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CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Violet
I don’t know how long I’ve been locked up down here. It may be hours, feels like days. My mind is a nonstop carousel of images of the things that have happened or could happen to Carter while I’m trapped behind bars. I’ve cried so many tears, I can’t cry any more.
The sound of the lock disengaging and the door opening has me sitting up. I don’t trust any of these people now that I know Mrs. Cortez is working with James. They could all be dirty for all I know. What I know for certain is not one of them has tried to help me or sought to help Carter. He’s all I really care about.
And Declan.
Though I feel guilty he’s been locked up because of my situation, I can’t help but think he’s faring better than me. Declan isn’t afraid of anything. Nothing seems to truly rattle him. He’s always so brave and strong. He doesn’t back down to anyone. I’d be lying if I said watching him break Paul’s nose didn’t give me some sort of sick satisfaction. After all his stupid accusations, everything he’s done—I almost wish Declan had done more than just given him a broken nose.
“Miss Dupree.” I’d know that velvety smooth voice anywhere.
Vincenzo.
The man himself, dressed in a dark gray three-piece suit and patent leather shoes, is standing right in front of me, looking just as smooth and handsome as ever. It’s true what they say, the Devil is a beautiful man.
“Vin—Mr. Parisi. What are you doing here?” I stutter, not knowing how to respond given our current company. I don’t need the officer knowing Vincenzo and I are familiar with each other.
“It’s time for you to go home, Miss Dupree.” Vincenzo’s talking to me, but his raised brow and tense tone are directed at the guard who skitters over to unlock the cell. He opens the door, and I walk out, completely dumbfounded. I half expect to be stopped and told I’m being punked before we make it out to the car, but it never happens. The joke never comes.
Everyone watches warily as we pass. Vincenzo doesn’t seem to notice, or perhaps he doesn’t care that everyone is staring at us so intensely. He isn’t fazed in the slightest. It’s as if he knows they can’t touch him. Or they won’t.
Once we get to his waiting SUV, he opens the door, and I slide in. Vincenzo follows. Once the vehicle begins to move, I hit him with a borage of questions.
“How did you do this? Where’s my son? How’s Declan? What about Kayce? Where is he? I called him but I didn’t get an answer. What the fuck is going on?” The last one leaves me on a high pitch screech.
With his hand on my knee, he gives it a light squeeze, then says, “Calm yourself, Violet. I’ll answer everything, but first you need to calm down.”
I take a few deep breaths, not feeling the slight bit calmer, but I lie and tell him, “I’m calm.”
His smirk lets me know he sees through my bullshit.
“First, Kayce contacted me to send help. He and his men are working with my computer specialist to track down your son. It seems he’s been placed in a transitional foster care home about an hour from Oakridge.”
“Where? Can they get to him? He’s not safe, Vincenzo. They called James to tell him where to find Carter because he’s his next of kin. Please,” I beg. “Don’t let James find him first. I don’t care about the price, I’ll do anything.”
“Relax. Kayce has already alerted those he needs to locate your son and bring him home. Your husband won’t touch a hair on Carter’s head. You have my word.”
I sigh a huge breath of relief.
“What about Declan?”
“I’m afraid my powers of persuasion were only enough to free one criminal this evening. I’m sure your—Declan—will be just fine. Gabriel has many friends. Some of which I think you’ll find interesting.” He doesn’t elaborate on the subject any further. “I’m taking you to my mansion. You’ll wait there until I’m certain you are safe, as per our agreement.”
“I-I need to see about Declan.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as I have word on the situation. I can assure you your biker friends are quite resourceful. And the doctor, Halloway, will no longer be an issue for either of you.” His tone has turned icy cold.
“What does that mean?” I ask, not sure I want the answer.
“It means he was your stalker, and now he is not.”
“Vincenzo, what did you do?” I close my eyes, trying to ward off what I know is coming. Please don’t say you killed him. Please don’t say you killed him. I’m repeating to myself. Not because I care if the bastard lives, but if Vincenzo tells me about it, I become an accessory to his crime. After just having had several charges dropped against me, it doesn’t seem like a great idea to go finding new ones.
“Relax, Violet.” I hear the laughter and amusement in his voice and open my eyes. “The doctor is with Kayce and his men. I have no idea what will become of him only that he became of sudden interest to them and as such is now in their custody. I will say Matteo found it inconvenient, since he seemed to want to speak with the doctor himself on your behalf.”
“Wait. What? Why?”
Vincenzo shrugs. “I don’t make it a habit of involving people who aren’t required to know my business, and I respect Kayce’s wishes to do the same.”
“You really don’t know?” I ask, studying his face for reactions.
“I don’t wish to, so no. I don’t.”
When we pull up to his house, I’m greeted by the sound of Mili’s eager voice calling my name. She rushes down the stairs, wincing when she gets to the bottom. The growl that leaves Vincenzo warns that he saw it too.
“Stop running,” he demands. Mili stops instantly, her cheeks pink and her eyes steely.
“Don’t growl at me. I’m excited to see my friend, since you won’t let me out of this gilded cage. The least you can do is allow me a moment of happiness.” She must be feeling better. Her sass is in full effect and she’s bordering on what some may call a death wish, talking to the head of the Parisi empire that way.
“I’m not growling, and you’re not caged. This is a beautiful home. You are free to go anywhere in it you like, except the places I’ve told you are forbidden.”
“But I can’t leave the house.” She cocks a brow at him in challenge.
“No. You’ll stay inside and keep your friend company.” He doesn’t say anything else, only kisses her forehead, then leaves the room.
“What the hell was that all about?” I ask, accepting the warm embrace of my friend.
“He’s a grumpy asshole and sometimes needs to be reminded that he doesn’t rule the world. Though he would disagree.” We both laugh because she’s not entirely wrong about that.
“What’s happened? I heard Vincenzo and Matteo talking, but they’re very good at keeping things to themselves and not talking loud enough for me to catch all the details when eavesdropping.” Mili’s smile is mischievous, and I realize how much I’ve missed talking to my friend.
“Well, a lot has happened actually,” I start. “Can we sit down?” Emilia leads me to the couch and we both take a seat. No sooner are we seated than a man in a black suit walks in carrying a tray with waters and snacks. He sets them on the coffee table, then just as quickly and quietly leaves the room.
“That was weird,” I say, not sure what to think. I know Vincenzo has servants and people who work for him, but we didn’t ask for anything, which makes it feel even more strange that he would serve us anyway.
Mili waves her hand in the air. “You get used to it. Vincenzo has ordered all his servants to make sure I have water wherever I am and that I drink it. I’m only allowed one cup of coffee in the morning, and nothing else until I’ve had at least three bottles of water.”
“Um, what?” I can’t help it. It all sounds sweet and I’m happy Vincenzo has been taking excellent care of my friend, but it has me curious. “I’ve never seen him be this attentive with anyone before except his …” I stop before I accidentally let it slip that I know about his son. Vincenzo is very protective of Anthony and who knows about his existence. In his line of work, I suppose it makes sense. He must have enemies everywhere. Which makes it even more important that I not say anything.
Mili eyes me suspiciously. “He’s overbearing and likes to think he’s in charge of everything. But sometimes he can be sweet.” She waves her hand in the air once more. “Enough about me. What’s going on? Why were you brought here, and why did he look so pissed when he left to get you?”
I run through everything that’s happened over the last few days, leaving out some of the intimate details, of course. By the time I’m finished, I’m crying and Mili is silent, looking somewhat horrified.
“What? What is it?” I sniffle.
“Halloway is a creep to every female in the hospital. He was on Kayce’s list of possibilities,” she says. “But he’s not the one Kayce was really interested in. It’s the CPS worker—McBride.”
I swallow hard as goosebumps spread along my skin. “Why? What did McBride do?”
“I don’t know for sure, only that Kayce wants him.” She must read the horror on my face because she pauses to stare at me. “What is it, Vi?”
“He’s the one who took Carter from the hospital. Vincenzo said he took Carter to a transition house.” The words spill out and my heart clenches.
“Shit,” Mili hisses.
“Tell me.”
“Kayce couldn’t find the proof, but it was rumored that McBride funnels troubled children to the trafficking ring, but Kayce could never find the link. His bank accounts were clean. He shows no record of being involved. But somehow, he was on Kayce’s radar.”
“But if he’s not being paid, how would anyone track things back to him?”
“It’s one of the reasons I took the job at Oakridge hospital,” she says. “Kayce asked me to take the job temporarily and help him investigate the supposed rumor. If McBride is involved in the ring, he must be getting paid somehow. And if he’s not, then why were there rumors and who’s starting them?”
“So, wait. Kayce sent you to Oakridge on an assignment?” I ask, not understanding. “You didn’t want to take this job or move here?”
“I wanted both, but I was hesitant. When Kayce told me what he needed me to do and why, I came up here for a fill-in position that was only supposed to be a couple of months.” She shrugs. “The directors liked me. I liked the environment and the town, minus a few controlling Italians, well one in particular. But they offered me the job, and I took it.” Mili sucks in a deep breath, staring at the ceiling before she says, “It was in that hospital I learned about the shipment Kayce intercepted in Baron’s Edge.”
“What?” I whisper shout. “Jesus, I feel like I’m living in the twilight zone or something. How did this all connect you to here? And what does any of this have to do with my son?”
“Look, I know this is a lot. I’ve been working with Kayce for a long time to try to help these people. It was only in the last two years that the trail led to Oakridge,” Mili explains. She adjusts herself, tucking her legs up under her butt and sitting back down. “Kayce knew there was a group of bikers involved. Originally, when he found the link between the dead driver from West Enterprises and your friend’s MC, he thought it was them. But after learning the man killed was trying to save his own daughter and working with Vincenzo, Kayce ruled them out.”
“Skyler,” I whisper. “George was her father. Vincenzo was hiding her, keeping her safe from something in her past.”
“After the story broke on the news about you being stabbed at the fight and then a couple of bikers from the Devil’s Order MC were mysteriously found dead in the woods not too long afterward, Kayce started digging into their club.” Mili sighs, her eyes full of trepidation and fear. “They’re bad people, Vi. Like the worst of the worst. They have their hands in everything. Drugs. Human trafficking. Gambling. You name it.”
“They discovered Kayce was looking into them.” Her eyes glass over. Pleading with me to understand and suddenly I do.
“They’re the ones who sent the message that night. The ones who hurt you.” Emilia nods. “You knew all along, didn’t you?”
“I did,” she admits. “I also knew if I called Kayce, they could link him to me and everything we’ve been working so hard to do would fall apart.”
“Shit,” I hiss, standing and pacing the floor. “You called me instead, because you knew I would go to Vincenzo for help. Son of a bitch!” Gripping my hair, I continue to pace, anger and frustration building inside me. “If I hadn’t gone to help you. If I hadn’t left my son with Declan, or gone to the cabin to meet Kayce, I never would’ve?—”
I can’t finish that thought because I don’t regret what’s happened between me and Declan. I want the life he’s promised me and Carter. I want the club to be our found family. I can’t say I regret opening myself to love and being loved. But at what cost? “If you had been honest with me from the start, I would’ve told Declan, and we could’ve taken better precautions with Carter’s safety.”
“No.” Vincenzo’s stern voice scares the shit out of me, and I jump. “Carter’s trip to the hospital was an unavoidable accident. The animal got spooked, nothing more. There was no reason to inform you of the rest because it didn’t concern you. It still doesn’t. Carter will be home safe soon enough according to my sources, and then you can go back to your club life with your biker and leave the rest to me and Kayce as it was always meant to be.”
“And what about Mili? What is she going to do now that her clinic is closed and she can’t go back to work at the hospital? What happens to her now that all the plans have backfired for her?”
Mili doesn’t speak. She lowers her head, not making eye contact with either of us. It’s strange to see my courageous friend cowering.
“Emilia will be fine. We have spoken about her future here in Oakridge. She will do what’s necessary and I will ensure her safety.”
What the hell does that mean?
Table of Contents
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