MASON (Second Chance Novels Book 2) (25 page)

"Hey, Junior" he says. I smile at his endearment.
 

He chuckles and gets himself a snack from my kitchen before sitting down.
 

"Now tell me why I had to haul my ass halfway across the country for you."

"Simple. I need you here."

I spend over an hour telling him about Cam's abduction and my internal nuclear fallout after. I confess to unintentionally fucking with Shelby's heart, and I quietly share my connection with Sofia, including her past and recent attacks, and her knowledge of
my
past. He needs to have the entire picture.
 

"
Lei è la mia fenice
," I say, falling easily into the Italian we learned together. I spoke with more emotion than I intended.
She is my phoenix.
"You won't believe her, even when you meet her."

He continues to sit and listen for as long as I speak. Not once does he interrupt or ask for more information. He knows how this works. The 'intel' about my life will be shared with efficiency, then he'll have time to analyze and respond. He takes a heavy breath and looks me dead in the eye…less than a minute after I complete my story.

"So I'm here to take down Bennett? Bullshit. You can deal with him yourself. Why am I really here?"

I regard Bash with the same piercing stare. "You're here because it's time to move on. I can't be a fucking bartender anymore. Not after all this reminded me."

"No shit," he says. "But you still haven't answered my question."

"You and me, Bash. I've kept tabs, and I know you're the only one still roaming. Stay here. We take what we know and work it in the private sector. Investigations, personal security, event security, home fortifications," I say. "No one with a dishonorable discharge can get a job like that. But I sure as fuck can create one. A few million people in one city is more than enough to support a business like that. I have connections now. I can make this happen."

"What makes you think I'll simply pick up and hang my shingle outside your door?"

"
Our
door. You know this is a good path."

"Fuck," he says, shaking his head. "I hate it when your ass makes sense."

I smirk. "Bennett's our first project."

"
Bullshit
," he repeats, shaking his head at my apparent idiocy. "You and your woman need to finish that fight, and you know it."

I look at the table top and furrow my brow. "Between her attack and the rape threats, I want to keep her away from it."

"If she's half of what you said, she'd have your balls for saying that."

I smirk. "True, but still, I'll feel better if we have a man on the inside."

His specialty has everything to do social infiltration. Knowing him, he can be in tight with the mayor within days of meeting him. Bennett won't know what hit him. Callen Reed can turn on the charm and work any angle he needs. He is a skilled manipulator. We can use that, and Sofia won't turn down another asset, especially one who won't interrupt our own side of the work. Having a man on the inside can only help.
 

"We've been too public to play Bennett's ally. You ready to dust off your tux?" I ask.

"James bond has nothing on this fine piece of ass," he grins. I can only smile at my old friend.

Bash and I don't bother reminiscing over our old Army days. There's little about our past we need to chat about. The ugly shit doesn't need the spotlight, and the good parts stay with us without words. Moving forward with Callen as a business partner will be effortless. With Sofia beside me, I'll be able to fly rather than only survive. Suddenly, my existence has hope. I won't have to force anything, not even the simple job I've kept for nearly two years. I'll have my brother, I'll use my skill, and I'll love Sofia. I will be exactly what I'm supposed to be. My chest might explode simply at the thought.
 

Only about five minutes later, Sofia walks through the front door in all her badass glory, looking beautiful and sexy, even after a stressful day on the job. Bash's jaw drops when he sees her. It's a damn good thing brothers respect each other's women, or I'd be beating his playboy ass off her right now.
 

"You must be Callen," she says with a genuine smile. She shakes his hand and he pulls her in for a brotherly hug.
 

"Bash is fine," he says. "And you must be the phoenix.
La
bella
fenice
, if I may be so bold."

He kisses her knuckles, and she glances over for permission. I shrug my shoulders.

With a quick jerk of her wrist, shift of stance, and snap of her entire body, she has Bash on the ground. He doesn't fight back, of course, but rather laughs heartily straight from the gut.
 

Sofia grins at him good-naturedly. "No lips on this body but his," she says pointedly with smiling arrogance. "I'm getting a beer. You want one?"

"Goddamn," he says to me. "You weren't kidding."

I nod my head with a smile and pull some burgers out of the fridge I prepared earlier. I take them out to the grill while Bash and Sofia sip their beers at the table. I sit in the quiet of the back patio, watching the grill and rudely listening to their conversation. Two halves of my world are joined at that table; listening from an outside perspective is a privilege as much as it is a crime.

"I can't believe he called me," Bash says. "As stubborn as he is, I honestly thought I might never hear from him again."

"I believe you," Sofia says, easily understanding. "I saw how strongly he was shutting out his past. The effort was eating at him, though. I was tired of seeing him so tortured, so I forced the issue the other night."

"He told me," I hear Callen say quietly. I love every part of this conversation. These two have just met, but have no secrets between them. They trust each other because they trust me. My heart thuds audibly in my chest when I realize how blessed I am, truly.
 

"He told me the whole story," I overhear Bash say when Sofia brings up our investigation. "What a cluster fuck. You ok after that attack? And with the new threats?"

"All they did was piss me off," she says simply. "It's Mason who's had the hard time, honestly. He's a hell of a man, but seeing him so lost was painful. He tried to hide from everyone, even me, even when I saw straight through his bullshit. Then when he told me about his discharge…I can't even imagine. And now I have to watch him worry about me so much, it nearly kills me."

Bash is quiet for a moment, as though choosing his words carefully. He sounds almost fatherly when he speaks. "You know, after that mission where our team got cut by half, I demanded to be the one to tell him. He didn't deserve to get that news any other way, and when I looked him in the eye and told him his brothers were killed…" Bash trails off. I can hear his voice waver as it drops. "I've never seen anger like that…and when he turned away from me and toward his commanding officer…his entire world broke along with Griff's jaw. I'd never seen the death of a soul before that day."

They both sit in silence. I grieve along with them for a quiet moment.
Deep breath.

"He'll be ok," I hear my phoenix say with soft pride.

"I can see that," he says. "I think we have you to thank."

Sofia is quiet, but I'm assuming she shakes her head at his comment.

"Sincerely, Sofia. He loves you," Bash observes. "I see it in both of you."
 

Knowing she doesn't want the compliments or attention, I step inside to slice the tomatoes and break their conversation. Bash looks straight at me, smiling and dropping the quiet tension. "Hell of a woman here, Junior. My baby brother did good."

"Yeah, I did," I smile, finishing my prep work and serving the burgers.
 

We sit at the table and Bash and Sofia talk about her experiences as a cop. The more he hears the more he's impressed. When they start talking guns, Bash nearly drools.
 

"You have a good partner for all this," he says to me.
 

"She's a damn good investigator," I nod.
 

We talk more about the entire project. Bash often nods his understanding and approval of our strategies. He laughs over our constant harassment of our targets and fumes quietly over Sofia's attack and subsequent threats.
 

"What are the chances they follow through?"

Sofia halts the conversation. "There's no point in dwelling, boys. We keep pushing until it's done. I won't let fear or intimidation dictate my actions."

"Sof—"

"Enough," she says pointedly but still with a smile. "Look, guys. I'll be ok. I'm careful. I know how to take care of myself. And don't give me that look, Callen. If you volunteer to follow me around instead of work the angle we need you for, then you're a bigger jackass than Junior over here."

Bash's jaw drops at the same moment he smirks. "Well there you have it. Ok, so if I'm to be the charming new associate at douche-bag headquarters, then I need a better place to stay than this," he looks around with mild disgust. I can't help but smile.

"We got you a credit card," I say as I retrieve an identity packet for him. "Halden Fells, you have a penthouse suite booked at The Bellerton."

He opens the large envelope and pulls out his new driver's license I obtained through an old contact of mine. "Halden Fells? Seriously?"

"I thought you might like the challenge of impressing people even with a ridiculous name like that. You have business cards, credentials, and full background in there. Have at it, Bash."

Within one second's time, Callen "Bash" Reed changes from beer-drinking, laid-back Army buddy, to Halden Fells, socialite and gentleman. He stands and offers a subtle bow to Sofia, then shakes hands with me with his shoulders held in impeccable posture.
 

"Great to see you again," he smiles broadly like a politician, speaking as though every word is important. He then turns to Sofia. "I'm so glad to have met you, Miss DiGiacamo. Congratulations on your promotion."

He winks, takes one more sip of his beer, then excuses himself for the night, this time through the front door. Sofia chuckles. "He's good."

"Yes, he is."

The very next day, I rest easy in the knowledge that with Bash working his angle along with us, we have a better shot of ending this very soon. With that in mind, I return to Sofia's childhood home, the one still occupied by many members of her family. Her father answers when I knock at the front door. I greet him politely, but I'm interrupted by little Antonio running to my arms and squishing my face again.

"Did you come to play with me?"

"No, but if I have time later I can read you a book again." I smile under his chubby palms.
 

"Ok. Why did you come?"

"To talk to
tuo nonno
."

"You're not Italian."

"Nope."

He furrows that little brow at me again. I swear this kid could entertain me for hours. I sincerely hope I get his grandpa's approval to become Uncle Mason.

"But you talk like us," he says in obvious curiosity.

"I learned Italian a long time ago. I like it."

"Me, too."

He releases my face and climbs down my body. "I'm going to play," he calls over his shoulder as he walks away calling for his Uncle Gianni to play trucks with him. I grin at his retreating figure, then look up to see Sofia's father regarding me again.
 

His face is stoic, but his eyes sparkle with amusement at his grandson. "He's a good boy," Mr. DiGiacamo says to me.
 

"Yes, he is," I nod, still smiling. Then more seriously I regard him with obvious respect. "Can we speak for a moment?"

He nods and leads me to the dining table. He gestures for me to sit. "What can I do for you?"

"Sir," I begin, trying very hard not to sound nervous. "I love your daughter very much."

"Mm-hmm."

"She is the most fierce, impressive woman I've ever known. I respect her for her strength, and I love her for who she is, exactly."

"Mm-hmm. Can you come to your point, young man?"

"Of course," I answer, taking a subtle deep breath, surprised again by my own nerves. Sofia, and her entire family, set me off balance. This only causes me to love them all the more. "Sir, I want to marry your daughter. I'd like to have your blessing."

"This is soon," he says, regarding me with scrutiny.
 

"Yes, sir. But there is no doubt between us. We're too well matched for any other path."

"There are things about my daughter you need to know," he starts. "She is stubborn and has been so her entire life. She doesn't compromise easily. She loves her family, and she'll never be anything but a cop. You'll never change her."

"I'd never want to," I promise.
 

He crosses his arms across his chest. "Sofia tells me you're a good man. I've seen her speak of you. I see the love in her."

He sits with me for nearly an hour, regaling me with tales of Sofia's youth, gaging my reactions. Apparently she was much like Antonio, which doesn't surprise me at all.