The Devil's Revenge

by Jennifer Loren

  Pushing the limp body off us, Nick helps me up, letting me wrap my arms around his neck as he secures me with one arm. “Got your gun, Princess?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, let’s go.” Nick moves quickly, shooting anyone necessary while I do my best to watch our backs. Still feet away from the door, Nick stops and pulls something out of his pocket and throws it before running behind a wall. Within seconds, the wall explodes and Nick is running again, right through a hole in the wall. I can’t see anything as the smoke surrounds us, but once it clears Nick sets me down and I watch as our boys come over the hill shooting. “Stay down, it will be over in a second.” Nick hovers over top of me, smiling and causing the whole world to disappear around us. It is like a dream, an incredibly good dream. My eyes become heavy, even more so as Nick strokes my hair and tries to calm me. “Close your eyes, you are okay now, Kayla.” His voice sings to me, and I feel myself floating away with every word he speaks.

  Chapter 38

  ~Kayla~

  I dress Nicky for his favorite place and he is already talking about seeing Eeyore again. We stop to say good-bye to Nick while he is talking business with the guys. I think nothing about giving him a quick kiss and walking Nicky out the door, but Nick chases after me and stops me.

  “Where do you think you are going?” He asks.

  “The Children’s Gym.” I say as Nicky follows up with yelling, Eeyore. Laughing, I look back up at Nick and realize he is not happy with the idea. “Can I not leave the house at all Nick?”

  “Not without someone going with you. Kayla, Welch is not going to miss an opportunity to get to you or Nicky. If you want to go anywhere you both will be guarded by someone, I trust.” He says and I am forced to look around the room of men.

  “Dwayne?” Nick shakes his head. “Terrance?” I say, happily, thinking it will be nice to get to know him better. Nick again shakes his head. “Reginald?” Again, another no from Nick. “Eddy?” I say, and instantly Eddy stands with a smile.

  “Sit back down smiley, you are not exactly the protective gun I want watching over my family.” Nick says with a laugh.

  Looking around the room, I become discouraged, and even more so when Elijah stands. “Come on trouble. I will watch over you and little Nick.” My expression sours which causes Elijah to laugh. “It is either me or Hop-along Jack over here.” He says, pointing towards Ryan who is laid up in nearly a full body cast and an exasperated expression.

  Nick doesn’t seem too happy about it either, but if I want out of the house at all, this seems to be my only choice. Plus, I might be able to pull some information out of Elijah while Nick is not around. “Fine. Come on, but no complaining.” I insist with a finger in his face.

  “Gees you are annoying.” He mumbles.

  Nick pulls me back to him, “We are only going to play with a bunch of kids and then we will be right back. I promise.” I smile, kissing him once more before he lets me go.

  We arrive safely and I quickly let Nick know via text. I find a good place and let Nicky go. Elijah looks around as if he has stepped into the Twilight Zone. “I guess you don’t have any kids?” I ask him.

  “No. It might surprise you though, I was engaged once and planned to have a big family.” I look at him in shock, causing him to laugh. “I guess it does surprise you. Yeah, I was in love once, only once. Unfortunately, she wasn’t willing to wait.”

  “Wait for what? How long did you keep the poor girl waiting?” I say, rolling my eyes.

  “I only wanted her to wait until my father could get better. I wanted him to be able to stand up with me. I knew it would make him happy.”

  I look up at him as I notice something in him for the first time – a heart. “Did your father get better?”

  “Yes and no. He would improve and then get worse, after years of taking him to every specialist possible. He finally got tired of it all and decided to rest for good and by that time, she was gone. Bitch took my dog too.” He laughs, receiving a cross look from a lady passing by. “What did I say?”

  “The children. You have to watch your mouth.” I laugh.

  “So little Nick likes this place and I guess that giant donkey, since he hugs it every five seconds.” Elijah says, shaking his head.

  “He is his favorite. He loves animals, especially anything that looks like a dog. He wants one so bad but Nick won’t allow it. Too much of a distraction and a pain in the ass to deal with he says.” The same lady returns with a wicked finger in my face before walking away. Elijah starts laughing.

  “You got in trouble!” He sings at me.

  “I blame you.” I smile, helping Nicky across the bridge to the slide. “So I assume you are helping Nick with the plan against Estrella?”

  “Might as well now. Once I intercepted his last ten shipments and resold them, it was hard to deny I wasn’t with him anymore. I assume Nick took you out because of the …” He looks down at my stomach.

  “Yes. No matter how much I try to prove I can still shoot a gun he doesn’t want me near any possible danger.” I say showing my disappointment.

  “Don’t worry Bonnie, I will watch over Clyde for you.” Elijah smiles.

  “Thank you. So you and Nick have known each other for a long time?” He nods cringing at the little kids running around him. “So what was he like …”

  Elijah glances at me and smiles, “Why don’t you just ask me, I know you want to.” I shake my head and pretend I don’t know what he is talking about. “Come on, you want to know about the girl before you, Franky, the first girl that got Nick to come running for her.”

  “If you want a bring her up, sure, I don’t mind learning about … her, only to know more about Nick, of course.”

  “Save it, you’re not that great of an actress. I have no problem telling you, even though he doesn’t want to. She was similar to you I guess, when you were the bookworm geek and not the sexy stripper looking …” I glance his way and he smiles. “gun-slinging wife and mother. Although, I must say you carry that baby well. You are sexy pregnant.”

  “Thanks but move on before things get any more uncomfortable, please.” I insist.

  “Sure Trouble, no problem. Francesca, she wasn’t Nick’s usual, she was a virgin when they met and apparently wanted Nick to be her first.”

  “Why?”

  “Hell if I know. She had a thing for him I guess, although she claimed it was a business decision or some shit like that, I don’t know.” He says, looking around for the crazy mother who likes to shake her finger at us. “She was a real brainiac, always talking about hypothesis this and theory that, it was a real turnoff for me.”

  “I bet.” I laugh.

  “Do you want to know or not? Because if you do, then you should be nicer to me.” Rolling my eyes, I force a smile in his direction. “That’s better. So anyway, she was persistent and somehow won him over. He became obsessed. Luke and I thought about getting him some counseling, but we decided to trick him into going to this strip club with us one night instead.” He turns to me with a smile, “See there was this girl there with these huge tits and she could …” He sighs when he finally recognizes my disinterest. “Yeah, didn’t work he appreciated her abilities but wasn’t swayed in the least. He left us sitting there with our tongues wagging while he went running back to her. Then one night we were working on a job for Harvey and I thought Nick was going to be a no-show, but he came running up ready to go full force. He was like a crazy person. I asked about Franky and he said it was over. Next thing I know, she comes running at us screaming his name, and then it happened.”

  “What happened?” I asked, nearly forgetting to pay attention to Nicky.

  “Connor happened. He had been harassing Nick for years and I guess he began to worry that Nick was becoming too important to Harvey. Too important for Harvey to allow Connor to continue screwing with him. So Connor decided to take him out before that could happen, only Franky ran between the two. He shot her and Nick went ballistic. We had
to drag him away before the cops got there.”

  “She died?” I asked, feeling terrible for being so jealous of a girl that lost her life.

  “I guess. When we pulled him away she was struggling to breathe. He didn’t want to leave her, until her father came out of nowhere screaming at Nick to get away from her. He blamed Nick for everything. Wouldn’t even allow him to attend the funeral, Nick stood back in the trees watching them put her in the ground.”

  “Oh Nick.” I breathe with a heavy heart.

  “It was a strange funeral …”

  “What do you mean?” I ask him.

  “There were these people there … they didn’t belong. They watched Nick the whole time.” He glances at me and shakes his head. “I’m sure it was nothing though. But yeah it was sad and shit.”

  “Watch your mouth!” The lady comes running at him from behind a fake tree.

  Elijah cringes, “gees… lady, you scared the …” She sticks her crooked finger into his face with a heavy frown before finally leaving. “Can we go soon? This place is creeping me out.”

  “Yes, let me get Nicky and we can go.” I pick Nicky up but Elijah takes him from me as if I shouldn’t be picking up my own child.

  “You shouldn’t be lifting heavy things, Kayla.” I don’t even bother arguing with him, I kiss Nicky’s hand and follow them to the door but Elijah suddenly stops and hands Nicky back to me.

  I look up and see two strange men come running in at us. They threaten to take Nicky from me and run, but I won’t let go and Elijah isn’t letting them getting anywhere near their goal. The security guards try to intervene once they hear my screams and Nicky’s hysterical crying, but Elijah has already taken both men down and is about to kill one until one of the guards reminds him where he is at. Elijah immediately stands and rushes us out the door as the guards yell at him to wait for the police. He warns Nick as soon as we get home and my days outside the house are done for a long while.

  Chapter 39

  ~Nick~

  Feeling a sudden tug at my arm, I am immediately awakened by Kayla screaming, “Nick!” She is sweating and grimacing in pain as she holds her stomach. “Nick the baby is coming.” I can’t move fast enough. She is more than a month early and the last place I want her and my son being is in a hospital, where they will be vulnerable. My priority is to get Kayla to where she needs to be and next is to make sure all available security is surrounding that hospital she is at. I buy out the entire floor, and register under another name. I barely had time to dress, giving orders in my pants and shoes with no shirt - which is new for me but thankfully the boys know enough not to give me hell about it. When I return to Kayla I find Elijah already sitting with her, “What are you doing here?”

  “Heard the great news and I came to help, they aren’t safe here Nick.” Elijah says to me as if I wasn’t aware of the issues. “Nice outfit by the way, or lack of it.” He grumbles.

  “You can go guard somewhere else. I can handle looking over my wife by myself.” I say, firmly encouraging him out of the room.

  Kayla weakly looks over at me, “You look so hot baby, you should wear that outfit more often.” She says, smiling feebly at me.

  I smile back at her, taking care of her as best I can. “If it helps you smile, then I will wear it every day.” The nurse wanders in checking over the monitors, but looks my way more than a few times. “Sheri, please pay attention to your job and not the patient’s husband.” The doctor says, embarrassing the young girl to a scarlet red. “Kayla, I think we have held off about as long as we can. He has a strong heartbeat so I believe we should go while we can.” He says, waiting for Kayla and I both to confirm. A few more nurses come in to help and before I know it, Kayla is in full labor. I thought all would be normal, but she begins to fade. One of the nurses has to come talk to her, almost yelling at her to stay focused.

  “Kayla?” I say as her eyes flutter. She has been through so much and has not been able to get back to full strength since we pulled her out of that fish-farm. The sight of her fading and her monitors suddenly screaming at us all, sends me screaming for her even as they decide they need to kick me out of the room. “Kayla!”

  “Sir, please let us handle this now. I promise I will come get you as soon as I can.” The nurse says to me.

  All I can do is check the hallways and every face nearby with the sounds of Kayla’s monitors still screaming. The whole world begins to shift to a lower speed. I have never felt more helpless.

  “Nick, come on.” Elijah grabs hold of me and tries to ease me back from her room. “They are both going to be okay. The whole place is secure and it is so late that no one is aware of her being here yet. No one has even considered it a possibility. She still has time to deliver your son safely.” The sound of my own breathing begins echoing in my head and getting louder with each passing second. Elijah seems to have taken guard over me and I don’t know whether to be offended or grateful.

  I can’t sit down, but I am not able to walk either. I am neither here nor there, but somewhere in between. My life has stopped and my world is waiting to turn again. All I need is her voice, the smile I have become accustomed to waking up to and kissing at the end of each night. Lena arrives telling me that Nicky is well secure as Simone has taken charge of the house for us. I want to ask her if he is smart enough not to call anyone to say that Kayla is in labor, but for some reason I don’t feel like taking advantage of voicing another dig at him. Lena wraps her arms around me, speaking warm and hopeful words to me but all I hear are her verbal vibrations against my arm. Every thought in my head blurs and becomes painful to consider. Then, a slow moving image begins to approach.

  “Mr. Jayzon?” She asks and somehow I manage a nod. “You can see your wife and son now.” Elijah smacks me on the back and Lena grips my arm before I leave them both behind.

  I approach her slowly as she still looks so weak and feeble. I take her hand and Kayla immediately grips mine. I can breathe again. Looking up I see my small infant son, fighting and giving it everything he has to survive. With a soft touch, I touch his little hand and immediately he takes a strong hold of my finger. Now I feel my smile again. “Hi Brayden, my son.”

  With Brayden’s birth coming so early, he needs to stay a little longer in hospital care and Kayla right with him. By morning, no doubt our enemies are well aware of our situation. I anticipate every possible attack they may have on my family and unfortunately they decide on the worst. Attacking from every possible direction, Estrella tries to spread us thin. Estrella is hitting us all over the place and slowly pulling away men from Kayla and Brayden. I have a hard time being in both places. I want to stay with Kayla and Brayden but I also need to stay with Nicky, too. I run through every possibility in my head when Samantha finds her way into my office. I assume she is lost but she stops at my desk and fidgets for a time before speaking, “Nick, if you want I can help you with Kayla.”

  I laugh before I can catch myself, “Thank you Samantha, but I am sure we can figure out something.”

  “I don’t think you understand, if anyone comes I will know if they belong or not. I can sense people, even when they don’t want me too. Ryan said you are worried about people in disguise trying to do harm. I can distinguish who belongs and who is up to no-good.” She waits as I consider what she is saying. “I’m good at it Nick, I did figure out who you were even before I knew you.”

  “How did you do that?” I ask, but she simply smiles. “If I do this then I need you to alert someone immediately, not try to do anything on your own.”

  “Of course, whatever you want.” I laugh at her easily accepting my terms. “That is funny?”

  “Only in the sense my wife would never agree to my terms, she always negotiates … always.”

  Samantha sets up within Kayla and Brayden’s room, making herself obvious as she stitches booties for Brayden. Even as I left them, I wasn’t sure it was going to work but she nailed three people within hours. The last person came in late,
saw Samantha and nearly laughed as he tried to get by her with his poisonous weapon. She tripped him before stabbing him with her needle and distracting him well enough so that one of our men could get to him and cart him away. Samantha has suddenly become quite more valuable than ever thought possible. I am going to have to buy her something nice and admit to Ryan he was right all along. I am sure he won’t gloat - too much. With Samantha’s help, I am able to battle Estrella more effectively.

  While we are protecting my home and family, Elijah gets word that they have attacked his. We manage to fight them off, but not before they destroy his father’s grave site. A purposeful attack and effective in getting under his skin. “It can all be repaired. I will help you get somebody to …”

  “Shut up Nick, I don’t want to hear it right now.” He stands silent staring at the destroyed landmark with a heavy breath. “You know it is real funny that you are the one to be the father between the two of us, considering your father was a piece of shit and mine was … the best father anyone could have. I should be the father, not you.” I allow him his time to vent, understanding his emotions at the moment. I begin to think it better to let him be, but before I can walk away he lets out a harsh laugh, “What are you going to do Nicky? What are you going to do when she comes back?” He asks with a frustrated expression that eases slowly as he stares at me.

  “When who comes back?” I ask him.

  “Are you kidding me right now? You really have no idea?” I shake my head. “Franky. With Connor now dead, I am sure there is no reason for her to hide out any longer.” He says to me. “And, now that everyone knows you are alive again.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Nick, come on. No way you believed that farce of a funeral, with all those agents standing around? It was a setup. Her father disappeared soon after, that was a sure sign they took her somewhere and hid her. She would have never left him.”