24. Parker
PARKER
T he spreadsheet of potential jobs and risk factors on the computer screen held zero interest for me. They were all solid opportunities. None I wanted to personally oversee, but my team could handle these danger levels just fine.
I spun in my desk chair as Bloody Romance , a Chinese drama, played in the background. Languages came naturally to me. At least the romance languages, but Mandarin was proving a little more challenging.
The rules were completely different, as were the characters.
It was also a tonal language that really made the brain work.
Like with other languages I’d learned over the years, my absolute favorite way to understand the language was to immerse myself in their movies, music, and culture as much as possible.
I couldn’t always get away to travel, not with Vicente breathing down our necks, but I could play movies and music when I was in my home.
Today though, I was only half listening. The last few days I’d been too deep in my thoughts to focus on anything. Most especially the one big job I still hadn’t completed. I’d get a phone call about it soon, and I wasn’t sure if I was dreading or anticipating it.
I felt everything he hadn’t said at the fights. He never attended any of the businesses without a reason, even if it was to fuck with our heads. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t do that to Grey.
No one acknowledged it, but for all the times he had Grey whipped, everyone knew he was the favorite. I used to be jealous of that warped affection, but as I grew up and learned just how fucked up the entire life was, I became glad I was barely more than a nuisance to him.
It wasn’t like I could waltz away and live abroad as a civilian integrating into society. I was too fucked up for that. I was, after all, what this life had shaped me to be.
I cared too little, I played too much, enjoyed trouble much more than I should. It was just everything that was Vicente that boiled my blood.
So why had he been at the fights? And should I be concerned?
That was something I couldn’t answer. The endless possibilities and paths went round and round inside my head. Concern wasn’t really in my repertoire of emotions anyway. At least, not when it came to most things.
Turning to a much more achievable goal, Little Love came to the forefront of my thoughts. As far as I knew, Grey hadn’t gone to see her over the last few days. Not that I’d spoken to either him or Lafe.
For all of the unbreakable bond we shared, we hardly spoke at all. Barely spent time together.
But I’d seen him with her. He was as smitten as I’d ever seen him. I’d been shocked when he handed her over once we reached the compound.
If Andre had his way, he’d cart her back to Maikel’s or to one of his contacts, never to think of her again, or so he thought. But Grey would never forgive him if he did that. With the way Lafe saved her, I doubted he’d be fine with that turn of events either.
Nonetheless, he wasn't firm in his convictions. He swayed like grass in the light breeze.
Me? I enjoyed the way she really shook up their lives. I didn’t want any harm to come to my brothers, it had always been us against the world for our entire lives. But I loved how she flustered them. Angered them because they felt out of their depths.
However, Little Love trying to run away with all the wrong people and putting us in a bad position wasn’t acceptable. Not at all.
I reached for my phone to dial Andre, but Grey’s name popped up first. Hitting answer, I put it on speakerphone.
“Well, hello there, brother. How are you?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Grey grunted.
A peel of laughter bubbled up as I rocked back in the chair. “Nothing. Just thinking about our little love.” I paused, leaving it open for him to fill in all the gaps of what he’d been doing over the last few days.
Instead, all I got was a grunt.
“I take it you haven’t collected her from Lafe yet?” I gave him a friendly little nudge.
“I wondered who had her,” he said quietly. “But that’s not why I’m calling. Have you talked to Mia?”
Hm. I wasn’t sure I liked the conversation change. And I damn sure didn’t enjoy him talking about my closest friend. The bastard.
“No.” Which was true. She was too busy to take my calls right now.
He cursed. “I need access to the level of fighters she usually sends me. The ones Andre found are shit. I could pummel them in my sleep. It was more fun to put Ramos in his place than it is to try and train these snot eaters up.”
“That’s a fabulous image you just placed in my head.
Those are fighters from our own guards Andre sent you.
The top ones, if I’m not mistaken. Shouldn’t that concern you if they’re not up to par?
” I didn’t really care, that’s what we had military-grade guns for.
All of our men were equipped with M-4s, and 50 cals were spread out on the roof.
But if I were him and I managed our security, I might be a tad more concerned.
"He picked out the greenest of the recruits. I didn’t recognize one senior-level soldier. So no, I’m not concerned. They all have to start somewhere, and I have trainers to work with them. But I’m in need of a good sparring partner to keep my level of fighting up.”
“You’re not finally worried about the upcoming fight with Bruno, are you?” I tapped my pen on the desk. It wasn’t like my older brother to be worried.
“No,” he snapped. “He is one of the greatest fighters we’ve got, though. I’d rather be prepared than breeze into the ring cocky and puffed up on my own inflated ego.”
“Fine, fine. Next time I speak to Mia, I’ll ask her where she normally gets the fighters. I’m surprised you’re going through me for this.”
“She’s not answering my texts,” he rumbled.
I bit back a grin. Of course, she wasn’t. She was on a critical job right now. But poor Grey wouldn’t know that. He’d think she was angry with him.
“Back to our little love. I was just getting ready to call Andre about her background check. Want to join in on the conversation?” I dangled that sweet carrot in front of his face. I jerked back when he snapped back at me.
“ No . Let me know when you figure out where the hell Mia got those other fighters from.” He hung up.
Well then. That wasn’t anything how I thought that conversation would go. Shit, I was rethinking everything. I should call Lafe and see where his head was at before I made any rash decisions.
I spun around in my chair again, debating how best to approach this.
Biting the bullet, I called Andre to see where he was with her background check. I thought he would have sent it out to the rest of us for giggles, but sadly, he kept whatever he found to himself.
Either he found nothing of concern, or she was related to a high government official. There was no in-between with this type of response. She shouldn’t have been taken if that was the case, but mistakes were known to happen.
“Yes?” Andre answered as the sound of typing hummed steadily in the background.
“It doesn’t take this long for your contacts to run a background check. What did you find on Amorette?” I asked, pressing the tip of the pen against my bottom lip.
All sound on the other end of the line stopped.
“Andre?”
“Oh, I’m here. I’ve just been trying to work out how to solve this fuck up of Lafe’s without making him hate me any more than he does. At least Grey isn’t going to be an issue.” He sounded relieved.
“I wouldn’t bank on that. You didn’t see them together at the fights before she…made questionable decisions.” His touch had been too proprietary for me to believe he’d just walk away. I could be wrong, but I rarely was.
“I fucking hope he’s done with her, because I really don’t know how we’re going to handle her ass.” Whatever he did muffled the last few words, then he sighed.
Fun. A challenge. “Is she related to the US President? A daughter of a CIA agent? What’s so difficult about Little Love?”
“For one, she’s an attorney.” My eyebrows shot up my forehead. Was she old enough to have completed school? I thought she was twenty, maybe twenty-one. “But the type of attorney… She works at a law firm that specializes in divorce. Battered women of wealthy men are their specialty.”
“So…” I started slowly. “What you’re saying is she’s a crusader for justice.
” Fuck. That put all of her actions in a completely different light.
She wasn’t just some girl trying to get back to her life.
She had a calling that would go against everything we were.
“Of course, Lafe would take this girl,” I said when Andre remained silent.
Rubbing my temples with my thumb and fingers, I ran through everything I knew of her personality. “Can you send me the report?”
“Sure. I actually just sent it to all three of you. But I can tell you the highlights while you read it. Amorette Monet Black. Daughter of Jean Black, a French ex-pat. Identical twin to Grace Black, a popular fashion model who’s apparently been in high demand this past year.
Older brother, Louis Pissaro Black, died of the flu at age fifteen.
Amorette was seven at the time. Father left when they were two, never to enter the picture again. ”
“So typical, if unfortunate, childhood.” I clicked on the report in my email and started scrolling. Her volunteerism in homeless shelters, women’s shelters, and mentor programs for underprivileged kids was going to be an issue. I could already see it. “Wow. I’m impressed.”
“Tell me, which fun fact in our findings impresses you?” Andre asked drily.
“She’s smart. Motivated. She graduated high school as a junior with quite a few college prerequisites. Top of her class. Finished law school six months ago when she should still be prepping for the bar. Too bad her moral compass is so lily white,” I murmured, still scrolling.
“Precisely. Lafe stole the one person who would happily see us all put in prison. Or six feet under, depending on how much of a crusader she is.”
I switched browsers and looked up the sister.
That they were identical piqued my interest. Immediately, tons of shots of her popped up at fashion shows, on magazine covers, and in gossip rags.
It was strange seeing an identical version of Little Love in mainstream life.
Here, I’d seen her swimming in a plain t-shirt, with no makeup and tangled hair.
It just didn’t give the same vibe. Although, she had looked rather fetching in her little black ensemble the other night.
Zooming in on a runway shot, I scrutinized this other girl.
Immediately, I could tell the difference.
Where our little love was stubborn, ballsy, and slightly mutinous, this other girl was on the polar opposite side of the spectrum.
She was gorgeous, and she knew it. The sparkling eyes and seductive smirk contradicted the innocent vibe both girls threw off.
How was she a model as small as she was?
It had to be her unique I’m innocent but fuck me dirty anyway look.
I much preferred the challenge of our little love.
This other girl was interesting, to be sure, but I couldn’t see her stimulating the mind like Amorette.
“I don’t know,” I mused, twisting in my seat once again. “With this type of education and clear ambition, we could benefit from having her here.”
“No,” came Andre’s quick and immediate response. “I don’t like it. Someone like her will never willingly cross the line of crime. Why are we even entertaining letting her stay? All so Grey can have a fuck buddy when he finds it in his black heart to forgive her for hurting his ego?”
“I’d say feelings. Ego too, but he definitely got his feelings hurt.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he growled. “I say we take her back to Maikel’s. Let him do with her what he will.”
I shook my head; this wasn’t like Andre at all. “You might think you could do that, but you’d never be able to follow through with actually leaving her there. You’ve seen her, stared into her beautiful mutinous eyes. You couldn’t do it.”
“Please tell me you don’t have a thing for her too. You’ve all lost your heads. Did you dip into Lafe’s stash and not tell us?”
I chuckled. “You know I don’t touch that shit. And no, I’ll let Grey and Lafe fight over her affections. For such a small, innocent-looking thing, she’s stuffed full of savage temerity. I have other things I need to focus on.”
Andre scoffed. “The best thing for us is to get rid of her.”
“What would Pilar say?”
“Leave Pilar out of this.” He paused. “She sends her love.”
I grinned. She was my favorite of the mothers. The most normal and well-adjusted. Probably because she grew up in the life, she understood her role with Vicente better than any of the others.
“How is she?”
“Fine. Vicente was a little rougher than he normally is with her, and she was shaken.”
I straighten up. If it wasn’t for the affection I felt for Pilar, Mia, and on occasion, my brothers, I’d have believed I was a sociopath. And I didn’t take it well when she wasn’t happy. “What did he do?”
“It doesn’t matter. But she said the next time you visit the mansion, you are to see her, or she’s not making your favorite dish anymore.”
My grin snapped back. If she was making threats, she was okay.
“What’s your backup plan? Because dropping Little Love off where Lafe found her isn’t going to work.
If it didn’t hit that small drop of conscience you have left, think of your brothers.
Do you want them to hate you? Because Lafe already does, you’d just give him more ammunition and a reason not to get over himself.
Grey might not want you to know it, but his hate would fester under his skin until he pummeled you to death in the ring.
You know how he gets carried away when he’s having fun.
” And bloody vengeance was his preferred pastime.
“Then what would you have us do, Park?” Defeat dripped from his tone. “Give her free rein and opportunities to escape? It wouldn’t matter if she narced, except Vicente would happily flay us on the table. From that type of transgression, I doubt we’d walk away.”
“Hmm…I think you’re going about this all wrong, mi hermano . You don’t have to silence her. You only have to make it so she can't ever go back home.” I picked up the phone and stood. The silence on the other end was deafening as I walked to the window to peer outside.
The lyrical dialogue of Bloody Romance continued to play in the background as I scanned the yard. A storm was coming.
Low gray clouds swirled above, and the moisture in the air practically kissed the glass. We were due for a good rain. They were my favorite, washing everything clean.
“I don’t know how we’re supposed to do that.”
The moment I’d been waiting for. “Well, Andre! I’m glad you asked. I have quite a few ideas on the matter. The question is, do we bring Lafe and Grey in on our plans or let them remain oblivious while holding their dicks in their hands?”