HUSBAND WHO, PART II #2
And that was before we learned that Jack was the mastermind in the death of his own wife—and Dallas’s mother—as well as the added gut punch that Jack trafficked Lucy to another Owed just to make sure that Dallas never was free of the torment his old man put him through.
My blood boils when I think of Jack Collins, and I only hope that the devil is coming up with one hell of a tortuous existence for that fucker because there’s no way that he went anywhere other than down below when he kicked the bucket…
“Don’t tell me that he’s still fucking with you beyond the grave. After the latest shit we found out about him, I didn’t think he could be any worse.”
And that’s coming after the discovery that Jack hadn’t given up on trafficking those he thought beneath him.
The first time I heard the rumor that Jack was taking some of the Used—and those he wanted to brand as Used—and selling them to the highest bidder in the basement of the Fortress, I locked Haven down again.
I couldn’t risk her being taken a second time, and when she learned what Jack was up to, she needed to be sedated for a week straight out of fear before agreeing to staying put inside the house just in case.
As King, Dallas put an end to that shit. Considering Adrian had a big hand in shutting the auctions down—mainly because Loni had been taken and put on the block by Jack and one of his henchmen—I know he’s not bringing them back.
Finally, Haven is as safe as I can make her, and most of that certainty came after Jack Collins drank a glass of poisoned whiskey and did us all a favor by croaking.
He’s dead and gone. So what the hell is the problem here?
Dallas runs his fingers through his hair, sucking in a breath so sharply, his cheekbones are on display.
“Yeah, well, that depends on how you see it. And, since I know you, Connor, I know exactly how you’ll see it.
Trust me… taking your knife is a precaution even if you can’t kill a dead man.
When you get in those moods, you might think his son is a good substitute. ”
I laugh. “Come on. You know I would never turn on you.”
“It’s about Haven.”
Oh.
“I stand corrected. I might turn on you.”
Dallas gives me a look like: told you so.
“And that’s why Adrian almost decided that, what you didn’t know, couldn’t hurt you or anyone else.
But in the end, he knew he couldn’t keep the secret, and since you did me the favor by killing Tony Wright for me, it’s only fair that I be the one to tell you this—”
I hold up my hand, cutting him off. “I killed Tony because he confessed to pushing your mom out of a window, Dallas. That was no favor. That was an honor I did for my friend.”
“And I appreciate it. Just knowing that bastard is dead helps a lot, but I don’t think that’s going to be the same case here.
” Dallas scrubs his hand down his face before absently rubbing his thumb over the dandelion tattoo he got opposite of the black spade once he had Lucy back in his life.
“Shit, Connor. He did it. Jack. He did it.”
“Gotta be a little more specific there, killer.”
Dallas’s brow furrows at the nickname. He doesn’t show any surprise, though, and I’d bet good money that his wife told him about my teasing nickname for the man who would be—and then gave up being—King.
He shakes his head. “Fine, but don’t shoot the messenger. Jack… he fucking did it. He’s the reason that Haven ended up in that cell.”
My heart stops beating for a moment. I blink. “Jack? But… it was Winter who stole Haven.”
Johnny Winter, rest in piss. He’s dead now, though if he wasn’t, I’d be more than happy to add him to my body count.
“Yeah,” agrees Dallas. “Because, when Jack got word that Winter planned on taking an Offering to get him to be willing to work together, he made a big deal that Haven Smith was off-limits. So, of course, Winter and his goons went after her. All because of the auctions.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s what it was about. Winter wasn’t just into drug-running and guns.
He wanted to get in on trafficking women, and he learned about what Jack was doing in the basement.
Selling the Bought for big bucks… Winter wanted in on it, and Jack refused.
So they took Haven, hoping to ransom her for a stake in the auction biz… only Jack refused that, too.”
For a second, I let that sink in. In a sick way, it makes so much fucking sense. How Haven was targeted, how someone was able to take her from Harmony Heights and no one stopped them, how Jack made a big deal of saying he’d find her without ever actually looking…
I shake my head. “But why?”