CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Az
I gripped Victoria's violently trembling body tightly to my chest. Tears pooled above my hand before spilling over where I covered her mouth to keep her from screaming and giving us away. The other guys would arrive soon, but until they did, I couldn't risk us being found by the Jackals outside the dumpster where we hid. There were too many of them for me to risk taking them on alone.
Time seemed to stand still as we waited. Our enemies' voices slowly faded into the distance as my mind replayed everything we'd seen and heard. As much as I disliked Noah Mercer, I'd never wished the end he'd met on him. I'd never thought his last words would be to praise me, but here we were.
After some time, a bang on the dumpster caused us both to jump. My hand was already moving from around Victoria to the waistband of my pants for my gun when I heard Rich's voice.
"You two in there?" Rich called.
"Thank fuck," I breathed, releasing Victoria completely so I could lean around her and slide open the metal access doors the rest of the way. "We're here!"
When I wrenched the access fully open, Joey was standing just outside. He reached in toward Victoria to help her climb out of the dumpster.
"Come here, Sweetheart, I got you. You're okay now."
Once she was free of the access doors, I followed her out. Leighton had taken Joey's place and offered his hand with a grin.
"Your assistance, my good sir," He cackled.
"Shut it, L." I replied, straining my neck to look around him where Noah's body should have been.
Blood stained the concrete, but there was no sign of Noah Mercer. The Jackals had moved the body in the time it took the guys to arrive. I turned to Rich, giving him a pointed look.
"Az, Joey, get the Princess home." He said with a frown. "The rest of you start looking for any evidence you can find to prove the Jackals violated neutrality. This lot is center property now. It's neutral, but if we're going to pursue the violation, we need evidence it was them."
Joey tucked Victoria under his arm and guided her toward the center parking lot. I waited until they were out of sight to give Rich a quick rundown of what happened between the time I texted the guys and their arrival. I gave them the quick and dirty version while Craig was taking a video of what evidence was there.
"Alright, we'll take it over from here. Get home and check on the Princess. You're fidgeting and you won't feel better until you do," Rich said, putting his hand on my shoulder, motioning with his head toward where I parked the car.
I was nearly vaulting out of the car by the time I got it in park and rushing toward the house. I made my way inside and made a beeline for Victoria's rooms. I heard the water running in the bathroom and took a deep breath. I knew that Joey wouldn't let anything happen to her. Still, it wasn't until I heard him speaking to her in soft tones that the anxious energy from the drive home started to drain from me.
I leaned against the bathroom door and watched them for a moment. Victoria's gaze caught me, causing Joey to whirl around.
"Relax there, Sweetheart, I'm gonna talk to Az for a minute. We'll be right out here if you need anything, okay?" Joey said, running his hand over her hair, waiting until she acknowledged before he stood from the tub's edge. He motioned for me to step out and led me to her bedroom.
"I checked the cut on her thigh. It's not deep enough for stitches, but we'll need to keep an eye on it. Also, I gave her a sleeping pill to help calm her and to get her to rest when she gets out of the bath. She'll probably be a little groggy, so you'll probably have to help her dry off and dress."
I raised an eyebrow in question as he gave me the rundown of what he'd done since they got home. "Are you not staying? I'd assumed–"
"Rich texted me shortly before you got here. I can stay long enough for you to get changed, but they need me back." He sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck. "I want to stay, but you can take it from here. Just… take care of her, man."
"Of course," I said, nodding slightly.
"No, man, I mean it. She's not going to respond well to tough love right now. Be gentle with her," he said, giving me a surprisingly protective look.
"I know. I'll make sure she's taken care of."
I quickly changed into a clean shirt and sweatpants before relieving Joey. Victoria was still in the bath, her head leaned back against the porcelain lip, and her eyes closed.
"Let's get you out of there, Princess, before you accidentally drown yourself." I said softly.
Her head lolled toward me, and she cracked open one eye before shifting forward in the tub. Snagging a soft, white towel from the rack beside her vanity, I turned to help her climb out. She wobbled slightly as I wrapped her up in the towel.
"Hang on to me while I dry you off, love. I don't want you to fall over." I told her, grabbing her hand and bringing it to my shoulder.
I gently dried her off with the towel and helped her into sleep shorts and a tank top before guiding her to bed. I'd barely gotten her tucked under the covers when her hand reached out and grabbed my wrist.
"Stay?" she murmured.
"Of course," I replied, climbing in beside her.
She sighed as I pulled her against my chest and wrapped my arm around her waist. After several minutes, her breathing evened out and grew shallow. I allowed myself to relax as she slept, peacefully tucked against my side. My mind began to wander as I let myself drift off to sleep.
The shrill ring of her phone startled me awake before sleep had fully claimed me. Shifting Victoria to free my arm, I climbed out of the bed and grabbed her phone from her nightstand in time to see Tiffany's name flash on the screen before the ringing stopped. Intending to silence the ringer, I flipped it open as a text popped up.
Private: When will you learn? There is nothing I won't do to have you.
My brow furrowed, and I tapped the notification to open the message thread as a second text from the same private number came through.
Private: Do you see the sacrifices I make for you?
Below the text was an image of Noah Mercer's body with the Jackals red spider lily on his chest.
"What the fuck?" I hissed, scrolling back through the message history.
There were numerous threatening messages going back almost as long as Victoria had been with us. The image of Noah's body, paired with the information we'd gained from Colin, meant they had all come from the Jackals. If I had to wager a guess, they'd come from one in particular. Rinaldo Marino.
Pulling my phone from the pocket of my sweatpants, I texted the other guys to see how much longer they'd be. They needed to know that Marino had been hassling our girl, and we'd need Craig to double-check that the texts actually came from him. My phone buzzed almost immediately after I hit send, Rich letting me know they were on their way back to the manor. With one last look at Victoria, I pocketed both our phones and slipped from her room to wait for them in the great room.
It wasn't long before the four of them burst into the great room, each wearing a different look of concern and frustration.
"We didn't find shit." Leighton pouted. "There's no cameras on the new construction, which somebody should have done before this shit went down," he continued with a pointed look at Craig.
"I was working on getting it set up, but I can't make the shipping for the parts go any faster," Craig barked back.
"We have another issue," I interjected before they could devolve into full-on bickering. I pulled Victoria's phone from my pocket, opening it to the messages I'd found. "Marino has been threatening the Princess. At least, it adds up to be him."
"Threatening her?" Rich stepped forward with his hand out for me to pass him the phone.
The other three crowded around him to read over his shoulder. By the time they'd finished, they all looked fit to kill.
"With what Joey beat out of Colin about Marino buying Victoria, it makes sense he'd be the one behind those texts." I said. "The picture of Mercer's body means it can't be anyone other than the Jackals behind this shit."
"Weird to see a dead man that has the ability to text." Leighton said, the humor in his voice not matching the murderous look in his eyes.
"Agreed. Funny the kinds of tricks dead men learn these days." Joey snarled, his eyes glued to the phone.
"Cool it, you two. Craig, you dig into these and make sure it is Marino behind the texts. In the meantime, we need to get a meeting with the man. He may be trying to intimidate her because he's out whatever he paid the mother fucker that sold her. Before we start a war over texts, let's see if he's amenable to us buying him out and putting all this shit to bed." Rich spoke.
You could almost hear a pin drop in the silence that followed Rich's statement as we all turned to look at him.
"What… the actual fuck just came out of your mouth, Rich?!" Craig clipped.
"You wanna run that by us one more fucking time?" Joey roared at nearly the same time.
"I've never questioned my allegiance to you until now," Leighton hissed. "If you think buying her is the answer, you and me will have a score to settle."
I stared at Rich, trying to find words to respond, but I couldn't make anything come out of my mouth. He'd never been that type of person, and I didn't want to believe something about that had changed.
"If you chucklefucks will think with the head between your shoulders instead of the one in your pants for just a minute, you'd realize I'm not saying we'd own her. Marino isn't going to just walk away from her without a return on what he considers an investment. The only way we avoid war and ensure the Princess goes free is to make sure he gets that return." Rich replied, his tone laced with anger.
My shoulders sagged in relief. The tension that had set in at his suggestion to buy Victoria melted away.
"This is a bad idea, Rich." Craig seethed. "Especially without discussing it with her first. When she gets wind of this plan, I hope you're ready for the hell she's gonna rain down. I, for one, won't let this go through without making sure she knows. And when she hits you with whatever storm is coming, if you've got any dignity left after this move, you'll take it with a smile."
Rich looked oddly resigned as he stared at the phone and the threats she'd received. "If it keeps her safe, then it will be the easiest price I've ever paid."