When I find Rosa outside, her gun missing, her shoulder still seeping blood, I experience a level of rage that I’ve never felt before.
The car door is open, and Mel is missing. As expected. There are about three cars scattered around the driveway, and none of those cars are mine. What did they do with the cars?
What the fuck do I care about the damned cars anywhere? I know I’m trying to distract myself from what could be happening to Mel right now.
It’s a rookie mistake to leave the house unguarded, and they have to know I’ll be coming, which leads me to believe they have something planned.
They planned this. They knew where I’d be. They knew Mel would be here, and they knew who would be with her.
This is all too well planned to just be a random attack. This is something that took time. Money.
Information.
‘It’s not a good idea to step in there unprepared, Xander.’ Ryder has his gun in his hand, already lifting his hand to halt the men we have arrived with.
‘Do I look like I give a fuck, Ryder? They’ve got my wife! They’ve got Lucian.’ I growl at him. We’re finally by the front door. I move, pressing it open. The expensive hinges don’t make a sound, something that I’m grateful for now.
I move my head, glancing around the corner, trying to get a peep down the hallway. There’s no one. I step forward.
I can’t believe this is happening.
Mel.
Lucian.
Where are they?
My heart is beating too fast, and I can’t drag air into my lungs. If they harm her, I’ll make sure not one Russian survives in my territory.
I’ll burn down the fucking world if need be to make sure not one of them survives. I’ve only just found her again, only just fallen for her again, only convinced her she could trust me again.
I’m not losing her for anything. Not even to save myself. Ryder jerks his arms around mine to hold me back. I glower down at the fingers curved around me.
‘Let one of the men go first. You are capo. You cannot take a bullet today. Or ever.’
I want to spit at him. ‘Are you stupid, Ryder? You’ve two seconds to get your hands off me.’
He hesitates and throws a look at the hallway ahead of us. ‘I’m your right-hand man. Let me do it.’
I pull away and hurtle forward. From the picture, they’re in the living room, and that’s exactly where I head for. The heavy wooden door is locked when I go to open it, and I knock the butt of my gun against it.
The sound thuds and echoes, and in reply, the report of a gun hits the door. I pull back, but the bullet doesn’t pierce through the door.
I hit the door again and growl, hoping Sandro can hear me through the door. ‘You’ve got something of mine, Sandro. Actually, you’ve got two things. I need them back.’
I hear footsteps heading towards the door and then the sound of a click as the door is unlocked. I don’t let the door open completely before pushing it; I’m already shooting.
There’s no one behind the door, but the sight I find is enough to freeze the blood in my veins.
My men are bunched together in the middle of the room, their arms splayed out. Romero looks dead, unmoving and stiff beside them.
Even worse, she’s gone. As is Lucian. Both of them are missing from the room.
Sandro is smiling. He tips his head back. ‘Whom are you more worried about?’ He grazes the gun at his jaw thoughtfully. ‘The son? Or the wife? Who do I do away with first?’
My heart stops beating for a sharp second, and I can’t move, can’t breathe, can’t speak. If he hurts my family, he’s as good as dead. As is the rest of his lineage.
‘You don’t want to do that, Sandro. It won’t be safe for your family. Where are they?’
He sucks his teeth loudly, and an angry flush turns his face red.
‘You mean the same way it wasn’t safe when you sold me to the fucking Russians? The same way you left me out to dry?’
‘Is that why you turned and betrayed me? Because you weren’t strong enough to stand the brunt of war?’ I twist my fingers more securely around my gun, shifting my attention slightly to Ryder behind me. ‘Where’s my family, Sandro?’
They have to be somewhere in the house. I hope that the men we brought with us have the good sense to spread out.
Sandro’s jaw tightens, his face twisting into a snarl. ‘I turned nothing. You, Xander Amory, did me dirty first.’
‘Let my family go, and I just might consider letting you leave here alive.’ I let the words seep from my tightly clenched lips. He won’t listen to them. But it’s a choice.
He laughs hard, his body rocking back and forth on his heels. ‘You’re stupid, Xander. Stupid and conceited. But surely you don’t think I’m just as worthlessly stupid. That would hurt…a lot.’ He waves the gun in the air.
‘This took a lot of planning, you know. Getting the Russians to trust me, to see we had a common enemy in you. And your Father, he died almost as though he was offering to help.’
Ryder shifts behind me and hurls his words angrily at Sandro. ‘You’re a sick man, Sandro. And I’ll enjoy feeding you your own intestines.’
Sandro rolls his eyes. ‘Shut the fuck up, Ryder. You’re only as good as Xander says you are; you lickspittle.’
I’m tired of listening to his voice, tired of watching him swing a gun around. I want my family and I want them now. ‘Go ahead. Kill them then.’
The air seeps from the room, a creeping silence blanketing the room. Sandro stops. ‘What did you say?’
I shrug carelessly, my eyes sharp on his. I give him a dark, hard long look. ‘Kill them. You’ve had a lot to say. I find I’m tired of the words. Show me some action.’ I point down the hallway with my own gun. ‘Go in there, find them and put them out of their misery.’
I force the words from my lips, hoping and praying Sandro doesn’t call me out on my bluff. If he’s truly working with the Russians, and I have no doubt that he is, then they won’t want to get my family killed. They would want them in their control. So they can control me.
Sandro can’t kill them. And he’s about to box himself into a corner trying to prove it.
‘You don’t mean that. And that reverse psychology bullshit won’t work on me. I’m not that fucking dumb.’
I step forward, strolling towards him, my eyes on his as the space between us shrinks. ‘I think you are, Sandro. As a matter of fact, I think you’re the dumbest person in this room. I’d also prefer that you don’t cuss in my house.’
I see the moment the fear spikes in his eyes, and that’s the moment I give Ryder the signal to shoot. The sound of the gunshot unleashes sudden chaos; one of Sandro’s men yells, falling down. I look over at Sandro, who is glaring at me.
“Prepare to fucking die, asshole,” I snarl at him.
I move forward, my gun pointed at his heart. He backs up. “Listen to me, Xander….”
I don’t listen.
I shoot him in the hand.
Sandro yells, the gun falling out of his hand. He curls over his wounded fingers, gasping for air.
“Where is my family, Sandro?” I snarl.
He glares at me, his body bristling. He growls at me. ‘Russians or not. I’m gonna fucking kill them if you make me. There’s a man with a gun to their head if you don’t listen to me right now. The Russians want control of Amory’s territory.’
I’d known it as surely as I know the back of my hand. As I’d recognize Mel in the dark. They wanted what the Amory’s had and they were willing to play dirty to get it.
Holding my family to force my hand. I release a shuddering breath and allow my shoulder to relax slowly.
I smile at him. I’ve cornered a desperate man. I have no doubt he’ll harm Lucian if pushed too far. I can’t even think of him killing my son. ‘Where is my family, Sandro.’
Sandro stands.
He walks away backward, sticking his head down the hallway to wave his remaining fingers at someone I can’t see. I take a step closer, willing to jump him if I have to.
Sandro gasps. “If you just sign the fucking papers, I’ll tell you where your family is.”
I know what it is. But I ask anyways, a sarcastic lilt to my voice. I pray it masks the panic that’s lodged in my throat. “What papers?’
He looks at me as though I’m dumb. ‘What do you think, Xander Amory? It’s an agreement. And you’ll damned well sign it.’
‘Why would I do that?’
He waves his wounded hand at me, blood spattering from it, and I wonder how one man can be so carelessly stupid. ‘Because you might as well count your family dead if you don’t.’
I don’t believe him.
I lunge forward, ready to end this. “Tell me where my fucking family is.”
Sandro looks at me.
And he runs.
I follow after him, shooting out at his legs so he drops slowly to the ground, screaming and groaning. His loud ‘fuck!’ Is very satisfying.
I stand over him for a second, snapping a finger to Ryder who comes running up to me. I only then realize most of Sandro’s men are either dead or about to very much be dead.
‘Take care of him. Call the doctor for Romero, then come with me.’
I don’t wait to see my instructions carried out. I run up the stairs, checking all the doors in the hallway till I stop before the master suite, and the adjoining room beside it.
All the other rooms were empty. All of them are not holding the treasure of my family.
Ryder is breathing hard beside me. I raise my brow in question. He nods sharply. Sandro is dead. It doesn’t give me any relief. Not until I find my family.
I push the extra door open to Lucian watching a movie.
He blinks at me. “Hi daddy,” he waves.
“Hi. Have you seen your mommy?”
He shrugs. “No, but I watched a movie!”
“That’s great, buddy. Give me a minute, okay?”
He nods, his gaze going back to the television.
I’ve never been happier for an addictive screen.
Finally, I come to our bedroom. For a second I’m terrified of what I might find inside, and my hand hesitates on the door handle.
Then, I open it. Mel is tied up to our bed post, just as much panic in her eyes.
I sprint over to her. “You’re okay, you’re okay baby,” I murmur at her.
Ryder is already beside Mel, pulling ties off her arms. As soon as he does, she’s off the bed rushing towards me, tears in her eyes, tears on her cheeks, tears dripping off her face. She hurls herself at me, her arms locking around me.
“Lucian?” she breathes.
“He’s fine. Looks like he was watching a movie the whole time,” I whisper.
She sags in relief.
“Mommy?”
Lucian walks in, and we gather him into our arms.
The door crashes against the wall, and my brothers spill into the room, but the fighting is already over. Mel pulls her face from Lucian’s hair and gives me a trembling smile. ‘I love you. Thank you for keeping our son safe.’
I watch her, a stunned look on my face. ‘You don’t hate me?’
‘I hate this. I hate myself for letting them take advantage of us. But never you.’
I step closer to her and jerk her into my arms. ‘Don’t you dare say that. You’re my weakness, and I don’t care. I want you to be. I like how I feel about you. I like how much it is that the thought of you and me heals something within me. I would never change that!’
She swallows and says with relief. ‘I know. I love you too, Xander.’
I hold her tightly. I almost lost her. I almost lost both of them. Everything that I’ve done… it would be for nothing if not for them.
They are my everything.
“It’s okay,” I whisper in her hair. “It’s okay. We’re safe. Everything is okay. We’re here together and we’re safe, and it’s all going to be okay.”
I’m not sure how long I hold the two of them. It’s clear that for all three of us, we just need to hold on. We just need to be together.
We just need to remember that we’re okay.
In that moment, with my wife in my arms, holding onto my son, I make a decision.
I’m never going to let anything happen to either of them again. We have one life, and we have each other.
Damn it, I’m going to make the most of every second with these two.
I only hope Mel will still let me.
The next morning, I wait for her to come down to the breakfast table. I’ve been up all night, and I have come up with a plan. I want Mel to know that I don’t just care about her.
I love her.
And I’m never ever letting her go.
I touch the box in my pocket, hoping this all goes the way that I want.
“Morning,” she says sleepily.
“Good morning, amore mio,” I reply. She settles in, and my hand goes to the velvet box that I brought down stairs with me this morning.
“You okay?” she asks, looking at me.
I look her square in the eyes. “I will be.”
Mel stills.
I take a breath. “Yesterday was terrifying.”
“I know,” she whispers.
“If anything had happened to either of you…”
“Xander,” she cuts me off. “We don’t have to talk about it.”
I shake my head. “We do, Mel. We do because it’s important to me that you know, I would never put you and Lucian in harm’s way. I will never do it again.”
“I know.”
I shut my eyes and heave a huge breath. “All I could think of was our promise. The one I made you, to come back.”
Mel looks like she’s hardly breathing.
I look at her. “I may not always come back.”
“Xander…”
“I may not always come back,” I continue. “But I can promise you that when we’re together, we will have the best life we can possibly imagine. I will make all of your dreams come true. I love you, and I need you to know that I love you, every second of every day.”
“Xander,” her voice breaks.
I take another deep breath.
And this is not the perfect moment, but it’s the one I’ve chosen. I grab the ring box that’s in my pocket. I push my chair back and turn Mel’s so it’s facing the room.
I lock eyes with her, grateful that we’re the only two people in the room. I want to do this right, so I get on my knees before her. I grab the ring box from my pocket and open it.
Her eyes widen and the tears that had seemingly dried up come hurtling back. Her eyes shine as she glances back and forth between me and the ring. ‘What are you doing, Xander?’
‘Asking you to marry me,” I whisper.
My heart is in my throat.
I’m not sure what she’s going to say. I know that technically, we’re already engaged.
But we didn’t make that decision. Someone made it for us. Life pushed Mel and I back together. This time, however, it’s different.
This time, I’m asking her to choose me.
And I’m terrified to hear what she’ll say.
She looks down at me incredulously as though I’ve gone off my rocker. ‘We’re already getting married. You can’t ask me now,” she whispers.
I shake my head. She needs to know that this is important. That I need her like I need oxygen, and I want to know that she’s just as passionate about me as I am about her.
‘I can. I will. I am.’ I open the ring box and the lights glint off the canary yellow diamonds nestled in the black velvet of the box. She bites her lips and lifts her eyes to mine. I know she’s thinking of the red rubies. The one she’s still wearing, though she hates it.
I’ll never make her do anything that she hates ever again.
I look up at her, and my throat feels tight. “I need to ask you, Mel,” I whisper. “I need to ask you because so much has changed from the first time we did this.”
“Which time?” she laughs.
I smile. “When you agreed to be my wife. When I gave you that dress and that ring. When I put that together, I honestly thought this would be something political only. Something to keep our businesses and families intertwined. I didn’t think it was possible for me to fall for you again. I thought there was no way I still felt a thing for this woman. At most, maybe I’ll hate her. But when you stepped through the door, wearing that red dress and that damned ring that I hated giving to you, I’d should have recognized that even then, hating you just wouldn’t be possible.’
She sniffles and glares down at me suddenly. ‘Why’d you send me the ring then? I thought you’d forgotten I hated rubies. Still hate them,” she says with a meaningful glance at the yellow diamonds nestled in the box.
I wince and wish I didn’t have to answer that question. But we’re starting out on a clean slate, and everything needs to be out there.
‘I know, baby. I’m sorry. But I wanted to prove to myself I was over you. Wanted to hurt you as much as you hurt me by leaving.’
She rolls her eyes and throws her hair back. ‘That’s a dumb idea, Xander.’
‘I know. I was dumb. I was the biggest idiot on the planet, and if I have to spend the rest of my life making it up to you, I will. I gave you the rubies. I did all of those things. And my only hope right now is that you’ll give me the opportunity to do just that.”
She sniffles. “To do what?”
“To start over. I know I gave you rubies in the beginning, but things changed. You changed me, Mel,” I whisper. “I started this marriage in bad faith. But I had this ring, one that I knew you would love, made. I was going to ask you in Cabo.’ I lift my shoulder and drop it back. ‘Things got out of hand, and I didn’t have the time.’
She snorts. “You can say that again.”
“I’m so damn sorry, Mel. So sorry that we didn’t have this sooner. That I didn’t ask you then.”
She watches me for a moment as if she’s making up her mind about something. ‘So ask me now ‘
I put my heart out there. ‘Will you marry me, Melissa Sedric?’
‘You know what?’ She asks, tilting her head back and sending dread and love keening through me. How is it possible that she is able to elicit a thousand different emotions, all counter to each other at the same time within me? ‘I think I will.’
She holds out her hand and I slip the large ruby off, throwing it behind me so it pings off a surface and rolls away. I slip the ring out of the box and slide it on her finger, loving the way she bends her hand immediately to watch the light glint off it. ‘I like it. It’s lovely.’
I blow out a relieved breath and hug her tight, squishing our son between us. ‘I love you Melissa. I hope I’m able to protect you as much.’
She presses a kiss to my cheeks. ‘I hope you don’t have to.’
