Chapter 45

Finding Daisy with a teenage girl in our hotel room was not what I was expecting. Seeing a girl she was trying to help give her attitude was also not going to fly with me. Daisy says I came off too strong, but in the end, it got results. The girl is on her way home and isn't going to put herself at risk anymore. And my wife is in my arms, in the bed I've been wanting to get back into since the moment I got out of it this morning.

"El says the house will settle in four weeks. We'll have our own home in a month," I tell Daisy.

"It's insane that you just went and bought a house, Gabe," she says.

"We needed a home. A place of our own. I don't know shit about interior design, though, so that's all going to be you."

"I'm not decorating a house alone. Especially that house. It's huge. We'll do it together," she insists.

"Deal." I showed her the listing online and she loved it. Thankfully. Because I did not want to have to search all over again. "I have to go to Sydney for a couple of days."

Daisy stills in my arms. "When?"

"Tonight."

She rolls onto her stomach and looks up at me. "Tonight? Who are you going with?"

"Gio. Why don't you go and stay at the house with El?"

"I don't need babysitting, Gabe." She sighs. "I'll just go home. It's fine."

I know it's not fine. Daisy rests her head on my shoulder while her fingers absently stroke across my chest. "If I could get out of going, I would," I tell her.

"Did you tell them?"

"Tell who what?"

"Your brothers? Did you tell them we got married?"

"No, I want to do it together," I say.

"Okay. Just make sure you come back to me, Gabe."

"I'll always come back to you, Daisy. Nothing could ever keep me from you." I kiss the top of her head.

Saying goodbye to my wife was harder than I thought it would be. I left Daisy at her apartment with the promise of having her wear that lingerie she bought today as soon as I return. Something I didn't realise she went out and did for me until we were leaving the hotel and she picked up a couple of bags.

I eye Gio, who's sitting across from me in our family jet. And right now, knowing I could be with my wife, peeling the white lace from her body, yeah, I've never wanted to stab the fucker more.

"In and out, right?" I ask him.

"I want to get back just as much as you do," he says, briefly looking up from his phone with a frown creasing his lips.

"What's the plan?"

"We're going in under the guise of showing Alex a new weapon. You and Dan are going to meet him at the docks."

"And where will you be?"

"In the background, watching. I'm going to draw that fucking pig out to slaughter. After I find out what the fuck he was doing with Shelli, what he knows, and who else he told," Gio says.

"Sounds a little too easy," I grunt. Nothing that sounds easy ever goes according to plan. Something is likely to go to shit, I'm sure.

"Just stay on guard. Alex doesn't know yet. I'm going to meet up with him just before you do. I don't want him going off and killing the fucker before I have a chance to interrogate him."

An hour and a half later, we're landing in Sydney at a private airstrip. There are two SUVs waiting for us. Gio jumps in one, and I jump in the other with Dan. The plan is for Dan and me to head straight to the docks. Gio is going to intercept Alex somehow and fill him in on the rat he's got in his organisation.

I send Daisy a message, letting her know I've landed and that I love her. She responds with a picture of her in her bed, but that's not what has me laughing and hard as fuck at the same time. It's the dildo she has in her hand with a caption that reads: It's good, but it's not you. Come home to me so I can… come.

"What do you think of this plan?" I ask Dan. He's one of our higher-level men. He's practically Gio's go-to guy for everything… when he needs someone who isn't us. The guy is loyal to a fault to my brother, as he fucking should be.

"I think it's as good as any, but keep your eyes and ears open," Dan says.

"Always do, man," I tell him.

When we get to the docks, it's almost midnight and the whole place is quiet. Not a fucker in sight. "Where is everyone?" I mutter under my breath while peering out the car window.

"No fucking idea. Come on, let's go in." Dan jumps out of the car first. I don't know why, but something in my gut is screaming at me to turn around. To not go into that warehouse. I ignore that feeling and follow Dan inside.

Five of Alex's men are already here, including his second, Leo. "De Bellis, didn't think we'd be seeing you again so soon." He grins and offers me a hand.

"Yeah, well, what can I say? Thought I'd grace you with my pretty face. Where's your boss?" I ask him.

"No fucking idea. Probably the same place yours is," Leo counters.

Then, as if on cue, Alex walks in. His eyes search the room and zero in on the man of the hour. He knows, which means Gio managed to get to him.

"Alex, glad you could make it." I step in front of him, to stop him from making a scene before we get what we came for. I hold out a palm, and he takes it. "This is something you're going to want to see," I tell him. "It's in the boot of the car." I have no idea what's inside the fucking crate. Gio just said it was big and there's no way Alex wouldn't want to get his hands on it, once he knows we have a few of ?em on hand.

"Right, let's get this over with then," Alex grunts.

I lead them out to the SUV and pop the back door. "Go ahead. Open it up," I say while nodding towards the crate.

The moment his hands land on the lid, the whole place lights up and sirens blare in every direction. I look at Alex, who stares right back at me.

"Fucking rat bastard, I'm going to kill him," I hiss.

"Not before I fucking do," Alex says, running back inside the warehouse. I'm about to follow him when I hear the words no one in my line of work wants to fucking hear.

"Freeze."

I turn around and find about fifteen officers in plain clothes with pistols pointed at me, Dan, and a few of Alex's men. I glance back towards the warehouse with my hands raised. I'm not trying to get taken out by a cop tonight.

One of them walks up to me. "Gabrielle De Bellis, you're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of law…"

"You can save the spiel. I know my rights," I hiss just as the fucker throws me onto the ground.

His knee presses into my lower back and he locks a pair of cuffs around my wrists. Tight, too fucking tight. But I'm not going to give this asshole the satisfaction of complaining. I'll keep my mouth shut and exercise my right to remain silent.

As I'm hoisted up, after the fucker confiscated every weapon I had on my body, I'm thrown into the back of a car. I look over and see Dan being tossed into the vehicle next to me, along with the rest of Mancini's men.

Where the fuck did Alex go?

And then another thought has me nearly choking on air. My wife is going to be pissed as fuck when she finds out I've been arrested. Hopefully, I'll be well on my way home before word gets to her. We have the best criminal defence attorney in the country, after all. Xavier will have the charges dropped, or at the very least have me out on bail before the ink is even dry on the paperwork.