FORGE WOKE to near complete quiet. The morning sun peered around the edges of the curtains, and he was alone in the bed. Forge sat up, the covers pooling around his waist. “Gage?” he said softly, and the bathroom door opened, light spilling out, then going off once again.
“I didn’t want to wake you,” Gage said softly. “I called Harv, and the house has been quiet. Margie has been monitoring the cameras and reports that the office has been quiet as well. Apparently they’ve given up for the time being, or they’re saving what they have for later.”
“Are we going home?”
“Yes,” Gage answered, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed in only a pair of plain white briefs. “We need to find out some answers, and we need to do it quickly.”
“Detective Coleridge is going to be mad as hell….”
“You promised you’d tell him what was in the box, and you’re going to do that. If he wants to see what was inside, you can show him everything. It might help him crack the code on the computer, though I don’t think so.”
“What about the online backups?” Forge yawned, and Gage leaned closer to him.
“I only want to keep you safe. That’s what I’m here for. If the police can do that by taking down the entire operation, that’s fine with me. As long as you’re safe.” He put his arm around Forge, and Forge wrapped his around Gage’s middle and held tightly.
“I feel safe when you’re around. But you can’t be there forever.” Forge clung to Gage with everything he had, trying not to shake out of sheer fear. “Well, maybe you can, but you can’t keep me safe forever. No one will be able to. So maybe I should turn over everything I have and will ever have to the police and leave town, maybe the country. I could try to start over somewhere else.” That wasn’t what he wanted at all. Forge wanted his life back—well, some life back, one he could live happily again. Every time he closed his eyes and pictured what he wanted, he saw Gage and him together. The funny thing was, he never saw the two of them together at his house, but at the rooms in Gage’s office.
“Don’t be hasty. Let’s go back and see if we can’t crack this thing open, then figure out what we’re going to do with what we find.”
Gage kissed him, and Forge let go of his worries for an hour or so, Gage taking him to a place where they didn’t matter at all. After making love, they showered together once again, Gage cleaning him gently and massaging away the aches he knew he’d feel for days regardless of how much hot water they used.
“Go ahead and get dressed,” Gage said softly, wiping his back with one of the soft towels. “I’m going to shave. I’ll be right out.”
Forge dressed in a hurry and was glad Gage was out of sight. Watching Gage running around bareassed got his motor running again, and Forge wasn’t sure he was ready for another round so soon. Gage emerged as he was finishing, and Forge perved on him a little as he dressed and gathered their things together in the shopping bags. He also packed Gage’s computer into his bag and set everything by the door. When they were ready, they marched out of the room to the elevator. Gage settled the bill at the desk, and without wasting a minute, they were down to the car and out onto the streets of Chicago.
“Just like before, use your mirror to watch for anyone behind us.”
“What if there’s another tracker on the car?” Forge asked, and Gage pointed Forge to the onboard display.
“This car is newer, and we installed some special programming so it checks itself for any signals emanating from the car. There’s the GPS signal and nothing more.” Gage patted his leg. “But I like that you’re thinking that way. It will help keep you safe.” He turned at the next corner, and Forge checked the mirror. It was difficult to see since they were in heavy city traffic, but it didn’t look like they were being followed.
Once they reached the highway, Gage went north, and Forge continued checking behind them. No one stayed near them for very long, and after a while with every car passing them, Gage sped up and they headed toward home.
Forge grew more excited and anxious the closer they got to the house. Was it going to be all right and was he going to be safe there? He certainly hoped so.
“We aren’t going to sleep at the house. We’ll keep watching it, but it will be safer at the office,” Gage told him as though he were reading Forge’s mind. “We’ll get everything out of the safe and take it back there. I have secure internet connections, and we can try to work out what Granger meant from there.”
“If you think so.” Forge had been looking forward to sleeping in his own bed, but if Gage thought they’d be safer at the office, he’d do what he said. “Will I be able to get into my work email?”
“Certainly,” Gage answered. “I suggest you call Detective Coleridge and let him know where we’ve been and what you found. He’ll probably want to meet us at the house, and that will add an extra layer of protection, at least for a while. When we’re there, assume that we’re being watched and that someone can hear what we’re saying. You were spied on before, so it will probably happen again.”
Forge thought Gage might be overreacting, but he nodded and grew quiet, looking out the window as they passed through downtown. Forge watched the old brewery buildings pass as they continued their way north. Then he made his call and was lucky enough to be connected right away. “Detective, its Forge Reynolds, and I was able to figure out how to open the jade box.”
“Where have you been?” Coleridge practically shouted, sounding partially relieved and partially pissed.
“Chicago. After being followed and people trying to run us off the road, we thought getting out of town might be best. Did you get anything from the men in the car?”
“I’ll meet you at the house and you can bring me up to date, and I’ll do the same. We’ve made some progress on our end, and it sounds like you’ve done likewise.” He seemed in a hurry. “How long before you can get there?”
“Twenty minutes, tops.” Forge didn’t tell him that Gage had someone watching the house. “We’ll see you then, and it might be best if you made a show of coming over. Please don’t be subtle. There are people still after us. You making a show of force might be more than a little helpful.”
“I understand. Tell me all about it when I get there.” He hung up, and Forge put his phone in his pocket.
Gage called Harv to let him know what was happening, and he agreed to stay out of sight. Forge held the bag with the jade box on his lap until they pulled into the driveway, where a police cruiser was already parked.
“Was this conspicuous enough?” Detective Coleridge said as he got out of the car.
“Yes. Thank you.” Forge carried the bag with the box to the door and unlocked it. He let Coleridge enter first and check out the house before going inside. Gage followed the others, and they sat at the table while Coleridge checked out the office once more before removing the tape so Forge could begin putting the room back in order.
“What did you find?” Coleridge sat down.
Forge worked the mechanism to open the box and handed Coleridge the note and the drive. “There’s just a slide show on there with pictures of Granger and me. As you can see from the note, he was aware for some time that he was working with dangerous people. I think he gathered the files we’ve been looking for in order to protect himself, but instead he brought on his death.”
“Have you found the files?”
“No. But I believe they’re in the cloud storage he had.” Forge pointed to the note. “I think I know the email he’s referring to, but I haven’t found the password. The last time we went through the safe, I found nothing I wasn’t expecting and certainly nothing that said what his passwords were.” Forge looked to Gage.
“In some papers we found in Granger’s office,” Gage explained, pulling out the pages from the hidden drawer in Granger’s desk, “we found references to my father. When we were in Chicago, I spoke with him. My dad didn’t take any payoffs, but we believe the information we are searching for is on the Lucci family.”
Detective Coleridge didn’t seem surprised. “The men chasing you were identified as having ties to the Lucci family. They lawyered up quickly, and all we could really get them on was a traffic violation. They weren’t going to admit chasing you, and their lawyers were damn good.”
“I was afraid of that,” Gage said. “When we were at my father’s last night, Stanley Lucci was there with two of his men. They were trying to put pressure on my father to do business with them, but I gave them a very clear message.”
“Where are your parents now?”
“Taking a vacation. I don’t know where they are, but I got a message from my father a few hours ago that they were boarding a plane for Europe and planned to stay a few weeks. Hopefully they’ll be out of their grasp until we can clear all this up.” Gage took Forge’s hand, holding it under the table. “The Lucci family is involved….”
“That’s what I figured. They have their fingers in many pies, and it’s going to be nearly impossible to take them down. Their business goes through many people, and they rarely do their own dirty work. Though they’re good at intimidation.”
Forge had no idea what they were going to do other than try to find the information Granger had. “You said you’d made progress.”
“We were able to unlock the laptop with the help of federal agencies. But the files we need have additional encryption, and we don’t have the key to unlock them. Do you suppose it could be this same password he refers to in his note?”
“I don’t know,” Forge answered. “I’ll go get what’s in the safe again, but I don’t think there’s anything in there. Remember that Granger wrote that note six months ago, and he could have removed whatever he put that password on, which would be the end of it. There weren’t any notes or handwritten cards with some mysterious password on it. Besides, Granger would never do that. It wasn’t like him at all. He loved puzzles, so he’d put it somewhere that wasn’t obvious.”
Forge left the room and went downstairs to open the safe and transfer everything to a box, then carried it all back up. He set the box on the table and stepped back, letting Coleridge take a look at some of the personal items from his and Granger’s marriage. Forge sat down and let Coleridge do what he needed to.
Coleridge went through everything systematically, looking and then putting the items aside. Once he was done, Forge put the things back in the box and returned them to the safe, locked it up, and covered it the way it had been before.
“That seems like a dead end.”
“I’m afraid it is. Like I said, I know the account email, but the password truly seems lost to all of us. The note is six months old. Maybe Granger changed the password and took the card out of the safe, but didn’t change what he’d put in the safe-deposit box.” Forge handed Coleridge the papers they’d found. “You’re going to have to make do with these. It’s all we have at the moment.”
“Unfortunately not everything on those pages is true,” Gage added, pointing out the information about his father.
“You believed your dad?”
Gage nodded. “He and I haven’t gotten along very well lately, but he was surprised I knew the information and he swears he never took anything from them that could be a bribe. Who knows?”
Detective Coleridge stood, then paced across the room. “We aren’t getting anywhere very quickly. Every time we run down a lead, we hit a dead end. We need to find this information that Granger was keeping.” Frustration rolled off him, and Forge felt every ounce of it. Forge deserved answers—they all did—and there were so many questions still hanging in the air.
“How did he get messed up with these people?” Forge asked. “He had a good practice that was well respected.”
“They prey on weakness of any sort. I don’t know what Granger’s was, but they took advantage of him. You said he cheated on you. And his note said that he was set up.”
“Yeah. Things with Granger and me had been difficult for a while, but we were trying to work things through. At least that’s what I thought until I found out about the affair. Granger said he wanted someone younger, but it didn’t last.”
“Sounds to me like Granger might have been played.”
Forge nodded and looked at the floor. “I keep wondering if I’d been more of what he needed, then this wouldn’t have happened.” A wave of guilt as high as the ceiling washed over him. “I should have been more vigilant. I took Granger for granted and thought he’d always be there. Then he wasn’t, and what we had was gone. Now he isn’t coming back.”
Coleridge sat across from him. “These feelings are normal, but there was nothing you could do. If Granger was being played, then they already figured out that things were strained between you and played on Granger’s weakness. Regardless of how they did it, what happened isn’t your fault. You’re the victim of a crime, and unfortunately this is how many victims feel over time.”
Forge looked to Gage, who nodded slowly. “You didn’t do this, and you aren’t responsible for what happened with Granger and what he did.” Gage turned to Coleridge. “What about the body?”
“We’ll release it today. I don’t think there’s anything more that we can learn from it.”
Forge nodded blankly. “I’ll call his parents, and they can make arrangements. They blame me for what happened. I know it isn’t my fault, at least in my head. I keep telling myself that, but in my heart, I—” Forge groaned and sat back in his seat. “What the hell is wrong with me?”
“Nothing at all. Your husband was killed in the most violent way possible, and we aren’t any closer to finding out who did it or why.” Coleridge took the papers they’d given him and left the house.
Forge stared at Gage, wondering what they were going to do next. “We’re done for,” he said. “Those people from Chicago are going to figure out that we don’t have the information you said we did and they’re going to come after us, and then that’s going to be the end of it.” Forge got to his feet, running a hand through his hair. “Maybe we should just tell them the information Granger had is locked away and they don’t have anything to worry about. Their deep, dark secrets are safe from everyone and they can back off.”
Gage shook his head. “Okay. Let’s say that they believe us and agree to back off. What about Granger? They’ll have gunned him down, and the person who did it will get off scot-free. I know he cheated, but did he deserve that?”
“No, he didn’t. Not at all.” Forge began pacing. “This is all one of Granger’s puzzles. He said that the password was where he kept our personal papers stored, and that was always the floor safe. It’s where we kept the wills and powers of attorney. Granger was always really anal that we have all those things. But we went through everything twice and came up with nothing at all.”
“Like you said, the letter was written six months ago. What if he changed the password or pulled that information out of the safe because of what was happening between the two of you? There are a lot of things that could have changed. We have to face that.”
“But we can’t give up,” Forge said. The thought of never knowing what truly happened to Granger would haunt him for the rest of his life.
“We’re not going to. There is an answer to this riddle. We have to find it.” Gage stood, stopped his pacing, and hugged him tightly. “Go on upstairs and pack yourself a bag. We’re not going to stay here tonight.”
Forge went up to his room and packed some clothes for a few days, then returned downstairs. Gage was on the phone with Margie, talking softly, but he hung up when Forge entered. He escorted Forge out of the house through the garage doors and to the car. Forge buckled himself in, and Gage drove them toward his office, making quite a few false turns, looking for anyone who might be following them. Forge didn’t see anyone, and Gage pulled into the lot, used the remote to open the doors, and drove inside, the heavy-duty overhead door sliding down behind them.
“We should be safe here.”
“I hope so.” Forge’s mind went back to yesterday and the way they’d been located the last time.
“Margie has been watching the property, and there hasn’t been anything other than cursory interest since we sent them on their wild goose chase. They also have no way of knowing if we’re here or not. We’re completely out of sight and the entire facility looks deserted. Margie is working from home and watching over secure internet connections that are encrypted six ways from Sunday. We’re safe. Besides, I doubt after they followed us here once, they’d think we’d return.” Gage led him inside and through the office area to the small living quarters. “Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. I’m going to see what we have to eat. It’s past lunchtime and we left Chicago in a hurry.”
Forge’s stomach rumbled at the thought of food. He set up his computer on the coffee table in the living area, booting it up. Gage poked his head in long enough to put in the passcode so Forge could access the internet, and he spent the next hour answering emails and working on paperwork. He had a load of meetings starting on Monday, but until then, work had cleared his schedule, which Forge was extremely grateful for.
“What are you thinking?” Gage asked as he came in with a bowl of soup and set it on the table where Forge was working.
“I don’t know. I keep thinking that I want this all to be over, and then I wonder what will happen once it is. In the last few days, my world has been turned upside down, and I don’t know what to do about it.” Forge sat back, staring at the bowl of soup as though he wasn’t sure what it was.
“What do you want?” Gage asked softly.
Forge shrugged. “I know I don’t want you to disappear into the ether. I want to have my life settled and quiet once again.” He blinked. “But I bet your life is never quiet.”
“I have to admit, my life is rarely dull and I don’t sit on one place for very long. I spend a lot of my time out in the field, helping people who need protection, just like I’ve been helping you. It’s what I do and a big part of who I am and how I make my living.”
Forge nodded slowly as what Gage was saying sank into his mind, chilling him. After this was over, Gage would go on to a new case and protect someone else. His life was going to be active and on the go all the time. He wasn’t going to be able to slow down and take a nine-to-five job, coming home to Forge at the end of the day. Was Forge going to be able to handle that, and did Gage want to come home to him? Was Gage going to want to settle down with him and his relatively quiet life? Gage deserved someone who could keep up with him.
“Is that what you’re worried about? That my life will be more than you can handle? Or that I’ll want someone… different?” Gage sat next to him. “You need to remember that I looked for you in everyone I met for seventeen years. I don’t know what our future will look like, but I do know that I want one with you. So let’s get through the next few days, figure out what’s going on, make sure you’re safe, and then we can sit down and figure out the kind of life we want together.”
Forge nodded but didn’t move. “What if you get bored with me? It was pretty obvious that’s what happened with Granger. We got settled in our lives and they became dull and something Granger didn’t want anymore. What if that happens with you?”
Gage smiled and actually chuckled. Forge wanted to punch him for it. “I somehow doubt I could ever get bored with you.” Gage took his hand. “You think my life is all excitement and one big adrenaline rush. Most of the time it’s what Harv has been doing for the last few days—watching, waiting, and doing a whole lot of nothing.” He leaned closer, and Forge’s heart beat a little faster just because Gage closed the distance between them. “Besides, you are the most exciting thing to come into my life. You make my pulse race and make me gasp for air just by looking at me. I don’t want to be without you. That’s as simple as I can put it. When this is over, I want to come home and find you in my bed, waiting for me, just like you should have been for the last seventeen years. I want to hear your stories and have you listen to mine. I want to make love in the middle of the night when it’s raining cats and dogs. I want to be there for you when you grow old and we end up sitting in rocking chairs on our porch somewhere where it’s warm and peaceful.” Gage paused and stared into Forge’s eyes. “I don’t know exactly what our lives will look like once we’re together—we’ll figure it out—but I know I do want to have a life with you. I always have.” Gage held him tightly, as though he were the most precious person in the world. It had been so very long since he’d felt that way that Forge almost wondered if he could even remember.
“I want that too. But what if—”
“You and I can do whatever we want. Hell, the doctors didn’t think I’d be able to walk again, but you and I… well, we showed them all those years ago, and if we can do that, then we can do anything.” Gage pressed him back on the sofa, and Forge forgot about food or being hungry. All that mattered was Gage next to him.
Forge clung to him. “I want you with me, like this, all the time.”
“It’s what I want too,” Gage told him as he smoothed the hair away from Forge’s face. “Let’s get through this mystery and make sure you’re safe. Then we can make plans.” Gage kissed him hard, tongue exploring, then gentled it and sat back up. “You should eat your lunch….” Gage’s mouth fell open and he turned to Forge.
“What is it?” Forge asked.
“That thumb drive. The one we found in the safe. You had already taken the things back downstairs, so you put it in one of Granger’s puzzle boxes for safekeeping. We never showed that to Coleridge.”
Forge shrugged.
“I think we need to look at that once again.” Gage had a faraway look. “Do you remember that blank file on the drive? Shit, what if there was something in that file and we couldn’t see it.”
Forge shook his head. “What do you mean?”
“White lettering on a white background. I never checked to see if there was anything there. I saw a blank screen and thought the file was blank. Granger said the password was in the safe. What if he hid it in plain sight on that drive?”
Forge sat up and picked up his spoon. “You could be right. After lunch, we’ll go back to the house and get it.”
“No,” Gage said quickly. “I’ll go get it after we eat. I’d like you to stay here and be safe. I’ll phone ahead to make sure everything is all right. But Harv is needed elsewhere, so I’ve got to pull him off watching the house to start a new job. I won’t do that until later this evening, though. There’s a woman whose husband has been threatening her during their divorce. He’s a bodybuilder, and unfortunately she claims he’s taken too many steroids and is prone to fits of rage.”
Forge frowned as he swirled his soup. “I’ve seen Harv. He’s rather small. How is he going to stand up to some roid-raged ball of muscle?”
Gage’s mouth turned up in an almost evil grin. “Harv can take care of himself, and it doesn’t matter how big they are—if you break their knees, they fall hard. And Harv is a master at self-defense, as well as a number of martial arts. I’ve seen him take on a man almost three hundred pounds and leave him rolling on the ground in pain. So don’t worry about him. Worry about the out-of-control bodybuilder. He’s the one who’s likely to end up in the hospital if he comes at Harv’s client.” Gage was still grinning, and Forge knitted his brows together in order to try to figure it out. “Besides, I don’t think I could keep Harv away from this client if I tried. She’s the one who got away from him a number of years ago.”
“You’re kidding?”
“No.” Gage grinned. “He still cares for her and asked for the assignment. Margie and I discussed it, and we thought it best. You’ll be safe here until we’re sure the threat has passed, and Harv has been busy installing an alarm system at your house.”
“An alarm?”
“Yes. It’s noninvasive and uses some of the latest technology. There are also cameras that you’ll be able to access through the internet. We’ll be able to watch the house from here and know if anything is amiss. It will be much more cost-effective than having someone physically watching the house day and night. And once this is over, you’ll be safer there. The costs were part of the original protection contract I sent over and what you approved with your lawyer.”
Forge realized he must have looked shocked. “I’m sorry. This just came as a surprise.”
“The alarm system isn’t going to replace me, and I’m still going to make sure you’re safe. I’ll just have some help.” They ate in silence for a bit, the tink of the spoons on the dishes the only sound other than an occasional slurp. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You didn’t and you’re right. It will be good to have an alarm so I’ll know if someone else is there, especially when I’m home alone.” Forge suspected that he’d be spending a lot of time at home alone.
“What are you afraid of? Really afraid of? Not the answer that you tell yourself or the one you think I want to hear, but the truth.” Gage set down his spoon, turning to him.
Forge felt the depth of his gaze down to his soul. He set down the spoon, his appetite flying away. “I’m afraid of being alone. My parents are dead, both of them. Dad died last year, as I said before. My mother had a lot of emotional issues when I was young and was often under a doctor’s care. I don’t think I ever got over not actually having my mother for a lot of the time I was growing up. She passed away eleven years ago.”
“Is that when you met Granger?”
“No. But losing my mom is when I think I decided that I wanted to stay with him. We’d been dating for a year or so, and it was at that point that he asked me to move in with him and to try to build a life together. I agreed, and we had a good life for a number of years.” Forge sighed. “Sometimes it’s hard to look at yourself and your motivations in a clear light. When you do, they seem too self-serving and shallow. I needed Granger back then….”
Gage nodded. “You didn’t want to be alone, and he loved you. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be loved.”
“But I chose him because he was easy, and what if I’m doing that again?” Forge didn’t want to sound stupid, but he also didn’t want to make the same mistakes he had in the past.
Gage laughed, out loud and hard, turning his face toward the ceiling. “I don’t think that any of the guys I’ve dated will describe me as easy or low maintenance. I keep a schedule that would drive most people crazy. So I’m not uncomplicated or convenient, and you aren’t making the same mistake all over. Don’t forget that you and I spent years apart, and I don’t want to do that again.” He grew serious, looking over at Forge. “But if you don’t feel the same way… you don’t need to make up an excuse. When this case is over, we can go our separate ways, or just be friends, if that’s what you’d like.”
“That isn’t what I want,” Forge said quickly and much more forcefully than he expected to. “I don’t want to be just friends, and I don’t want to go our separate ways. But I keep wondering if things aren’t moving too fast.”
“How long have things been over between you and Granger?”
“Months… many months,” Forge answered. “And I know I have the right to move on. But….” He groaned. “Everything is just so mixed up in my head. I thought things were settled with Granger, and then I find these notes and he seemed so contrite in them. I know that even if he hadn’t been killed, we wouldn’t have gotten back together. I guess I want this over so I can feel free again.”
“Then give yourself the time and the chance to do that. If that’s what you want. I waited seventeen years to find you again—I can wait a little longer for you to find your way.” Gage leaned closer, resting his head on Forge’s shoulder. “Don’t wonder if I’m going to disappear. It’s not going to happen.”
Forge breathed a huge sigh of relief and picked up his spoon to finish the soup. Gage did the same a few moments later, and Forge missed the closeness of having Gage pressing right next to him. He liked that Gage felt he could lean on him, just like Forge knew he could lean on Gage.
Once they were done, Forge took care of the dishes, placing them in the sink of the kitchenette, and then returned to the living area.
“Please stay here. If you need to, you can check the monitors out at the front desk. I’m going to run to the house to get the box. I’ll be back as soon as I can. I also want to check that the alarm system is working properly.”
“But what if something happens?”
“Just stay here, and I’ll message you if I need anything.” Gage walked to where Forge sat. “I need to know that you’re safe. So please stay here, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He leaned down to kiss him. “God, I love that I can do that whenever I want to.” He slid his hand around the back of Forge’s neck, his heat boring into Forge. Gage didn’t move closer; he simply looked deeply into Forge’s eyes as warmth and comfort spread through him. “I’ll see you soon.” Gage’s hand slipped away, and he hesitated before turning and leaving the room.
Forge pulled his phone out of his pocket, placed it on the table, and listened as the doors closed. He might have heard the garage overhead door go up and down, but he wasn’t sure. Forge did know it was dead quiet as he sat on the sofa, listening and waiting. He checked his watch. If Gage went right to the house and came right back, it would take less than an hour.
He thought of turning on the television, but was too restless to sit still for very long and ended up pacing the room, unsure why he was so nervous. Gage knew how to take care of himself, and he was only going to the house, which Harv had been keeping an eye on for him, so this shouldn’t be too big a deal. Still, his nerves wouldn’t settle down.
Forge jumped when his phone vibrated on the table. He yanked it to his ear, answering it with fumbling fingers.
“It’s Harvey.” He sounded breathless. “Someone set the house on fire. The fire department has been called, and Gage is on his way to pick you up. He said to be ready and he’ll bring you back.”
Forge went cold as his imagination took over, picturing flames shooting out of the windows. “Okay. I’ll be waiting.” He hung up and didn’t know what he should do first. He sort of stopped and started, wondering what was going to be left of his home when he got there. Then he hurried through the office, closing the doors behind him, and stepped outside. His head spun, and he desperately needed some fresh air.
The sun shone brightly, but all Forge could think about was the house and what was happening. He hoped the damage wasn’t too bad, but if someone had set a fire, then he had no illusions about what he was going to be walking into. It was going to be bad.
Forge closed the door and leaned against the building, watching the driveway for when Gage came back.
He knew his mistake as soon as a black car turned around the side of the building, then skidded to a stop. Forge turned back to the door, but strong arms encircled his waist, pulling him off his feet and into the back seat of the car. He was still kicking as the door slammed closed behind him, and they peeled out.
“You really thought you were going to be able to get the better of us?” a guy asked from the front seat.
Forge lifted his gaze as Stanley Lucci turned from the passenger seat to glare at him. Forge knew he was dead. He’d seen the boss’s son and could ID him. This was kidnapping, and they were never going to let him get out of this alive.