Chapter 18
“Alex!” Damien called his brother out of desperation. He didn’t know what else to do.
“What’s up?”
“Kramer has Paige.”
“Fuck me! This shit never ends.”
“That’s the worst part, but there’s more. They gave Kevin some kind of overdose. He’s in and out of it but he looks like shit. I don’t know what to do.”
“Shit! Okay, you’re still at the penthouse?”
“Yeah.”
“Give me ten minutes, I’ll be there.”
“Thank you.”
“Fuck!” Alex hung up. Being a helper and a giver was completely contrary to Damien’s brother’s personality even before they became gangsters. Damien knew it better that anyone. But, he also knew that no matter what at any time in his life he’d been able to call his brother and bitch and moan and cuss...Alex would be there.
“Hang on Kevin...Dad...Help is coming.”
It took Alex almost half an hour to get there. When he did, he had a vial and a syringe. “Where’s he at?”
“In there on the bed.”
Alex went in and sat down next to Kevin whose respirations were getting shallower by the second. His skin was as pale as the sheet he was laying on. Alex drew the liquid out of the vial into the syringe.
“What is that?” Damien asked him.
“Narcan.”
“What’s it going to do to him?”
“Save his life...again. This fucker must have nine of them and it looks like I’m in charge of them all.”
Damien suppressed a smile. Being the life-saving hero was also as contrary to Alex’s personality as you could get. If Alex thought he was amused, he might just shoot him. He watched his brother inject the opioid antagonist into Kevin’s vein. Once he took the needle out it was less than five minutes before Kevin started shaking and jerking violently. He sat up all at once and looked at Damien and Alex like he had no idea where he was or who they were and then he tried to jump off the bed.
“Whoa! Kevin, you’re okay. Chill out!” Damien took hold of his arms and tried to get him to lie back down. Kevin was fighting him. Alex was just watching. “Shit! Alex, help me.”
“I did my part. He’s your father, you deal with him.”
With a lot of effort Damien wrestled the older man to the floor. “Kevin! Stop fighting me, I don’t want to hurt you!”
“Fuck, get off my back, you weigh a fucking ton.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” Damien slowly rose up off of him. As soon as his weight was off of him, Kevin pulled himself first to his knees and then to his feet. He rocked forward slightly and Damien reached out to keep him from falling. Then suddenly he doubled over and puked all over the floor.
“Gross!” Alex said, still not making a move to help.
“Here, sit down,” Damien told Kevin. “I’ll get you a towel and some water.” Kevin looked wiped out. His skin was a pastry gray now and he was sweating profusely. Damien helped him to the chair and he sat. Damien went and got several towels and a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. He tossed one of the towels over the spot on the carpet and wondered just for a second what Jake was going to think when he got there. Kevin sat there staring at the wall for what seemed like a long time to Damien as he sipped his water. Meanwhile Alex said,
“So who called you about Paige?”
Damien handed him his phone and said, “This is what I got.”
“How do you know it was Kramer?” Alex asked after reading it.
“The doorman described him.”
“So are you planning on taking them the evidence?”
“I don’t know what else to do. You and I both know what they’ll do to her...”
“Then you also know they’re still going to kill her and you too if you show up down there.”
“You have to tell Jackson...” Damien and Alex both turned to look at Kevin. He still looked like he was recovering from getting hit by a truck, but his eyes were finally focused again and some color was beginning to return to his face. Damien ignored what he said for now and asked him,
“How are you feeling? Do you need more water?”
“I’m fine,” Kevin said with a wave of his palm. “Just a little nauseated. Like I was saying, you have to tell Jackson. He’s the only one who can deal with Lucas.”
“He’s not going to help me, Kevin...any of us. He thinks you’re dead because he ordered you killed. He hates me...”
“He loves you.”
“Right! The same way he loves you.”
“He does love me...He just lives in a different world, Damien.”
“Why the fuck are you defending him?” Damien could feel his blood pressure rising. If it was up to Jackson, Kevin would be dead...his own brother. And, he kept him from his own son his whole life. How could he even try to make a defense for that man? Jackson is a monster.
“I’m not,” Kevin said, “I’m just stating the facts. If Jackson were being 100% honest he would say he loves us all. Business and family are two separate entities. He wanted to kill me when I slept with your mother. The only thing that saved me was being his brother. There have been at least a hundred more episodes in the past thirty years. This is the first one he really did order me killed...and that was only because he couldn’t do it himself. Jackson loves you Damien and Paige. He will help you...for a price.”
Damien looked at Alex. Alex only shrugged. “You don’t think he’ll help?” Damien said.
“I do,” Alex told him. “He’ll help you...for a piece of your soul. You’ll have to decide if it’s worth it or not.”
“It’s Paige. It’s worth it.”
Alex stood up. He looked at Kevin and said, “Do you think you can manage to stay alive for a few hours? I don’t think I have time for another rescue today.” Alex’s face was dead serious. Kevin smiled.
“Thank you, Alex. I never even thought you liked me and here you’ve saved me twice in the same week.”
“I don’t like you,” Alex said simply. “Let’s go,” he told Damien. “Jackson is at the house. We’ll have more privacy if we catch him there.”
Alex and Damien left Kevin and headed over to see Jackson. Damien’s stomach felt sicker with every minute that Paige was being held by Kramer’s men. Caine was a sick son of a bitch. He learned everything he knew from his father and his father’s brothers. Who knew what they were doing to her. Killing her might be more merciful...but Damien was praying they hadn’t done that.
When they got to Jackson’s estate, the security officer stopped them at the gate. “Does Mr. Paine know you’re bringing him?” the guard asked Alex about Damien.
“No, call him and tell him,” Alex said. They both sat silently and waited until the guard came back.
“He wants your guns left here...all of them.” Alex looked pissed but he didn’t say a word. He stepped out of the car and took his gun from the holster under his jacket. Then he reached down and pulled one out of his ankle holster and handed the guard his keys.
“The automatics are in the trunk.”
The guard took five more guns out of a case in the trunk and then he leaned into the passenger window and told Damien, “You too.”
“I don’t have one.”
“Bullshit, you wouldn’t be stupid enough to come here without one. Get out!”
Damien stepped out and was subjected to a full body pat-down. The guard then proceeded to check the car. They waited impatiently until he was finished and then Alex said, “Are you satisfied Asshole?”
“Yep,” the guard said, smugly.
When they got back in the car and drove towards the house Alex said, “He already knows.”
“He knows what?”
“Everything. He knows that Kramer has Paige. He knows that Kevin is alive...That’s what this search shit is about. I’ve been carrying a gun into his home for ten years. All of a sudden he wants me unarmed. He knows...and he’s going to kill
me.”
“Maybe you should let me go in without you.” Damien hoped that his brother was wrong, but when it came to Jackson...who knew? Anyone else would be dead already...but after whatever Jackson had planned for his brother, he may wish that he was.
“No, fuck it! I may as well find out what he’s planning on doing now.”
The two brothers had to wait for another security man to open the door. Jackson must be expecting Damien to come after him; he’s got his security doubled. “He’s in the library,” the man told him. Damien and Alex made their way to the library where they found Jackson behind his desk with a gun trained on them.
Chapter 19
“Isn’t this fucked up? Jackson asked them. “I have to have extra security to make sure my own son’s aren’t going to kill me.”
“I’m not your son,” Damien said. Alex glared at him, but Damien ignored him. “I came here to ask you to help me...but let’s be clear that I know you’re not my father and I know that you kept me from mine for nearly thirty years...and then you tried to kill him.”
Jackson smirked and looked at Alex, “Which brings me to you. You were the one person on this earth that I thought would never betray me.”
“You taught me to be loyal to family and then you told me to execute my own uncle.”
“He betrayed me.”
“Then why didn’t you kill him yourself?”
Jackson started laughing then and Alex and Damien waited. Sometimes his laugh was more dangerous than anything else he did...it usually meant that he had the upper hand already. “Don’t worry; it won’t be an issue for much longer. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
Damien swallowed hard. He wasn’t so much afraid of Jackson as he was afraid that Jackson would refuse to help him. “Kramer has Paige.” Jackson didn’t say anything and the expression on his face didn’t change at all. Alex was right, he already knew. “I need your help.” Jackson threw his head back this time and laughed heartily. He was still holding the gun. Alex looked at it and then gave his brother a look that said, “He’s lost his mind.”
“You might not be my son, but you have my balls. It took quite a few for you to come here and ask me that after everything that has gone down lately.”
“So, will you help me?”
“What do I get in return?”
“Whatever you want...as long as you get her out of there alive.”
Jackson smirked again. “Ballsy and demanding...maybe you are mine after-all. You know what I want. I want what Greg left Paige, I want whatever you thought you were slyly keeping over the years and I want your absolute loyalty.”
“Okay, you’ve got it.”
Jackson raised an eyebrow and said, “That was quick.”
“I don’t care what I have to do as long as Paige comes out of this alive and unharmed.”
“I’m warning you...when she does come out of this, I’m sending her away. This family has been involved in one drama after the other since she showed up.”
Damien wanted to tell Jackson this family always was nothing but drama...but he checked his tongue. Instead, he told Jackson, “I just want her to be safe.” He pulled out his phone and said, “I got a text...”
“Tonight, at the docks, 6:30, right?”
“Yes...you did know...?”
“I’m not sure why that surprises you. Some of my men are still loyal to me. Two of them are on their way down there now. They’ll help Paige if they hear from me. It will start a war with Lucas...one that is likely to spill a lot of blood and change the whole face of the city. It’s a lot of grief to be brought down on me and my men because of an out of control girl running around thinking that she can take on seasoned business men and a boy who is letting his dick do his thinking.”
Calling him a “boy” was Jackson’s stab at the ultimate insult. Damien couldn’t care two shits what Jackson thought of him any longer, as long as he helped Paige. He did have to control his facial features when Jackson said, “Business men.” He waited, but Jackson was finished with that tirade. He sat the gun down on the desk in front of him instead and he turned to Alex and said, “You have a job to finish. Brad will be waiting for you at the front gate...I need a witness this time.”
Damien’s stomach fell. He was ordering Alex to go back and kill Kevin. Alex remained expressionless and Jackson went on to say, “I want proof as well. You call me when it’s finished. Meanwhile, your brother will get on the phone to that attorney he gave the evidence to.”
This fucker knows everything, Damien thought. He had sweat rolling down the side of his face as Alex who still hadn’t flinched was already walking towards the door. Jackson was forcing him to choose between Paige and Kevin. It took everything inside of him not to call after his brother or lunge for that gun on Jackson’s desk and kill him with it. Neither of those options would help Paige, and God help him as much as he loved Kevin...he couldn’t let Kramer kill her.
When Alex was gone Jackson turned to Damien and said, “Have him deliver the files here within the hour.” It was like he was ordering pizza. Damien took out his phone and called Jake.
“Hey Damien, I’m here with Kevin. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m doing okay. I need a big favor....”
“Of course. What do you need?”
“I need the files you’re holding for us...I need them brought to Jackson’s house ASAP.”
“Okay, I can do that. Are you sure about this?”
“I have to be,” Damien said.
“Alright then, give me about an hour to get Roxi over here with Kevin...”
“No, I don’t know if Roxi knows the address or not.”
“No...you don’t want Roxi here?”
“No, that’s not a good idea. I’ll just text you the address.”
“Okay, gotcha!” Jake said.
Jackson was listening to every word Damien was saying. Damien disconnected the call and then text the address to Jake. At the end of the message he said, “Tell my brother to remember what day this is.” He sent and then deleted it before sticking the phone into his pocket and turning to Jackson.
“Now what?” he asked.
“Now, we wait,” Jackson said. Damien sat down, reluctantly. The silence was uncomfortable but Damien preferred it to having conversation with Jackson. Unfortunately, Jackson loved to hear himself talk... “I really had high hopes for both you and your brother. I’m so disappointed...and to be honest with you, I’m hurt.” Damien knew that he was goading him...testing him. He kept his mouth shut at the cost of a few blood vessels popping off in his head. “I honestly wasn’t too shocked when you turned your back on your family...but Alex...he’s always been more like me. Not that it’s really your fault. Out of all of my siblings, Sylvie included, Kevin was always the softest one. Your mother had a bleeding heart as well. Your DNA didn’t allow for you to be tough-skinned.”
Damien had to take a deep breath. Jackson wasn’t only insulting him now, he was branching out. Damien had to give him credit. The man could push his buttons harder and faster than anyone he’d ever met. He changed the subject then suddenly and said, “I’m going to kill Lucas, but once that happens we’ll have to deal with his five brothers at the least. Can I trust you to be on board with that?
“Yes.” Damien was going to do whatever it took to make sure Paige was safe. One Kramer left standing would be too many. He was already thinking about Kelsey...they would need to find her. “Do you know where he hid Kelsey?”
“He sent her out of the country. She’s in Columbia with one of his cohorts. Once the family is gone, there won’t be a reason for her to come back.” That was a relief at least. They sat in silence again until Jackson’s phone beeped. He looked at it and raised an eyebrow, and then he sent a few messages. Damien was curious about what was going on, but he once again decided that keeping his mouth shut was the best option. After a few minutes he looked up at Damien and said, “Okay, let’s go.”
As they stood and h
eaded for the door Jackson said, “You’re not even going to ask?” Damien could tell that he wanted him to. The sadistic bastard wanted him to know what had been done to his father. He only looked at him and waited. He knew Jackson would show him or tell him whether he asked or not. It was all part of his punishment. He watched as Jackson pulled something up on his phone and then held it up for Damien to look at. It was Kevin, or at least it looked a lot like him. It was hard to tell with a hole in the side of his face and one in his chest, but the hair and the build matched.
Damien looked at the number it was sent from. It was Brad’s phone. Two brothers and neither of them bat an eye at killing the third. This family is so incredibly fucked up. Now, his father and Roxi’s father is dead. Fuck! He could feel his blood pressure rising and his heart rate accelerating...but he still didn’t say a word. A trickle of sweat rolling down the side of his face was the only outward sign of his torment. Jackson saw it and smiled. “I have to say again...maybe you’re more like me than you think.”
Damien swallowed the bile in his throat. The only peace he could draw at the moment was that Jackson was wrong. It didn’t faze Jackson that was his brother he was looking at. Damien wanted to puke his guts out and then kill Jackson with his bare hands. Jackson’s phone rang again and he listened for a second and then with a tight smile he handed the phone to Damien.
“Your attorney would like to know you’re alive before he leaves the files.”
Damien took the phone and put it to his ear. “Jake?”
“Yeah, I have the files. They’ll be at the gates. Are you okay?”
“As much as I can be.”
“Should I call anyone?” By “anyone” Damien assumed he meant F.B.I. If they showed up there would be a bloody battle and it would be weeks or months before it was sorted out.
“No. Thanks, Jake.” He ended the call and handed the phone back to Jackson. Jackson smiled and said,
“Soon now, son.” Damien bit the inside of his cheek and his stomach churned once more.
Chapter 20
Paige could barely move. She woke up slowly with every muscle in her body screaming out in pain. It took her several seconds to process where she was. She was in a warehouse with two of the Kramer brothers. She had to assume these two are the ones who taught Caine everything he needed to know about how to treat a woman.
House of Paine - (A Romantic Suspense - Book 2) Page 10