“Shit, if that’s really Fabian Valentine and not Carlo Dean, then...Shit. This is a setup,” Viscardi sneered and called his men from the hall. “Find Diego and get some of the others. We need to get out of here before all hell breaks loose. You, Kenny, get the boat ready for us to take off once Diego has joined us.”

  “I just saw him down the hall talking to one of Mr. Dean’s men. I’ll go fetch him,” Manny said.

  “Wait. What do you mean you saw him talking to one of Dean’s men? Who?”

  “The hot little one. His interpreter. They were whispering by the back door.”

  “He sold you out,” Patrice screeched. “That little cocksucker sold you out and is working for Valentine.” Just then a barrage of gunfire rang through the air and everyone dropped to the floor.

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  “I don’t like this one bit. You never should have allowed him to go back there on his own,” Snow said through clenched teeth, as his gaze focused on the side door that Jasper had gone through.

  “Jasper may be smaller than us, but he knows how to take care of himself. Plus, he had two guns hidden in his boots. If he’s in any danger, he’ll start shooting,” Silas said.

  “Negative on that, brother. That ass fuck, Diego, that took Atticus just elbowed our brother in the nose, stuck him with some shit, and Jasper was out cold in seconds, he is dragging him out the back door. Get in there now!” Kalen’s frantic voice came through their earpieces.

  Immediately, the sentinels that were scattered around the room all stood as one and each started shifting. Fabian grabbed Atticus’ arm and helped him stand as he pulled his gun from his holster. He pushed Atticus toward Silas, yelling, “Get him out of here and back to the car! Now, Silas, now!”

  “Fabian!” Atty screamed as Silas grabbed his arm and pulled him from the room.

  Fabian reached back and pulled the other gun from his waistband, holding them both out in front of him. A few of the sentinels climbed up to the ceiling tiles and pulled machine guns from their hiding place and pointed them around the room as Saber and Snow walked with Fabian, making their way to the door that Jasper had gone through.

  Damn it, he knew he shouldn’t have allowed Jasper to go back there alone, but Jasper and Silas made a good argument. Jasper had been back there before and knew the layout. He was also the least threatening of their group and would most likely just be sent back to his seat. Jasper promised he would be okay and because Fabian wanted to show his little brother that he did believe in him, he allowed him to go. Damn it!

  The three moved through the back door perfectly in sync as a unit. A guard stepped out from one of the doors on the left and held up a gun toward them. Fabian instantly fired, the sound coming from his monster guns was deafening. The bullet hit the guard in the shoulder, ripping through flesh and exiting out the back, embedding itself in the wall. The force of the impact made the guard drop his weapon as he screamed out and tried to run away. Saber rushed in, grabbing the back collar of the man’s shirt and yanked him back hard, until the guy hit the floor with his ass.

  “Where the hell is Diego?” Saber demanded.

  “I don’t know. We were sent to look for him, too,” the terrified guard replied.

  Saber punched the man across the face using his right hand which held his own gun, and the guard was out cold. Another door opened and before anyone stepped out, gunfire showered through the open door. They each turned toward that room and opened fire into the wall. A squeal of pain rang out and Fabian slowly approached the door. Only one man lay inside in a pool of blood. Fabian couldn’t make out a heartbeat and knew he was dead.

  Without hesitating another minute, they moved further down the hall. Windows crashed to their right and they turned, pointing their guns in that direction, then relaxed when they saw a team of Raven’s men storm through the broken window.

  “Stop now, or I’ll have all the slaves killed,” Viscardi yelled from behind them.

  CHAPTER 19

  “The hell you will!” Atty screamed and Fabian looked behind Viscardi to see his little mate standing there about ten feet back holding a gun pointed toward Viscardi.

  Viscardi turned to face Atty. “Well, well, the little kitty has some bite. What do you think you’re gonna do with that, boy?”

  “Blow your fucking brains out, what else?”

  “You don’t have the balls, Atticus Lovering. You’re a pathetic weakling just like your father. It was so easy for your mother to kill him so that Malcolm could get his hands on this place. He couldn’t even defend himself against a woman, and neither can you. You sat there and took all her abuse and vile words for your whole life, never fighting back, and why? Because you know you’re just as much of a useless coward as your father,” Viscardi spat.

  “Patrice killed my father?” Atty asked in horror. “For fucking money? Gods, does her evil have no bounds? But then again, with everything she has done to me my whole life, I shouldn’t be surprised. She deserves to die just as much as you do. You, deserve to die for what you did to me. For what you did to all of those you took and sold like it was your right. Like we belonged to you. Well, I won’t let you hurt anyone else. You can believe all you want about me, but I know who I am. I know who my father was. And that disgusting cunt I called mother deserves to rot in hell with you.” Atticus raised the gun higher, pointing it right at Viscardi’s face.

  “You think you can take me, boy? You think you have what it takes to wield a weapon like that?” Viscardi said as he quickly pulled a gun of his own from beneath his suit jacket and pointed it toward Atticus. Fabian’s heart stopped when he saw his mate in the crosshairs of Viscardi’s gun. He raised his arm, but before he could pull the trigger, gunfire rang out, the sound bouncing off the walls. Fabian watched in horror as Atticus flew backwards and landed with a thud on the floor.

  He pulled the trigger, but his bullet missed the mark and flew over Viscardi’s head as Viscardi dropped to his knees, then fell forward, face planting into the carpet. Slowly, they moved forward, guns raised as chaos ensued around them. Fabian could hear Raven and the sentinels giving orders to everyone in the building, but he could care less at that moment. His beautiful Atticus lay dead on the floor.

  Tears ran freely down his face as he ran to his mate, dropped down on his knees, and lifted Atticus into his arms. Holding Atticus’ still form against his chest, Fabian buried his face in his mate’s hair as he cried for the love he lost. The pain was too much to bear, and Fabian knew his time in this world was over, because there was no way he was going to live without his Atty, his mate, his love.

  “Viscardi’s dead.” Fabian heard Saber’s words, but they didn’t register. Fabian was too lost to the pain of having to watch his mate die and never being able to kiss him again, or hear Atticus’ sweet laugh again. He would never make love to his man again. The tears came faster as Fabian realized he had never told Atty how much he loved him. He wanted to, but was giving Atticus time to be able to return the words. Now the agony of knowing his mate died without knowing how much he was loved filled Fabian, and he just wanted to join his mate in the afterlife. How could Fate be so cruel as to allow him to find his mate, only to take him away?

  His body shook from the pain as he held Atticus closer and rocked him in his arms. “I love you, Diletto. I should have told you sooner. I’m so sorry, love. I’m so sorry. How am I going to live without you? I can’t, Atticus. I can’t go on without you. Gods, why?! Why would you take him from me when I only just found him?” Fabian curled in on himself, wrapping his body around Atticus’.

  “Fabian,” Raven whispered from beside him.

  Fabian couldn’t look at his best friend. Raven had five mates who he loved with all his heart and who loved him back, but Fabian would only get one, and now he had been taken from him.

  “Fabian, you need to let go,” Raven whispered gently and laid a hand on his shoulder.

  Fabian raged against his friend, jerking his shoulder back to throw the man’s touch off as he screamed. “No! Don’t touch him!”

  Somewhere the sunglasses fell off his face and Fabian had no idea where they were or when it happened, and he didn’t care, but he heard Kalen whispering in his ear. “Fabian, you need to pull back, brother, and look. Fabian?”

  He didn’t want to release his Atticus. He didn’t care what else was going on around him or in the rest of the world. The only thing that mattered was right here, right now, and the fact that he didn’t protect his mate. He failed Atticus and now his mate lay dead in his arms. “I love you so much, Diletto,” he whispered into Atticus’s hair.

  “I love you too, Fabian,” Atticus’s sweet voice came to him and Fabian fell apart even more from the hallucination.

  “Fabian, I can’t breathe,” Atticus said, his words hitting Fabian, breaking through the cloud of pain and sorrow.

  He lifted his head and looked down at his mate to find those stunning blue eyes of his looking back at him. His long lashes brushing against his cheek as he blinked. “I love you too, mate, with all my heart, but you’re squishing me and I can’t breathe,” Atticus said with a loving smile.

  Fabian fell apart again as his body trembled. He loosened his hold on Atticus, but didn’t let him go. He kept his mate pressed against him and he repeated over and over again, “I love you, Atty. I love you.”

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  Atticus lay back against Fabian’s bare chest as he rested between his legs. The hot water covering him up to his neck making him feel relaxed and tired. Atticus’ eyelids grew heavy as they dropped, but he fought against it and kept looking up through the glass ceiling above him at the twinkling of the stars.

  He had never felt so good, or so loved, in his life as he did with Fabian. It had taken them nearly two hours to get Fabian up off the floor and leave the building, but even then, he refused to let Atticus go and carried him to the car. That had been four days ago and the only time Fabian left his side, or let him out of his arms, was when Atty had to use the bathroom and insisted he didn’t want Fabian in there when he took care of those needs. Even during those times, Atticus found Fabian leaning against the doorframe when he opened the bathroom door, and immediately he was lifted into his man’s arms again.

  The thought of him dying had affected Fabian so deep that Atticus was starting to get worried about him. He understood the pain his mate must have felt thinking he was dead, because he knew that he would feel the same if he lost Fabian, but since then, his big strong man had been very quiet and only talked when he had to. Most of the time when he did talk it was to tell Atticus how much he meant to him and how much he loved him.

  He knew some of the problem was that Fabian was angry at Silas for letting Atticus give him the slip and sneak back into the building, with one of Silas’ guns no less. But it was his fault not Silas’. He had stuck his head through the window looking into the driver's seat and grabbed the gun laying there, while Silas stood guard outside the car. Then he climbed into the front seat and climbed out the driver’s window and ducked low around the front of the vehicle. He had apologized to Silas a few times, but the man was still a little angry with him. He knew everything would be okay in a few days or so, but for right now there was a lot of tension in the house. Then there was the fact that Jasper was still missing and they were all going out of their minds trying to find him.

  After they had left the marina, King Raven and his men cleaned everything up and took away all the men who had been there to bid. Raven gave orders to take them all back to his home in Italy, even the humans, where he would personally take care of them. They had also been able to rescue thirty-two slaves that day and Raven, along with Snow, were helping them to return to their families.

  And Snow. The man was going out of his ever loving mind. What no one knew until Jasper was taken was that Jasper was Snow’s mate. Not only that, but Snow was beating himself up over not accepting Jasper when he had the chance. Snow confessed to telling Jasper that he wasn’t denying him, but that they couldn’t be together until Snow wrapped up the case and that could be months, if not years. It wasn’t only the mess in Clearnight Haven that Snow was investigating. This human trafficking ring was much bigger than they originally thought and no one knew how long it would take, so he didn’t know when he could claim his mate.

  Raven and his mates helped Kalen to cover up everything that happened and make false reports for Snow to hand into his superiors, showing them that the leads ran dry in Clearnight and directed them somewhere else. Then, to everyone's surprise, Snow handed in his resignation, telling the FBI that the case had taken a lot out of him and he couldn’t do it anymore.

  He wasn’t going to be working for the FBI anymore. He was, however, going to be working on the same case, but for King Raven, instead. But not until he found Jasper. Kalen got a lead on the yacht that Viscardi used and found out it actually belonged to Diego. After digging deeper into all the files of the dating site and the slave site, Kalen and Ash had been able to find that Diego was really the one in charge.

  He had been Malcolm Dean’s sub and partner in the business and Dean had promised the operation to Diego, but when Dean disappeared, Viscardi stepped in with papers stating the Malcolm had given him the business. Diego didn’t want to lose everything he worked for and built so he became Viscardi’s sub and they were sure he was just biding his time until he could get rid of Viscardi and claim it all for himself.

  Which left his own bitch of a mother, who he found out was the one who worked with Malcolm to kill his father so that she could get her hands onto Atticus’ inheritance and Malcolm could buy the marina from her. But once his father was dead, his lawyer came forward and told them that Patrice was left nothing, and everything was left to him. His father set it up where Patrice would get a monthly allowance to take care of him until he turned eighteen, then a quarter of the inheritance would go to him along with the marina and a few other pieces of land his dad had owned around the region. Atty would get another quarter when he turned twenty-one, then twenty-five, and the last at thirty. But recently Patrice had found out that if Atty disappeared she could have him declared dead, so she could claim the whole fortune in one lump sum.

  That still hurt, knowing that his own mother would do all of that to him for money, and also sell him into slavery. But he was happy when Raven had Patrice taken away with the others back to Italy where they would be dealt with.

  Then, yesterday morning before Raven and his mates left, they all gathered around his old home at the trailer park. Atticus went in and retrieved a few things that he didn’t want to lose, like his father’s watch. Once he got what he wanted, they stood by and watched as the trailer was demolished and everything burned to the ground. Now only a burnt-out lot remained.

  Raven stepped forward and handed Atticus a folder and told him he was able to retrieve it from Malcolm’s belongings before he was put to death. Inside was the deed to the marina. Raven also contacted his father's lawyer and had him join them, where he gave Atticus his father's will with all his paperwork and a check for three quarters of his inheritance. Patrice hadn’t been able to get her hands on it, and the lawyer was holding it until Atticus stepped forward.

  When he looked at how much he was given, Atticus almost fainted. He knew his father had money when he was alive, but he never knew until now, that at the time, his father was the richest man in Clearnight Haven and worth millions.

  Fabian’s hand slid over his stomach and up his chest and Atty smiled as he closed his eyes, enjoying his mate’s hands on him. Fabian kissed the side of his neck, then whispered in his ear. “I love you, Diletto. I know these past few days have been hard on all of us and we’re all wiped out but I was hoping tomorrow we could go down to the marina and see what needs to be done to bring it back to its former glory like your dad had it and then you could run it. I think Clearnight needs it. Think of the jobs it would offer for other vampires and humans alike.”

  “Can we?” Atty asked excitedly as he sat forward, then turned to face Fabian and straddled his lap while wrapping his arms around his neck.

  “Of course, we can. I think it would be good for you and also make you feel like you were close to your father again,” Fabian replied as he brushed a lock of Atty’s hair away from his eye, while looking at Atty as if he hung the moon. He liked that Fabian looked at him like that, because that is exactly how he looked at his wonderful mate. He loved Fabian with all his heart. As much as he hated being abducted and held against his will, threatened to be auctioned off as a slave, if that hadn’t happened he may have never met this beautiful man. He and B.B. had been planning on leaving Clearnight soon and he probably would have missed the opportunity to find his mate.

  Atty leaned in and pressed his lips to Fabian’s, then immediately opened for his mate’s exploration as Fabian thrust his tongue into his mouth and their tongues dueled. He loved kissing Fabian. His mate could rock his world with just a kiss and make him feel like the only thing in the world that mattered to Fabian.

  Atty cupped the back of Fabian’s head as Fabian deepened the kiss and a moan escaped from deep within. His cock instantly filled and Atty rocked his hips against Fabian’s hard shaft, making it slide up his crack, as his own cock rubbed against Fabian’s rippled stomach. The sensation so delicious Atty needed more and began thrusting harder. He wanted Fabian buried deep inside him. Fabian moved one hand underneath him and grabbed his thick shaft, lining it up with Atty’s quivering hole, he sat up to allow Fabian to get into place, then Atty slowly sat, impaling himself on his mate’s glorious cock. He threw his head back as Fabian filled him, hitting his prostate. Fabian began to lick and nibble his throat and Atty was lost to the pleasure.

 

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