Breaking Conviction by Greer Rivers

Chapter Eighteen

It’d been eight days since Naomi and Thea began staying at BlackStone and Wes didn’t know if he’d ever get used to it. When they’d first gotten there, it’d taken every ounce of his willpower not to hover over them, especially when she’d refused to let Wes help tend to her injuries. Thankfully, Devil reassured him that they were just surface wounds, and nothing vital was in jeopardy.

Since then, he’d secured Naomi’s phone so Dean couldn’t track her, but otherwise had carefully avoided her. He’d wanted her to get settled in her new safe haven, and hopefully let her come to him.

While he waited for her, he focused all his energy on the developments in the trafficking ring BlackStone was trying to tear down. After crashing the Ashland Elite Scholarship Fundraiser, all the shit in Ashland County had hit the proverbial fan.

Ellie had been kidnapped by an investigator with the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office. Thank God, she’d saved herself and was healthy, safe, and sound now. The investigator wasn’t so lucky and was murdered by the traffickers after having double-crossed them. He’d been corrupt as fuck, but his files had broken some major ground in the case, revealing damning evidence on many ‘elite’ citizens of Ashland County.

The authorities were particularly interested in the partners of Ascot, Rusnak, and Strickland, LLC, a law firm that BlackStone always thought had its hand in the trafficking ring. When the BlackStone Crew crashed the party, they caught Mitchell Strickland with his pants down—literally—while eight women were being held hostage by two Russians who BlackStone suspected were henchmen.

Once Strickland was arrested, the dominos fell and it’d been extremely satisfying to watch each pompous bastard topple over. The feds were already looking for Andrew Ascot and Dmitri Rusnak for similar crimes.

Now the goal was to get Strickland to talk to them, followed by the rest of the trafficking scum in whatever alea iacta est meant and the organization behind the ring.

Wes opened the door to his BlackStone Securities studio apartment while tugging his black Henley over his head. With the fabric already covering his face, he paused at a feminine gasp.

Shit.The residential floor wasn’t all men anymore. The fact that he’d forgotten about the woman he’d been obsessing over for months was a testament to how stuck in his thoughts he’d been.

He pulled down the Henley the rest of the way quickly to see that Naomi had been staring at his abs. The desire in her eyes made him stifle a groan, but he did his best to keep his cool.

“Wes!” Little footfalls echoed down the glazed concrete flooring coming from the living room common area. He kneeled down with his arms wide, barely readying himself in time for Thea to collapse into him.

“Floor is lava, Wes! Floor is lava! You can’t put me down!”

He lifted her up high and spun her around before pretending to set her down. She giggled and lifted her legs up to keep from touching the ground. Her crown went lopsided as she yelled about the ‘floor of lava’ that was too hot for her to stand on. He repeated the movements as he tossed her around all the way to the dining room in the center of the residential floor.

“Again! Again!” Her squeals of joy went straight to his heart as he raised her one last time and stood her on top of the dining room table. “We-ess! I can’t be on a table!”

“Well, where else am I going to put you? Everywhere else is lava.”

She screeched with laughter before shouting with a toothy grin. “Throw me up high again! Again! Again!”

He smiled wide and began to pick her up again, but Naomi stopped him with a hand on his bicep.

“Thea, we talked about this. You gotta leave this poor man alone.”

Wes felt his eyebrows furrow before he switched gears and waggled them, teasing Naomi. “No she doesn’t. Playing with Princess T is one of the highlights of my day. Only second to seeing her mom, of course.”

Naomi narrowed her eyes as Thea ignored her and reached for him. Her mother intercepted her, though, and gently picked her up from the table to set her down on the ground.

“Playing the floor is lava once a day is enough, baby. It’s too early for all that right now and I’m sure Wes has work to do. You don’t want to get him tired.”

Wes settled his hands on his waist and raised a brow at her. “It takes a lot to get me tired, you know.”

Heat passed over Naomi’s eyes before she ducked her head. “T go back to watch TV, I’ll be there in a minute—”

“But, Mommy. Phoe-nik won’t let me watch my show.” Thea’s speech was perfect with a little southern twang like her mom’s, but she still had trouble staying the ‘x’ in Phoenix’s name, so she always said it very carefully. “Wes, will you tell him to move to let me watch Merida? Mommy won’t do it.” She glared up at her mom and Wes bit back a laugh at Naomi’s widened eyes.

“No ma’am! Theresa Jane Ward, don’t you dare look at me with that tone of voice. Your grandmomma woulda tanned my hide if I’d talked to her that way.”

The little imp looked the opposite of contrite as she tugged on the hem of Wes’s shirt. “Help me, please.”

Wes glanced at Naomi, who had a hand on one hip and was massaging a temple with her other. “Go for it. Girl’s been wearin’ me out already and it’s only eight in the mornin’.”

Wes chuckled and let Thea take him by the hand, leading him to the common room in her bare feet and signature green princess costume.

Her gorgeous, but exhausted, mom followed behind in a baggy sweater and leggings. Naomi’s dark auburn hair was piled on top of her head with loose curly tendrils hanging out. He fucking loved it.

He caught Naomi’s eye and winked before he nodded toward Thea.

“Must be tiring, huh?” he asked Naomi in an exaggerated voice. “Being bossed around by a three-year-old all the time.”

Naomi’s brow furrowed and she opened her mouth until Thea scoffed. Immediately, her face relaxed, seemingly figuring out his joke. The little princess dropped his hand before crossing her arms and pouting her adorable bottom lip. “I’m four Wes. And I told you. Mommy says I ain’t bossy. I’m the boss.”

“I know. I know. You ain’t bossy. You’re the boss. I apologize, Princess T. It’ll never happen again.” Wes couldn’t keep a straight face and a chuckle rolled out of him. Thea smiled, showing all her teeth, before continuing her way to the living room.

“That was even funnier than I thought it’d be...” Wes wiped a laughing tear from his eye before looking at Naomi again. At the odd look on her face, he stopped following Thea and turned to her mother. “Naomi, what’s wrong?”

After blinking several times, she cleared her throat. “Um... nothing. I just—you’re really good with her, is all.”

Wes smiled at her, his chest puffing with a light airy feeling, but he couldn’t miss the opportunity to tease her. “That’s two now, you know.”

She tilted her head. “‘Two’ what?”

He shrugged with a wider grin. “Two compliments. Careful, my queen, or I might think you’re actually beginning to like me.”

Her immediate scowl almost made him feel bad for calling her out, but a twinkle of warmth in her campfire gold and brown eyes encouraged him.

Joking with her was the highlight of his day, and he opened his mouth to tease her about her lip trying to twitch into a smile when there was a shouted curse word from the other room. He tensed when the slaps of bare feet echoed back to them.

“Wes! Mommy! Phoe-nik said a bad word!”

“Phoenix...” He growled before beelining the rest of the way through the communal kitchen into the living room. Phoenix had the remote in one hand and the other holding his hat off above his head as he tugged his hair in frustration. His eyes were wide with dark circles underneath them and he was muttering under his breath. “What the fu—he—heck, man?” He caught himself before introducing two new words into Thea’s vocabulary.

“Dude, I’m sorry. But look—”

He pointed to the screen and Wes followed his finger to see the headline.

DMITRI RUSNAK FOUND DEAD

“What the... turn it up.”

For once, Phoenix did as he was told and the newswoman’s concerned tone filled the large room.

“This just in. While authorities are still looking for Andrew Wilton Ascot III, Dmitri Rusnak, another man believed to be part of the human trafficking ring in Ashland County, has been found dead. Authorities have been looking for him for two days, only for a jogger to find his body in the river on her morning run—”

“Holy—”

“Hawk! Devil! Come out here!” Phoenix yelled loud enough for his voice to echo across the second-floor residence hall.

After only a second, both men burst from their rooms, half dressed. Ellie followed closely behind Devil while tying her robe.

“What’s going on?” Hawk asked, immediately taking control of an unknown situation.

“Just look at this shit, dude,” Phoenix answered.

Hawk and Devil watched as the reporter kept speaking about Rusnak, one of the partners of the Ascot, Rusnak, and Strickland firm that had a warrant out for his arrest.

“—gunshot wound to the head.”

The women gasped and Naomi turned to her daughter.

“Oh, god, um T? Go to our room, baby—”

“But Mommy I wanna watch—”

Naomi bent and wrapped her hands around Thea’s shoulders. “Listen to me, T. Go watch the TV in our room, okay? Please?”

Thea must’ve understood the urgency in her mother’s voice. She nodded and fixed her crown before she walked to their room on the other end of the hall. Once her little feet were out of earshot and the door closed, Wes spoke.

“You think it was a job?”

“Sure fuckin’ sounds like one. Goddamnit,” Phoenix answered, a look of rage on his face as he kicked the bottom of the black leather L-shaped couch.

“A job? Wh-what’s that mean?” Naomi asked.

Wes blew out a breath. “It means the people we thought—or hoped—might be in charge of the trafficking ring… most definitely are not and this is far from over.”

“Oh god.” Naomi’s eyes widened and Wes couldn’t fight back the strong urge to comfort her. He cradled the back of her head with one hand and wrapped the other arm around her small body, bringing her into his chest. The vanilla and sugar scent from her hair teased his nostrils as he massaged the back of her head, loosening her wild auburn bun even further.

He kept his eyes on the screen as he spoke to Hawk in a low voice. “We need to get ahead of this.”

He knew Naomi could take whatever they were talking about, but her ear was to his chest as she faced away from the TV. If she needed to block everything else out for a moment, he was going to let her do that, too.

“Looks like we’re already behind.” Hawk scrubbed his fade before cursing. “We don’t know who, if anyone, is next.”

“Rusnak was obviously a valuable asset. I wonder if Strickland and Ascot know anything?” Wes asked, mentioning the other partners of the godforsaken firm.

“We gotta find out, dude. This is bullshit. We can’t have gone through all that work for nothing.”

Wes narrowed his eyes at Phoenix. “It’s never for nothing, Phoenix. We saved lives.”

Naomi pulled away from his embrace but stayed close, her shoulder pressed to his. He was grateful for the closeness, that she was considering him safe enough to lean on.

Phoenix rolled his eyes. “Come on, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant, if people who know shit start getting picked off, we’re gonna be up the creek without a goddamn paddle and I, for one, don’t feel like having another mistake like Yemen on my hands. I don’t know about you—”

“Fuck you, Phoenix. Of course I don’t—”

“Enough.” Hawk silenced them. “Okay, they haven’t found Ascot yet, the bastard’s probably in fucking hiding if he knows what’s good for him.”

“Mitchell Strickland’s in the hospital though…” Ellie muttered before raising her voice. “Could someone go talk to him?”

There was a pause before Hawk nodded. “That’s an idea… except—”

“Except Devil fuckin’ shot the guy. I doubt he wants to be besties with us anytime soon.”

Wes hated to admit it, but Phoenix had a point. He racked his brain for a solution before Naomi spoke up. “H-he... he didn’t see Wes though, right? Since Wes was controlling everything from BlackStone? Maybe he won’t have the same, erm, reservations?”

Wes appraised her with an encouraging smile before nodding. “Yeah... that could work. We could call Marco to see if he has contacts who could get us an interview. Or hell, there’s also Henry.” Officer Henry Brown was a deputy with the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office and had grown instrumental in their mission to dissolve this trafficking ring. Some of what he offered them was off-the-record help, but the risks he was taking were invaluable to the cause. “Maybe he can ask him if he’ll talk to me? The worst he could say is no.”

Hawk nodded. “Sounds like a plan. The sooner the better. We have to figure out what these motherfuckers know. We’ve finally got people on the inside… we can’t let this opportunity go to waste.”

“Got it, I’ll call them,” Phoenix offered and Wes narrowed his eyes before shrugging. The man never volunteered to do anything, but hell, if he was going to start now, why not?

“Good. Snake” —Hawk jutted his chin at him— “get whatever you might need for an interview. Dress on the DL. They won’t let you into his room if they know you’re packing, if you feel me.”

“Noted.” He nodded and—out of habit—turned about face to his room.

Naomi followed quickly behind him. When they made it to the hall on the other side of the kitchen, she pulled his arm, stopping him. “Wait... Wes, is this safe? Y-you’ll be okay, right?”

Wes hated the fear in her eyes and he hated it even more that he was the cause, so he decided to lighten the mood. “Aw, Naomi, see there you go again. Letting me know you like me so much.”

He could tell her first reaction was to scowl, but the worry on her face held steadfast. Dropping the act, he turned to her and cupped her shoulders with his hands, bending to see deep into those amber fire eyes.

“I’ll be fine, Naomi, okay? First off, I’m not sure if they’ll even let me—”

“Strickland says he’ll talk! He’ll meet with you and Marco but he wants to do it ASAP,” Phoenix called from the other room, his voice echoing against the concrete industrial decor and Wes nodded once, his stomach turning in anticipation. It’d been a while since he was physically on assignment, but the adrenaline always felt like a jolt of excited energy.

Phoenix’s message seemed to have the opposite effect on Naomi. Her eyes widened and she started to shake.

“Hey, hey, hey, Naomi, I’ll be fine. I might be a computer nerd, but I’ve been in the field plenty of times.” He cradled her face in his hands, his thumbs stroking just above her jawline, and he marveled at the fact that she was letting him touch her at all. The high from his assignment and her soft skin under his fingertips sent pulses of need to his cock. But he tamped it down. Her level of vulnerability only went to show how terrified she was. “I was trained for this, baby, and it’s just an interview. That’s it. I’ll be a glorified reporter, okay?”

“Sometimes training doesn’t give a shit about a bullet though.”

At her whisper, he realized what she was afraid of and he cursed himself for not realizing his leaving was about more than just him. No doubt she was thinking about what had happened to her dad.

“Listen, I’ll be strapped. They just won’t know it. And I will come home, I promise you. Okay?”

Finally, she nodded and swallowed. She closed her eyes and took a long breath in and out before opening them again. He watched in disappointment as her proverbial steel walls raised back up. She backed away and nodded again.

“Well, um. Good luck.”

He straightened, warring with himself as to whether he should try to ease her worries anymore or if he should let her pretend away her fear. But something told him she wouldn’t feel better until he came back.

“Snake, you ready?” Hawk asked, clapping him on the shoulder with his large hand, Phoenix behind him. “We need to get going, brother.”

“Shit, I have to go, Naomi.”

Wes watched helplessly as Naomi completely shut herself off and retreated into the fortress she’d no doubt erected long ago. She’d probably perfected her defenses over the past five years with that asshole of an ex-fiancé.

“Like I said, good luck.” Her voice broke on the last as she turned away and walked to the apartment she and Thea had been staying in. The steel door closed behind her, creating a deafening separation that Wes felt cut deep into his soul.