Rum & Coke

by Kimberly Knight

  Valentina came back. “Ms. Tessa, you and Colton need to go to your room.”

  “Why?” I questioned, looking at Helen who was in the middle of teaching Colt.

  “Because the FBI is here, and it’s best you get Colton and go to your room.”

  The FBI was here? Was it Joss? Please let it be Joss. “I’m not going anywhere. This is my house now.”

  “Please, cariño. I don’t want Mr. Delarosa angry with me,” she begged.

  If I were to go upstairs and hide, the FBI wouldn’t know I was here unless they checked all the rooms. “What about Helen?” I asked.

  “You can go,” Valentina stated to her.

  Helen didn’t hesitate before grabbing her purse and going for the door.

  “Please, cariño. Please,” Valentina begged again.

  “I can’t,” I whispered. I had to see if it was Joss. If it wasn’t, then I would tread lightly because whoever it was could also be on Sebastian’s payroll and I didn’t want to take the chance of telling the wrong person. Joss was the only one I trusted.

  She glared at me, and it was the first time she had ever shown one ounce of anger toward me. “I will tell him, and he will punish you.”

  I walked toward her and lowered my voice so Colton couldn’t hear, “I get punished every day I’m in this place. Do you think I’d let this opportunity pass?”

  Before Valentina could respond, the doorbell rang. I started to move toward the front door, but she held a hand back, making me stop. I sighed and watched her go to the entryway, hoping Joss was on the other side. When the one side of the door was fully open, I saw a man in a black suit standing there. It wasn’t Joss. But then, someone stepped around the guy, and it was her. My heart started to race, a lump formed in my throat, and I wanted to run to her. But then the guy spoke, and my world came crashing down around me—again.

  “Sorry to bother you this afternoon. I’m Special Agent Montana, and this is Special Agent Jackson. We need to ask Mr. Delarosa some questions.” The man and Joss both flashed their badges.

  “He’s not here,” Valentina replied.

  Joss’s gaze met mine, and she gave me a tight smile. What did that mean? Did she not remember me? Was she not here for me?

  “Then, I’d like to ask you some questions,” Agent Montana said to Valentina.

  “About what?” she asked.

  “Please, if you don’t mind, this Vegas heat is brutal.”

  Valentina hesitated, but then allowed Joss and her partner to enter.

  “Thank you,” Agent Montana said. “May we go into the kitchen and talk?” He met my gaze, making Valentina turn toward me.

  “Si, right this way.”

  I expected Joss and the other agent to both go into the kitchen, but instead, Joss moved to me.

  Valentina spoke, “She knows nothing. She is a guest.”

  “That’s for my partner to decide,” Agent Montana affirmed.

  Valentina opened her mouth to protest, and I gave her the saddest look I could possibly muster. She had to know this was my chance. Even if I didn’t know Joss, this was a moment for me to tell them I was in danger. Valentina closed her eyes briefly and then stepped into the open kitchen. She could still see me from where she stood at the island, but then Joss stepped in front of me.

  “Are you okay?” she asked quietly as she looked over at the guard who was by the front door.

  “No.” I shook my head slightly, trying not to respond too much so that Valentina and the guard couldn’t see me. I looked down to see Colton on his iPad, and I took a few steps away so he couldn’t hear either.

  “We need to make this fast. We’re telling the help that we’re here asking questions about a guy named Tony Martinez—”

  “I met him,” I confirmed.

  “He’s dead.”

  “What?” My eyes became huge.

  “Doesn’t matter. When Sebastian asks, tell him I asked you questions about girls being trafficked at Red Diamond.”

  I nodded. “Okay, but I don’t think they are.”

  “I know, but we’ll get into that another day. We need to figure out how to get you out of here.”

  “You can’t take us now?”

  She shook her head. “If this were a simple kidnapping case, I wouldn’t hesitate, but it’s more, Tessa.”

  “More?”

  “You do know who Sebastian is, right?”

  I nodded.

  “We need him, but we’re still doing surveillance on him, and we need time before we can make the bust.”

  “I saw him kill a guy,” I stated.

  “You did?”

  I bobbed my head again. “That’s why I’m here. He’s worried I’ll tell the police, but some of the officers with Metro are working for him.”

  “We can use that, but I need you to stay here until we can make the arrest.”

  “Why?”

  “There’s a lot of moving pieces, and we just don’t have the evidence right now.”

  “Me seeing a guy being killed by him isn’t enough?”

  “It would be your word against his, and I’d rather not take the chance of putting you in even more danger.”

  “Okay, so what do I do? Just pretend everything’s good?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Everything’s not good, Joss. I’m pregnant.”

  She smiled warmly at me. “We assumed as much since Autumn saw you at the OB. Is it Vinny’s?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  Joss stared at me for a beat. “I was hoping he wasn’t doing that to you.”

  She didn’t need to clarify. I knew she understood Sebastian was raping me. “Almost every night.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ll get you out of here as soon as I can.”

  “When?” I wanted to crumple to the floor and cry. When I gave Autumn my note, I expected the cavalry to come in. Now help was here, but Joss wasn’t taking Colton and me away. She was leaving us here to continue our misery.

  “I’ve actually thought about this a lot in the last three months since Vinny told me.”

  “You’ve talked to Vinny?”

  “Of course.”

  “How is he?”

  “Not so good, but I can’t get into that right now. I’m certain they’ve called Sebastian, and he’s on his way. It’s only a matter of time.”

  “Okay, so what have you thought about?”

  “We need a way to bring down all his men with him.”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  “When is his next party?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t think he will ever have one again since I’m locked up here. He doesn’t want me talking to anyone. I can’t even leave the house. My doctor’s appointment was the first time.”

  “Does Sebastian think the baby is his?”

  “Yes. He’s already turned a room into a nursery. Colton doesn’t even have his own room with toys.”

  “We need to get all of his men in one room. That will be for the best.” Joss thought for a moment. “This may be because I’m a newlywed, but do you think you can convince him to have a wedding?”

  My eyes widened, and I hissed, low, “You want me to marry the guy?”

  “No,” she corrected. “I want you to pretend you’re going to marry him. We’ll stop it.”

  “How will you know when it is?”

  “We will. Trust me.”

  Before we could go any further, Sebastian stormed in through the doors. Everything stopped as he stalked toward us, anger radiating off of him. Mateo wasn’t far behind him. “You have no right coming into my home when I’m not here. Now, get out.”

  Joss held up her hands. “Please, Mr. Delarosa, we’re just here about Tony Martinez.”

  Sebastian stopped short, and I moved to him, wrapping my arms around his waist, hoping he would think that I was on his side. “What about him? He’s dead.” His hand tightened on my waist.

  “If you’d like, may we step into another room?”
Joss asked.

  Sebastian looked down at me, and then back to Joss. “Fine. We can go up to my office.”

  Sebastian kissed the top of my head, and then we broke apart before he started to walk. Joss turned to follow him, but I stopped her with a quick touch of my hand on her shoulder and whispered, “Tell Vinny I love him.”

  “You can tell him yourself soon enough.” She winked.

  As she walked up the curved staircase with her partner and Sebastian, I hoped she was right. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen in Sebastian’s office because that was where I assumed he took all the people to kill them.

  While I waited for them to talk to Sebastian, Valentina questioned me about what I’d said. I stuck to what Joss had told me to say and only spoke of Red Diamond. Thirty minutes later, Joss and her partner returned down the stairs with Sebastian and Mateo following them. I didn’t know what was said, of course, but Joss knew the truth about me being here, and now we had a plan.

  I just had to figure out how to get Sebastian to want to marry me and plan a wedding. A wedding I wanted to hold tomorrow if it meant I could be rescued sooner. I’d always thought that when I was engaged, I’d do the standard planning that took a year. But that wasn’t going to happen. I couldn’t survive another year pretending I was okay with everything Sebastian was doing. Someone would end up dead.

  And that was probably going to be me.

  A week later, there still wasn’t any news about Tessa.

  I was starting to hate the line “I’m working on it” with a passion. Joss and Paul should have been back from Italy already, and I needed answers. And because I’d taken the summer off from teaching, hadn’t volunteered at the Special Olympics, and had taken a break from S&R, I’d spent most of my time thinking about Tessa and hoping she was okay.

  Every day I texted Melony, and every day was the same.

  Me: Heard anything?

  Melony: Nope, you?

  Me: No.

  Apparently, Melony tried to talk to Sebastian, but Melony was told—just like I was—that Tessa was at his house on her own. He also went so far as to tell her that Tessa didn’t want to see anyone from the club and to just forget about her because Tessa had a new life now and was no longer dancing. He might have thought we’d believe that shit, but we knew it wasn’t true. His days were numbered. I just hated that it was taking fucking forever. Also, Melony had said that everything in Tessa’s apartment had been taken out and it was getting rented to someone else.

  I fucking hated this situation.

  I was watching a Dodgers game and was about to pour myself a drink when my cell rang. It was Paul, and I instantly sat up, swiping the call button. “Hey!”

  “Gabe is a father!” he boomed.

  My body sagged at the news. Not because I wasn’t happy for Gabe, but because I wanted an update on Tessa. “That’s awesome,” I replied.

  “Come to the hospital. Meet my nephew.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes, now. Everyone’s coming. Well, besides Seth and Cat. They’re back in Florida.”

  I hadn’t seen Seth since the night of the wedding. Paul had alluded to shit going down during their mission, and Cat had been involved. It wasn’t that I didn’t care about them, but how could I care about anything except getting Tessa back?

  “Yeah, I’m on my way. Text me the details.”

  I arrived at the hospital, and when I finally found the room number where Paul told me they were, everyone was there: Paul, Joss, Brad, Nick, Leah, Nina, Mark, and his wife, Tracy. It was an S&R reunion and shit.

  “Vinny!” Paul boomed when he saw me walk in through the door.

  “If you wake Liam, I will hurt you,” Autumn warned from the hospital bed. Gabe, who was standing beside her, gave Paul an evil glare.

  “How are all of you in one room?” I asked.

  “Not like we don’t like tight spaces.” Nick winked as he turned his head toward me.

  “But we should all step into the hall and let you meet the newest member of the S&R family,” Brad stated as he slapped me on the shoulder and walked to the door.

  Everyone followed Brad’s lead, and one by one, we exchanged hellos as they passed. The only people left in the room were me, Autumn, Gabe, and their little guy. “Congrats, you two.”

  “You look like shit,” Gabe advised.

  “Gabe!” Autumn scolded. “Language.”

  “Liam isn’t even a day old. He has no clue what I’m saying,” Gabe countered.

  I moved closer and ran my finger along the little guy’s cheek as Autumn held him. “He’s bald like you,” I teased, and looked up at Gabe.

  “Runs in the family.” He smiled.

  “Do you want to hold him?” Autumn asked.

  I smiled, and it felt as though it was the first time in three long ass months. “Yeah, I would love that.” Autumn handed me the baby boy, and I looked down, watching him sleep as I held him.

  “You know I saw Tessa at the doctor’s, right?” Autumn asked.

  Why would she bring this up? Of course I knew, but it was a sensitive subject. She had to know that.

  “Yeah, I heard,” I replied.

  “I know we don’t know if she is pregnant, but if she is, I’m hoping it’s yours.”

  “What makes you think she’s pregnant?”

  “Because you usually don’t go to the doctor’s for your first appointment until after eight weeks. And she’s been gone about that long, right?”

  “Yeah, but maybe she was there for something else?”

  “Like what? Birth control?” she questioned.

  I wasn’t sure if that thought was better or worse than the thought of her being pregnant with the asshole’s baby. “Can we not talk about this?” I asked instead of answering her.

  “Yeah, sorry. I just want you to know I’m here for her when she’s out of that place. My ex-husband forced sex from me …”

  I nodded, already knowing that because Gabe and Paul had gone toe to toe with that asshole. He ended up dead, and Gabe and Paul were questioned by the police. Over drinks, they told the guys what had happened, and when they decided to start their self-defense business, it all made sense.

  “Maybe I should have gotten you to show her some moves instead of using a gun,” I stated.

  “We don’t know the circumstances,” Gabe reminded me. “She might not have even had a chance to do anything. Given what you’ve said, and how I saw Tessa with you, she isn’t there on her own.”

  “I know.” I sighed. I had to keep believing it because that was the only thing that made sense still.

  “Joss is working on it,” Gabe assured. “Shit will go down, and you’ll get your girl back.”

  “I’m sick of hearing that,” I muttered, looking down at the baby in my arms. “Not the getting my girl back part, but Joss keeps telling me she’s working on it and I don’t believe her because nothing has happened.”

  “She opened an investigation, Vin. She can’t tell you details because of that fact. It goes way deeper than just a friend checking on another friend,” Gabe countered.

  “But you know. Why is it that you know?”

  “I know because Paul talks while at the range.”

  “So you know what’s going on?”

  He shook his head. “No, but like I said, it’s an investigation. It only makes sense she can’t tell you.”

  “Everything will work out,” Autumn said, reaching up to cup my fingers that were holding her baby’s head.

  I looked down at Liam. If Tessa were pregnant, and if it were mine, I’d be over the fucking moon. Kids were never in my plan, but my plan changed when I met Tessa, and I was slowly realizing it. Spending time with Colton, and now this little guy, made me realize that no matter what happened, I wanted it all with Tessa. I didn’t need the baby to be mine. I’d raise it as if it were my own. What I needed was Tessa and Colt back in my life, and then everything else would work itself out.

  “Yeah, let’s hope so,” I r
eplied.

  “Lookie what we brought,” Paul cooed as he and the gang walked back into the room. He was holding cigars.

  “You can’t smoke that in here,” Autumn protested.

  “It’s chocolate, Auttie. Smoking will kill you, don’t you know that?”

  She rolled her eyes, and I looked over at Joss. She gave me a tight smile, and I wanted to ask her what was happening with the alleged case, but now that Gabe confirmed there was an investigation, I realized I needed to let my nagging rest.

  “Want to hold him?” I asked Joss.

  “Yes!” Paul boomed. “Give her baby fever.”

  Joss rolled her eyes in the direction of her husband. “We just got married.”

  “So?” He motioned to Gabe and Autumn. “These two ain’t even married.”

  “Speaking of,” Autumn spoke up. “Wedding will be in November. Maybe a week or so before Thanksgiving.”

  When I left the hospital to head home, I felt different.

  Joss had told me she’d looked into Sebastian and red flags came up, but I didn’t take it to mean there would be an investigation. Now that I knew there was, I was hopeful things would progress faster.

  I opened up my texts to send one to Melony and share the news with her but stopped myself. I trusted her—she was Tessa’s best friend—but she also still worked for the asshole. I didn’t want her to somehow slip and tell him or someone else that the Feds were looking into him.

  That night I still didn’t sleep like a baby, but I slept better knowing that one day soon, Tessa would be in my arms again.

  The moment the door shut behind Joss and her partner, Sebastian turned to me, eyes glaring. “Office. Now!” he barked.

  I didn’t hesitate. I knew he was pissed, but since I also knew Joss was working on getting me out, I felt as though I could play up my façade with Sebastian. Somehow I needed him to want to marry me.

  When we got up the stairs of his office, he spun me around and wrapped a hand around my throat. He growled, “So help me God, Tessa. If you fucking told the Feds anything, I will squeeze the life out of you right now.”