Page 43 of Daring to Surrender

Austin shrugged. “Depends on whose lives we’re talking about.”

“Innocent lives, Austin,” he stated bluntly. His own life, if his plans didn’t go as he hoped.

The only reply he got from Austin was a nod.

Demonte had to work to keep his teeth from grinding together. “I’m not my father, Austin.”

“That’s still undetermined.”

“Would you change your mind if I told you I’ve put a cramp in my father’s business dealings any and every chance I had? When you burned the warehouse, I cheered. Hell, I would have handed you the match if I’d known what you were doing.”

“So, you’re talking about the trafficking?” Austin asked. From the set of his chin, he didn’t approve any more than Demonte did. They at least had that in common. Was it enough to gain his support? He didn’t know.

“Among other things,” Demonte agreed. “I’ve been working for the past seven years to remove my father as the head of the family. I plan to take his place and move our family into a different style of leadership.”

“The trafficking?”

He didn’t try to hide the revulsion from his voice. “It’s disgusting and immoral. I have never approved and I’ve done everything in my power to stop it. Even at the cost of my brother’s life.”

Austin’s brow rose. “And why should we believe you?”

He stared directly into the man’s eyes. “I’m telling the truth. I have everything to lose if you don’t.”

The four men exchanged looks and then Austin asked, “What do you want? Why are you here?”

Demonte leaned back in his chair and finally took a breath. “There are two reasons. The first is because I have discovered my father is working behind my back and has amassed a following that would rather not change current lucrative business practices. Ultimately, I need your support in a takeover. Most pressing is he’s found a way around my safeguards and has a new shipment due this Saturday. I need your guys to get there before his do and get the women to safety.”

“And the second reason?” Austin asked, showing no emotion.

“Janel,” he said, and Dozer stood so quickly his chair rolled back and hit the wall behind him.

“You don’t get Janel,” he snapped.

Curious at Dozer’s reaction, he looked closer and calmly replied, “I don’t want Janel. What I do want is to keep her safe.”

“Sit down, Dozer,” Austin said, and reluctantly Dozer pulled his chair back up and sat.

There was something about the way Dozer glared at him that made Demonte put a few pieces together. Good. If Dozer was in love with Janel, he would move mountains to protect her.

His gaze shifted back to Austin. “Do you know who Janel is?”

Austin exchanged glances with Dozer before nodding. “We know who her father is, if that’s what you mean.”

“My father found out she’s here.” He hated to admit that somewhere he had a leak. A pesky leak that would be eliminated as soon as he found the source.

“And that’s a problem because?” Austin asked.

“Because there’s an organization that will think she’s an ace in their arsenal of keeping my father head of the family. I don’t know if my father has told them about her, but I have to believe he has. That puts her in danger. I need you to keep her hidden and protected.”

Austin stared and Demonte met his eyes unflinchingly. “But there’s more. Isn’t there, Luciano?”

“There is, but it’s irrelevant.”

“If we’re putting our necks on the line, then we need to know everything.”

He’d hoped to bypass this part, but Austin needed to understand how serious the situation was. “It goes back a lot of years. Seven to be exact. My father was approached by a certain organization. They wanted him to partner with them in the trafficking business. In my father’s warped mind, all he saw was the massive amount of money he’d add to the family’s coffers. He cared not one bit for the lives he’d ruin. The women were just commodities to him.” He paused to relax his fists. “They needed a place to serve as a transition location of sorts.”

Dozer interrupted to add, “You mean where the women are held until they can be sold and shipped to their owners.”

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