Caleb (The Unseen Series Book 1)

by K. M. Thompson

  “Can you tell me if this senior executive is going to die any time soon? I’ll need to start looking for his replacement,” Grayson asks like this is the most normal conversation to be having first thing Monday morning.

  “You have about a week,” Logan answers as equally nonchalantly.

  “Tell me about Vitale. Why was he after you?” I ask and Logan looks at me with a blank expression. “When we were in the warehouse, you said to him he wouldn’t have removed the tracker because he wanted you.”

  “Ah yes, Angelo Buccieri wants me alive and is offering up a fair-sized reward for me. By shutting down the ring, he lost a lot of valuable income, at least a hundred thousand dollars a week.”

  “What does he plan to do with you?”

  “I don’t know.” Logan shrugs. “But I was his favorite and Leo was more than happy to lend me out to him and his friends.”

  “I’m sorry, Logan. I should have made more of an effort to find you—”

  “It’s not your fault,” He brushes me off. “Buccieri thought he’d broken me. He was trying to get Leo to sell me to him when I turned sixteen. I don’t know what made him do it, maybe it was just to be sure, but a week before I turned sixteen, Leo got a DNA test done. Turns out I’m his son after all.

  “He begged me for forgiveness. The great Leo Slate actually got down on his knees and begged me. I put a bullet in his head. One less parasite for us to worry about.”

  I should probably be upset or something, that my father was murdered by my brother, but I’m not. The only thing I feel is that justice was served.

  “Can I speak to Molly?” I ask.

  “If you want. I’ll set up a video link with her this afternoon. She should be home from university by then,” Logan says.

  I feel lighter. The guilt has lifted, and knowing I wasn’t the cause of her death lets me breathe again.

  “Caleb, I really am sorry. The whole thing with Molly was the reason I’ve struggled to face you. I hated myself because of what it did to you. I didn’t expect Vitale to come to Slate Securities for protection, but like I said to him, he was the only one of the ring members who didn’t expect the ring kids to go after him,” Logan explains.

  “I forgive you, Logan. I’m just thankful she’s actually alive and that she didn’t die because of her father’s sins,” I say, trying but failing to explain how I feel.

  “We always ask their permission first,” Logan says, I look at him perplexed. “The children we abduct. After we’ve told them about their parent, we ask their permission to kill them.”

  “And they say yes?” I ask incredulously.

  “We haven’t had anyone say no yet,” Logan replies. “SJ’s father is dead, but her mother is still alive. What we do best isn’t going to work under these circumstances.”

  “If you attempt to abduct SJ, I will personally rearrange your face,” I respond.

  Logan’s lips quirk as he attempts to hold back a smile. “Exactly, do you think we’ll get her permission?”

  “To kill her mother? She’d probably want to help. Hell I want to help,” I answer honestly to which Logan and Aiden nod. “How are things with you Grayson? Did you and Kade find Evangeline?” I change the subject.

  “Eventually, we only got back a few days ago ourselves,” Grayson replies.

  “She was in a pretty bad way. I’m trying to help her at the moment, but it’s going to be a long road to recovery,” Kade explains.

  “Does she know who you are?” I ask Grayson.

  “No, as far as she’s concerned, I’m offering her half a million dollars for six months of service.”

  “What the fuck, man? You’re prostituting her?”

  “She is a prostitute. Proposing an offer like that was the only way to get her back here. She’s an addict,” he says quietly.

  “How? What happened?”

  “I don’t know yet, but she was as high as a kite when we found her.”

  “I’m currently treating her withdrawal symptoms. It’s a painful process on both the body and the mind,” Kade injects.

  “If there’s anything I can do, let me know,” I offer.

  We spend the next few hours discussing the Decavalcante family and what we can do to make sure nothing like what happened with SJ, can ever happen again.

  ***

  I’m such a girl, just press the call button.

  “About time, Caleb,” Molly’s melodic voice flows through me, alleviating any remaining guilt I had about her death. She isn’t dead—she’s right in front on me.

  “Molly,” I whisper.

  “Did you miss me?” she jokes.

  “You have no idea,” I respond.

  “Caleb, I’m so sorry for what you had to go through. I was so scared that night, seeing the terrified look on your face as your brothers pulled me into the van was heartbreaking. When they told me what was going on, I wanted to call and let you know I was okay, but I couldn’t. Logan said if you knew I was alive, it would put you in a terrible and dangerous position,” she says. I just want to hold her and yell at her at the same time.

  “I’m glad you’re alive. Logan said you’re at university?”

  She goes on for the next twenty minutes about her studies and I’m so happy to hear she’s doing well.

  “You have a sister,” I blurt out.

  “Logan told me the last time we spoke. He said she’s having your baby,” she replies happily and I can’t help my grin.

  “She agreed to marry me too.” I laugh.

  “Wow, the tin man got a heart from the wizard after all,” she jokes. “I can’t wait to meet her and the twins. I’m going to be an aunt!” she says excitedly.

  “She’s only two years older than you. I think you two will get on great.”

  “I’m really happy for you Caleb, truly I am.” Her smile brightens. “I love you, but I realize now it was more of a brotherly love. You were protecting me and I saw you as my superhero.”

  “I always loved you, in an annoying little sister sort of way.” I laugh. “I can’t wait to tell SJ all about you.”

  “You haven’t told her yet?” she asks.

  “I needed to make sure you were real. She’s had to deal with enough fucked up shit to last a lifetime. I didn’t want to get her hopes up just to have them taken away.”

  “I get it, now go home and tell her all about me.”

  We spend another few minutes just chatting to each other before finally get off the phone.

  “Everything okay?” Logan asks.

  I stand and walk toward him. He cowers back instantly. So I grab hold of him and pull him to me, wrapping my arm around his shoulder and clapping him on the back.

  “I don’t hate you. I’ve never hated you and I never will hate you,” I say to him.

  “Thanks Caleb. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you or Grayson again,” he says, bringing his arms around me.

  I don’t know what’s coming next but I know it’s going to be hard. My brothers and I will take the Decavalcante family down if we have to. Together we can do anything.

  About The Author

  I’m twenty-eight, a wife, a mother to three children and the author of the Daylight Series. Currently my writing career consists of four books, the Daylight trilogy and Hell Hath no Fury, which is a standalone novel based on a true events. All of them are self published and can be found on Amazon. When I was younger, I never dreamed of being an author—I think I wanted to be a pop star or actress these were pretty farfetched dreams, so I settled for being an accountant or marine biologist. My grades at school were abysmal and not worthy of a mention, I also never went on to higher education. I have absolutely no qualifications in creative writing or any similar subjects, but I have a very overactive imagination and I’m an avid reader of all genres of fiction.

  The reason I decided to write a book was because I got really angry with a book I was reading, at the time I was giving up smoking so it had really frustrated me. It involved a woman who
self harmed and I felt that the author didn’t handle the subject sensitively. In fact at times it seemed she was mocking the woman’s mental health. I’m actively trying to raise awareness of mental health as it is a topic close to my heart. So needing to do something with my hands, I started writing my books based on a young woman suffering with mental health issues including the addiction of self harming whilst adding in a little romance and a hint of suspense. I wrote the book initially for my own enjoyment and to kick my smoking habit, however when friends started asking to read it I developed the plot into a trilogy—and still smoke occasionally.

  Gradually over the last year I have developed a growing fan base, I love interacting with my readers as they make me immensely proud of the work I’ve produced. I have discovered that I really enjoy writing and putting my imagination to good use and with the encouragement of family, friends and fans, I’ve continued putting pen to paper. Along with the four books already completed, I’ve planned out another series and a Christmas novel.

  Five years ago my dreams were completely different to what they are today. Previously I’ve never found anything that satisfied me enough to warrant a career in, until now. My dream now is to become a published author and I will work as hard as I can until that happens.

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