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CHAPTER 17

CRESSIDA

" I t's Gio," Lake muttered as he sent the call to voicemail.

Oh, shit. I'd almost forgotten about them in my mission to keep Snatched running. "Are they angry that I ran?"

Lake sneered at his phone. "I don't give a fuck if he's angry or not. He was the one taking advantage of our fucking abduction. He can rot in hell for all I care."

His phone chimed again. Lake flipped the button on the side to silence his phone, and he turned it over.

Joaquin's phone buzzed. We all exchanged looks, and Joaquin pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"It's a news alert," he mumbled.

"What is it?" Lake asked so quickly, Joaquin hadn’t even finished saying alert.

"Valencia's LA mansion is being raided. On suspicions of racketeering charges." Joaquin glanced up, straight at Lake.

What was that? I think I'd heard of it, but I had no idea what it was and the name didn't give anything away.

Lake's jaw worked as he shoveled a bite of egg into his mouth, chewing forcefully.

"What does that mean?"

At first, no one answered. Then Joaquin met my gaze. "It could mean a number of things."

That was it? That was all he was willing to give me? Did they forget I was here when she was arrested the first time?

"What does that mean for you?" I injected as much sternness as I could into my question.

Lake had finished chewing his bite. "That's undetermined."

"What are you talking about?" My voice rose. "I'm tired of the games. Tell me what's going on. Please," I stressed. "I think over the last couple weeks I've proven this time is different. Trust me." I implored each of them with my eyes.

Kim shifted in his seat as he watched Lake. Atlas sat back, glaring at Lake. But it was Joaquin I decided to focus on.

"Joaquin. Why is this important?"

He raised his gaze slowly from his phone to me, then set it down on the table. "Because we blackmailed her after you left us. We found enough information on her operations to sink a cruise ship."

"There's more." That couldn't be it.

"Part of the reason they did that was for me." Kim cleared his throat. "She was getting too handsy. I needed her to leave me alone."

"Okay..." I hated that for Kim. I remembered the woman. Yet it didn't explain why this was so important.

No one answered. I stood up, carrying my full plate over to the trash. I was done. I couldn't stomach eating food when it was just made clear that no matter what I'd done, they still weren't letting me in.

I waved my hand over the trashcan and the lip lifted. I'd just tilted my plate to scrape it when Atlas stood too. "Stop."

"Why?" But I listened, hoping they’d meet me halfway. Would they trust me?

"Come back to the table. If Lake or Joaquin won't tell you, I will."

Slowly, so they had plenty of time to think about it, I walked back to the table. When I'd taken my seat, Atlas reclaimed his.

I turned to Lake. Even if Joaquin knew, Lake was the one who managed that side of their lives as far as I could tell.

Lake studied me. Was he weighing what I would think?

"We used Valencia’s assistant to collect all of our information on her. You might remember, it started when we took you to Valencia's show."

I nodded. "I do remember that." Lake had discreetly passed cash to a worker, and it was one of the first times I'd started to get suspicious.

"To ensure he did our dirty work for us, we had to both bribe and blackmail him."

I furrowed my brow. "I'm still not sure how this is connected."

"If he was the source who talked to the police, his testimony against us could make our case worse..."

"And..."

"And when we had leverage on Valencia, we forced her to do a few favors for us. The illegal kind."

My stomach sank. I knew this about them. I'd always known. It was my choice now to get wrapped up in it.

I kept my gaze locked on Lake. "Did those favors hurt any innocent people?"

He scoffed. "No, absolutely not."

"Did the favors make you safer?" Please say yes.

Lake twisted his lips to the side. "In a way."

My stomach bottomed out. "You were pissed at her and did it for revenge, didn't you?"

He blew out a breath. "Partly."

"Mm-hm," I hummed. I didn't have the headspace for this revelation today. I’d set up a few meetings at Snatched, and I wanted to keep them. But I needed to know one more thing. Turning to Joaquin, I asked, "Does this raid mean anything for you guys?"

"Hopefully not. It depends on what kind of records Valencia kept."

Bishop seemed well connected. I could always ask her to see if there was anything she could do. But she seemed on the straight and narrow. If the boys did this out of spite, I wasn't sure she would help.

I swiped the back of my hand over my forehead. What was happening to me?

I wasn't sorry. I didn't regret my choices, but in the span of a month, I'd changed so fucking much. It was for the better, and if not the better, it was out of necessity.

"Got it." I took a bite of toast, signaling the end of the conversation. "I have to get ready for Snatched. Who's going in?"

"I am–" Lake started.

"Not you. You're going to bed."

He snapped his mouth shut as Atlas chuckled.

"Told you," Kim said with a knowing smile. When he glanced at me, his eyes softened. "I'm going in. There's a meeting with the dancers, and I canceled it last week."

"We're going in, aren't we?" Atlas nudged Joaquin.

"I guess so," Joaquin sighed.

"Great." I finished my breakfast in record time. We'd lost some of the light that we'd started the meal out with. It was my fault. After the drop on how Valencia and her assistant played into everything, my mind raced with how I would walk this line.

I absolutely was on the side of the fence that would burn the world down to save the boys. Yet, I also didn't want to become a ruthless villain just because someone stepped on my toe.

The boys shouldn't be like that either. But could I save them? Especially when Lake said he planned to be the biggest, baddest player on the board? And I'd agreed?

Were there morally righteous crime bosses? Doubtful.

I didn't want to lose myself to save the boys. I just wanted to know who I was.

Getting them back and taking the things I wanted was a start, only it still seemed like there was so much left to figure out.

When I stood, most of the boys had already finished, and they stood with me. All except Lake. He still grazed at his food, seemingly half-asleep.

I touched his shoulder. "Get some sleep, okay?"

He glanced up, barely able to focus on me. "Okay."

If he wasn't in bed by the time I was ready to leave, I'd see if Atlas and Joaquin could carry him to his room.

I rinsed my plate and placed it in the dishwasher. The others followed my lead, and before they left to go upstairs, they each dropped a kiss on the top of my head.

It was out of the norm for them, and I couldn't say I wasn't shocked.

It reminded me why I changed for them. Now I was hoping they could change for me.

No, that wasn't right. I wanted us to meet in the middle of fuck you up for fun and make a statement to keep us safe .

There had to be a middle road. Right?

Joaquin drove us in an SUV. I hadn't been in this one, but it was just as nice as all their other vehicles.

"When are you going to get a car, Beasty?" Atlas asked from the backseat.

I'd expected him to take the front, but he'd opened the door and pulled me by the arm until I got the hint and took the passenger seat. Then he'd pressed a toe-curling kiss to my lips and shut me in.

"When I have money."

"You have so much money it's coming out of your ears." Joaquin was still ruffled around the edges, but with every day that passed, he was settling down and getting back to his old self.

I winced. "Don't remind me."

"I thought you were all in with us, Beasty?" Kim asked innocently from behind me.

"I am. But some things take some time to get used to. You four hardly ever use all your vehicles, and I have my license. I could just use one of yours."

A moment of silence passed.

"Who taught you how to drive?" Sweet Kim. He didn't want to ask, but he was curious. He was probably afraid that Stevo had taught me.

"Linda, the owner of the bar I used to work at." I smiled. “She taught me a lot of things, like how to break up a fight, how to pour a perfect beer, and how to handle a gun.”

Any building tension burst like a bubble.

Joaquin pulled into the parking lot, straight into his designated spot.

When I opened my door, a whistle caught my attention. Glancing around, my throat closed up as Adrian walked across the parking lot with his hands in his pockets. The sun was directly in his eyes and he squinted, but it didn't take away from the determined look on his face.

Atlas slid out of the backseat and covered me from his view.

"How did you get this close?" he growled.

"Easy man. There's no need to get all worked up. I'm just here for a friendly visit." Adrian shifted and I saw one of his eyes and part of his cheek before Atlas moved with him.

Joaquin took position at Atlas' side, and Kim on the other side of my open door.

"You're not allowed to be here," Joaquin snapped as his hand twitched at his side.

I recognized that movement. When we were in school, his hands would always twitch until he had the deck of cards in them.

"Okay, daddy." Adrian was all sass, miles away from the serious composure he'd had in the car. Now I could spot the differences so easily. "How about we have a nice conversation and then go our separate ways? No one is here to hurt you or Cressida."

"You say that as if your pride wasn't blasted to pieces when she escaped you." Kim placed his elbow on top of the car door, completely relaxed. This was the Kim who had run the dance meeting, the one who took me to the Hot Spot to meet with Gio and his guys before.

I hadn't seen this version of him since then, and I could cry in relief to see him now.

Adrian whistled through his teeth. "Man, you're coming out with the big guns today. Nice, but not necessary. You were rescued, so it all worked out in the end."

"Not because of you," I called. Pressing on Atlas' back, I urged him to move. It took a good thirty seconds of pressure before he reluctantly shifted to the side, forcing Joaquin to move down.

I swung my legs out but stayed in the seat.

Adrian checked me over quickly.

"If I'd stayed with you, then they could still be in that basement. They weren't your priority if they were even on the list at all." Hot anger licked up my spine the longer I stared at him.

I'd trusted them. I called them when I thought I didn't have any other options and went with them willingly. All for them to reveal their true motives within the hour.

Adrian's face hardened. "I'm sorry for that. If I thought it would make a difference, I would have led with an apology. But I know better. Words don't mean shit."

"Then why are you here?" Atlas took the smallest step forward, but he seemed to grow six inches.

"Because we need to take care of the Pescis. Once and for all. They're onto us, and we need Beasty to do it."

"You're telling me that with all your resources, including Parker, you can't get to them?" Kim shook his head. "You can't get to the wife? The girlfriend? Their barber?"

Adrian's lids dropped, giving him a sinister vibe. "You don't think we've tried that? They have those people so scared, they're not willing to risk the lives of their families. Because that's what would happen. If the Pescis found out they talked to us, their entire families would be gone."

"And none of them believe you could act fast enough?" Joaquin tipped his head to the side, studying Adrian.

"You–" Adrian started to push into Joaquin's space.

"Hell no." Atlas pushed him backward. "You can't get any of their people to flip so you come for Beasty. Because she has no family? We're her family."

A riot of butterflies in my stomach warred directly with adrenaline from the imminent danger.

"We're asking her because she has just as much to lose! They've set their sights on her, whether they were behind your abduction or not. You should know that from their appearance at the club." Adrian spit on the ground. "We're not your enemies."

"You're not our allies either," Kim added lightly.

Adrian ignored them and glanced at me. "Cressida, you know why they want you. We told you."

All three of my boys stiffened.

"This isn't going to go away on its own. We have to take care of them."

"Get the fuck out of here." Atlas blocked me again as he advanced on Adrian. "Joaquin, call Guy. Have him send some men to escort our friend off the property. Have him tighten security too, because this asshole should never have gotten this close to us."

"I'm allowed on the property. We work for Parker too, and he's your backer–or did you forget?"

"We didn't forget." Kim smirked. "We just don't care. Guy reports to us and us only."

"You're going to regret that." Adrian sounded like he was getting farther away. "You think the Pescis are bad? Fuck with Parker and see how long you last." Then he raised his voice. "Cressida! You should want to help us, if not for yourself, then for your boys. The Pescis won't leave them alone until they're all dead."

My heart stopped. Were there only two choices for how this ended? Kill the Pescis or they'd kill us?

My stomach rolled. Probably. Why else would they be sending in men to give us messages?

"One more thing. If Cressida doesn't help us, I can't guarantee what Gio will do. This is your one warning."

Then he was gone and I was left staring at the backs of my boys. The sky was bright blue yet it felt like a black cloud suddenly parked right overhead.