Page 29 of The Stolen Dagger

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

KATHERINE

“ W ho exactly is your father?” Drew asked as we stepped into the mansion my father called home.

After I got the dagger, Drew and I met a fuming Mack outside near his truck. He was furious that Drew had got the jump on him and told him so with a gun pressed squarely in his face.

But after Drew explained that he thought he was protecting me from one of Adrian’s goons, Mack huffed and said we needed to get back to my father’s house before someone who really worked for Adrian saw us.

On the ride back, I had explained everything that had happened in the last 24 hours to Drew, including Hunter’s fake abduction of Leah, Mack taking me to my father, and our conversation about the dagger.

I told Drew I had agreed to hand over the dagger to my father when all of this was over but left out the part about him wanting to be my father again .

I was still too conflicted to even think about that at the moment.

Now, we were in my father’s office. Mack stood with his beefy arms crossed over his chest, flanking my father, who sat behind his desk.

Both men glared at Drew, but he didn’t cower under their stare.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” my father said to Drew.

I rolled my eyes. The testosterone in the room was enough to choke me.

“I’m not leaving her to face this alone, sir.” Drew gave my hand a little squeeze. “Whether you like it or not, I’m here for Katherine, and I’m willing to do what it takes to keep her safe.”

HIs words tugged at my heart, but my father only leered harder at Drew, his jaw clenching so hard it looked painful.

There were a few more seconds of tense silence before my father spoke again. “You’ve protected her this far. You’ve kept her safe. I admire that. I’m grateful she had someone like you, even if you are just another pig in uniform.” My father said “pig” like the word disgusted him.

“ She can look after herself, sir,” Drew pointed out. “Katherine never needed my protection. She’s more than capable of handling herself.” Drew glanced over at me, then back at my father. “I made sure of that, but I’ll always be there for her, with or without your approval.”

My father seemed to study Drew as his dark eyes shifted between us and then to our clasped hands.

“You’re obviously important to my daughter, so I guess that makes you important to me,” he said casually. “You can call me Roman.”

Drew stiffened beside me. “Roman? As in the Reaper of Vegas? ”

“You’ve heard of me,” my father said smugly. “I’m glad to know my reputation precedes me.”

“Why do they call you the Reaper?” I asked, obviously not understanding the significance of my father’s title.

Drew answered me. “Your father is known in the underworld as the Reaper because when he comes to collect a life, he never fails. When he gets your name, you’re better off dead.”

“Yes, well, I made a name for myself early on when I joined this organization,” my father said.

His gaze softened when it shifted to me.

“The leader before kept me in his pocket for that very reason. To keep me in line, he threatened you and your mother. It wasn’t until right before she passed I overthrew him and became the boss.

All the responsibilities of the organization then fell to me.

“I know it doesn’t excuse anything, but that is why it was safer to leave you and your mother. There are many of those in power who want to take down the Reaper. I couldn’t let that happen with you both still in my life.”

I remained silent and stoic, processing all he said. He didn’t see it as abandonment, but protection. His explanation helped me understand his side of things, but I still couldn’t help wanting to scream and throw things at him.

Either way, I couldn’t change the past. All I could do now was move forward. Just as soon as we handled Adrian.

I nodded. “Well, I have the dagger, so how do we get Adrian’s attention?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him to have eyes on your house after what we did to Hunter,” Mack said. “He probably already knows you’re in town.”

My father stood from his chair. “Mack’s right.

If Adrian’s as smart as he wants us all to believe, then I’m sure he’s more than aware you’re back in Vegas, assuming you have the dagger.

My best guess is he’ll try to contact you sooner rather than later to get it.

If he still has your neighbor like you say, he’ll use that against you, but we need to be ready for anything.

Adrian may be an amateur, but he’s willing to risk lives to get what he wants. ”

I sucked in a breath at the mention of Pearl.

“We’ll get her back.” Drew squeezed my hand in his.

I nodded, wanting to believe he was right.

“Now, we should go over your plan again,” my father said, getting down to business. “I don’t want to leave anything up to chance or?—”

The landline on my father’s desk lit up, and an ear-splitting ring echoed throughout the room.

I jumped, and Drew stiffened beside me. My father picked up on the third ring but didn’t speak.

It was only a few seconds of someone talking on the other end before my father’s face hardened and morphed with rage. His thick brows scrunched and hooded his dark eyes. His jaw clenched as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the call. A vein bulged along the right side of his forehead.

“You,” he ground out.

It was then I knew who was on the other end when my father pulled the phone back and extended it toward me.

Adrian.

As if in a daze, I stepped forward, took the phone from my father’s outstretched hand, and placed it up to my ear.

“Mhm,” a deep voice hummed through the phone speaker. “I know you’re there, mi princesa . I can hear you breathing.”

His tone was a mix between playful and threatening. It sent a chill down my spine. I cursed myself for giving him such power over me just hearing his voice.

I hated it. I hated him.

I tightened my grip on the phone handle. With as much strength as I could convey through my voice, I asked, “What do you want, Adrian?”

Adrian chuckled.

“It’s so nice to hear your voice again, Emilia. I’ve missed you.”

“I can’t say the same,” I said through my teeth and re-gripped the phone. “Where’s Pearl?”

“My, my, you have changed,” Adrian taunted, amused.

Drew walked up beside me and placed his hand at the small of my back, supporting me.

“I can hear it in your voice,” Adrian continued. “There’s something there that wasn’t before. You’re ... angry. It’s cute.”

He laughed again, and the sound only fueled my ire.

“I heard about your little scuffle with Hunter,” he said.

“I was surprised to hear how you escaped him. I certainly didn’t think you had it in you.

But then a little birdy told me you were with one of Roman’s men at your old house earlier.

And then it all made sense. They found you before I did.

A pity, really. Someone finally reconnected with dear old dad.

How sweet.” He said that last word like it disgusted him.

He must have had someone watching my house in case I came back for the dagger. That was the only way he would have known, right? But I never told Adrian about my father when we were together. I never even told him my father’s name.

“You knew?” I asked. “About my father?”

“Of course, I knew,” Adrian mocked. “It was all part of the plan. Get you. Get the dagger. Get everything. It was all going so well too before you got nosey and followed me that night.”

Plan? I was just a part of his plan to get the dagger because I was the daughter of the man who had it.

“But none of that matters now because you have the dagger, and I have someone close to you. See, things always work out for the better, don’t they, mi princesa ?”

“Don’t call me that!” I snapped.

“I can call you whatever I want!” Adrian shouted through the phone speaker. “You’re mine until I say otherwise.”

At his tone, I couldn’t stop the memories from rushing back. A shudder almost overtook my body.

Almost.

Now his words and his voice only filled me with rage. I wasn’t scared of him anymore, and that realization settled something right inside me.

“You disobeyed me when you ran away,” Adrian continued. “You did the one thing I warned you not to. Now I’ve gained unwanted attention. This threatens everything I’ve worked toward. Everything I stand to gain from having that dagger.”

Good. I thought but didn’t dare say it, knowing it would only make him angrier, and I needed him to get Pearl back.

“Now,” Adrian breathed out. “If you want to see the old lady again, meet me where this all started. At the abandoned warehouses outside the city at sundown. If you tip off anyone or your father comes with you, I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in Pearl’s head just for the fun of it.”

Oh, God. I couldn’t let that happen.

“Do you understand, Emilia?”

I swallowed the bile that threatened to surface at the image he painted of Pearl and took a deep breath.

“I understand.”

“I look forward to seeing you very soon,” Adrian said before he hung up.

It was clear Drew, Mack, and my father were close enough to hear my conversation with Adrian when they all spoke over each other .

“That little bastard!” my father growled and banged his fist on the desk.

“Asshole,” Drew seethed.

“I can’t wait to get my hands on that punk,” Mack grumbled, cracking his tattooed knuckles.

I ignored them all. Processing this new development, I settled on a new plan. Well, an updated version of the original plan. One that didn’t involve my father or Drew.

Looking around at their rage-filled faces, I knew they wouldn’t like it and would probably try to stop me.

“What happens now?” Drew asked. “He knows you’re with Roman. He knows we wouldn’t let you go on your own.” He turned toward the other men in the room. “How do we protect her now?”

“There is no fucking way my daughter is facing that monster alone,” Roman demanded. “We call his bluff and go anyway. It’s the only logical option.”

“No,” I said, cutting through their protective bullshit. “I’m going alone. I have to do this. I have to end it.”

Roman shook his head. “Over my dead body?—”

“It’s not up to you!” I was so over everyone deciding for me. This time it was my choice. “I’m going for Pearl, and I’m going alone.”

Drew sidestepped me and his concerned gaze came into my view. “Katherine, you can’t?—”

“Don’t.” I cut him off and stepped away from him.

“You can’t protect me from everything. I can take Adrian.

You taught me how, remember? I’m going whether you all like it or not.

This is something I have to do.” I turned to my father.

“And if you acted like the father you say you want to be, then you’d respect my decision. ”

Roman and I stared at each other, waiting for the other to break.

“Fine,” Roman relented. “You’ll go alone, but you’re taking my gun. I need to know you have a little more protection than basic self-defense.”

That sounded reasonable. “Okay.”

“But we won’t be far behind you,” Roman added. “You get twenty minutes to exchange the dagger for Pearl and make sure she’s safe. Not a second more. After twenty minutes, I will be there to take care of Adrian.”

I considered his terms. I didn’t like the idea of carrying a loaded gun but agreed that it would provide a blanket of security against Adrian. And twenty minutes seemed like enough time to give Adrian what he wanted and get the hell out of there.

That is if nothing goes wrong.

“Fine,” I said. “Twenty minutes.”

“Very well.” Roman stood from his desk, adjusted his suit, and faced Mack to his right. “Get the men ready. We’ll take Romano, Gunner, and Leo, but Hawk and Rocco stay behind with the rest of the outdoor crew.”

He turned to me and Drew. “Katherine goes in first and we stay just out of sight until the twenty minutes are up. We have about five hours before sundown. We’ll start prepping an hour before then. So, rest up. You’ll need your energy.”

After deciding on a plan, the next few minutes were a blur as Mack led Drew and me to a guest bedroom down the hall from Roman’s office.

Once inside, I barely had the chance to look around the room before Drew pulled me to his chest and wrapped me in his arms.

“Your father scares the shit out of me,” Drew pressed a kiss to the top of my head, “but I’m so proud of you for standing up to him like that.”

I relaxed into his embrace and soaked up the comfort only he provided. I couldn’t believe he was actually here, in Vegas, meeting my father .

I missed him more than I cared to admit. After leaving like I did, I thought I’d pushed him away for good.

But now, being surrounded by him, in his arms, that was all that mattered.

“I hate that you have to face Adrian on your own,” Drew pulled me tighter against him, “but I get it. I understand this is something you have to do. I don’t like it, but I respect your decision.”

“Thank you for understanding.” I pulled back to look into his eyes. “I’m scared as hell to see him again, but I have to do this. For Pearl. She’s done so much for me, and if facing Adrian on my own is the only way to make sure she lives, then I’ll do it.”

Drew nodded. “And I’ll be nearby with Roman, ready to take him down the second I know you and Pearl are safe.”

Still holding me in his arms, Drew kissed me.

The kiss was slow and steady, as if we each didn’t want it to end. I poured every ounce of what I felt into that kiss: desperation, need, love.

I tried to convey everything I couldn’t say with words.

When his tongue stroked my bottom lip, I opened for him. I threaded my fingers through his hair at the back of his head, and he moaned.

“God, darlin’, I missed you so much,” he whispered against my lips before diving in again.

When he finally pulled back, I sighed. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”

Drew stroked the side of my face. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Filled with so much emotion, I couldn’t stop the next words that slipped out of my mouth.

“Just in case something goes wrong, I want you to know I?—”

Drew pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “Don’t ”

I blinked up at him. “What?”

“Don’t say it,” Drew pleaded. “Not now. Not like it’s the last time.”

He knew me too well because I was saying goodbye. There was a very real possibility something would go wrong with our plan. There was a chance they wouldn’t make it in time.

If that was the case, then I wanted Drew to know that I loved him one last time. I wanted him to know that despite the outcome, the one thing I didn’t regret was him.

Instead, I nodded, pressed my ear to his chest right over his heart, and clasped my hands around his torso.

I savored this last moment of contentment before everything changed.