Basement Level 5: Never Scared by L. R. Wright Page A

knew all this, but she knew very little of Dro’s early brushes with the dark side of the family profession. Surprised and interested, she gestured for him to continue.
    “ When we were younger,” he said. “I kind of embraced the life. We all did. We all knew that our name gave us power. My father built the company by stealing, manipulating, and murdering people who crossed him. Because of that, we were untouchable. It wasn’t until I fell in love with you that I realized I had so much to lose.”
    She wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled into his neck.
    He pressed his lips to her hair. “Then my priorities changed and I took steps to distance you and me from that side of the business as much as possible. And now, I’m faced with the real possibility that all of the decisions we made when younger—and all the lives my father and yours ruined—are coming back to haunt us and our children. It’s hard. So I do understand where you’re coming from.”
    She kissed him gently. “I guess when I think back on our lives, and all the people our family has hurt, I can’t help but worry. There are too many secrets, too many lies. Someone is waiting in the wings to get revenge, and it could be anybody.”
    “ We still have to fight, though. We can’t afford to bury our heads in the sand and hope this goes away.”
    “ I know, Dro.” She sighed and sat up. “I guess I should make some calls.”
    “ You probably should.”
    “ After this is over, maybe we will finally be able to retire to an island somewhere like we dreamed about.”
    “ And ensure Ky and Alex have the life we didn’t.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Make love all night, every night, without me having to run around and make sure security is tight.”
    She skimmed her fingers across the hair at his nape. “Are you getting soft in your old age?”
    “ Never that, Lex,” he murmured with a soft chuckle, then he fisted a hand in her hair and jerked to him for a passionate kiss.
     

CHAPTER 13
     
     
    March 19, 1998, a Martinez Organization safe house :
     
    After the shootout in front of Martinez Hotel that wounded Lei, Dro told Chase to drive to the closest refuge. A remote cottage outside of town, it was used by the family for various activities, but mostly as a place where employees who were on the lam could lay low.
    Several hours after arriving at the farm, Dro sat at the small table nursing a glass filled with cognac when Alexa entered the kitchen. She stared at him and he shrugged. He didn’t drink often, but he was wound tight. Lei was more like a brother to him than a friend. At this point, the doctors weren’t sure he would survive. Dro heard Alexa’s shoes on the linoleum floors as she approached him.
    She smoothed her hand through his hair. “You okay?”
    Dro studied her, focusing on her blood stained dress. It was a reminder that Lei had damn near bled to death. It looked like she’d tried to wash her neck and arms, but he could still see Lei’s blood on her skin.
    Dro finished the rest of his drink. “When I was younger, your father told me to never let my guard down. He told me the minute I stop paying attention, someone dies.”
    She knelt in front of him and placed her hands on his knees. “Lei is going to be okay. You have to believe that.”
    He traced a spot of dried blood on her bare shoulder with his fingers. “What I believe is beside the point. I never wanted to be the type of person my father was. But your father...when he told me he wanted me to marry you, I felt honored. I felt like he trusted me with his most precious asset. That felt good to me. He taught me everything I know. He’s been more of a father to me than my own. And I let his son get shot.”
    “ Stop it, Dro.”
    He stood and paced back and forth. “Lei could die and what was I doing? I was so busy looking after you that I failed to pay attention to my surroundings. What if I hadn’t seen that car when I did?”
    “ It’s not