Xerxes
XERXES
THE MINUTE I heard Vanya’s panicked voice on the line I was up and out of my seat. I hadn’t given a damn about the meeting I was in the middle of or what money might be left on the table. My horses were the best anyone could get their hands on, and people who wanted the best knew they had to wait in line in order to receive it. Just like many luxury items, you worked on my time, not the other way around. I was always unapologetic about that, but even more so with Vanya. I offered no explanation because every second counted. We were up in the air and moving while I tried to keep Vanya calm.
By the time we landed and made our way to her office, I knew this was a setup. They were waiting for us to swoop in and save her the way I was doing. What they hadn’t expected was for members of our extended organization who lived in Charlotte to be primed and ready to help us take them out. As customary, one person was kept alive to get the information that we needed. They were in the building's basement now waiting on Tavior to finish x-raying my damn arm. I’d let him sew me up, but Vanya had insisted on this for her own peace of mind. Since I couldn’t deny her anything, I was doing this stupid shit and Tavior’s ass thought it was funny. So, of course, he complied with her demand.
“Is she still on zhe premises?” I hadn’t questioned anyone specifically in the room because I didn’t know who would have the answer.
I’d left her with a decision to make that seemed crazy by most people’s standards. For this situation, it was what made sense. I’d already asked Jahmir to reach out to more of his staff within the Order in case being my wife wasn’t what Vanya wanted. The love I held in my soul for her would ensure I protected her until she drew her last breath. And I would ensure it wasn’t at the hand of the Mahdavis. My father had made the same pledge to my mother and they had a happy ending. I prayed for the same but was prepared for the worst.
I’d planned on wooing her and having her fall in love, I hadn’t thought my paternal family would force my hand. If this worked out in my favor, I might have to let them live a few weeks longer as thanks.
“She is. She says she won’t leave unless it is vith you.” Shoaib’s face was filled with merriment as Tavior took the lead apron off of me. I was still frowning, which caused Tavior to smirk but I had other shit to focus on.
“I do not know if I should be happy she does not vant to leave my side or concerned zhat she is scared.” I stood up wanting to stretch but my arm hurt. I for damn sure wasn’t going to admit that to Tavior’s ass.
“She’s not scared of you, she’s scared for you. That’s a major difference with a woman.” Couba was trying to make me feel better but I knew he wasn’t lying. My brain just didn’t want to get my hopes up. I nodded because I could see how that was true. I was eager to get back to the treatment room and put my eyes on Vanya.
“I guess you are right. There are too many that would have run away from the danger but she ran right into it.”
“Your sayyida is very brave, Shahzadeh .”
I scoffed and reached for the shirt that Shoaib was holding out for me. I ignored the smile he was wearing because it was really a smirk and I didn’t want an I told you so. “I vant her to be a little less brave. I do not know if I should be angry with all of you or passing out cigars.”
“I’d say a thank you was in order.” Quentin’s face echoed the annoyance on everyone else’s because I wasn’t happy.
I shook my head because I didn’t want to win her on a technicality. “I can’t say zhat wiz good conscience. Not yet. She was married before and it wasn’t a good zhing.”
“So we need to kill him to wipe it out or void it or some shit? That ain’t no problem. I can handle that on the way home.” Yacouba dropped the clip out of his gun to check to see if it was full before he pushed it back in and tucked it back in his holster.
“You really think he needs external hittas when me and Sho are right here?” Quentin motioned in the air between him and Shoaib as though to emphasize his point.
“True. Now I gotta think of something else to get his ass for his wedding.” Couba looked thoroughly disappointed in not being able to kill Vanya’s ex-husband. It was probably the adrenaline of being called up here and not being able to release it since the fighting was done.
“She might not agree.” They all looked at me like they were questioning why we were all friends.
“She already agreed.” Yacouba gave me that reminder as though I wasn’t in the room.
And she had. She had but I was still waiting for her to come back and say she changed her mind. Had not hesitated at all but had then forced me to get this stupid X-ray and I didn’t have a chance for her to elaborate. Once the adrenaline wore off and reality set in, would she still feel like she wanted to continue on with this?
“She may change her mind.”
“She won’t.” Eyes went to Jahmir as he stood there in that silent, accessing way of his. He had a habit of observing and I wanted to know what his anointed eyes had seen. They’d all followed me down here like they were afraid that my ass was gonna flatline or something. Angel was with Vanya and I didn’t want his pretty boy ass sweet talking my lady.
“I am all for hearing good news. So far, I have made headway, but you zhink zhis is somezing zhat could truly work?” I stood up off the bed trying to signal I was ready to get out of the room, but no one would leave before this little conference was over.
“A woman, no matter how strong she is, will only use herself to protect something weaker than her or something she cares about. Women shield their children. The animals and the elderly. Women do not go around using themselves as a human shield to cover men. Unless they feel something.”
Everyone else in the room was nodding and I was sure Mir was right, but Vanya’s upbringing had been different from most. Based on the limited knowledge I had and the way her ex seemed aggressive with her, the workings of her mind could be skewed.
“She could just be rare.”
“But she’s not dumb. The fire is there between the two of you. When she sat on the bed and fussed right back at him? I felt like I was watching a freckled version of Nyima when I got blown up. She might not even know it yet, but it’s there. The seed was long since planted and now the roots are growing. You’ll start to see it peek out above the soil every once in a while. Little lumps of disturbed earth in the surface of the wall that tries to keep her protected. But once that first stone tumbles, the rest of the plant with show? You make sure you’re there to do what’s necessary to show her everything will be fine.”
“Man already spilled blood behind her. I think she’s well aware that he’s not playing about her.” Quentin was gossiping again and I swore I needed to add a tighter NDA to his contract.
“Tell ‘em what else yoo did, Xerxes.” Now Liam was jumping in and I swore I was gone stop talking to all of them before the day was over.
“What’s he talking about?” Yacouba wore a grin on his face like he knew I’d gone overboard. He wasn’t wrong, but I resented being so predictable.
“Liam—”
My warning was ignored as the Scottish Goldilocks spilled what he knew. “‘E purchased ‘er apartment complex for ‘er. Put it in ‘er name and all.”
Yacouba’s brows shot up and I looked around for something to throw at Liam’s laughing face. “We doing it like that?”
“Didn’t you buy Jasmine an entire business because her boss fired her? If anyone here is zhe master of the grand gesture, it would be you. Besides, it was a damn good investment especially because of zhe location.”
“Where is it at?” He was rubbing his chin like he was thinking of a money move and it reminded me that I needed to get up with him about the building.
“South Park.”
“Oh, overpriced as fuck but where folks go when they wanna be bougie?” Couba was nodding his approval like I actually needed it.
“Precisely. I analyzed the growz trends and made them an offer zhey couldn’t refuse.” I worked my arm slightly to loosen it up.
“How many ways did you threaten the man?”
I grinned this time not hating the predictability I’d just cursed. “Yacouba, I’m insulted you zhink I vould have to resort to violence in order to secure a business deal.”
“We know you so—”
“I made sure he could pay off zhe loan and live comfortably for a while. Greed is not becoming of anyone. Besides, he was charging people ridiculous rents and not offering true amenities besides zhe location. We will be more zhan happy to change zhat.” My shrug was brief, because I really wasn’t trying to get too deep in my methods. They already thought I was a simp, if I told them that I’d Suge Knight’ed that man off the side of his own building so that he would sell it to me and clear out in a day after dinner at Liam’s, I’d never hear the end of it.
“And ‘er business?” Why they needed all this information was beyond me.
“I was already exclusively her client for zhe next zhree months. Walk-ins weren’t her zhing. She only had the office so zhat she could get out of her place. But now, she’s got more zhan enough in zhe building to keep her occupied.”
“Damn, you might want to thank your granddaddy instead of taking off his head. He’s giving you your heart’s desires gift-wrapped.” Mir put voice to my thoughts from earlier and I agreed with him, but only to a certain extent.
I shook my head because he should’ve known better. “His ability to continue to live after zhis stunt is more zhan zhanks enough.”
Mir raised his brows in surprise. “So you’re not—”
“Of course I vill. But not yet. Zhere is an art to zhis dance. Zhey are going to slip up yet again. Besides, we need to confirm it was zhem.”
Jahmir’s brows furrowed as he glanced around the room before settling on me. “Who else could send someone out to be that thorough in the middle of the day?”
I chuckled because Mir wasn’t this clueless. This was his way of cautioning me to vet out all possibilities so I didn’t miss a new enemy while taking care of an old one. “You act as though we don’t have an abundance of haters, Jahmir.”
He gave me a smirk, one that was too proud when we were talking about people wanting to kill us. “True.”
“I took a preliminary look at the weapons collected, boss. Nothing like ours.” Quentin’s voice held the same disgust that I felt.
I was now even more angry than them having shot at me. My weapons were the best and for someone to come after me with some stock shit? “So zhey sent inferior killers vith inferior weapons to come after me. Zhat’s almost insulting.”
“They got you, though.” Tavior just had to remind me that I was annoyed with him by speaking up.
I glanced at the spot on my arm then waved him off because this shit wasn’t a big deal. “A scratch.”
“This time. Ensure there won’t be a next.” I could only nod my head in agreement because he was right.
“She is comfortable with you because you have seen her stripped of the artifice of spring. There are no pretty blooms for her to hide behind so she knows your interest goes far beyond skin deep. Despite her smile, you can tell she had been through things. Her yes was freely given, but watch how she moves over the next few days. You’ll see. I wouldn’t lead you astray, Xerx.” Mir was back and was speaking life over the two of us, which I desperately needed.
I put my hands together and bowed my head. “ Doa mi konam hagh ba shmast.”
“You don’t need to pray I’m right, it has already been decided. But one thing you need to do? Go chin check the man who dared to shoot at your woman.”
“Vho was it zhat sent you?”
We were in the basement's basement in the Consortium building that was in Uptown Charlotte. The floors above ground were where we conducted business while in town. There were multiple levels below ground and those were used specifically for Consortium business. But the lowest levels down here were for mayhem.
The room was stark, but had every instrument necessary to get the job done. Each family had a room that was designated for them to handle whatever business they felt necessary within the security of these walls. Which translated into we could do our worst here and not be judged. The room had to be twenty by thirty with hooks on the floor a pulley system and a wall of weapons.
“I don’t know, but the main person I worked with wasn’t even here. He was just sending out orders and we were to make sure they got executed.” The man who’d been left alive was barely recognizable. I wasn’t sure who whooped his ass, judging by the size of his wounds it was Yacouba, but they’d been thorough as hell. Another sign it was Yacouba. Which was good for him because it was going to save Jasmine from getting knocked up tonight.
“I need a name.” My fucking arm was aching and I wanted my zibā . Since I didn’t know how long this would take, I asked Quentin to take her to the penthouse. I’d have to expedite the moving process for the both of us.
“Alpha.” That one word sent everyone on edge for multiple reasons. The name seemed to echo in the room haunting us like a wraith that needed to be extracted.
“What does he look like?” Smoke spoke up from the corner, something I wasn’t used to but he was turning into a real person right before our eyes. I wasn’t sure if I needed to be happy or worried, but there was fuck all we could do about this metamorphosis now but roll with it.
“Tall and bald.” His once peanut colored skin was already starting to bruise. He wouldn’t live long enough for the process to complete.
“Fuck.” I glanced at Smoke who gave me a nod before he pulled out his phone. I’d left Midas out of the situation with the shooting for now because he and Nev needed to get to her UCAA meeting in Manhattan. But there was no way Alpha was involved in this and he and Omega weren’t made aware of it. Which meant we had a whole other host of problems on our hands.
One foreign government after our asses wasn’t enough, huh?
“Vhat vas your assignment? Because I doubt zhis type of splash vas how you normally work.” I crossed my arms in front of myself to not reach out and choke him to death.
“Shoot you or get the girl.” He was muttering through what was probably a broken jaw and was definitely swollen lips.
“Get the girl how?” Priest was asking for clarification that I didn’t need. My family thought this was a game and I needed to remind them I was the commissioner of this shit and nothing moved without my approval. Flags on the play and bodies on the ground when I got done. I laughed softly beneath my breath and Priest’s brows shot up. He, like everyone else, knew what the fuck that laugh meant.
“Take her with us if she came out by herself. We had her lines blocked so she shouldn’t have been able to call out to anyone.” He was speaking remarkably well for someone whose jaw was dislocated. I wondered if he was telling us everything he knew as some way to lessen his guilt before dying.
I was silently praising Dom yet again for the depths and thoroughness of his mind because it had just saved Vanya’s life. His cell phone didn’t work on a normal network, so she’d been able to still use it to reach out to me.
“Take ‘er where?” Liam was looking just as angry as I felt and I knew it was because of how much he knew Frankie loved Vanya. Hell, he did too.
“There was a private car waiting to take her somewhere but where I don’t know.” He humped his shoulders and I knew he was running out of information to feed us to save his life.
“It vouldn’t be to zhe airport. It vould’ve been a decoy car and zhe real one. Probably a fake flight manifesto to zhrow me off. Zhey should’ve known the second I didn’t see her vhen I got zhere I vould’ve gotten her back in an hour tops.” I was speaking more to my family than to this man.
“Should’ve had someone on the lookout for cars. Doesn’t matter now, there are plenty of cameras so we’ll be able to find them.” Couba was being reassuring, but I knew whoever Alpha had on the ground was long gone. It had been over two hours since the gunfire erupted. I’m sure they got away as soon as the first bullet flew. And nothing we did would equate to Alphas’ punishment for failing. If they were smart, they were hiding out from the world.
“I need to call my cousin.” I sighed because a call to him meant a call to my elder and my mother was going to cuss me out when the time came.
“For what?” Quentin looked like I was questioning his position or his work ethic but neither was the case.
“Besides him being my second, he needs to be on guard.”
“Big brother ain’t gone like his twin being mixed up in any of this.” Smoke was rubbing his chin and I knew he was trying to balance his emotions on his brother being in the thick of all of this.
“Damn I forgot all about his ass. I thought you’d already killed him and it’s why you hadn’t done shit past what he did at the lil Christmas shit in Beacon Grove.” Yacouba looked disappointed that Smoke hadn’t handled the problem yet. Smoke just glared at him with that blank, psychopathic look on his face.
“Zhis shit just got deeper.” I was completely aggravated because my father’s people were pulling others into this mess. It was only going to make it harder for me to just kill them.
“And I’m wondering for what. If Alpha is trying to start his own Order , he’s too far behind and has burned too many bridges. His reputation proceeds him in our world.” Priest, like us, was wondering what the angle was because there was always something else going on. We wouldn’t figure that shit out tonight, but we had to soon enough.
“But maybe ‘e’s just good enough fo’ those who want a weapon to unleash on the masses and they dinna care who they ‘urt.” Liam had his sgian dubh out and flipping around again.
“None of this speculation is going to get us anywhere without involving all the players.
“Sweets is on her way. She’s already said she needs somewhere to stay or a stipend if she’s going to be here for a while.”
I was confused because when had anyone decided that Jada was getting paid? “Vhy she acting like you broke?”
He smirked briefly before his face went back blank. “Same thing I said.”
“Since she’s coming to wedding plan, I’ll be more than happy to pay whatever fee she has in mind.” If the wedding was still on, I was definitely going to need help.
“Remember that when she run your pockets.” Yacouba, Liam and Jahmir were laughing at Smoke’s statement because she’d planned all their weddings. Having attended them all, she was more than worth whatever she charged.
“You need to call your mother, she’s going to be pissed to hear about this shit secondhand, but I’m not about to be the one to tell her you got shot. She’ll do something and have my son and his mama hating me for the next year and I can’t have that. I’d rather she give me the runs or something.” Mir was right but I was hesitating until I remembered one thing that gave me peace.
Thoughts of my mother brought a smile to my face and peace to my heart. “You miss one important zhing about all zhis.”
His head tilted and I knew he was trying to understand the sudden optimism. “What?”
“She’s getting a daughter-in-law. Seeing me married can wipe away just about any offense you could commit.”
“True, despite that, we got to think of something to do with him.” Mir turned to the man who was sitting on the chair that we’d all forgotten about.
I pulled out a small caliber gun that had been holstered by my ankle. Three quick shots went into his body: one in his arm, another in his shoulder, and the last in his neck.
“We doing it like that?” Yacouba was nodding his approval as the man in the chair started to choke on his own blood.
“He needed to suffer. Zhree shots isn’t enough to take off his head, but it’s enough to fuck him up vhile he dies slowly.”
He was fighting against the ropes at his back like he could get himself free from them. I knew Shoaib well enough to know that nothing came undone once he tied it up.
The twitching started, showing that he was losing blood to certain parts of his body and his nervous system was reacting to the disruption. His legs were already done, proving that one shot had severed the connection to that part of his spine.
“He really sitting here doing this shit again?” Quentin was talking shit like he hadn’t seen me do this hundreds of times.
“If you’re strong enough to take a life, you give it enough respect to vatch it float away to heaven.”
Once the twitching stopped I turned to Shoaib so we could be on the same page. The moving date needed to be moved up and I told him as much.
“So you are moving forward wiz it?” He could tell by the look on my face I was, but he needed the verbal commitment.
“Once I check in vith her, I’ll have my answer.”
Priest grinned and popped his imaginary collar. “Let me get my robe ready. It seems I’ll have a wedding to officiate very soon.”