My phone buzzed. Sighing, I stood and pulled the damn phone out. “What?”
“It’s Andrew. We have a problem.”
“Well, I’m kind of in the middle of a hostage situation right now. Can it wait?”
“Not really. Joe’s girl is pregnant and Sofia ran back to her douchebag ex. They’re married and the douchebag is threatening Joe.”
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Fine. I’ll leave now.” Hanging up, I turned to Claire and gave a sad smile. “Sorry, but I have to go home to help out my brothers.”
Claire looked at me in shock as the cardboard cutout behind her still held the knife to her throat. I had to hand it to Claire, she really went all out for this fantasy. Although it wasn’t quite as satisfying to slice a cardboard neck as it was the real thing, I wasn’t going to complain about her imagination.
“What? But we’re just getting to the good part!”
“I know, Claire Bear, but my brothers need me.”
“Fine,” she grumbled, “but I’m packing the guns.”
“Claire, not everything is handled with a gun.”
She snorted as I untied her bonds. “Right, so you’re going to tell me that when you’re out on a job, you try to handle things calmly first. You offer them kittens and puppies so they don’t kill the woman you’re protecting.”
I rolled my eyes at her analogy. “Are you coming or not?”
“Coming,” she grumbled. “But I still think we should pack the guns. You never know, I might get to see you in action.”
She stood and rubbed at her wrists before giving me a quick kiss and headed for the door. I stared at her ass as she walked away and tried to control my dick. It really missed out today on the good stuff. I sighed and shook my head as I headed for the door and prepared to go back home to see my brothers again. I swear, these trips were becoming more frequent by the minute. The next time they called, someone better actually be dead or in need of killing.
Joe
After doing my paperwork for the shop, I locked up my office. I had a club meeting in a half hour. Normally I was grouchy, getting up this early to go to a club meeting. We didn’t normally meet in the mornings, but we had to work around everyone’s schedules. At only nine in the morning, it was hard when I didn’t go to bed until early in the morning. But I hadn’t been sleeping lately, so it didn’t really matter.
It had been three weeks since Sofia left me. All I could do was think about the fact that she left me and took my kid with her. Knowing that it wouldn’t do much good, I talked to Robert about what needed to be done legally, but after he looked into Graham, I knew it would be a long, hard battle. And even if I was able to get Sofia to admit that the baby was mine, that didn’t mean that Graham wouldn’t take me to court over visitation. He could ruin my reputation and kill any chance of me ever seeing my kid.
Robert told me he would help me for free, which didn’t sit right with me, but at this point, I couldn’t afford for my pride to stand in the way. I needed him in my corner.
I got on my bike, about to start it when Andrew pulled up behind me and honked. Sighing, I got off my bike and waited for him. When he got out of his truck, he came jogging over with a grin on his face.
“I have a meeting.”
“I know, and everyone’s waiting for you.”
“No,” shook my head. “I mean with the club.”
“And I mean with your brothers.”
“Can this wait? I only have twenty minutes to get to the club house.”
“You know, just call it a bar. We all know that’s where you hold your little clandestine meetings.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Looks like the dictionary bit you too.”
He shrugged. “Well, you know, you can’t sound like an idiot forever. Eric bought me this book so I can translate.”
“What? Like a second language?”
“No,” he said, looking confused. “So it’ll translate from Millennial speak to what everyone else says.”
“You need a translator for that?”
“Well, you know, I don’t want to sound like even more of an idiot.”
“Right,” I said, shaking my head. “Anyway, I have to leave.”
He stepped forward to stop me. “I’m serious. This is something that can’t wait. It’s about Sofia.”
I wanted to tell him that I didn’t give a fuck about Sofia. I was pissed that she left me over money, but I had a kid to think about. I couldn’t just ignore anything that came up about her.
“Fine. Where are we meeting?”
“Eric’s. Oh, and Derek’s in town.”
I groaned, not wanting to see him. “I swear, every time I see him, he punches me in the face. Why does he have to be here?”
“Because he’s gonna help us get your girl back,” he said before turning and heading to his truck.
“Hey, what are you talking about?” He slammed the truck door and ignored me. “Why are we getting her back?”
He didn’t listen. He put the truck in drive and pulled out. I quickly got back on my bike and roared out of my space after him. It took too damn long to get to Eric’s, and by the time I got there, I was worked up over everything this could mean.
I practically ran up the porch steps just so I could find out this small scrap of news about Sofia. As soon as I opened the door, Claire flung herself into my arms and hugged me tight. I really liked Claire from the day I met her. Now if only I could get Lucy and Hunter to like me. They were kind of pissy with me since I slept with Lucy. Well, Lucy didn’t really care, but she put up a good front for Hunter.
“Oh my gosh!” Claire yelped, pulling back. “I’m so sorry about Sofia. Everyone was just telling me about everything. About how you met and fell in love and took her virginity.” Her eyes went wide and she covered her mouth. “Sorry, I forgot I wasn’t supposed to know about that. But I can’t believe she left you for that stupid, rich guy. You’re so much better looking. Not that you’re better looking than Derek,” she said suddenly, flicking her eyes over to meet his. “What I meant was that you’re very good looking in a brother kind of way. Not that I would think of you as good looking one way or the other if you were my brother, but you’re not my brother, so I can think that. Again, not that I’m really thinking about you that way.”
She took a deep breath and I grinned. “Are you done?”
“Yeah, it was just a long drive and then hearing all this…it’s just a lot of information to take in.”
I grinned, but Derek walked over and pulled her into his side, like I was going to challenge him to a contest for his woman. I stopped myself from making fun of him and reached out my hand to shake his, remembering how he punched me when I went out to visit him in Pennsylvania.
His eyes narrowed at me and I looked at my hand, wondering what the hell was so offensive. His fist shot out and he punched me across the jaw. I moved with the hit, rubbing my hand across my jaw. “Ow, what the hell was that—“
His fist flew out again, this time catching me in the eye. I bent over, clutching my face. “Fuck! Would you stop punching me?”
His knee came up and slammed into my stomach. Now I was on the floor, coughing and struggling to breathe. What the fuck? I looked up at Andrew accusingly.
“Is this what you brought me here for?”
He held up both hands and shook his head. “I swear, I didn’t know he was going to do this.”
“That was for getting her pregnant, letting her walk out on you, and letting that asshole think he could get away with taking your kid.”
I stared at him incredulously and then I exploded. “What the fuck are you talking about? You’re acting like I physically hurt her.”
He shrugged. “I would never let Claire get kidnapped.” She cleared her throat and flushed bright red. “Well, not by real people anyway,” he grumbled.
I didn’t want to know what the hell he was talking about. I shoved past him and nodded to Eric. “So, what’s this about?”
“We should let Andrew take it from here. He’s the one that’s been so fixated on this,” Eric told me.
Will and Josh were already seated at the table, and the girls were in the kitchen, gossiping like they always did. I had a feeling it was about me.
“Alright, so, we’ve all seen the letter that Sofia gave Joe. Now, I know that there’s been a lot of debate over whether or not that note was real or not.”
“Of course it was real. It was her handwriting,” I said irritatedly.
“Right, but did she write it of her own free will?” He nodded, pointing to his nose with one finger as he pointed at me with another. “Huh? You see what I’m saying?”
“No.”
His face dropped and he cleared his throat. “Oh, well, I kept thinking about that day her friend, Lanie, dropped by and how she stood up for you then. And I just kept thinking about the fact that she really loves you and all that crap.”
“But love wasn’t enough,” I interjected. “Is this what you brought me out here for?”
“Yeah,” Will agreed. “Let’s play poker.”
“It’s nine-thirty in the morning,” Robert snapped. “If we’re not doing this, then I have clients to meet with.”
Will shrugged. “Hey, I’m still on summer vacation for another three days. Poker sounds good to me right now.”
“Just let me finish what I’ve found out,” Andrew sighed.
I gestured for him to continue, even though I thought this was a huge waste of time.
“So, remember all those things she said about her family starving her and controlling what she wore?” I nodded. “Well, I got to thinking about it and I realized something, if she was going to back down for anyone, it would be her father. Am I right?”
“I guess.”
“And she loved being down here. There’s no mistaking that. You can’t fake that kind of happiness. So, I got to thinking, what if her father showed up on the same day she took the pregnancy test? He would have been pissed because she ran away. He probably threatened her if she didn’t come home…It all makes sense. He was there that day and he’s the one that pressured her to leave.”
I nodded and looked at everyone else. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table. “Look, I really appreciate that you’re that worried that you took the time to think about all this. But the fact is, pressure or not, she chose to leave me.”
He grinned and shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong, my friend. Now, assuming that her father convinced her to leave, what would a man like that have to say to convince such a happy woman to leave you behind with only a note?” When I didn’t answer, he sighed and picked up his computer. “You know, just a little more excitement over the buildup would be nice. I’ve been working my ass off on this.”
Scratching my jaw, I tried my best not to look irritated. “You’re right. I’m sorry. This is all very interesting.”
“Alright,” Andrew smiled. “Here’s what I found…Your girl’s father is basically a corporate raider. He buys up large percentages of stock in a company, and then when he has controlling interest, he does whatever the hell he wants with the company. And this guy is dirty about all of it. He’s not trying to build up the companies he buys. He sometimes tears it apart and sells it off. I’ve looked into his deals and they’re all shady as hell, but the guy has a lot of power.”
“Okay. I already knew that the guy was rich. What does this have to do with me?”
“Just a week before Sofia disappeared, her father made a very large purchase down here in this very town.”
That intrigued me. “Okay, you have my attention. What company?”
“The bank.”
My brows furrowed. “Why would he buy a bank? You don’t sell off a bank.”
Andrew clicked another button and pulled up my account from the bank. “Why are you looking at that?”
“This is where your loan for your shop is taken out. And he’s flagged your account. Even one late payment, and he’s to be notified immediately. That note to your account was added two days before he came down here.”
Shock rippled through all of us. I didn’t know what to say. He knew about me before he even came down here.
“What the fuck?” Derek snapped. “He’s trying to blackmail you.”
“Not me, Sofia,” I corrected.
“You would be correct. And I checked with the business across from you to see if they had any security footage. Let me tell you, your neighbors are not the nicest people. You don’t know how many favors I had to call in to get this shit.”
“Why don’t you stop talking about it and show it to us,” Josh snapped.
“Geez,” Andrew muttered. “You know, for all the trouble I went to, you would think—“
“Would you just play the damn thing,” I shouted.
Andrew played the recording and we all watched as a black town car pulled up just out of sight of the shop and an older man got out. He definitely looked rich. I watched as he had his driver jimmy the lock on the door and then he walked right up to my apartment. Forty-five minutes later, he walked out with Sofia, who didn’t look happy at all.
“Holy shit,” I murmured.
“She never wanted to leave you, man. Her dad is blackmailing her, probably threatening you if she stayed. Your girl didn’t screw you over.”
I hung my head in relief. It had been killing me inside to think that she didn’t really want me as much as I wanted her. And while this wasn’t proof that she didn’t want to leave me, it also gave me hope that she still wanted me.
“I still have one problem though. Even with Robert’s help, I don’t know how to get her or my kid back.”
“Yeah, I’m not seeing a way around this,” Robert confirmed. “Even with the tapes, that doesn’t prove anything. And the banking shit is normal for an owner. He has the right to flag any account.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Andrew grinned. “Now, in order for my plan to work, Derek’s going to have to come along and be the muscle. I’m sure Carly and Josh would qualify as muscle also.”
“Thanks,” Josh muttered. “Nice to know we qualify.”
“What? It’s not like you were in the military. You were trained by a mobster.”
“Hey,” Carly snapped, jumping into the conversation. “Would you like me to give you a lesson in how I was trained?”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t go there,” Derek shook his head. “I’ve seen her handiwork from the scars on Knight’s stomach. Probably not the way to go.”
“Thank you,” Carly nodded.
“Whatever,” Andrew groaned. “Can I just finish my damn presentation? I put a lot of work into this.” When no one objected, he continued. “Alright. Now, I may have gone to his house and broken in. I may have also hacked into his computer and stolen some very sensitive information off his hard drive. Information that he wouldn’t want getting out. Information that could get him sent to prison. Information that—“
“Yes. We get it,” I groaned. “Can you move this along?”
He glared at me and continued. “He also had some very compromising pictures of Graham on his computer. I took the liberty of transferring this information onto several flash drives of my own, just in case this all goes south and he tries to kill us. Now, first, we take this to Graham and Sofia’s parents, and have a little sit down chat with them, explaining that it would be in their best interests to relinquish their control over Sofia and agree to never see her again. Derek, I’ve already sent one flash drive to your boss for safe keeping.”
“In order for you to blackmail both of them at the same time, they’d have to be in the same room,” Will pointed out. “How do you plan on working that out?”
“I’m so glad you asked,” Andrew said proudly. “Every Friday night they have dinner together. Guess where we’ll be tomorrow?”
I grinned. I had to hand it to him, he made this look all so easy, but he really had spent a lot of time on this.
“Well,
if Josh and Derek get to go, I want to go too,” Will said. “That’ll give me some adventure before my death sentence with this new batch of students I’m getting.”
“Well, if you’re going, then so am I,” Robert said. “You never know, you might need a lawyer handy.”
“Now, just wait a minute,” Derek stepped in. “I agree that Josh and I should be there—“ Carly cleared her throat and he shot her an irritated look. “And Carly, but no one else should go. This could get out of control fast, and the more people in the room, the harder it is to control shit.”
“Wait, you don’t think I should be there?” Andrew asked.
“No, you don’t know how to use a gun. Why would you go?”
“What about me?” I asked.
“I know you want to be there, but it’s just not safe.”
I scoffed at him. “Wait, so you want me to sit back as you run in and save my girl? As if not having money wasn’t bad enough, now I can’t even be in the room when she’s rescued?”
“Fine,” he sighed. “You can be there.”
Andrew stood up suddenly, pushing his chair back. “You’re not leaving me behind. I’ve worked my ass off. Besides, this will be great for business. I have to be there for the takedown.”
“I’m going too,” Will said lazily. “I need my own war story for my history class.”
“You can’t tell about this,” Derek said incredulously.
“You know, I’m with Will. I need some excitement in my life,” Robert added.
“No!” Derek shouted. “Are you not listening? You’re not going!”
Claire jumped up and down clapping. “Ooh, I want to go too. I know how to use a gun.”
“Well, if they’re going, then I’m going,” Eric muttered. “One of us has to be level-headed.”
“What are you going to do?” Derek muttered sarcastically. “Talk them to death? Ask them to be nice?”
“Hey, I’ll have you know that I have no problem using my fists.”
“I’m coming too,” Charlie grinned, but then schooled her features. “You know, in case there’s bloodshed. Doctor and all,” she shrugged.
Priceless Ink: A Small Town Romance Page 31