LANE BROTHERS: 5 Books Billionaire Mafia Romance Bundle, page 46
Trace just shrugs and starts eating whatever Clari didn’t get to, her eyes twinkling back at us with glee.
“I am so glad I have you all and my Jace.”
“Me too,” I say, smiling at them with joy.
This is the family I never had and always wanted, and I love every minute of being with them. They’re kind and smart and cool and they’re real. Nothing like my own mother or father.
I honestly can’t wait to have all this, even the morning sickness, and I just hope I get it before things go south.
***
Jared
I know that tradition dictates that I not see Paulie before she walks down the aisle to me, but it’s been almost nine straight hours since I last saw her and I can’t wait another minute as I creep around the corner and sneak into my room.
She’s in here, getting ready for the wedding that’s taking place in just over thirty minutes. As I lift my eyes and get a good look at her, I feel my breath still in my lungs.
Holy hell, she is gorgeous, I wheeze silently, watching her apply a fresh coat of lip gloss and inspect her appearance with a critical eye.
“You’re perfect.”
She whips around and smiles as if my appearance here just made her whole day, and I feel ten feet tall when she smiles and launches herself at me.
“I didn’t think I’d see you till the ceremony thanks to Mama Dragon, and I wanted a chance to say yes to you before we start,” she breathes out roughly after I kiss her hard and deep.
My own breathing is just as ragged and I rest my forehead on hers as I struggle to catch my breath, because damn, the woman is beautiful as hell.
“I love you, Paulie. I wanted you to hear that again before you came to me.”
I can’t say why or where this urgency comes from, but I can’t take not having her near me at all times.
Her arms come around my neck and she just breathes with me as our eyes hold, looking so content, I feel myself grow hard beneath the fly of my slacks.
I love her happy look. It turns me on like nothing else can, and I love even more that she’s so free with her smiles now.
“I love you, too. Now come on and kiss me again before your mom comes back and makes you skedaddle.”
I obey and kiss her sweetly, relishing her enthusiasm and the innocent lack of experience of her kisses. She’s all mine, even down to this last little part of her, and I adore knowing that I will be her first in everything.
If I could go back in time and erase every sexual experience I ever had and be pure for her I would, without regret. Since I can’t, I just forget that any other woman ever existed and concentrate instead on the beauty in my arms.
Today is for love and forgetting all the troubles present in our lives. There’s still so much to do, and after Paulie’s confession this morning I find myself impatient to go get what she has under those floorboards.
Not today, though. Today we belong only to each other.
I’m still kissing her and trying to imprint her taste on my tongue when I hear Ma come in and clear her throat.
“Jared Esiah Lane, get your ass downstairs so I can fix Paulie’s lip gloss, boy. Pop is waiting downstairs and Jace is on the way to walk her down the aisle.”
I grin at her huffing and give my bride one last smooch before turning and heading out with a spring in my step. I’m getting married in a few minutes and I never thought I’d say this, not even to myself, but I feel so great about not being alone anymore that it actually hurts in a good way.
I’m still smiling when I meet Pop and we walk into the back yard where the judge is waiting patiently. Ma managed to transform this place into a fairy princess’s dream with Ellie and Trace’s help, while poor Clari blew chunks all afternoon and Miah looked to be turning greener by the minute.
Poor sap is so happy and scared at the same time, I almost feel sorry for him whenever Clari throws him a scowl and makes a beeline for the bathroom, yelling threats that make my own dick hurt for him.
I can’t wait to have this and more, I think as I meet my brothers at the makeshift altar and wait for the love of my life to come towards me. I feel no fear and absolutely want this more than I have ever wanted anything in my life.
Wyatt smiles when I start bouncing on my heels and places a hand on my shoulder to still me.
“She’ll be here any minute, bro, slow down.”
I do as he says because I have no choice, but for some reason I don’t want to wait here like a fool. I want to go get her and walk her here myself so that everyone knows she isn’t giving herself to me, because I already have her.
I’m still smiling like a loon and bouncing around when I see Jace come flying out of the house, tearing my way with a panicked look on his face.
My heart stops and I hear Pop yell an oath when Ma comes stumbling out of the house looking pale and lost.
“She split, Jared. She’s not here and I had Case search the house. She’s gone,” he wheezes breathlessly, his hands on his knees as my own threaten to buckle.
The first thought I have is that someone got in and there’s been foul play, but I know better. This place is a fortress and so secure that a breeze can’t get in without Pop’s say-so.
“Ma?” I ask, turning to look at her as her eyes go moist and she shakes her head.
“She left this for you after locking me in the closet, son. She was so sad when she did it, and I swear she must have cried harder than I was, but she kept saying she had to finish it and prove to you that she’s worthy again,” Ma bawls, holding out a sealed white envelope to me.
I snatch it up and rip into the thing without care, my anger so strong that when it dissolves instantly, I feel my knees give and dump me to the ground.
My Jared,
If you’re reading this you’re probably so pissed off right now that your eye is doing that weird ticking thing and you’re ripping at your hair. Stop it, because I love your hair and don’t want to marry a bald man.
I’m so sorry for this, and believe me, if I could change it all in a blink I really would. I want to marry you and have babies and a family with you so badly it breaks my heart to think that I’m throwing away my only chance at true love on this. But I have to do this, and not just for you, not just to prove to you that I am worthy, but for me, too, because I’ve felt so terrible for so long that I need to know I can do something good for once in my miserable life.
I know you think that Roman is a traitor. Hell, the first time I saw him walk in with Joe Fanzo I thought the same thing and it broke my heart. But he isn’t, I know deep down he isn’t, and I need to right a wrong I did your brother when they asked me to vouch for him and I couldn’t.
Cleo warned me not to, and I was scared that she’d finally snap and hurt my family, so I obeyed and left him hanging.
Ronny called me today. Despite what you all think of her, she isn’t in on this. Cleo’s been lining her pockets and setting her up from the start to throw suspicion off her. She knows more than is safe and she let me know that the Patriots are casting a big vote today.
This feels bad to me, and I know that if I don’t go my father will finally lose patience and let them at my sister and her family. And Roman, well, he could be in danger, too. I have to find him now, Jared, and that’s something I can’t let you in on because they’re watching you all so closely, we wouldn’t make it within a hundred yards of the Patriots without being shot on the spot.
I will get to him. I know exactly how to do it, and I swear, if there is a way to get him out alive I will find it.
That’s all I can say right now, because your ma’s been dogging me all day and I hear her coming.
Just know that I love you.
Always, always yours,
Cupcake
All I feel right now is terror and I lift my eyes to Miah with a grimace and the knowledge that I need to find my Cupcake before she walks herself into a situation that could get her killed.
“Get Ronny.”
I don’t say anything else as I rise to my feet and fold up the letter with calm hands and a resolve I feel to my bones. I hate that she’s done this, and by God when I get her back I’m chaining her to my side for the next fifty years if she behaves herself, but I understand it more than she probably thinks.
Miah nods and rushes off, followed closely by Bronx and a scowling Case. I do nothing but walk to the door and take the stairs two at a time, going for my phone and the tracking program I have on it.
“Jared—”
“Do not say it, Wyatt. She hasn’t betrayed me,” I snarl, turning all my anger on him when he walks through the door looking haggard at my loss.
“Not what I was going to say, douche. I was going to say that Ma put a tracker in that chain she gave Paulie this afternoon.”
I almost smile until I pull up the app and see the blinking light beeping in the exact spot I don’t want to see it. I rush into our bedroom and curse when my ring and the chain catch my eye where Paulie must have dropped them before running.
“She’s too smart, that girl,” Wyatt says, proud despite the inconvenience this is causing me.
“Yes, she is, and that might get her killed before I can find her,” I snarl, sitting down on the edge of the bed as dread hits my gut.
Think, Jared. Think. There must be something that can help here.
My mind is a blur as I jump to my feet and start pacing so hard, Wyatt winces and takes a step back lest I run him over in my agitation. I do this for the next twenty minutes before I hear a commotion and rush downstairs to see Ronny standing beside a grinning Bronx, her designer heels tapping in annoyance as the man keeps playing with her hair.
“I told you I don’t know a freaking thing! Quit that, you Neanderthal!” she hisses when Bronx leans down and sniffs at her, his eyes closing in ecstasy.
I ignore the fanfare and make my way to her, ready and willing to use whatever means necessary to get her talking. Not violence. I hate violence towards women and would die before striking one.
I’m way too big to justify hitting such delicate creatures, but I will unleash the women on her ass, if need be.
“Start talking.”
Her eyes widen at my tone and she takes a step back into Bronx, seeming to settle a little at the contact. Interesting.
“I don’t know anything about that little bitch—”
“Ronny. You talk now or Ma’s gonna get on your ass, girl,” I warn, stepping to the side to let her see my ma and the dark scowl leveled her way.
Ronny swallows and mashes her lips together before nodding and wringing her hands.
“Paulie told me not to tell anyone this, on pain of death, but I’m so scared she’ll get herself hurt, and she’s like my best friend, you know,” she says tearfully, making Trace gasp and growl. “My only friend.”
The correction is done so fast that even Trace seems mollified as Ronny stands wringing her hands uncertainly.
“Let me get this straight. You and Paulie do not hate each other? You aren’t such a bitch to her as you pretend?” Ma asks and I stay silent, curious to hear what she has to say.
Ronny smiles softly and looks so sweet that she’s beautiful as the mask falls away to reveal real affection there.
“We do sometimes, but we get so caught up in this act that we forget, I think, and it takes a while to even stop thinking poorly of each other. I know that sounds strange, but we’ve been at this for so long now that it’s not easy playing our roles when we’re really best—when we’re friends,” she corrects when Trace snarls again.
The words penetrate but I need more to clear this fog as the truth starts screaming into my face.
Miah scowls and I know it’s hard for him to accept, because he’s hated and mistrusted Ronny since the get-go.
“More.”
Ronny swallows and nods once, moving closer to Bronx until she’s practically hidden beneath the guy’s huge arm.
“About eighteen months ago, Paulie and I went on one of our midnight adventures. We’d sneak out of Cleo’s house and into the woods to go searching for fairies. Yeah, I know that sounds lame, but we’ve done it since we were little and we still do, or did, every chance we got. It was our escape from the families and our reality, I think.” She laughs, making me smile at the picture of Paulie skipping around the darkened woods searching for something that doesn’t exist.
It’s so real that I almost laugh at her disappointment at not finding any, and I see Ronny smile fondly.
“Anyway, we were trying to creep down the back stairs that lead up to my room from the balcony when we heard Cleo and Jerry arguing. I didn’t care, but she did, and before I knew it we were hiding beneath the lavender bushes listening to them scream and rant about showing you all and getting revenge. Lynn was there, too, and she just laughed it all off and seemed not to care. Till Jerry mentioned Ellie here and all hell broke loose.”
Wyatt and Ellie both gasp and I see my brother pull her and Al closer as if protecting them from even the thought.
“Go on,” I say, feeling my impatience grow with the urgency riding me. “Get to the point!”
Ronny startles but takes a breath and goes on.
“We hid in the woods all night after that and we made plans to leave before things got worse. But they must have known…fuck, Andrew and Clyde saw us that night and told Cleo and we were caught. They didn’t want anything from me but silence, and they got that by threatening to kill Paulie if I said a thing. But they did want Paulie.”
“What for?”
“Deliveries and pickups. She’s so sweet and nondescript that it’s easy for her to blend in and slip through the cracks, you know. She was a mule, basically, between the drug lords and the money men. Cleo threatened her family and she went along to keep them safe. But she had a plan, our Paulie. She gathered evidence and smuggled some of the proof home.”
I growl, wanting to yell that there isn’t a plain, un-shining thing about Cupcake, but it’s not the time or place to ring the woman’s neck and I know it.
“We know that! Get to that phone call!” Jace yells before I can, his patience obviously at an end.
I hear Bronx growl and step closer before Ronny puts a hand to his chest and halts him.
“I heard Jerry and Frank talking. They said that the deciding vote would be cast today and that it was all up to whatever Cleo’s proxy said.”
“So? What the fuck does that have to do with why Paulie left?” I yell, throwing Bronx a look to let him know I’d take him easy with all the rage I’m feeling right now.
“Paulie is Cleo’s proxy. They did it that way so that Paulie could never get free of the Patriots without risking prison, herself. She has to be there, and with her there she can help Roman if things go wrong.”
That is exactly what I’m afraid of, and I see Miah blanch and curse before turning to me.
The problem here has never been our lack of knowledge, I think, it’s just that with Roman we can never be sure. If he’s in and a part of the Patriots, Paulie could be walking into a trap.
“Fuck.”
“Where are they, Ronny?” Jace yells and I feel his anger splinter and course into me when she starts crying and shakes her head.
“I don’t know. She would never tell me because she wanted me protected.”
Chapter Nine
Paulette
I’m so scared and sad as I make my way through Dad’s garage and grab the keys to his Aston that it’s a struggle to get the keys in the lock without scratching the paint work all to hell, when my shaking hands refuse to cooperate.
I have every right to be nervous, I tell my snarling inner voice when I finally get the key into the lock and wrench the door open silently. I’m risking a lot here, but I had to come back and leave Jared at least one clue if things go bad and I don’t get back to him.
He won’t come looking here for a while, and I just hope that by the time he does I’m far enough away for them not to catch up before I can do what I need to do.
I’m no dummy. I know that they’ll go to Ronny first, and that’s why I mentioned her in the letter to begin with. They’ll waste precious time questioning her, but since she doesn’t really know much it won’t do any good.
Jared’s smart, though, so I know it’s only a matter of time before he ends up here with Mom and Dad and the evidence and note under the floorboards. I have a plan B, albeit a very risky one, to say the least.
I need to do this, and not just for Jared or me, like I said in the letter, but for Roman and Ellie and every other Lane who has suffered thanks to Lynn and her bright ideas.
As businesses go, the Patriots are a money maker, so big ups to Lynn for seeing that and capitalizing. The problem with that is that she’s running a terrorist group within US borders, and she’s using her power to hurt the people I love.
I can’t let this continue, not with the threat of Cleo waking up any day now. She’ll know exactly who drugged her, of that I am very sure, and I’m praying that I’ll have the organization crumbled to dust before that happens, or I can basically start picking out my own coffin.
I do not want death anymore, not now that I have Jared and an entire family to turn to. I would have skipped this part, I think morosely as I start the engine and back up slowly, praying not to be heard, but the thing is that Ronny’s message was lot more detailed than I let on.
Lynn is out and free, something the Lanes will find out soon enough. With her back at the helm, we’re all pretty much screwed. The woman is that intelligent and crafty.
With her here, the Patriots will go underground again and we won’t stand a chance at catching them, not with Williams and that SEAL commander helping.
I need to get to that meeting and cast my vote, one that counts for double, one that could break the deadlock and maybe save Roman Lane.
I’m praying that he isn’t the issue on the table, I really am, but if he is then the chances of him getting out are slim. And so are mine. At least they are unless I manage to get Clyde onboard with my plans, using the leverage I have on him to sway the asshole.
