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“You’re welcome. I’m sorry it happened. How are you feeling today?” We get the pleasantries over, but then I tell him why I’m calling.
“I want you to write down an address,” I say.
He doesn’t understand at first, thinks I’m still coming on to him, and after my deplorable behavior I don’t blame him, but he needs to understand the severity of the situation. “Brian, listen to me carefully. Write down this address; get it to the people that can get your man, Matt, out of harm’s way.
“What the fuck do you know about that?” Brian says.
“Got that pen handy?” I say.
“Got it. Tell me.”
“Go to 5445 South Ettelmen Street,” I say before disconnecting.
7
JAY
I hitthe accept button on my cell. “Just got a call from Sasha. She knows about Matt’s situation and that he’s part of the team. I’ve got an address,” Brian says, and my jaw clenches so tight that I think my teeth may crack. Why the fuck is she still calling him?
“What’s wrong? Is she okay?” I say, finding it hard to breathe normally.
So many things are running through my mind. Why did Sasha call Brian and not me, how the hell does she know Matt, how does she know he’s part of our team, and how the fuck does she know that he’s being held and where that goddamn location is. “How the hell is she involved in this?” I grind out.
“I have no idea. She said that she’s returning the favor for rescuing her from that asshole last night. I don’t know what the fuck to think either,” Brian says, giving me the rest of the information before disconnecting.
If that woman were mine, she’d be tipped upside down getting the paddling of her life for putting herself in danger right now. The reality is that she’s not, doesn’t want to be, and couldn’t have made things more crystal clear by calling Brian instead of me, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to ensure she’s safe.
Bernatelli still isn’t taking the bait. If he doesn’t meet with us, then we have no choice but to use our intel’s information, and goddamn it if it doesn’t mean that the only option we have is trading Sasha for Matt.
Usually these deals aren’t too hard, because you haven’t made a personal connection with the daughter of the mob. In this case, not only have I done that, but I have tasted that sweet little pussy and know that I want her for my very own, but she’s made it clear that she’s not mine.
I pull myself from my reverie. I have a job to do, and Sasha’s made her choice. One of my team members is most probably under severe duress at the hands of a mafia he infiltrated to get information for us. It is my responsibility to get him out, no matter how difficult, and right now the only other option if Bernatelli doesn’t agree to meet and take a monetary trade to free Matt and get Jenny Torzial off the mafia’s hit list is to kidnap his daughter and use her as the trade.
I have no doubt that Brian will persuade her to get to the diner, and as soon as he does my team will step in. We’ll take her, but there’s no fucking way I’m turning my angel over to her father’s goons. I just need a way to convince Bernatelli’s crew to bring Matt out from hiding, into our sights so we can get him out. I continue to make plans, sending out instructions and then calling one last huddle to ensure the entire team is on the same page before we go for broke.
I am in a limo right around the block from the restaurant, still hoping that we’ll catch a break before this shit has to go down, but after a long debrief from our intel team, I know there is no other way and hit the button on my cell that will connect me with Brian.
“Jay here, listen carefully,” I say as I give him explicit instructions to ensure that everything we’ve planned out goes according to plan and that he and Sasha are safe, but hating like fuck that I can’t be the one with her right now, the one that could comfort her, but instead the one who will be causing all hell to break loose in her world. Brian will be there to protect her. The very person she wants, the one she’s apparently chosen to turn to in her time of need, even though he’s committed and utterly devoted to someone else.
I get the signal from my team, and it’s time. This is one of the hardest calls I’ve ever had to make, knowing that Sasha will be scared, especially after what she experienced last night, but there is no other way, Matt’s life depends on it, and so I send the text that will seal her fate.
I watch the cameras that we have in place. Brian does precisely what I’ve asked, and it’s at this exact point when he’s pissed with her about an inappropriate attitude toward the wait staff and his seeming reluctance at being tossed into this situation that I get it. He isn’t interested in her sexually, but he doesn’t want to hurt her either.
He’s just doing as he’s asked to make sure that Matt gets home. He is a good man and has proven that time and time again, and my attitude toward him lessons a little because I also know that Matt means the world to Jenny, and I’ve seen Brian in action when he is protecting Jenny. He and Chase will move mountains to protect the women they care about. I don’t blame Brian, really. I’ve listened to the tapes, and he was a gentleman when letting her down and only getting more firm when she continued calling, but never once did he lead her on. I’ve seen first hand how fucking intense his feelings are for Jenny Torzial, but that doesn’t calm the emotions that arise when I think about him and my angel together.
Brian guides Sasha toward the back of the restaurant as I’ve requested. They move toward the bathroom, having no idea the team has planted mics all over the restaurant listening to the conversation, observing. My team has a directive from me to kidnap them, but at the same time to do whatever it takes to keep them both protected.
The security teams do their job superbly, as usual, bursting through the door, taking Brian and Sasha by surprise and captive. They both resist, but I watch as my team flawlessly executes the predetermined plan. No one watching the tape later would ever think Brian had anything to do with this, and Chase is still up in the air on his way to Italy, which can be confirmed by flight records.
As much as I want to kick Brian in the fucking nuts for being the one that Sasha wants, I can’t. He doesn’t even know what’s happening, and it’s a very real kidnapping for him as well. He tries his best to protect Sasha when my teams get a little rough, and for that, I have a great deal of respect.
I don’t know why Sasha’s words last night resonate with me. “No one wants me,” but at this very moment they come back to me and damn if that doesn’t make me want to protect her even more. First I need to get the attention of Bernatelli. One of Matt’s uploads with confirmation that the kingpin of Chicago has an illegitimate daughter will do that. If we can get that, we have something to use instead of a trade for Sasha.
I call a huddle with my team, making sure they understand the plan, that they will move Sasha around the city, not keeping her in one place, but instead shuffling her from limo to limo to ensure her safety, and that they will keep Brian in the warehouse while we negotiate, knowing this may take hours. In the meantime, I hit the number for Cassie, the reporter that is now overseeing our communications division.
Brian was right about her skill. He first met her the night of Chase and Katarina’s wedding. A little ginger-haired lady with an extremely polished approach to asking questions, one that Brian took a liking to for her ability to cut through the paparazzi shit and ask a question that would allow a person a platform of good discussion. When you’re in the spotlight as much as Brian, I suppose you get an eye for these things. He had his team begin connecting with her and dogging her ass until she finally agreed to work for Carrington Steel full-time. Little did they know at the time that the mild-tempered little ginger was really as hot-headed as they come. I chuckle, recalling my team’s first encounter with her.
She answers on the first ring. “Hi, it’s Jay. I need a favor, and it has to be subtly placed in the event we need to make a more significant announcement later. At a high level, Brian Carrington was last seen at a small diner in Chicago where he was working on a plan for the next Children’s fundraiser with one of his colleagues and hasn’t been heard from since. I’ll send you specifics and the address of the diner, you can add some detail, and do what you do,” I say.
