Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23
KAI
“ Y ou both should hear this,” Nico says to me and Carter after he knocks on his office door. We both look up at him in surprise, wondering what requires both our attention. Even more surprising is Nico has some man with bruises on his face by the scruff of his neck.
It’s been a few days since Pop’s funeral. Before Carter and I went inside to shower and watch a movie, I knew I had to talk to Nico so I could apologize to him. I think it had much to do with the funeral taking a lot out of me that he stopped to let me talk to him. I caught him just as we came back home, where the four walls of the house would trap him and make him listen.
“Nico,” I called when we got home, and he had one foot on the bottom stair. I told Carter to start the shower so we could get in and I’d be up shortly. Carter looked like he wanted to tell me to fuck off, but I needed to talk to Nico alone.
When it was just the two of us, I approached Nico and put my hand on his shoulder. “Listen?—”
Nico turned around before I could step back and socked me in the jaw. It was so sudden that I fell on my ass, looking up at him in shock.
He stood over me, vexation shining in his eyes. “Twice, Kai. Twice you ran out without me. You could have fucking died. Then where would I be?”
I shook my head. “Carter would have given you another job. He would?—”
Growling, Nico grabbed me by the front of the shirt and hauled up me, shaking me so hard my teeth clacked together. “It’s not about a fucking job, Kai. You’re my fucking brother. Where would I have been if you died? And on my watch? How do you think that would have fucked me up?”
I knew it would hurt him that I ran off, but not this much. I considered Nico my brother as well, but I wasn’t thinking about him when I left. It was all me, all my shit. No one, not even Carter, was on my mind. I just had to get away.
I explained as much to Nico, his hands slowly relaxing in my shirt. “I’m sorry, Nico. I really am. My head…” I shook my head and Nico dropped his hands. “My head was too fucked up to think about anyone else. But I promise I won’t do it again. I’m a fucking grown man and need to talk about shit like one. You have my word.”
Nico looked at me skeptically, but I didn’t take offense. I told him before I wouldn’t take off without him and I fucking did.
He scoffed and walked up the stairs. “If you do and you’re not dead, I’ll fucking kill you myself.”
That was as close to an acceptance as I would get.
I had to keep Carter in the shower when he saw the bruise on my jaw. While he said he understood the urge to sock me, no one but him had that right.
He said the sweetest things.
“What is it? And who the fuck is that?” Carter asks in a sharp tone. He’s still sore that Nico hit me. I fight back a smile at his attitude.
Nico throws the man to the floor. The bruised man glares at both me and Carter. I have no idea who he is. “Tell them what you told me,” Nico says harshly.
“What you made me tell you,” the man corrects, then spits a glob of blood on Carter’s floor. “Diego got orders to kill Carter.”
“Orders from who?” Carter asks in a nonchalant manner, though I see his eyes flash.
“Charlie St. Clair.” The beat-up man grins at me, his teeth bloodied. “Your daddy wanted your husband dead, and you were gonna follow as soon as you had control of his family.”
Nico pulls out his gun and clocks the man on the back of the head with enough force to send him tumbling to the ground. “Show some fucking respect.”
“Why?” the man asks, his voice muffled from the carpet he’s eating. “Charlie should be where he stands. Diego and I would have seen to that.”
I lift my foot and connect with his chin, sending him to his back with a loud pain laced groan. “Charlie is fucking dead. And you will be too.”
“Not in my office,” Carter says with a smile in his tone as he stands beside me. “Nico, get Gavin and take this scum to the basement. I’ll call my brother and have him do the honors of offing him.”
The man shoots daggers at us as Nico pulls him to his feet. He opens his mouth to spew some foul shit, but Nico puts a gun to his temple and snarls, “If you open your fucking pie hole, I’ll fill you with lead.”
He clamps his mouth shut though his expression doesn’t change. Nico pulls him out of the office and it’s only Carter’s hand on my shoulder that stops me from following so I can do the deed myself.
“It’s Declan’s kill,” he says. “It’ll be a present to him when I have to swallow my fucking pride and apologize to him.”
I roll my eyes. “You and me both.”
Declan is not happy to be summoned to our home, but there are more men here, which means tighter security. He storms into Carter’s office, his face twisted in a mask of irritation. “The fuck do you want? Wanna beat me up again because your husband breathed in my direction?”
Carter huffs but walks closer to his brother. “No, dickhead. I wanted to apologize and tell you you were right.”
Declan rears back, confusion clouds his features. “Say what now?”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Carter explains what we just heard from the guy that Nico brought in. He must have been the one Declan heard on the phone with Diego. I’m not sure how they managed to get someone else on the phone to lie for them so fast, but I’ll task someone to get to the bottom of it.
A smile tweaks Declan’s lips as he looks from Carter to me. “Bet it hurts to know I was right, don’t it?”
“More than you know,” I answer honestly.
Carter rolls his eyes. “Look, the man is in the basement. He’s your kill. Take care of it. My apology to you.”
Declan looks at me again. “I don’t like you.”
I shrug. “That’s fine. I ain’t goin nowhere.”
“I know. I don’t like you, but I wouldn’t disrespect your house and kill someone that didn’t deserve it. Especially the day your father was buried. Charlie was a cunt, but my Dad taught me better than that.”
That’s probably as much as I’ll get from Declan. Unlike Carter, he doesn’t let go of grudges. He isn’t disrespectful in front of the men, and he follows whatever orders Carter or I give him. He doesn’t have to like me; he just has to respect me.
He also has a point. Pop was a cunt. He was a fucking selfish asshole that wanted me and my husband dead. And after he had us out of the picture—if he had it his way—he would have gone after Declan and Dominic. He would have failed, but I know Pop would’ve tried. He was a greedy, irresponsible son of a bitch.
“Come back here when you’re done,” Carter says when Declan turns his back. “I want to talk to you about possibly going on the offensive with the Fensters. They started the war, but I plan to fucking finish it.”
Declan takes his leave and Carter and I go back to looking over floor plans for the new casino.
After the funeral, I reached out to the IRS to pay off the taxes for The Reef. I had to put a lien on St. Clair Constructions to guarantee I’d pay it in full, which pissed me off more than I can describe. He fucked around with his money and my business has to suffer. Carter said he’d give me all the money, but I didn’t want the IRS in my business about where I got eleven million dollars so quickly. He didn’t like that solution, but it was the best we had.
Thirty minutes later, Declan comes back to the office with a smile on face. “Haven’t had a kill where they didn’t beg for their lives in a while. That was fun.”
I shake my head. Only Declan would think that was fun. I like when they beg. I like their screams, their agony.
Declan is weird.
Shaking his head, Carter waves his brother over. He moves the casino floor plans out of the way to show another set for a large mansion. “Come look at this. This is supposed to be the floor plan for Anthony’s house. They probably won’t be there, but we can raze it, set that bitch on fire to draw them out. If not that, we can start going after their businesses.”
Declan shakes his head. “They’ll expect that. Imagine the traps they’d have. They would expect us to go there first. We have to look deeper. Where else would they be hiding? What other properties do they own? Other aliases? You’re thinking too small for someone like Anthony. This is shit Dad and Charlie’s generation would do.”
Carter told me that Declan had a strategic mind and I’m seeing it firsthand. Honestly, I never would have thought the Fenster’s would be elsewhere. With the arrogance they displayed with the very public attack on us at the charity gala, I would have thought they’d stay put to prove a point. But they don’t want to die. They want us to. The simplest way for them to accomplish that is for us to race to their house, half-cocked and possibly get ourselves blown to fucking high heaven.
Pushing my hand through my hair, I look up at Declan. “What do you suggest?”
He shrugs. “Research. It’s been over a week, and we haven’t retaliated. They’ll probably try something before too long to draw us out. We can’t fall for it. If we do, we’ll all die.” His earnest eyes bore into me and I give him a nod.
Of course he’s right, even though I don’t want to give him the credit. I don’t really care for Declan, but I won’t be a dumbass and not take his advice.
Rounding the desk, Carter takes a seat and opens his laptop. He presses a few keys and turns it around to Declan. “Do your research. We need to figure out where the fuck they are. Now.”
Declan pulls a chair closer to the laptop and starts whatever his work is.
My phone pings as I stare at Declan’s fingers moving across the keyboard. I have no clue what he’s looking for, but he seems on a mission.
Absently, I pull my phone out and see an email notification. I haven’t gotten an email in ages.
I open it up and see a video file titled VERY IMPORTANT. A message follows.
This is a video of the last will and testament of Charles Joseph St. Clair. Please view and contact attorney Grace Zeller with any questions at 340-555-7979.
Waving Carter over, I show him. “What do you think?”
“Spam?”
Shrugging, I show Declan. He stops what he’s doing and presses something on my phone. “Looks like it came from a legit email.” He looks at Carter. “Is this computer encrypted?” Carter nods. “Log in to your email here and we’ll check it out. If it’s some bullshit, it won’t infect any of Carter’s files.”
Declan vacates his seat and allows me to log into my email to view the video. As far as I know, Pop didn’t have a written will. He was too arrogant to think he could die. The only saving grace is I was listed as co-owner for a lot of his businesses without my knowledge. I’m also familiar with his contacts for his drugs and gun sales, so it’s been easy to continue those relationships.
Confusion settles in my gut when the video plays and all that shows is Pop’s gravestone, the mound of dirt just spouting weeds around the edges.
Then dread forms low in my belly. They found his grave. “Son of a bitch,” I mutter, staring hard at the screen, my hands balled into fists so tight, my nails dig into my flesh.
Then two people, a woman I don’t know and Sam Fenster walk on screen. The woman is stark naked, her tits swaying as she pulls Sam back to where the dirt is piled over where we laid my father to rest.
She gets on her hands and knees, reaching behind herself to play with her pussy. Sam hurriedly pulls down his pants, settles behind her and thrusts into her. He starts to pound her immediately, her high, annoying moans burrowing to my ears.
Declan makes a noise in the back of his throat that I thought was arousal. When I look at him, all I find is disgust.
“No fucking respect,” he spits, shaking his head and walking over to the window. “No fucking respect for the dead.”
I mean, Pop wasn’t someone who earned respect, but this is a new low. Fucking on the grave of your rival? Some things are off limits, and this is one of them.
“Turn it off,” Carter says through clenched teeth.
I shake my head. “No. There are five more minutes. They might say something. There might be a message.”
Continuing to watch sets my teeth on edge, but I do it. Not only does it disgust me, but it also fuels me to fucking kill them all with my bare hands if I can.
About two minutes later, Sam pulls out of the woman and turns to Pop’s grave marker, spraying his jizz all over it.
A growl percolates up my throat, my vision whiting out with my anger. “I will fucking kill that cocksucker,” I snarl.
Before the video ends, three other men step into frame, including Anthony Fenster. He smirks at the camera, pulls his dick out and they all start pissing on my father’s grave.
When he’s done, Anthony stuffs his cock back in to his pants and walks to the camera that I assume is set up on a tripod. With an evil grin on his face, he says, “You can’t hide from us. We’re coming for everything the St. Clair’s and Whitlock’s have.”
The video ends and I explode from the chair, grabbing Carter’s computer and throwing it across the room. I scream, the force of it so hard the back of my throat hurts. I’m fucking livid and have no fucking outlet for it. No one knows where these sons of bitches are, so I can’t take my frustrations out on their flesh.
Carter wraps an arm around me, but I push him away. His eyes flare, but he doesn’t try to approach me again. “Don’t leave,” he murmurs.
As quickly as the fight engulfs me, it deflates. My chest still rises and falls rapidly, but the anger isn’t burning as white hot as it was before.
Pushing my hair from my face, I blow out a long breath and walk over to him. “I’m not. I’m just…I’m pissed. I told you I’m not going to run again, and I mean it. Fuck, Carter. What are we going to do?”
“I’m not sure, pretty baby, but I’ll make sure they pay.” Tentatively, he walks over to me and puts his hands on my cheeks, framing my face. “ We’ll make them pay. Okay?”
I nod and rest my forehead against his chest. I still feel like screaming and throwing shit across the room but I need to control my temper so I make sure the bastards on that video pay.
All of them.
Declan curses and both Carter and I turn to look at him. “Someone’s coming. Someone…shit! Get down!”
Without questioning him, we hit the floor. A few seconds later, the whole house shakes, pieces of the ceiling dropping all around us.
“The fuck was that?” Carter asks, pulling his gun out. Seconds later, the office is flooded with our guards, Nico, and Gavin ahead of everyone. When they get to us, they take our arms and pull us out of the room.
“Rocket launcher,” Declan says, trailing behind them. “Hit near the kitchen.”
“Those fucking—” Carter tries to dart off to go downstairs, but Declan grabs him, slamming him against the wall. “I know you’re pissed. But fucking think Carter. They want you and Kai. You need to get the fuck out of here.” Another explosion rattles the house, closer to where we are. The lights flicker, but they don’t go off. “We need to go now.”
Even though he looks like he wants to do anything but, Carter allows himself to be pulled from the room.
Carter pushes away from the guards and runs down the hall to his room and we all follow behind him. I wonder at it for a moment, then I remember Carter saying all the upstairs rooms, including mine and Nico’s have a secret entrance in his closet that leads down to his basement and his panic room.
“Is that body cleaned up from downstairs?” he asks over his shoulder.
“Yep,” Gavin replies. “I took care of it myself.”
I look over at Nico. “How many are out there?” I ask, thumbing to the window.
“By my quick estimate, thirty. Maybe more. We could probably handle them if they just had guns but?—”
Another bang sounds in the house and it makes the whole house shake. “Bastards came with toys,” I finish the sentence.
“In.” Carter stands to the side and ushers us into the closet. No one in the room looks like they want to run away. It’s in our nature to stay and fight, but all of us know if we do, we’ll die.
Listening to the gunshots that sound outside, I know some of our men are being killed. My entire being urges me to run out and help them, but like Declan says, I need to be smart. A lot of the men we had patrolling are here now, so not everyone will be a casualty.
Despite Declan being the one to suggest we leave, indecision clouds his face. Stepping beside him, I grab his forearm. “You gotta be smart too,” I tell him.
His face morphs from indignation to resignation and he nods and steps around me. We all hurry single file through the secret door at the back of Carter’s closet no one would notice if they didn’t know it was there. When the last man is through, Carter locks the door and sets the alarm.
We take the back stairs down to the basement and instead of exiting out through the gym, Carter pushes through another door. He looks back at all of us. “We got about a mile walk, but this tunnel leads to a service shed on another property. No one knows it’s mine. Follow me.”
We all follow behind Carter, the sounds of shooting and violence dimming the further we get away. Everything in me wants to turn back and put some bullets in people, but like Declan says, it’s not smart. I don’t want to just kill a few Fenster men; I want to kill the entire family. Strike their fucking names from the census.
“Dad,” I hear Carter say, his phone pasted to his ear. “We got hit. The Fensters are at my place. You need to get out of town, now.” He pauses for a few seconds to listen, then relief crosses his face. “Okay. I’ll let you know when we’re settled.”
Carter hangs up and meets Declan’s worried eyes. “He’s not in the country. He picked the perfect time to take a fucking vacation.” Declan nods, his relief palpable.
Once at the end of the tunnel, we arrive at a ladder with a trap door over top of it. Carter climbs to open it, pulling himself up. My breath freezes in my chest at having him out of my sight. I push through the guards that are at the bottom of the ladder, and I climb up myself, wanting to set eyes on Carter to make sure he’s okay.
He holds out his hand and I grab it so he can pull me up the rest of the way. I kiss him quickly, my heart still thumping hard in my chest. “You okay?”
“No. They’re probably slaughtering our men and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Yes there is. We can kill them all.”
When everyone is out of the tunnel and the door is closed, Carter slides a heavy beam over the covering. “If they find this place, they won’t be able to get through. Not without making the whole building cave in on them.”
The interior of the building we came out in looks nothing like any shed I’ve ever seen before. It’s the size of a five-car garage, with three large SUVs parked inside. The walls are bare, save for the keys for the cars. There’s enough space for us all to fit comfortably, but not room for much else. The floors are concrete and dirt, appearing almost unfinished.
Gavin, Nico and another one of the Whitlock men run over to the wall and grab the keys. If the SUVs fit eight people, we have just enough room for everyone to fit, even though it will be a tight squeeze.
After we quickly figure out the logistics of how we’ll travel, we pile into vehicles. Declan said it’s best if me and Carter ride separately, but neither of us was worried about that.
“I have a place right outside of Yorkley,” Declan says. “No one knows about it.” He looks at the two of us, his eyes boring into his brother’s. “Drive straight there. Don’t pass fucking go, Carter. You hear me?” Carter nods. Declan rattles off the address and Carter punches it into the GPS. Forty minutes away.
As soon as the doors of the shed open, all three SUVs shoot off, driving at a quick clip. None of us slow down until we’re about ten minutes out from Declan’s place.
The whole ride, I run through what has to be done. The Fensters will hurt for all the shit they’re doing. For killing Pop, for desecrating his grave and for almost killing us. I won’t rest until every single one is in the fucking ground.
“There’s only one way into my place out here,” Declan says through the open phone connection we have with him. “Surrounded by a lake and forests. Equipped with motion sensors in the woods and around the house. If someone tries to come down that road, we’ll know and we’ll be ready.”
As soon as we pull up in front of Declan’s house, we’re ushered inside and all the men that came with us besides Hendrix, Nico and Gavin stand outside the house, guarding us.
We all sit around a large table, no one saying anything for a few minutes.
Hendrix runs a hand over his low fade, his dark brown skin flushed with anger. “This is fucking bullshit. How are we going to pay those cocksuckers back for an attack like this?”
Carter and I make eye contact. I’m sure he’s thinking what I am. Whatever we plan, it has to be big. Big enough so no Fensters remain. And it has to send a message.
“I’m tired of being on the defensive,” I say, my anger rising again. “They fucked on top of my father’s grave and pissed all over it. I want them fucking dead. Yesterday.”
“How do you want to do that?” Declan asks, shooting me a flat look.
I reach behind my back and pull out my gun, slamming it on the table. “With this. We go to wherever they are, and fucking cut them down. Sam, Gabbi and Anthony are always together. It shouldn’t be too hard to find them.” When no one says anything, I push back from my chair and pace, pulling at my hair. “I’m not going to continue to run from them. Today was the last time. So, let’s fucking figure something out. No one leaves until we do.”
Putting his hands behind his head, Carter looks at me with a soft expression that threatens to blow away my anger like so many leaves in the breeze. “Let’s get started then.”