15. Marcus
T he phone ringing jolts me awake. Groaning, I fumble for it on the bedside table. I answer it quickly, swinging my feet over the edge of the bed and pushing up into a seated position. I check the time while I grunt out, “What?”
“Fuck. Marcus, it’s bad.” The voice is rushed, but I immediately recognize Damien. It works better than ice water being thrown on me, because my captain is never anything but calm.
“What the hell is happening?” I snarl, standing up and heading for the closet. Whatever it is, I’m going to need to leave, I can fucking tell.
“Warehouse on 34th got hit. A raid. Jimmy and Alex were picked up. Everyone else got out.”
“FUCK!” I throw my clothes onto the bed as Keegan wakes up. I’d feel bad for waking my partner, but right now, there’s no time. “We just paid the cops off less than a week ago. Why the fuck are they raiding one of our weapons warehouses?”
“I don’t know, boss. This is crazy. First Il Padrone gets kidnapped, and now law enforcement comes after us? Do you think it’s connected?” Damien whispers, and my entire body flushes with anger—and fear.
“No, I’m sure that’s not it. We still have a Head of the Family. The cops know better than to fuck with us. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll figure it out. First thing, though, I need to get a lawyer down there. We need to bail Jimmy and Alex out. They’d better keep their fucking mouths shut.” I pull on pants as I’m talking, rapidly going through what needs to happen next in my mind.
“You know my cousin won’t talk. And Jimmy is loyal.”
I shake my head, even though he can’t see me. There’s never any guarantee with people. I know that better than anyone. I won’t rely on someone’s loyalty right now, especially with Il Padrone missing.
“Look, go lay low. I need to handle this shit show. Thanks for the heads up.”
I barely wait for his acknowledgment before I’m hanging up and dialing another number, praying that I’ll get out of this call with my life. Fuck knows this is my area, and now it’s all gone to shit. The line clicks open, but there’s silence.
“Boss.”
“What’s going on, Marcus?” Lio growls, and I hear the rustle of bedsheets and the click of a lamp in the background. Fuck, waking him up is never a good thing.
“Warehouse got raided. Two of our men were picked up.” I hold my breath as I plop down onto the bed. Keegan is already up and moving, so I can’t disturb him anymore than I have.
The silence on the other end of the call is disturbing. This could go either way. I’m not familiar yet with Lio’s style of leadership—none of us are.
“How the fuck is that possible?” I gulp at Lio’s soft voice. It seems he’s been taking lessons from Il Padrone, because I know that nothing good comes from that deadly tone.
“I’m not sure, but I will find out. We paid the police already. This shouldn’t have happened.”
“You’ve got that fucking right. Alright, give Jenna a call. Tell her I gave the go ahead for her to get her ass over to the jail. I want our men out of there. And fucking wake up one of our judges if you need to. You have two hours to find me what officer approved this shit, and what judge signed off on it.”
Lio hangs up and I toss my phone onto the bed, bending over and scrubbing my face with my hands. Because, fuck. That’s barely any time.
“What’s going on?” Keegan asks, as he comes and sits next to me, rubbing my back.
“Warehouse got raided by some fucking law enforcement. Two of our men are locked up. And I’ve got two hours to get hold of our lawyer, send her to the courthouse, wake up a judge, if needed, to get the men out. I also have to find out which cop and judge signed off on the raid in that time.”
“Leave Jenna to me. If I need to wake up a judge, I’ll let you know. I’ll drop Cole off with his Uncle Lio, and meet Jenna at the jail to see what I can find out without going that route.” I smile at Keegan, leaning against him.
“You realize Lio is now the Boss, right? I don’t think you can drop Cole off when he’s trying to get all this shit taken care of, especially when he’s waiting on information from me.”
“Mmm…that’s the point. Cole will distract him and give you time to get shit done. There's always someone around to watch Cole if Lio does get distracted. Fuck knows that mansion has enough staff.” Keegan shudders at the thought of having so many people around, and I chuckle at his disdain. “I’m so fucking glad we don’t live with them. Now, come on. Go deal with the shitstorm. I’ll take care of my part.”
Turning to face him, I lean in and give him a kiss. It’s meant to be a peck, but like always, there’s no holding back with him. He deepens it and I shudder from the desire coursing through me.
Damn . He always makes me feel so alive.
When he pulls back, I start to follow, but he puts his hands on my shoulders, keeping me where I’m at.
“Just one more?” I whine, but he shakes his head.
“You know it’s never one more. Consider that an appetizer to hold you over until we get back. Now, get your ass out of here. We both have work to do.” Standing, I roll my eyes and turn to leave our room, jumping when he smacks my ass. “You know better than to roll your eyes at me.”
“Yes, Sir.” I turn and smirk at him before disappearing through the doorway.
While our house is much smaller than the mansion, it’s not exactly that modest. When I finally make it out the side door and into the garage, I’m more than ready to get this shit done. I briefly consider pissing Keegan off by taking his Camaro, but discard it. That wouldn’t lead to a fun punishment.
Instead, I grab the keys to my SUV. I pat the hood as I head to the driver’s side. While Keegan may enjoy a sports car, I love the versatility of my SUV. Plus, I can fit more tied up bodies in it, despite what Keegan says about the trunk space in his car.
I click the garage door and gun it. Whoever decided to fuck with us is going to find out what a bad idea that was, because from the sound of Lio’s voice? Living isn’t going to be an option.