20. Theias
20
THEIAS
I get Ella settled with Oliver in the den. She is lying on the couch while he starts looking over his coursework. Then, I head into my office for a meeting with Caleb, Lucas, and Owen.
“She’s having twins,” I inform them, unable to suppress my excitement.
“Holy shit.” Caleb drops into a chair across from me.
Going for my good whiskey, Owen grumbles, “I need a drink.”
Lucas is slack-jawed, blinking rapidly, trying to process the news. “Two babies?”
“That is what twins mean,” I retort.
“I know, but two? I’m barely hanging on to the knowledge of one crying human, and now there’s going to be two?”
“Lucas,” I snap his name, and our eyes meet. “Get out of stunned mode and into supportive mode. You’re closer to her than these two idiots.” Caleb and Owen mutter in protest. “She’s going to be counting on you for friendship.” I should be jealous, and ordinarily, I would be, but they formed a weird bond before I was even aware of her, and she trusts him more than anyone else right now.
“I got her back, boss.” Nodding, I glance at Owen.
“You send that invite yet?” I want Blake’s head on a fucking platter for what he’s done to my girl.
“I did.” He hesitates, and I raise a brow. “I pushed the fight date back a week.” When my gaze narrows, he explains. “I figure you want Ella there, right? Well, she needs her rest right now, so moving it means she can attend later.”
“Fine. Caleb, I want security tight that night. Discreetly place a six-man team on Blake. I don’t want the asshole to take a piss without them on his ass.”
“You got it, boss. What about Tank?”
I’d nearly forgotten about the other pain in my ass.
“He know the new date?”
Owen confirms that he does.
“Good. I want him cocky and overconfident. He wins, he gets my empire. Make sure it’s advertised that way. Tickets are exclusive. No cellphones or cameras are allowed into the building. Background checks on every person who purchases a ticket, and if their ID doesn’t match, they don’t enter.”
The three share a look before Caleb speaks up. “You’re cutting it kind of close, aren’t you?”
“You don’t think I can’t kill Tank?” I snarl.
“I think it’s a risk he might try to cheat for.” Sitting back in my chair, I contemplate Caleb’s concern.
“Get a contract. He submits to a complete personal inspection before leaving the locker room, and after, should he win. Even a suspicion of cheating means he forfeits everything.” They still aren’t appeased, but I’m done talking about it. “What else needs my attention?”
Blowing out a breath of annoyance, Caleb follows my lead. “The casino has some contracts expiring and requires your attention. Security upgrades are needed at the arena, and there’s a man who would like the exclusive contract that I think you should meet.”
“Name?”
“Dark Ruelle.” Caleb grins as my head pops up. “Yup, him.”
Interesting development. “Why does he want it so bad?”
“From what he has said, it’s a sound business investment.” I know he’s thinking something else, though. “Word on the street, however, is that he has beef with our current provider's owner.”
Austin River has been handling security at the arena for me for almost a decade. While it could be better and tighter, I don’t have many complaints. His men are discreet, and we haven’t had many incidents where authorities have needed to be called.
“What’s the beef?”
Caleb shrugs. “Ex-friends, rivals. I think Austin stole the girl Dark had a hard-on for, and now he wants revenge.”
Dark Ruelle is a shadow in the land of darkness. He moves when no one is watching, strikes when least expected, and has a higher body count than anyone I know.
“He was a mercenary, wasn’t he?” I ask. It’s a rumor that has been spreading since he popped up in the security business.
“Still not confirmed, but leaked files suggest he’s been connected to Cage Craven in recent years.”
Cage. The name is bitter on my tongue after our previous encounter. Six years ago, we had a run-in at an Atlantic City casino when I was meeting some potential business partners. Instead of signing a contract, Cage executed a hit he’d been hired for, killing the man before I met him.
At the time, I was pissed. After learning the man kept a harem of underaged girls and boys, I’d been slightly more grateful. I’m still salty I wasn’t the one who killed the son of a bitch. Then, Cage seemed to fall off the grid until a few years ago, when he was spotted at a book signing with his new pregnant model girlfriend.
“Set up a meeting after the fight. In fact, invite him. If I like him, he might earn more than one contract.” He might earn an exclusive deal with all my businesses if he’s as good as he says.
“You got it, boss.” Caleb dials his phone as he walks away. Owen lingers while Lucas mutters something about needing to run errands.
“What is it?” I finally ask Owen.
He sits, still waiting to speak, before opening his mouth and closing it again. “I think you should bring her parents here.”
“That so?”
“Yep. They weren’t as oblivious as we believed. They have evidence of what Ramsey did to Ella. Evidence you are going to want before you kill the man.”
“Why didn’t you bring it with you?” I lean forward, my interest piqued.
“There wasn’t time. I was trying to get Oliver out of there before the cops showed up after I took Ramsey down. They spoke quickly while I was getting the kid’s shit in the car.”
“What aren’t you saying, Owen?” I sense his reluctance.
“Ella…she refused to call it what it was. I think she was trying to ignore the full extent of the abuse she took.” His eyes won’t meet mine.
“Spit it out, Owen.” I’m getting pissed waiting on him.
“He raped her.”
“I know that. And you’re right, she is in denial, but I refuse to force her into acknowledging it until she’s ready and I have help set up for the fallout.” It kills me that she was so horrifically hurt, but until she gives me details, I’m willing to wait.
“Nah, man. Ramsey spent a weekend last year with her tied to the bed. Forcing himself on her. Beating her into nothing. Her folks said she’s been a ghost of herself since then. She can put on a fake persona better than a Hollywood star.” Fisting my hands, I force myself to stay still as he finishes. “When they learned she ran, they were shocked and convinced that the next call they’d get about her was that she’d killed herself, or Ramsey finally followed through on one of his threats to murder her.”
“When he comes here, I want his life in L.A. to disappear. I want people to think he left with no plans to return.”
He thinks he can hurt my woman? Not in this fucking lifetime. Not while I’m alive and in vicious protector mode.
Blake Ramsey thinks he’s terrifying; he hasn’t seen a damn thing yet.
They don’t call me Monster for nothing.