Bones (Dark Kingdom, #5) — Chapter no 6

CHAPTER SIX

BONES

I CHECK MY watch as I’m exiting my private jet back in Vegas. It’s a little after six in the morning. The sun is rising, and I’m finishing my third Red Bull of the night. My blacked-out Lamborghini Reventon waits for me inside the hangar. Getting into my car, I hear my cell ring, and I hit answer.

“Hello?”

“She called me,” Luca growls in greeting.

I sigh. “I’m not surprised. I expected her to reach out to the one person she thought she could trust.” Even though I told her not to, I knew she would. She’s confused and scared. Probably a nervous wreck that I’m going to show up at the house and force her to do unimaginable things.

He lets out a huff. “I don’t expect you to understand, Bones.”

“Why don’t you try to explain it to me, Luca,” I snap at him, hitting the gas and hearing my car roar.

“I did what had to be done.” He goes on the defensive.

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” I say through gritted teeth.

Click. He hung up on me.

Sitting back in my seat, I haul ass down the highway to Kingdom, knowing it’s going to be a long fucking day. Just like all the rest.

_______________

I PULL INTO our private garage and exit my car. Walking to the elevator, I scan my key card and ride the elevator up to the thirteenth floor. There has always been a dislike and superstition with the thirteenth floor. Kingdom has four towers, and only tower one has a functioning thirteenth floor. The others jump from twelve to fourteen.

The other Kings and I aren’t superstitious in the least. So when we took over Kingdom, we made the thirteenth floor ours.

Getting off the elevator, I take an immediate right, shoving the double glass doors open to our conference room. We’ve got jammers in here, making any electronic device inoperable. We conduct meetings here with some very powerful people around the world. The last thing we want is for someone to use it against us.

My brother already sits in his seat with a Monster and a Crunch bar in his hands. The guy has never cared about what he puts in his body—drugs included.

Cross sits across from him, flipping a Zippo open and closed like always.

He likes to burn shit. His girlfriend’s brother sits next to him with a worried look on his face. Derek is afraid of us. For good reason.

Titan sits to his right, arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.

“Did you just get back from New York?” Grave asks as I take my place

at the head of the table.

“Yeah,” I lie to my brother.

“Must have been an eventful trip,” Titan observes, looking over my wrinkled button-up. The guys and I have the Royal Suite on the fiftieth floor, aka the Royal Floor. I’ll run up there after our morning meeting and shower.

“Let’s get started,” I suggest, nodding to Derek, ready to get this over with.

“I was thinking.” My brother places his tatted arms on the black table, leaning forward. “The other day, I asked Alexa to continue running Crown for me until I could find a replacement.”

All four of us Kings run Kingdom together, but the others also have their own responsibilities inside the hotel and casino. Cross has Tit-For-Tat—his tattoo shop. Titan oversees our Queens—our discreet call girls. Men come from all around the world to meet up with our girls. You’d be surprised who will pay to spend the night with a Queen. We have some very high-profile men on our roster. Grave runs Crown—one of our nightclubs. And me?

Besides Kingdom, I own several other businesses.

The memory of what he said comes to mind.

We all sit around Grave and April’s formal dining room table. A Sunday gathering that has started to seem more like a tradition for us now. We’ve grown up together, and although we have had our disagreements, we’re all a family that seems to keep growing. Grave has April. Titan has Emilee, and

Cross has Alexa. I couldn’t be happier for my best friends and the life that they have found for themselves.

“Hey, Alexa,” Grave starts.

“Hmm?” She looks at him, slowing her chewing.

“Do you mind staying on at Crown? That is, until Lucky’s is back up and running, and I can find someone else to take over?”

She looks at Cross, confused, and then back at him. She swallows her food. “I don’t mind, but I don’t want to take that away from you.”

“You’re not.” He reaches over and takes April’s hand, bringing it to his lips. He kisses her knuckles, and she blushes. “I want to come home and be with my wife after a long day at Kingdom.”

Alexa starts nodding. “Yes, sure, that’s …”

A silence falls over the room, and April starts laughing.

“No!” Jasmine breathes, her palms slapping the table. “You got married without us?” she asks in disbelief.

“No, but …” April holds up her left hand and smiles brightly, showing off the massive diamond on her ring finger. “We have a wedding to plan.”

I always knew Grave wouldn’t be able to continue running Crown. As a recovering addict, I thought it would be too much temptation. The alcohol alone would be a distraction. We’re not stupid. Although we don’t deal in drugs, we know they are passed around inside the clubs.

“I don’t understand.” Derek looks around quickly. “What does this have to do with me?”

“Well, I want to offer Crown to you,” Grave states.

Everyone looks over at the guy, and he sits up straighter. His eyes widen as he points at himself as if there’s more than one Derek in the room. “Me?” he asks.

“Why not?” My brother takes a drink of his Monster. “You helped Alexa run Lucky’s, right?”

Derek nods, eyes still wide with surprise.

“Alexa will have the new club opened soon, and she won’t be able to run both. I don’t plan on stepping back into Crown. So …” He shrugs. “This makes sense.”

Some shit went down with Alexa and Lucky’s—the bar she was given when Lucky passed away. It’s currently under construction. But Cross is determined to have it open and better than ever as soon as possible.

“I’ve already spoken to the other Kings, and we think it would be a good opportunity for you,” Grave goes on.

He had messaged us about this last night while I was sitting on the beach waiting on Mia to wake up. We were all in an agreement that keeping Derek close was a good idea. And what better way to do that than putting him to work at Kingdom. Where we can have eyes on him at all times.

“That’s …” He looks over at Cross, who just stares at him, flipping open his Zippo, not giving his feelings about the matter away. He couldn’t care less. If need be, Cross would set him on fire right here and now. “A great opportunity.” Derek swallows nervously. “But Lucky’s was on a much smaller scale—”

“I spoke to Alexa this morning.” Grave interrupts him. “She said that she would continue to work there with you until she opens the new club. That way, you won’t be doing it on your own right off the bat. It’ll give you time to get some training in.”

Derek runs a hand through his dark hair. “That would be great.” He nods to himself. “Thanks, guys.”

“Then it’s decided,” I say, ready to get this meeting over with and on with my day. I need to bury myself into my work to get the pretty brunette staying in my beach house off my mind. I want to kick myself in the ass for not setting up cameras there. If I had, then I would have the option of watching her whenever I wanted. No matter how creepy that makes me sound.

Cross closes his Zippo and reaches out, slapping his hand on Derek’s shoulder, and he flinches at the contact. “Fuck us over, and I’ll kill you. Do

you understand?”

“Oh, I would never …”

Titan gives a rough laugh. “We’ve heard that before.”

“I promise.” Derek throws up his hands. “I won’t let you guys down.”

With that, I get up and exit the conference room, not bothering to say anything else. People can talk a lot of shit. I’m about action, and only time will prove him right.

Making my way back to the private elevator, I step inside and push the button for the fiftieth floor, pulling my cell out of my pocket. I go to her name and hover over it. I feel like I should call Mia. She’s probably even more scared now after speaking to Luca. He just reiterated what I had told her—she’s on her own.

He was a wreck when he came to me for help. We both knew I was her only hope and that it wasn’t a good thing.

“What do you mean she’s your sister?” I demand. “Since when do you have a sister?” Maybe she’s adopted like his parents adopted Oliver Nite.

“She’s six years younger than us,” Luca answers hoarsely. “My mother had a daughter before I was born. My father killed her …”

“Jesus!”

“After that, she had me, followed by Matteo, then my twin brothers. They went for another boy, and she had Mia.” He turns to look at me. His dark eyes are desperate, and it makes my chest tighten. I’ve seen that look before. He’ll do anything to accomplish whatever plan he has come up with.

“I was there when Mia was born. My mother begged my father to keep her.

And he said that Mia could stay, but a time would come when she would

earn her last name.”

I run a hand through my hair.

“Her role was to always be a weapon, Bones. He wanted to use her.”

“For what?” I ask. “How is he going to use her when no one knows

about her?”

“You.”

“What about me?” I snap, unsettled by this information and what I saw on the video.

“He wanted her to marry you. So he could have Kingdom.”

“This is insane,” I state and turn to walk away.

He grabs my arm, stopping me. “You don’t understand. In the Mafia, you marry for power. Her name attached to yours gives my father a lot of that. It makes him even more untouchable. She was always a card to be played when he needed to win a hand. And your Kingdom is what he’s always wanted.”

“I don’t believe this,” I mutter. It’s ridiculous, really.

“He came to me a few months ago and said it was time for Mia to step up and do her part. I blew him off. I’ve tried to buy time, knowing that you and Mia would never be. But I can’t do it anymore, Bones.” He punches his

bare chest. “I can’t save her.”

“And?”

Running a hand down his face, he sighs. “And Matteo sent me that video an hour ago.”

“How do you know for sure it’s her in the video?” I reach, trying to think of anything that can ease his concern. “It didn’t show her face.”

“Because I know!” he snaps and then takes a deep breath. “Matteo called me after I watched it, or I would have been here sooner. Said she was picked up last week. The video was taken in Italy, and then she was placed on a cargo plane and shipped to New York along with the others.”

“Why would he call you and tell you this?”

“Because he knows I’m the only one who gives a damn about her and will do whatever it takes to save her from the future my father has decided for her.”

I bow my head and rub my eyes. “What do you want me to do?”

“I need you to buy Mia.”

“Fuck, Luca,” I hiss. “What am I going to do with her?”

“Let her go.”

“Let her go where?” He makes it sound like she’s a bird I should let fly away.

He turns, giving me his profile view, and looks back over the city.

“You’ve got plenty of vacation homes. I need you to purchase her, then ship

her off to one of them.”

“I—”

“Don’t tell me where you send her.” He interrupts me.

“Luca …”

“Do what you need to do,” he adds cryptically.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“I could send Nite, but Mia knows him. We can’t let her know that it’s not real. I have no one else to send. And I know my sister, Bones. If you don’t buy her and someone else does … she’ll die.”

“Luca, this is …” I begin to pace and run a hand through my hair. “What you’re asking me to do is …”

“I’m begging you, Bones.” He grabs my shoulders, bringing me to a stop. This is odd, considering he’s still only dressed in his boxer briefs. “I can’t save her anymore. She needs you. Why do you think my father is putting her in an auction? To sell her to the highest bidder. If you don’t do it, someone else will. And we both know that whoever that is will use her just as that video intended to show.”

I don’t understand, though. Once I buy her and then set her free, her father will know. He’ll be on to us. What will keep him from looking for

her? He won’t give up that easily, will he? “Your father will know I’m the one who bought her,” I argue.

He shakes his head. “It’s all anonymous. He’ll receive payment, and that’s as far as he’ll know. It keeps the seller from getting paid and then

stealing the product back.”

“He’ll look for her,” I grind out.

“No. Once he’s been wired the money, he’ll forget about her. He’s using his last name to cash in on her.”

“I know nothing about sex trafficking, Luca. Even if I wanted to help her, what would I do? Where will she be? How do I get in …?”

“I don’t know any of that.” He sighs, his face falling. “Matteo wants me to suffer, knowing that our father is selling her because I didn’t keep my end of the deal.”

“I can’t believe this.” I give him my back and start to pace the room.

“You should have told me. At least given me a heads-up, so I could have

bought her some time.”

“I didn’t know how you’d react …”

“We take care of our own!” I yell, getting more pissed off by the second.

“You think I would have let this happen had I known the possibilities of what he would do to her?”

“I’m not here to argue with you about the past. I’m here begging you to help me give her a chance at a future. Are you going to help us or not?”

“I’ll do it,” I growl, not happy with this situation, but what other choice does this woman have? I saw the video, and I know her options are grim.

Silence falls over the room, and then he nods his head before he starts getting dressed and runs out of my office, not saying another word.

I sit down at my desk and run a hand down my face. “Fuck!” I hiss.

Picking up my cell, I call one of my friends who lives in New York. He

answers on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Hey, I need a favor.”

“What is it?” Tristan Decker asks.

“Know of any auctions coming up shortly?” If anyone knows, Tristan does. This is his business. This is his life.

He starts laughing. “Since when are you into buying art?”

“I’m doing a favor for someone.”

“Just so happens, a shipment was delivered last week. The auction for the cargo is in five days. Word is a lot of whales will be there to see the art.

Are you looking to buy or just observing?”

“Buy. Ten million.”

He whistles. “Damn, that is one hell of a favor.”

Tell me about it. “I need something for after I’ve purchased.”

“After …?”

“You know, so I can ship the art to the buyer.” I remain talking in code.

You never can be too careful these days. Even cell phones can be tampered with. That’s why we conduct all our business meetings in a room equipped with jammers.

“Ahh, I have what you need. Bring it by my house after you’ve made your purchase, and I’ll have it ready for delivery.”

I did what needed to be done. And I need to let it go. The elevator dings, and I sigh, putting my cell away. The less contact I have with her, the better.

She’ll never call me, and that’s best for both of us.