Chapter Eleven
Jakob
What the absolute fuck am I doing right now?
This is a terrible idea, and if I’m caught it could be detrimental to Dec.
I’ve done everything in my power to shield him for the past four years from the absolute evil I’ve dealt with.
Even still, knowing all of that, my heart kicks up a notch when my phone vibrates in my pocket.
I’m making a flight of shots right now so I can’t check it, but I know it’s him.
We’ve been texting for a couple of days now, and where at first it was awkward, we’ve now fallen into an old sense of normal. We’ve changed so much since that day, but the framework is still there. The basics are still the basics.
His favorite color is still orange, but not bright orange.
No, it’s a deep burnt orange, the same color as his bike.
Dec still has a passion for helping any and everyone, no matter their background or what territory they grew up in.
He’s still in the background helping guide his younger brothers on the right path.
He does it so subtly that I doubt they even realize he’s doing it.
Ally nudges her elbow into my ribs, drawing my attention back to the present. I raise my eyebrow at her when she leans her head towards the door. Pulling my gaze from her, I glance at the front of the bar as I hand the flight over to the group of women waiting in front of me.
What the Hell.
My Papa, –who, I’ll just put on the record, never comes here– walks through the room of tightly pressed bodies.
He’s walking with urgency to get to me, which puts me on high alert.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand and my stomach drops out from under me.
Before he can fully make it over to me, I press my hands on my bar and launch myself over the thick wood, landing on my feet in front of him.
“What’s wrong?” I look behind him to ensure he’s alone, which he is.
“It’s the girls. You have to come, quick. I called but couldn’t get you on the phone.”
Now that I’m directly in front of him, I can see the panic in his eyes and the way he’s fighting back tears. Turning behind me, I motion to Liam and Ally who are both watching me.
“Shut it down. Ally closes up, and Liam, if you don’t wait for her and walk her to her car, I’ll fire you. Do you understand?”
They both call out their understanding and begin to close tabs.
Turning back to my Papa, I motion for him to lead the way while staying on his heels.
He leads us to an SUV with a driver waiting outside for us.
He’d never take me in a ‘business’ vehicle any other time, so this must be serious.
We climb in the car and I turn to him, waiting for his explanation. He doesn’t keep me waiting.
“You know how your Mama likes to have those girly nights with Annie and Lelonie? The ones she kicks us all out for?”
What is he talking about?
“Girl’s night? Yeah, they’ve had them forever.”
“Well, she makes me leave like normal. Then a couple of hours later the alarms go off. Someone has broken into the house, Jakob.”
I’m going to fucking vomit, and my dad looks like he’s going to pass out.
“Where are they? Are they okay? Why are you here? Why aren’t you with them?” Panic roars in my veins and the rush of adrenaline is enough to make stars burst behind my eyelids.
“I have guards covering every square inch of that house. The man ran after shooting at the panic room door didn’t work. Jakob, I can’t comfort them all at once, and I don’t want them being held by men we don’t know.”
I understand what he means. He needs his son to help him with this. It dawns on me that Hannah does these nights with them sometimes, and a fresh wave of panic washes over me.
“Hannah.” I’m barely able to choke out.
“Is safe at home with her Papa. I will call him after we get to them, but I will not worry him about this when he has to stay home with her.”
“Mac?”
He curses under his breath, “No, I forgot.”
“I’ll do it. It’s okay.” Snatching my phone from my pocket, I see the flood of texts and calls from my Papa that I either didn’t feel go off or thought were from Declan. Ignoring them all, I brace myself for what I know is coming and press Mac’s contact name. He picks up on the first ring.
“What’s wrong?” He answers on high alert. I’m not looking forward to telling him this. He’d set fire to the world because she was slightly uncomfortable, and now she’s in a panic room, scared.
“No time for the meltdown, Byrne. Long story short, you need to get to my parents house now.”
I can hear him frantically yelling at someone to ‘come on’ before I hear footsteps running.
“You need to talk to me, Jakob. Where’s my fiance at right now?”
“In a panic room inside my parents house.”
“You better start talking before I start shooting, Fischer.” As we turn on my parents’ street, I give him the rundown then quickly get off the phone to focus.
Men are surrounding our house and I don’t know any of them, but my dad seems to, as he nods his acknowledgment to them and we move inside.
“My son-in-law will be here any second; let him in.” He barks as we stalk through the house until we get to the panic room.
No sooner do we walk through the door where the keypad is to unlock the panic room, we hear multiple sets of feet running up the stairs. In the next moment, Mac, Declan, and one of the twins burst into the room.
“Where the fuck is my fiance?” Mac roars with his phone to his ear. He pulls it away, kills the call, then redials. I’m assuming he’s trying to call Lee.
The twin that’s tagged along brings his wild and panicked eyes to mine. “Where’s Annie?”
Flynn. It’s Flynn.
He and Annie had some weird thing years ago.
I’m not sure what happened but I know that she refuses to speak to him now, and he watches from a distance like a wounded puppy.
One of these days, maybe when she’s happily married with kids, she’ll finally tell us what happened between them that winter.
Depending on what she tells us will depend on how long we’ll keep him chained up in Dieter’s garage.
Before I can answer him, my Papa unlocks the panic room doors and Mac charges in like a pissed off bull. He almost lost her to a faulty kidney once, and ever since then he’s kept her firmly to his side… except for these girls’ nights and when she’s out with her sister-in-law’s.
“Lee? Lelonie? Baby, where are you?” The pain in his voice lances through me like a surgeon’s scalpel.
My Papa and Flynn follow closely behind him on the prowl for the other two.
Dec stands beside me and hooks his pinky with mine.
It’s subtle, and no one else would even pick up on it, but it calms my racing heart all the same.
It only takes a minute before they come out carrying the women.
Annie is clinging to Flynn like a lifeline until her eyes meet mine, then she tries to wiggle to be put down, but he doesn’t loosen his grip.
“Byrne. Let go of my sister.” I growl, letting go of Dec’s pinky and stalking over to him.
“Not a fucking chance, Fischer.” He challenges me with a raised brow.
“Jake, it’s okay. I’m fine where I am.” She buries her head in the crook of his neck and lets out a shuttering exhale. As soon as Flynn tightens his grip on her she sags into him and sobs.
How the fuck did this happen? I lived in this house my entire life growing up, and we’ve never even had so much as a sales person come knocking.
My parents have always been extremely careful with our safety.
Now someone breaks into their house and tries to hurt my Mama and sisters?
It doesn’t make sense, but I will be getting to the bottom of it.
* * *
After we get the girls to come with us in the living room, their adrenaline crashes and they all fall asleep wrapped in their partner, except for Annie, who’s clinging to Flynn with her head on his shoulder as she quietly snores.
Lee is asleep, curled up in Mac’s lap, her head tucked under his chin.
Even my Mama is wrapped up in my Papa’s embrace as her head leans on his chest. Now that they’re safe with us, we need to talk about what the hell this was.
Our living room isn’t a formal space. No, this is a space that hosted countless movie nights, blanket fort building competitions, and sleepovers.
The couches are large and soft, perfect for napping on.
The TV mounted on the wall is large enough to host people for sports nights.
And the multiple family pictures littering the walls give it the family feel my parents always made sure we had.
This isn’t a museum full of priceless things you aren’t allowed to touch.
This is a home where messes are made and love is overflowing.
“What do we know?” Declan, who’s sitting on my other side, asks as soon as there’s a lull in the ‘fill the space’ conversation we were having until the girls drifted off.
“Not much. Whoever he was, he was alone. He broke a window, which the girls heard and ran to the panic room to hide. He came in and searched the house for them, where he found the door to the panic room shut and obviously unable to be opened. He used an AR-15 that was strapped to his back to attempt to shoot his way in. When that didn’t work, he ran right as some of my guys rushed the property.
We’ve checked the footage but he’s covered head to toe in all black.
We have no idea who he is or what he wants.
” My Papa answers, exhaustion ringing clear in his tone.
“Well, obviously it’s someone pissed at the Germans.” I think out loud. Almost immediately, Mac’s shaking his head.
“Not necessarily. They could have hit the house at any time, but they chose a time when Lee was here. It could be a complete coincidence. At the same time, she was left here without a guard, which is the only time she’s ever been left unprotected.”
Declan stiffens beside me. “You think this is about us?”
“I’m not saying that, but it would make sense if it was.” Mac responds.
Flynn tilts his head towards Annie while he looks between his big brothers, “Does she need a guard?”
No, idiot. She has nothing to do with your family.
“No, dumb ass. She has no connection to us aside from Lee.” Declan mutters.
I can’t help but choke back my laugh at him voicing my thoughts.
“Annie’s fine. She’s not even going to be in the state in a couple of months.” I remind Flynn.
“Right, so she’s a sitting duck at med school? She won’t even know anyone there. How will she know who to trust?” Concern is laced through his voice.
“She’ll be there with Calvin. She’s going to be fine.”
All the Byrne men turn their eyes on me at once. “Who the fuck is Calvin?” They roar almost loud enough to wake the girls, but not quite.
“Her boyfriend? They’ve been together almost a year now?” Papa and I look at them like they’ve grown a third head.
Mac makes a noise of disapproval in the back of his throat, “What a stupid fucking name.”
Flynn maneuvers my sister until she’s laying down before covering her with a throw blanket and standing to pace behind the couch.
“Flynn, cool it. Annie’s personal life is not our business.
Also, I’ll check him out as soon as I get home.
Lukas, can you send me the security video so I can comb through it?
No offense to your guys, but I’d rather check it out myself.
” Mac asks as he watches his little brother prowl like a wild beast.
“Of course.” Papa nods, “Consider it done.”
Declan shifts so his shoulder is pressed to mine, and that same feeling of calm and comfort washes over me.
I offer him a sly smirk as everyone else is either asleep or engrossed in my dad and Mac’s conversation.
He smiles back and I feel the grip around my heart loosen for the first time since before my Papa walked into the bar.