“You mean the day of the meeting?” he asked. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. “Charlene, you didn’t do anything wrong. I actually was impressed on how you handled yourself that day. I even spoke to Dylan about it. Sheen, on the other hand, was a piece of shit. That is not the type of person Lawson Steel wants to associate themselves with. If anything, your being there may have prevented us from entering into a contract which would’ve cost us a lot of money to break. And trust me, we would’ve.”
“You’re not lying about this are you?”
“No. I take my responsibility at Lawson Steel very seriously. My personal feelings, although he makes me sick, were only one part of the decision.”
That made her feel a little better. “So are you meeting with him today to discuss fixing things and maybe still taking him on?”
“Hell no! Nothing is changing my mind. I just want him to understand that walking away without any further contact is what is best for him. We won’t tolerate anyone coming in and thinking they can…force our hand.”
“And this has nothing to do with…me?” she asked.
His phone rang and Seth pulled it out of his pocket. After he looked at the caller ID he said, “Sorry, I need to get this.” He got up and placed a kiss on top of her head as he passed by.
Is that a yes or a no?
It seemed as though it wasn’t something he was going to answer anyway. Seth didn’t return so she finished her breakfast and cleaned up the dishes as she’d promised. Now let’s see if he keeps his and we still go out tonight.
Seth hated leaving Charlene. He had seen the concern written all over her face. It wasn’t like if he had stayed longer he could’ve convinced her he wasn’t in any danger. If anything, the more they had talked about it, the more nervous she’d gotten. At one point, he swore her hands were trembling. It hurt him seeing her that way. The only way to stop it, was by being here with Sal, and confronting Sheen.
“I’m telling you Seth, you’ll need to watch yourself with Sheen. He is not from this country and his way of dealing with conflict isn’t the same as ours.”
“You mean he doesn’t follow the laws of this country?” Seth asked.
“And neither do the men who work for him. I’m working with someone in Homeland Security right now to see if we can get his visa revoked. It’s not as easy as you might think. He’s very careful not to get his hands dirty. All we have is suspicion.”
“And what Charlene has told us.”
Sal nodded. “I wanted to talk to you about that. They’d like to speak to her.”
“Homeland Security?” he asked.
“Yeah. But I’m not sure it’s wise. I think they’ll involve her more than you’d want.”
“You mean use her to trap Sheen?” Sal nodded. That wasn’t something Seth was going to allow. “Hell no. Keep her out of this. Actually keep DHS out of it as well. Let’s handle it ourselves.”
“I know I’m not on the force any longer, but I’m not sure I’m prepared to go down the path of illegal activity either,” Sal stated. “But I did put my feelers out there and came up with the name of someone who might have had dealings with Sheen in the past.”
“Who is that?” Seth asked.
“Bennett Stone. Married to your cousin Zoey.”
It figured the Hendersons would’ve someone been connected to Sheen. “And what dealings are we talking about?”
“Guess before Stone married your cousin, he’d crossed paths with Sheen. Guess years back he’d been suspected of running illegal guns in his country. Stone was still in the Marine Corps back then.”
“You mean the US military crossed paths with him?” That was news to Seth. If any of them had knowledge about Sheen’s shady past, they never would’ve even met with him regarding a contract in the first place.
“They could never find the proof needed to act. I’m telling you, Sheen is one son-of-a-bitch that we need to be watchful of.”
Seth wasn’t worried for himself, however this was getting bigger than just him. Sal and Connor couldn’t be there to protect all of the Lawson clan. “Are you suggesting we don’t meet with him?”
“I’m saying that you shouldn’t be there. I’ve asked Stone to come. And before you ask, we will have people watching our backs.”
Armed men. Got it.Seth wouldn’t hesitate pulling the trigger if it meant preventing Sheen from hurting someone he cared about. But whatever Sal had planned for Sheen, obviously wasn’t something Sal thought he could handle. That was because Sal didn’t really know Seth. He wasn’t just all numbers and business. He was a Lawson, and they didn’t get where they were by sitting back and getting walked on.
“I’ll let you go in, but I want to know everything that is going on. This is my family we’re talking about Sal,” Seth stated.
“Don’t forget Seth, my sister is your family as well. This has become very personal to us both. I’m not about to let him fuck with any of us.”