Chapter 29 Ronan #2
“Your father took something that belongs to me, and I intend on getting her back.” I told her plainly, as I crossed my arms and waited for her to decide her own future. Her eyes widened in realization as she understood just exactly who I was talking about.
“I told you Ronan Zerkos, you have a leak. I can’t risk them letting my father know that I’ve told you anything. The Mexican girl isn’t worth this.” She began to turn away from me and walk towards her cot. I was losing her, but maybe if I put a little more pressure, I could get her to crumble.
“Hughes!” I called out to one of our guys who kept the cells in order. “String her up, whatever makes her talk. No limits.” The last words I said looking her dead in the eyes so she could understand she had no power here.
“Wait!” She begged, knowing Hughes had already had some time with her and by how rough she looked, I could tell she wouldn’t want a second round. “If my father hasn’t realized she meant something to you yet, if he thought she was just merchandise, then maybe you have a chance to get her back.”
“And if he realized she wasn’t a prisoner of mine?” I questioned.
“He would have already called you to make a trade for my sister and me. He doesn’t realize he has something you value.
” She sat on her cot without looking up at us, the defeat etched into her face as she dropped her shoulders and rested her elbows on her knees.
“There’s a strip club, Sapphire. My father will be keeping her there in the basement with the other girls he’s auctioning.
He’ll show her off and sell her to the highest bidder as soon as he can.
He doesn’t like to keep whores wasting away in his possession. Too expensive to feed.”
I clenched my jaw at her calling Cecilia a whore, but I didn’t react. My girl was somewhere out there starving, alone, and afraid. I had more important things to direct my anger towards.
“There’s at least three Sapphires in the city. Which one?” Kane jumped in, getting as much information as possible while she was still willing to talk. She looked over at Hughes, who looked more than happy with whatever outcome would be produced from this exchange.
We kept a few psychos on hand to take care of the work that needed to be done that no one else wanted to do.
Hughes was one of them. As far as I knew, he had no conscience, and he slept eleven hours a night, which let me know he was born to get his hands bloodied.
Men like him were what made our organization solid.
“The one on the southside,” Santos cut in, “Where I first found you and your sister.”
She nodded at him, “But you have to be smart about this. He’ll expect a raid, and he’ll know I led you to him if you don’t do this right,” she warned us, and Mateo scoffed uncaringly.
Personally, I didn’t give two shits if her father killed her, as of right now, I wasn’t even sure what was keeping me from killing her either.
I was hoping I could keep the bitch talking long enough to get Cecilia back.
There was a fear in her eyes when she spoke about her father though, and it made me question if she was as guilty as I assumed her to be.
Maybe she was a victim of him too.
“And what do you suggest, Susana?” Kane asked in a sobering tone, using her real name.
“You have to buy her back if you want to do this without a war.”
She was right.
I beckoned Hughes with a curl of my finger, and we walked away from her cell together, Mateo to my right and Santos on my left just a few paces behind me.
“Hey! What about me?” She yelled at us from her cell and the three of us turned our heads to look at her.
Santos brandished his Glock back in her direction, closing one eye as if he was aiming for her head before letting a *pew* under his breath, faking the shot.
“No one, except you, comes in here. Understood?” I laid out the new rules turning back around, Hughes nodded, but I needed to ensure he fully comprehended.
“No exceptions. Not someone coming to get their anger out on any of these fuckers, not someone bringing by a meal. No one comes inside this floor but the three of us.”
“You got it boss.” He said without so much as curiosity or a need for reasoning behind my actions.
“Good man,” I said, clapping his shoulder with my hand and walking away with my brothers next to me.
“We can’t tell anyone anything until we figure out who’s feeding the Bratvas our intel.
” I explained, and they both nodded understanding the severity of our situation.
If the rest of our people knew there was a rat in our forces helping our enemy bring us down, it would be a shitshow.
Discord would fill every level of our high-rise until our men were either too afraid or too untrusting to follow us, which was a risk we couldn’t take.
As we made our way out of the fifth floor, Dezmond Archer Senior was addressing our men. I scowled at the audacity. These weren’t his men anymore; maybe a long time ago, some of them had been his, but he signed them over to us, and with that, he threw away his leadership.
It was a slap in the face to watch him reassure our people that everything would be fine, and retribution was guaranteed. Santos, Mateo and I stood behind him as he finished his words, conveying an illusion that we supported and backed him.
Inside I fumed.
I felt Santos’ hand on my shoulder and met his gaze to see the silent message he was sending me.
Not now.
There were too many things at stake here.
We had a traitor we needed to uncover, we had made clear enemies of the Bratvas, and we had a community to keep safe.
Most importantly, I had a bronze goddess to rescue.
If Dezmond Archer Senior was getting his kicks off at playing the big man for a few minutes, it wasn’t worth it to make a scene and lose the support of his men that would come with it.
I sent a text over to Taylor, asking her if she could figure out how to get us on a buyers list for the Bratva, and we made our way to the penthouse as we waited for a response.
It was trashed.
Bullet holes decorated every wall and surface, complementing the wood splinters that covered the ground from all of the broken furniture.
Our people were already hard at work, cleaning it up and putting everything back together.
There were Crow Sluts playing at interior designers as they decided what furniture would replace the bullet-infested sofa that was once the grandest piece of furniture in our living space.
“I’m going to check on Fletcher. Fill me in if you find anything else out,” Santos said, shocking the hell out of both me and Mateo.
“You don’t want to work out how we’re gonna get Cecilia back?
” he asked, bringing his eyebrows together in the middle.
I was just as confused as he was. Our brother spent the last few months refusing to do anything that would harm even a single hair on her head.
Now he was just gonna act like getting her back wasn’t top priority?
“You got this,” he said, and I couldn’t hide my surprise.
“O-kay then,” Kane shrugged, noticing the strange behavior but letting him turn around and walk away, there was nothing more he could do anyway. Once he headed out to the elevators, he looked back at me, “Who can we trust?”
“Fuck, I don’t know. Aside from the two of you and Taylor, it could be anyone.
” I walked to the wet bar and poured myself a neat glass of Blanton’s.
I turned the whiskey over and let the smooth nectar coat my tongue and burn my throat before I looked back at my brother to see him judging me with one eyebrow lifted.
The asshole didn’t drink a drop of alcohol, never had, and never would.
He was too afraid of becoming his father.
He seldom chastised us for our terrible drinking habits, except when we used it as a crutch to block out our problems. It was “The road to darkness,” as he called it, like a fucking Jedi or something.
“Don’t,” I shot him down with one word as I poured another and held it in my hand.
Our phones buzzed, letting us know a group text came through, and since Mateo’s phone was already in his hand, I didn’t bother pulling mine out. “What’s she saying?” I asked, knowing our smartest friend already had our needed answers.
“She sent over a phone number and said it’s better if we don’t contact ourselves.
The types who buy women, normally send over their sleazy lawyers to broker the agreements and get on their books. It would be smart to have Dez make the call,” he read her text out loud to me.
“This should keep the Bratva bitch out of the hot seat too, they’ll be directing us straight to the strip club to come look at the girls,” I pointed out, and Mateo nodded in response.
“Call Dez, set it up. Just tell him we're looking for new girls since the others are gone. Don’t mention Cecilia, don’t let him in on the plan. ”
“You really don’t trust anyone right now do you?” Kane asked.
“Brother, if I’m being completely honest. I don’t even trust Santos right now. Ever since he got off that plane, something’s different. Something’s wrong,” I said, rubbing my chin, the coarseness of my stubble irritating me.
“You noticed that too then?” he asked, letting me know that nothing got past him. I had to focus on what mattered, and right now, that was Cecilia’s safety. All I could hope for was that we could get to her before someone else tried to buy her out from under us.