On the Rocks

"What's the plan?" Dawson asks me as soon as I set foot in the apartment.

I hate having to leave Hazel's side, even if I am sleeping on the sofa, but the others have arrived and I need to brief them. 

I nod to Theo leaning against the concrete wall but he stares through me, arms crossed and face like thunder. 

I know he's mad I haven't told them where she is. 

"Let's go into the living room," I nod, walking towards the dark wood side cabinet in the spacious, rustic room. I pour four drinks of whiskey, passing them between us before taking a seat in one of the brown, leather  armchairs. 

"Come on, Atlas," Andros groans, sitting back in his seat. I roll my eyes at his impatience but sigh, knowing I'm going about this wrong. 

I don't know what the right way is. 

I've never had a girl I care about before. 

"I had Arlo do some recon on Hazel's dad, you know, asking around and finding out his history. He told me that her Dad changed his name from Alexei to Nikolai after a brief six month stint in Russia, working for Dmitri," I take a sip of my drink as I watch their faces flicker with emotion. 

"Why would he do that?" Dawson asks. I look to Theo, waiting for him to have some kind of reaction but his face stays stoic as he swirls the ice in his glass. 

"He helped Dmitri and his brother set up some trafficking ring out of Russia and surrounding countries into the UK. Then he moved back to England under a new name to run it for them," I answer through gritted teeth. 

"Fuck," Andros curses, running his hand through his hair. I watch as Dawson stands up, starting to pace around the room. 

Trafficking has always been a trigger for him. 

"There's more," I stare down at the ground, making Dawson stop in his tracks. 

"What the fuck could be more?" Dawson growls. 

"We already knew Alexei promised Hazel to Dmitri... we just didn't know she has also been promised to Dmitri's brother... Dominik."

I down the rest of my drink as Theo stands up, sending me a glare before storming out of the room and slamming the door. 

The room stays silent in his absence, the three of us left to digest the facts. 

"How the fuck did I miss this?" Andros asks, putting his glass down and placing his head in his hands. 

I stand up from my chair and walk over to him, patting him on the back a few times. 

I head over to Dawson who's still pacing around. He looks up to me, his eyes welling with tears. I don't know if it's the trafficking or the whole thing that's upsetting him but I understand. 

I've known the guy long enough to know what he's going through right now.

He sends a small nod to me and I smile slightly before walking out of the room. 

I head down the wide hallway towards the gym. 

It's a large open plan space with a boxing ring in the middle and dim lights overhead. As we don't use this safe house often, we didn't really take much time to decorate it. 

It's plain but it's all we need. 

The sound of hits on padded material hit my ears as I walk in. 

Theo's stood in the middle of the ring, punching a bag with all his might. The look of pure rage on his face, proven by his actions. 

I take a breath before loosening my tie and heading into the ring. Theo doesn't acknowledge my presence, laying blow after blow onto the bag. 

If that was a person, they would be dead by now. 

"Theo, talk to me," I sigh, making him stand still. His body straightens, sweat pouring from his forehead as he stands upright, staring at the wall ahead. 

"Why didn't you say anything?" he mutter, his voice barely audible. 

"I... I didn't know how to deal with it. I just... needed to get to New York and see her... protect her," I confess, running my hands through my hair. 

"And you think we didn't?" he turns to me, his eyes full of outrage. 

He's right. 

Fuck. 

I really fucked up again. 

"I know... I just will do anything to protect her. I've never..." I trail off, looking down. 

He lets out a sigh, throwing his head back and closing his eyes before looking at me again. 

"I know... but you can't hide this shit from us anymore," he raises his eyebrow at me. I nod, holding the ring open for him to climb out after me. 

He grabs his stuff and we walk back into the living room to see Andros typing away on his computer as Dawson sits back relaxed. 

Well, the mood has changed in here. 

"Andros has found where she is," Dawson smirks at me as soon as he sees Theo and I walk in. 

"How the fuck?" I raise my eyebrows in shock at him, making his smirk grow wider. Andros looks up from his computer sending me a mock salute that causes me to narrow my eyes at him. 

"It was easy," he shrugs. Theo looks to me and we share a look before rolling our eyes simultaneously. 

Time for Andros to be a cocky son of a bitch. 

"Explain," Theo sighs as he sits down. 

I sit across from Andros, checking my phone quickly to see if Hazel has messaged. 

She hasn't.

"I searched the safe houses we know of and when I saw she wasn't there, I looked at new purchases in New York, especially one in Manhattan. After that, I found the bank account the payment was made from and traced it to one of our offshore companies," he says, rolling the speech off his tongue as if it was obvious. 

I sit there stunned for a second before answering. 

"I guess this is why I keep you around," I smirk back at him, making him roll his eyes. 

"You do realise that, if Andros has found that, the Russians will have a tech that can find it too," Dawson ponders out loud. 

"Rude... at least have some faith I'd be better," Andros glares at him. 

"He's right though," Theo agrees, nodding his head. 

"Fuck it... we're just going to have to bring her here then," I say, my mouth spreading into a smirk as I see my three best friends start to smile. 

Slay

Lot of info in this chapter <33