Page 82 of Gray Area

VIVIAN

Jude and Roman take off for some R&R a few days after he gets out of the hospital. He told me that he had been planning to go away with just Roman this summer, and he moved it up thinking it would probably be easier for him to rest if he wasn’t around the businesses.

“I’m going to miss you,” Roman says, giving me a fierce squeeze.

“I’ll miss you too, bud, but you are going to have so much fun with your dad,” I remind him, and he nods.

“Will you FaceTime me sometimes, though?” he asks.

I laugh. “Yes, I promise.” And then I turn and say goodbye to Mr. Falco, who also takes me into a fierce hug. “Get some good rest,” I tell him.

“Thank you, Vivian,” he says. He releases me and I move to turn, but he puts a hand on my arm, stopping me. I turn back. “He’s going to love you fiercely, Vivian. It’s a lot, but it’s the only speed he runs.”

I nod at him and kiss his cheek, then make room for Slade and Declan to say their own goodbyes. And then, in the dusk, they are off.

“I have to go and handle something tonight,” Declan says to me once we go back in the house.

“Okay,” I say. “Is it at one of the restaurants?”

“Close by,” he says vaguely, and my stomach clenches. “But you can set the alarm system, and Axel set up the cameras this afternoon, so if they are tripped we can see them.”

After the last break-in, Axel went balls to the wall as Declan put it, outfitting the tenement building and his father’s house in the latest and greatest devices. He even rewired some of them together to enhance their features and get them to do some things other than those recommended by the manufacturer.

“What are you going to do, Declan?” I ask point-blank. I don’t like the way he just tried to brush me off.

His face is shuttered down as he meets my gaze, and I know he is going to lie to me before he does. “Just some routine checks with my brothers,” he says.

“Declan—” I start, ready to confront him on the matter, but a honking interrupts us.

Declan comes to me and crushes his mouth to mine, squeezing me in his arms. I feel more bulk under his shirt before he releases, and I realize he is wearing a vest of some sort.

“I love you,” he tells me and then he is gone.

And I am left here wondering where he is going with a bulletproof vest under his clothes.

Chapter 49

DECLAN

I’m not lying to Vivian, I reason with myself as I head out with my brothers. I am just keeping her safe by not telling her what I am actually doing. But when her eyes went wide after she touched me, I knew I had made a mistake because she could for sure feel the Kevlar under my shirt.

Truth is, most of my jackets have some bulletproof material in them, but it is just less obvious. Tonight though, I want the extra protection because I need to come home to her. And not in a body bag.

Tonight my brothers and I are going to follow Jeff, the man who had broken in and attacked Vivian several nights ago, as he goes to deliver the contract to Lexington. Jeff doesn’t actually have the contract, but a stack of paper that we had made to look like the contract.

I had reviewed the plan with my father the other night once I told him I was taking over, and he agreed. Since Lexington is no longer taking his calls, there seems no other option than to meet him in person. And this is the best way to make it happen.

The meeting is set to take place in an alley behind a closed Chinese restaurant in Saugus. Jeff says he has met Lexington there before, and described the place so we know what to expect. He’d been given specific instructions from Lexington on where to be and when. The guy is a mind fuck for sure; he likes to try and control his prey.

My brothers also wear Kevlar and we arrive separate from Jeff, in case he is being watched. We park in another alleyway in a rental car, and now are positioned at different spots with all eyes on Jeff ten minutes before Lexington has told him to be there.

And we all stay in our positions for over an hour more.

Finally, a figure appears in the alleyway, having come out from the abandoned restaurant’s back door.

“You have it,” the shadow demands, and Jeff nods nervously. The shadow holds his hands out, and Jeff shakily puts the stack of papers in it. Immediately, the pile is flipped to the back page and the figure studies it. He reaches into his pocket and pulls something out—a lighter—and flicks the light, lighting the packet on fire and dropping it to the ground. “You did good, Jeff,” the man says, stepping into the sliver of light to pat the terrified man on the shoulder. “But what happened to your face?”

“I ran into somebody getting out of the house, and we tussled,” he says, and Lexington nods. “Are we good?” Jeff asks.

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