Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
JAX
Keane walks into the living room where I have my laptop set up and Kellan’s journal in front of me.
I look up, but my fingers continue to hit the keys as I code in the last sequence that will gain me access to a new monetary account that was set up under Andie’s name a few days ago. “Did you find it?”
He tosses a thumb drive at me, and I catch it one-handed.
“Unfortunately, yes,” he replies, taking a seat on the coffee table next to me.
Kellan, you unforgivable bastard. The more I decipher in the journal, the angrier I get. Not only had Kellan been skimming from Ortiz’s drug shipments that’d come into the ports we controlled, but he’d also sold those drugs and put all the cash into an account under Andie’s name. An account that was suddenly and recently shut down. It took me a while to ferret where all the money had gone. Looks like Declan, Liam, or Tessa got wind of it and moved the money into another account. But that’s not the worst part. Kellan knew that Andie wasn’t his sister. He goddamn knew . When he found out, I have no clue. But it’s the USB drive that has me worried the most. Kellan wrote in vivid detail how he videotaped Max beating Andie with a belt, while his men held Rafe down and made him watch. Then he raped her when she passed out. Rafe went rabid. It took four men to finally knock him out. And Kellan stood by, hiding in the shadows with his phone recording everything—and he did nothing .
Why? That’s what I want to know. He could’ve used what he had and taken Max down with it. He could’ve come to us and told us what was going on. We would have protected Andie. There wouldn’t have been anything anyone could’ve done that would’ve stopped me from killing Max after that. Instead, Kellan kept detailed records of it all in his journal. Again, I ask why? I’m only halfway through it and already dreading finding out the other half.
“Where’d you find it?” I ask Keane, who looks absolutely devastated.
“His old hiding place behind the loose brick. She can never know about it. Max is dead. There’s nothing good to come from her knowing.”
In total agreement, I stand up and walk into the kitchen, open the microwave door, and toss the thumb drive into it.
“Won’t that make the microwave blow up?” Keane asks from the entryway.
“It shouldn’t, but you may want to stand back.”
I set the microwave going and immediately, loud crackles pop and tiny sparks appear making the small device look like the earth at night seen from outer space. After a half minute, I press stop and use oven mitts to take it out. The plastic case that encloses the electronics and miniature circuit board inside is melted and warped. The video it holds in its memory should be completely unreadable now. For good measure, I snap off the connector head and toss both parts into the industrial-strength garbage disposal.
Keane’s chuckle has me grinning. “We could just burn it in the fireplace.”
“What would be the fun in that?” I ask, flicking the switch and wincing slightly at the harsh grinding occurring.
We would always do shit like this as teenagers. We were nothing but trouble and bad news, but it didn’t stop Andie from following us around, wanting to be a part of our hellraising.
Taking two beers out of the fridge, I slide one over to Keane, who catches it before it drops right off the counter island. He’s been uncharacteristically quiet since Andie and Liam left.
“You okay with what happened tonight?” I ask him. The guy has been fighting his feelings for Andie for most of our lives. And tonight, he finally let go of those old walls he erected when it came to her. Fucking the same chick isn’t new for us. He and I have shared women before, but those women weren’t Andie. They didn’t matter like she does. There were no feelings involved. It was just emotionless sex to help stave off an inch.
Keane slowly takes a swallow while eyeing me. “Are you okay with everything that happened?”
He’s referring to the marriage. Getting serious, I put the bottle down and face him. “As long as you know I’m not giving her up. Not even for you, brother. If you’re okay with that, then you have my blessing.”
He puffs out a breath and leans a shoulder on the wall. “Look, I know what she means to you.”
He should. He was the one to find me after she left, and I tried to drown my sorrows in a drunken and dangerous game of Russian roulette with my gun.
He continues, “Like I told her. She’s ours.”
I raise a brow. “Does that include him?”
“Fuck Liam Connelly.”
Barking out a laugh, I shake my head. “Nah, man. That’s her job.”
“It won’t work,” he argues.
“It’ll have to if you want her. Being with her means she comes with baggage in the names of Liam and Rafael. If you can’t accept those terms, you need to step away.”
Keane remains quiet as my words sink in. It’s fucked up and wrong on so many levels, but we all want her. I know what my life is like without her in it. The choice is easy. I will never find another woman who will accept the broken man I am—scars, blood, and all. She’s it for me. My beginning and my end.
Finishing my beer, I toss the bottle into the recycling. “Want to go pound the bag for a bit? I’m too wired for sleep.”
“You never sleep. Besides, you’ll pop a stitch,” he comments, still mulling over what I said.
I flip him off. Keane can be so broody. I swear, the guy is worse than a girl on her period. Besides, four hours of non-stop fucking already popped my stitches.
Letting him stew with his thoughts, I walk to the west wing to check on Enzo. Dante is handling the men keeping guard around the house. We’ll need to up our security. My girl was able to breach it without anyone noticing. Declan’s men, with help from the inside, attacked us. Max with his hubris let things go to shit. I won’t.
“He’s up,” I say when I open the door and see Enzo propped against the headboard, surfing from channel to channel with his remote. Someone must’ve already brought him food. There’s some soup and water on a tray next to the bed.
Enzo waves me over. “Doesn’t hurt a bit. Whatever the doc gave me is some good shit. Want to refresh my memory about what happened? Things are a little fuzzy.”
“You got shot,” I deadpan.
“No shit, asshole,” he grouches, turning the television off and throwing the remote at my head. It misses by a mile.
I pick the remote up and put it on the table with the food in easy reach. “Julio is pissed we haven’t handed over Andie. He decided to start a war over it.”
Enzo closes his eyes with an exhale. “He’s not getting his hands on her. What Max did was fucked up.”
Yes, it was. I hand him the glass of iced water with the bendy straw in it. He looks at it and frowns. “I’m not five.”
“Just drink it.”
Enzo is a good guy. Too good for this type of life. Why he signed up to be one of Max’s soldiers is still a mystery to me and the guys. The only thing we know about him is that his pops was one of Max’s lower associates back in the day. Enzo didn’t join our fold until several years ago when Dante came on board. The two of them have been thick as thieves ever since. Somehow, Enzo has been able to keep his hands clean. Killing isn’t his thing, as witnessed from how he lost his lunch in the cellar when we found Max and the other dead capos.
“Glad you’re okay, man. Things are about to get messy around here. We’re going after Ortiz.”
Enzo tries to move on the bed but grunts in pain at the effort. “I want in.”
“Get back on your feet first,” I tell him, already walking out of the room when Garrett saunters in, carrying a bottle of Jack and a few magazines.
“What?” he asks when I see the nudie magazine among the various ones about cars.
“You can find that shit easily online, you know.”
Garrett smirks. “Sometimes a man needs things the old-fashioned way.”
I slap his shoulder as I pass by. “Go easy on him.”
“If only he had his own Andie to help ease his pain.”
His ear-to-ear knowing grin tells me he heard what went on upstairs. Andie is definitely a screamer. I’m smiling all the way down the hall and as I head up the stairs.
The noises and banging coming from Andie’s old room tell me that the men Keane sent to handle the mess are busy cleaning it up and boarding the window. Downstairs is already done. She really went to town on the place in her fit of anger. Such a gorgeous sight to behold. Andie was always a little firecracker, even when we were younger. Max may have beaten her down, but he could never extinguish that fire inside her.
Funny how random thoughts bring back old memories. One of those memories has me walking into my room and pulling out an old cardboard box I keep shoved under the bed. Dust billows into the air in front of me as I place it on the bedspread.
My hand goes straight to the old glass Mason jar. The lid is rusted slightly and dented on one side. After the shit that went down with my old man, Max took me in, giving me a roof over my head since I had no other options. I would’ve slept under a bridge before I would’ve ever allowed anyone to force me into the system. No fucking thank you.
Taking out the jar, I hold it up in one hand, turning it back and forth and watching the light catch inside of it like a prism. I used to collect fireflies for Andie. Right after she suddenly disappeared five years ago, I came into her room one night when I couldn’t sleep. I found the jar by accident when I lay on her bed and noticed how her mattress bumped up slightly near the headboard. She had hidden the jar between the mattress and box springs, and I’ve kept it safe for her ever since. I’ll add fucking Andie under a night sky surrounded by fireflies to my bucket list along with the bouncy castle.
I meant what I said to Keane the other day. I want Andie with us. Not just because I feel like Keane and I can protect her better, but because that’s where her sweet ass belongs. But not here in this house. She’d kick me in the balls again if I even suggested it. I’m fully on her side about razing this place to the ground. We could always rebuild. Make it our own. But that would leave where to live while it’s being done, and I know Keane would flat out refuse to relocate to Falcon Tower and be under the hospitality of Declan Levine.
Shit, the guy is going to be his father-in-law. Oh, how I’m going to enjoy rubbing that in his face every chance I get.
Of course, my damn phone starts to ring, and I scowl when I see Liam’s moniker, Bag of Dicks , pop up on my screen.
“What?” I snap, not liking that he’s calling. I’ve had enough of Liam Connelly for one night.
“Andie’s gone.”
Everything grinds to a halt. What is he talking about? He and Andie just left the house a half hour ago.
He rambles in rapid succession, and I try to keep up. “Ran us off the road. It was bad. There was blood. She must be injured, but I don’t know how much. My damn head hurts, I can’t think straight. They took her while I was unconscious.” He starts shouting a litany of curses that sound like a mixture of English and Gaelic, but nothing I can understand.
I don’t realize I’m sprinting down the stairs until Dante calls after me, but I don’t stop. I trip over the leg of a chair in my haste to get to my laptop in the living room. Pulling up every traffic camera and digital footprint I can find for the area stretching from here to Falcon Tower, I say, “Start from the beginning. Don’t leave anything out.”
Placing the phone on speaker, I listen carefully as I work. When Keane walks by the entryway, I snap my fingers at him to get his attention.
He hears Liam over the speaker and goes ramrod rigid as he listens to what he’s saying about the accident.
“Hold on,” I cut Liam off. A cell phone signal was pinged off the cell tower nearby minutes ago. I triangulate the signal for a location.
Keane tries to grab my phone, but I slide it out of reach. “Hands off,” I growl at him as I peel back layers to uncover any information about the phone, the caller, or whoever the hell received the call at the other end.
“If anything happens to her, I’ll fucking gut you,” Keane coldly states to Liam.
“I’ll let you do it,” is Liam’s reply. “Declan just arrived.”
Several voices shout over one another in the background, but I don’t let it distract me. Declan issues orders to his men to search the area. It won’t be long before a driver passes by and sees the commotion, and someone reports the accident to the authorities.
Come on, come on. Who are you?
Son of a bitch. “Keane!”
He peers over my shoulder at where I point at the screen. The number pinged belongs to one of Carmine Ricci’s men. How the hell did they get here so fast and know where to find Andie? If Carmine’s men have her, she’ll soon be in the hands of Alejandro.
I pick up my phone and take it off speaker. “We have a big fucking problem,” I tell Liam.