Gus's secretary knocked on his office door and poked her head in. "Ms. Callahan is here to see you," she said, her brows lifting.

"Send her in." Man, this day just keeps getting better and better.

The young woman who walked in never failed to amaze him. Platinum blonde hair, blue eyes, wide pouty lips, and an abundance of curves stopped in front of his desk. She was the kind of woman who had most men drooling.

"Hello, Michelle. Is it the end of the month already?" Gus drawled, his eyes roaming freely.

"My father is trying his best. It doesn't help that you invite him to parties where the gambling is as abundant as the alcohol."

"Your father has been in debt to us for ten years now. Do you really think he is going to change?"

"You could cut him off! You have that within your power."

He stood and walked around his desk to stop in front of her. "Your Daddy is a grown man. Isn't it better that he deals with someone you know rather than some two bit hustler out on the street?" Reaching up, he brushed back the silky, silvery strands that touched her shoulder, not in the least bit insulted by the stiffening in her spine or the way she averted her gaze. "Does he know you come here every month to earn an extension on his due dates?"

Her eyes snapped to his. "No! . . . It would kill him."

"Hmmm." He drew his hand down from her shoulder to her breast and pinched a nipple while admiring those full lips he knew so well.

She slapped his hand away, her eyes fierce and threatening.

Instant hard-on.

Grabbing her by the neck, he yanked her against his body. "One of these days I'm going to teach you a lesson."

She held his stare until—always the dutiful daughter—her resolve weakened and her eyes dropped.

"But for now, I'll settle for the usual payment."

He walked over to lock the office door.

Too bad, Gus said to himself as he made his way back to her. When he undid his fly and she dropped to her knees, he thought it ironic that he would have done as she asked, cut her father off, if only she were more of a challenge to him.

)l(

Still bristling from the previous day in court, Virginia's mood was sour as she stopped by the gym before heading into work for the afternoon shift. At least the reporters had moved on after some reality show television star had been pulled over in North Hollywood and charged with a DUI. Fresh meat as they say.

A blonde head turned in her direction as she pulled open the front door.

"Jessica?" she said, startled to find the young girl standing in the entranceway, even more startled by her outward appearance. "You look—"

"Back to normal?" Jessica smiled a little. "A shocker, isn't it?"

"You look fantastic."

"Thank you," she murmured, a shadow darkening her youthful face as she looked down at her clasped hands.

Oh no, Virginia thought. "Do I need to go after Cortez?"

"No!" Flaxen hair slid across her shoulders with the adamant shaking of her head. "I'm just sad, that's all. My family is . . . we're moving. Because of me. The east coast—Boston. Ivy League dreams and all."

"That's great."

Jessica rolled her eyes.

"I had to tell them," Virginia said softly. She wasn't about to apologize, but she did want to explain. "I was concerned when you didn't come see me. I felt I had to."

Jessica waved her hand in the air. "I know. It's fine." She pivoted and took a long look around the gym as if to stamp it into memory. "Cortez agreed with you," she said, peeking back over her shoulder to get Virginia's reaction.

Her face must have reflected her shock, going by Jessica's girlish giggle.

After running her eyes over everything one last time, Jessica turned back to her. "He encouraged me to fess up to my parents, go back to school, embrace the opportunities he never had. He's pretty smart actually."

"Wow."

Jessica nodded. "He likes you. I think it's because you are the only one who will stand up to him."

"Well . . . I'll have to use that to my advantage."

Another giggle. Then dark eyes lowered as she muttered, "He's a lot nicer than he pretends to be . . . when it's just the two of us alone together."

It's because of Cortez, Virginia realized. He's the reason she doesn't want to move.

Jessica sighed and tilted her head back, her eyes searching the ceiling. "It's a lot of pressure . . . pleasing my parents. They have such high expectations-first college, then med school. I guess I needed to spend some time in a dead end before I could appreciate the long, difficult road ahead of me." She paused and leveled her stare. "I got scared when that boy, Simon, died. Life can be so short sometimes."

Virginia felt herself wince at Simon's name.

Jessica brought a hand up to her mouth. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned him. I know you two were close."

"Did you know Simon?" Virginia managed to say, pushing through the grief and the guilt and the memory of Mark's voice tearing her apart with, You don't have the right to speak his name.

"No"—she shrugged—"not really. Nothing beyond a little flirting." But her face gave her away. There was something more there—regret, perhaps.

Virginia reached out to touch her shoulder. "You would have made a cute couple."

Jessica folded her arms, holding on tight to her sides.

Wanting to focus her on the future, Virginia forced a smile, saying, "You'll do great things. Don't be afraid to meet challenges head on. Look at me for heaven's sake." She swung her hand wide to take in the industrial square footage surrounding them. "If I can do it, you can too."

The shy smile that lit up the young face revealed what a great beauty she was on the brink of becoming.

"Soon you'll have your own gang"—Virginia brought her hand up to cup Jessica's chin—"of admirers."

Jessica blushed.

"You'll keep in touch?"

A self-conscious nod was her only answer.

Virginia put an arm around the girl's shoulders as they walked in silence to the door. When Jessica reached for the handle, she hesitated, uncertainty lining her brow and tugging down the edges of her mouth. "I overheard Cortez talking one day," she said in a hushed tone.

Virginia dropped her arm and turned them face-to-face, her whole body prickling with curiosity. "About?"

Jessica bit her lip, clearly uncomfortable with repeating Cortez's words.

"It's okay. I won't tell him, I promise."

With a nod, she continued, "He said, 'Some of the friends the lieutenant chooses are not to be trusted.' "

Virginia did a little side-to-side head wobble. "Yeah, well, the whole world knows that after the last few—"

"I don't think he was talking about him." Her eyes scanned the gym as if she expected to find someone listening. Leaning in closer, she whispered, "You have a price on your head."

Virginia took a step back, feeling like she'd just gotten slapped.

"I don't know much about it, but Cortez had laughed when he mentioned it, saying they would never find a cop killer for that pittance."

Taking a deep breath, hoping to level off the spike in her heartbeat, Virginia's voice shook on the exhale when she said, "Did he happen to mention a name?" Jesus, did she even want an answer to that question?

"No . . ." Jessica's brows drew together. "But Mr. Spinelli's name did come up later. The rumor on the street is that he's offered his own reward: One million to anyone willing to kill the person who even tries to harm you."

Virginia spun on her heels to face the cameras. "Did he now," she bit out.

"I thought that part was kinda romantic," Jessica all but gushed.

Oh, the naiveté of youth, Virginia thought. More than likely it was guilt that had led to such heroics. If he hadn't brought her into his world and then left her alone to face the music, she wouldn't be in this position now. Or would I? she wondered. Perhaps she was being too bitter. After all, it was the gym and the Green Soldiers that had the Chilvatis lashing out. None of that would have changed if—

Her cell phone beeped, interrupting her thoughts. She pulled it out to see a text waiting from Walt. He was supposed to meet her at the gym so they could drive to work together. It was something he had insisted on doing since becoming partners, and she had been hard pressed to deny him since she had been denying him in so many other ways. Still, she found it—

He knows! Suddenly, it all made sense. Her eyes flew to Dominique teaching in the ring. They all know: Walt, Dominique, Paul, Cap . . . How many others?

"I'd better go," Jessica said. "My parents are waiting. I just wanted to come say goodbye and . . . warn you."

"Thank you, Jessica. I'm so glad you did." Virginia pulled her into an embrace. "Good luck, sweetheart."

After watching Jessica climb into an awaiting car piled high with luggage, Virginia pulled out her phone to read Walt's message:

WE HAVE YOUR PARTNER. WAREHOUSES ON WASHINGTON ST. COME ALONE OR HE'S DEAD.

With fingers that shook, she punched in his number. When there was no answer, she started to panic.

Oh, God—they had Walt.

)l(

Mark was concentrating on the digits flashing across his screen. There was a lumber company they'd had their eye on that had been struggling over the last few years. Waiting for the right time to buy in was always a numbers game, but he sensed the price was on the verge of bottoming out. Of course, acquiring a business of this size had its complications and would command much of his attention, but he had no problem with that. Being busy was keeping him sane, keeping him focused. Keeping him from thinking of her.

His cell phone rang. He ignored it, not in the mood to talk to anyone.

Moments later Lisa was at his office door. "Your driver is trying to get you," she said, pointing to the phone sitting atop his desk.

With a nod he picked up the extension. "What's up, Louis?" he muttered, distracted by summary data for the stock price.

"Some of Gus's men left the garage about an hour ago, and a friend of mine just said it has something to do with a cop."

Mark shot up from the desk so fast he sent his chair rocketing into the wall behind him. His fist strangled the phone as he yelled, "Where?"

"I'll find out."

The phone went dead.

Ten minutes later Mark was in his car and about to head over to the garage, ready to beat the information out of someone if he had to. When his cell went off again, a quick glance confirmed it was Louis.

"Where?" he growled, shoving the Ferrari into first.

"They've gone to the main warehouses."

Mark pushed down hard on the accelerator. "Call Captain Beal," he shouted over the screech of his own tires.

"I'm on it."

Mark threw down the phone, turning his full concentration back to the road passing quickly beneath him.

END OF CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Yikes. Get ready. The next few chapters are pretty intense.

I know some of you have been anxiously waiting for Mark to get his act together!!!! Me too ;) Therefore, I'm going to post another chapter within the next 24 hours. Check back tomorrow, Sunday, to get your Mark fix. Be sure to tell me what you think!

PS: As I was searching for a perfect banner picture, my husband, the car geek, happened to notice and told me to look up Ferrari Enzo. He had no idea why I started to laugh. I had no idea there was a Ferrari called Enzo. Is that weird or what?

As always, thank you for the reads, votes, and feedback <3<3<3