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Welcome back to the story! I hope you're as excited as I am that it's back up and running. I, for one, am really glad that Steve and Allie's story didn't end the way that it did in part one. I'm also very glad and thankful that you've decided to stick with me for who knows how many more chapters. You guys have given me some great reviews, and I hope that will continue. Also, thank you to those of you that have read, favorited, and followed.

As one huge thank you to my faithful readers, I want to put something huge up to vote. By now, you all know that Allie is, indeed, pregnant. So… should the baby be a boy or a girl? Leave a review with your vote, or private message me. I won't need to know until a little later, but I think I'll go ahead and say that all votes need to be in by chapter five. So, feel free to think about it, but don't think too long! I look forward to seeing how it turns out!

As a reminder to everyone, I only use the characters and the premise of the show. I do not use the storyline. So, if something happens that is WAY off from what happened in the show, just know that it's because I took some artistic license. Thanks in advance for your understanding.

Happy Reading!

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Boundless as the Sea – Part Two

Chapter One: Upside Down and Inside Out

Steve

Watching Allie's father as he took complete charge of the situation was quite an experience for me. In my time with Allie, she had talked about her father only a handful of times and I had developed a picture in my head of what he'd be like. Some of it had been spot on, some of it had been entirely wrong.

He was a relatively tall man, probably six feet or slightly under, but the way that he carried himself made him seem even taller. He was dressed in nice jeans and a red tee, along with casual tennis shoes. His salt and pepper hair was styled smoothly and his facial features reminded me a lot of Allie and Kol's. His voice was commanding and I couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever served – then I figured that was doubtful, considering his choice of… career.

There were no leads on where Allie could be and none of her aliases had popped up in any airport or port anywhere.

"Medici has a private plane," Allie's uncle, Edward, said. He was very similar to Allie's father, though he may have been a bit closer to her. She had mentioned her uncle many times in passing, and had called him a few times to consult on a case. "And enough money – and influence – to silence anyone that would dare ask questions."

"Is there a way to track that flight?"

"There would be," one of the hackers spoke up from where he sat on the floor off to the side, still typing furiously on a laptop. "If we knew anything about his plane. Unfortunately, there have been several flights to Italy by private planes in the last twenty-four hours."

"Are we sure Italy is where they're going?" Danny spoke up.

Allie's father seemed surprised that he would speak up, but recovered quickly. "We have no way of knowing what Medici wants from Allie. Until we do, Italy is our best bet. It's his home and where he spends ninety-eight percent of his time."

"He's always been a recluse," Edward sighed.

"Okay," I said slowly. "So, we use that to our advantage, right? I mean, how many estates can he have in Italy?"

"That we know of?" the same hacker asked. "He has four apartments and five villas."

"But I doubt that he's going to broadcast that Trent and Allie are there," Allie's father said. "And we have no way of getting inside. He would know that we're coming."

"They're likely in a secret room, anyway," her uncle said.

"Isn't that kind of what you guys do?" Danny asked, his gaze sweeping across all of the people gathered in the room. "Find secret rooms and… take things?"

I tensed, but no one seemed bothered by his statement. In fact, several people smiled like they wanted to laugh. Like he was a sweet little child that was talking about something that he simply didn't understand.

"Sure," Allie's uncle finally said as he unwrapped some kind of candy. "I can think of at least thirteen different ways to get into someone's home and check for secret rooms. But it's an entirely new game when that person knows that you're coming. Right now, there's no way that Medici is going to let any of Allie's friends or family near her. That's why we're running into such a problem."

"Then what do we do?" I asked, and I knew that I sounded desperate. But I didn't care. My fiancée and my child had been taken from me against their will, and I would do anything to get them back. I would take down anyone, team up with anyone, go anywhere, commit any crime, and call in every favor that I had. I just needed them back here with me.

Allie's dad's expression was unreadable as he stared at me for several long moments. Finally, he said, "For now, we remain here. We put in calls with every single one of our contacts, telling them to be on the lookout for Allie and Medici."

"It's like looking for a needle in a haystack," I pointed out. "Do you have any idea how many people there are in the world?"

"No, but I'm sure I could Google it," Allie's dad replied evenly. "Hackers, I want you hacking every camera near all of Medici's properties, not just the ones in Italy. Put Allie up for an alert on facial recognition. Someone needs to be monitoring that at all times."

The hackers all nodded and moved off to set up their station at the kitchen table. There were laptops and extra screens and cables and electrical things that were complete mysteries to me.

"Everyone else, start putting in calls with your contacts," Allie's dad continued, and all around the room, cell phones were withdrawn and people began to move to all areas of the house and even outside so that they could make their calls.

"And you." Allie's father pointed to me and then beckoned for me to follow him up the stairs. "With me."

The team gave me a questioning look, but I just shrugged and followed him up the stairs and into Allie's room. He shut the door and then turned to face me. "Take a seat, son."

Something about him giving me an order grated on my nerves, and my stubborn side came out. "I'll stand."

He shrugged and moved for the wingback chair in the corner, next to the dresser. "Suit yourself. But you look like you're about to pass out."

I'd eaten, but not nearly enough. And I knew that I had slept, but I didn't feel as refreshed as I should have. Worry could take a toll on the body.

"I'm fine," I said, but slowly sank down onto the bed. It was kind of an odd situation, sitting in the room with Allie's father. I hadn't thought that I would ever meet him after she'd told me that she didn't think they would ever be close again.

He stared hard at me, studying me, and I did my best not to squirm. He was a very observant man; he'd been trained – not in the way that I had, but perhaps just as intensely. It was like he could see through me, to all of my mistakes and flaws. It made me want to flee the room or cover myself.

I did neither.

Finally, he spoke. "So… you're the man that's going to marry my daughter. And, I hear that you're the father of my first grandchild."

"I see we're not going to be starting with the easy stuff."

"What, like your name and your entire life's story?" He shook his head. "No. Did you know that she was pregnant?"

"Not until after she was gone. She was planning to give me a present… it had a letter in it. And the ultrasound picture. She wanted to tell me about her life before the CIA and how excited she was…" I had to clear my throat. "To be a mother."

I couldn't read the expression on his face – he was likely very practiced with concealing his emotions – but it seemed almost like sadness. "I'm glad. And you? Are you excited?"

"I'm scared." I didn't know why I admitted it to him, but it was the truth.

But there was no judgment on his face. Instead, he just nodded, "I was terrified with each and every one of my kids. Babies are a huge responsibility and mothers… they have this natural bond and connection with the children that we just can't. I promise, it all goes away the second you hold them in your arms. It comes back, but you learn to deal with it."

"Did you ever have to start by having your developing child taken away from you?"

There was a twinge in the corner of his mouth. "No. Nothing quite that drastic. But your child is going to be just fine; Medici has a code. He doesn't hurt women, and he certainly doesn't hurt children. Allie would know that, and she's likely already told him that she's pregnant. He'll make sure she's taken care of."

"That's not exactly comforting, considering he's the one that took her."

"Understandable." He sighed and ran a hand over his face wearily. "But I promise, we're all throwing everything that we have into this."

There were a hundred things that I could have asked him, but what came out was, "Why are you here? From what Allie has told me, you two haven't exactly had a relationship lately."

He didn't even hesitate. "No, we haven't. I call her every year on her birthday and she sends me a text for mine, but that's been it ever since she joined the CIA. We had a big fight when she first told me what she was going to do. It was bad. Afterwards, I needed time to cool off and I assumed that she did, too. But we just… never got around to fixing it. I have regretted that every day, and even more so now. But as soon as Kol called and told me what happened, I called Edward and had him pick me up on his way here."

"I'll take all of the help I can get," I said. "But I have no idea how Allie is going to feel about it."

"You can't speak for her," he agreed. "I'm just glad I have your support." He stood and gave me a small smile. "Get some more rest, okay? You look run down, and you're no good to anyone like that. I'll have Kol come wake you if there's any news."

I wanted to say no, but I suddenly felt very, very tired. So, I nodded and adjusted myself on the bed as he left the room, closing the door securely behind him.

I was asleep in seconds.

Allie

"Ms. Rhodes."

I opened my eyes and felt groggier than I'd felt in a very long time. Looking around, I remembered that I'd been on Medici's private plane, flying across the Atlantic.

Medici himself stood above me, and it must have been him that shook me awake. "Good morning," he said with a smile, as if we were just old friends on a vacation together. "It's a good thing that you slept when you did. It'll make adjusting to the time change much easier. Shall we?"

I stood, stretched, and then followed him off of the plane, where a nice black car was waiting for us. I had no idea which country we were in, but I assumed that it was Italy. Medici had a fondness for his own country.

The car drove through the countryside for a while and then hit the city, and my eyes widened as I realized that I wasn't where I'd thought we were. I'd been to this city many times – in both my childhood and adulthood – and I would have recognized it from any angle.

"This is Paris," I said as we passed by one of my favorite coffeeshops. I looked to Medici. "I thought we were going to Italy."

"It's never good to assume anything," he told me. "Isn't that one of the first rules of con artists?"

"No. The first rule is 'wear sunscreen in Latin America'."

If he didn't appreciate my sarcasm, he gave no indication. "We'll be there in about an hour."

I settled back into my seat and continued to stare out the window. On the other side, people were walking into shops, drinking coffee… completely unaware that my life had changed. And they would likely never know.

"You'll be happy to know that I've arranged for an OB/GYN to see you," he told me after a few minutes of silence. "He's the best in France, I'm told. One of my men will escort you to and from every appointment."

Only to make sure that I don't try to run, I thought miserably. He had already informed me that he would be watching my cell phone activity very closely. "How generous." I didn't even bother to sound nice. Manners had gone out the window the second that he had kidnapped my brother to use against me.

He didn't seem to mind. "Think nothing of it. Children are the future of the world. We must do everything we can to protect them."

I looked out the window again and wondered what Steve was doing. Likely trying to find me. Hopefully, Kol had found my clue so that they would know I hadn't just run away. Kol would know that Medici took me. Maybe they were already trying to find Trent so that I could leave. Medici wouldn't hurt me and without leverage… there was nothing he could do.

It was quite a while later that we finally left the city and headed out into the countryside. I didn't recognize the area, but it was very pretty. It didn't surprise me that he would want to have a residence out there; he favored seclusion and beauty.

When we finally pulled up to the gorgeous house, I stared at it in appreciation. French-style houses were a particular favorite of mine, mostly for their elegance. I was surprised, however, that Medici hadn't done anything to make the house look more… Italian.

But I needn't have worried, because the inside was decorated in a very Italian style. It even smelled like marinara sauce, which was explained when an elderly Italian woman greeted us in the entryway to tell us that she had just finished lunch and would serve it in the dining room.

"Shall we?" Medici asked me and offered his arm.

I ignored it and moved for where the dining room should be. I found it there with ease and took my seat, thanking the woman that came forward to pour me a glass of sparkling water. Medici asked for some wine and was presented with no less than thirty options.

When he had finally picked one, he said, "I regret that you cannot join me in a glass."

"I'll live."

Medici turned to address a guard that stood in the corner of the room. "Would you please make sure that our special guest has received his lunch?"

The special guest could only mean Trent, but I didn't say anything. I probably should have asked him some question about how Trent was doing, but it was clear that that had been his intention. So, I remained silent and thanked the woman that gave me my plate of spaghetti. It had been a long time since I'd had authentic Italian spaghetti, and I was actually very excited to have it again. Pasta made from scratch was always better.

Medici kept trying to start a conversation as we ate, but I all but ignored him. He had kidnapped my brother to force me back into a life that he knew I did not want – I did not owe him any manners. Finally, he took the hint and just stopped trying to start a conversation. Eating in silence was so much better.

After the meal was over and the plates had been cleared, Medici asked me if I wanted to see my brother.

"Isn't that the whole reason we came here first? Because I assume that we won't be staying in the same place that you're holding my brother." He would be too worried about me breaking him out. And, for all I knew, he had plans to move Trent as soon as we left this place.

"It is," he agreed and stood, motioning for me to do the same. "Come. I'll take you to your brother."

I stood and followed him through the house and up a grand staircase, my eyes taking in every little detail. Even if they were planning to move Trent after we left, I wanted to be prepared for everything.

Once we were up the stairs, Medici led me to the last door on the left and took a key out of his pocket. "You'll have ten minutes. I know that you haven't seen your brother in a long time and you'll want to catch up. When you're done, we'll have some gelato before we hit the road."

When he had unlocked the door, I opened it and stepped inside, hearing it lock behind me. The room looked a lot like a prison cell, mostly bare and horribly decorated. But the man inside didn't belong in a place for violent offenders.

"Trent."

From where he sat reading on the bed, he looked up and his eyes widened in shock. "Izzy?"

"Allie," I corrected him automatically, swallowing the lump in my throat. "I go by Allie now."

"Jesus." He stood and crossed the distance between us, pulling me into a tight hug. "What are you doing here?" He pulled away and there was panic in his eyes. "Did Medici get to you, too? Is he going to lock you up?"

"No, nothing like that," I assured him and motioned for him to sit down on the bed with me. "He actually took you because of me."

"I don't get it."

I sighed. "He wants me to steal something. And he knew that I wouldn't get back into that life unless he had leverage."

"Ah." Understanding lit his light eyes. "I'm the leverage."

"It worked." I tried to force a smile. "I'm here."

He groaned in despair and ran a hand through his unruly dark hair, which was starting to curl around the collar of his gray tee. "You shouldn't have come, baby sis. You should have called his bluff. Do you really think he'd hurt me?"

"The thought crossed my mind," I admitted. "But you didn't see him when he talked about the music box that he wants me to steal. It's very important to him. I know that he's a man of honor, but I think he'd do anything to get this box. And since our mother stole it, he feels like it has to be one of us."

"And you're the best," he concluded for me. "But, wait… did you say Mom stole the box from him?"

I gave him a quick recap. "Look, he didn't give me much time in here. Are you okay?"

"Other than being bored out of my mind, I'm fine," he assured me. "They let me paint, though, which helps." He gestured to the painting supplies in a corner of the room. "They feed me well, there's an attached bathroom… I just can't go outside. What about you? He hasn't hurt you, has he?"

I snorted. "Medici doesn't hurt women. That's why he needed you in the first place. He knew that he couldn't take me by force."

"True."

"And he wouldn't hurt a child."

Trent frowned. "You're well into adulthood."

"Yeah… but I'm pregnant."

I'd never seen him so shocked. He couldn't speak for several long moments and, when he finally did, his voice was hoarse. "Okay… explain."

I did so as quickly as I could because our time was winding down. Medici was a man of his word, and he wasn't likely to give us even a second more than he'd told me.

"We'd better get you back in time for your wedding, then," Trent teased me with a weak smile. I knew that he felt bad for me.

"We will," I promised him and moved for a hug just as there was a knock on the door. "It's all going to be okay."

But I was really trying to convince myself.