Tristan, Vienna, and Xavier come over and peer inside, and I hear Vienna mutter, “Whoa.”
“That’s quite an arsenal you have there, cupcake,” Tristan says playfully as he takes in the various weapons stashed inside.
I ignore them and reach into the pile of burner phones. I pull one out and return to sit on the bed while the two guys examine the rest of the contents. Vienna takes a tentative seat next to me while I wait for the burner to power up.
“Are we okay, Tori?” she asks carefully, and I sigh and look her in the eye. I can see all the guilt and sadness she’s feeling, and I’m tempted just to cave and forgive them, but I can’t yet. Who knows if I will ever be? So much has happened, and if theplan forming in my mind works, then there may be more shit to come that she may never forgive me for.
“I just don’t know,” I tell her honestly.
She sags and stands up, going over to sit in Colton’s lap while he continues doing his tech stuff.
I type out a message to Mickey, giving him the address, which is now burned into my mind.
Me: Meet me here tomorrow at midnight. I want to know who is in the apartment.
Me: Bring support. Take care of any resistance.
“Who are you messaging?” Xavier asks, and when I look up, he’s lost interest in the cabinet and is watching me closely.
“Mickey. Just letting him know I’m safe for now,” I lie, “and that I’m working on a plan.” I tuck the phone into my cleavage, my tight tank top holding it in place. I want to keep it with me, since Colton had to put tracking equipment on my actual phone when we were in Dad’s office earlier.
“So you are working on a plan. Care to share with us?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“I need more information first, and preferably a location for my dad, and then we can talk,” I tell him, and he frowns but seems to accept it.
“And Addison. I’m not doing anything that might put her in danger, so we need to find her too,” Vienna says, and the other three agree with her. I give them a nod of acceptance, but if all goes to plan, Addison will no longer be an issue tomorrow.
“How about we meet back here in a couple of days and discuss our next move? I should have a bit more information by then,” Colton suggests calmly.
“Are you able to loop the videos every night?” I ask him. “We don’t want to be seen coming and going if we are sneaking around.”
He frowns. “I can, but they will be monitoring your room specifically. If you can give them a show, then I can set it to loop from maybe ten thirty or eleven for a few hours. Would that work?”
“By show, you mean we need to fuck?” I ask bluntly, and he grimaces but nods.
“We can make it look like we are, Tori, by keeping the blankets over us and just simulating it,” Xavier suggests, and Tristan chuckles.
“I’d bust a nut just doing that if I got to have my hands all over her.”
Xavier hisses at him to shut up. “I’m trying to make things less awkward for Tori. I won’t force her.”
Vienna scoffs, “Not sure that would be less awkward.”
I have to agree with her and Tristan, but I need Mario to be happy and let his guard down so he will turn his attention elsewhere. The FBI busting their drug haul in a few days will help. Am I going to let the others get caught up in the bust? I’m not sure at this stage. It may make things easier, especially if Mario is there as well. I need to give him something to keep him distracted.
“I will give you the code to the safe. Will that help?” I ask, and all three of them look at me with surprise.
“You can get in?” Colton asks suspiciously. “Without Gio?”
“Yeah, I’m not sure why, but Gio lied. It doesn’t take both our handprints.” I guess my brother was still protecting the family at the end, even though he knew he fucked up beyond reason.
“That would certainly appease Mario. The weapons warehouse would be even better though,” Xavier pushes, and I purse my lips in thought.
“It’s empty at the moment, so it wouldn’t help him anyway,” I say vaguely, not ready to share that information. I still need to be able to come and go from the house without anyone watching my movements, and that will be the only option for now. “I’ll ask my suppliers when the next shipment is coming in.”
“Who are your suppliers? Mario is going to want to know that and want one of us to handle it,” Tristan says, waving between himself and the other two.
I groan. “Mario is such a chauvinistic asshole. There is a certain weapons manufacturer who is on our payroll. They have their legitimate manufacturing and sales, and then they have their not so legal activities, which they hide from the authorities. I don’t ask how they do it, and they haven’t shared the information with me. We get a shipment once a month, but this month’s has already been and gone. We retain most of the weapons for our own use, but we do sell some of them to trusted buyers. We vet all of them. Anyone with ties to any overseas terrorist cells are denied, but…”
