by K. C. Stone
“Why are you doing this,” she begged.
“You see, some time back you begged a young girl for help outside Club Elicit, remember she was barely eighteen. You said your friend was drunk and passed out, that you needed help carrying her to your car. So, she helped you and you gave her to men who took her, beat her, and chained her up. So, you’re just as pathetic as they are, and something tells me that poor girl you had in your bathroom would say the same thing,” I sneer at her. She blinks a couple times and a disgusting smile takes over her face.
“So, you were sleeping with the girl or you’re sleeping with her?” she questions, and I think I might have blacked out, I was so pissed and anger fumed through me. “You fucking bitch, that girl is my daughter.” I pull out my Glock and fire two rounds into her head.
A knock on the door brings me back to the present.
“Yo, it’s open,” I yell from my desk, looking up.
Tech walks in tossing a folder on my desk. “Have you talked to Cara yet about the Brooklyn house?” he inquired, standing with his arms folded into one another.
“Not yet, I wanted to make sure he was there before I say anything,” I tell him.
With a curt nod of his head, he says, “You may want to take a look.”
Inside the manila folder is photo after photo of the house, images of John and other men I don’t recognize standing around. Images of that bastard in the basement, who the hell knows what he’s doing, but the fact that he has three guys standing outside the house, something tells me it’s not good.
Other ones of him standing out front of the building.
That smug prick I can’t wait to kill him. When I do, it will be slow and painful. I will exact pain on him that no man has ever seen, and I will have a smile on my face when I do it.
“When did you take these?” I ask, leaning back into my desk chair.
“Yesterday. Once we found out about the house, I hacked into old records and found out that Sal had never sold the house. So, I went to it and boom. The bastard thinks he’s so slick, he’s not hiding out that’s for damn sure, he had all kinds of traffic coming and going,” Tech says.
“I will talk to her and see what she knows. Either way that house is of no use to us, except for getting John and we have to be smart about it. What about the girl, how is she doing?” I ask. I still have not figured out why she was in the bathroom beat to shit.
Stretching, he scratches the back of his head. “Shit, what now?” I say because I know that look, I know that reaction. It will be bad, and if it’s not bad, I know I will fucking hate it.
“She was given to Marcos” was all he said.
“What do you mean she was given to Marcos? Tech, just spit the shit out.” I toss all the photos on my desk.
“I mean that bitch we shot yesterday gave her to Marcos, the girl said she was chained in a basement for who knows how long, she said they beat her and then one day she was drugged and when she woke up, she was at the motel and that bitch shoved her into the bathroom and locked her in. When Marcos got there, she was supposed to go with him,” he rushes out and none of this shit makes any sense.
“How the hell did you find all this out if the girl can’t talk?” I lean back into my chair.
“Once she realized we were not going to hurt her, she started writing it all down, pages of shit, she’s a gold mine as far as just how bad this shit is,” Tech goes on.
“I want Gunner and Tex outside her door. Nobody goes into her hospital room and when she’s released, she comes here got it?” I tell him.
“You got it, Boss.” Tech stands getting ready to head out.
“Hey, does this girl have a name?” I ask, “or are we to keep calling her girl?”
“She said her name is Thalia,” he says before leaving.
Once he’s gone, I call Doc. I need to know just how long it will be before this Thalia is released because I need some serious information. If what Tech is saying is true and she has information that can bring John down, I want to know if this could be our golden ticket. When I catch him, I will destroy everything about his operation and anyone who is a part of it.
It’s been two weeks since everyone has come home, two weeks and it’s been silent. No retribution over the Bowery explosion and so far, nothing over the death of Marcos and his girl. Though something tells me that we have not seen the last of them.
“Babe,” I shout from the bedroom but no response.
“Babe,” I shout louder but I’m met with dead silence. What the fuck, where is she? I think to myself.
Walking out into the living area, it’s empty, I hear a soft whimper coming from down the hall.
I look into Killian’s room and my heart breaks as my sweet baby boy is whimpering from his bed, sleep still evident in his eyes.
“Hey, little man, what is the matter?” I lift him up from his bed and sit in his rocker in the corner of his room.
I hum him a few lines of my favorite song, and just rock him back and forth.
Looking down, I brush his curls away from his face noticing his tiny green eyes are closed and his breathing leveled out.
I sit there, rocking him and watching him sleep. The fact that I didn’t realize what I had been missing out on until now still is front and center in my mind. Feeling hands on my shoulders, I know who it is just by her heavenly smell. Turning my head to the side I look into the eyes of the only woman I have ever truly loved. Sarah will always have a special place in my heart, she was my wife but even she knew that what I have with Cara is different. After all she was my first love and the love, I feel for Cara will never compare to how I have ever felt about anyone. The strength she has, the love she gives to not only me but to Killian and Jules and Grace.
“I think he’s asleep finally, let me put him in the crib.” She gently takes Killian from my arms and goes to gently lay him in the crib. Watching Cara as she gazes at Killian in awe with such love and devotion makes my heart leap, as pussy as that sounds, it does. I would never say that out loud to anyone but her. “He’s so precious, I absolutely love you,” she whispers, running her fingers through Killian’s curls.
I pull her into my arms, her back to my front. “I absolutely love you,” I growl into her ear. She responds by wriggling her back end against me.
“Baby, don’t tempt me; I’m supposed to be going over shit with the boys,” I tell her, pushing into her causing her to gasp.
“I think we have some things to discuss,” she says, turning around and wrapping her arms around my neck. Lifting up on her tiptoes, she runs her tongue across my lips, nipping at the corners of my mouth. I reach down slamming both of my palms on her cheeks and lift her up taking her to the bedroom.
“Babe, where are you taking me?” she whispers as she continues to lick and kiss my face and neck. I can tell by the sound of her voice that she’s primed and ready.
I lay her down, peeling off one layer of clothing at a time. “Damn it, babe, hurry,” she whines.
“You want it fast?” I ask her, tension rising in me.
“Hmmm” was the only response she gives.
“What the queen wants the queen gets,” I say, gripping her wrist and pulling out her new favorite tie. Without me having to ask, she puts her wrists over the top of our bed, her devilish twinkle tells me she’s loving the rope. I lean in sliding two fingers into her stretching her. Her moans letting me know that I’m hitting the right spot.
“More,” she mumbles incoherently.
I pull my fingers out and line myself up and slam home, she arches up pulling on the rope.
“Careful, they bite,” I say into her ear gripping it between my teeth, slamming into her over and over again, hitting her sweet spot causing her to scream.
“Sssshhhhhh, babe. If you want me to keep going, you have to muffle your screams,” I warn her and I know she’s close when her body starts meeting me thrust for thrust both of us racing toward the finish. I slide my free hand over her clit and pinch it, her body
tightens like a vise around me, pulling me dry. We are both out of breath covered in sweat and sated.
I reach up untying her favorite red silk rope as I pull her into my arms.
“This is my favorite place to be,” she whispers into my chest.
“This is my favorite way for you to be.” I slam my palms on her bare cheeks.
“When you’re like this, I know you’re staying out of trouble at least for the moment,” I kid.
She slaps my chest, but her laughter lets me know she didn’t take me seriously.
I know I need to tell her about the Brooklyn house and that I need to get into her old house but right now just doesn’t seem like the right time. I just want to be here with her in this moment before everything goes to shit again.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Cara
Sitting at the table staring at the photos that Matthew just placed before me, I’m in shock. I can’t believe that bastard lied to me about that house, tears well up out of anger and I’m pissed off. He has tainted that house with his dirty dealings, ruined memories of times I spent there with my family.
“Cara, babe, what’s wrong?” I feel Matthew’s hands on my shoulders before I register that he’s speaking to me.
“What, I’m sorry?” I say, trying to focus but I’m so angry.
“I asked did you know he still had this house?” he repeats.
“No, that was my grandfather’s, my dad used to bring us there when he had business in the city. He never wanted my mother and I to stay at the compound overnight, he said it was no place for little kids. As I got older, I knew that what he meant was he didn’t want us to see brothers sleeping around on their wives, my father included,” I say.
“But I loved that house. Sal said we needed to sell it in order to buy our house, I guess that was a lie too.” I’m numb just thinking about all the lies he has told me over the years, our marriage meant nothing to him but a way to make it to the top. I feel used and angry, the hate I feel inside is starting to boil up, I can feel it like bile rising in my throat.
“My love, we need to get into the house. Do you know how we can without anyone knowing, we don’t want to tip anyone off and who knows if John has any of his goons watching the house?” I explain, I can see the hurt and anger in her eyes. I want to rip him apart the only problem is he’s already dead.
“What is racing through that sexy head of yours?” I ask him, caressing his face with the back of my knuckles.
“If I could have one power, I would bring Sal back just to kill him again,” he confesses, looking at me stone cold, no hint of sarcasm in his eyes.
I pick up a photo of the old Brooklyn house. “It reminds me of the summers I would spend there with Mom once we left the cookouts at the clubhouse. We would spend hours there, in the back there is a tunnel under that house, you know,” I tell him, remembering the stories my grandfather would tell me.
“Really,” he asks. I can tell by his reaction his attention is piqued.
“Yeah, that house used to be a cooker,” I tell him, placing myself in his lap.
“What the fuck is a cooker?” he asks me.
“You know, the basement housed stills and stuff. They produced illegal booze back in the day. I used to run through them, it was so much fun I could spend hours running those tunnels,” I tell him, then it dawns on me.
“I think I know a way we can get into the old house,” I tell him.
“How? Tell me, I need every detail,” he says.
“The whole reason Sal bought us the new house was because it too has a tunnel under ground. It runs from the upstairs library down through the cellar into a tunnel that leads up into the backyard right into Jules old playhouse,” I tell him.
“I remember when she was little, she would sneak out through the tunnel and I would find her tucked away in her playhouse, you should have seen her,” I tell him and the look on his face breaks my heart, guilt stabs me.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my face in his neck.
“It’s okay, sometimes it just stings knowing how much I missed out on,” he tells me. “Hey, doll, I need to go make some calls. I need the blueprints to the house so that we can come up with a game plan,” he says but his smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes, the pain is still evident in them.
My phone reminds me I have a meeting. “Damn, I forgot that the new designer for the expansion was coming, I say standing, an idea spinning a web.
“Hi, Missy, how are you doing?” I shake her hand.
“Great, how are you? I have the new layout ready and I think you will really like it,” she says laying out a series of blueprints.
“Hey, can you do me a favor? I need some old prints for a house, this is the address,” I ask her, handing her the slip of paper.
“Sure, how fast will you need them?” she says, putting the address in her pocket.
“As soon as possible, please and don’t tell anyone. I just want to make sure we can get them before I say anything to Matthew,” I explain hoping she doesn’t ask a lot of questions.
“Sure thing.” Let me see what I can find out.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Locke
After Cara left, I called Tech. “Yo, I need you to do me a favor,” I tell him.
“Whatever you want, darling,” he says sarcastically.
“Don’t be a dick,” I reply. “I need you to see if you can hunt down the blueprints for the Brooklyn house, ASAP,” I tell him. If this pans out it will be a game changer for us.
“I’m on it, Boss,” he says, hanging up.
Just as I open the door, shots ring out from all directions like fireworks on the Fourth of July, my first instinct was to get to Cara. As I race down the hall, brothers are running back and forth grabbing weapons, heading in the direction of the bullets.
I look at the security camera and see six guys taking cover behind a black car.
“Cara,” I yell, running toward our room.
“Cara, baby. Where are you?” I yell fear clawing at my throat, this is what I have always been dreading.
“Dad,” Jules screams, racing toward me.
“Are you okay, Princess?” I ask her, gripping her shoulders, arms, face, everywhere. Just making sure she has not been hit.
“I’m fine, where’s Mom?” she asks in a panic.
“I don’t know, I was running to find her.” We head that way together. I open the door to our room just as I see Leah, Grace, and Killian being shoved into the closet. “Stay here until I tell you to come out.”
They didn’t respond so she demands again, “Stay there until I come get you,” Cara yells once more over a crying Killian.
“Mom,” Jules rushes to her hugging her mother.
“Cara, I need you and Jules to stay here. Okay, baby?” I tell her. Everything in my body wanting to stay with her, guard her, protect her. But I know the only way I can is to kill the threat.
“Please be safe,” she whispers gently kissing me.
“Stay here until I or Dom come get you, do you understand?” I command.
“Yes,” they say in unison.
I race out of the room, leaving my entire heart behind, I go and search for the bullets that threaten my family, my home, and my club.
Once I reach the parking lot, I see Gunner and Tex perched on the top of the building picking guys off one at a time. I race toward Dom as I see a guy lift his gun to aim one quick shot, I pull the trigger as a bullet flies by and grazes my ear, instant heat, just as my bullet hits him in the stomach and he drops to the ground.
Another man runs from behind the building firing away, the click from his gun tells me he’s out of rounds, so does the look on his face. I stand, grabbing my gun, dropping my empty magazine, and loading a new one. I fire rapid shots in succession watching as his body jerks and finally hits the ground.
“Dom, watch out,” I yell.
Dom swings around firing off shots one right after
another. I look around and notice Ezra leaning over Viper wrapping his shirt around his leg as another asshole is coming up behind them.
“You fucking bastard,” I yell, firing two shots directly into his chest. Heat burns through me.
Just as I go to aim at another asshole, he’s hit, one round into his head. I look up to see Tex give him the finger, I wave up letting him know I’m good.
I look up to see the car drive off, the silence is deafening, I look around and notice only two of ours are wounded, I race to Viper.
“You good, brother?” I ask, helping Ezra apply pressure to his leg.
“Yeah, I might sound like a little bitch, but this shit hurts,” he says his face etched with pain and anguish.
“We have got to get him inside and call Doc,” I command.
“Look around, if any one of these fuckers is still alive bring them in, let’s get these two inside,” I say.
“Listen fucker, you’re a foot taller than me and probably weigh twice as much, I can’t carry your ass but I can sure as fuck try,” I say, lifting him into my arms, pain that was numb before raging now.
I look around and see Rooster sitting up. “How is he?” I yell to Dom who is standing over him.
“He’s good just a graze to the ribcage nothing we can’t patch up,” he yells back to me.
Once we are inside, I lay Viper on the couch, just as Jules and Cara come rushing into the room followed by Leah. Her scream was deafening as she whipped by taking her place by Viper.
“He doesn’t look to bad, Leah; he should be fine,” I tell her. I send Grace a nod silently asking her to go stand with Leah.
Fuck, what now! I think to myself. We have not had this much shit go down since Hamish was killed a couple years back.
Doc comes rushing in and immediately goes to Viper, without saying a word he assesses his condition.
“Okay, so it was a through and through, nothing damaged it appears, this is the best-case scenario in this case,” he says, pulling out medical equipment.