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  I walk back to the table. Everyone is immersed in conversation and finishing their cheesesteaks. I sit down, contemplating how to explain things to everyone. Mel looks up at me first and, clearly, my face says something is wrong because she sets the last bite of her sandwich down.

  “What’s wrong, Nick?” she asks, touching my arm. Everyone stops then and stares at me.

  “Well, that was Jack. Something is going on, and he asked that I come down to my uncle’s house. I’m going to leave after dinner,” I explain.

  “Is everything OK?” Lena asks.

  “Yeah, fine,” I say, trying to sound convincing.

  She doesn’t look convinced. “Alright,” she says slowly.

  I look around nervously. “I’ll explain back at the apartment,” I say. We finish in silence and walk back to our apartment. As soon as I shut the door, four sets of questioning eyes turn in my direction.

  Colin knows some of the shit my family’s been through and Mel certainly has learned about it. I’m not sure how much Cami and Lena know. I certainly haven’t told them, but whether Zoe has, I just don’t know.

  “Have a seat,” I motion to them, and they all sit and stare at me, waiting.

  “You all know some of what’s happened with our family the past few years, yes?” I ask them. Every single one of them nods.

  “Zoe’s told us,” Cami adds. I nod.

  “One of the guys that Lily testified against just escaped from prison, and Jack wants us to go stay at Jesse’s home for a bit, just to be on the safe side,” I explain.

  “I thought that was resolved,” Colin says.

  I raise a hand. “So did I, but it’s not. Don’t worry. There’s security up here, and they will be checking in on you, my aunt, Rob, and Chelsea. I can have them check on you two as well, if you like,” I say to Lena and Cami.

  “I’ll be fine,” Lena says. “Really, I’m not involved.”

  Cami shrugs. “I mean, what if you just come stay with me instead of staying here,” Cami says to Colin, who puts an arm around her and kisses the top of her head.

  He nods. “I’ll stay at Cami’s until we get the all clear,” he says.

  “Probably for the best,” I say to him. “Our security guy, Bryce, will be upgrading our alarm system. I’ll speak with Francine about it tonight before we leave.”

  “We?” Melissa asks.

  “Yes, you’re coming with me,” I tell her.

  “But…” She frowns.

  “No buts, Melissa. I’m bringing you with me. You’ll be safer that way,” I tell her. She opens her mouth to protest, I think, but then promptly closes it.

  “I’ll be in touch,” I say to Colin, and he nods and stands to give me a bro hug.

  Lena heads out, wishing us safe travels and Cami and Colin pack and head out to Cami’s apartment. I call Bryce, and before we even finish packing, he has a guy at our place installing security. Francine wasn’t super happy about it, but she complied. The whole house is safe now, and I know I feel better about it.

  My phone buzzes, and I see a text from Cody.

  Cody: Sending a car.

  I roll my eyes. Cody is a control freak, that is for sure.

  “What’s really going on?” Melissa asks, breaking the silence as I place our bags by the front door of the apartment. I give her a two-minute version of the current issue with more details than I told the others, and she shudders. I wrap my arms around her and kiss the top of her head.

  “It’ll be fine,” I say to her, partially reassuring myself.

  The car shows up thirty minutes later, and we get in alongside Cody and Zoe. It’s déjà vu. It’s late by now and Zoe and Melissa both fall asleep on the way there. Cody and I talk business, and we have some ideas for the new project outlined by the time we arrive at Jesse and Vanessa’s home.

  I’m surprised when we are greeted by my whole family. Lily, Lance, Frankie, Rosa, Leidy, my mom, Jack, Jesse, and Vanessa are all sitting out on the great big front porch as we pull up. There’s a round of introductions, and then Lily shuffles her brood upstairs to bed. She turns to me on the way upstairs.

  “They wouldn’t go to bed until you arrived,” she says with a shrug and smile. I nod and smile back at her. Words are unnecessary between us.

  “They’re so cute,” Melissa whispers, nodding after the kids as they climb up the stairs. I smile. I, of course, think they are fucking adorable, but I’m their uncle, so I feel a little biased.

  “Yes, they’re cute, a handful, but cute,” I laugh.

  Lance taps my arm. “Operation Whisk Lily Away is on,” he says quietly as we all walk into the great room of the house. I nod, and we take our seats.

  Joanie brings us all coffee and tea and adult beverages for the few that request them. It’s then I notice Bryce, Silas, Dexter, Riley, Dean, Baxter, Pierce, and Uncle J’s friend Walsh, are all sitting at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. They come in after Lily appears down the back staircase and the room falls silent.

  “Sorry to call everyone back,” Jack says as he stands and looks at all of us. “Walsh has managed to get us some intel, and we felt it was safer to have everyone here.” He looks in my direction, and I somehow feel like this has the makings of a bait and switch and not some panic room scenario.

  Walsh clears his throat. “Ben is heading toward D.C. We aren’t sure exactly what he’s looking for or if he’d even come after any of you, but I’m hoping to find that out sooner rather than later.”

  “So, we’re just supposed to stay here like sitting ducks in the meantime?” Lily asks, her hands on her hips.

  “We have secured the perimeter. No one knows about this place. Jesse and Vanessa have it one hundred percent off the grid, and they list their Malibu house as their official residence and this is owned through an agreement with Jesse’s company. There’s no reason to think Ben or anyone else will know any of you are here. Plus, Bryce has called in his whole team. Bryce and I have one mutual friend that we are working with through Interpol to get some other intel. Until we know what’s going on, we would like everyone to stay put,” Jack says.

  Lily huffs, and Lance whispers something in her ear. She gives him one of her patented Lily looks, and I know it’s not going to be good, whatever it is that he said. I sigh and roll my eyes. Melissa is watching me closely, so I give her a one-armed squeeze and pull her against me.

  “Is everyone good with sleeping in the same spots as before?” Jesse asks. We all nod.

  “OK, have a good night. Breakfast will be ready at seven tomorrow,” Vanessa says. “Feel free to ask us if you need anything.”

  We all nod and our family breaks into little groups. Jack comes over to me.

  “Can I talk to you in the study?” he asks.

  I nod and excuse myself. I follow Jack down the hall, and he shuts the door behind me.

  “What’s up?” I ask, taking a seat across from him and anticipating exactly what he wants to talk about.

  “Walsh didn’t want to alert everyone, but we made contact. And there’s going to be a meeting,” Jack says.

  “Wait, what?” I ask.

  Jack looks into my eyes, and I swear I see a bit of concern there, maybe even worry. “Ben thinks you’re taking over for your father and so does Hank. They want to meet about the data and perhaps arrange a new hierarchy for the organization.”

  “The organization?” I ask him.

  “That’s what Ben is calling his business now,” Jack explains.

  “I see,” I mutter. “When is this ‘meeting’?”

  “In two days,” he replies.

  “Christ,” I mutter.

  “Nick…,” Jack starts, but I hold up a hand.

  “I’ll do it. It’s fine,” I say to him. Truthfully, I just want this shit to end and if that means putting my ass on the line, so be it.

  “Are you sure, Nick? I mean, if you don’t want to…I know it’s a lot to ask,” he stumbles over his words, which is very un-Jack-like.

  I stand
and so does he. I cross over to him and hug him. Not a “bro hug” but a real hug, like I would have done with my dad. “Yes, I’m sure,” I tell him.

  “OK,” he says, his voice thick with emotion. Shit, I think to myself, I’m having a moment with my stepdad. Emotions fuck with me. That’s why I bury them and play silly.

  “Alright then. I guess just give me the details, and we’ll figure it out,” I tell him.

  “Right. All the background you need is here,” he says and points to the laptop he has sitting on the desk. “Read through it all, study it, and we’ll debrief tomorrow.”

  I nod, and he walks to the door and starts to open it, but then turns to me. “Your dad would be proud of you, son,” he says.

  “Thanks, Jack,” I answer, now my voice is thick with emotion. I look back down at the screen through watery eyes and a moment later I hear the door open and then close. I study all the files. There are files on Mohammed, Saeed, Ben, Leo, Simon, Alexei, Hank, my father, and at least a dozen others. I have my work cut out for me, that’s for sure.

  A few moments later, there’s a knock at the door. “Nick?” I hear Melissa’s voice.

  “Come in,” I say to her, and she slowly opens the door and peeks inside. I wave my hand to her, beckoning her to enter. “It’s alright, please come in.” She enters and takes a moment to look around the study. It really is quite impressive, two floors, dark wood, shelves lining every wall except the one with giant windows. A massive conference table sits on one side and the equally impressive desk sits on the other with two chairs in front of it. In a far corner, two winged-back chairs sit beside a small table. I wait for her to survey her surroundings. She finishes, and her attention is drawn back to me.

  “I don’t want to bother you,” she says quietly. “I was going to take our bags out to the yacht. Your uncle said that’s where we are staying?”

  “Uh, yeah. I’ll get them. I just need to look over some stuff,” I tell her.

  “Oh, alright then. I’ll leave you to it,” she says.

  “Come here, Mel,” I command her, and she doesn’t argue. She walks over, and I pull her onto my lap. She stares at the screen and grows very still and very quiet. “In two days, I have to pretend to be something I’m not. I’m helping Jack, just once. I need to study these files, OK.” I want to tell her everything, but I also don’t.

  She doesn’t answer. She’s quiet as she looks at the screen. There’s a photo up on the screen of Mohammed, Alexei, Saeed, and my father. “Melissa?” I say to her. I touch her back, and she jumps. “Hey, are you alright, beautiful?”

  I realize when she sucks in a breath that she hasn’t breathed in a few moments.

  “Yeah, fine,” she murmurs.

  I turn her face to me and she offers me a small smile. “Sure?”

  “Yeah. I’m…it’s just a little overwhelming. I mean meeting your whole family and everything going on,” she says quickly.

  “I’ll come out there in a minute, OK?” I say to her as she stands and walks back to the door. She pauses for a moment, and I think she’s going to say something, but she just leaves, shutting the door behind her. Something is off with her, only I’m not sure what. I sigh, knowing that whatever is up with Mel will have to wait until after my rendezvous with Ben and Hank. I want to tell her more about what I have to do, but I don’t want her to worry.

  I text Cody to help Mel with the bags, and I buckle down and study like I haven’t since college. It’s nearly three in the morning when I finally realize I’m seeing double, and I need sleep. I meander out to the yacht. It’s quiet. The water is lapping at the boat. I look around perplexed for a moment as the smaller boat that’s normally docked here is missing. I shrug and climb aboard, descending to the stateroom. When I reach it, I look to see an empty bed. What. The. Fuck.

  I walk back up and see Bryce on the shore. “Bryce?” I yell.

  “Hey, why are you up?” he asks.

  “Studying,” I mutter. “Have you seen Mel?” I ask him.

  He shakes his head and then frowns. “Did someone take the boat out?” he nods where the missing boat should be docked.

  I shake my head. “I thought that was strange,” I agree. And just as we both start to step toward that end of the pier, I hear a noise, a motor coming toward us from the water. I squint and see a small boat with a lone figure. Bryce has his hand on his gun. I hold out my hand.

  “It’s Mel,” I say.

  “What? What the fuck?!” he grumbles, releasing his grasp on his firearm.

  Mel pulls up and her eyes grow wide when she sees us. “Sorry…I wanted to see if I could find a pod of dolphins,” she mutters.

  “Seriously?” I ask, throwing up my hands.

  “Uh, I asked Vanessa if I could take the boat out sometime, and she said yes,” Mel explains.

  “Well, I’m pretty fucking sure she didn’t mean at three in the fucking morning,” I scold.

  Bryce sighs. “Melissa, I’m not sure how much Nick has explained to you, but it’s really not safe for you to be gallivanting off like that.”

  She nods and sighs. “I know. I’m sorry…I wasn’t thinking,” she says. Then she smiles. “I found the dolphins though.”

  I shake my head and help her out of the boat, while Bryce ties it up. I pull her into my arms and kiss her forehead. “Please, don’t do that again,” I whisper. She nods.

  “I promise,” she says.

  “Good, let’s get to bed. You have to be as tired as I am,” I say. I turn to Bryce. “Goodnight.”

  “G’night,” he mutters and walks back down toward the house.

  “Mel, you really shouldn’t have gone off like that,” I say to her as I place my hand on her back and usher her down to our stateroom.

  “I know. I’m sorry,” she says, and she tosses off her clothes and pulls on an oversized t-shirt, crawling into the bed. I strip down to my underwear and turning the light out, I crawl in beside her. We lie side by side for a while. The reflection of the moon on the water makes interesting patterns that dance across the ceiling of the room.

  I feel Mel’s hand on my arm. “I really am sorry,” she says. “It’s silly, childlike really, but sometimes I like to go out on the boats by myself and just think.”

  “It’s dangerous you know.” I turn to her and look into her eyes. They glisten in the moonlight and appear as dark as the shadows of the stateroom.

  “I know,” she says in a small voice.

  “If something had happened…” I trail off and bring my hand up to her face.

  Her skin is hot, and I run my finger down her cheek and along her jaw until I’m cupping the back of her neck. I slowly pull her face against mine until our lips meet. I kiss her, slowly, gently. I bask in her taste, the soft feel of her warm lips on mine and the tickling of her breath against my day-old stubble that now dots my face.

  My hands begin to meander down her body and under her nightshirt. She’s so damn hot between her thighs. Her pussy beckons me, and I need to be inside her. I push her down on her back and slowly pull her panties down her legs. Her shirt has ridden up, and I can now see the glistening of her core in the moonlight as I spread her legs apart. I lean down and kiss her and then lick her. I groan from the honeysuckle taste of her, wanting more, and she whimpers beneath me. I force my tongue between her folds and inside of her as she cries out my name. I do this again and again until her thighs are quivering against me, and she’s begging me for more. I plunge first one and then two fingers inside of her. I can feel her muscles already quaking. She’s close, and I want to feel that orgasm from inside her. I tear down my underwear and plunge myself into her heat.

  “You feel so good, beautiful,” I whisper as I go deeper, pulling her legs up and hooking them over my shoulders. I rub my cock over her most sensitive spot over and over and she comes like a freight train, crying out and convulsing in my arms. Maybe it’s my fear or my buried anger, but I keep going faster and harder than I ever have before until I let loose and come deep i
nside her. It’s as I still that I feel her muscles pulsating around me. I move several more times, and she grips me tightly as she comes once more.

  I pull out of her and drag her body against mine. Her thigh is over mine, and I can feel the remnants of my orgasm running out over us. It’s sticky and hot, and I know I should clean us up, but in that moment I don’t want to let go of her so I keep her secured tightly against me and kiss the top of her head.

  “Go to sleep,” I encourage her, and she lays her arm on my chest. I wait till her breathing slows, and I look down at where the sticky liquid on our thighs glistens in the moonlight. I wonder how I will be able to protect her if this plan of Jack’s goes to shit. I shiver at the thought of any of those men hurting this woman. It’s hours before I can fall asleep and when I do, my sleep is racked with nightmares.

  It’s the shaking that wakes me.

  “Nick? Nick?!” Mel’s voice coaxes me from another nightmare.

  I sit up, rubbing my face.

  “It’s alright. You were having a nightmare,” she states the obvious.

  I nod.

  “You OK?” she asks.

  “I’m fine.” I glance over and see that it’s about five in the morning. The sun will be up soon. “I’m going for a run,” I tell her.

  “Alright,” she says slowly.

  I lean back to her and bring her face toward mine, so I can give her a proper good morning kiss. I throw on some running clothes and leave Mel to finish sleeping. Vanessa and Jesse have a two-mile running trail on their property. I run its length at least four times before I lean against an old stone wall and stretch.

  “You’re up early?” Vanessa says as she runs toward me.

  I shrug. “Wanted to get a workout in,” I say.

  “I like Melissa. She’s nice. She really reminds me of an old friend of mine,” she says.

  “Yeah, she’s great,” I agree.

  Vanessa pauses and looks at me. Vanessa is cool. I mean we don’t hang out much except at family functions, but she’s really kind, and honestly, it’s sort of strange to know she’s my aunt because she’s only a few years older than me. Plus, she’s a super famous singer whose music I listened to prior to my uncle dating her.