by Roxie Rivera
“Here.” She pressed the scissors into my hand. “Go for his soft spots—eyes, neck, belly. Just fuck him up.”
“When this is over, you need therapy,” I whispered as Gary unlocked the door. “Like, seriously, get some help.”
The door opened before she could make a smartass remark. In a flash, she was on him. He howled as the letter opener slid deep into his forearm as he tried to block her attack. She screamed and ripped it free before trying to get him again. He stumbled back into the hallway, and she followed and slashed his chest, gouging a nasty wound. Not ready to go down without a fight, he kicked out at her and connected with her belly. With a loud oof, Marley fell back into the wall.
Watching my friend get kicked was too much. I lost it. I ran at him, scissors raised and ready to strike. Just as I sank the scissors into the soft area under his shoulder, an elevator dinged somewhere nearby. We all froze. Marley halfway standing. Me with the tip of the scissors embedded in his skin. Gary flinching in pain. The ding was followed by men shouting in Cantonese. I suddenly regretted not paying better attention in the Chinese lessons my father had insisted I take for so many years.
Marley and I glanced at each other. She grabbed my hand, hers feeling cold and clammy against mine. “We have to go. Now!”
I looked back at Gary, but Marley tugged hard. “Now, Aston!”
We raced through the maze of hallways, slamming into the walls as we rounded corners. When we made it to the stairwell, we locked the doors behind us, trying to slow down any pursuers. Marley led the way, her feet moving quickly despite the physical blows she had taken. I wobbled a bit, my head spinning and my stomach rolling with nausea.
A gunshot cracked, and we both gasped. We exchanged panicked looks. Our survival instincts kicked into overdrive. We ran faster, taking the stairs two at a time before we reached the bottom floor and a long hallway. Finally—finally—we spotted a set of double doors that led outside.
“Shit!” Marley jerked on the door handles, but they wouldn’t budge. “They’re locked from outside.”
“Oh, come on!” I pounded my fists against the door, not believing that it was going to end like this. “Fuck!”
“Wait. Hold on!” Marley grabbed my hand and pulled me close. “I see something.”
On tiptoes, she looked through the rectangular window on the upper part of the door. “It’s people. Men,” she clarified. “Shit. Shit.”
“Is it them? The Triad?” I gripped her hand so tightly my fingers started to go numb.
“I can’t tell. It’s gotten dark outside. They’re coming closer,” she whispered, her voice filled with dread. “I can’t tell if—wait. Wait! Oh my God!” She started slapping her hand against the door, her sweaty palms leaving prints on the metal. “Besian! Besian!”
“What?” I pushed in closer and looked through the other window. My heart fluttered in my chest when I saw the man next to Besian and rushing toward the door. “Ben! Ben! Help!”
“It’s locked!” Marley yelled as Besian tried the handle. “We can’t get out! Please! You have to hurry! They shot Gary. They’re coming for us!”
“Get back!” Ben ordered. “Step to the side, as far away as you can get.”
We huddled against the far wall. Outside, the men were yelling. Inside the building and not far away, the sound of men running and opening doors echoed. We were trapped between the men who could save us and the men who wanted to kill us.
“Stay back!” Ben shouted again. “Cover your ears!”
I clapped my hands over my ears and closed my eyes. Two of the loudest shotgun blasts I had ever heard ripped through the hallway. Not in all of the times my dad had dragged me along dove hunting had I had ever heard anything like that. It was as if they had fired a cannon at the door, blowing the locks right out of the metal.
The doors were shoved open, and Ben and Besian rushed into the building. More men followed them, all of them armed to the teeth. Devil, Ben’s scarred best friend, was among them. He had a wicked shotgun in hand, the barrel strangely shaped and obviously meant for breaching doors. I didn’t even want to know why he had one of those handy.
Before Marley and I could untangle ourselves and stand, all of the men surrounded us and formed a human wall. On the other side of them, the squeal of shoes on linoleum echoed. Looking through the cracks between the men shielding us, I could see the Triad members who had shot Gary.
Marley clasped my hand, her fingers trembling. She leaned close and whispered, “The first gunshot, we run.”
I wanted to argue and refuse to leave Ben behind, but I knew what he would say. He would tell me to run. To fight. To live.
My hand slid down to the still flat front of my belly. For our baby.
Chapter Fifteen
Adrenaline surged through Ben’s bloodstream. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. He had a hard time slowing his breaths as he faced the armed gang that had been chasing after Aston and Marley.
He didn’t even want to think what might have happened if Kostya hadn’t gotten the tip when he did. If Nikolai hadn’t reached out to the old man in Moscow and if Maksim hadn’t agreed to call his Chinese counterpart, they would never have found the girls in time. There were too many properties, too many possibilities and not enough time or men to search them all.
But they had made it in time. Aston looked okay, shaken and scared, but Marley looked terrible. The bruises and blood smeared on her face were bad, but she seemed out of breath and oddly pale. He hoped it was only from the running and fear.
Both women needed to see a doctor, but first, they had to negotiate their way out of here without a shootout.
“Where is Metcalfe?” Besian asked. “Is he dead?”
“If he’s not, he will be soon,” the man who seemed to be their leader answered. He spoke with a British accent and seemed to be very comfortable conversing in English. He held himself like a powerful, well-educated man, and he was young, maybe closer to Aston’s age, which meant he was hungry to prove himself. He was definitely going to be trouble. “Gut shot.”
Ben grimaced. That was a horrible way to go, the death slow and agonizing.
“Good,” Besian coldly replied. “And his wife and baby?”
“Safe at a secure site.”
“I’ve been instructed to ask you to release them.”
The man scoffed. “I’ve been instructed to hold them until we get our money.”
“Not the smartest play,” Besian remarked. “You haven’t even established a foothold in the city yet, and you’ve already gained the attention of the police and Feds. You kill a woman and her baby? You’ll never do business here again.”
“I can’t go back without my money.”
“Not my fucking problem,” Besian gruffly replied. “That’s why I don’t do business with people I can’t trust. You’ve learned an expensive mistake.” He shrugged. “We all do at some point.”
“So has Gary,” the man countered. “His mistake cost him his life and the lives of his wife and baby.”
“You cannot kill Margie and Elliot,” Aston interjected forcefully, pushing her way to the front. Ben tried to stop her, but she shrugged off his hands and ignored his pointed glare.
Besian was not in the mood for her help. “Take Marley and go outside.”
She ignored him, her gaze fixed on the lead Triad. “No.”
Besian’s eyes narrowed dangerously. If she were anyone else, he might have dragged her out kicking and screaming. He seemed to sense that arguing with her was a lost cause. That or he didn’t want to make a scene that would further undermine his authority.
Not giving one shit about Besian’s irritated scowl, Aston stepped forward and held out her hand. “I’m Aston McNeil.”
“Teddy Leung,” the leader said, grasping her hand and holding it far longer than necessary for a handshake. “I know quite a bit about you, Miss McNeil. I’m very glad to finally meet you in person.”
Ben bristled, unable to discern fr
om Teddy’s tone whether he was flirting or threatening. Either way, he didn’t like it.
“You have me at a disadvantage, then,” she said, carefully removing her hand. “I’m afraid I’m not at all familiar with you.”
“You will be,” Teddy promised with a smile that made Ben want to punch him right in his perfect fucking teeth. “You know I followed your father’s deal with CIC very closely. That was quite a feat he managed.”
“Dad always told me that if you’re not growing, you’re dying,” she explained. “He saw the sovereign wealth fund as an opportunity. So far, he was proven correct.”
“And would you take a risk like that, Miss McNeil?”
“Yes. Without hesitation,” she added. “Selling that small stake in our firm gave my father the capital injection he needed to found StrateCore.”
Assuming Ben and the rest of them had no idea what she was talking about, Teddy decided to enlighten them. “StrateCore is the European arm of the Limestone Group. They’re valuing the company north of ten billion.”
“It was Dad’s last big deal, and I intend to see it through,” she stated.
“I’m sure you’ll make your father very proud,” Teddy replied with a smile that made Ben’s hands clench at his sides.
“Dad gave me the tools I need to succeed.”
“It’s a pity he wasn’t able to give your brother those same tools,” Teddy said. “We were assured that Calvin had been mentored at your father’s side, but it seems that we were misled.”
“Calvin had a nasty habit of lying. His whole life was nothing but a con. He wanted what my father had, but he didn’t have the work ethic necessary for it.”
“Yes, I’ve come to see that.” Teddy studied her for a moment. “You’re sure you have no idea where to find him?”
“None. I haven’t seen him in weeks,” she answered honestly. “He came to the house and demanded some paperwork from my dad’s safe. I gave it to him, and he left.”
That was the censored version of that night’s events. The heavily censored version.
“I see.”
Did he? Ben couldn’t tell if Teddy Leung understood that Calvin was dead and not just missing. Surely, by now, he had come to the conclusion that someone had knocked off that evil shit.
“You understand what a difficult position your brother’s disappearance has put me in, Aston,” he said with a deceptively nice tone.
“I do.”
“He stole from me. Do you think your man and his family walk away when someone steals from them?”
“No,” she answered immediately. “I think they make a statement, a very clear and very loud one.”
“So why should I walk away with nothing?”
“You should walk away because you want to make real money,” she said. “What you lost in this scheme is pocket change compared to what you could make legally. You keep pursuing this, and you’re going to end up on the FBI’s radar, if you’re not there already. If the Feds were raiding Gary’s house two days ago, they already have their hands on the missing money. They’ll have seized all the funds within their jurisdiction. They’re waiting for someone to try to access them so they can swoop in and arrest them. I know that’s not what you want.”
“It’s not,” he agreed.
“The people who stole from you are dead. Calvin is gone. No one has seen him in weeks. With the number of people he double-crossed, it was only a matter of time before someone killed him,” she said. “Gary is upstairs dying. Paul Chen is on ice in a morgue somewhere. It’s done,” she said with a slash of her hand. “Let Margie and the baby go. You’ll only find more trouble if you don’t. That’s not a smart way to do business.”
Teddy considered her words. “And what about my lost money?”
“That’s the risk of the free market.”
“If we’re talking free market, you should know I can recoup some of my lost money by selling your friend and her baby.”
Ben stiffened at the disgusting threat.
“And how much do a woman and a baby go for on the free market?” Aston asked without missing a beat.
“For you?” Teddy grinned lasciviously. “Let’s say, oh, forty percent of what I’m owed? I’m sure Gary apprised you of the amount.”
“He did.”
“And?”
“It depends on how you want the funds.”
Ben glanced between Aston and Teddy. He wanted to grab her and ask her what the hell she was thinking. She couldn’t seriously be considering buying her friend and baby from the Chinese mafia!
“I suspect cash would be a bit difficult,” Teddy said. “Can you get your hands on crypto?”
She nodded. “If that’s your preference.”
“It is.”
“I will need a few days to get that much together.”
“A week?” he offered.
“A week,” she agreed.
“Until then, I’ll need to hold some collateral. I’m sure you understand.”
“Such as?”
“I’m told you have a very nice house and that your father had quite an art collection.”
“Had being the operative word,” she clarified. “He gave away almost all of the art or sent it to museums in the name of our family trust. The house, however…”
“I’m listening, Miss McNeil.”
“You can have the house as collateral on the crypto. If I don’t come through in seven days, it’s yours. Deal?”
Teddy considered her offer and nodded. “I like the way you do business, Miss McNeil.” He held out his hand. “I think we’re going to be very successful together.”
It took everything Ben had not to wrench Teddy’s hand away from hers. Even if it was hypocritical, he didn’t want the filth of the criminal world touching her.
Teddy looked at one of his lackeys and barked an order in Chinese. The man took out his phone and made a quick call. When his goon was finished, Teddy smiled at Aston. “Your friend and her baby are being released in the parking lot of the nearest police station.”
“Thank you, Teddy.”
“You’re very welcome, Aston. I’ll be in touch. Perhaps we can have lunch next week to finish our little deal?”
“I’ll check my calendar,” she replied coolly.
Teddy laughed, and with a snap of his fingers, he wordlessly ordered his men to follow him out of the building.
When they were out of sight, Ben grabbed Aston and whirled her around to face him. “What the hell are you doing?”
“The right thing,” she answered, her chin lifted high and daring him to argue.
“They’re the Chinese Mafia!”
“And you’re the Albanian mafia,” she stated calmly. “I’m part of this world—your world—forever. There is no point in trying to run from it. It’s the choice we’ve both made.”
Ben stared at her for a long moment. Not caring that he was surrounded by men who would rag him to hell and back later, he cupped her face and kissed her. For better or worse, she had chosen him. She had chosen to tie herself to him, and he was determined to make sure she would never regret it. “I love you, Aston.”
“You better,” she murmured against his mouth. “Or else I’m going to set Marley on your ass. She took out Gary with a letter opener.”
Ben glanced at her best friend in shock. “A letter opener?”
Looking less pale and breathing more normally, Marley shrugged as she gingerly prodded her swollen mouth. “It’s all I could find. She jammed a pair of scissors into his chest.”
Ben turned to Aston with an approving smile. “Good for you.”
“I hate to break this up, but you need to leave,” Kostya interrupted. “I’ll keep the girls here and make sure the site is clean. I’ll call the police when it’s safe.”
Reluctant to go but certain it had to be this way, Ben kissed her one last time. She waved him off, urging him to go before the police arrived, and he did.
The boss fell into step beside him and stayed
silent for the entire drive to the club they had left earlier. Sitting in the parking lot, Ben held his phone and waited for it to ring. He grew more agitated with each passing moment. How much longer would this take?
“Aston needs to be reminded of her place.”
“She seems to be fully aware of her place in my life,” Ben replied, not at all in the mood for one of Besian’s lectures.
Besian scowled at him “You know what I mean.”
“I meant what I said,” Ben answered forcefully. “She’s never going to be the woman you expect her to be. She’s not going to stay behind, out of the loop and uninformed. She’s not that girl—and I don’t want her to be.”
“Then you need to marry her,” Besian spoke finally. “She’s clearly decided you’re worth the trouble. Lock that shit down now.”
Ben had assumed that someday he would ask Aston to marry him. Someday in the future. The far future. When she was done with her MBA. When his shop was turning steady profits. When he had extricated himself as far as possible from the clutches of the family business.
“You can’t wait,” Besian continued, as if reading his mind. “You can’t testify against each other if you’re married. That stunt she pulled with Leung is proof enough that you both need that protection.”
“I’m not going to ask her to marry me for legal coverage.”
“Then ask her because she’s having your baby.”
Ben swallowed hard. “I don’t even know if she is pregnant. She hasn’t taken the tests.”
“She’s pregnant,” Besian said without hesitation. “I thought she looked different this morning, but just now, I was sure of it. I’ve seen plenty of pregnant women in my life. You have no idea how many dancers come into my office crying because their deadbeat boyfriends knocked them up again. It’s in the face, the cheeks and eyes. Their movements are different. More careful, more guarded. She had her hand on her belly when we came through the door.”
“I noticed,” he admitted. His sole focus then had been to ensure her safety. Now, he didn’t dare presume she might want what he wanted. “She might decide she isn’t ready to be a mother yet.”