CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR #2
“No, he made you think it was a good idea not to tell us because you knew we would talk him out of doing whatever fucking shit he was doing,” Maverick snaps back.
“There’s enough going on in our lives right now.
We didn’t need to spend nearly two weeks worrying about his whereabouts.
Our fucking focus should have been on Lily. ”
“Lake knew where I was,” Max points out, seeming unbothered by the hostility in the room as he eats whatever Liza has clearly cooked up for him. She’s a mum through and through, and despite Max being an older man, she still treats him like he’s her child.
Malik glares at the man with so much anger, I flinch. “You gave her enough fucking information so she wouldn’t kick you fucking out. You’ve got no idea what has been fucking going on. Would it fucking kill you to stick around instead of disappearing?”
Max carefully places his plate on the arm of the sofa, getting to his feet so he can shove his brother.
“Don’t bloody do that! Don’t tell me I’ve got no fucking idea.
My son died, Malik. He fucking died. My daughter was nearly killed.
I’m getting fucking sick of watching our kids get hurt.
I had to do something. It might not have been approved by you, but I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.
So don’t fucking stand there spewing shit like I went on a joy ride to get likes on a TikTok video.
After all these fucking years, I thought you would know me better by now.
” He glares at Malik, breathing heavily.
“You know who didn’t ring me? Myles and fucking Mason.
I think that says a lot, because between you two, my phone didn’t stop ringing and it felt like the entire family was calling me. ”
“Pretty sure the reason Mason didn’t call is because he didn’t give a shit what you did,” Maverick points out. “Don’t mistake it for him trusting you.”
Mason clears his throat. “Actually, and I hate to say this, but he gets results most of the time,” Mason mutters. “I didn’t see the harm. And he always comes back when he needs feeding.”
Max drops to the sofa, reaching for his plate, still glaring at Malik. “Get off my fucking arse. I didn’t see you laying into Maddox the night he got shit-faced because he saw the video.”
“How did you even know about— You know what, I don’t fucking care,” Malik breathes, dropping down onto another sofa.
Max arches an eyebrow at him. “You have a funny way of showing it. Seems to me you care a little too much. I get it, I’m your favourite, but give me room to grow, for fuck’s sake.”
“Don’t make me knock you out,” Malik warns, his words harsh and blunt.
“That’s his excuse; what is yours?” Maverick asks, and I glance in his direction to find him talking to Liam.
“That man has gotten away with too fucking much. I’m sick of always being one step behind him.
I’m sick of him giving us the slip each and every time we do get close.
Drew had been in that house as he was leaving.
Drew. Someone who has training. Black vanished before Drew even reached the front door.
You guys aren’t the only ones here who want him gone.
You’ve only got a taste of what he’s capable of.
I’ve seen fucking tapes of him brutalising women and girls for his sick and twisted needs.
I’ve seen him kill. I’ve been hung from a fucking hook whilst he ordered men to beat me.
Whilst they... I couldn’t sit behind a computer anymore. ”
I grip Reid’s hand, feeling bile rise in my throat. Hearing it be hinted at is one thing but someone describing exactly what Andrew Black is capable of turns my stomach. I had no idea, when I worked for Katherine’s company, who I was actually working for. I feel sick to my stomach.
“Don’t fucking explain yourself to them. They aren’t your parents,” Max barks, but I hear the shake in his voice, the concern for his friend. “He could have stolen a burger and your anger would be justified.”
“Not fucking helping,” Myles growls at his twin.
“I came to see my fucking son, not get a lecture. If I had known he would snitch on me, I would have seen Hayden first.”
“You did see Hayden first,” Landon points out dryly. “Who do you think warned me?”
“My fucking kids. This is why Liam is my favourite,” he remarks.
“Really? Because according to him, you went to his after Hayden. He has a ring doorbell, dickhead.”
Myles grunts then turns to Liam next. “We would have helped you. You know we’ve got your back. We’ve always had it. You’re family.”
“I named my kid after him,” Max adds, giving Myles the stink eye.
Liam jerks his chin up at Myles. “I know you do.” His gaze runs over the rest of the brothers. “This is just something I needed to do.”
Maverick lets out a weary breath, sitting on the ottoman. “What have you been doing? Are we to expect the police at our doors? Will we see your picture in the paper tomorrow?”
“I was seventeen, and you couldn’t even see my face,” Max argues.
Scrubbing a hand down his face, Maverick sits forward. “I’m really not in the mood, Max. I want to get home to my family.”
Max cricks his neck then lets out a breath. “I’ve been burning down his places of business.”
“You did fucking what?” Jaxon growls, tensing beside us.
“Well, not all of them. I bulldozed two of them. Demolished one with plastic explosives, which by the way, belonged to them. It wasn’t stored properly either so I’m surprised nothing had happened before we got there.”
“And?” Maverick demands, sounding even more annoyed than he did when we first walked in. “Because there’s always more when it comes to you. What else did you do?”
Max rolls his eyes. “We also found more of his ‘labs’. I got the idea when I remembered what Colton, Theo, Jacob and Trent did after the house fire. That couldn’t have been his only location where he made drugs, and I was right.
It didn’t take Liam long to locate them.
We called a few in anonymously to the police but the rest are up in flames. ”
“Are you fucking stupid?” Eli rasps, glaring at Max in a way he’s imagining wrapping his hands around his neck. “You’ve just made someone on the run very fucking rich.”
Max looks affronted for a moment. “No, I have not.”
“What the fuck do you think his family is going to do? They’ll claim on the insurance,” Wyatt bites out.
“No, they won’t. They are all in Andrew’s name.
I made sure of it. Any attempts they make to forge copies of any businesses being signed over, I will make sure their insurance company knows it’s just that.
Forgery. The only building not in his name is Kratos Properties and Investments, so we’ve left that alone,” Liam explains.
“But I am going to make sure they are so deep in debt that they need to sell the building to cover Katherine’s legal bills. ”
“Someone needs to explain to me how this is a good thing because it could be the lack of sleep talking, but none of this makes sense,” Jaxon growls.
Max finishes chewing his food before answering since Liam has looked to him to take the floor.
“Andrew is the only one who can claim on the insurance. It wasn’t really much of a guess considering what we know about him, but he hasn’t listed any relatives as power of attorney.
So it has to be him. Unless he wants to risk getting arrested by coming out of the woodwork to sign the papers, he’s going to have to take the loss.
He now has no regular income since all his businesses are out of commission. Even his illegal ones,” Max announces.
“What about his wife?” Wyatt questions. “Couldn’t she?”
“He’s not dead,” Liam explains, and a shared look passes between them. Whatever they silently share, everyone in the room but me understands because no one else says a word. Reid’s hand on my back tenses, which is also another sign that I don’t need to know what that comment meant.
“Now would be the time to tell you that this isn’t one hundred percent good news though,” Max adds.
“Yes, because bad news is such a rarity around here,” Reid grumbles. “Can we not just have one fucking win?”
“No, because that’s how people get fucking hurt,” Max snaps. “They let their guard down and more bad shit happens.”
“What he’s failed to point out is that finding Black could be impossible now,” Maverick declares, his tone dejected.
“But we already knew that. It’s hard to deny what he did to my wife when I have it on fucking camera,” Jaxon growls.
“He has a point,” Eli remarks. “This is something we’ve already thought about.”
“My brain didn’t go there,” Max admits. “The bad news I’m worried about is that this could force Andrew to come at you harder than he ever has. Everyone could be in danger.”
Jaxon shakes his head, his voice hoarse. “He wants Lily and our daughter. He told her he won’t stop until he has them.”
“We are not going to let that happen,” Maverick promises.
“He’s already done it once,” Jaxon rasps. “Fuck, what if he gets her next time?”
A shiver runs down my spine, and I lean more into Reid when Maverick replies. “We are not going to let that happen.”
A part of me hopes Black turns himself in, but then the other part, the part that has witnessed what he is capable of, wants him to face the promise in Maverick’s words.
Something tells me whatever the Hayes and Carters have in mind when it comes to Black, it won’t have anything to do with handing him over to the police.