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“Listen, I can’t talk long. Pauly is planning an attack on Sarah’s parents next week. He intends to take them out, and I don’t want that to happen. It’s going to start a war bigger than the two families… You know that. It’ll bring heat to us, the feds, police, but none of the other families that have gone legal are going to stand for any of it. They’ll be too concerned about the heat coming down on them just for their last names alone, you know?” Alex spoke quietly, and I wondered where he was. Was he trying to set me up or bait me? I had no idea.
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “So what do you want me to do?”
“Help me,” he said. “Please, we have to get Pauly out of the front line. He’s lost his mind. He’s got to go!” Alex sounded panicked for a second, but it was quickly replaced with his assured tone. I wondered if I’d imagined the whole thing. I wanted to trust Alex, but I just wasn’t sure whether that was a safe move or not.
“What can I do?” I asked. It was better to play dumb until I knew what I was dealing with.
“He’s receiving a gun drop in two days at the abandoned factory on Pier Street. He’s getting it at 10 a.m. on the southeast side by the employee entrance. The loading dock there, you know the one?” Alex asked.
“Yeah,” I replied grimly. “I remember it.”
“The factory is always empty as far as I know. We’re the only ones that ever used it. Dad asked me to do a drive-by today and make sure the location is secure. I did, and it is. Please help me. I can’t be a part of a full-on war,” Alex pleaded.
“Okay, let me see if there’s anything I can do,” I said.
“Thank you. I think he has someone watching Frank and Marge’s house also. He says he’s doing nothing until after the drop, but you know how he is. Always one step ahead of everyone. Tries to be anyway,” Alex finished.
Frank and Marge were Sarah’s parents. It wouldn’t be above Pauly to take them out before the drop when no one expected it. In fact, it seemed probable to me.
“Okay,” I said.
I hung up before he had a chance to respond. I needed to make sure he was telling me the truth, and the longer we talked, the more likely someone would listen to us. Before I did anything else, I needed to figure out how to make sure Alex’s story was true.
“Kevin?” I hissed into my phone. I glanced at the gym door. The last thing I wanted was for Sarah to hear me.
“Yes?” he answered.
“The drop is at the abandoned factory in 2 days at 10 in the morning,” I said. “Can you please try and confirm this?”
“On it,” Kevin said. “By the way, I’ll be gone tonight for an hour to get Sarah’s new identification. I’ll make sure my post is covered.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like things were moving forward for the better, after all.
I worked out with intensity after Kevin hung up. I lifted more than I had in a long time, and by the time I was finished, three hours had passed, and I was sweaty and exhausted. I wandered out of the gym feeling more level-headed and surer than I had since the day Sarah had been cowering on the back of my bike in a wedding dress.
Sarah and Maria were in the kitchen when I emerged. My shirt was soaked right through from the intensity of my training. I could see Sarah looking at it.
“What’s going on?” I asked. I grabbed a glass of water and chugged it down.
“Maria’s teaching me how to make turnovers,” Sarah looked up from my shirt and smiled.
“We know what a sweet tooth you have, boss.” Maria grinned.
“Yeah, I do.”
“How was your workout?” Sarah asked. She eyeballed my shirt again.
“Good,” I said. I glanced between the two women. “I’m going to shower.”
“These will be done in five minutes,” Sarah waved at the oven.
I nodded as I left the room. I leaned against the wall in the shower for a long time, thinking. If this family war resolved itself and Pauly got arrested, would Sarah and I be able to be together? As much as I hoped for it, I knew the chances were still very low. Even with Pauly gone, there was still the matter of Alex. He’d be in charge, and it was unlikely he’d be okay with me building a life with the woman he was supposed to marry. Not to mention, the age gap between us was massive.
I imagined what it would be like to be with Sarah in the real world. In my mind, I saw her marrying me instead of Alex and pushing a baby stroller with me by her side. She looked beautiful as a mom, slightly plumper than now and glowing brightly. I imagined coming home to her every night and jetting around the world with her and our kids. It was only when I felt my eyes well with tears that I forced myself to think about something other than Sarah. I knew I had to end our affair soon. I was already in way too deep, and my feelings were already taking over my life and clouding my judgment, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was supposed to be the mature one, right? The tough rogue that saved the day and never got attached—but I felt like none of those things right now. Right now, I wanted normalcy and love, two things that seemed to cancel each other out since Sarah had come into my orbit. I thought about the last time we’d had sex and how she’d called me by my real name, Anthony. My cock twitched, and my heart leaped when I remembered how she’d said it like I was the most beautiful thing in the world for her right then and there.
I wrapped myself in a towel and sat on my bed. My anger came on suddenly but when it hit, I was beside myself with rage. Why did the universe play these games with me? I had achieved everything I wanted to already in this life. The only thing missing was a companion to share it with. That hadn’t mattered much before I’d rescued the runaway bride, but now it was all I could think about. I was supposed to be the bad-boy billionaire, or at least that’s what the tabloids said. I’d been photographed over the years with this model or that heiress on my arm and none of them had held me the way Sarah did. In fact, I often grew bored with them after the first date, knowing there was always one more waiting in the wings to be seen with Anthony Warwick and all of his glory. And yet, all I longed for right now was Sarah.
Sarah entered the room carrying a plate of turnovers. She looked happier than she had before and that made me rage even harder. How could she be happy knowing we were destined to be apart?
