LOREN
Watching the officers escort Atticus away was difficult. I knew this wouldn’t stick, but I hated seeing one of the men I loved being taken from me, even if it was just temporary.
“Come on, Spitfire. We need to rally everyone, and I need to make some calls. Can you gather the others in the war room?”
“Yes, of course.” I kissed his cheek, letting him know I had this. If I focused on planning, I wouldn’t spiral into a million thoughts of how Dayton might use this to his advantage and either take Atticus out or attack when he thought we were vulnerable. Fuck that. We were strong. We wouldn’t be overtaken by bogus charges.
Well, okay, so maybe the attempted murder was accurate, and he had caused the fire in the warehouse, but there were valid reasons. Like the fact, his father was a psychopath and a murderer. Just to name a few.
Walking down the hall, I first stopped at one of the kid's rooms, finding Monroe and Wells. I motioned for them to come out into the hall. Monroe kissed Levi’s head, and I chuckled as Wells ambled over. He grimaced as the butt plug moved. I didn’t know what Nicco had planned or how long he’d intended for us to wear them, but now was not the best time.
Of course, I couldn’t exactly say, “Sorry, officers, but I’ve been wearing a butt plug for a few hours now, and I really need my husband to plunder my ass. So, could you come back tomorrow?” Yeah, doubt that would work.
“What’s going on?” Monroe asked.
Blowing out a breath, I grabbed both of their hands. “It seems Dayton is trying to get Atticus arrested. He was just taken to the police station.”
“What the fuck?” Wells cursed, shaking his head. “Does that mean I don’t get this fucking thing out anytime soon?”
I wanted to laugh, but I was in the same position, so I shrugged, not knowing what to tell him. “Looks that way,” I sighed.
“Who’s the lawyer?” Monroe asked.
“Sax is calling them. Attie asked for you as well.”
Monroe’s chest puffed up at the comment. “Really?”
I nodded, smiling at him. “I need to get the rest of the crew. Go ahead and meet everyone else in the war room.” They both kissed my cheek, walking toward the room I was beginning to think got more action than my bedroom, and I had five husbands.
I quickly made my rounds to the rest of the people I needed to gather and had everyone back in the war room within a few minutes. Jude and Imogen stayed in the media room, and I promised I’d keep them updated. While Atticus was letting them be part of the business more, I knew there were things they didn’t need to be involved in, and this was one of them. The fact they didn’t protest told me they agreed.
When I stepped into the room, everyone turned to look at me, and I realized they were waiting on me.
Me.
I stopped, taking that in for a second. Pulling my shoulders back, I strode the rest of the way into the room, leaving Atticus' chair unattended. It didn’t feel right sitting in it. So, instead, I took my seat and looked at Sax.
“What’s the status of the lawyer?”
He smiled, giving me the encouragement I needed. I wasn’t fucking this up. “He’s going to meet Atticus at the station. He’ll send over the file once he’s there so we can see what evidence they have.”
“So, what should we do in the meantime?” I asked.
“We need to call a judge to get him released and show Dayton that we aren’t scared. We need to double our men at all locations, so he can’t breach any of our properties while we’re busy with Atticus.”
“He’s trying to attack us like we want to do to him?” I mused, seeing the logic. Dayton had to know Atticus would be out in a few hours. So, what was the real reason for the arrest? “He’s not after Atticus.” I looked around the table at everyone, my fear spiking in me. Seemed my earlier paranoia wasn’t such an absurd thing now. “What could he really be after?”
Pixel shrugged, leaning closer. “It could be anything. The club, the manor, a person.” She tapped something on her phone, ignoring us.
Glancing at the others, I hoped they had a better answer. “He’s burned down the youth center and vandalized people aligned with us. He’s tied Evolve and Upswing into a legal battle. It only leaves here or the club,” Nicco said.
“Don’t forget your shop,” I pointed out.
“Nothing there he wants. It’s not connected to the family.”
“At this point, it feels more revenge-oriented. He could go for it,” I mumbled, my thoughts racing. There had to be some kind of clue.
“The only places he ever talked about were the Masked Kingpin and someplace over on Shelby Street,” Malek offered. “He never took us there, but I heard it in passing once, and it sounded important to him.”