Mick: Kingston Corruption, Book One

by Vester, Jennifer

  I shook my head. “You couldn’t have known.”

  “I should have. Fuck. That woman only wanted money,” he growled. “All this for money.”

  I looked over my shoulder where Heather lay on the floor. “Is she dead?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “And I’m not checking on her to see if she isn’t.”

  A sob left my body followed by another one until I was shaking with them. The blood that drenched Mick’s shirt and my hands was still flowing, but not as fast.

  “Alex.”

  “He’ll make it. As much as I wanted to kill him a few times, I’ve gotten used to him. I’m going to beat the hell out of him when he gets better for knocking you up.”

  A half laugh, half sob slipped out of me. “I’ll help.”

  Mick’s eyes opened for a moment then he groaned again. “Alisa.”

  “They’re on their way, Mick, just hold on. I need you, please don’t leave me alone. I love you, just hang on.”

  His eyes roamed my face for a moment then he let out a groan. “Love you.”

  “I know,” I whispered.

  “Cameras. Recorded it.”

  Alex’s head swiveled around the room then he nodded. “Got it. Where’s the recording?”

  Mick’s eyes closed, but his hand reached out to touch my arm.

  Alex leaned over him and asked again, “Where’s the recording, Mick? Stay with us.”

  “Mason,” he whispered.

  Alex and I looked at each other then back down at him. He groaned again, but his hand was still on my arm. I brought it to my lips and kissed his fingertips.

  Sirens could be heard in the distance, steadily getting closer. It sounded like half the city was coming to the club.

  Alex reached for his phone and dialed a number.

  “Mason, it’s your brother. Shit went bad at the club.”

  He listened for a minute. “He’s still breathing, ambulance is coming. He said something about the cameras. Look Heather said a bunch of shit…”

  He nodded like he was listening.

  “Yeah, Heather. I can’t explain right now. But if you want those recordings to end up in the right hands before Kingston’s finest get here then we need to know where the recordings are. Otherwise all we’ve got is a bunch of dead bodies, one of which is my ex-girlfriend who’s been fucking my old man. She said some shit that’ll help bring him down.”

  I squeezed Mick’s hand, watching his face as he grimaced. The pain was probably excruciating at this point, and I didn’t know if he had any internal injuries from the bullet that hit his side. My hand slid around his waist to his back but the only thing I felt was the sticky blood pooling in his shirt and on the floor.

  Alex continued to talk as he got up from the floor and went to the desk. He rifled around in the drawers, searching for something.

  I swung my gaze back to Mick and leaned over him. “They’re coming. You’ll be okay.”

  “Baby,” he whispered before he grimaced again.

  “That’s right, we’re going to have a baby. If you sleep, dream about me, Mick. Just me and the baby. I love you.”

  Alex rushed out of the room and I heard voices yelling downstairs.

  “Here!” I screamed. “We’re here!”

  There were multiple sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs as I kept my eyes on Mick. He’d taken a bullet for me, killed for me, loved me and scared me. There was so much to this man laying on the floor in front of me.

  My life couldn’t possibly be the same without him as much as it was also completely different with him. I needed him. Everything about him. I didn’t care about the reputation he and his brother had. Didn’t care about whatever they were doing. I just knew that my heart hurt thinking about a life that didn’t include the beautiful, complicated man in front of me.

  A hand nudged me to the side, tearing my eyes away from Mick. Two men bent over him and immediately started examining him, speaking rapidly.

  I started crying again as they worked on him. When a hand slid around my waist, I turned to see an older man that looked a bit like the Galloway brothers. Not so much in the eyes, but the set of his jaw and lips were nearly the same. His eyes were focused on Mick, an expression of pained concern flashed across his face.

  He backed up and took me with him as another emergency worker approached us. She checked out my hands, wiping most of the blood away even after I told her I was fine.

  “We’ll go to the hospital,” he said, distracted by the men that were lifting Mick. “Jesus, what happened here?”

  Alex approached us and held out his hand. “Chief, glad you got my message. We need to talk.”

  The older man blinked then turned toward Alex. He nodded then mumbled, “Not here. I’ll take you both in my car.”

  He whistled loudly, and several uniformed officers turned toward him as he barked orders. He sounded exactly like his sons when they got in heated debates.

  Alex held his hand out and I hugged him as the medical team passed us in a rush through the door.

  “Can we trust him?” I whispered to Alex.

  “Yeah,” he replied. “But we have to be careful. Let’s go with him and see what he has to say.”

  Nodding, I followed Alex and the older Galloway through the door and down the stairs. There were more officers in the room and I realized I hadn’t checked on Holly with everything that happened.

  “Where’s Holly? Is she okay?”

  Alex clenched his jaw for a moment as we stepped outside. There was a light rain that was coming down, with dark clouds in the sky. The ambulance sirens started wailing as they pulled away from the curb. Two police cars raced ahead of it.

  “Yeah, she’s okay. Paul was sitting with her in my car.”

  He scanned the street for a moment then frowned.

  Paul was speaking to an officer by one of their vehicles, but I didn’t see Holly anywhere.

  Alex grabbed an officer as we passed him on the sidewalk. “Have you seen the girl that was with that man earlier?”

  The man looked over at Paul. “Yeah, they took her to the hospital to get checked out. Said she was in shock I think.”

  Alex sucked in an audible breath, but only nodded.

  We followed Mick’s dad down the sidewalk to a non-descript sedan while Alex pulled his phone out of his pocket. He dialed a number and stepped to the side as I slid into the back seat of the vehicle.

  The older man got into the driver’s side and glanced at me through the rearview mirror.

  “I’m Sean.”

  “Alisa,” I replied.

  “Yeah, I know. Looked in on you at the hospital. Meant to talk to you after what happened at the apartment, but the detectives wrapped everything up. Talked to the boys instead.”

  I nodded, anxious to go to the hospital.

  “Just wanted you to know that Mick’s a good man. He’ll make it. That boy has more drive and fight than anyone. Wish I had a hundred of him in the department.”

  “You should tell him that,” I replied softly as I looked through the window at Alex, who had just gotten off the phone.

  “I would if he’d listen,” he said gruffly. “So maybe you can tell him for me. Yeah?”

  Looking down at my hands, I wasn’t sure what to make of that message, or whether I’d be able to tell Mick. He probably wouldn’t listen to me either, given his relationship with his father.

  Alex slid into the car and glanced at me then turned back to Sean.

  “Just talked with Mason, he’s at the hospital already.”

  Sean put the car in gear and let the siren run before we rolled down the street.

  “What do you have, Alex?” he asked.

  “A recording. Our father was involved.”

  Sean whistled. “Fuck. Had a feeling you were going to say that. Didn’t want to hear it, but I knew you were going to say it. This a conversation we can have right now?”

  Alex glanced at me again and I gave him a small smile.

&nbs
p; “I think we should. Alisa already knows most of it.”

  “Okay, shoot.”

  Alex proceeded to relay the events of the last few weeks as Sean drove us through the wet and rainy streets. Sean blanched at the information about Heather and our father, but didn’t look surprised.

  “I get it, Alex. I do. I work with the man all the time and believe me, I know he’s as dirty as they come. It’s always been lack of evidence. He has everyone running scared every time they even think about disagreeing with him. Frankly, even if Heather did say something in that room, it’s her word against his, your word against his and no one wins.”

  “According to Heather, he killed George for wanting to run for mayor.”

  Sean shook his head. “You know this, Alex. Evidence is golden. We can’t prove anything which means we have zero reason to investigate him.”

  “He beat my sister. Took a belt to her for years. If she testifies, then what?”

  Sean took a sharp right toward the multi-story building we were headed to.

  “If she testifies then she’s brought into court and crucified by one of his lawyers. Again, her word against his and if they get their hands on one shred of the truth about Mick or even you, they’ll raise hell until your life is ripped apart. I may be the Chief, but that department isn’t mine and never was. It’s run by the Kings. I get my orders and we do what we need to, but I know who’s pulling my strings.”

  Alex looked through the window as Sean circled around the parking lot for a space.

  “So, even with the recording, we can’t use it?”

  Sean pulled into a spot, parked then looked at my brother. “You can use it. But you’re going to have to get your hands dirty to do it. You guys have been up to quite a bit lately, so I know you’ll figure out how to use it and when. Politics, Alex. Use your head. You grew up with them and you know how to play this game. Think about it. And we never had this conversation.”

  The three of us headed into the hospital and were directed to a waiting area on the third floor. Mick had gone into surgery immediately upon arrival. The nurses wouldn’t tell us anything as we waited. Only that we’d probably have a long wait.

  After a couple of hours, a few officers joined Sean and spoke to him quietly out of earshot. Alex paced for a few minutes, then headed toward the nurse’s station where he started asking them about Holly. When he found out where she was, we headed to see her on a different floor.

  Alex was the first to enter her room as I hung back and peeked around the edge of the door. Unlike my idiot brother, I didn’t want to disturb her if she was in the middle of something. He didn’t seem to care as he ambled over to her bed and touched her arm for a brief second.

  She woke up startled, jerking her arm away as she stared up at my brother.

  “Hey, Holly,” I said from the edge of the room.

  Her eyes slid to mine, and she gave me a small smile. “Hey you.”

  “I’m so sorry…”

  She shook her head. “I’m okay, really. I’m just tired.”

  Her eyes darted to Alex for a moment as she chewed at her lip.

  “Is your family coming up here?” he asked.

  “Uhm, no. I’m just in here getting some fluids until they get my paperwork done. What happened?”

  Alex opened his mouth and I touched his arm to stop him. “Alex, can you see if her paperwork is going to take long? Maybe she can come upstairs with us.”

  He nodded and left after glancing at her again.

  “Holly, what happened?”

  She held up her hand. “Stop. I’m okay. Everybody thinks I need some sort of hand holding here. Nothing happened, despite what it looked like.”

  I looked at her in confusion. “What do you mean? What did what look like?”

  “I’ve got a small gash on my head from one of those guys when he pushed me to the floor. He…he tried to do something, but Paul came in and I think I passed out. Your brother thinks something bad happened, but Paul got to me first. He needs to calm down.”

  I smirked. “He’s just a good guy.”

  She shrugged. “Whatever. Make him stop.”

  Laughing for a moment, it took my mind off Mick. Then the smile faded from my face as I thought of him upstairs in surgery.

  Alex came back in and gave Holly the information on her release which would take another hour. When he offered to stay with her, she gave me a look.

  Extracting him from the room was impossible, so I left them both and made my way back to the waiting room.

  Mason met me halfway to my chair when I returned. Giving me a huge hug, he squeezed me tightly then stood back with a smile. Jack was next, who hugged me a little less tightly and smiled at me a little less widely, but I could tell he was glad to see me, nonetheless.

  Paul was sitting in the corner reading a magazine and immediately gravitated toward us.

  “The doctor came out a little while ago. He’s going to be okay. Uglier, but okay. Might be a nasty scar.”

  A long breath that I didn’t even know I was holding, escaped me. My knees went weak and Mason gently guide me into a chair.

  “Hey, we can go in and see him in a little bit. Don’t get upset, he’ll be okay. Well, as okay as Mick gets, which we both know is fucked up crazy most—”

  “Shut up, Mason,” I said with a small laugh.

  My thoughts turned to Mick and his recovery. It was going to be a long road for both of us the next few months, but in the end, I knew that we’d come out okay. No matter what, we were forever bound to each other.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Mick

  “I don’t need a wheelchair, Alisa. This is ridiculous,” I said as I watched her retreating back. She disappeared into the bedroom and I sighed.

  “She’s just worried, you’ve been in the hospital for a week,” Paul said as he wheeled me through the living room.

  “It was a fractured rib. They removed the bullet, put me on some meds and I’m good. Painful and still fucking painful, but it doesn’t require me to be wheeled around. I’m fine.”

  “You’re the boss, but if it were me, I’d let the woman have what she wants for a little while.”

  I sighed and flinched from the pressure on my right side. It was sore and uncomfortable to say the least, but didn’t prevent me from walking. The wheelchair she’d gotten me was overkill and would immediately be burned or thrown off the roof as soon as I could muster lifting it. But Paul had a point. She was sweet, and it was just her way, even if it was a little overboard.

  “Alright, I’ll give her a day, after that, lose this thing, Paul, or you’re fired.”

  “You got it,” he said with a deep laugh as he walked away.

  The worst part about being in the damn thing was I was tired of being in bed or sitting. I felt like I’d done enough of that in the hospital and didn’t want to do it anymore. My legs needed to stretch before I forgot how to use them.

  I pushed on the sides to try and roll toward the bedroom and immediately regretted it. The pinch in my side reminded me that I was still recovering.

  Sighing, I stood up and pushed the chair toward the bedroom then sat back down in it when I heard her walking around behind the door.

  “Alisa?”

  “Give me a sec. Do you need help?” she replied.

  Rolling my eyes, I scooted the chair forward with my feet and nudged the door out of the way.

  Scanning the room, I didn’t see her. There were a few items of clothing on the edge of the made bed. She hadn’t been sleeping here in a week, so things looked exactly like they had been when we’d left the house a week prior.

  Shuffling forward, I grabbed the clothes and threw them in the hamper.

  “What are you doing in here?” she asked behind me.

  “Helping with the clothes,” I muttered. “You know I can handle clothes and walking at this point.”

  “You were supposed to stay out there.”

  “Why?” I said as I glanced over my sho
ulder at her. I blinked, riveted on what she was wearing. “What are you doing?”

  She shrugged then smirked as I turned the chair around to face her. She had on a white lingerie set with a short little skirt that had a medical symbol on it. The garters and stockings alone were enough to pique my interest, but the lacy top that clung to her body looked like it was about to spill over, freeing the prefect globes underneath.

  My dick, that was nearly always semi-hard around her, started to take notice.

  “Alisa?” I asked as my eyes feasted on her.

  “I thought maybe I could be your naughty nurse today,” she pouted.

  My mouth opened, but I couldn’t manage to form a single coherent sentence, so I nodded. My side was sore, my cheek still had stitches from the missed bullet that Heather nearly put in my head, but none of the aches and pains mattered now as I watched her.

  She gave me a small smile while she played with a tiny satin ribbon that was on the front of her panties.

  “You’re so beautiful,” I managed to say.

  “So are you,” she said as she walked closer to me in her own seductive way. It wasn’t practiced, couldn’t be described as alluring, but the way her hips swayed naturally had been a turn on for me for a long time. And fuck, her ass in that outfit probably looked even sweeter.

  “Be a good girl and turn around.”

  She complied, and I groaned. Pushing myself up from the chair, I slid behind her and wrapped my hand around her waist.

  Kissing the side of her neck softly, I heard her sigh. I’d never get enough of her scent and taste.

  “Mick,” she whispered. “You’re supposed to be sitting down. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

  “Fuck that,” I said as I slid my hand into the edge of her panties. “I’m not going to sit over there where I can’t touch you. Do you know how bad I want to bend you over right now?”

  “That’s not the point, Mick,” she said, with a whimper as my other hand cupped one of her breasts and squeezed. “I was going to—”

  “Who has control, baby?” I said as I nipped at her ear.