Make sure you hit that little star at the bottom of the chapter if you enjoyed what you have read! It helps more than most realize!
Don't be afraid to comment, either! I love to hear feedback and thoughts!
Marco
My eyes darted from the photos of Lexie and Joshua back up to Darius. "What the hell is this?"
"Exactly like I said, man. I have been doing some digging. Lexie and Joshua both quit some time ago, just prior to her moving back here. There have been allegations of some sexual misconduct. It's been moving through the courts but very slowly. This Fernando guy is a big deal over there and has a lot of connections. He's claiming it's all bogus."
"How is that worth him hiring Jaques? It doesn't make sense." My eyebrows furrowed as I began to sift through the documents in the folder. "That's a big gun to hire for something like this."
"He knows her connection to our family, Marco. He isn't taking it lightly. He reached out to the Mesrine family a few months back and they sent him to Jaques. I think he figures if he takes her out, the court case dies with her, and he continues to live his happy, perverted life." Darius watched me closely as I pulled out copies of the court case.
The deep growl rolled out of me as my eyes shifted back and forth, reading over the paper. "Fuck Jaques. I will go there and kill this Fernando fucker myself."
Darius shook his head, reaching over and grabbing the crumpled papers out of my closed fist. "Unfortunately, the time for that has come and gone. We need to get them out of this city as quickly as possible."
"We?" I took the sheets of paper back, smoothing them the best I could, placing them back in the folder and shutting it.
He stood up, pulling his phone out once again and sending off a message. "Yes. We. We leave tonight. Gramps has a safe house set up for us. He is fully up to date on the situation and will handle things while we are gone. He was the one that insisted that I go with you. He doesn't trust anyone other than us with the life of his 'favorite niece'." He did air quotes as he said favorite niece, rolling his eyes.
"The man has a soft spot for her." I agreed as we exited the room, moving towards our living quarters.
"She reminds him of Nonna. He misses her and being around Lexie... well, you can just see it in his eyes. Makes remembering her easier. You have ten minutes to pack then we need to get moving. My last message has Jaques located three blocks from Lexie's place. I don't think he will strike tonight. But he is too close for comfort." Darius paused at his bedroom door, turning to look at me with a grin. "Think the little friend will put up a fight?"
"Do you want him to?" I cocked an eyebrow at him as I smiled back. I didn't smile at many people, but Darius brought it out in me.
He nodded eagerly, throwing his door open. "Fuck yeah, I do. This could be fun."
When he disappeared into his room, I grabbed my packed duffle bag out of my closet, unzipping it and checking the contents. One thing about when you work in our line of business, you were always ready to go at a moment's notice. Running was never ideal, but the rare occasion came up when it was necessary.
Lifting the rug on the floor, I pulled up the loose floorboards, opening the safe that was inside, pulling out the bundles of cash and extra weapons. I quickly shoved them inside the duffle bag before heading into the bathroom and grabbing my shower items.
"Ready to go?" Darius popped his head into my room, a duffle bag slung over his body.
I zipped up my bag and threw the cross strap over my body, patting the bag. "Let's do this. My little Sfinge is going to lose her mind. I don't see this going well at all."
"How are we doing it? Knock on the door and tell them what is going on? Go in hot and cause a scene? Or sneak in and pull them out unknowingly?" Darius led the way down the hall, but he was turning his head to look at me over his shoulder.
Shrugging, I followed him through the garage door, walking to the back of the blacked-out SUV. "I haven't decided yet to be honest." I opened the back hatch, tossing the bag in and Darius followed suit, tossing his on top of mine. "What's your suggestion?"
"You know me." He walked over to the passenger side and hopped in, turning to me as I got in the vehicle. "I'm always up for a little rough and tumble."
I rolled my eyes at the man who had become like a brother to me as I pulled out of the garage and headed down the dark streets. The man was a sex maniac. He didn't care about gender, looks, status or anything else. He only cared that he got his rocks off. If it had a heartbeat and human DNA, he was in. "We need to be delicate about this. We need them to trust us. That isn't going to be an easy task."
"I think you already have Lexie's trust. I see the way she looks at you." Darius winked at me, opening the glove box and setting his gun inside of it. "Okay. Delicate. No guns?"
"No guns." I repeated, taking the next left and maneuvering the vehicle down the street.
We drove the rest of the way in silence, my mind racing as I tried to come up with a plan. I didn't like that this was so spur of the moment with no time to actually formulate something that I was comfortable with.
"If you park in the alley, there is a back gate that is never locked." Darius pointed down the road at the turn in to the alley.
I glanced over at him quickly as I followed where he had pointed. "And how do you know that?"
"This isn't the first time that the Moretti's have had to keep an eye on people in this house. We've staked it out in the past, checking all entrances and possible exits." As he spoke, I remembered the situation with Kai and Lilly. I had been kept out of that one due to my own personal feelings at the time.
I grunted in response, slowing the vehicle to a stop behind the back fence. The area was nearly completely dark. I got out, surveying the back alley and the nearby houses. "Keep in mind that the guys are in the house to the left. We have to make sure there are no screams or shouting. Some force may be required. Just don't go overboard."
Darius grinned, his eyes alight with mischief. "Me? Overboard? Never."
"Fuck me. This is going to go south really fucking quick, isn't it?" I crept up to the gate, reaching one hand over and lifting the latch. It swung open easily. After all this was through, I would definitely be giving my Sfinge a lesson on safety. "You get Joshua, I will get Lexie. The lights are off. With any luck, they are both in their beds."
I wasn't worried about finding their rooms. There had been a floor plan of the house in the folder. Thanks to my photographic memory and a single glance, I knew exactly where I was going. There was no doubt that she would be in the master bedroom.
We crept through the yard, alongside the pool, not a single sound being made. This wasn't the first covert mission that Darius and I had been on together. We knew how to walk light and keep quiet.
Rolling my eyes, I glanced over at Darius as the patio door slid open with little exertion. She hadn't even locked the back door. This woman was just asking for trouble.
Lexie
"Wake up little Sfinge."
I moaned, rolling onto my side, my arm wrapping around the body next to mine, a low animalistic growl reverberating around me.
What the hell?
I sat up quickly, my eyes opening. The room was almost pitch black. I reached over, my hand landing on Joshua's back as I started shaking his body. "Joshua. Did you hear that?"
He mumbled incoherently, his head moving to face the other direction as he laid sprawled out on his stomach.
"Don't be scared." The moment I heard the words, I felt a hand clamp over my mouth, my eyes going wide as I tried to scream. I saw movement near the doorway, a second man entering the room. "He's in here. It seems they sleep together." The voice was deep, angry and all too familiar.
The man darted forward just as Joshua sat up slowly, his head slowly moving as he looked around the room. I tried to scream into the hand, but it just tightened over my lips, my sounds coming out muffled as I began to struggle against him.
Why was he here and what the hell was he planning?
Was this it? Had he finally come to kill me?
But why? I had kept my mouth shut. I hadn't told anyone about what had happened five years ago.
"I need you to stop struggling, my little Sphinx. I am not going to hurt you. I will explain everything, but I need you to relax." His lips where close enough to my ear as he whispered the words that I could feel his hot breath on my skin. My body involuntarily shivered in response, goose bumps breaking out over my skin. "If I remove my hand, do you promise not to scream?"
Nodding my head, I took a deep breath in through my nose, glancing over to see that Darius had Joshua pinned exactly how Marco was holding me. Joshua didn't even fight it. If anything, there was excitement in his eyes.
The idiot probably thought it was some kinky dream.
The moment Marco started to remove his hand my scream began to ring out. A loud sound rumbled in his chest as his hand went straight back over my mouth. "Fuck, Sfinge. I told you not to do that. If that is how this is going to go, you may not like the end result. Your life is in danger. We need to get the fuck out of here. NOW. Do you know the name Fernando Fontaine?"
My body froze as his words poured over me like a bucket of ice water. Joshua's eyes went wide at the mention of our ex-boss and his body began to flail. I think he was coming to the realization that this was not a sex dream.
"I will take that as a yes. This time, I expect you not to scream. You are going to get up, pack a bag and follow me out of this fucking house. Do you understand?" He glanced over at Joshua and Darius. Darius now had him back lying down and was pinning him in place with a smile on his face as Joshua continued to fight against him.
My head nodded slowly in response as my mind began to race. What did Fernando have to do with all of this?
"You are going to also pack a bag for your friend." He spat out the word friend as he glared at Joshua underneath Darius. "He is obviously going to try to cause issues."
Marco's hand released my mouth, and I took several deep breaths before turning to look at him. "What..."
"Don't." His hand flew up, one finger pushing against my lips. "Pack. Once we are on the road, we talk."
Cautiously moving off the bed, my eyes on Darius and Joshua, I walked over to my closet, pulling out a suitcase and shoving clothes inside. It was dark and I had no idea what I was grabbing. I simply grabbed something from each drawer and a few things off hangers. When I glanced up, Marco was next to me, shoving a bag of toiletries toward me.
I shoved them in the suitcase and Marco pulled it from my hands, zipping it up. "Move it. His room next."
He followed me as I stumbled through the darkness, reaching Joshua's room and entering it. He moved around the room easily, his night vision obviously much better than mine.
Grabbing a duffle bag and tossing it on the bed, he helped me grab clothes and shoved them in haphazardly. If Joshua could see the way his clothing was being handled, he would have gone berserk no matter what the situation.
On our way back to the bedroom, Marco stopped in the bathroom, grabbing a few things before shoving me back towards my room. "Is he going to keep fighting?"
Darius looked over from his bent position on top of Joshua, one hand over his mouth, one hand pinning his arms above his head. "Looks that way."
"Joshua, please stop. Darius isn't going to hurt you. I know you don't understand it all, but he is my family. I promise you; he won't hurt you." I kept my voice surprisingly calm and steady as the words flowed out. I wasn't sure that I believed them myself but the last thing I wanted was for Joshua to get hurt because he was fighting against Darius.
Joshua's body relaxed as his eyes met mine and he nodded at me before turning to look up at Darius. Darius slowly pulled his hand from over his mouth but kept his arms pinned.
"Where are we going? Why is this happening? What does Fernando have to do with it? You're seriously going to abduct us in the middle of the night? What did you pack? Did you grab my Gucci's? What about my hair dye? I need..."
Darius slammed his hand back over Joshua's mouth, making his eyes go wide. He leaned in close to Joshua's ear, whispering something. When he pulled back up, he had a lopsided grin on his lips and Joshua's face was one of shock mixed with a blatant piqued interest.
Joshua nodded his head as Darius removed his hand slowly. "Grab your bag Josh. Marco, grab Lexie's and let's get the fuck out of here."
I followed behind Darius; Josh next to me as Marco walked behind us. They kept us between them the entire way through the house, out the back door and through the yard to the back alley.
In no time, we were out of our neighborhood, heading out of town on the highway.
"Can you explain what the hell is going on now please?" I leaned forward in my seat, towards the center console, looking back and forth between Marco and Darius.
"It's going to have to wait, Sfinge." Marco's eyes left the road, looking up into the rear view mirror before going back to the road. "Tail."
I looked at him confused as he pressed on the gas and the SUV surged forward, but it was Darius's movements that captured my attention. He opened the glovebox in front of him and I inhaled sharply when I saw the gun that he pulled out.
Darius turned in his seat to look directly at me. "Get your head down little Lex. You're far too pretty to ruin it with bullet holes."
I screamed, scrambling to the floor with my hands over my ears as the back window shattered behind us.
Don't forget that little star!