Page 63 of Scream (Duchess & Devils #1)

My wife frowns, and I hate it. “Maksi,” she coos her nickname for me, and I melt a little on the inside. Her hand cups my chin, and I lean into it. “Please listen to me, darling. I know this is your domain, your kingdom and I don't want to overstep, but-”

That's where she's wrong. This is her domain, too. This is her kingdom, too. I want my wife’s opinions on certain matters. It’s why I was so cruel when I thought she was weak…

“Maverick is former FBI , Maksim. He’s also slowly been solving cold cases the Syndicate’s been involved in for the last five months with his ex-partner, Tasha. He stays out of the spotlight, as to not draw attention from the media, but gives her leads to make the proper arrests.”

I arch a brow. “How do you know all of this?”

The Duchess puts her hands on her hips and sighs.

“Because when I go over there, it isn’t just to bugger off.

He’s been asking me questions about the Syndicate and its members.

Unlike Raven’s parents, who kept all of that from her until she had to find out the hard way it wasn’t just the boogeyman, Mama told me all about the brotherhood.

She explained what would be expected of me as soon as Raven was attacked.

” She looks up at Parker, and her eyes soften.

“Mum sat me down, introduced me to Parker, and told me exactly why I needed him.

Why he was, has always been, and will always be my non-negotiable until the Syndicate is eradicated.

Which will probably be never, seeing as there are so many, and the new generations are either too young or haven't been born yet.”

“So he’s been protecting you from the Syndicate for years? Why? ”

She sighs. “Because they’re more of a threat than the mafia and the bratva combined, Maksim.

They don’t make moves where you can see them – they strike when least expected.

They strike like unsuspected serpents in fields of grass, no rattle.

Just venom. Most of the Syndicate live their entire lives looking over their shoulder.

Parker knows how deep the Syndicate goes.

He knows the constituents that make it up.

Parker knows their faces. Maybe he doesn’t remember every name, but their faces…

he knows them all. When I told you he was rightly trained, I meant it.

And with his specific background and his…

entirely too sunny disposition-” Niko makes a choking sound, Sabrina smirks, and Savage grunts.

“Mama knew he wasn’t one to go blabbing. ”

“Taking care of Donahue is still something that’s under my jurisdiction, Duchess. He took something that’s under our protection; we need to retrieve her.”

“ Them ,” she says quietly.

“What do you mean, ‘them,’ Boss Lady?” Niko asks.

She points to the screen behind her, even though it’s dark. “ That was not the hand of an eighteen year old woman. That hand was small. The size of that cabin… that’s not the type of cabin a man could afford on a cop salary, Maksim.”

I search her brilliant eyes, loving the slates of gray embedded like sheets of ice. “You think he’s trafficking kids.”

“She was twelve when it began, Maksim. He terrorized her for years until she found sanctuary in your club. Tell me, did she ever take Johns?”

“One of the few that didn’t,” Niko replies from behind me.

“She stayed in her dancer cage?”

I look back to see Niko nodding silently, blue stare on my wife. I turn to face my wife again, but her gaze is already on me.

“If it was just her, we could go in guns blazing… but if there are other children and women in there, they need to go back to their parents. They’ll need doctors on sight, darling.

Women . Not more scary men with guns. And the others will need a fuckton of therapy.

Including Emilia. Who knows what they’ve been doing to them. ”

“Maks,” I hear Parker say my name. I stand, grabbing Sabrina, bend to kiss her on the top of her head where I can reach.“She’s right, man. This is a lot more fucked up than them taking one of the girls.”

I nod in agreement. “Niko, shoot a text to Aleksi. Tell him to keep an eye on the place. We need to go to Brooklyn.”

“I’ll call them,” my wife says quickly, and then blushes. “Wouldn’t want to interrupt… something.”

We definitely interrupted something.

It smells like sex and candles at the Monroe-Anderson-Harrington-Archer household.Maverick, although showered, is a bit detached and glassy-eyed. He clears his throat. He can’t stop smiling.

“Are you high?” I ask, and all I hear is Jonas snickering behind me, along with Parker and Niko. Damon and Raven are in the kitchen grabbing us drinks with Sabrina. We’re in Mav’s office, where there’s an enormous victim board with pictures, a map, red string, the works.

Mav shakes his head. “No.”

Jonas interjects with, “He’s blissed out. We were celebrating Raven finishing her album a month ahead of schedule.”

“Sabrina plays her demo non-stop when she’s reading.”

That makes Maverick’s grin widen. “Yeah, we’re…

very proud of her.” He looks behind me as I hear more people shuffle into the large space, now feeling smaller with so many people inside.

He stretches his hand out, and Raven goes to him immediately, without hesitation, to sit in his lap.

She hands him a tumbler with amber liquid, then he mutters something in her ear which causes her to blush.

He gazes up at her with so much adoration, I can feel the love he has for her from where I’m sitting.

Raven drapes her arm over his shoulders and plants a kiss to his temple.

Only then does he even bother to look my way.

“Sabrina says this couldn't be talked about over the phone or in an email?”

I shake my head. “I didn't want to bring you into this whatsoever since, it’s mafia business, but my wife believes there’s more than one person being held hostage to be trafficked at a remote location. Children, to be exact. Plural.”

His green eyes travel from me to my wife then back to me.

He slowly inclines his chin. The smirk on his face turns into a frown, eyes bouncing from me to Damon and back.

“Then it's an extraction. They’ll need medics on site, as well as Child Protective Services. Do you have coordinates for this location?”

“I have one of my guys on standby already, keeping an eye on any movement.”

“Given that my former partner lives in Virginia and most likely won't be able to be here for another hour and a half due to flight times, I have to ask, do you want to move in now or wait until we have everything set into place? She’s on speed dial.”

“Go ahead and call her. If it were just Dana, we’d go in. But since my wife says there is a possibility of children, I won't have my guys go in and hurt innocents. They’ll need services we don’t offer. The doctor we have on retainer deals with trauma wounds not… psychiatry.”

Respect flashes across his face as he asks me for the coordinates, and we watch as he calls this Tasha woman.

We listen as she gasps and fumbles around while she gets ready. “And you’re sure there were kids?” I grin, hearing the fellow New Yorker in her voice.

Mav looks at my wife again, and Sabrina nods.

“It’s what I’m told.” He gives Sabrina a look, and she introduces herself to Tasha, filling her in on everything we saw through the drone and her suspicions.

When she’s done, Maverick takes over by saying, “The possible trafficker’s surname is Donahue. Law Enforcement Officer.”

Tasha groans. “I hate it when it’s one of us. Wait. Donahue ?”

I raise a brow as Mav answers her. “Do you know him?”

“Irish guy with freaky blue eyes and red hair? I mean, could be a different guy, but the Donahue brothers I knew while I worked for Brooklyn PD were weird. Stared a little too long, if you catch my drift. If it’s the guys I'm thinking of, I'm not surprised.” she sighs loudly and then, “I’ll be there in two hours. And Mav?”

“Yeah?”

“You owe me lunch,” she replies, hanging up before he can answer, and he huffs out a chuckle.

“That’s it?” I ask.

He dips his head in a nod. “Usually I would ask more questions, have to see proof for myself. I've never gone into situations completely blind before, where I don’t have all of the information and know exactly who I’m hunting for, but,” his grip on Raven tightens “I’ve recently been in a similar situation, where I didn’t take heed, and it almost cost me everything.

I trust Sabrina. I am doing this for Sabrina, Maks. Not you.”

“Good. I don’t like to owe anyone favors," I reply, and a ghost of a smile graces Mav’s lips. “So… now what?”

“Now, I get ready to meet Tasha at the airport, debrief her so she can do the same to the local PD.”

“You’re not taking charge of this?”

He shakes his head. “The more I’m kept in the shadows and out of the media, the better I can… keep a low profile of my involvement when it comes to… other things. ”

Like taking down the Syndicate. I understand he doesn’t want to tell me – because he doesn’t trust me…. And so maybe I need to rethink my position of power. Besides, if they’re trying to take down the Syndicate, then maybe I shouldn't be trying to infiltrate it anymore. Unless…

“I have a meeting scheduled with Jaxson Prescott Thursday morning. Seems he’s trying to sell half of his shares to the Ainsworths.” I tell him.

Maverick blinks, Raven tenses, and the room goes silent. “That… can’t happen.”

“The meeting, or giving the Ainsworths more reason to be in the US?”

“We’ve had a run in with the Bones Chapter. The Ainsworths do not need to breach American soil. Not with Rayne-Moore so close.”

“I agree.”

Four and a half hours later, we watch through the screen on Maverick’s desktop – Aleksi having sent us another encrypted link – as Donahue kneels on the grass, hands behind his head. Seven children between the ages of six to fifteen, plus Emilia, are extracted from the cabin.

One of the Donahue brothers tries to run, but is shot twice - once in the shoulder, the other between the eyes.

None of the children turn away at the gruesome sight.