Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
MERCER
My fingers gripped the bicep of the puny messenger as I dragged him through the casino. I knew he wasn’t directly responsible for my anger, yet somehow, he found himself on the receiving end of it, anyway. Under my iron grip, he whimpered and begged me to let go, his eyes already watering as he gasped and wheezed from the smoke in the area.
He wasn’t one of Accardo’s men; I knew that. He was too weak, too spineless to be part of this life. But he had to have accepted money from the man in exchange for the package delivered. The exchange of goods for cash made him equally guilty.
I practically dragged him down the stairs toward the basement, using my keycards and secure passwords to pop open the forbidden door that no one but us were allowed through. It was for the best. We couldn’t have everyday staff walking in while we were drenched in blood with bodies at our feet. We did a lot of questionable things down here in this basement, and that’s all we would need is Glenda from housekeeping traumatized because she was nosey.
“You can let me go,” he begged. “I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
“Tell anyone?” I laughed at how pitiful he sounded. “What exactly would you have to tattle on me right now? I’ve not done a single thing to you.” I paused. “Yet.”
“Oh god. Please. I was just delivering the package, that’s all.”
“Who gave it to you?” I demanded as I pushed him into a room. It was soundproof, with cement floors and a drain right in the center for easy cleanup.
“It was dropped off at our office, with a note and payment.” He rushed to speak the words. His explanation came so fast that he stumbled over it.
“Did you open this?” I held up the thick envelope. The one with Accardo’s emblem on the corner. I didn’t know what it contained, but I didn’t fucking care. Nothing good could come out of this. Nothing good ever came from anything Accardo was involved in.
Another push before the door slammed behind us, and he was jolting forward, tripping over his feet as he fell hard onto the cement. That would bruise for sure. Not like I expected him to live long enough to feel much of the pain. I grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him toward the chains we had bolted to the cement floor in the center of the room, conveniently right by the floor drains.
Without releasing him, I reached for the shackle and snapped it onto his wrist. When I was confident he was secure, I released his neck and grabbed the other, yanking his arm hard before snapping it in place. He may be scrawny, but I wasn’t taking my chances. Sometimes fight or flight has men drawing power I’d never imagine they possessed.
I stepped back. “You know who sent this to us, don’t you?”
He shook his head wildly. “I swear I don’t.”
I leaned in, cringing at the smell of his putrid sweat. “This man, right here…killed my best friend’s wife. My other best friend’s sister. My friend. She was my friend too. And that was shit, don’t get me wrong. But now? Now he wants our girl. Can you imagine what type of threat you delivered?”
Our .
The word just seemed so fucking right, even if I wouldn’t admit it to Adam or Ace yet.
She was one of us. Ours.
Ours to protect.
Ours to cherish.
Ours to care for.
His head moved from side to side so fast it was amazing he didn’t give himself whiplash. “I had nothing to do with it.”
“You touched this envelope, and therefore, you’re involved.” By his standards, it was flawed logic. By ours, it was a way of life. I pulled a chair up close to him and sat, watching him as I took out my phone to text Adam.
Me: We’ve got a delivery to the casino.
Adam: Send it to the dock.
Me: From Accardo. Do you want me to open it?
There was a pause in the text, and I tapped my finger on the wood of the chair. The action made the guy nearly jump with each tap, a subtle taunt that any second, I could strike. This breath he took could be his last. His blood could be on my hands, coating my shoes before he could register that I’ve slit his throat, and all he could do was accept it.
The buzz in my palm tore my thoughts away from the death I’d be delivering soon enough. I looked down at Adam’s text. Bring it to me.
Me: And the messenger?
Adam: Take care of him. Make it quick. I need that package within the hour.
I looked at my watch. Not enough fucking time to have any fun. I rose slowly, circling him before I moved the chair back against the wall. “I have to leave.”
“Okay.” He was shaking, his legs barely holding him up.
“I wish we could have gotten to know each other better. I really do. You’d find I’m fairly likable. In fact, some would say I’m charming, caring, sort of a den dad, if you will. Always helping others.”
“I-I bet.” His words were a struggle for him to push out, fear gripping him hard. “Next t-time then.”
“Yeah.” I walked another circle around him, stopping out of sight. “Next time.”
In the time it took him to absorb my words, my hands were already gripping his skull, twisting his head so fast that he hadn’t even blinked before he was dead, internally decapitated. I sighed as his body slumped. His head hung unnaturally forward. “I’ll be back later. Don’t go anywhere.”
I chuckled to myself as I typed in the code and the lock to the room released. Making sure I had the package, I returned to the casino floor, searching for the manager on duty to let him know I’d be leaving for the day and to forward anything of importance to one of us. Then I left the building, found my car in the parking garage, and was on my way home with some time to spare.
I pulled into the driveway, my heart melting as I watched from a distance as Bellamy played with Lady. The sweet little pup worshiped her, following her around, forgetting who truly owned her most of the time. I wanted to walk out there, offer to play fetch with them, watch the girls enjoy the fall day, but the fucking envelope on my seat ensured I couldn’t. Instead, Max and Drew got to be there where I could only wish to be, monitoring the girls and protecting them from harm.
If they failed, I’d kill them myself.
Gripping the manilla envelope tighter than I needed to, I walked up the steps of the house in search of Adam. I knew I wouldn’t find Ace. He was on the site of the new development, doing the mind-numbing business stuff I was thankful I never had to be a part of.
I took off my shoes the moment I entered, leaving them by the door before heading down to the west wing, searching for his office. The door was closed when I approached, and I opened it without knocking. His brows were scrunched together as he looked up, only relaxing when he noticed it was me.
“What have you got?”
He knew what I had. The question was only a formality to urge me to hand it over. I stretched my arm out, offering him the envelope. “It was delivered by messenger, not part of the organization.”
“He’s taken care of?” he asked.
“I made it quick. I’ll dispose of it later.”
He nodded as he tore open the envelope. His concentration was no longer on me, but what was concealed. With the envelope torn open, he dumped it onto his desk. Inside was a flash drive, its possible information taunting us to insert it into the computer and look.
“Think it’s a trap?”
“Probably.” He reached forward, taking it into his hands and running it through his fingers for a few moments. “Get me an old computer. I’m not fucking up my shit in case this is bad.”
There was one that was wiped clean a few years ago in the drawer. I kept it just in case we needed it. It appeared this was the perfect opportunity, though I was certain the battery was dead. I located it, and after a few minutes on the charger, it powered up, painfully slow. When it was running, I picked up the drive and plugged it in, then sat as I navigated through the programs to open the drive.
“Are you ready?”
“I’m not actually sure, if I’m honest.” He was standing by the window, and I knew he was watching her. Was he thinking of regret? Wishing she was someone else? He turned away from the window and came to me, sitting on the couch beside me as I clicked the file.
There was a delay, always a fucking delay with old equipment. We watched the circle spin, the programs struggling to perform before a screen popped up. At first, it took a few minutes of watching to understand what we were seeing. It was Bellamy’s father, in what appeared to be his kitchen, mixing a drink.
It wasn’t until Bellamy walked in, bright smiles and gorgeous, that the reality sunk in. He was mixing a drink, but not for himself. That powder he put in wasn’t a flavoring aid, as I had originally thought. I gripped the computer hard, the soft metal cracking under my strength, and beside me, Adam wasn’t much better.
“This can’t-“ He was shaking his head, unwilling to believe what we were seeing, even as we knew it to be true. “That’s his daughter.”
Still, when her movements grew sluggish, her balance teetering, we knew. We fucking knew that the monster she called her father had absolutely no regret in drugging her. When she collapsed, he caught her, only long enough for his men to step forward, snagging her out of his grasp.
The clip cut off when they were out of view, only to reconnect at a meeting where they passed her off to Accardo. Another cut off before the video connected the image of a bed with an unconscious Bellamy on it, lying next to the naked son of Accardo.
There was a chance I might vomit, right here, right now. We didn’t need to see more. Hell, I didn’t fucking want to. If he thought he was revealing a big secret, he was only partially correct. We already knew about the baby, but the father?
Adam swallowed hard. “I’m glad he’s dead. I’d kill him all over again, if I could.”
He was shaking, physically trembling, trying to hold in the fury of what he just witnessed, and my temper wasn’t far behind him. A father was supposed to protect their child, not be the reason for their harm.
His voice was gruff when he demanded, “Bring me Belle. Get Ace on the phone. I want her father in our basement by this evening, no fucking delay.”