Page 45

“He’s outdone himself this time.”

“Who?” Detective Sandoval inquired.

“That would be my father, Hale Aalto.” I watched the man’s eyes widened. “Yes, the real estate developer, with his stupid, ugly face plastered on every advertising surface he could find in the city.”

“Why would he do that?”

For the next half hour, I explained Hale’s every intention to shut down the block and his plans for a strip mall or whatever neighborhood wrecking idea he’d drummed up. I didn’t forget about his confrontation with Burton and Luka at their place of business. All to break us up and ruin my life.

Luka cleared his throat and when the detective glanced up, he said, “I installed security cameras covering all angles of thebakery and most of the block because I was worried about this exact thing. They include audio.”

“What? When did you do this?” I asked.

By the look on his face, I realized I snapped at him, and I relaxed. No one was to blame other than my father.

“Sorry, lover, I?—”

“No, nothing about this is fair. I know you feel out of control, but we are here and we’ll figure it out.”

He looped his arm around my waist. I sagged against him, all the tension leaving my body with his touch. I reached over and gripped Burton’s hand, needing both men next to me.

The detective glanced between us, and the corner of his mouth tilted up. “You were saying, Mr. Kavka?”

“Please, call me Luka. Mr. Aalto, Phoenix’s father, has made it known to the businesses on this block that he’s out to destroy them, all because his son is a successful entrepreneur despite him. Mr. Aalto made his plan known to us, Phoenix’s employees, both my and Burton’s parents, all the business owners on the block, and our personal assistant, Drew. After he visited our landscaping offices on December Seventeenth, demanding we break up with Phoenix and help him destroy the bakery and his son, I bought the surveillance equipment and installed in the same day.”

I lifted my hands and cupped his face, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “Thank you.”

“Can we go review it?” Detective Sandoval asked.

“Yep.”

We all followed Luka to the office Arthur used, and I couldn’t remember how long it’d been since I stepped inside the bright pink office with the aloe vera plant I’d raised since I was sixteen sitting on the windowsill, healthy and thriving.

Before I moved in with my two men, I used to sit cross-legged on the floor upstairs in my apartment and worked on theaccounting and inventory on my coffee table, hating the bland office I’d never gotten around to decorating.

But now, on top of the colorful walls which brightened the space, there were six monitors taking up the entire back wall with Arthur’s desk tucked closer to the window.

“Where are the filing cabinets?”

“We moved them across the hall to the storage room after we cleaned it out,” Burton said.

Luka sat at the monitors and asked, “What time do you think this happened?”

“According to the patrol officers, everything was normal at eleven when they drove by, so I’m thinking we start there,” Detective Sandoval said.

The video was surprisingly sharp. I could read the plates of the cars that drove by.

There was no movement or sound for a few moments, so Luka forwarded the video until a shadow appeared across the street. As Luka slowed it to normal speed, three men walked into view. Two of them held baseball bats, and the other held a tire iron.

“You think we’ll be lucky enough that the little faggot will be home? We can take turns with the boss’ son. A little treat on top of the generous paycheck.”

Three distinct curses erupted from the men around me and I shivered at the thought of what they would’ve done to me had I been home. In the end, I was absolutely furious knowing that my dad had sent them. I may not have been in physical danger, but there are so many what if’s that if Hale stood in front of me, rage led me to believe I could kill him with my bare hands.

“Shut the fuck up, Tommy. You’re such a fucking idiot.”

“What? It’s fucking New Year’s Eve, Sammy, and since I’m doing this and not getting some pussy, I might as well take advantage. He’s gay. A dick is a dick. He’d enjoy it.”

“Don’t say my fucking name, you stupid motherfucker.”