Page 14 of Burned Dynasty: Part One

I’m just plain creeped out about a plan elaborate enough to call for fake FBI agents. “They wanted me to go to their offices with them,” I state. “If they weren’t real agents, where would they have taken me?”

“Exactly my question,” Damion interjects. “Where the fuck did they want to take her, Blake?”

“They would have taken her to a coffee shop, most likely,” Blake replies.

“They said offices,” I rebut.

“They could very well have set up a fake office,” Blake replies. “I’ve actually seen that happen in another case. Look, I know you won’t like this, Damion, but Alana needs to go back and push his buttons. Force his hand. She’s right. She’s well-guarded, but we’ll make them believe she isn’t. We’ll keep you two apart—”

“Not a chance in hell,” Damion growls.

“We’ll make your father believe you’ve gone your separate ways. We’ll make him believe she has only her own protection.”

“We are not using Alana as bait,” Damion bellows. “No. And in case you didn’t hear me clearly, no.”

“I’ve got dirt on him, Damion,” Blake says, “but it’s not enough to put him in jail or send him into retirement in some far-off country. If he comes at Alana and we have the proof, you can end him. Otherwise, man, do you really think he’s going to let her go?”

“If I thought he’d back off, I wouldn’t want the fucker dead.”

“Dead isn’t an option. Caged is. Short-term pain for long-term gain.”

Damion pushes to his feet and walks to the island, where he presses his hands to the top and dips his chin. I’m standing in an instant and crossing to where he stands, my back to the other two men and my hand on Damion’s waist. “I know you want to protect me, and you think hiding me is the way, but it’s not. Protecting me is ending this.”

He pulls me in front of him, his hands planted on either side of me. “Then we do it together. You understand?”

“That’s exactly what I want.”

“All right then. It’s decided.” He pushes off the island and pulls me to his side as we face the other two men. “He won’t fear Alana, but he’ll fear me. If we want my father rattled and stupid, she stands with me. We’re back together, and we’re coming after him. He’ll go after her to shut me down.”

At this point, Blake and Adam are standing. “We can make that happen,” Blake replies.

“Alana’s mother has to be removed from the picture, or she’ll be used as leverage,” Damion replies, glancing at me. “How do we make that happen?”

“My mother doesn’t want to be protected,” I say, feeling the bitterness of her betrayal.

Damion rotates me to face him. “But you want to protect her. Put your anger aside and think. How do we make that happen?”

Guilt stabs at me. He’s right. I do want to protect her, but my anger is still so very present that it muddles up my decisions. It’s how I divided me and Damion when I should have stood beside him, but I shove those thoughts aside for now and focus on the question. “Shy of kidnapping her, I don’t know. I wish I did.” But as sure as I say the words, an idea pops into my head. “We have to scare her into hiding.”

Chapter Eleven

I call my mother and set-up a time to stop by and see her later this evening, and not long later, the group of us are on the road. The ride feels long, and Damion has to calm me down several times, and with good reason. Now that my mother is on my mind, I realize my grave mistake in believing she was safe. I’d thought there was no way West Senior would hurt her, not when he’d just killed my father, not when the world would be watching. But Blake’s superhero complex comment about Damion’s father only served to drive home where Damion’s fears are rooted.

He knows his father.

And his father is dangerous and will do what others would not dare.

As eager as I am to get “home” to the apartment where I live with Damion and should never have left, the stop by my mother’s place is first. Walker has a private plane on standby to whisk my mother off to a private location in Italy where West Senior will not be able to locate her. I’ll arrive by a private car driven by a member of Walker Security that will wait on me. There will be discreet security nearby. Everything will be fine.

Until it’s not.

Damion and I part ways a few blocks from the building, and it’s not a gentle goodbye. He kisses me and strokes my hair behind my ear. “Get in and get out.”

“I will. I’ll be fine. I just hope I can actually convince her to go to Italy.”

“What exactly is the plan to scare her into hiding?”

“I’m going to convince her the FBI is planning to charge her with crimes my father committed. I’m going to tell her she has to get out of town while my attorney goes to work for her.”

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