“Darcy is dead Jace what Dad knows doesn’t matter anymore.” I whispered into the phone, turning my back so no one could see me.
“I need to know what Dad does. And if you want Lucca back you need to get it from him.”
“How the hell do you expect me to do that?”
“That’s your job. Just get him to talk. And if I hear one police car or fucking Denny coming after me I will kill Lucca Rachel.”
“What the fuck happened to you Jace?”
“You have no idea what has happened to me. Now get me the damn information.”
“How will I get it to you?”
“I’ll call back in one hour.” Jace snapped and then the line went dead.
The world spun as the fate of my child rested solely on my shoulders.
“Rachel?” Denny yelled running towards me, followed by Shark. “What’s wrong?” He asked resting his hand on my shoulder.
Looking at Denny I told not a lie but not the truth. “I just want my baby back.” I whispered followed by a stream of tears.
Denny pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around me.
“Take her home Denny.” I heard Shark say. “There is nothing more you can do right now. I have people looking for them. When they have anything I will call.”
“The house?” Denny asked.
“I’ll watch it, go.” Shark said jerking his head towards the cars.
Lifting my face out of Denny’s chest I looked up at him. “I want to go home.”
Nodding Denny stepped back and took my hand. “Then let’s go.”
Denny started to walk me towards the car but I quickly stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Can dad come to? I’d like him to be close.”
Staring at me for half a second Denny nodded then led me to the car. Once home I’d have to find a way to separate my father and Denny, then I’d have to get my father to tell me what he had on Mika.
How I was going to do this I had no idea, I just knew I had to get the information Jace wanted no matter what.
Chapter 20
Once we got home I told dad to have a seat and listen for the phone while I took care of Denny. It wasn’t a lie or really a part of the plan to get dad to talk. Denny looked like hell and I was positive he was feeling like hell too. To go from not dealing with Vinnie’s death, to revealing why he really left me and ending it with Lucca being taken and him unable to get him back must be killing him.
“Go change and clean up the glass cuts baby, I’ll be up in a minute to do the same.”
Denny looked at me for several minutes before nodding and heading up stairs.
Making sure dad had also done what I’d told him I walked quickly into the kitchen. In the kitchen it took less than a minute for me to find Olivia’s anxiety medicine, the little fun ones that put her to sleep according to Jonah. Crushing two pills up I added them to a glass of water.
Taking a deep breath I pushed the guilt down and went up to Denny’s bedroom.
Denny sat at the bottom of the bed talking on his cell in only black boxers, the glass cuts and blood standing out as proudly as his tattoos.
“Keep looking but be careful Shark has people looking too, probably DEA agents. No, I’m not sure whose side he is playing on anymore.”
Denny, mumbled a bye and hung up the phone as I closed the door. “You just had to jump through the window didn’t you?”
Laughing without humor Denny shook his head. “What can I say I like to make an entrance.”
“Who was on the phone?”
“Cole. The boys are all out looking but so far they haven’t seen the car.” Denny said throwing his cell behind him.
Straddling his hips I handed him the water. “Drink it all you need it.”
Denny drank the entire glass in one go. Well that was easy.
“What are you doing Rachel?” Denny asked putting the glass on the ground.
“What do you mean?”
“Five seconds ago you were a babbling mess now you’re Mrs. Calm. What’s going on?”
Shit, searching my brain I came up with what I hope was a good excuse. “You need someone to take care of you too.” Not really a lie. “Let me be the strong one just for a little while Denny.”
With those little words Denny’s whole body pushed into mine and his head dropped on to my shoulder. “I failed. I failed Lucca. It’s my job to keep him safe and save him when he needs it. I didn’t do either.”
“It’s our job Denny. But it is not our fault, this is Jace’s fault.”
“I should be out looking for him.”
“You can’t too many DEA agents and you said it yourself we don’t know if Shark is on our side anymore. All Shark has to do is say the words and you’re done. Not just you but everyone working for you.”
Falling back on to his back Denny covered his face with his hands. “I’m never going to shake loose of Vinnie am I? The man is fucking dead and his eyes still haunt me every waking moment and his business will always be my business. I guess it’s what I deserve though right?”
Denny’s self-pity broke my heart; it was also something I didn’t know how to deal with. Not in the almost two years I’d known Denny had I ever seen remorse for what he did for Vinnie.
“You said you almost killed someone for Vinnie, what made you stop?”
“What?” Denny asked his eyes dilating from the medicine.
“Why didn’t you kill that person for Vinnie?”
Pulling me down on to his chest, Denny’s hand ran up my back then cupped my face. He spoke across my lips. “I convinced everyone and almost myself that I’d never get you and Lucca back. When I went to kill the person Vinnie told me to, which was actually Olivia’s brother we just didn’t know at the time. I was seconds away from leaving to do it when I thought about you and Lucca and knew that if I killed for Vinnie then that would be it. I would never get you back. You, me and Lucca would be done for good, there would be no going back. I wasn’t ready to let you go. You’re the love of my life Rachel and Lucca is the most important thing to come out of my life.”
My life was falling apart, my brother was using my son to get information out of our father and I was using two people I loved dearly to get Lucca back but in that moment listening to Denny explain why he didn’t kill I felt a little more in love with him. Weird I know, but it was my weird and this was my Denny. The good, bad and ugly. For the love of Denny hell here I come. Kissing him like I’d never kissed him before, I thrust my tongue into his mouth letting the purest taste I’d ever tasted wash over me.
Needing more I broke my mouth away from his and moved down his body. Taking his nipple into my mouth I sucked hard loving the cold metal of his nipple bar on my tongue. Denny moaned loudly and gripped my hair holding me to his chest. Before I could switch to the other nipple Denny ripped my shirt over my head and attacked the button on my jeans before pulling me roughly back to his mouth.
The kiss was wild and out of control and in that moment I couldn’t tell where Denny began and I ended. We weren’t two people, we were one.
I was pretty sure we were on our way to having the hottest sex of both our lives when his mouth slipped from mine, and his hands loosened in my hair.
I looked up to find Denny fighting the drug trying to put him to sleep. Kissing him again I kept my eyes open and watched his eyes shut fully.
As soon as Denny’s eyes shut I jumped off the bed cussing myself for starting something I knew I didn’t have time to finish and cussing myself that I really wanted to finish more than I should at this moment.
Pulling my shirt back on and buttoning up my jeans I ran to Mason’s room. Pulling his work closet open I grabbed the box that held his metal work cuffs. Shit me there were at least six pairs, God I prayed they were just used for work and not something kinky. Taking two pairs I shoved one into the waistband of my jeans and took the other back to Denny’s room.
Denny was still sleeping; actually he was out like a light, poor guy maybe
I should have only given him one pill. Taking his left hand I quickly cuffed him to the headboard. Picking his gun up off the nightstand and tucking it away beside the cuffs I kissed Denny’s forehead and then his lips. “I’m sorry baby but I promise to bring our baby home.”
Leaving the room I headed down the stairs to start the second part of my plan.
Dad was sitting on the couch his head in his hands.
“How’s Denny?” He asked without looking up.
Sitting in the armchair facing him, I winced when the cuffs and gun dug into my ass. “He feels like shit. He’d only just gotten Lucca back because his son’s grandfather is a major asshole.” Guess my brain had decided how I felt about what he had done to Denny, Lucca and me.
“I said I was sorry Rachel.”
“Yeah well sorry doesn’t give back the six months Denny has missed out on.”
Looking up my dad pinned me with his glare. “A couple of weeks and already you’re back under his spell. He is a goddamn drug dealer Rachel. You and Lucca should be nowhere near that.”
“Was Dad. Vinnie is dead and Denny is out of the business.” I shouted. “And what the hell happened to you being sorry?”
“I am sorry but only for how I went about it.”
“Excuse me?”
Clearing his throat he looked at the ground. “You and Lucca shouldn’t be anywhere near Denny. I planned on finding a way to make you see how bad of a choice you were making but before I could do that Vinnie came to see me. He gave me the pictures of Jonah taking money from runners and told me to make sure you and Denny broke up.”
“You sold us out to Vinnie.” I couldn’t fucking believe it first Jace now Dad, what was wrong with my family.
“It seemed like the best plan at the time Rachel, I’m sorry.”
How the fuck could he have done that to me? He worked with Vinnie to ruin everything.
“You’re never going to forgive me are you?”
“If roles were reversed would you forgive me?” My father said nothing and I figured he wasn’t going to. This was not something that could be fixed now, if ever. But right now I had a plan to carry out to save my boy. “Why did Darcy and Jace take you? What did they want to know so badly?” My voice was too stern he was sure to know what I was doing.
My dad shook his head, “I can’t tell you. The less you know the safer you are. Believe me, what I know I never intended anyone to know but after what I did, seeing how miserable you were without Denny I tried to undo it.”
“I don’t understand?”
“Years ago Jonah’s dad and I were friends. When he tried to get away from Vinnie and Vinnie wouldn’t let him, we worked together to take Vinnie down. Before we could do that Vinnie killed him and his family. I couldn’t risk Vinnie going after you and Jace; I needed more to take him down for good. While trying to do that I came across something, for three years I kept it to myself. Then you and Denny happened. After I helped Vinnie break you and Denny up I wanted to fix it. I took the something I came across to Vinnie. I didn’t tell him what I knew just that I did know something. My guess is before Vinnie was killed he tried to use what I told him as leverage.”
Holding my temper in check I took a deep breath to steady my voice. “So let me see if I have this right. You know something that Mika wants to know, the same something that could get me Lucca back?”
“Yes.”
“Then why won’t you tell me when the life of my baby is at stake, your grandson for God sakes.”
Closing his eyes Dad ran a hand through his thinning hair. “You have to understand Rachel this is the second hardest choice I’ve ever had to make, the first being what I did to Denny. But telling you what I know could get a lot of people killed I’ve already hurt too many people, I’m trying to do the right thing now.”
“I don’t care about anybody else.” I shouted, “I just want my baby back. Don’t you want Lucca back?”
“I’m sorry Rachel I can’t tell you. I’m trying to right my wrongs.”
I was getting nowhere and the fact that my father was putting others before saving his grandson was really pissing me the fuck off.
Jumping to my feet I pulled the gun out and pointed it at my father’s shocked face. “I’m sorry Dad” I said my voice shaking, “but Jace is going to kill Lucca. I have to know what you know.”
Dad lost the surprise fast, his face turning to a mask of full on rage. “Jace has been in contact with you?” He yelled.
“He’s going to kill my baby.” I yelled back my eyes swimming with tears. “Tell me what you fucking know.”
My heart just about stopped as I watched my dad make a decision, finally he whispered, “Alex hid what Mika is looking for with Olivia. It’s a black book with every Russian mafia members name, address and position.”
This threw me off because it wasn’t just random people my father was trying to protect by not talking it was a person I’d come to love over the last week. “What are you talking about?”
“If you tell Jace and he tells Mika he will torture Olivia until she give up the hiding place or dies. No matter what, Olivia will die.”
“Why can’t she just hand the book over to him?” I asked.
“It doesn’t work that way in Mika’s World. Olivia and Nick will both die very painful deaths once Mika gets that book. Olivia is even more screwed because she doesn’t even know she has it but Mika would never believe that. She will die for nothing Rachel.” My hopes of getting Lucca back were shattering before my eyes. “I know you want Lucca back but you can’t take a life to get a life baby girl.”
“Lucca is my baby.” I whispered through numb lips.
“A baby you will never be able to look at if you let Olivia die in his place.” Standing up slowly with his hands in the air, my father stepped closer towards me, “I know you Rachel you can’t live with that. We have to find another way to get him back.”
“We just did.”
“Denny.” I gasped turning to see Denny standing in the doorway.
How the fuck did he get out of the cuffs?
“Cuffs and gun, now Rachel.” Denny said holding out his right hand.
“Denny you don’t understand”
Walking into the room Denny’s glare stopped me in my tracks. “No Rachel you don’t understand. When I said I love you today and you said it back you become mine again. I will always take care of what is mine. Gun, now.”
Handing him the gun, Denny grabbed my hand and the gun pulling me behind his back then pointed the gun at my father in one fast move. “Throw the cuffs on the couch Rachel.” Pulling the cuffs out I threw them on the couch like I was told with mixed feelings about Denny holding a gun to my father. When I was doing it I knew I wasn’t going to pull the trigger but I wasn’t sure about Denny. “Cuff yourself to the radiator Jack.”
“I can’t wait to throw your ass in jail for this.”
“Shut up and cuff yourself Jack, I’m working on a time limit.”
“How are you even here right now?” I hissed as my dad cuffed himself to the radiator.
Lifting his left hand Denny showed me a badly broken thumb.
“Holy shit what did you do?”
With his eyes still on my dad Denny put his hand carefully to his side. “Next time you cuff someone make sure they’re tight. Too loose and all it will take is a broken thumb to slip the hand out.”
I was losing it and losing it fast. “Why the hell would you break your own thumb that is just stupid?”
“So is drugging me.” Denny hissed back. “When this is all done me and you are going to have a long talk about that.”
With his hand cuffed to the radiator my dad shot us a dirty look. “What are you going to do now?”
“What we have to do.” Denny answered for me. “Let’s go Rachel.”
Turning from the disappointment on my father’s face I went to the kitchen, Denny following slowly behind me.
In the kitchen Denny dropped heavy into a chair his eyeli
ds fluttering. “Why didn’t you tell me Jace called?”
So he had heard everything Dad and I talked about. “He told me not to tell you. You played me Denny.”
“You drugged and played me. I’d say we are even.”
“If you knew I was playing you then why did you drink the water?”
His eyes dropped shut and his head fell back, “I didn’t know until after you jumped me. What did Jace tell you to do?”
“He told me to find out what Dad knows then wait for his call.”
“Then we wait.” Denny said pulling his head up, God he looked so tired. “When Jace calls whatever he tells you to do, we do together.”
“Are you going to be able to?”
“Sure but you may have to drive and hold the gun just to be safe.”
Smiling, I moved towards him and put my arms around his shoulders. “What are we going to do about Olivia and this black book?”
“I don’t know but after we get Lucca back I have to find that book.”
“What will you do with it?”
“I have no idea.”
Chapter 21
Nick…
Last month I told myself the next time I came to Denver I would be coming back a free man to beg for Olivia’s forgiveness and to finally be able to tell her the truth. One day I would be doing just that, but today was not that day.
Taking my cell out of my suit jacket I dialed Shane’s number as I pulled on a pair of black leather gloves.
Shane picked up on the first ring. “Are you here?” He said in way of greeting.
“Just landed. Did you get Olivia?”
“I got her.”
“And the others?”
“I made sure Jace got away with Lucca.”
Walking away from the private jet I got into the waiting car, the keys lying on the seat next to a black glock. “Choosing between a baby or Olivia some would say that’s a little fucked up.”
“Mika’s more important,” Shane snapped. “I picked between Jace telling, which can’t happen or−”
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