30. Chapter Twenty-Nine
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
ETHAN
J ason, Matthias, Ren, and Ethan were all sitting in a car outside of the warehouse, waiting for the others to arrive. They always arrived early to make sure it was secure.
“How’s Bonnie and her Daddies?” Jason asked. “Isn’t one of them a switch?”
“Yeah, one of them is,” he replied.
“So, how is she?”
Ethan sighed. Why did he want to know so badly? He knew Jason was fond of his sister. Maybe a little bit too fond, but he wasn’t going to have to worry about that. Bonnie now lived with her two Daddies several miles away. If Jason tried anything, he not only would have to go through him but also her Daddies. But he figured Jason was smart enough and wouldn’t try anything.
“You trying to take her away?” Ren asked.
“Me? No! It’s just weird not having her around anymore. I wanted to make sure her Daddies were taking good care of her,” Jason added. “I promise there is nothing else going on. I’ve got my eye on a girl.”
“Ooooo, a girl? Who is she? Do we know her?” Ren questioned.
This was the first time Ethan had heard about a girl. While he liked to be kept in the know, he didn’t need to know their every move. Especially not Jason’s. He was a flirt, a player. He slept with a new girl every night. That’s what it seemed like, at least.
All of his men knew to tell him when they were getting serious with a girl. Not to be a dictator, but so he knew and could welcome them into the family. It was more so if something happened, they knew who was important and who wasn’t.
“You don’t know her, and I’m not going to say much more. It’s a new development, and I don’t want to rush it,” Jason explained.
“You mean it’s a new flavor of the week, and you don’t want to tell us because it’s not going to last long,” Ethan quipped.
Jason glared over at him and shook his head. “I’m serious about her. I really am. I think she could be the one; I really do. And I just don’t want to chance it.”
“Does she know what you do?” Ren asked.
They all knew not to tell just anyone about what they did. And it was up to the man to decide whether they wanted to disclose the basics or not.
Some men liked to have their significant other in the know concerning what they were dealing with. And some men didn’t want them anywhere near it. He respected both. There was a time and place for everything. Some women could handle knowing all of that information, and some couldn’t.
Ethan had thought about it several times with regards to Margery. She was the type of person who could handle some but not all. He needed to be careful because he didn’t want to traumatize her even more than he already had.
It was a fine balancing act, and he was learning it.
“Not really. I didn’t want to scare her. Though, she probably knows,” Jason explained. “Diego saw me with her and asked about one of the jobs. Let’s just say she had a lot of questions. I told her I would be able to answer them at a later date. Or answer some of them.”
“So, you didn’t tell her anything? You just left her in the dark?” Ren sounded shocked.
Ethan was surprised as well. He had only been with one person and that was Margery. He didn’t know if he would be able to have her again, but he didn’t want to sleep around. It didn’t feel right when his heart and mind were still with Margery.
But Ethan knew that Margery was curious. He had given her some information, but not the whole story. He had kind of done that today, talking about the shipment of girls but not explaining. It’s not like he could, though. They needed to get here and deal with it before anybody else found out.
“I told her I worked for a syndicate,” Jason admitted.
“You told her that, but you wouldn’t answer some simple questions?” Ren asked. “She could look things up and expect the worst. Did you think this through at all? ”
“Not really. I was on the spot. Soon after Diego saw me, I needed to leave for a job. Time-sensitive job.”
“How long ago was this?” Ethan found himself asking.
“Like two weeks ago.”
Ren’s mouth fell open. Two weeks was a very long time.
“Have you talked to her about anything? Given her some hints? Or have you just left her in the dark?” Ren asked.
“I haven’t told her anything, but we’ve talked. We’re actually going to meet up soon to talk about it.”
“You might want to ask her what she knows before you say things. Two weeks is a long time and she could have done some probing. Come up with her own ideas,” Ethan chuckled.
Jason was in for the ride of his life. Most women were amazing at researching and finding things a person didn’t want to be found.
“Anyway, enough about me. How is Bonnie? I noticed you just went silent and let Ren ask questions,” Jason inquired.
“She’s living her life. She seems happy,” Ethan replied.
“I’ve been keeping tabs on her and her Daddies. She looks happy. Her two men give her things that make her happy. They spoil her, but they also discipline her when she needs it. And it’s quite a bit,” Ren chuckled. “That girl has gotten comfortable and started to brat.”
“Okay, we’re done talking about my sister. I’m not the happiest with who she is with, but she is thriving and happy. I can’t do anything about it if I want her not to hate me. She’s now in the hands of two men, her Daddies, and they’re going to keep her safe,” Ethan quickly said .
He did not like the turn of events, but he couldn’t do much about it. Bonnie and he had gone through so much together, and he didn’t want to ruin it or lose her. So, having to hold his tongue when he found out she fell in love with his former enemy was hard.
It was a simple miscommunication, but it had been years and years that they had hated each other for. That Rogan tried to interfere with their shipments. People didn’t just get over that overnight. It was going to take a while.
Ethan still didn’t like talking about him. But anytime he was around Bonnie and her Daddy, he was always polite and respectful. Respectful as somebody who hated the other person could be. There was lots of glaring, but they got through things without killing each other.
“So, how about Margery? Is she doing okay?” Jason asked.
“Are you going to continue to ask questions until they get here, or are you going to shut up?” Matthias spoke.
Ren choked on the drink he had in his mouth. Ethan wasn’t expecting Jason to ask so many questions. While he was chatty, he didn’t usually ask all of these questions. What had changed? Was it the girl he was talking to? Was she changing him a little?
“Sorry. I just wanted to get the inside scoop. You know I’ve been gone, and I’ve missed some things. Who better to ask than person it’s happening to? But I see that my questions are not wanted,” Jason spotted.
Ethan knew Rogan hated crying so much. He despised it. Ethan was the same with questions. He hated them as much as Rogan hated crying. Especially when some of them were dumb and common sense. Half the time, he didn’t even answer them, but they still got on his nerves.
“Matthias,” Ethan got his attention. “Did Rogan seem to be on our tails about this shipment?”
Rogan had been trying to stop them from buying the girls. He had gotten close several times, but Ethan was always one step ahead of him.
Only a couple of people knew that they didn’t sell the girls after they purchased them. It was the only good thing they did. Everything else was illegal. Helping these innocent women and children was the one thing that helped balance out all the bad.
None of them regretted dealing drugs, killing people, blackmailing people, and more. They all had agreed to do it. But their one rule about not harming innocent people, and they tried their hardest not to break it. What could they do to help them?
So, they came up with buying girls and then helping them get to a safe house where they didn’t have to worry about being mistreated.
“No, he hasn’t. He’s been focused on Bonnie and Raynar, and whatever you said to him seemed to help as well. Everything should go smoothly,” Matthias replied.
Ethan relaxed a little. He liked it when things ran without a hitch because he got to go home faster. It also helped so the girls didn’t freak out and try to run away.
None of them knew they were going to a safe house. It was easier for them to be scared and follow orders. Then, once they got to the safe house, they debriefed them on how the next several months would be .
It was always hard because most of them didn’t believe what they were hearing. The ones who had been in there the longest were always skeptical and the hardest to transition. They didn’t want to get their hopes up. Ethan knew several men who would give these girls false hope because they liked to see it crush their souls when they realized it wasn’t true. They were the hardest.
Then there were the spitfires. They normally had only been trafficked for a couple of days, and hadn’t been conditioned. They still had hope and fight in them. They were easier to transition back to normality.
Then, there were the people who hadn’t been there as long but had things happen to them. They could be like the newbies and bounce back pretty quickly, and other times, they were like the people who had been there for years, untrusting.
But either way, they were all treated the same. Taken care of and shown that they didn’t have to be afraid anymore
“When you met up, did Rogan ask about it?” Ren asked.
“Yeah, he did. But I didn’t tell him anything. It’s not his business to know. I didn’t know whether he was going to pay attention to what I said or if he was going to try some heroics.”
Everything was new and fresh between them. Even if he did trust Rogan, he still wouldn’t tell him. Ethan didn’t need rumors going around that he helped these women. That was a sure way of people asking questions and others looking into things.
Something Ethan really didn’t need because then he wouldn’t be able to help the women if he was being closely watched. Bonnie didn’t know anything, so he didn’t have to worry about her telling Rogan.
This was the one time he was thankful he hadn’t told Bonnie a lot. Not because he didn’t trust her but because he didn’t want to put her in that type of situation. He knew for a fact that she had a no lying rule, and when it came to what he did, he knew she would lie for him.
That wasn’t okay, not when she had a bond with her Daddies. He didn’t want to put that in jeopardy.
“How did he react to that?” Ren asked.
“I think he wanted to say more, but I didn’t give him the chance. I told him he would just have to live with it,” Ethan nonchalantly said.
It wasn’t his problem. He would just have to make sure if Rogan tried anything, he was alert and ready. But he hoped that he would just trust him on this and back off.
“I think he could help us. Maybe he could get involved, and you could save more girls. Maybe since your sister is with them, they’ll pay attention,” Jason chimed in.
Ethan shook his head. “I’m not taking the chance that he’ll say no and then know about what we do. It’s too risky.”
And it was. Ethan didn’t know how Rogan would react. Would he spread rumors? Would he listen to his explanation? That was the real question. He knew Rogan didn’t like him trading human skins. He wasn’t really trading, but Rogan didn’t know that.
“Maybe not right now, but maybe in a couple of months or years, you guys could. I don’t think it would be a bad idea to consider.” Jason shrugged. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but just think of all the girls we could save. ”
Jason had a special interest in buying and saving girls. Growing up, his sister had gotten taken, trafficked, and wound up dead several years later. He had searched and searched for his sister and right when he got close, it was too late. That was all before Jason joined the Montgomery Syndicate.
“I’ll think about it. But you also have to think about two big groups buying skins in the same city. It might look suspicious,” he replied.
“They’re here,” Matthias announced suddenly.