"How do you get colors like that wrong?" I said as I let out an exasperated sigh.

Torez laughed beside me. It had been hell trying to get the artist to use the right colors for the club. When he had dropped off the canvases, originally, they were neon with splashes of grey and white. The problem was that the ones that were supposed to go in the main area, were supposed to be black with shades of deep red. 

"He said he was putting up two different shows in town. I'm sure that kept him busy," Torez speculated.

"True, but even the smaller pieces, for the bathrooms, were wrong. I just don't know why it took you guys so long to track him down. I'm glad he didn't fuck off, again." My phone buzzed. A security alert from home.

Security Alert: Front door

"Hey Torez, bring up the cameras at my building."

Sitting in the oversized office of the club, we had the screen space to bring up different feeds and Torez was a genius with computers. Within seconds, he had my building on the screens. 

As we watched, Remi moved quickly. I would recognize her ass anywhere. The fitted jeans gave her away. The black hoodie was mine, but it didn't have anything identifiable on it. 

"Where are you going?" I wondered aloud.

"Wait, is that Remi?" Torez sounded shocked as we watched her glide past the front desk. 

The attendant smiled kindly and asked her something. She paused briefly at the door as she turned to answer him before continuing. He had been asked to call us if there was trouble and we watched as he picked up his phone and dialed. My phone rang with his call.

"Yes?" I answered as I stared at the screen.

"Mr. Moretti, you asked to call if there was trouble. I want to assure you that there is no trouble, sir, but your lady is leaving."  His voice was hushed as he tried to be discrete about calling me.

"Did she say where she was going?"

"No, sir. There are no cars out front. Would you like me to follow her?"

Little did he know, I was watching the same surveillance that he was. He was right, there were no cars out front, on the side, or on the street. She had access to my keys, she could have taken the car, but she didn't. I watched as she left the building and headed towards the road. 

"No, but thank you for calling me." Ending the call, I turned to Torez. "Is she wearing it?"

"Looks like it. It is moving." He had pulled his tablet out and had the tracking system up. "I can't believe she didn't notice it!"

"You're just that good at hiding the little shit!" The necklace I'd given her had a small tracker installed on the underside of the charm.

"Well, all I can say, is good timing, boss. Didn't you give her the necklace today?"

The red dot on the tablet told us that she had walked up a block and stopped. I was barely listening to Torez and more concerned with where Remi was going. "Yeah," was all that I managed.

I tried to call her phone, but it went straight to voicemail. 

Hendrix should have been in her area, so I quickly dialed him. 

"Boss is everythi.." cutting him off before he could finish. I knew I needed to stay calm. Who knew where she was headed. It could have been that she was headed to find me.

"Where are you?"

"Dalton's, near Fairfax."

"How quickly can you get to my place?"

"At this time of night, 30 minutes. Why? What's going on?"

"I need you. Get your guys and meet me there."

"Arm up?"

"Yes, I'm not sure what we are getting into, but we need to be ready."

"On it. We will meet you at your place."

Wherever she was headed, she would have a good 45 minute lead on us. 

Thinking back to the afternoon, there hadn't been anything that stood out in her behavior, except when we had gotten her home. Asleep in my arms, she had mumbled something. What had she said? 'Did you find him?'

"Shit!" mumbling into my chest.

"What?" Torez looked up from the tablet, befuddled.

"What if she thought you and I were talking about her ex?"

"What are you talking about?" Torezwasn't following my train of thought, so I backtracked.

"When you called me earlier. I told you to keep an eye on him and not let him go anywhere." Trying to piece the day together. "What if she thought I was referring to her ex, Ben?"

"Oh, fuck! You don't think she would actually go track him down, do you?"

"Have you met the woman? She is beyond stubborn. Plus, she was in a long, committed relationship with him. She is going to know his hangouts better than me. I think there maybe one person I can call, but I'm not sure if it will help." I opened my phone and found the number I needed. "Still track her, I have an idea. I just hope this one doesn't kill me for this."

"Hello?"

"I need your help."

"Name it."

"Where would Ben be?"

"¡Mierda! What happened? Where is Remi? ¡Juro por Dios que si algo le pasa, te mataré yo mismo!" (Shit!... I swear to God, if anything happens to her, I will kill you myself!)

"Alexis, please. I don't have time to argue about her safety right now. She has gone off on her own and I need to know where to start." The line went silent. With patience, I waited for her response.

"Probably to Sarah's. She lives outside of DC, the Temple Hills area."

"Ben's sister?"

"Yeah. Sarah is a total 180 from her brother, but her boyfriend, Romeo, is an abusive prick with a nasty violent side. He and Ben have always been close, so Ben probably went to him. Sarah, on the other hand, has always loved Remi. Told her to stay away from him; that she is too good for him."

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes, nearly 100%." I could hear the deep sigh. "Micah, please be careful. Also, she probably took a gun or something she could fight with. When I was there, she said something about wanting to end this and if Ben wouldn't back off, she was going to make him."

"That is what I'm worried about. We were supposed to plan this together."

"Then how the fuck did you let her leave on her own?" She snapped.

"I'm fairly certain she misunderstood something I said on the phone to Torez. We are almost back to the apartment, I'll see about a weapon."

"Wait, you weren't with her? What about your watchdogs? I thought we fucking talked about this!"

"You told me to back off. Told me to trust her."

"¡Cabrón!" (Dumb ass/bastard)

"Lex, text me the address. I have to go, I'll call you later."

"You better. Go take care of our girl."

The conversation went much better than I had thought. At least this time, she wasn't hopping on a plane to kick my ass.

When her text came through with the address, we were pulling into the parking garage of my building. With the tracker and the directions that my phone was giving, Remi was definitely on her way into Maryland. 

It wasn't long before Hendrix and seven of his best guys were at the door. 

I had done a brief sweep of the apartment and found my revolver was gone and her phone was off, on the kitchen counter. I hadn't given it much thought, but Remi must have picked the lock to the desk drawer. I always kept it locked. Smiling to myself, I'd have to remember to ask where she learned that trick.

With dark clothing, vests, and armed with guns and knives, we headed out. Torez and I took the first car with three other men. Following our direction, Hendrix drove the other car with the remaining men.

"Sir," Torez caught my attention when we were about 10 minutes from the destination. "What is the plan?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. Best case scenario is that she thinks she can talk to him and he is clear headed, but it isn't likely. Hopefully nothing has turned violent before we get there."

"But she took your gun, sir."

"I know, and I'm trying not to think why she may have wanted it. Maybe it was just for protection."

"Or maybe she took it because she plans to kill him," he said it hesitantly.  "Do you think that she would be capable of that?"  Torez had a valid point, but I didn't want to believe she was capable of that. With a deep sigh, I focused on the red dot that had stopped at a residence.

"I'm not sure. All I can do is hope for the best." I didn't want to think about the worst-case scenario, but I already had. 

Squeezing my eyes shut, I rubbed the bridge of my nose. A vision of Remi laying in a pool of crimson played through my mind. Ben's lanky body standing over her as he laughed. No matter how much I tried, my gut was heavy and dread was pooling.

"Hey boss, she is on the move again." He focused on his tabled, "Shit, they are moving fast. I have no idea where they are going."

"Don't worry about where just give me directions."

Calling out directions, the other car followed. There weren't any calls or texts, they just fell in line. The way they always had. It had been a year or so since I'd worked with this crew, but we synced and flowed effortlessly.

"Here, she stopped. Turn down this road and we should have eyes on her."

The road was unpaved, and the tree line along it was thick. The moon was full and beaming down, illuminating wherever it's light touched. Shutting off the headlights, we didn't know what we were getting into.

When the tree line cleared, we saw an old farmhouse with a single car in the drive. Pulling into a thick patch of treeline, we cut the engines and climbed out to regroup. The house was barely visible from where we were, but that was what we wanted. We didn't need anyone knowing we were there before we were ready to announce ourselves. 

Faded sounds of tires crunching on the gravel had us all turning attention to the road that led to the house. Small Honda rolled slowly, pulling up beside the car that was already there. 

I didn't need much light to recognize the person who got out. Tall, thin, pants too low, with a huge white T. "Ben."

"That's him?" Torez was next to me. His voice was low as he loaded his pistol. I nodded and he spoke again, "She is in there. That is where the tracker says so, anyway."

From where we stood, I couldn't tell if there were any more people inside the car. The windows were nearly pitch black and the dim lighting didn't help. 

My head wasn't clear as I watched Remi step out onto the large covered porch. The moonlight lit up Ben as he climbed the first few steps. Something didn't feel right. His posture was almost too relaxed.  I let Hendrix run the logistics while I tried to get a better view of what was happening. 

We were too far away to hear their conversation, but behind me, I could hear the men splitting into two teams. One team would take the back of the house and the other would be head-on. As we split, the first team snuck along the edge of the forest, into the large garden and towards the back of the house.

Time seemed to slow as Ben force himself on her. Her hands came up, quick, pushing him back as she brought her knee up to shove off of him, landing him on his ass. As she turned to run into the house, there was a glint of metal by Ben's waist, but it was too late.

The loud crack resonated through the woods, causing me to shake. My heart pounded in my ears as Ben let loose two more shots in Remi's direction. I heard one of the men yell orders over my shoulder. I'm not sure who, but everyone listened. Everyone except me, I couldn't look away from my nightmare unfolding infant of me.

Ben was fast, on his feet and slamming his body into the front door as Remi shut it behind her.

The world exploded as my men moved. I hadn't even realized I was running until I was passed by Torez. He placed himself in front of me, shielding me from any incoming threat.

Ben's men climbed out of the Honda. More came from the neighboring property. It was a small reminder that we were on turf that we didn't know well enough. At a quick glance, he had at least a dozen with him.

I'm not sure who fired first, but gunshots shattered the night's silence.

All I could think about was Remi. I didn't know if she was injured or dead. I did know that she wasn't clear. My thoughts numbed me and my adrenaline surged. This was war. I was ready to fight.

I needed to find her.

I needed to protect her and all I knew, was that I had been seeing red.

His men fell back as we surged forward, towards the door. Ben and I met eye contact for a split second before he ran behind his car. At that moment, I didn't give two shits about him, I needed to put eyes on Remi to make sure she was okay.

Gaining a clear path to the front door, I intended to go full speed at it to knock it down, but as I reached the top step Hendrix swung it wide open.

Scanning the room, she wasn't in my sightline from the door. I heard a woman's voice from the kitchen and headed in her direction. 

Dalton was restraining a blond woman who was shouting profanities.

"Get the fuck off of me! Let me go, you motherfucker!" She writhed against his broad chest, doing her best to kick, jab, and scratch at any surface of him, she could.

"Calm, sweet thing. We are here to help." Dalton bent his head to her ear. Big mistake. The blond thew her head back and made perfect contact with Dalton's face. 

"You're not helping, asshat" She jabbed him hard in the stomach with her pointed elbow, forcing his loosened grip to release her. "I need to get the fucking bullet out!" She ran across the kitchen to where Remi lay on the counter. I followed.

Unconscious. I scanned her body. Her skin was paler than usual, not good. Chest rising and falling, good. One leg of her jeans had been cut away, exposing a bullet wound, not good. Counter covered in bloodied towels, hydrogen peroxide, scissors, and needle nose pliers, not good.

Shit! My words didn't come out. My body felt like it had been filled with cement and I couldn't move.

"You can help her?" It was Hendrix at my side asking what I wanted to ask.

"I know you don't know me, but I've removed more bullets from those damn idiots," waving her hand towards the front door, "that an armory would by fucking jealous." It was clear she was referring to Ben and the others who had been shooting at us. "I've got her, but now that you're here you can protect us while I fucking finish."

Flicking my finger in the direction of the door, the men moved. I moved to the opposite side of Remi. "What can I do?"

"Sewing kit and rubbing alcohol. Both should be in the bathroom around the corner. Also, a clean towel. Should be in the drawer next to the sink. I followed her instructions and placed them on the small space of the counter that was somewhat clean.

Holding Remi's hand, I whispered to her as the blond kept working. "Amore mio, rimani con me. Ti prego, tesoro, non posso farlo senza di te." (My love, stay with me. Please, honey, I can't do this without you.)

"You're cute for a badass," the woman said. She pulled the slug from Remi's thigh before she continued. "You must be her Micah."

"Her Micah?" I liked the sound of that. I finally looked up at the blond. She didn't look like Ben, but this had to be Sarah. 

"You know she isn't going to die, right?" She looked at me as she reached for the sewing kit. Rinsing the needle in the alcohol. "Nothing vital was hit but she will be in a lot of pain and might have a limp, but she will heal."

"You understood me?"

"I speak Spanish. Some words sound the same, but others are different. That, and I fucked with an Italian guy at the end of high school." Focusing on her stitch work, her words slowed. "Some guy, an exchange student or some shit." She finished and snipped the string, pressing the clean towel into Remi's leg before grabbing my hand and pressing it to where hers had been. "It doesn't need pressure, just hold. I need to wash up and piss."

Without any other words, she left me standing with Remi. Holding the towel to her with one hand, I slipped the other into hers. 

This was not how I saw this going down. Feeling like I'd failed her, again. I ran through my next moves.

The gunfire had stopped and most of the men entered the kitchen. Judging by their absence, Dalton, Hendrix, and Torez were patrolling or keeping lookout.

Remi had worn on me. I thought of something that would probably get me in trouble with Giovanni, but it had to happen. Ben wouldn't die. For him, he would get worse.

***

A/N- Seriously, only (maybe) 4 chapters left!

xoxo

Please don't forget to give me feedback, vote, or share! 

Thanks for reading <3