Chapter 4
RANSOME
“So, how’s the wife?” Maverick asks as he sharpens the end of his pool stick.
I glare at him.
“What? Can’t a guy ask his best friend about his home life?”
“Remind me again why we called 911 that day,” I mutter to Baron, but Maverick just laughs. Needless to say, he’s made a full recovery.
“Come on, brother. Is it really that bad being married to Jenica?” Mav presses on.
“It was a marriage in name only, and you know that.” I take my shot and sink two balls in one go. I wonder if I could do the same thing to him.
“Name only or not, it’s got to have some benefits, if you know what I’m saying.” He nudges Baron, who laughs and then looks at me apologetically.
“What?” Baron asks as I glare at both of them. “Come on, Ransome. She might not be your first pick, but the girl is… attractive.”
He chooses the word carefully, but it’s still the wrong one. Any word about my life is the wrong one right now.
“You two are asking for the graveyard shift.” I warn them. I’m referring to the job of scrubbing out the cargo bays of the trucks.
Maverick takes a shot, misses, and winces as he rotates his shoulder stiffly. But his grin is relentless. “Just throw a bone. Is she any good?”
“Any good at what?” I snap, taking my shot and sinking it.
“You know…” Mav makes a pumping motion with his hand while poking his tongue into his cheek.
I smirk and saunter over to him. “Let me let you boys in on a little secret.”
My voice drops low. They both lean in, dumb grins on their overly eager mugs. I give it a second, then—
“I’m not fucking her,” I snap, knocking their heads together.
Maverick lets out a yelp. Baron laughs through a pained curse.
But I’m not amused.
“Fuck,” Maverick mutters, rubbing his shoulder. I must have jostled it just now, but for some reason, I feel zero regret. “You could have just said that.”
“I did. Just now.”
“Care to at least tell us why?”
“You want to know why I’m not fucking Jenica.”
“Well, yeah.”
“That’s not weird at all.”
“Oh, c’mon.” He gives me his best pleading look. It’s creepy as all hell, and he knows it. “Let an injured man live vicariously.”
“Your dick isn’t injured.”
“I’ll have you know you can’t thrust without two good arms.”
The mental picture is bad enough that I answer just to get it out of my head. “I had three weeks before I turned thirty. I needed to expedite the pakhan process just in case Tristan made any sudden moves. So I followed the truce and said my vows to ensure my status. There. Happy?”
“Or maybe you still think you can’t possibly get your rocks off in a woman who isn’t—”
“Do not,” I snarl, “say her name.”
Maverick holds his hands up. “I’m not wrong. I won’t say her name, but you can’t say that I’m wrong.”
“You’re out of line.”
“Yeah, let’s just drop it,” Baron says to Mav. “We’re here to have a good time. To forget about work for a minute.”
“I saw Daniil and Yury the other day,” Mav goes on, clearly paying attention to no one. “They looked like they saw a ghost.”
“You almost were a ghost,” Baron says.
“I thought we weren’t talking about work,” I mutter.
“Unfortunately, this ain’t work.” Mav takes another painful shot. Painful because he misses, and also because it’s obvious the strain the game is putting on his shoulder. “This is life. Our life.”
“No sign of Tristan though, right?” Baron asks the question I’m not in the mood to ask.
“Nope,” Maverick answers. “Probably hiding in a gutter somewhere. I’m sure he’s underground and knows it’s best if he just stays there.”
“Well unless he’s six feet under, he’s not deep enough.” I take my shot with more force than necessary. “And you’re all stupid if you think that he’s going to hide forever. He’s clearly planning his next move.”
“What do you think he’s up to?” Baron asks as he shoots.
“He knows about El Paso,” I say. “More information than I thought. He made that clear at the warehouse that day.”
“Okay, but how much does he really know?” Maverick asks. “I mean, he was holding the Parker kid hostage, pumping him for info. Sounds like someone grasping at straws to me.”
“You’re assuming Tristan isn’t smart.” Baron echoes my thoughts exactly. “He might be smug and reckless, but he knows the game. He’s also ruthless. Honestly, I’m surprised he didn’t kill Amar—” Baron stops just before saying her full name. “I mean, the Parker kid just to do it.”
“He wasn’t ready to start a full-blown war,” I say. “But now that I’m pakhan and the power tables have shifted? He’s hiring men. He’s got eyes everywhere. And he’s building an army, I guarantee you that.”
Baron nods slowly, thinking about that for a minute. “So what do you think our next move needs to be?”
“I can tell you what I’d do,” Mav mutters before taking a sip of his beer.
We all know what he would do. But unhinged violence isn’t the answer. Opening fire in the streets so to speak is how people get killed, people who don’t even need to be involved.
People like Nik.
I flood the sudden ache in my chest with alcohol to numb the sting.
“We need to keep things locked. No detail can go unnoticed. Trust no one and nothing. Our guards stay up at all times with everyone. Anyone could be an eye for him. Anyone could leak information.”
“Do you trust your wife?” Maverick asks.
I clench my teeth at the word. I hate when they refer to Jenica as my wife, even though that’s what she legally is.
“We have an agreement,” I say. “She’s not exactly Tristan’s biggest fan. She’s playing the game like everyone else.”
“Yeah, but whose team is she playing for?” Baron asks.
I stare at the far wall thinking about that. “Honestly? I’d say neither. The only appeal to the Bratva life for her is the money. The status. But she hates the rest.”
“Don’t we all,” Baron says as he finishes off his beer.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. It’s a security notification.
“Fuck,” I mutter as I pull it out.
“Something wrong, boss?” Baron asks.
I’m just staring at the screen, my heart a jackhammer in my chest.
“Yo.” Maverick stands up straight. “Was there a breach?”
“No,” I lie. “Just a truck update. Traffic at the border, but I’m not worried. Ricardo is on detail; he’ll get the driver around it.”
The answer seems to suffice for both of them.
I click a couple buttons and shove my phone back in my pocket before slipping my jacket back on.
“Where you goin’?” Maverick asks. “The night is young.”
“Home,” I answer. “You boys stay out of trouble.”
With that, I make my way out, ignoring the look of concern on Baron’s face. He reads me well, but I’m leaving this one at that.
My phone feels like it’s burning a hole in my pocket as I walk out the door back to my car. Even after I get inside, I don’t look at it again. I don’t check it at all until I’m home.
Jenica isn’t there, which doesn’t surprise me.
She goes out a lot. It doesn’t look great, having a wife that likes to party, but her lips are pretty tight.
She mostly just goes out to escape the world we live in.
And right now, her drinking cosmos with her friends on the other side of town is the least of my worries.
The notification was a security breach. But it has nothing to do with the trucks.
I crack open my laptop to investigate it. I need to see it on a secure system. I need to make sure the notification wasn’t a mistake.
Unauthorized login from an unsecured device.
It’s an Apex login. But it’s not Apex related.
I click on the device information and it confirms my suspicions.
It’s Amara’s login. A login I didn’t change after I terminated her. I did that for a reason. Just in case she came looking, came sniffing around, I’d know. And from the looks of it, she couldn’t stay away. Couldn’t resist.
I pull my phone out and text Mav and Baron.
RANSOME: Sober up, boys. I have a job for you.
BARON: What’s up?
MAVERICK: If this is about the night shift, we’re behaving. Sort of.
RANSOME: Amara logged into Apex.
BARON: Shit.
MAVERICK: Shit.
I type my last text with blood pumping hard through my veins for the first time in three months.
RANSOME: I have her location. And I want eyes on her.