Chapter 5
FIVE
Milo
I clutched Sable’s bracelet in my hand, promising myself tomorrow would be the day I let go and toss it in the trash. I’d made that vow every day for the last week. Why couldn’t I bring myself to do it?
Keeping it one more day wouldn’t hurt anything, so I shoved my emotional-support bracelet in my pocket and tried to focus on the spreadsheet on my screen. My futile efforts were of no use because the numbers in front of me didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense now that Sable was gone.
“I want to see Milo!” an aggressive voice shouted from the hall outside my office.
What the fuck?
The angry voice grew louder and more agitated with each frantic word.
“Milo!” the man yelled. “You’re going to pay for what you did to Sable.”
Chance?
I opened the door and discovered that my father already had Chance by the back of the neck, shoving him toward my office. Josh and Ax stood on either side of them.
“What do I owe this fucking honor?” I widened the door as my father pushed Chance into the office, causing him to stumble and lose his balance. I grabbed him by the arm and glared at him before he could fall.
When he didn't back down, a flicker of Sable’s fiery disposition flashed before me in his green eyes. She proved to be a distraction even if she wasn’t in the room with me.
“He was causing quite the commotion in the showroom,” Ax said. “He insisted on seeing you.”
“I told them to bring him up,” my dad said. “We’re going to deal with him once and for all.”
“Be on call in case we need to dispose of something.” I nodded at Ax and Josh before my father closed the door. “You have to be the dumbest person I’ve ever encountered,” I said to Chance. “What other explanation could there be?”
“Screw you,” he said.
“Your sister isn’t here to protect you,” I said. “I’m not exactly sure why you would show up to tempt me into killing you.”
“To protect my sister.” He tried to struggle out of my hold, but I forced him to the floor and pushed my foot into his neck.
“Protect her from what?”
“You!” He gripped my ankle. “You’re a piece of shit thug who didn’t deserve her. She trusted you and you discarded her like trash.”
I drew my gun from the back of my pants and pointed it at him. I didn’t like the truth.
“Milo.” My father stepped over Chance and stood across from me. “I’ll support whatever you want to do, but maybe you should hear why he came here and lashed out at you.” He looked down at Chance. “It seems like a bold move for someone in his position.”
As much as I wanted to rid myself of this nuisance who had plagued me from the night he attempted to sell drugs in my club, I couldn’t argue my father’s observation. Sable and I were over, and I had spared Chance his life, so why would he be here?
I removed my foot from his neck. “Get up.”
He scrambled to his feet and backed away from the end of my gun.
“You have a lot of nerve,” he said, but his tone wasn’t as strong as a few minutes ago. Having a gun pointed at your head had a way of settling a person down.
“I have a lot of nerve?” I put my gun in the back of my pants, still not totally convinced I wouldn’t use it. “You came here to provoke me.”
“You hit my sister.”
Hit her? I shook my head. “What are you babbling about?”
“Split her lip open and made her bleed,” he shouted. “What kind of animal does that?” He glanced at my father. “This is the type of man you raised.”
“I would watch your tone if I were you.” My dad pointed at him. “Milo’s not going to protect you from me.”
“Sable’s hurt?” The concept of someone touching her was foreign to me, because who would do something like that to her kind and gentle soul? “When did that happen?”
“Today,” he said. “It wasn’t you?”
“Why would I hurt her?” I was the one who left her vulnerable and open to an attack from my enemies, but I would never lay a hand on her. When I found the person who was responsible for hitting her, hell wouldn’t even want them when I was finished.
“Because you hurt her all the time,” Chance challenged me. “You’re vicious enough to get physical with her.”
“It’s only a matter of time before I kill you.” I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to do what I should have done the night I met him. “Where is she?”
“I’m not telling you.” Chance threw his hands in the air. “She’s not your concern. She hasn’t been since you left her, showing her what you really think of her.”
“You piece of shit.” I lunged toward him, but my father placed his hand on my chest.
“Milo,” my father said. “Let’s focus on Sable.”
“You’re right.” I created some distance between me and Chance so I didn’t break his jaw in the fit of rage I was desperately trying to control.
“Mr. Flynn,” my father said. “It’s going to be in your best interest to let my son go to your sister without any interference from you.
” He set his hand on Chance’s shoulder, gripping him hard enough for Chance to understand who was in charge.
“I’m going to help you with that task. Is Sable at your apartment? ”
When Chance didn’t answer, my father forced him into the chair in front of the desk. Chance’s leg bounced as he glanced between me and my dad. His options were limited. Cooperate or die. He still might die.
“Do you need me to bring my security team in so they can jog your memory?” my father asked. “If I have to bring them in, you’ll be wasting my time, and I won’t be as receptive to assist you the next time Milo comes for you.”
“She’s at home,” Chance said. “But I’m certain she doesn't want to see you.”
“You got this?” I asked my dad.
“Yes,” he said. “It’s about time Chance and I got better acquainted with one another.”
“No!” When Chance tried to get up, my dad pushed him back down. “I need to go to my sister.”
“That’s my job.” I headed to the door. “I’ll check in soon.”
“Take your time,” my dad said. “Chance and I have plenty to sort out.”
As I stormed out of the office, I nodded for Ax to come with me. Maybe my father would take care of Chance, and I could look Sable in the eyes when he disappeared and honestly say I didn’t do it.
That was a problem for another day.
“Where are we headed?” Ax followed me to the garage.
“I need you to take me to Sable’s apartment building,” I said. “Someone came after her tonight. Banged up her face and probably scared her pretty good.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“As of tonight, you’re her guard again. If she isn’t with me, she isn’t out of your sight.” We entered the garage. “Understood?”
“Of course.” He pressed the button on the fob to unlock the SUV door. “But I have a request.”
“What is it?”
“When you find out who hurt her, I want to be with you when you take care of them.”
“I’ll find them, because there won’t be a place on this earth they’ll be able to hide.”
I pressed the button twice to call the old elevator, but I lost my patience and took the stairs.
Containing my rage would be a challenge, but I had no one to blame but myself for what happened to Sable.
If I hadn't been so stubborn, I would have made Ax follow her.
He could have kept her safe from a distance.
How could I have left her unprotected and vulnerable? I knew better. Just because we weren’t together didn’t mean that my enemies wouldn’t target her.
I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
The lights in the dingy hallway flickered when I pushed open the door in the stairwell. Why did I leave her in this dump? Too many regrets. I would make up for them tonight.
Once I reached her apartment, I knocked on the worn door. The floorboards creaked from inside but stopped before the footsteps reached the door.
“Sable.” I banged a little harder. “It’s Milo.”
“What do you want?” Her soft voice seemed tired, almost defeated.
“I’d like for you to let me in.”
“No.”
“Sable!” I slammed my hand against the door because I was out of patience. “Open the door or I’ll kick it in.”
“Milo, please, I’ve had a long day, and I don’t want to fight with you.”
“Let me see you.”
“Why?”
“I want to know you’re okay.” I pressed my palm against the peeling paint. “Chance told me you were hurt.”
“What? Why would he tell you that?”
“Because he thinks I’m the one who did it.”
“Are you kidding?” She cracked open the door but not enough for me to see her. “I didn’t tell him you… You wouldn’t do that to me.”
“Not ever.” When I pushed on the door, it swung toward her. She tried to shove it closed, but I wedged my foot between it and the frame. “Don’t fight me. You’re not going to win.”
She widened the door, turning away from me as I entered the apartment. I reached for her arm and forced her to face me. When she looked down, I steadied my hand and tilted her chin so I could see her.
“Fuck.” The sight of her swollen lip and the red splotch under her eye propelled me into a spiral of towering rage. “Who did that to you?”
“You saw my face.” She stepped back. “Now I want you to go.”
“Don’t do that.” I touched her cheek. “Did you put ice on your lip?”
“I don’t want you to take care of me.” She held up her hand. “I want you to go.”
“That’s not happening.” I advanced on her, causing her to retreat backward until she hit the wall and winced. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re in pain.” I guided her to turn around, so I could slide the soft, pink robe down her shoulder. “Sable.”
Red marks covered her shoulder blade. I ran my hand along her irritated skin, no longer able to suppress my anger.
“Who?” I gritted my teeth. “I want a name.”
She tugged the robe over her shoulder, shielding her injury from me. “Let it go,” she said. “It was a random thing.”
“Don’t lie to me.” There was nothing random about any of this. “You were targeted because of me.”
“I won’t be in the middle of this war.”
“You’re already there because…” I clenched my fists when the reality of who did this to her set in. I brought her into my world and then left her vulnerable because she couldn’t comply with my demands. “I need to end this quickly before something else happens to you.”
“Where is Chance?” she asked.
“Your brother came to the dealership threatening to beat the shit out of me for hurting you.” Idiot. “That was honorable of him. Laughable, but honorable."
Chance may have been the biggest screw up I’d ever met, but his loyalty to Sable impressed me even if it made me want to kill him. For once in his life, he’d tried to do something to protect his sister instead of making things more difficult for her.
“Did you hurt him?” Her eyes were burdened with fear, and I hated knowing it was me she was afraid of.
“I find it irritating that even after you were assaulted, you’re worried about Chance.”
Why couldn’t she let this be about the two of us? She had to let Chance fight his own battles or he would never learn to survive on his own.
“Would you be worried about Marchello?”
“Chance is not Marchello, but to answer your first question, no, I did not hurt him.” As much as I wanted to, Sable had to be my priority.
“Good.” She let out a breath and dropped her shoulders.
“But I can’t speak on my father’s behalf.” There were at least a dozen scenarios I could come up with that my father could be doing to make Chance understand that we were not to be fucked with. “He has his own methods.”
“What does that mean?”
“Chance is with him now. I have a feeling he’s about to get schooled in my way of life as only my father can teach.”
“Milo! Call your father off.”
“Sable, no one calls my father off. That’s why he’s in charge.”
When she swatted the hair from her face, her injuries appeared more prominent. Once I found the animal responsible for touching her, I would make them suffer.
“You don’t need to worry.” I gently swiped away the stray hairs that had fallen over her swollen cheek. “He’s a fair man.”
Her emerald eyes filled with tears, but Chance should have been the least of her worries. “Isn’t your father an assassin?” She leaned against the wall. “Please.”
“He’s calm and collected, unlike me, so Chance should be fine if he minds his manners.”
“Oh God.”
“We both know he’s going to trigger my father, and there isn’t anything I can do about that.
” I wiped the fallen tears that slid down her face, making her freckles glisten in the dull lighting.
Even now, while she was hurt and sad, the glow of her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes lit up the room. “Let’s focus on you.”
She shook her head.
“Tell me who did this to you and relay the message word for word. Don’t leave anything out.”
“There isn’t anything you can do,” she said. “The damage has already been done.”
“You’re wrong.” I caressed her jaw with my thumb. “I can burn the fucking world down for you.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”