7. Chapter 7 #2
“Do you know what mafia he belonged to out there, or wanted to belong to?” Now he was pissed.
There was an unspoken truce among most of the well-known families in this country, and they all agreed to never harm women or children.
Some still had strip clubs, but for the most part, they didn’t traffic women and they didn’t hurt them.
They weren’t above wrecking their lives, but they never hurt them or killed them.
Sighing, she said, “No, I don’t. He never really shared any information with me. When I asked, he…well, he hit me and I knew I needed to leave.”
“He fucking hit you?” His voice dropped an octave, cold as ice. He was ready to kill someone.
“Yeah. But please don’t tell Damian. He will try to kill him and he won’t look good in orange and I need him to be around.”
“Don’t worry your cute little head for one minute, Daphne. I will take care of everything and no one will go to jail.” His jaw was tight, and his voice strained as he fought to control his emotions.
“It’s really OK. I am safe now, and that’s all that matters. I don’t want anyone to die because of me.” He noticed a tear sliding down her face.
“You are absolutely safe, Daphne. But that doesn’t change the fact that he needs to pay for what he did to you.”
“I’d rather that group of bitches pay than him,” she mumbled so quietly, he almost missed it.
He was about to ask more when Kiera came up beside him.
“Are y’all done talking yet? I’m ready to hang out with my friend.” Eamon chuckled at her adorable pout.
“Yes, we are done talking for now. You can have your friend back.”
“Yay! Come on beside me, Daphne.”
Daphne fell back beside Kiera and he instantly missed her. When he was sure that she was preoccupied, he sent a message to Finnean.
I need every bit of information on Daphne’s ex-husband. Every single thing. Don’t tell Damian anything. We’re keeping this in-house for right now.
Consider it done.
Knowing that it would be taken care of, he returned to the moment and looked around.
They were nearing the top of the ridge where they would let the horses rest and drink some water while they had snacks and stretched their legs.
There was a stream that ran behind the small gazebo he had up there.
Once they dismounted their horses, they wandered to the stream to drink while he set up the little picnic Freya sent with them.
All kinds of meats, cheeses, pickles, and cookies, along with juice for the women and whiskey for them. He watched as Kiera and Daphne frolicked around the field, singing songs he didn’t know, picking flowers, and looking so carefree it made him smile.
“You’re gonna make her yours, aren’t you?” Liam smiled knowingly.
“Hell yeah, I am. Her brother will probably have a fit, but I don’t care.”
“Good luck with that man.” They both laughed because he was going to need more than luck to win her over and get her brother on board.
“I need to run something by you, though. She told me that her ex-husband hit her. Wouldn’t give me a name, but asked me to keep it from Damian.”
“Uh yeah, about that. I knew when she first got to town. I didn’t know she was Damian’s sister or I would have said something already, but she showed up with bruises all over her face and I am pretty sure some broken ribs.
She tried to hide it with makeup but I could tell she was hurting.
She confided in Kiera some, but didn’t feel comfortable telling me everything.
And I would not keep that from Damian. He will be pissed as fuck if he finds out after the fact.
” He was right, but damnit, he didn’t want to betray Daphne.
“I have Finnean doing some digging. Get me a name and see what I can find out. She said he was a wannabe mafia on the west coast. I have some contacts out there and can have him taken care of without ever involving Damian. She is worried he’ll kill him and go to jail.”
“We would never let that happen.”
“I know that, but she doesn’t. She barely trusts me, and I need to make sure I keep that trust. And so do you. The last thing we need is for her to feel betrayed and run away.”
“I get that. But we also can’t keep this from Damian. He’ll kill us both. Or at least he’ll try. You know how much he loves his sister.” Liam was going to make a great capo. He needed to promote him soon.
“You’re right. Let me get some more information, and I’ll call Damian tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He was glad to have his support in this. “Changing subjects. What the fuck are we going to do about Callum?”
“Kill him. Slowly and painfully. I just need to fucking find him. He seems to have gone dark. I wanted to keep tabs on him, but my men can’t find him.
Finnean has looked, Rory and Kellan, too.
He’s gone.” It chapped his ass that he couldn’t find him, but he knew no one could stay gone forever. Not from him.
“You think he’s left town?”
“I don’t fucking know.” He was about to say more when Kiera and Daphne came skipping up.
“Can we have some juice and cookies, please?” Daphne looked up with those big brown eyes, and he was a goner for her.
“Of course. We have everything set up right here.” They snacked and drank until there was nothing left. He felt my pocket buzz with a text. It was Finnean.
His blood turned cold.
Her ex-husband is Callum. She can’t leave the ranch.
Fuck.