Chapter Ten
Three weeks later…
O wen Gray’s fist connected with his face and pain cracked through his jaw.
Justice grunted, taking the punch, but he stayed squared off with the guy.
Owen Gray was a big son of a bitch, but not as big as some men Justice had come up against.
“You fuck!” Owen snarled, rage turning the man’s face red.
It was clear Owen was pissed and Justice couldn’t fault him for it.
He had only himself to blame for Owen’s anger.
And he was sure he was going to land on his ass when Owen pulled back for another swing, but he wasn’t going to dodge this one either.
Perhaps the pain would correct his stupidity.
Or at least let him forget what he’d done.
He was saved from the incoming punch when Wrath stepped between them and grabbed Owen’s arm in a tight grip, preventing the second blow.
“Calm the fuck down,” Wrath snarled.
Justice gaped at Wrath. It had been years since his big brother had stepped between him and a fight, but it brought back memories of their childhood. Wrath was older than him by several years and had made it his mission to protect him. And even though he was broader and taller than his older brother, nobody wanted to tangle with Wrath.
Over Wrath’s shoulder, Owen glared at him with loathing. “Fish won’t ever come back from this,” the man spat, jerking his arm free from Wrath’s grip.
“Settle down, all of you,” Savage growled.
They all turned their attention to the big man sitting behind a large oak desk that occupied most of the space in front of a wide window facing the sprawling city of Ventura. With new carpeting and a fresh coat of paint, nobody could tell that there had recently been a murder in there. Solomon Mercy… Good riddance to that fucker.
The problem now was that Ice hadn’t been able to kill Crow. So they had a loose cannon in their midst, plus fuck knew how many children or people were involved at this point.
Another big problem was that Fisher was gone.
Owen stomped over to the wall near the door where Creed stood. Creed wore a permanent scowl in place and it had been that way from the moment the two men had entered Savage’s office.
Creed and Owen were not from Erebus, but rather from a unit called Pegasus—which was a whole other operation.
Crossing his arms, Owen glared daggers at him. Wrath returned to his seat next to Real and Justice stayed on his feet. The throbbing in his jaw was nothing less than what he deserved.
Savage sighed and steepled his fingers under his chin. “So let me get this straight, Justice. You were asked to keep Fisher away while we tried to take down Blue. Did you do that?”
“I did,” Justice gritted his jaw so the words came through his teeth.
“Ass wipe,” Creed rasped.
“And you,” Savage shot Wrath a dark look. “You were supposed to keep Rogue out of the way.”
“Yes.”
Savage squinted at Wrath. “Exactly how did he get away?”
“That’s between me and him,” Wrath growled.
Watching Savage and Wrath have a stare-down was not pretty.
“I want to know how he’s going to make this right with Fisher,” Owen interrupted, yelling and pointing a finger at Justice.
Savage held up his hand. “I understand your worry, Owen. We will find Fisher and Justice will fix this.”
Owen’s laugh was bitter and Creed made a sound low in his throat.
“Won’t you?” Savage turned a hard look his way.
“Yes.” Justice nodded.
Only he had no clue how to fucking fix this. The note Rogue had left on his kitchen table three weeks ago told him that he may never be able to correct the mistake he’d made with Fisher.
Watch your back.
—Rogue
Fuck.
Not only had he betrayed Fisher, although for a good reason, he’d also pissed off the man’s friend.
All he wanted to do was to repair what he’d done. But how could he right his wrong when Fisher didn’t want to be in the same vicinity as him?
How could he make right something that was fucked up beyond imagination?
Fisher would kill him the next time they met. Of that, Justice had no doubts.
“You won’t even get close to him,” Owen said with a sneer.
“I have before.”
“He will kill you for what you’ve done,” Creed growled.
“I know.”
Silence dropped over the room and both Owen and Creed glared at him for a long time.
“So that’s settled,” Savage said and snapped his gaze between Justice and Wrath. “Justice will find Fisher. Wrath, I need you to locate Rogue and get a commitment from him.”
“What kind of commitment?” Wrath frowned.
“He’s either part of Erebus or he’s out. I need an answer so I can wrap this shit up and start handing out jobs to him.”
“I make no promises,” Wrath said and there was another brief stare-down between Savage and Wrath.
“And you two.” Savage snapped his gaze to Owen and Creed “You’re here only as a courtesy to Seven and Hunter. I know Fisher is your friend, but Owen, I need you to rein in your anger.”
“I think he’s been relatively calm,” Creed chimed in and cracked his knuckles.
Justice was glad Creed hadn’t taken a swing at him. He’d be sporting a broken jaw if those ham-sized fists had connected.
“I can help him find Fisher,” Owen insisted with a cold stare.
“No.” Savage shook his head. “Stay out of Erebus business. You’ve got your own shit to deal with at Pegasus. Don’t make me contact Ace.”
The threat of calling the Pegasus commander was a very real threat. Nobody wanted to fuck with Ace and if they did, they didn’t live to talk about it.
“Owen, if you could tell me about Fisher’s past, it would help,” Justice said.
“Fuck you,” Owen spat, shooting him a cold glare. “It’s a little late for that. You want to know about Fisher’s past? Ask him your fucking self.”
“Enough,” Savage snapped when Owen took a breath as if to continue with his tirade.
Justice rubbed at the headache that had been pounding behind his temples for days.
The last time he’d been with Fisher, it had gone from heaven to hell. How had something he’d carefully planned out gone so horribly wrong?
“What are your thoughts?” Savage turned to Real.
The commander of Genesis had thus far remained quiet. They all knew Real ran a newly formed group of military assassins and that there had to be a specific reason why the man was here.
“I gave the order to have Fisher and Rogue contained the night we went after Blue, so this falls on me,” Real said.
“I was there,” Savage shook his head at Real, “and a whole shit ton of other people made the call on how best to take Blue down.”
Justice hadn’t been at the meeting but he’d gotten the call to keep Fisher out of the line of fire.
So technically, he’d been following orders.
But that didn’t mean shit now.
Everything was all fucked up and going sideways. All he wanted was to find Fisher and make things right.
“We failed to get Blue,” Justice pointed out and rubbed a tired hand down his face.
“It doesn’t matter. I was in charge,” Real said, his words clipped out with a flat tone of voice and the man leveled a hard look at Savage.
Their boss leaned back in his chair. The two powerful men stared at each other, neither one backing down.
“The call was made. There’s no going back. You’re all dismissed. Real, can you stay for a minute?” Savage said.
Justice quickly left the room. Keeping his eyes forward, he jogged down the stairs and shoved open the warehouse door.