“Like you even have to ask. I’ll guard her with my life,” he promises me and I nod. “Go, she’ll be fine.”
Jagger stands and walks out of the room, he’s arranging a meeting with the men.
“I don’t think she’ll sleep in the bedroom, not after that fucker was in there. So stay out here with her.” I gingerly get to my feet, moving her slowly so that she’s lying on the sofa.
“I’ll stay here and I’ll stay awake, nothing is going to hurt her.” He stands, taking the blanket from behind him and throwing it over Mia.
“Thanks Dad.” I tell him as I finish my beer, “I’ll be a couple of hours.”
“Don’t thank me, you’re my son and she’s my daughter. Go, I’ve got her.” He pats my back and I turn back to Mia, placing a kiss on her head.
Walking out of the house, I see Jagger’s already in the car. He’s on his cell, so I climb into the passenger’s side and wait for him to end his call.
“Meeting’s set, the men are spreading the word like wildfire. I’ve made it clear if they’re not in attendance, they’re on notice,” he says as he puts his cell in his pocket and drives out of my driveway.
“Good, Dad’s got Mia covered.”
Jagger laughs. “Poor Mia, she’s fucked.” I glare at him, it just makes him laugh harder. “She’s got you, who’s a fucking psychopath who will kill anyone who even upsets her. Me, David, and your father who will gut anyone who hurts her. She has no chance of having peace.”
I shrug. “At least she’ll be safe.” That’s all that fucking matters.
Eight
Hudson
The smell of smoke hits me as soon as I exit the car. “Fucking hell, a bit morbid, Jag.” I comment as I take in the charred remains of the house.
“It was the only place I could think of and David agreed that it would be the best place. They feel the loss, we all do,” he tells me, seemingly unfazed that the house was only burned down mere weeks ago. That a woman lost her life as it blazed, our man lost the love of his life in the process.
“Sick fuckers,” I murmur as I walk into what’s left of the house. The walls are crumbled, there’s so much rubble on the ground that it’s hard to walk on, I manage to find a way into the building and find my men standing around waiting for me. What used to be the staircase, in pieces beneath our feet.
“I won’t keep you long, I have a few announcements to make and then we can get the hell out of here.” I glare at Jagger, the smell of smoke is awful, no doubt I’ll have to throw my suit in the trash, getting that smell out is almost impossible.
The men chuckle. “Boss,” I hear one of them say and watch as Dylan takes a step forward. The man is in his mid-thirties, he’s been with us for a while but he’s not shown any promise to be anything other than a soldier.
“Yes, Dylan?”
He stops
and stares at me. “I know you said that this is a required meeting, anyone who wasn’t here was being put on notice.”
I sigh, what the fuck is he getting at? I hate this bullshit. “Get to it.”
“Boss, Wally isn’t here,” he tells me and I can hear the wariness in his voice. A hushed murmur falls among my men.
“When was the last time anyone spoke to him?” This isn’t like Wally, the man lives for the organization, for my men, for me.
Silence descends as they try and remember the last time they spoke to him.
“Has anyone spoken to him since this morning?” So much fucking shit has happened since then. Again, no one answers. “Right, we’ll deal with that afterward.” I’ll be taking a trip to his house after this meeting. “Now, there have been some developments since this morning.”
My men straighten, their heads held high as they stare at me. I’m not sure if the rumors have hit yet, if they haven’t I’d be surprised.
“My mom is fine, she made it out of surgery and is on the mend. Tina, however, wasn’t that lucky. She didn’t make it out of surgery. That’s another death on Martin’s head.”
Curses go around, before each of them bow their heads in a sign of respect.
“Martin’s parents are dead, he lied and as a result, they paid that price.” They grin, finally, we finally have a small victory. “I’ve also found out where his hideout is. Aaron and David are sitting on it. His parent’s bodies are going to be dumped there, showing him that we know where he is and we will hurt him just as he has us. I’ve instructed them not to take him there. I’m not risking my men’s lives, God knows what he’s got rigged, and they’re going to take him on the road. He’s not going to escape. No more. It’s coming to the end.”