideon a bit, making him less tense.

  “What about my husband?” Alice questions.

  “You mean that piece of shit who doesn’t treat you right? You could do way better than him, Al.” Max interjects.

  “Shut up Maxwell, you don’t know anything about my husband.” She defends but something about those words carries a lot of hurt and a bruised heart.

  “Okay, was just saying Al.” Max surrenders but I can see the concern in his eyes and when I turn back to look at Gideon, I find his gaze already waiting on me.

  “Does this mean I go back to Demetri’s office again? After everything that has happened?” I ask him quietly for his ears only.

  “I don’t want you to. Everything in me is fighting against that but I don’t think we have any other option. We are being watched, baby,” He answers softly as he takes my hand.

  “You will be with Tom at all times if I’m not with you. You are not to leave his line of sight at all.” His voice is stern, brooking no argument from me, not that I have any.

  I remain silent as I look at him, my heart clenching and twisting as I look into his eyes because I know what happened at the gala was just the beginning of the end. I know it, and can feel from the depths of my soul that something is coming and I’m not sure if we will survive this one. We are barely managing as it is.

  “I need you to promise me something though.” He says as he takes my hand from underneath the table, awakening goosebumps up my arm and then down my back.

  “What’s that?” I ask him, my voice barely above a whisper that I have unknowingly switched
it to.

  “That you will always come to me with whatever is going on.” He simply says, looking deep into my eyes, directly into my soul as if every word I utter in this moment will mean life or death for him.

  Last night, we connected on another spectrum and it’s as if, I’m somebody new. I mean, I still feel like me but as he looks at me, I also feel different. I know I should crumble for more meaningful things and should rise above but Gideon sets my soul on fire just by the look he gives me. Every revolution in my mind and soul starts and ends with his lips. I will fight alongside him and for him. No matter what.

  I can’t help but look at him too, trying to understand the man he is. I think I know though. I think I understand but even now, even after the night we just had, I don’t know if I can give in to the stirrings of my emotions. But I can give him my trust.

  “I promise.” I respond and he squeezes my hand underneath the table. “Just as long as you do the same.”

  He pauses for a bit. Unlike the last time we ‘promised’ each other something, this moment is different. This moment means the world to both of us and I don’t think—after everything we have been through—that we can take this lightly.

  “I promise.” He states, his voice deep and intimate, melting the parts of me that matter the most. The parts of me that respond only to him.

  I’m such a goner.

  DOLLAR. . .

  Part II

  “At times, things do fall apart. . .”

  Chinua Achebe

  Chapter 11

  Gideon

  “Are you sure about this?” Max asks.

  “No.” I answer as I look up at the regal, beautiful stately mansion in front of me through the binoculars I brought with me.

  “You do know that this is a suicide mission right?”

  “Yes, I’m aware.”

  Silence.

  “Well, you are the man.” He says with a chuckle.

  “What are you getting?” I question him through the mouth piece. It’s almost two in the morning on Tuesday, having had spent the whole day yesterday tightening security everywhere. I intend for Sam and Chloe to get back to their normal everyday lives today but I need to check something first. Max and I are preparing to breach into a large mansion with top of the line security system installed, but I know it’s all child’s play for Max who has already disarmed half of the mansion, just the other half that we need to get done and we’ll be getting in.

  As I move forward, I force myself not to think of her or the way her long curvy legs wrapped around my waist, forcing me to go deeper in her earlier this evening. Gripping me to her as if begging me to stay, as if she knew that as soon as she fell asleep, I was going to leave her.

  Not now. I can’t afford to think of her now. I need to secure her safety, and to do that, somethings just have to be done.

  “I have about seven heat signatures.” This means there are seven people within the large house, hopefully, all of them are asleep.

  “Any activity?” I question him as I move closer to another bush, adrenaline spiking within my blood.

  “Trying to check that out. Do they have any pets?” Max questions.

  “A cat and a dog, the fuckers hate each other too.” Tom answers that, as he waits in the van down the street. I know he has been studying the layout of this land or a good two weeks now—since way before the hellish gala night—he probably knows the place like the back of his hand.

  The chilly breeze of the night air rushes past me, but I’m swathed in all black clothes, looking like a fucking ninja and feeling like one too.

  “Shit, this reminds me of those early days with the Marines. Those midnight raids were something man.” Max jokes, making me chuckle, those were the days. When both Max and I were just too much trouble for everyone, especially after the whole Craig thing, my father thought it best to send both of us to the Marines, thinking that it will calm the raging storms within.

  It did but also failed in some aspects. I don’t think there is a lot that can be tamed at this point. Not within me, nor in Max. Life has been too rough for that.

  “You caused a lot of trouble those days Max, I’m still surprised you weren’t kicked out.” I mutter under my breath, as I check the grounds of the land, making sure that there is no movement. I’m surprised the shithead doesn’t have a security team as yet.

  “Dude, I saved your ass countless times. Put some respect on my name!” Max jokes.

  “Heads up, a car is coming up the drive.” Tom instructs and I snap into focus, ducking low in the bushes, making sure they are not moving at all. A thing I perfected while training with the Marines. Max is right, it was fucking tough but we made it through.

  The headlights of the said car come up the long drive, bathing the area with a sudden flood of light. Judging from what I can see from my hidden area, the car is one of those latest Jaguar SUV, purring down the drive.

  “Who could that be at this time of night? Don’t people fucking sleep?” Max questions.

  “No rest for the wicked.” I mutter.

  “Ha, that’s what Paige always says.” He jokes, referring to my mother.

  “Where are you anyway?” I question as I move along the perfectly groomed hedges up the drive to try and get a look at who is in the car or who will exit.

  The car stops but no one steps out, nor do the floodlights go out.

  “I’m in a tree, the higher the better!” He jokes, “Movement from within the house, it looks like Harvey is awake.” Max informs.

  I need to get a closer look at who is in the damn car and so I move faster as quietly as possible.

  “Has he noticed the disabled alarm system?” I question.

  “I don’t think so, from what I can see through the window, the man is too nervous and is dropping the gun he has in his hands repeatedly.” Max informs.

  “Do you think he wasn’t expecting this house call?” I question.

  “Nah, I think he was but it doesn’t seem like there is any love between him and his late night booty call.”

  “Booty call? Really?”

  “What? I need to get laid.” He mutters under his breath.

  “With the good doctor?” Tom asks as I move up the drive and get closer to the car. I stop when I am directly in line with the dark car that idles in the driveway, as if waiting to go as soon as something or someone comes.

  “Where is he?” I question under my breath, silencing the conversation going on between Max and Tom.

  “He is moving towards the front door now, coming out in three, two, one. . .”

  The large oak doors at the front of the house opens slightly and a figure dressed in a dark suit with a crisp white shirt that I can see from here comes down the stairs, walking towards the waiting car.

  “He’s fucking nervous. Looks like he might even pee his pants. Who is in that car?” Max questions. That’s what I want to know. Who can make the esteemed Lawrence Harvey so damn nervous on his own land?

  As he comes closer, a car door opens and one figure steps out and stands at the front of the car, then another huge man steps out as well and goes to stand at the back of the car, all the while looking around them as if searching for any hidden threats, I hold my breath when the guy closer to me looks at the hedges for a second longer, but then he looks back at the car as another figure steps out.

  “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  A short, stout man steps out from the car and takes a step away from the car, all the while fixing his suit coat. There is something about the man that irks me, moves me the wrong way. I take a step closer to take a look at his face but the position I am doesn’t allow me to see much of him, just his profile.

  “Giovanni. To what do I owe this lovely surprise at two in the morning?” Lawrence says, surprising me with how steady his voice is in spite of the tenseness of his facial expression.

  “What are they saying?” Max asks me.

  “I think I just met Giovanni Lorenzo.”

 
“Well, shit.”

  The silence stretches after Harvey talks, he comes to a stop a few feet away from Giovanni, looking like he wants to be further away from his guest.

  “Aren’t you going to invite me in?” Giovanni questions, inclining his head towards the dark house, hardly any lights are on.

  “Unfucking likely.” He grits out, I guess they are not friends after all. “What do you want here?”

  “Am I not allowed to visit my old friend anymore?” Giovanni’s deceptively soft voice carries over with the light early morning breeze, reaching my ears with ease.

  “Old friend? Old friends don’t get other friends families killed just because they don’t want to be part of something.” Harvey grits out, taking an intimidating step closer to Giovanni but reels himself in as he notices the two large bodyguards step closer to him, protecting their asshole boss.

  “Oh, come now Harvey, I told you that was not my doing.” Giovanni says in a patronizing way that makes my blood boil.

  This man, this man is a huge factor in the events of my life and my family. I just know it but I don’t know how exactly.

  Harvey just stares at Giovanni in heated silence, all the nervousness from earlier long forgotten. The silence between them stretches for a few seconds as they study each other. Giovanni looks like he is daring Harvey to do something.

  “What do you want Giovanni? I don’t have all night for your bullshit, summoning me out of my home like you own it.”

  “So impatient, but I’ll get to the point, I have much to do myself.” Giovanni says as he takes a step closer to Harvey.

  “What?”

  “I want to know if Black is dead yet.” Giovanni states in a menacing voice that chills my blood to sub-zero. I freeze in my crouched over position and can barely breathe. There isn’t any other Black in the world that could make a man like Giovanni Lorenzi care but my family.

  Why does he want to know about my family? How does he know anyway? I wouldn’t be surprised if that asshole Demetri told him but no that’s not it. The hostility of the way he just uttered my family name into the still of the night just now suggests something deeper than I know.