Roses & Thorns: Conquer

by Bry Ann

  I stare at all the men. All of them are blank-faced with absolutely fucking nothing to offer me.

  “Get out,” I hiss. “I’m sick of looking at your blank faces. When someone has something of value to add, come see me. Until then, you all will be on your posts overnight. Sven, I’m kicking Lacey out of her desktop prison. She’s done researching Miguel’s shit for the day. You, pester your contact, it’s been four months! We pay him amazing fucking money. He better have shit. If he doesn’t, deal with him. Now out!”

  I can almost see everyone grumbling in their minds, but they wouldn’t dare say anything out loud. They all shuffle out without a word. Even Sven.

  I run my hand over my face. This stress is going to kill me, if it doesn’t kill my wife first. I just want to hold my innocent daughter right now, my angel, but I have to get Lace first so we can be a family.

  I stalk up the stairs, still bristling from the meeting. Voices coming from Lacey’s computer den stop me.

  “I’m not obsessed!” Lacey says, laughing. She’s laughing, not biting someone’s head off for daring to utter those three words. What the…

  “You are, Lacey. Let the big guys with the guns deal with this. You’re far too fun for this shit.”

  “I’m not fun.”

  I peek in, knowing I can stay hidden. Lacey is sitting on the floor, face scrunched up, leaning against the wall, elbows resting lazily on her knees, not all tucked up. Enzio is next to her, sitting the same way. Sven mentioned we should keep an eye on Lacey and Enzio’s relationship after what happened with Ricardo. Lacey would lose faith in humanity if two men betrayed her, and I’d lose my sanity if another one of my men hurt her.

  Watching them right now, no red flags are going off. In fact, it’s the opposite. I feel like I’m sitting here watching two childhood best friends. Which, for Lacey, is a huge deal.

  “You are. I’ve heard you are a seriously kickass fighter. You’re loyal. Easy to talk to. Quiet, but oddly fierce. Boss would literally kill me for saying this...” I smirk. “But let your family be the end of your connection to this life. Box, play with your kid, hang with those two crazy chicks living here. You’ve paid your dues, woman.”

  She told him her past?!

  And a-fucking-men.

  Enzio is seriously earning some points in my book. He’s quickly becoming a favorite of mine. If there was an opportunity for him to move up right now, I would absolutely give it to him. Well, I would if he wasn’t so perfect as extra protection for little Rose and Lacey during a time where their lives are very much at risk.

  “Thanks, Enzio, but I have to do this. I appreciate you stopping by. Your company’s been nice.”

  It’s lucky I’m not a jealous type. Lacey makes it impossible to be. She’s loyal to a fault. Not to mention, I really don’t think Enzio and Lacey’s relationship is like that. I’m just happy she hasn’t been holed up here all alone.

  “Well, I mean, how could I not? Your poor keyboard would break if I wasn’t here. You were destroying the thing. It needs a rest, even if you don’t.”

  Lacey looks over at him, eyes alight. She looks so fucking grateful for him. My heart squeezes. I’m so fucking glad she’s making friends here. I can’t hole her up in a mfia house to live alone. It’s been a genuine fear of mine.

  After a moment she pushes back up to standing, ready to start working again. I sneak out and take a deep breath, feeling lighter after hearing Enzio and Lacey’s conversation. I walk back into the room using the other door, the same way I always do, making my entrance hard to ignore this time.

  Lacey senses me immediately. Enzio gives me a firm nod.

  “Boss.”

  “Enzio,” I return firmly before returning my gaze to Lacey, and giving her a warm smile.

  “Hi, babe.”

  “Hi,” she whispers, sounding shy.

  She blushes before going back to her keyboard. Lacey’s been strange around me since she let my real name slip to Rose. That fucked her up. Seeing her having a panic attack broke my heart. I admit when I finally got her to confess what set her off, I stiffened. I quickly forced myself to let it go when I realized, one, Miguel’s been telling my first name to anyone who will fucking listen. And two, Lacey literally didn’t give up my name while being severely tortured. Her slipping in a moment of stress to her best friend, I had to let go with absolutely no shits given. I’ve told her one hundred times that it’s fine, but she’s been shy, complacent, and desperate to please me ever since. I can’t reach her. I can’t get it through her beautiful mind that I still trust her unequivocally with my secrets.

  “You’re done for today.”

  “No, I can’t. There’s so much to…”

  I hold up my hand. “You’re working for me, remember? As your boss, I’m telling you that you’re done.”

  Her head falls, and slowly, with the slightest bit of rebellion, more than any of my men showed anyway, she jams at the keys to shut down her system. I wait patiently while she does so. I glance at Enzio.

  “You’re dismissed for the night. My girls will be with me.”

  “Yes, Boss.” He looks at me, unsure for a moment, but I see the decision already made in his eyes.

  “Night, Lacey. See you tomorrow.”

  “Goodnight, Enzio,” Lacey says, clearly still displeased that she has quit working. “Enjoy your night.”

  He doesn’t reply. He walks out of the room, keeping a protective eye on her until he leaves the room. I trust him.

  “Fine, done.”

  She slams her hand on one last key before turning to me with a barely suppressed glare. She’d have a lot more to say if she wasn’t so off from slipping up around Rose.

  I walk up behind her and slip my hands through her defiantly posed arms.

  “What do you say we get our daughter and watch Harry Potter Two? I have no idea what happens after his battle with the two-headed bastard.”

  The fight leaves her body instantly. I can almost feel the excited butterflies buzzing through her.

  “Chamber of Secrets, Adam. Saying number two makes you sound like you’re not a fan.”

  What a travesty.

  “Alright, little dove,” I chuckle, “Let’s get our daughter. I’ll have Mirial bring us some peanut M&Ms and popcorn.”

  “Junk food?” She shrieks, like this is the absolute best day of her life. The happiness in her voice makes me tingle inside. There’s no manlier way I have to describe it.

  “Yes, babe. I can make exceptions once in a while.”

  She leaps up. “This is the best day ever! Let’s get Rose. I can’t wait to share this with her.”

  She looks at me for one more moment before her face softens. She cups my face with one small hand, rough from fighting, mothering and spending endless hours on her computer.

  “Thank you, Adam.” Her eyes water. “I love you so much.”

  She dives into my arms and tucks her head into my chest, laying it right against my heart. I suck in a deep breath and hold her there gently.

  “I love you so much. More than you know. I’ll keep us safe, Lacey. I promise you.”

  … And this, this right here, is how we get through it.

  We both need this night.

  Ringgg….

  I immediately pick up the phone. Anything to distract me from hours of thinking through how to handle this. I won’t let anything happen to them. I won’t. I can’t let this drive me insane either. I’ve handled worse than this kid before.

  “Ruston.”

  “Boss. Lacey needs to talk to you now. Are you coming up or should she come down?”

  “I’m coming. Now.”

  There’s an urgency in his tone that has every nerve ending in my body on alert. I run up the stairs at a full sprint. I don’t know what I expect, but Lacey huddled over her computer typing rapidly isn’t it. The second she senses me, she jumps out of her chair. I was expecting something to be wrong with her, but there’s not. In fact, the person in front of me is tha
t strong, determined woman that awes me. The one I know could end me and my entire empire with a wave of her hand.

  “You’re here,” she says firmly, leaping out of the chair. “Good. You have to see this.”

  She grabs my wrist and pulls me to the computer, which is an act only she could get away with, especially in front of Enzio, who I feel lurking in the corner. She waves her hand in front of the giant screen with a firm look, laced with panic.

  “Look.”

  In front of me is an array of maps, numbers, and pictures. I see a few things that set me on alert, like pictures of the inside of my fucking house, but I can’t understand her urgency. I don’t know what exactly I’m looking at.

  “Lacey, I don’t know what this is.”

  “It’s everything.”

  She looks at me with an expression crossed with fear and pity.

  “Babe,” she whispers, jutting out her chin to keep strong. “This is bad.”

  “Explain.”

  My voice cuts like a whip. She momentarily startles. She’ll never fully heal from our past, but she quickly recovers.

  “He knows everything. He’s extremely intelligent. This,” she hits a few keys, “is you as a kid. You with your dad growing up. You the day you become Boss. This is me. My one and only Facebook picture. My parents meeting with the Castellos,” my eyes cut to her for a second. She types a few things rapidly. “These are pictures of me with the Castellos. The worst parts. He knows intimately what was worst for me. He knows you love me. He knows about Rose. This,” more typing, “is a picture of the hospital where Rose was born.”

  I glance at Lacey. My wife. She’s my wife before anything else, and there are pictures flashing on the screen in front of us of her being tortured. The people she loves most being threatened.

  She’s off, though. Disconnected from her feelings in a way only she knows how.

  “This goes on. There’s information on every single one of your men. The layout of this place. Everything. Nothing is safe. Nothing is sacred. This... this may be the end of everything.”

  “Watch it,” I snap, on instinct. I work to soften my face into some sort of apology. Wife first. Wife first. “Where did you even fucking get this information?”

  I begin to pace the floor.

  “I don’t know how I got in. There’s been this locked document on the Castello’s main drive I’ve been trying to hack for weeks. Weeks. I don’t know what I did to get in, but now that I’m in, there’s so much here.”

  “What’s the biggest threat on here?”

  “I haven’t had time to dig through all of it yet. But I will,” she adds quickly. “I wanted you to be informed first.”

  I nod.

  “But as of now, I’d say the biggest threat is the information he has on our daughter.”

  I’m a complete bastard.

  “Right,” I say softly. “I agree.”

  “Not only for obvious reasons, but you are in charge. By default, me as well. Both of us would go to bat for our daughter. We’d sacrifice anything. That’s a problem. It’s our weakest link, and our greatest strength.”

  I fucking love my wife.

  “You’re right.”

  “Radar, Rose, and the children of this organization need to be protected.”

  “Agreed.” Strongly, passionately agreed.

  “That should be the first thing you do. They matter most. They’re innocent.”

  You’re innocent. I want to say that, but guilt wraps around me like a snake. A weak nod is all I manage, but I swear to whatever god is up there, I will protect Lacey. She deserves it just as much as the children. She got roped into this when she was just a child herself. She was nineteen the day the sale was made.

  “Ruston?”

  I glance up, realizing I’ve been staring into space for a solid minute.

  “I’m here. I agree with you. I’m on it.”

  She nods hesitantly. “We’ll talk later?”

  “Yes, little dove,” I say, running a hand over my face. I’m already tired. “We’ll talk.”

  She nods. “I’ll probably be here all night digging through all this. I’ll text you if anything comes up. And, um...” She glances at Enzio. “Take care of Rose tonight. I still want you to figure out your plans for the children, but I have to be here, so Rose is your priority tonight. Remember our rule: she always has one of us at night. No matter what.”

  “You aren’t filling yourself with this shit all night. Fuck no.”

  Fuck. No. No. No. Not after all I’ve put her through. Not after she confessed her life is barely worth hanging onto. I’m pulled out of my spiraling rejection by Lacey, her soft hand on my tense clothed muscle.

  “It has to be done. I don’t like it either. I’ll do it as fast as I can, but there’s no one who can replace me on this.”

  I grit my teeth. Her hand tightens.

  “You know I’m right.”

  I do. That’s what’s pissing me off.

  “Enzio!” I snap. He steps from the shadows.

  “Yes, Boss.”

  “You stay with her.”

  “Yes, Boss, as long as you both need.”

  You both. Fuck, this kid is really growing on me. I tap my phone with one finger, subtly. He gets the message.

  Check your texts.

  “Tell Rose I love her.”

  The five words that crack Lacey’s detached shell. Her lip quivers a bit while delivering those words. She’s always there for Rose at night.

  “I will.” I feel an explosion of tension in my chest. Love. I love her so much. I don’t want to be without her in my arms tonight, but as Boss, I know I have to let her work. This information is too nerve-wracking, and she’s too fucking talented to give up. She’s irreplaceable.

  I stalk over to her scrunched up form, take her face in my hands and kiss her. Just fucking kiss her. I tell her what I can’t say in words with my lips before she can throw her mask back on. The kiss is too short, too telling, and too painful, but I’m glad we had it.

  “‘Til tomorrow, little dove.”

  Lacey is already on the computer, a mask of indifference slipped on and locked in place, typing away. Working on saving us. Saving everything I’ve sacrificed my soul for.

  I glance at Enzio and tap my phone one more time to make sure he gets it. He gives an exaggerated nod. The second I leave the room, I type out a text.

  Me: WATCH. HER. She’s smart, but if it’s too much... The images... Enzio, I’m fucking serious. I’ll drag her out of there myself.

  I’m already typing out a second text in the same vein when bubbles appear on the screen.

  Enzio: I’m already on it, Boss. Trust me. I’ve got her.

  I hope I’m not making a grave mistake by accepting the fact that I do in fact trust him. For the night. I have to do what Lacey would want. What we want.

  Get my daughter. Love her. Make sure she never has any clue what’s going on. Make sure she never knows all her mother sacrifices for her.

  Sven

  My foot taps persistently on the tile floor.

  “Can we go?” I growl.

  “Hold on, you big, angry fuck. We’re talking,” Maria calls over her shoulder. I’m not sure that woman is fully sane. She had zero fear walking into a house full of mafia men. I asked Rose about it, but all she said was ‘that’s how Maria is.’ How she’s always been. She says maybe working in a psych ward for so long changed her idea of normal. I doubt that.

  I roll my eyes dramatically at Maria’s words. It’s become their weird ass tradition to wait for Lacey outside the doors while she boxes. I’m not sure Lacey even likes it, but ever since Rose realized that she’s been leaving Lacey out, she’s dragged Maria’s ass down here nearly daily. Meaning if I want to see her in my spare time, occasionally I have to come down here to try and retrieve her. It’s worth it. Besides, I have plans today.

  Rose glances back at me. Her nerves are written all across her face, but she’s gotta fit in, of course, s
o she doesn’t make it known beyond that.

  “Can’t you see I’m busy?” She rolls her eyes and turns her body away from me.

  I smirk. “I see you fidgeting. I see that.”

  Now her anger is real. “You’re an asshole, Sven!”

  I blow her a kiss. “Love you too, baby.”

  She rolls her eyes and turns back to Maria. Rose is the only pleasant aspect of my life anymore. Things are so beyond fucked up I don’t even know where to begin. It’s a never ending trial of darkness and uncertainty.

  But we’ll win.

  The road to peace is always paved in destruction.

  The women continue chatting away, and I continue impatiently stomping my foot until, finally, the doors fly open.

  “Thanks, Cut,” Lacey says in that sheepish way of hers.

  She looks fucking beat. She’s red, sweaty, drowning in material I know she just threw on, but it’s more than that. She looks exhausted. The whites of her eyes are drowned out. The bags under her eyes are more prominent than ever. She’s lost weight, which isn’t a typical coping skill for Lacey. She feeds herself so she can be strong enough to deal with this life. So I’m a little surprised to see her looking frail. I guess I haven’t seen her in a while. I’ve been working like a fucking dog trying to end this shit with the kid, and any spare moment I’ve had, I spend with Rose. I guess I owe it to Lace to see if she’s okay.

  Cut’s eyes roam over Lacey one last time, and a flicker of concern most normal people would miss flares in his eyes. Well, it does before his gaze moves from Lacey and lands on Maria.

  “Don’t you have a life?” He grunts.

  Maria spins around. Immediately, her hands fly to her hips. Her eyes narrow and her spine straightens. Well, I guess if I’m gonna be stuck here waiting for Rose, I might as well enjoy a show. I smirk and lean against the wall.