Chapter Twenty-Three

**Tempest**
I can’t sleep, neither can Sargent. He keeps calling Maddox, and every time there’s no answer, I see his panic rise. Even I don’t know where he could be at this point.

I hope he’s safe.

“Are you sure he hasn’t been arrested?” I ask, chewing on the nail bed of my thumb.

“Yes, Feinstein assured me he hasn’t been taken in.”

“I want to know, but then I also don’t,” I say softly. “How bad is it?”

The look he gives me makes me cringe. I want to demand answers as to why this is happening but I can’t. It would only implicate me. Whatever he’s into is his thing and I want no part of it.

But I can’t just be blind to everything. I need to know what it is he’s a part of.

“You’re not trafficking women, are you?” I blurt and his lips part.

“That’s the first worst thing you think of when you look at me?”

“You don’t think of women much beyond their vaginas.”

He doesn’t reply for a long time and I fear the worst. “It’s not women, I’d never…” Now I feel awful for asking.

“You can tell me, if you want to. I’m listening.”

His eyes shine with an unfathomable look. I wonder if it’s vulnerability laced with regret but it’s fleeting and I’m too burdened by my own emotions to try and pick his apart. “No judgment?”

“No judgment.”

He blows out a long and heavy sigh.

“My ex-wife has always been adventurous with heavy drugs. She dabbled and sometimes so did I. We were stupid and thought it would be okay.” His throat bobs as he gulps, trying to find the courage to go on. “I stopped when Maddox was conceived, she couldn’t. I didn’t realize how far she’d fallen. I got cocky and busy starting up the company with Cassius. We were making money but not enough to get to where we needed to be. My ex-wife’s ties with a local drug dealer helped get the money to front my company, so long as I paid them twenty percent of my personal earnings.”

“Shit,” I mutter, not liking where this is heading.

“Nobody knows, not even Cassius.”

And he’s telling me? Does that mean he trusts me or does he really need it off his chest?

“When business took off a few years later, Yaroslava, literally the fucking leader of the Russian mafia, decided to take Maddox.”

Every single part of me tenses. My heart thuds against my ribs.

“Does Maddox know?”

“He was four, I doubt he remembers, I’ve never asked as he was unharmed and was covered in ice cream and cake crumbs when he was returned. Yaroslava was simply showing me how easy it would be for him to take my family from me before he made a proposition that changed everything.” His hands fist and his jaw clenches. “I’d already paid him back what I borrowed and more through our twenty percent, but now…”

“Is this something to do with the extra container Maddox was talking about a while ago?” It’s not hard to put two and two together at this point.

“You knew he was scoping something out?”

I startle at his anger and stare at him, gaping, before snapping, “He just thought it was a mistake and then he never really mentioned it again. I told him to speak to you but I think he wanted to impress you. What was in the crate?”

“Drugs,” he replies simply. “Weapons. You name it.”

“Jesus,” I murmur. “Well if Maddox thinks you’re behind it he’ll never come back to you. Beyond marijuana he despises drugs.”

Sargent’s eyes dim with defeat and he slides down the wall until his rear hits the floor. “I need to find him before they do.”

“That’s the deal you were trying to gamble out of? Is Stone the leader?”

He shakes his head. “He’s as good as. He runs the operation with his club. If he backs out, Yaroslava will have a hard time finding people to keep it going.”

“What does this mean for it all now?”

“Now that the feds are involved? It’ll never go again. My freights will be constantly searched.”

Is there a glimmer of hope in there somewhere? “That’s good right?”

“No, because Cassius will likely force me out, as he should, Maddox could die if I don’t figure out a way to keep his name out of it.”

“What about you? What will they do to you?”

My eyes fill with tears as I process the information.

“I’m going to book you a flight, I want you away from here as soon as possible,” he says after moving to crouch before me. His hands pull mine away from my face and I wonder if he can see the heartbreak he put there. “I don’t want to send you away. But it isn’t safe. They will use you to hurt me. These people are sick. There’s no end game now. Only vengeance. I’ve just lost him millions in trade.”

“I don’t want to leave you.” I sniff. “And Maddox…”

“I’ll take care of my son, but I need you to be strong and do as I ask. If this ever blows over, I’ll come for you.”

I stare at the graying sky through the window as the sun rises. This is the first time since I arrived in Malibu that it looks gloomy. Or perhaps it’s my new mood reflecting on my vision.

“I don’t have shoes, or my things, my passport is still at your house.” I chew on my lip and wipe at my wet cheeks. “Let me get my belongings and say goodbye to Devon and Fidget…”

“I can’t take that chance. I’ll call somebody to collect them. Marcy is booking your flight right now.”

I wrap my arms around his neck and bury my face there. “I’m so scared, Sargent. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Me too,” he replies quietly. “That’s why I need you gone so I can focus.”

“There’s something else.” I pull away and search his eyes. I don’t want to add to his stresses. “I…”

“What is it?”

“I’m late.”

His eyes remain the same but his fingers dig into my thighs a fraction harder.

“This isn’t the first time though so it’s probably not that but I just… I needed you to know.” In case he’s right and he dies. That sounds morbid and horrible but I’ve never felt fear like this. Everything was perfect and now it’s not. “But if I am, what do I do?”

He stares at me for a longer moment, unblinking. His lips part and close and then he stands and rips his hands through his short hair before looking down at me.

“Are you angry?” I ask quietly. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“I’m not angry.” His reply sounds soft and genuine, so I relax. “Just because you’re carrying it doesn’t shift the blame to you. I should have known better. It was inevitable.”

He’s not angry or upset like I expected him to be.

“If you are, we’ll figure it out, but right now, I can’t think about that. I need you out of here, okay? Yaroslava’s psychopathic daughter is in America and she could be here already. She’s bitchy and bitter and you’re a million times prettier and younger than her so you need to go.”

I stand and he envelops me in a warm hug.

“If you are, whatever you choose, it’s your body and your decision and I will support you,” he whispers. “But, you mustn’t contact me until I contact you. Do you understand?”

At his words, I shudder with emotion and hold him tighter. “I don’t want to leave.”

“You must.”

“I know, but I don’t want to.” We rock together in the steadily rising sunlight before he pulls away and makes more calls, calls to get me the shit I need.

***
Four hours later, I’m on my way to the airport with one of his security guys and I can’t stop replaying the past twenty-four hours in my head.

He didn’t freak out at the possibility of my pregnancy. He didn’t get mad or tell me to abort. He told me he’d support me. He says I’m his weakness.

I love him. Despite the shit he’s in. And Maddox… I’m so worried for him I wish he’d answer his phone.

It’s my number now, surely he should recognize it? He knows I have nothing to do with this. What if they already have him?

I push that thought away and chew on my nail bed again. A bad habit I’ve picked up lately and intend to stop doing as soon as I’m out of the country.

It hasn’t sunk in yet. I really don’t want to leave but what choice do I have? He’s right. I’ll just complicate the situation.

So why has he just texted me?

Sargent: You can come back home. It’s done. They have their guy.

I try to call him as I frown at his message on the screen. I look to the man on my right.

“Something doesn’t feel right about this.” If it’s not him texting me then does that mean they have him?

“What’s wrong?” my driver slash security personnel asks calmly.

“I just got a text message from Sargent asking me to go back.”

He takes my phone from my hand and carefully looks at the message. His eyes flicker to the road and back to the phone. “I have to take you to the airport.”

“I know,” I reply. “I don’t think it’s him.”

His brows furrow with his own anxieties and suspicions as he connects to the Bluetooth in the car and calls the contact, “Bossman.”

Unfortunately, Bossman doesn’t answer and neither do two other guys who he calls immediately after.

“Fuck,” he mutters. He presses something in his ear and speaks a bunch of military-sounding jargon that I don’t understand. Then he starts yelling, which turns to begging. He looks at me and I know he’s thinking the worst too. “I’m taking you to the airport and seeing you on that plane. Don’t argue with me, I’m not in the mood.”

I nod once because I don’t want to add to his plate either. But then, after building up the courage to challenge a stranger I ask, “But what if they need help?”

“You are my priority.”

“You’re not getting paid if he’s dead,” I retort firmly, hoping the money will entice him to do what I want him to.

He frowns. “I don’t give a fuck. If I take you back there and you end up dead that’ll be on my conscience. Not everything is about money. I care about the people I protect.”

For the first time in hours I smile, it’s weak but it’s there. “You’re a good person, Miles.”

“I need to concentrate,” he grumbles and flips his sunglasses over his eyes.

I take that massive hint and turn away, pleading with God, if he exists, to figure this out. I know I’m in way over my head and I should be gratefully running for the hills but I never was very good at staying away from danger. Maddox doesn’t deserve this. What if he needs me? He’d never leave me behind.

But I don’t know where he is so how can I help?

I want to cry.

I don’t know how to handle all of this.