AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m abouttwo and a half hours into a five-hour flight the next day when my phone flashes with Bash’s name. I swipe to answer but don’t get a word out before I hear him.
“Hey, you home?” Bash’s voice is hurried.
Pissed.
The days of him being the even-tempered one of the two of us are long gone.
He’s been a ticking time bomb lately.
We’ve gotta get him out of this fake engagement, and we’ve got to do it now.
I don’t know how much longer Pop can keep this going without losing Bash completely.
I look across the aisle to see Nick asleep on the cream leather sofa of my father’s private jet and wish I could get that comfortable. I fucking hate flying. Knowing there was something wrong with the plane isn’t helping me relax. I’m tired because I slept like shit last night, ready to be home. Now I’m stuck in the air for at least another two and a half hours instead of on the ground getting shit done.
But Bash doesn’t need to know any of that. Instead, I tell him, “No. I had business out of town. I won’t be back for a few hours. You okay?”
“Do you care if I crash at your place for a few hours? I need some sleep and don’t feel like dealing with everybody at mine right now.” A door slams shut, and then what I’m guessing is the engine of his Hummer starts.
It’s not like him to need to crash at my place.
Not at noon on a Sunday.
Not since he moved out of Pop’s. “You’ve got a key. You okay, Bash?”
“Have you talked to Dad yet today?” he asks, avoiding my question.
The captain comes over the speaker, warning us of turbulence and asking Nick and I to turn off all electronics, just as the flight attendant attempts to wake Nick up to put on his seat belt. “No. Listen, I can’t talk right now. Go to my place. Crash for as long as you need. I’ll be back in a few hours. We can talk then.”
Guess I’m making a pit-stop before I see Amelia.
* * *
Four hours later, I’m sitting with Bash and his forced, almost fiancée, Emma Sabatini, in my living room, staring in disbelief. Emma has given me the proverbial keys to the kingdom, keys she didn’t know she was holding until now. Which makes me question the validity of what she just told us because, train wreck or not, the woman in front of me has more street smarts than most men I know. She’s a knockout and knows how to use those looks to her benefit. Long, dark hair, a tight curvy body, and a sharp wit have served her well. But then why... ?
“You’re telling me that one of your friends was there when Thomasso Darpino’s grandson was shot in Atlantic City? The heir to the New York empire? And this friend has a picture proving it wasn’t the Russian your father blamed it on who was holding the gun... It was your father?” I’m having a hard time swallowing this.
I look from her to Bash, who hasn’t stopped pacing since Emma started talking. “And you knew this? What the fuck, Sebastian? How could you not think this might be important information?”
“Sam...” Bash drags his hand down his face before he sits down next to Emma. “She mentioned it a while ago, that her friend was there the night he died. I didn’t really pay attention to the rest.”
When Emma smacks Bash and yells at him, “Nice to know what I was good for,” I get the picture. Little brother was trying to get a piece of ass and wasn’t paying attention to what Emma was saying.
Can’t say I blame him.
Bringing these two back around to the issue at hand, I ignore the fact they’re about to fight over when they used to be fuck buddies and start working out the logistics of the current situation. “Well at least you fucking remembered now. We can use this. I’ve got a guy who can get us the images from her phone. I just need you to write down her number.”
“I can ask her for the pics. Not a biggie,” Emma offers, but that’s not an option.
“No. We want as few people involved in this as possible. We need to control any potential blowback.” I stand up, trying to assess what needs to be done. First things first, I need to make sure Emma’s really on board. “Emma, you do realize I’m going to use this information against your father to get you both out of this engagement.”
Her big green eyes look over at Bash, and I think I see a little longing there.
But it’s gone as fast as it appeared.
I leave out the part where I’m also going to use this information to destroy her father. She doesn’t need to know she’ll be his downfall.
“Come on, Sammy. She just gave us the information. Cut her a break.” Bash is always looking out for everyone else.
