Skepticism (Life. Destiny. Fate. #4)

by LK Collins

  “I know, I’d rather stay away from him anyways,” she tells me.

  “Do you have our birth certificates?”

  “Yup, all of them, and they just picked up the Denali.”

  Damn, I’m going to miss that car.

  I get to Nat as fast as I can. With the Ignacio case, I had to make up an excuse to leave. Thankfully, I had Nat to handle a few things for me, and Tomas and Samantha are kicking ass on the installs, so Nat is able to come with me. Pulling in the driveway, I honk and she opens the door with a black duffel bag in hand. I get out, taking it from her, as she kisses me and asks, “Do I need my gun?”

  “No,” I tell her, taking the bag and putting it in the trunk. We load up in the car and I head out quickly. I don’t want to be late and make Zell think that we are not serious. “Here, will you put this in the glove box?”

  “We won’t need at least one?” she asks.

  “This is the guy we are paying to take care of things if we die. He gets paid regardless. He’s not gonna hurt us.”

  She puts my gun in the glove box, worrying her lip. “Okay, I’m just scared that he works for Moretti,” she says.

  “No way. I defended Zell over three years ago. He’s Russian; if anything, he works for the Russian mafia.”

  She giggles. “And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” Shaking her head, she closes the glove box and rests her hand on the file in front of her.

  “How’s the account looking?”

  “A little over nineteen and a half million. We’re just missing Tony’s money.”

  “Dammit. If that motherfucker ruins this for us…”

  “He won’t, don’t start thinking like that.”

  “We’ve exhausted everything baby, there is no more money. We’ve liquidated and sold everything possible. Tony is gonna fuck us, I knew I shouldn’t have depended on him.”

  Pulling up to the black wrought iron gate, I press the call button. “Liam Brown and Aubrey Walsh.” Nat places her hand on my thigh, “Let’s get through this and then worry about Tony, okay, baby?”

  “Hey, Liam, come on in.”

  The gate opens and we drive through. “He sounds friendly,” Natalene notes.

  “He is; it’s what makes him such a good hitman.”

  She laughs at my response, but it’s true. We park in front of his elaborate home, and I ask Nat, “Are you ready, baby?”

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  Opening the trunk, I grab the bag of cash and walk to the front door, holding the money in one hand and Nat’s in the other. Walking into a situation like this, I can understand how Nat is nervous. But I truly believe that he’s a man of his word and he doesn’t know Moretti. And his code of honor says he owes me one for saving his life.

  I guess what goes around comes around…sometimes.

  “Liam,” he says, answering the door, and shakes my hand. “And this must be Aubrey.” He takes her hand and kisses the top of it. “Come in, come in. Is this my money?” he asks.

  “Yup, all six hundred thousand,” I say.

  “Great, let’s visit. I’ll have it counted, if you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all,” I say and hand it to him. He passes it to another man who takes it out of the room.

  “Would either of you like a drink?” he offers.

  “No, thanks,” I tell him and Nat shakes her head.

  “Well, have a seat and tell me what you have gotten yourself into.”

  “Do you want the long version or…?”

  He waves a hand at me. “The fewer details the better. I have a feeling you won’t be my attorney after today.”

  I shake my head and say, “No, unfortunately not. But I know you won’t be getting into trouble again, so you won’t need me.”

  He raises his glass to us and says, “God willing. So let’s talk business.”

  Reaching over onto Natalene’s lap, I grab the folder from her. “I’m not really Liam Brown and she’s not really Aubrey Walsh. These are copies of our real birth certificates and the one for our daughter. What we need from you is an insurance policy of sorts. If anything happens to any of us, we need you to eliminate a person. Everything is in this folder, an eye for an eye, one for one. If all three of us die, then I’m asking that you kill the three men listed in here.”

  “That’s it?” he asks.

  “Yeah, that’s it.”

  He looks at the birth certificates and says, “Should I call you Micah from now on?”

  I stand and shake his hand. “Let’s hope you never have to see me again.”

  “Zell?” The man that took our money comes back into the room. Zell looks in his direction, and the man says, “It’s all there, boss.”

  “Good luck to the both of you.” Taking Nat’s hand, we leave. Getting into the car, it is somewhat of a relief to know that we have something to tell Moretti after we pay him so he doesn’t come after us.

  Pulling away, Nat asks me, “So that’s how you buy a hit on someone?”

  “Yup, pretty much.”

  I wish right now we could drive straight to the airport and away from all of this bullshit. But we can’t. Heading to Tony’s, I’ll be damned if he fucks it up. “Unload my gun, beautiful?”

  “Why?” she questions me, confused.

  “We’re visiting Tony, and I don’t want to be tempted to shoot his ass.”

  “Would you?” she asks.

  “After the stress I’ve been under and the way I feel about him…yeah, maybe.”

  Nat removes the clip from my gun and takes out all of the bullets, they clink into the palm of her hand and then she empties the chamber. Putting the pedal down, I floor it to Tony’s primary dispensary. He’s the final piece to all of this.

  “Is Tony’s money in?” Micah asks me as I get in from doing the last of my installs.

  “The last I checked, it wasn’t.” He begins to pace the room, clearly pissed that last night Tony promised he’d send the wire first thing this morning. I set my bag on the floor, his house is basically empty from the staging company that came in and bought everything. But in a time like this, we are desperate – every last penny is life or death to us. Pulling the laptop out of my bag, I sit on the floor and pull the account up online to be sure. “It’s not there,” I tell him.

  “That motherfucker.”

  “I’m sure it will be any minute; you made your point last night. He won’t fuck us.”

  Micah gets out his phone.

  “What are you doing? I ask.

  “Texting Tony. At this rate, I’d be fine with the cash and I’ll fly it to Moretti myself.”

  “The fuck you will. Moretti made it clear that he wants a wire. Seeing him would just be a death trap. We are not having any unnecessary contact with him. A wire to his offshore account, and a phone conversation about the hits, end of story.”

  Micah is nervous, as am I. We have ’til midnight tonight to get Moretti the money or we’re dead. Tomas and Samantha are wrapping up the last of the installs today, which thankfully we have already collected the funds for…all except for Tony’s, which I finished two days ago hoping it would push him to pay.

  I wrack my brain, trying to think of anything we can do to get the money. “Have you thought about hacking into the dry cleaning account and wiring out everything that you can?”

  “I’m sure he doesn’t have shit that’ll help us.”

  “Well, at least look, so we don’t end up dead with $19 million in an offshore account.”

  His phone chimes with a text, and I ask, “Is it him?”

  He shakes his head and shows me the screen. As much as I love money, I hope you fail!

  “Fuck!” I yell. It’s Moretti. We don’t need him in our heads any more than he already is today.

  Micah comes to where I am on the couch and kneels in front of me. “What do we do?”

  I shake my head at him. There is desperation in his eyes and I wish I had an answer in this moment. Then his phone chimes and he looks
at it shouting, “Motherfucker!”

  “What?” I ask, thinking of what Moretti could be saying now.

  “Tony’s phone is disconnected; the text was returned.” Micah opens the laptop and his fingers frantically move over the keyboard, then he waits impatiently for something to load. “Goddammit, and he emptied the accounts. He fucked us.”

  “What are we gonna do?” I ask terrified.

  He looks over his shoulder at the clock on the wall and says, “We need to wire what we have to Moretti before the cutoff for today, then find Tony and get the rest.”

  Leaning down, he kisses my lips and grabs the car keys. “Can you do the wire?” I nod, looking him in the eye. “Good, don’t step foot outside of this house.”

  “You’re not leaving me here alone. Moretti probably has men watching us as we speak.”

  “Fuck! You’re probably right, babe. Do the wire now and then let’s go.”

  I grab the laptop and look over the email one last time with our request attached. I wish we were sending the full twenty, but we aren’t, so I change it to send $19.45 million and then slide on my shoes, following Micah outside. The sun is warm, but my insides are even hotter in fear for what today will hold. He peels down the street with a fire burning in his eyes. I don’t know how we will find Tony, but I know we will do whatever it takes.

  Micah pulls up to the Rockwell Wellness Center, and instantly I know we are fucked. The place is shut down. We really screwed ourselves by giving this asshole time to collect the money he owed us. All it did was give him an opportunity to skip town.

  Micah dials someone on his phone and puts it against his ear. “Reid?” he barks into the device. “Why the fuck aren’t your men at the Rockwell Wellness Center?” Micah drives to Tony’s second Wellness Center that is just a block over, but they are closed as well.

  “Shouldn’t you have told me that?”

  I can hear Reid trying to explain things. “I don’t give a fuck, you should have called me, end of story!” He hangs up and tosses the phone on the dashboard. Sitting in the car with my hands in my lap, I look over at him, so angry and afraid. He begins to cry, squeezing the steering wheel and then punches it over and over. His face is so red, it reminds me of the night we got the news of his mom.

  He runs his hands through his hair and lets out a slow, steady breath. Then he pops the car in drive and pulls away.

  “What did he say?”

  “Tony told Reid the state shut him down, which is bullshit. There are no notices on the buildings. He bullshitted his way out of town and pulled the wool over our eyes in the process.”

  “Where are we going?” I ask, scared that we’ll run out of time.

  “To get the rest of our money.”

  I don’t ask how he’s planning to do that with Tony being gone. Because I trust Micah. I trust him unconditionally with my life. If he robbed a bank right now, I’d be his getaway driver, plain and simple. I’ll fight ’til the end, ’til we either win or die. But what I won’t do is roll over and give up on living our dream. All I want is to know Michelle and live not fearing for our lives.

  “Let’s go,” I tell Nat sitting outside of my office building.

  She swallows and looks me in the eye. Worry is written all over her face, but we’ve run out of options. She asked me to not let her down, so that’s what I am trying not to do.

  She nods once and reaches for the door handle of the car. Getting out, I look at the empire I have built. I never knew it was possible, but I did it. Now, I must let it all go.

  Wrapping my hand around hers, I lead us into the building. “You don’t have to do this,” she says.

  I press the call button for the elevator. The doors open and we step inside. “Yes, I do,” I tell her, taking the elevator up to the 29th floor. I just pray that my plan will work.

  “Isn’t there another way?” she asks as the doors chime open.

  I shake my head and she knows it’s true. Grabbing her cheek, I hold her face and press our lips together, giving her a reassuring kiss. She kisses me back, tears glossing over her eyes.

  Her hand is sweaty in mine as we walk to my office. I can sense everyone’s eyes on us. No one has ever seen me with a woman before. Shocker – the gay rumors aren’t true!

  I direct Nat to the round table that is by the window and she says, “I don’t need to be in here for this.”

  “Yes, you do. I need you, Nat.”

  She looks out the window inhaling a deep breath. Calling both Vincent and C.J. in for a meeting, I can sense the concern in their voices. It could be the underlying tone to mine that tips them off. Honesty, I don’t want to do what I am about to – I’ve avoided it at all costs until this is all over – but I have to. Especially, if it means saving so many people’s lives, including Natalene’s, then I will.

  Sitting next to Nat, we wait for them to walk in together. The instant they come in and see Nat sitting next to me, they both have alarm written all over their faces.

  I pray that this all goes well as Vincent closes the door and walks to the table. Before they sit, Nat and I stand, and for the first time in so many years…I’m honest. “Guys, this is my girlfriend, Natalene. Nat this is Vincent and C.J., my business partners.” They shake hands.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Vincent says, tilting his head.

  We all sit, and Vincent asks, “What’s going on, man?”

  C.J. stays quiet, and I take Nat’s hand in mine, staring at it for a moment before looking them both in the eye. “I want to sell my portion of the business.”

  “Why?” C.J. blurts out, clearly caught off guard. Vincent sits back and rests his hands on top of his head, waiting for my response.

  “Natalene and I have a daughter. She’s been living with family her whole life, and now we want to be a part of hers.” Vincent looks out the window, and C.J. just stares at me.

  “Why now?” Vincent asks.

  I look at Nat and she answers for me, “I’ve asked Liam to move to Maryland. Our daughter is at the age where she needs to know us.”

  “Have you guys been together this whole time?” Vincent asks.

  “No.” I shake my head ashamed that I turned my back on Natalene. It’s only because of me, and I still haven’t gotten past that.

  “This just isn’t making sense,” Vincent says sitting up in his chair.

  “I’m sorry, guys. Really, I am. I don’t want to do this, especially this way. But it doesn’t have to make sense. I want to sell…end of story.”

  “How much are you thinking?” C.J. asks suddenly.

  I knew I could count on him to be on my side. “One point five million. I need $550K in cash today.”

  “For what?” Vincent demands, extremely agitated.

  “Personal reasons,” I tell them. Vincent is pissed off and C.J. is still stunned, trying to wrap his mind around all of this information.

  “You’re really fucking us, man.”

  “I’m sorry, guys. It has to be this way. I wish it didn’t.”

  “What about the Ignacio case?” Vincent barks.

  “C.J. has that covered. Think about this, you guys. You know this is a good deal. My share is easily worth $5 million. I’m selling it at a fraction of what it’s worth because I do care and I don’t want to fuck you. I want to see you keep growing the business.”

  “When do you need the cash by?” C.J. asks me.

  “Why the fuck are you helping him?” Vincent shouts, putting his hands in his hair.

  “Because how can we say he can’t go be with his kid? Who are you to stand in his way just because you haven’t had time to integrate it into your reality? He could’ve walked in here and told us both to piss off and that he wanted five million. Don’t be an asshole, Vincent; you know how much this practice is worth.”

  “Six o’clock,” I calmly answer C.J.’s question.

  “Okay, I can get you my half by then, can you?” C.J. asks Vincent.

  “What the fuck does it matte
r? I’m sure if I don’t, he’ll just sell his share to you and I’ll be fucked!” he responds, charging out of the room, leaving the three of us sitting here staring.

  “Thank you,” I tell C.J.

  “No problem, I can’t say that I saw this coming, but since you told me the other day about you guys, I’m not surprised.”

  “Thank you, C.J., it means a lot to me. Well…to us.”

  “Of course. I only ask one thing, will you stay in contact with me?”

  “You know it.”

  “Do you want to come back here to get the cash, or should I bring it to you?”

  “Meet me at the jet, if you’re cool with that. Can you bring a contract for the sale too?”

  He nods and gets up, walking around the table. He gives me a hug and says, “I’m gonna miss you, man. This place wouldn’t be what it is without you.”

  “Of course, man, I’ll miss you too.” I pat his back, and he grabs Nat’s hand. “Take care of him, please; he’s a good man.”

  “I will,” she says.

  Walking out of a place I’ve called home for so long, and doing it like this, hurts. I didn’t want to leave the guys this way or sell my portion so suddenly. I know I’ve hurt them both, but our lives are worth it.

  I know the right thing to do is to say goodbye to everyone here. These people have been my family for so many years, but I can’t. Emotions flood through me, and when I look at Max staring at me, I give him a wave. He knows I’m done. He’s a smart fucker; that’s why I hired him.

  Taking the elevator down, Nat wraps an arm around me. I hold her, the simple smell of her hair intoxicates me and I pray that what I did is right.

  “Come on, baby, wake up.” I gently shake Nat as Rocco touches down in Maryland. She’s in the smallest possible ball and so peaceful from the long flight. I know how stressful all of this has been on her. I’m tempted to just leave her and come back to her when things are done. Tomas and Samantha flew with us, so one of them could watch her, but my fear is she wouldn’t listen to them and would come after me when she woke up.