Then he turned to Michael who was still staring at our woman, “Michael, get your gun, get your ink, get set up, everyone who is safe to tat, gets marked. Zoey is not leaving this place; a panic room will be installed in the next week even if I have to wire that fucker myself. Day and night, her shit is covered, so is yours. Right now, we are on lockdown, except for Ranger, we will have three of our guys at his back, quiet and stealth but they will be there. They are not getting any more of us, they just declared war, and we are going to fucking answer them by bringing it to their damn door.”
I nodded and then looked at Michael who snapped out of it and then went into the other room to get his shit out. Thank goodness he had his lab here, he wouldn’t need to leave. I saw all of the women stop and hold hands, they may not have known Cora but they knew Zoey and she was in pain. Because of that, they were in pain, one for all and all for one, that was our group’s motto.
Tony stepped up to me, “Okay, now is the time, get that shit you were talking about started. Our answer is, we are going to be some competition. Right now, they are gonna be afraid to do dick, they are going to wait to see if someone discovers anything. They will not make a mistake, they haven’t yet, and I don’t see them starting now. They are not afraid enough, but they will be. I will call Mel and have her find a few chicks from the gym, we use them, then we have Jet and Reed face off against each other, make sure that we spread that shit far and wide that they are the ones in the Bronx to beat. Two dudes, both trained by Fin, the MMA Champ, we use any fucking thread we can pull while covering everyone’s ass and we draw them out. Fuckers won’t be able to pass on the money to be made. Declare war on the Dark web where the fucking pussies are hiding. They need to feel the pressure and the fucking pain.”
Fin stepped up and nodded. “Fuck yeah, I will round up anyone who I think can help us out, we will make this shit real. Fuck, Hector thought he was the fucking king of the fight ring, I will make him look like an amateur. Men will come to help us, and men will come to fight, we tell them the score, make sure their shit is solid, then use every fucking thing we can to nail these bastards. Send out the word on the web, Fin O’Malley is taking over where Hector left off, but better.”
Brook stepped up looking worried. “That will put a target on your back,” she whispered and I looked at my sister and felt her fear. Hell, it was like it was alive, she knew, they all knew what we were planning to do now.
Fin and Tony nodded, Bry and Sean stepped up and nodded, Falon and Cal stepped up, Michael, and I nodded and then Ranger turned and looked at us and nodded. “Fucking do it. Make these fuckers bleed, and when they are on the floor with their own blood spilling, we put the kill shot in the middle of their fucking forehead, I want them to see who fucking is taking them down, no one comes out of this unscathed.”
Anthony Sr. nodded and took his wife’s hand. Mrs. Roark paused and sniffed, then smiling through her tears, she whispered, "My son just made an Independence Day speech that made me shiver. I am so proud of you boys!"
Mr. Roark gave a little pull getting Mrs. Roark to move. He gathered Ms. Maddie, Mrs. Honeychil, Mrs. O’Malley, Rucker, Mia, and Brit and led them over to where Reilly and Zoey were sitting, they formed a barrier around the two, giving them both strength while giving us the space to deal with what we had to deal with.
Michael
Fuck, it had been a long damn day. I looked at the people strewn out around my house and I shook my head. We had accomplished a lot in the last five hours. The worst had been when Ranger and Maria both had to leave and go to the morgue and ID Cora Kendrick’s body. She had been in bad shape, Maria had almost lost it and Ranger had been the one who held her together, telling her to suck it up until they were out of the building.
When they had returned, Maria had locked herself in the bathroom for a half an hour, only letting Mia in to talk to her. She was a mess, and she didn’t want Zoey to see her until she got her shit together. It had taken a while, and I had watched as Tony had become increasingly worried about his sister. It wasn’t until he had been able to get a hold of Sofia and Georgie, short for Georgina, their sisters, that Maria had finally been able to calm down. The sisters had been ordered to stay in Cali for now, they didn’t want them in the city for what they were going to start. In fact, the Roarks would explain everything when they flew out there.
Tony and Fin had also called Kink and filled him in, asking if there was a possibility if they needed a few unknown men to fight, if some of the guys in the club would be willing to play their game. The good news was the President of the Warriors, Creed, had gotten on the phone and assured both men they were behind them. Soon they would be making plans for a few men to ride out, train, and throw their hats in the ring. It had been Reese’s idea to use the Warriors, he planned on using them and faking their deaths as part of the draw to the fights.
The assholes had been letting kids fight, they were going to use men, real men, and real fights, even if they were planned and choreographed, they would still be more exciting than the young boys. They were going to advertise real fucking men who were trained as bait. Unlike the younger boys who didn’t have the endurance or the strength to make a fight long and dramatic as they would. That was their hook, fuck them.
Tony had also made calls around the country and currently there were several specialized security experts flying in to install panic rooms in all of their houses, their parents’ houses, and the building that housed all their businesses. Yeah this was costing a fucking mint and none of them gave two shits, hell, at one point Anthony Sr. offered to put up their retirement funds if they needed help. They hadn’t, I wouldn’t allow it, I had called and sealed the deal with the military, and next week Slinging Ink was gonna receive a huge windfall in the way of a check from the government to use the patented ink for their military covert ops members, it was more money than we could spend in three lifetimes.
I had also begun to mix more ink, Tony had been right, I had waited long enough to tat everyone. That ended this week as well. Everyone but Zoey would be receiving tats on various parts of the body as security. Thankfully no one had argued, however, I figured at this point everyone was in shock and therefore unable to think of anything to argue about.
The boy who had been dumped had survived surgery but had been put in a medically induced coma since he was shot in the head. The doctors had declared the kid as a James Doe until someone came forward to ID him. The police had checked fingerprints and he hadn’t shown up in the system, so they had no other choice but to wait. Once the police were allowed in to snap a picture, they would be able to try facial recognition, but no one was holding their breaths until they could actually see where he was shot at.
Biggs had agreed to the meet and Sean and Cal were locked in the office with him right now laying it all out on the table. No one knew for sure what was happening in the room since no one wanted to interrupt, but I had heard a few raised voices and actually chuckled ‘cause yeah, my brothers were assholes when they wanted to be.
Mel and Falon had just entered through the backdoor and were arguing, I had to laugh even at this particular time when shit sucked bad, watching my brother get a dose of his own medicine was fucking humorous.
I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye and Zoey stood. She had been with our parents while all this shit had gone down. She hadn’t complained and let us do our thing, but Reese and I both knew she needed our comfort, it sucked she was having to deal with this shit. I mean, she was fucking amazing, sure she had cried, hell, I think we had all teared up, and her sorrow had continued to run out of her pores, but she had also shown her strength, because when Rucker had been confused and out of sorts, she had snapped out of her grief enough so she could take care of him.
Zoey had taken the young boy in hand, gone into the study, sat with him briefly while she explained very simplistically that some bad men had done something really bad to one of her friends and she had been sad. She had also explained why his father
had been upset by saying that he had known her co-worker as well. Rucker seemed to accept her explanation after a few very well thought out questions. He was currently passed out in the spare room with the television turned onto the Disney channel to watch movies.
“Hey, baby?” I said softly and Zoey stopped and changed direction and moved to where I was standing. Reese walked into the room and came directly to us.
“Hey,” Zoey said and wrapped her arms around my waist and gave me a hug. When Reese got to us, he kissed her on the forehead and gave me a pointed look, which meant he had something to say but didn’t want to say it right now. I nodded and then put my arms around Zoey and just held on.
“You hungry?” I asked and she sighed but shook her head.
“Sweetheart, you haven’t eaten since this morning; you need to eat,” Reese said and I nodded.
“Yeah, baby,” I said and pulled back from her and whispered, “Come on, let’s go and see if we can find something that will settle before you go to bed.”
“I can’t sleep,” she whispered and then looked up. “I mean, I can sleep but I am not tired, I think taking all those naps today when I was so upset have completely messed me up.”
I nodded but said, “Maybe, but I bet you will be able to nod off if you have a full tummy and maybe some tea. I think Ma had some of that Sleepytime stuff in the kitchen.”
Zoey sighed and reluctantly allowed us to pull her into the kitchen, no one was in there miraculously so we sat her on one of the chairs at the bar and I moved to look in the fridge while Reese went to look for some tea. Fifteen minutes later the three of us were sitting on the chairs looking at the plates that were filled with pasta, rolls, and cups of tea that set next to them.
I started off slow, picking a small bite of food and eating it, noticing that once I did, Zoey followed suit. Soon she had eaten a little more than half of her food, and her color began to improve drastically.
“What did Ranger find out?” she asked finally.
I sighed and turned, putting down my fork and taking her shaking hand. Our girl, she was so strong. “The coroner will do an autopsy and then Ranger asked to be called when they were ready to release the body. She had no family and so they agreed. Dad said him and Mom will make the arrangements for the funeral, maybe next week if everything goes as planned.”
She nodded slowly and took a deep breath and looked at me, “I am going.”
Reese looked at me and then I nodded. “We all are.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Zoey
It had taken a week for Cora’s body to be released by the coroner. They’d called Ranger and informed him that Morrison Funeral Home had picked up the body. Since Morrison’s was not the funeral home the O’Malleys were to use, Ranger called Morrison’s and was told they had been hired for the service of Cora Kendrick. When he pushed for more information on who paid, they said the contract was faxed to an overseas number and returned the same way. The name on the contract was Marvella Kendrick, a relative, and the money to pay for the service was wired into the funeral home’s bank account, it too came from an overseas account. The person claimed to be a relative. So we still attended the funeral but everyone stayed alert since Cora had no family. Now the guys were backtracking that info. I was starting to feel it would never end.
I’d finished grieving for my boss and friend, and realized that I had waited long enough, I needed to tell Michael and Reese I loved them. Since being with them I’d thought it enough but could never get the words out because my nerves would always kick. Cora’s death taught me waiting was just more lost time and time was one thing you couldn’t go back and grab if something happened. I’d saw it with Ranger when he lost Noel. I’m sure my brother never thought he’d be raising his son solo. However, this family had taken me in no questions, just pure acceptance. They’d done the same with Ranger and Rucker. When Reese told me what he witnessed with Anthony Sr., I shared what happened at the family dinner. It seemed the parents had no plans to stop until everyone they held dear was planted firmly in a relationship.
My phone rang and I took a deep breath. Surely Reilly, aka Dad, as he informed me I was now to start calling him, was not calling again to check on the twins. Roughly six months, though sometimes twins come early I was informed, dealing with phone calls and drop ins—daily.
I picked the phone up and didn’t bother looking, what was the use, not like I could blow it off and not answer if it was him. He would just come over. “Hello.”
“You thought it was Mr. O’Malley, didn’t you? That is what took you so long to pick it up,” Ranger’s laughter came through the phone.
“Ranger, it is not funny. He calls like fifteen times a day. He drops by at least once.”
“Sis, he means well, they all do. They’re just concerned.” I held the phone out and looked at it. My brother, trying to smooth out me on the O’Malleys. How the mighty have fallen.
“Seriously, you are taking up for the craziness now. Must I remind you they went to Walmart and had copies made of the sonogram so they could send it out to people. Who does that?”
There had been a time I would never have doubted that my brother would always take my side. He’d been around the O’Malley bunch for less than a month and he was acting as if he’d always been a part of it.
“Stop laughing or I am hanging up.” I heard him attempting to pull himself under control. But his voice felled him.
“You got to laugh, sis. Come on, so Mr. O’Malley told your boss that he would nut check him if he ever upset you. I might have used different words but remember I could just pull my gun and shoot your boss and say he made me do it.”
“Ranger, really?”
“I wouldn’t really do it, Zoey. What happened to your sense of humor?” I placed the candles around the room and at his words I stopped in front of the mirror and looked at myself, my hand going to my really noticeable bump now. I frowned, shook my head at myself. Two, when I said it, it still shocked me.
“You know, I’m going to say this and then hang up. I heard a rumor, it seems you and maybe several ‘good girls’ will be having dinner. Enjoy, big brother, and don’t call me for protection. Call a cop. Oh, that’s right, you are one. Make sure to take your gun.” I clicked the phone and burst out laughing. Yeah, let him think on that for a while.
When I was done in the bedroom, I headed to check on dinner, not like I had to cook, between Ms. Maddie, who said she didn’t have anything else to do because the doctor wouldn’t clear her to go back to work, no matter how much she begged, to Olivia, who claimed an expectant mother of twins needed to rest as much as possible and I didn’t need to be standing in the kitchen on my feet working to feed the men when I had help. Which totally led to why we were having spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, homemade, and my contribution, the salad.
The meal was brought by Brooklyn and Mia, they’d been at the house when Olivia told them to drop it off on their way when they left. They stayed and chatted with me for a while until Brooklyn had pulled Mia out of the house after she asked, “Share, Zoey, how does Reese’s piercings feel when he is inside you? Does it feel good like it says in the magazines?”
Brook and I had just looked at her.
“What? I want to know if I am missing out on anything?” Mia shamelessly shrugged her shoulders at us.
Brook had pushed back her chair and announced, “Time to go!” And Mia glared at her.
“Wait, Zoey, hasn’t answered?” Brooklyn glared back at Mia.
“Reese is my brother, remember, dumbass? I don’t want to think about his piercing. I don’t want to think about how his…feels. I can’t say it, ‘cause I don’t even want to talk about it. And for God sakes, Michael is your brother.” Brooklyn was on a rant as she dragged Mia to the door. I followed watching the play by play between the childhood friends.
“That’s why I didn’t ask about Michael. But hey, does Tony have any?” Brooklyn groaned at Mia’s words.
When the
y reached the door Brooklyn turned as Mia headed to the car. “I swear, not everyone is crazy in these families, you have to have the actual family’s blood in your veins for it to affect you.” Brook turned and headed toward her car.
“Hey,” she stopped midway in the vehicle, “you have one of the family’s blood in your veins.” The look on Brooklyn’s face was priceless and I could hear Mia’s laughter through the open car door.
“Well hell, I do.” She slammed the car door and I watched as they pulled out before closing the door and laughing.
After they left I started my plan of attack and now everything was set except for one thing. I looked at the time on the clock, Michael and Reese should be on their way, leaving me just enough time to change out of my sweats into the off-white silk robe I bought and never had a reason to wear before. I even had off-white lacy boy short panties and the matching bra, I was all set for my planned evening. I stood on my tip toes and reached for the box holding the things I needed to set this up. It was still new to see my stuff in the closet mixed with Michael’s and Reese’s. They didn’t want me lifting a thing so they took a day off and moved all my stuff from Ranger’s house. I moved the box back and forth working it to the end so I could get a grip on it, instead of it coming down another box fell, hitting my head before landing on the floor opened. I stood and stared at it, then picked it up, my chest tightened at what I saw. I took the box and went and sat on the bed. It would seem I wasn’t the only one with plans.
Reese
“Zoey?” I yelled when I walked in the kitchen. Bread sat on the counter and the smell of dinner filled the air. Only thing missing, our woman.
Pierced and Inked (KO Ink Book 2) Page 17