Steel, p.23
Steel, page 23
I stop him with my palms on either side of his face. "I got it. I know what I have to do."
He's showered and his fresh scent penetrates, fills, and overwhelms me. He leans against my palm, turns his mouth into it, kisses it. "I want to make sure you're ready. Okay?"
I nod, bracing myself against his raspy tone, almost closing my ears to it. I can't let his hurt in right now. There's nothing I can do to quell his pain. So, I let him explain, fixate on what he can do something about.
"Keep your head up. I want to see what you see. The street signs, the landmarks."
"Yes."
He stares, harder than before, even in the dark interior of the SUV, I identify the dilation in his pupils, the shift in his mood.
"What is it?" And really, isn't that the dumbest question you've ever heard? His bride of just a few hours is marching right into the hands of his enemy and I ask what worries him.
"Nothing." But his tone, rougher than a sandpaper disk, grinds over my ears, my skin, my nerves.
"Something, Leandro." I say his name more forceful than I have to, but I don't have much time and I need to understand. Whatever it is, we have to air and squash. Now.
"I've never seen you this calm before." His statement slaps like an accusation. He doesn't stop there. He goes all the way in. "Part of me wonders if you've accepted Sebastian's fate for you, if you think we'll never see each other again."
His mouth hangs open in the end, his arm in the air as if though trying to shove the words back into his mouth. Except he can't. He said them, he feels them. And they splinter my heart, letting in pockets of dull pain.
I do what I always do. I climb into his lap, lay my head on his neck and manipulate our feelings in a way that lets us both deal. "I'm not calm. I'm scared to death but what good would it do to let that in? I need a clear head to be in control, like you always are."
His hands crush me against his chest. "But what if…" His voice cracks and so do I, slit into pieces only held together by his arms. "…Carissa's right."
"She's not. She only said that because she's in pain and she loves me and she wants you to stop me. She feels guilty." I pull back and look into his eyes. "This is Sebastian's last night on earth. Tomorrow we'll be free of him to love each other and build our lives together. You're mine. I'm yours. Nothing's going to change that."
I stare into his eyes, shining with tears. I don't know how long until I break down. After what seems like centuries he nods, coughs and is back to telling me what I need to do. This time I'm receptive to it. I hang on to his every word like I did our wedding vows. I pretend I'm there on the roof of Gia's place listening to the priest remind us of the lifetime commitment of marriage. Tell us that in sickness and health we should stand by each other, and that life will test us, but we must remain faithful, loyal, loving.
It's ironic the test came like four hours later. Well, if we get technical, it came days after we met. The tests keep coming but we're different people. We're beyond who we were.
The knock on the car window has me jumping back. It's time to leave him. He's going to say something but I jump ahead, plant my lips on his, kiss him like our world depends on it. I swallow his heavy breath. This is only a last kiss until we see each other again, in a world without the narcissistic asshole that won't leave us alone.
He looks in my eyes once more and jumps out of the car fast. He wouldn't have the courage otherwise. If I'm honest, two more seconds and I would be begging him to take me out of the building. He looks at me once more, tries for a smile and closes the door. Adrian, his most trusted man, gets in the driver's seat.
“Go. Please, just go.” I don't want Leandro to come back and see me fall apart.
It's not the door closing on me like a casket, it's that try-smile that makes me cry, that throws everything into upheaval.
"Are you okay?" Adrian asks. "I can pull over."
I shake my head and gasp for air. I wave him to go and summon Brook's face and manage to get in one breath, then two, then five.
I wish I had the time back, all that time since I’d put my sister in the ground, and like he said, tortured us both with my guilt. If I only had that time now. But I don’t and all I can do is move on and do better. Today, everything changes for me. Never again will Amelia Solis-Masseur waste a second of her time with her husband. I'm going to live my life to the fullest. We deserve to be happy. I make up my mind then.
I open my phone and find the image of the Brownstone I've had my eye on and send it to him. Then I dial his number. It doesn't have a chance to ring. "What's wrong?"
"I need to say something. That day we went to see the condo and I said I didn't like it, I lied. I pictured your clothes on the other side of the closet, like they were in the bed and breakfast on Block Island. I pictured us getting ready together like we used to every morning there and I couldn't take it. I thought you didn't want that and it broke me. That's why I wanted to leave. You thought I was paying attention to what's-his-face. I was just trying to take my mind off us."
"Amelia—"
I can't take the agony in his voice. "No. I just need to finish. I sent you a photo of the Brownstone I want. I want to buy it and live there with you and when I come back tomorrow, we are going to the doctor and I'm having her take down the firewall. You're everything I want…everything I've ever wanted and never knew until I met you."
I hang up because I can't take his answer.
He texts me. We'll call the realtor in the morning.
I breathe.
I'm switching the chip in two minutes.
And just like that, the dull ache I've been pretending to ignore intensifies. New chip in her phone means I can't text her. It means that our experts will take over because now everything has to be carefully scrutinized, not to put her and Brook in additional danger. I want to tell her I love her, beg her to come back safe and I do in the best way I can, one I know she'll appreciate.
Stay safe, Virus.
Me too, she replies.
I swallow, getting the lump past my sore throat. Two minutes later, the SUV enters the parking garage and we're to stay outside. We pull to the side, so I can switch cars. I jump out of my car and hop in the van behind me. Alec is inside with Gia and the operatives. I’m glad to see Gia here. She’s proof that there’s hope. She went to Declan and came out victorious. Her presence beside me is Amelia’s doing. She wanted her by my side.
"They just told her to go to the top level, exit the SUV and walk down the steps to level two."
I ignore everyone, my eyes already on the screens across the cabin. One feed from the earrings Amelia is wearing, another from the replaced stone on her wedding band. I’m holding the original stone in my pocket. Because she wanted it there where I could touch our promises to each other. The trajectory of the tracking monitor on her heel, as well as the one on her phone, is in full display in the other monitors.
Her vehicle stops. "This is where we part ways." Her voice is solid.
Adrian hands her Brook's toy bear. "Godspeed, Mrs. Masseur."
Mrs. Masseur. He always called her Miss Amelia. She touches his arm and steps out. She takes one last look at the vehicle, Adrian waves at her. She pivots back to the concrete walls, scanning around, giving us a view of the low roof, white-lined floors and arrow signs. She heads to the side door with an exit sign on the top.
"Your wife is amazing. I love people who follow directions. She's showing us everything."
I turn to find Gia and Alec staring at me and the three of us share a chuckle. The operative frowns.
Gia jokes, "The last thing I ever thought I would hear is how good Mel is at following the rules."
"Definitely a sign of the apocalypse," Alec adds.
The fast clicking of Amelia's heels halts and she screams.
My heart stills, drops into my stomach. I'm halfway to the van door when I hear her voice. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's a rat. Jesus, that bitch's huge. Get back in the car."
She orders Adrian, who is already out. She waves him away until he’s back in. She turns her head back in the direction of the door.
“Sorry, sorry,” she whispers again and that’s meant for us listening. “I hate rats so much.” The footage is bouncing around. She’s running down the steps. Her breath is ragged. She goes through another door and in the first pillar we see the number two painted in bold, white large print. There are scattered cars. I keep my eye on all of them, my pulse slows down but my stomach burns.
In which car are they hiding?
She turns right, nothing moves to the end of the wall. Then she looks the other way, nothing there either. Her breath shallows. It echoes all over the feed. Her mouth must be open, fear echoing in every inhale and exhale. Hers and mine. Minutes drag by and I make up my mind that we need to go in. We need to get her out.
Brakes screech, resounding against the walls of the garage and the ones in the van I'm in. A small, gray Corolla pulls up in front of her. A man jumps out. We can’t see his face but it's not Sebastian.
"Get in."
She jumps inside and we're plunged into semi-darkness.
"Lay down."
"If I lay down, I'm going to throw up."
There's silence as the car takes off. "Fine." He lifts something over her face, covering her ears.
"I'm going to need to breathe." Her voice is haughty, simply put, very Amelia.
The man adjusts the material and we can see ahead, the entrance to the parking lot, the street lights. She keeps her head straight but presses her ring finger over her chest tilted to the right. At the first street sign, I puff out the breath I didn't know I was holding.
"Damn, she's good." And we're moving, following two blocks behind.
The operative points to Alec who gets on his transmitter to Noah. "Car’s northbound, you're it. She's between you. Don't lose her."
Gia tells Adrian to exit and jump into the car parked two blocks away.
"Jesus Christ, can you back the hell off me? I can't breathe with all that cologne." Amelia's tone is snappish, downright scornful. "What hick town did he find the two of you?"
"Shut up." The man's voice is dry, no nonsense.
But this is Amelia. She waives her hand at him, slow, dismissing him like a fly you don't even want to bother swatting. "Give me some room and I will."
In the second wave, we get his full face on the screen. Next, we get the driver's face when he turns to look at her. "They did say she would be difficult. He's going to give you some room and you're going to shut the fuck up."
The image bobs up and down, along with her head. It's not like she needs to talk anyway, she gave us images, which our operatives send out for recognition.
"Well, I'll be damned. We got a hit on the images. Look at these little piggies."
Gia gets on the phone with Jamie and Alec gets Noah. They split the assignments. Adrian will take Noah's place.
"Tell Adrian he's safe to speed. His car is registered to NYPD."
Jack, the operative, turns and raises a brow. "You girls got a hand in everything."
She stops typing on her phone long enough to shrug. "We don't like to brag."
"Yeah, they do," Alec mutters.
45
"The car stopped," Jack announces.
We all freeze, look at each other and then crouch around him. We have a car about two blocks behind. Our surveillance van is five blocks behind.
They help Amelia out of the car. Her head swivels to one side then the other.
"Get her inside, now."
There's silence after that but for the sounds of footsteps. The inside of the building is typical white walls. They pass two men along the way who eye Amelia with interest and nod. They stop in front of metal doors. "Tell them to release the elevator."
The camera is moving a little which means Amelia's head is too. "Can you get this off me? Your shirt smells shittier than you do."
"You're a pain in the ass, ma." He removes the shirt from her face.
There's a pause and then she scoffs. "Don't call me ma. I'm not your mother or you boo. God forbid I should birth or fuck something like you."
The other guy laughs. "She's all mouth now. In a few minutes she'll offer to suck your dick when she sees his face."
"Don't bet on it. I know who he is and am not afraid of him. He will kill you when he can no longer use you. But he's not the one you should be scared of."
"The McLeans will never get here on time."
I’m killing both of them.
She laughs and manages to convince even me of how serious she is. "I don't have to rely on the McLeans, not when I have my own crew. You think about that. You're in my territory invoking other groups' names. Good luck with that."
They step into the elevator and she stares ahead. Not another word is uttered, not even with the chimes heralding their ascent to a new floor. The elevator stops on the seventeen and the door slides open. She steps out ahead of them.
My chick is fearless.
"She's in a rush." The mocking in his tone makes her turn around and if I know her, and I do, the look is meant to cut rip, and kill. He knows it too. The smile dries on his face.
They walk down a long hallway, passing a couple of closed doors to stop at number five.
"Go inside. He's waiting for you."
Her slender hand settles over the knob. I agonize thirty years in less than the second it takes her to turn it. She pushes the door open and pauses. She gasps so loud it echoes in my ears. Sebastian stands in the far end with Brook ensconced in his arms, her little head on his shoulder. Alec's loud breath intake picks up where Amelia' s left off.
"Mel, how wonderful to see you again."
Brook lifts her head and turns around. She rubs her eyes and then squeals out Amelia’s name. The sound shatters through me and I've never heard the inhuman sound that comes from Alec's throat. I can't look at him, not when Amelia slams forward into the room.
Brook reaches out to her and Amelia never pauses. She prowls toward them with intent and snatches Brook from his arms. All we can see is the little arms about Amelia's neck and hear nothing but kiss after kiss, which my wife bestows on her cheek.
"This is very sweet. She obviously adores you."
He takes a step towards her, and my reason ebbs away.
My heart is punching excruciating beats into the walls of my chest. His hand comes toward her face, in the direction of her ear. I hold my breath. The hand moves past her neck to touch her hair but she steps back.
"Ah, I see. You're now the faithful wife, aren't you?"
Shit shit shit.
Gia's hand flies to her head.
Sebastian touches Brook's dress instead. "I would have settled for one of the other girls, you know? But the baby was so much more effective."
"She's a child," Amelia says with finesse of a spit.
He nods. "And what wouldn't you do for a child, especially Carissa's child?"
"You should have just taken me. Leave the innocent out of this mess."
"I could have. I thought about it. In your beautiful wedding dress, no less. Humiliating your groom by snatching you right out of his arms. But this is better. I waited another hour and the payoff's bigger with more dividends. My ungrateful brother gets a piece of the hurt and Leo…well, he gets to send me his bride."
He twists the knife. It's true. He's bested me. I breathe, hold up to the little patience scratching the surface of my mind. My time will come. I'll get her out.
…
Brook smells like lavender and sweat. I've never smelled anything so sweet. She's holding on to me so tightly. Her little sticky-chubby hands caress my face and she says my name. I rock a little, concentrate on her. Hum to cancel the beating of my heart in my ears.
The truth is I taste fear, a dark bile that spreads over my tongue. If I don't do something, I'll lose it and screw everything up. Brook says my name again, this time with a sleepy kick and I remember everything, the plan, what I'm supposed to do. I pace the room, ignoring Bas' smirking face, rocking her to sleep so she's relaxed and I can do what I need to do.
"Has she gotten much sleep?"
"No."
"What was she doing all this time?"
He shrugs. "She babbled a little. Momma, Dadda, and mostly Holly."
My heart shrinks but I close my eyes and hide my face into her hair. Huddy, not Holly but I'm not revealing our nickname for Hudson to this psycho. I keep my surveillance of the room, I want to catch every corner, show them everything they need to know.
I think of everyone. How are they holding up? What's Leandro feeling? Is Alec more relieved or in more agony by seeing Brook's face? How's Carissa handling things?
"Are you looking for an escape route?"
"No."
"Liar. Yes, you are. You're expecting Big Leo to come through that door and rescue you."
I hear Doctor Jacinda's voice. Don't be anyone but yourself, Mel. He will see right through that.
"You don't need to be an asshole. You already got me here."
He takes a step toward me. "Give me the baby."
"No." My voice is loud, tone forceful, and I wonder if I went too far. Brook stirs and wraps her arms tighter around me. "Just let me hold her, please."
"Okay, for a while, but you better talk to me."
I swallow, trying to regulate my breath. "What do you want to talk about?"
"How you and Brook can walk out of here today."
The blaring white halogen lights showed every unflattering inch of the walls. The air pungent with the smell of marijuana and the floors so filthy Noah wouldn't dare guess what is smeared in some wet looking areas. The hallways on every floor are packed with so many dirt-brown doors, it makes the hairs on his skin stand. Any of those doors could open and someone could attack them, but Noah has too much on his mind to fear.
His niece in the hands of the evilest man alive and Mel, who had become his sister, buddy, confidant, stuck in there trying to save Brook.
He reaches for his vibrating phone but Gon stops his hand. "We're about to go in. It's the door at the end of the hallway. Some of our people are climbing down the fire escape and crowding the kitchen door to the apartment. You ready?"
He's showered and his fresh scent penetrates, fills, and overwhelms me. He leans against my palm, turns his mouth into it, kisses it. "I want to make sure you're ready. Okay?"
I nod, bracing myself against his raspy tone, almost closing my ears to it. I can't let his hurt in right now. There's nothing I can do to quell his pain. So, I let him explain, fixate on what he can do something about.
"Keep your head up. I want to see what you see. The street signs, the landmarks."
"Yes."
He stares, harder than before, even in the dark interior of the SUV, I identify the dilation in his pupils, the shift in his mood.
"What is it?" And really, isn't that the dumbest question you've ever heard? His bride of just a few hours is marching right into the hands of his enemy and I ask what worries him.
"Nothing." But his tone, rougher than a sandpaper disk, grinds over my ears, my skin, my nerves.
"Something, Leandro." I say his name more forceful than I have to, but I don't have much time and I need to understand. Whatever it is, we have to air and squash. Now.
"I've never seen you this calm before." His statement slaps like an accusation. He doesn't stop there. He goes all the way in. "Part of me wonders if you've accepted Sebastian's fate for you, if you think we'll never see each other again."
His mouth hangs open in the end, his arm in the air as if though trying to shove the words back into his mouth. Except he can't. He said them, he feels them. And they splinter my heart, letting in pockets of dull pain.
I do what I always do. I climb into his lap, lay my head on his neck and manipulate our feelings in a way that lets us both deal. "I'm not calm. I'm scared to death but what good would it do to let that in? I need a clear head to be in control, like you always are."
His hands crush me against his chest. "But what if…" His voice cracks and so do I, slit into pieces only held together by his arms. "…Carissa's right."
"She's not. She only said that because she's in pain and she loves me and she wants you to stop me. She feels guilty." I pull back and look into his eyes. "This is Sebastian's last night on earth. Tomorrow we'll be free of him to love each other and build our lives together. You're mine. I'm yours. Nothing's going to change that."
I stare into his eyes, shining with tears. I don't know how long until I break down. After what seems like centuries he nods, coughs and is back to telling me what I need to do. This time I'm receptive to it. I hang on to his every word like I did our wedding vows. I pretend I'm there on the roof of Gia's place listening to the priest remind us of the lifetime commitment of marriage. Tell us that in sickness and health we should stand by each other, and that life will test us, but we must remain faithful, loyal, loving.
It's ironic the test came like four hours later. Well, if we get technical, it came days after we met. The tests keep coming but we're different people. We're beyond who we were.
The knock on the car window has me jumping back. It's time to leave him. He's going to say something but I jump ahead, plant my lips on his, kiss him like our world depends on it. I swallow his heavy breath. This is only a last kiss until we see each other again, in a world without the narcissistic asshole that won't leave us alone.
He looks in my eyes once more and jumps out of the car fast. He wouldn't have the courage otherwise. If I'm honest, two more seconds and I would be begging him to take me out of the building. He looks at me once more, tries for a smile and closes the door. Adrian, his most trusted man, gets in the driver's seat.
“Go. Please, just go.” I don't want Leandro to come back and see me fall apart.
It's not the door closing on me like a casket, it's that try-smile that makes me cry, that throws everything into upheaval.
"Are you okay?" Adrian asks. "I can pull over."
I shake my head and gasp for air. I wave him to go and summon Brook's face and manage to get in one breath, then two, then five.
I wish I had the time back, all that time since I’d put my sister in the ground, and like he said, tortured us both with my guilt. If I only had that time now. But I don’t and all I can do is move on and do better. Today, everything changes for me. Never again will Amelia Solis-Masseur waste a second of her time with her husband. I'm going to live my life to the fullest. We deserve to be happy. I make up my mind then.
I open my phone and find the image of the Brownstone I've had my eye on and send it to him. Then I dial his number. It doesn't have a chance to ring. "What's wrong?"
"I need to say something. That day we went to see the condo and I said I didn't like it, I lied. I pictured your clothes on the other side of the closet, like they were in the bed and breakfast on Block Island. I pictured us getting ready together like we used to every morning there and I couldn't take it. I thought you didn't want that and it broke me. That's why I wanted to leave. You thought I was paying attention to what's-his-face. I was just trying to take my mind off us."
"Amelia—"
I can't take the agony in his voice. "No. I just need to finish. I sent you a photo of the Brownstone I want. I want to buy it and live there with you and when I come back tomorrow, we are going to the doctor and I'm having her take down the firewall. You're everything I want…everything I've ever wanted and never knew until I met you."
I hang up because I can't take his answer.
He texts me. We'll call the realtor in the morning.
I breathe.
I'm switching the chip in two minutes.
And just like that, the dull ache I've been pretending to ignore intensifies. New chip in her phone means I can't text her. It means that our experts will take over because now everything has to be carefully scrutinized, not to put her and Brook in additional danger. I want to tell her I love her, beg her to come back safe and I do in the best way I can, one I know she'll appreciate.
Stay safe, Virus.
Me too, she replies.
I swallow, getting the lump past my sore throat. Two minutes later, the SUV enters the parking garage and we're to stay outside. We pull to the side, so I can switch cars. I jump out of my car and hop in the van behind me. Alec is inside with Gia and the operatives. I’m glad to see Gia here. She’s proof that there’s hope. She went to Declan and came out victorious. Her presence beside me is Amelia’s doing. She wanted her by my side.
"They just told her to go to the top level, exit the SUV and walk down the steps to level two."
I ignore everyone, my eyes already on the screens across the cabin. One feed from the earrings Amelia is wearing, another from the replaced stone on her wedding band. I’m holding the original stone in my pocket. Because she wanted it there where I could touch our promises to each other. The trajectory of the tracking monitor on her heel, as well as the one on her phone, is in full display in the other monitors.
Her vehicle stops. "This is where we part ways." Her voice is solid.
Adrian hands her Brook's toy bear. "Godspeed, Mrs. Masseur."
Mrs. Masseur. He always called her Miss Amelia. She touches his arm and steps out. She takes one last look at the vehicle, Adrian waves at her. She pivots back to the concrete walls, scanning around, giving us a view of the low roof, white-lined floors and arrow signs. She heads to the side door with an exit sign on the top.
"Your wife is amazing. I love people who follow directions. She's showing us everything."
I turn to find Gia and Alec staring at me and the three of us share a chuckle. The operative frowns.
Gia jokes, "The last thing I ever thought I would hear is how good Mel is at following the rules."
"Definitely a sign of the apocalypse," Alec adds.
The fast clicking of Amelia's heels halts and she screams.
My heart stills, drops into my stomach. I'm halfway to the van door when I hear her voice. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's a rat. Jesus, that bitch's huge. Get back in the car."
She orders Adrian, who is already out. She waves him away until he’s back in. She turns her head back in the direction of the door.
“Sorry, sorry,” she whispers again and that’s meant for us listening. “I hate rats so much.” The footage is bouncing around. She’s running down the steps. Her breath is ragged. She goes through another door and in the first pillar we see the number two painted in bold, white large print. There are scattered cars. I keep my eye on all of them, my pulse slows down but my stomach burns.
In which car are they hiding?
She turns right, nothing moves to the end of the wall. Then she looks the other way, nothing there either. Her breath shallows. It echoes all over the feed. Her mouth must be open, fear echoing in every inhale and exhale. Hers and mine. Minutes drag by and I make up my mind that we need to go in. We need to get her out.
Brakes screech, resounding against the walls of the garage and the ones in the van I'm in. A small, gray Corolla pulls up in front of her. A man jumps out. We can’t see his face but it's not Sebastian.
"Get in."
She jumps inside and we're plunged into semi-darkness.
"Lay down."
"If I lay down, I'm going to throw up."
There's silence as the car takes off. "Fine." He lifts something over her face, covering her ears.
"I'm going to need to breathe." Her voice is haughty, simply put, very Amelia.
The man adjusts the material and we can see ahead, the entrance to the parking lot, the street lights. She keeps her head straight but presses her ring finger over her chest tilted to the right. At the first street sign, I puff out the breath I didn't know I was holding.
"Damn, she's good." And we're moving, following two blocks behind.
The operative points to Alec who gets on his transmitter to Noah. "Car’s northbound, you're it. She's between you. Don't lose her."
Gia tells Adrian to exit and jump into the car parked two blocks away.
"Jesus Christ, can you back the hell off me? I can't breathe with all that cologne." Amelia's tone is snappish, downright scornful. "What hick town did he find the two of you?"
"Shut up." The man's voice is dry, no nonsense.
But this is Amelia. She waives her hand at him, slow, dismissing him like a fly you don't even want to bother swatting. "Give me some room and I will."
In the second wave, we get his full face on the screen. Next, we get the driver's face when he turns to look at her. "They did say she would be difficult. He's going to give you some room and you're going to shut the fuck up."
The image bobs up and down, along with her head. It's not like she needs to talk anyway, she gave us images, which our operatives send out for recognition.
"Well, I'll be damned. We got a hit on the images. Look at these little piggies."
Gia gets on the phone with Jamie and Alec gets Noah. They split the assignments. Adrian will take Noah's place.
"Tell Adrian he's safe to speed. His car is registered to NYPD."
Jack, the operative, turns and raises a brow. "You girls got a hand in everything."
She stops typing on her phone long enough to shrug. "We don't like to brag."
"Yeah, they do," Alec mutters.
45
"The car stopped," Jack announces.
We all freeze, look at each other and then crouch around him. We have a car about two blocks behind. Our surveillance van is five blocks behind.
They help Amelia out of the car. Her head swivels to one side then the other.
"Get her inside, now."
There's silence after that but for the sounds of footsteps. The inside of the building is typical white walls. They pass two men along the way who eye Amelia with interest and nod. They stop in front of metal doors. "Tell them to release the elevator."
The camera is moving a little which means Amelia's head is too. "Can you get this off me? Your shirt smells shittier than you do."
"You're a pain in the ass, ma." He removes the shirt from her face.
There's a pause and then she scoffs. "Don't call me ma. I'm not your mother or you boo. God forbid I should birth or fuck something like you."
The other guy laughs. "She's all mouth now. In a few minutes she'll offer to suck your dick when she sees his face."
"Don't bet on it. I know who he is and am not afraid of him. He will kill you when he can no longer use you. But he's not the one you should be scared of."
"The McLeans will never get here on time."
I’m killing both of them.
She laughs and manages to convince even me of how serious she is. "I don't have to rely on the McLeans, not when I have my own crew. You think about that. You're in my territory invoking other groups' names. Good luck with that."
They step into the elevator and she stares ahead. Not another word is uttered, not even with the chimes heralding their ascent to a new floor. The elevator stops on the seventeen and the door slides open. She steps out ahead of them.
My chick is fearless.
"She's in a rush." The mocking in his tone makes her turn around and if I know her, and I do, the look is meant to cut rip, and kill. He knows it too. The smile dries on his face.
They walk down a long hallway, passing a couple of closed doors to stop at number five.
"Go inside. He's waiting for you."
Her slender hand settles over the knob. I agonize thirty years in less than the second it takes her to turn it. She pushes the door open and pauses. She gasps so loud it echoes in my ears. Sebastian stands in the far end with Brook ensconced in his arms, her little head on his shoulder. Alec's loud breath intake picks up where Amelia' s left off.
"Mel, how wonderful to see you again."
Brook lifts her head and turns around. She rubs her eyes and then squeals out Amelia’s name. The sound shatters through me and I've never heard the inhuman sound that comes from Alec's throat. I can't look at him, not when Amelia slams forward into the room.
Brook reaches out to her and Amelia never pauses. She prowls toward them with intent and snatches Brook from his arms. All we can see is the little arms about Amelia's neck and hear nothing but kiss after kiss, which my wife bestows on her cheek.
"This is very sweet. She obviously adores you."
He takes a step towards her, and my reason ebbs away.
My heart is punching excruciating beats into the walls of my chest. His hand comes toward her face, in the direction of her ear. I hold my breath. The hand moves past her neck to touch her hair but she steps back.
"Ah, I see. You're now the faithful wife, aren't you?"
Shit shit shit.
Gia's hand flies to her head.
Sebastian touches Brook's dress instead. "I would have settled for one of the other girls, you know? But the baby was so much more effective."
"She's a child," Amelia says with finesse of a spit.
He nods. "And what wouldn't you do for a child, especially Carissa's child?"
"You should have just taken me. Leave the innocent out of this mess."
"I could have. I thought about it. In your beautiful wedding dress, no less. Humiliating your groom by snatching you right out of his arms. But this is better. I waited another hour and the payoff's bigger with more dividends. My ungrateful brother gets a piece of the hurt and Leo…well, he gets to send me his bride."
He twists the knife. It's true. He's bested me. I breathe, hold up to the little patience scratching the surface of my mind. My time will come. I'll get her out.
…
Brook smells like lavender and sweat. I've never smelled anything so sweet. She's holding on to me so tightly. Her little sticky-chubby hands caress my face and she says my name. I rock a little, concentrate on her. Hum to cancel the beating of my heart in my ears.
The truth is I taste fear, a dark bile that spreads over my tongue. If I don't do something, I'll lose it and screw everything up. Brook says my name again, this time with a sleepy kick and I remember everything, the plan, what I'm supposed to do. I pace the room, ignoring Bas' smirking face, rocking her to sleep so she's relaxed and I can do what I need to do.
"Has she gotten much sleep?"
"No."
"What was she doing all this time?"
He shrugs. "She babbled a little. Momma, Dadda, and mostly Holly."
My heart shrinks but I close my eyes and hide my face into her hair. Huddy, not Holly but I'm not revealing our nickname for Hudson to this psycho. I keep my surveillance of the room, I want to catch every corner, show them everything they need to know.
I think of everyone. How are they holding up? What's Leandro feeling? Is Alec more relieved or in more agony by seeing Brook's face? How's Carissa handling things?
"Are you looking for an escape route?"
"No."
"Liar. Yes, you are. You're expecting Big Leo to come through that door and rescue you."
I hear Doctor Jacinda's voice. Don't be anyone but yourself, Mel. He will see right through that.
"You don't need to be an asshole. You already got me here."
He takes a step toward me. "Give me the baby."
"No." My voice is loud, tone forceful, and I wonder if I went too far. Brook stirs and wraps her arms tighter around me. "Just let me hold her, please."
"Okay, for a while, but you better talk to me."
I swallow, trying to regulate my breath. "What do you want to talk about?"
"How you and Brook can walk out of here today."
The blaring white halogen lights showed every unflattering inch of the walls. The air pungent with the smell of marijuana and the floors so filthy Noah wouldn't dare guess what is smeared in some wet looking areas. The hallways on every floor are packed with so many dirt-brown doors, it makes the hairs on his skin stand. Any of those doors could open and someone could attack them, but Noah has too much on his mind to fear.
His niece in the hands of the evilest man alive and Mel, who had become his sister, buddy, confidant, stuck in there trying to save Brook.
He reaches for his vibrating phone but Gon stops his hand. "We're about to go in. It's the door at the end of the hallway. Some of our people are climbing down the fire escape and crowding the kitchen door to the apartment. You ready?"
