Chapter 19

Lyle was panicking. After being confronted by Sloane, two of Sloane’s corrupt cops had dragged Lyle away to a corner of the warehouse and tied him up. The binds on Lyle’s wrists were tight and digging into his skin.

‘Awwwww! Fuck!’ Lyle squealed, in genuine pain as he tried to at least get comfortable on the floor. ‘This isn’t fair!’

‘Shut your damn mouth,’ one of the corrupt cops said, feigning to kick Lyle and making him flinch. ‘Next time, I’ll follow through and kick that head into the next building.’

Lyle went quiet.

How did these men live with themselves? They were supposed to look after the citizens of New York City, they were supposed to be the good guys. But somewhere along the line they had been corrupted and were now acting like the meanest street thugs around.

Lyle hated the corrupt cops. And he hated Sloane and Reed Silver too. Nothing about this situation was good, and in that moment Lyle truly didn’t know whether he was going to make it out alive.

There was one thought that was keeping Lyle going however.

Every inch of Lyle’s mind and body was pure journalist. If Lyle managed to find a way out, he was going to make sure that he wrote the biggest, most damming expose of this whole situation. Then the world would have to stand up and take notice. Not only would Lyle be exposing the biggest corruption imaginable in the police force, but he would be saving many people’s lives too.

After all, if Sloane was capable of kidnapping him, Lyle wondered how many others there had been. It could have been double figures, possibly more. In a city as big and bustling as New York, people were going missing all the time. And it wasn’t out of the question that Sloane was involved.

However none of that mattered if Lyle couldn’t work a way out of the mess he found himself in. As far as Lyle knew, no other journalists were working on a story about Sloane, certainly not at the Tribune with Reed keeping his beady eyes open.

It was vital that Lyle got himself out of this. But how? And even if he did manage to free himself, what would he do then?

Lyle’s mind was racing with ideas, possibilities, best and worse case scenarios. In fact, his brain was whirring so fast it was making it pretty much impossible to focus on anything.

It was at that point that Lyle thought back to Antonio. Although he could be cold and even a little bit distant at times, Antonio always knew how to solve a problem and work out a tactic.

With this in mind, Lyle tried as hard as he could to calm himself down and focus…

Breathe… breathe… breathe…

See this situation how Antonio would see it.

Where are the weaknesses? What angles do I have?

With this in mind, Lyle decided to put the brakes on an attempt to escape. For the time being at least, he decided that instead of wasting precious energy on the incredibly difficult task of breaking free and then escaping, he would sit and listen.

These people may have been cops, but they certainly were being discreet about their plans. In fact, with Sloane and Reed Silver in another room, the corrupt cops were talking openly about seemingly everything that Sloane had been up to…

Political connections? Check.

Murder? Yup.

Collusion with the media? All the way.

Lyle almost couldn’t believe the kinds of things he was hearing. Sloane seemed like the power had gone to his head, such was the way he was acting with total impunity. Sloane felt like he was above the law and there wasn’t a single consequence to any of his actions.

Lyle could tell from the way that the cops were talking that they were getting sick and tired of Sloane’s arrogance too. Lyle knew that this could help with getting even juicier details on any future story. If Sloane’s men were willing to break ranks and speak out against him, Lyle felt sure that there was even more criminal acts to expose.

This story was bigger than even Lyle had imagined.

But as he listened, Lyle made sure to avoid eye contact. He didn’t want any of the cops to think that he was listening to every word. As far as Lyle was concerned, he knew that the weaker and more helpless he seemed, the less of a threat they would view him as.

With that in mind, Lyle began to pretend to quietly sob with his head in his hands. And in a matter of seconds it was clear that his plan was having its desired effect…

‘Shut that stupid mouth!’ a cop called out, tossing an empty can of energy drink in Lyle’s direction by way of a warning. ‘Don’t make me beat it shut.’

Lyle whimpered and went silent.

But behind his hands, Lyle was smiling. His plan was working.

After continuing to listen, Lyle felt like he had gathered more than enough information that he would find easy to prove. The cops, some of whom seemed to be drinking booze, were speaking so freely and giving so many names and locations it was like Christmas had come early for Lyle.

Now that Lyle had got what he needed, it was time to shift his thinking. It was time to plot his escape and then make Antonio proud and show that although he may be a sub, he was more than capable of controlling a situation all by himself…

I’m going to make Antonio realize how smart I am.

He may be mafia, but I’m a star reporter.

And I’m about to break the biggest story of them all…

Despite Lyle’s best attempts, he simply couldn’t free himself from the binds. He wasn’t going to give up, but Lyle was beginning to realize that breaking free might be even harder than he’d already anticipated.

Then, just as he felt a tiny bit of movement in the binds, Lyle quickly stopped what he was doing. Reed Silver was striding over toward him.

Act natural.

You always love cosplay and roleplay at the Velvet Iron.

Play super-sad like you’re going for the Oscar…

As Reed drew nearer, Lyle made sure to look as downbeat and hopeless as he possibly could. Reed had a cold look on his face, like he was about to start shouting and bullying Lyle again.

However, Lyle couldn’t have been further from the truth…

‘Here you go, kid,’ Reed said, squatting down to floor-level and holding a can of Cola out in front of Lyle’s mouth. ‘It’s full fat Coca-Cola. The real thing. You look like you could do with a little energy boost.’

Huh? Why’s Reed being so nice?

This is… weird.

Is he up to something?

As Lyle slurped on the drink, he felt the sugar hit him immediately. Lyle realized how thirsty he was, and how weak too. All of the stress and struggle had clearly taken it out of him.

‘I know this isn’t easy,’ Reed said, a kind look on his face. ‘Trust me, I know it’s hard to take. But I can make this better. I can get you out of this.’

‘W-w-w-w-what do you mean?’ Lyle said, genuinely unsure as to whether Reed was being genuine or not. ‘I don’t understand.’

Reed paused for a second and looked over each of his shoulders in turn. Leaning in, Reed began to talk in hushed tones…

‘I can guarantee that you walk away from this,’ Reed said. ‘Not only that but your job is safe, and you get a promotion. I’ll put you on the fast track to the top. You’re a good worked with a killer instinct for a story. I value that. I’m moving to The Times, and I’ll take you with me. You’ll have the golden ticket. All you need to do is…’

Reed paused again.

Lyle knew what Reed was about to say.

‘All you need to do is lure Antonio here,’ Reed said, a grave tone to his voice. ‘I know that might be hard, but… he’s a bad guy. He’s mafia. We all know it. You think you won’t end up dead because of him one way or the other? Men like Antonio Sorrento are scum. And now it’s time you did the right thing.’

‘But-’

‘No buts,’ Reed said, his voice now becoming harder again. ‘If you don’t do this, Sloane has his orders from higher up…’

‘What does that mean?’ Lyle replied, panic spreading.

‘It means he’ll kill you,’ Reed replied. ‘And he’ll do it in a heartbeat. Sloane doesn’t fuck around. Believe me, I’ve been under his control for long enough. The man is a stone-cold killer. You have no choice, kid. You have to bring Antonio to us.’

Lyle gasped.

Hearing Reed put it all in such cold and clear terms was a shock to the system. This was a true dilemma. It almost seemed like an impossible problem to solve.

Lyle knew that him and Antonio had met in unusual circumstances and weren’t exactly the typical Dom and sub partnership that fit the cookie cutter model. But all that said, Lyle knew that he loved Antonio.

Antonio had looked after Lyle, nurtured him, and protected him too. Antonio had also disciplined Lyle when he needed it, and Lyle couldn’t even imagine another man doing that to him now.

With the harsh warehouse light beaming right into his eyes, Lyle didn’t know what he was supposed to do. There was no way Lyle could betray Antonio, he just couldn’t do it. Yes, his life was under threat, but Lyle didn’t know how he could ever possibly live with himself if he betrayed the most important man in his life.

Lyle was beginning to realize that making decisions wasn’t his forte. In fact, he was gaining a whole new respect and understanding of just how difficult decisions could be.

Suddenly, Lyle could appreciate what Antonio did what he did when he decided to call off their relationship. Antonio clearly knew how dangerous Sloane was, and wanted to keep Lyle as far away from the firing line as he could.

Lyle felt sad that he hadn’t understood this at the time. In fact, all Lyle wanted to do was hug and kiss Antonio and thank him for being such a great man at a time when he needed it most.

But as he sat tied up in the warehouse, Lyle had no idea whether he’d ever be able to tell Antonio all this in person.

I don’t know what to do.

Every move on the table is a bad one.

I just want my Master to help me choose…