Permanent Lines (25 page)

I looked up at her, studying her confidence. She wasn’t showing any sense of regret
or distress about following through. She was good … cool as a fucking cucumber.

Dammit, she was amazing!

I grabbed her face in my hands with authority. “I love you,” I said hoarsely, “so
fucking much.” I kissed her long and hard, reveling in the sensation of her tongue
on mine, praying that everything would be okay.

We were breathless when we separated, our bodies so full of every goddamn emotion.
It was unreal how much passion and devotion we could show each other in just a brief,
simple kiss, because even though our relationship was anything but simple at the moment
on the outside, our love, affection, and the way our lips and bodies connected when
touching … it was nothing but simple. There was no effort needed. It was real, natural,
and so fucking amazing.

She smiled, our foreheads still touching. “I got this,” she said with a smirk. “We’re
good.”

At 5:15, we pulled up to the curb outside the art studio. Stewart had untraceable
false plates put on a random, tinted-out car for us, which was pretty fucking amazing.
It was only Micah, Amelia and myself that went. Everyone else waited at home with
a separate laptop to listen.

My knees were bouncing uncontrollably as I put the car in park, looking at Amelia
a final time before she went in. “You can still back out,” I reminded her, placing
my hand on her thigh.

She gave me a calming grin. “I’m fine, babe,” she said before leaning over the middle
console to kiss my cheek.

“You better give me a better fuckin’ kiss than that before going in there.” I nodded
my chin towards the entrance.

She smirked and placed her lips on mine, pushing in and resting her hand on my cheek
as she kissed me like a fucking hungry, needy woman that was totally in fucking love
with her man would. “How was that?” she asked with a sly grin.

I tilted my head back and forth, contemplating my answer. “I expect better later,”
I raised my eyebrows, joking, “but that was acceptable to hold me over.”

She shook her head with a smile before pecking me again.

I pulled her arm before she got out, making her turn to look at me. “I love you, baby,”
I said with complete seriousness.

“Love you, babe,” she said and shut the door behind her.

It was then that I let out a huge exhale, revealing the mounds of nerves consuming
my body. I was still a fucking wreck and couldn’t hold it in any longer.

I looked back at Micah. “Everything frozen, man?”

He nodded his head confidently. “We’re good, dude. Everything is in check.”

I exhaled again as I turned to face the entrance Amelia disappeared through just in
time to hear them talk.

“Wha … what the fuck are you doing here?” was the first thing we heard from a male’s
voice. I’m assuming Joey’s.

“Is everyone gone?” Amelia asked, her voice low.

“Yeah … yeah, everyone’s at dinner.”

“They’re frozen,” she said, probably about the cameras.

“Amelia, you gotta get outta here. They’re searching high and low for you … Antonio’s
pissed.”

My stomach turned at the affirmation. Unfortunately for Antonio, I can bet my left
testicle that I wanted him dead more … pissed isn’t even a question with how I felt
about him.

“Yeah, I know, but I need your help.”

There was a pause.

“Do you still want out?” she asked.

Another pause.

“You got a plan?”

Micah and I both exhaled. He was intrigued. That was good.

“We have things in the works, but we need an insider.”

“You know the only way out, Milly.”

Milly?

“And that’s the plan.”

More silence.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m in.”

True to Amelia’s word, exactly five minutes from entering the door, she walked out,
a bright, victorious grin spread across her face. If it was possible to love that
girl any more than I already did, it happened. I was so goddamn proud of her and so
fucking happy that she pulled this off that my heart was swelling with an emotion
that I couldn’t even begin to describe.

As soon as the door closed behind her, I pulled her over the console, kissing her
fiercely. “You are fucking amazing, baby,” I whispered after letting go, turning the
car back on and putting it into drive.

“I knew he’d be in,” she answered confidently as she put her seat belt on.

“Good call, Milly.” I smiled.

She slapped my arm. “It was a nickname. I hate it.”

“Okay, Milly.”

This time I got a full blown punch. “Antonio called me it,” she added with an eyebrow
raised.

“And now I fucking hate it,” I snarled as she grinned, claiming another victory.

This girl was fucking rock star at her shit!

It was a much better feeling walking in when we got back home to the apartment than
walking out earlier. Everyone was already sipping on wine and chatting when we arrived.

Kayla leapt for us before we could even get two feet in. “That went perfect!” she
sing-songed as she gave both Amelia and I a hug.

I think Micah pretty much assumed he wasn’t getting one … at least for a little bit.
Maddy was right there anyway to fill the void.

“Here,” Kayla handed Amelia a glass of wine, “I’m sure you need this.”

I took the glass from Amelia’s hand. “My girl doesn’t drink these pansy drinks—get
her a beer,” I joked, handing the glass back to Kayla, who was already rolling her
eyes.

Miles was next in the line, holding out his hand to give me a congratulatory shake
before giving Amelia a half hug. He was still stiff and not very talkative, as he’d
been all week, which I couldn’t hold against him. He’d already said before that if
their identity were revealed, he and Kayla would be on the next flight out to a random
island, yet he was still here, and helping. They were the epitome of good friends.

“Good to have you home,” he told Amelia with a genuine grin.

She smiled back. “It is.”

We played it chill for the rest of the night. We’d all had enough stress for one day,
so we took it out on the booze and fancy ass wine. You could call it a fun night if
you excluded the lingering situation in the back of all of our heads, but we made
the best of it, getting drunk off our asses instead.

The apartment looked like a fucking frat house the next morning, and poor Mrs. Doubtfire
was cleaning away when I moseyed out into the living room. I hoped Miles paid this
woman well!

I laughed when I saw Miles hanging off the recliner. How fun would it be to post a
picture of that somewhere—New York City’s richest man passed out drunk, his suit a
hot mess. That’d get the media’s attention in no time.

The fucking media!

They stalk Miles and Kayla like fucking psychos. One of those paparazzi assholes must
be involved with the Antonacci family!

I shook Miles awake immediately.

He sprang to life instantly. “What? What?”

“It was the paparazzi—they had to have given some photos or info to Antonio,” I said
in one breath.

He rubbed his face, awakening himself some more. “Fucking assholes,” he swore groggily
and mostly under his breath while he pushed his disheveled hair out of his face. Miles
was very GQ—wavy hair slicked back, always in a suit, well-kept … one of those guys.
He looked almost normal this morning. “I’ll get Stewart on it,” he said, looking around
for his phone. “He knows all those bastards. We’ll find out which one it was and what
information he forwarded.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill ‘em!” I said through gritted teeth.

Miles held up his hand while he sat up, adjusting himself. “Calm down, Drake. You’ll
be spilling as much blood as Antonio and his guys if you get this fired up with every
asshole.”

I exhaled, agreeing.
When did I turn into a blood-driven, malicious whackjob?
This whole … thing is driving me to the fucking loony bin. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right.”

“This is what happens when you get involved with these people. I warned you,” he schooled.
“They have people working for them in every direction. They won’t stop until they’ve
found what they’re looking for.”

“That’s refreshing,” I kidded.

He stood, fixing his tie. “I feel good about this, actually. It’s more than I’ve ever
been involved with, but Antonio’s ring is one of the weakest as of now. I wouldn’t
disregard their power; however, they’re not who they think they are, or once were,
either.”

I nodded my head. Small mercies, I guess. “We just gotta figure them out, find their
weakness.”

“We’ve got Joey coming over this evening. Hopefully we’ll be able to pull enough from
what he knows. I’d like this to be over soon.”

“That’d be nice,” I agreed. I was ready to have it done yesterday, to go on with life
and be with my girl like normal people. I didn’t care where that was, but I was ready
regardless.