“Actually, no I don’t, this whole fucking situation is fucked up. You need to get to Frank’s. I have a feeling I know exactly what’s going on.” Then he ended the call.
I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at it. If she was hurt, I swear I would make all these motherfuckers pay.
Hurrying out the door, I made sure to turn the lock on the doorknob before running down the stairs to my bike.
Twenty minutes later, I arrived at Frank’s. Pushing my kickstand down, I hopped off my bike and ran into Frank’s house, leaving the front door open as I went.
Coming to a stop just outside Frank’s office, I tried to get ahold on my temper and lower my heart rate, but it was no use. Until I knew what the fuck was going on, they would just have to deal with it. I turned the handle to the office door and flung it open.
Paul and Frank turned to the door as I stalked into the room, “What the fuck is going on?” I demanded as I stood there with my arms crossed over my chest, looking between the both of them.
Frank lifted his hands up in a way to calm me down. “Hang on there, Nick. You need to calm down,” he said sternly. “Get over here and take a seat,” he gestured toward the chair in front of his desk.
I walked over to the chair and reluctantly took a seat. Paul, who was standing on the other side of the desk with Frank, walked over to the chair a few feet away from mine and took a seat as well.
“Listen, Nick. I know you’re pissed, but there is some stuff going on that you don’t know about that I probably should have told you a while ago,” Frank confessed.
I sat up in my chair, leaning over to rest my elbows on my knees. “What kind of stuff, Frank?”
He looked over at Paul, so I did the same.
“I’ve had my suspicions about Kevin for a while now,” he admitted, taking a deep breath. “He isn’t who he says he is, but you’d know that, now, wouldn’t you?” he accused.
I looked over at Frank who was eyeing me and I kept my mouth closed. I wasn’t going to say a word until I knew what the fuck they had to say. Looking back over at Paul, I waited for him to continue.
“Kevin’s name is actually Bryce Daniels … he’s an FBI agent working undercover to get to Frank,” he said nodding toward Frank. “But that’s not the kicker of the story,” he chuckled, shaking his head.
I looked at him annoyed, as I clenched my hands together. I had an overwhelming urge to punch him in the face.
“He’s also working for the TraPani’s,” he finally said.
I stared at Paul in shock, then looked over at Frank. “How the fuck do you know all this?” I asked Paul, but Frank interjected.
“First off, I’ve had my suspicions for a while now too, and what he doesn’t know is I’ve had him followed since I let him in the business. You know I don’t trust easily, Nick. I wasn’t about to let someone in that I didn’t know anything about. His record might have been clean, but I wanted to know his every move. So I had him followed every day for about a month and a half,” he explained. “Things were quiet for a long time, but then he was seen with Keith TraPani, one of Vic’s nephews. That’s all it took. I sent Paul to check things out and every chance he got, he would look into it, and that’s how we found out he was double dipping.”
I leaned back in my chair and looked over at Paul. That would definitely explain why I heard him asking about the TraPani’s so much. Here I was thinking Paul was trying to two-time Frank, but that still didn’t explain what that had to do with Scarlett. “What does all that mean now? What exactly is his job for Vic Trapani?”
“You,” Frank said nonchalantly.
“What the fuck do you mean me?”
Frank rested his forearms on his desk and clasped his hands together. He looked at me intently. “I know you don’t want any part of this business, Nick, and so does everybody else. I have to give you props on hiding it so well and going along with every challenge that was thrown your way.” He took a moment to look me over before he continued. “Kevin … Bryce is one of the few FBI agents that the TraPani’s have on their payroll. With that being said, we think that his job as an FBI agent was legit in trying to take me down. When Vic offered him a large sum of money to get his hands on my files and documents, it was a win-win for him. He’d get money; he’d give Vic the files that would take over my business, which would ultimately take me down. Then he’d reap the benefits of it with the FBI, advancing in his department.” Frank smiled to himself. “It all seemed very clever and he had just the guy to get the job done.” He lifted his hand and pointed his finger. “You.”
Son of a bitch! “Okay, I get that, but again, what does this have to do with Scarlett?”
“Fuckin’ fit the pieces together, Nick,” Paul chastised me. “Kevin took her, you idiot. He’s going to use her against you to get what he wants. He’s not going to expect you to go to Frank, since you wanted the same thing he did to begin with.”
I looked over at Frank who was looking at me with a quirked eyebrow, probably challenging me to deny it.
“You know, I’m interested to find out exactly how you planned on getting away with it, Nick. Obviously, I know you would use the key I gave you yesterday to enter the house and get into the safe, which was all planned by the way,” Frank interjected. “Did it ever occur to you that the things you were looking for might not even be in there? Did you even know what to look for?” He looked at me with a twinkle in his eye, like he was laughing at me from the inside. I just sat there and took it, keeping my mouth closed. “I don’t keep important files in this house, Nick. I’m not that stupid. Anybody could come in here and steal from me.”
I stared at Frank for a moment trying to let everything he said sink in. “What do you mean it was all planned? I don’t understand what the fuck you are trying to say!” I spat. “How about you stop talking all fucking cryptic and tell me exactly what the fuck is going on so I can get to Scarlett.”
Frank got up and walked around his desk. When he got to the front of it, he leaned against it, folding his arms as he looked at me.
“I told you from the beginning, Nick, that everything wasn’t as it seemed. Think about it; it’ll come to you.”
What the fuck was that supposed to mean? I sat back in my chair and squinted at him, trying to piece all of this together.
I did remember him saying ‘everything wasn’t as it seemed’, but at the time, it was just something that went in one ear and out the other. I wasn’t interested in anything he had to say at the beginning. But now … everything that had been said wasn’t making any sense.
Tilting my head down, I looked at the floor and thought back to the very beginning … the phone calls, Frank showing up in my life out of nowhere, leaving the band, working with Kevin …
I looked up at Frank, that motherfucker. Launching out of my chair, I threw myself at Frank. I punched him in the face, knocking him against the desk. Then I grabbed his shirt with both hands, pulling him up to my face. “Are you trying to fucking tell me that you had all this fucking planned from the beginning? That you have ruined my fucking life to be a chess piece in your fucking game?” I roared. I could feel Paul behind me trying to get me away from Frank, but I just shrugged him off. I stared at Frank with malice and hate as he lay watching me, with blood coming out of his nose.
It all made sense to me. All of it was a fucking game to him. “You knew from the fucking beginning that Kevin wasn’t who he said he was!” I spat, shaking him. “You planned all of this and you knew I’d do anything to get out of it. You’ve ruined my fucking life, and now they have Scarlett, you motherfucking cocksucker! I should fucking kill you right now!” I lifted my right arm and punched him in the face again, letting him drop to his desk, then backed away to get some air. I started pacing around the room.
I couldn’t believe what was fucking happening. All this fucking time, I was just some puppet in his puppet show. Using me to get at the other guys … the TraPani’s.
I saw Paul from the corne
r of my eye helping Frank up off the desk. I continued to pace, trying to figure out what the fuck to do. I had to get to her. Who the fuck knew what they were doing to her right now!
Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I looked back over at Frank. He was wiping the blood off his face with a tissue. He looked up at me with a smirk on his face. I just stared at him in shock. It was unbelievable that he could stand there and fucking smirk at me, like it was some kind of fucking joke.
“Is there something funny, Frank? A fucking joke perhaps that I’m not aware of?”
He shook his head, laughing, and walked back around his desk to sit in his chair. “I want you to know that I had every intention of contacting you sooner or later anyway. The circumstances just all seemed to fall into place to do it now. You always have been and will be a part of this family, so get it out of your fucking head that you won’t be. I did the things I did for a reason. Do you think that just because you had a name change that you wouldn’t be found? Get it through your thick fucking skull, Nick. No matter what, you are a DiCosola. If we go down, you go down too. Do you think the TraPani’s would just let you live if they shot every fucking one of us down? They’ve known about you for years too. I brought you in to protect you. Did I have motives? Of course I did. I don’t do anything without an agenda attached to it. You were brought in for a reason. You fulfilled that agenda, but now they have changed the game. Scarlett wasn’t supposed to be involved in this. We scared her away for a reason, you fucking asshat, but because the law of attraction thinks this is all a fucking joke, we have a new matter on our hands.”
I let his words sink in. I couldn’t fucking believe it. My life was changing before my eyes. He was basically telling me to be a part of the family and deal with it or be fucked.
I ran my fingers through my hair and then down my face. “Fuck!” I yelled letting out all my anger. I had to get it out before I knocked Frank out, or better yet, Paul.
Standing there with my hands on my hips, I took a couple of deep breaths before I spoke. “So, what do we do now and how do we get Scarlett back?” I huffed, looking at Frank.
He smirked again. “Now, we plan.”
Hours later, I was still sitting in the same spot in Frank’s office. He and Paul had been on the phone all afternoon calling reinforcements, telling them to stay in contact and that he would let them know when they were needed.
I, however, sat there thinking about Scarlett and what I would say to her when I got her back. I knew I had fucked-up, and even though it wasn’t my fault, I knew I had hurt her and I would do anything I could to make it up to her, if she would even have me back after all this fucking shit. I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t want to have anything to do with me after it was all over. But I couldn’t think that way. There was too much on the line.
I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and pulled it out hoping to see that Kevin was finally calling me back, only to see that it was Jules instead. Shit. I had totally forgotten to call her back. She was probably worried out of her mind. Now I felt like an asshole.
I stood walking away from Frank’s desk and answered the phone.
“Hey Jules, I’m so sorry. I totally forgot to fucking call you back.”
“I’m freaking out over here, Kade. Please tell me you know what the hell is going on … and don’t fucking lie to me! I know this has something to do with this shit you are involved in!” she snapped
“Listen, Jules,” I sighed. “I do know what’s going on, but it’s not something I can talk about.”
“Bullshit!” she interjected. “It’s a free country. You can tell me anything you want. You’re just going to choose not to tell me. She’s like a sister to me, Kade. And I was doing what she said by calling you. Maybe I should just get the cops involved instead.”
Fuck, she was going to be a pain in my ass. “Please don’t do that, Jules. The cops won’t do any good in this situation.”
I heard a throat clear and turned to see Frank and Paul looking at me. I knew he wouldn’t want me to tell Jules anything, but at this point, I really didn’t give a fuck.
“And why is that, Kade? Just tell me what the fuck is going on. Do you even know where she is? Just tell me, damn it!” she yelled.
I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment. “I know you don’t want to, but you are going to have to trust me when I say she is safe and she will be home in a few days. There are some things that need to be done first before I can go get her, but I promise you will be the first person she calls when I do.” I felt bad for having to lie to her, but I couldn’t have her ruin the plans we were making.
“If anything happens to her …” she sniffed.
“Nothing is going to happen to her, Jules. Did you say anything to anyone today about her being missing?”
“Only Brent,” she said sniffing again.
“Okay, good. Just go stay with him for a couple of days, and if he asks, which I know he probably will, just tell him that she was sick and came to stay with me and had her phone turned off. Okay? And I’ll try to call you tomorrow to keep you updated.”
“Okay.”
I ended the call and looked over at Frank.
“Was that her friend?” Frank asked.
“Yeah,” I said as I walked back over to my chair. “She’s freaking out, understandably.” I sat down in my chair as Frank stood up from his.
He came to stand in front of his desk as he usually did when he was about to talk business, while Paul stood to the side of the desk. “We’ve got things lined up on our end. Now we just need you to call Kevin and find out exactly what he wants.”
I looked at him confused. “I already know what he wants.”
“Yes, you do. You just can’t give off any indication that you know what’s going on.” He stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. “As in, him working with the TraPani’s?”
He must think I’m stupid. I wouldn’t risk Scarlett’s life by being stupid. “I know that, Frank. But tell me, what is it with you and the TraPani’s anyway?”
He shifted where he stood and then let out a heavy breath. “I honestly couldn’t tell you, Nick. We’ve worked in this same city for years. Yes, of course, we’ve had our quarrels, but nothing serious. Everyone always says two bosses in the same city is never a good idea, but we’ve never had a problem. We’ve always been civil, until recently. The last few years have been different. He’s gotten greedy, he’s accused me a time or two of stealing some of his shipments, and killing his men, which isn’t true. But never did I think it would get to this point,” he said looking over at Paul. “This right here, what he is starting. This is war. I’m done with his shit.” He looked back at me. “It’s time to take him out. It’s long overdue.”
“So what exactly are you saying?”
He looked at me with a smirk. “I’ve got a lot of money, Kade, and that money buys me a lot of things, like loyalty. Do you know what happens when you have a boss that doesn’t pay you for what you’re worth?” he asked me and I shook my head no. “That’s how you form rats, and like I said, Vic has become greedy over the last few years, and I happen to have lots of money that pays for rats.” His smile got bigger. “I just so happen to have a rat in Vic’s group and I know exactly where Scarlett is.”
Motherfucker. “And you didn’t think to fucking tell me that right away?” I yelled, standing up. “Let’s go fucking get her.”
Frank shook his head. “Calm the fuck down, Nick. We can’t just go get her. First, you need to call Kevin and find out what he wants.”
“I already know what he wants.” I stood there with my hand on my hips. I was getting pissed.
“Yes, we all know what he wants, but you have to act like you don’t have any idea what is going on. You have to play his game. That way he’s not suspicious in any way. Like I said before, he won’t expect you to come to us.”
“You need to tell him to give you a day,” Paul chimed in. “He knows Frank is supposed to be going out of t
own tomorrow. That would give you the perfect window to come here and get the info.”
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I pulled up his number and pressed call. I had tried to call him multiple times earlier that morning and some in the early afternoon, but he never picked up. I didn’t expect him to answer this time either, so when Kevin spoke into the phone my heart rate picked up in anticipation.
“Kade, so glad you could call me,” Kevin said sarcastically.
I started pacing around. “You motherfucking piece of shit! If you hurt her, I will fucking castrate you!” I yelled into the phone. I looked over at Frank, he was shaking his head and Paul stood next to him with a smirk on his face. I knew Frank wanted me to approach this in a calm manner, but that wasn’t going to fucking happen.
Kevin laughed. “Don’t be so dramatic, Kade. She’s fine. A little shaken up, but fine. Just do what I need you to do, then this will all be over and you can have her back.”
“I want to talk to her. Put her on the phone.”
“She’s sleeping Kade. She’s had a rough night. You know … seeing her boyfriend with another woman can take a lot out of you, then getting kidnapped, that was just the topper,” he laughed.
I pulled the phone away from my ear for a moment and squeezed it. I had to shut my eyes and take a few deep breaths. I knew he was trying to get me going and he was doing a great fucking job. I brought the phone back up to my ear and started pacing again.
“Why would you do this, Kevin? I was already so close to getting it,” I said looking over at Frank. “I just needed a little more time.”
“There is no more time, Kade. I need the fucking papers, now.”
“Well, I can’t get them for you now. It will have to wait another day. Frank is going out of town tomorrow, and then I can get what you need. He gave me a key to the house and the safe code. My ass is on the line here too, Kevin,” I said, looking at Frank the whole time. He nodded his head at me in approval.
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