Chapter 43
Charlie
T he remaining family members decide they would mete out their ideas for punishment at the week’s end. After they saw her reaction to the week and read her essay. Valentina freaked when we told her about the danger and her father being in witness protection.
She called us liars and held a meltdown. I sent her to bed. Wizard and I went over the earlier events right before the tribunal was convened. Lucy and Francesca want to throttle their sister.
Now the adults are sitting in the living room. I don’t know about anyone else, but I feel shell-shocked. Pops stands up before helping Ma to her feet.
“We’ll see you both in the morning,” Pops says.
“I’ll make breakfast,” Ma agrees.
“Did I just get invited to stay the night?”
I smile and nod. “Yes, you did. Let’s go to bed.”
I stand and offer him my hand, leading us to my bedroom.
“Your room’s nice,” he says, after I lead him inside.
I slump into the overstuffed chair across the room from the bed. Wizard kneels in front of me, taking my hands.
“What’s on your mind, Spitfire?”
“Everything. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the danger we’re all in. And around us. I mean I wasn’t expecting anyone, and you’ve blown past all my defenses. Not that I’d change anything between us. I’m falling so hard for you, and it scares me to death. I trusted JR with my heart and look how that turned out.”
“I’m not JR,” Wizard says softly.
“I know. You are so much better than he ever could be.”
“Charlie, I’m in love with you. I think I’ve been in love with you since the moment I saw you. Not only that but I love your whole family.”
“Even after today?”
“Even after today. I love the way the family handles big punishments.”
“Pops did that with my dad and Dad did it with me. JR refused to do it but as soon as he was out of the picture, Ma, Pops and I reinstated it. Along with the family ladle. It’s been a lifesaver as the girls have grown up. I’m terrified that something is going to happen to them. The Bratva is scary.”
“It is, baby, but we’ve come up against warlords who are far worse than Petrov and his goons. My brothers and I will make sure nothing happens to them.”
“Will you hold me?”
“Let’s get undressed and get into bed. I can hold you all night long, Spitfire.”
Wizard
THE DOOR FLIES OPEN .
“Ma, we’re going ....” Lucia says.
Her words die when I sit up.
“Oopsie. My bad.”
She closes the door in a hurry. Charlie sits up.
“I don’t know whether to be mortified or laugh.”
“I vote for laughing. We have five minutes to make it downstairs for breakfast if we want to get the girls to school on time.”
“Eek,” Charlie shrieks as she throws back the covers and makes a dash for the bathroom. I laugh and chase after her. We make it downstairs as Regina dishes out plates of French toast and scrambled eggs with sausage links, and juice.
After everyone eats, we load into Charlie’s new ride. I drive. We have six riders with us this morning. Two in front, two behind and two farther back to watch for tails. I pull into the back of the parking lot and put the cage in park.
“Before you go in, I have something for each of you.”
I hand a phone to Francesca. “This is a special phone. Keep it hidden. It will work even if there’s a jammer on.”
I open the phone and show the girls a brief sequence of keys.
“That sequence sends an SOS to me, the police and federal agents we’re working with. See something you think is odd? Send me a text or call the phone. If it’s an emergency or something happens, that scares any of you, use the SOS sequence.”
I hand Valentina a metal-looking stick.
“Break any part of this and it will emit a sound ten times louder than a car alarm. It’s based on a first responder's alarm. If you get in trouble, or something happens and you get lost, use it.”
Lucia gets a tiny flashlight. It’s a little over two-inches.
“It’s small but mighty. Use this if you want to blind someone. It’s bright enough you can flash it in someone's eyes in full daylight and still blind them for a few seconds.
“I hope I’m not scaring you. I want you to be safe and have a few surprises up your sleeve should something happen outside the compound.”
I give them a few minutes to ask questions and settle their nerves before pulling into the drop-off line.
Charlie
I’M A NERVOUS WRECK . I don’t know why. I’ve sent the girls off to school every school day since pre-school. I have this gut feeling that I can’t shake.
Wizard is holed up in his room trying to find a connection between my previous dentist and Petrov or Barnes. According to Bug’s latest information. Petrov and Barnes have worked together for two decades. When they started Petrov was a goon in the organization with no power but a lot of muscle.
Both Wizard and Bug are scouring the web and using their resources to put all the pieces together. I assume the marshals are using their resources as well. We all want Petrov and Barnes to go down. The plan is to not only take out those two, but as many men as work with them as possible. The more we take out in one fell swoop, the safer the girls and I are.
“You’re going to wear a hole in the floor.”
I turn to see a very pregnant Stormy standing behind me.
“Hi, sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Do you want to come into my office for coffee or tea?”
“Yes, please.”
I follow Stormy in the office. It has a small kitchenette on one wall. Stormy points to the coffeepot and the row of tea selections beside it. I peruse the selection of tea.
“Help yourself,” she says.
I choose one called ‘peaceful warrior,’ load the tea ball and fill a mug with the hot water on tap. My phone pings; it's the special phone.
Shots fired
Oh, my god.
“Shots fired at school,” I say as I run out of the room and make a mad dash to Wizard’s room. He has the entire school wired with cameras. When I reach his room, I throw open the door and race inside. I hear him on the phone giving information then barking orders. I’ve never heard him bark at anyone. He finishes the call and is up out of the chair and to me in record time.
“Bug is on his way here to run the command center. I’m going to go get our girls.”
“I want to go.”
“I know, Spitfire, but my brothers and I have military training. We stand a better chance of doing this without civilians no matter how good you are in a fight. And I know you are.”
My hackles go up immediately but by the time he finishes talking I’d calmed down enough to realize he’s right. I could handle myself in a fight and I’m good with a gun, but I’ve never been in a live fire fight. If I hesitated or fucked up, it’s my girls’ lives on the line.
“I understand. I don’t like it, but I understand.”
He drops a kiss on the top of my head. “Thank you, tesoro.”
Wizard takes a minute to get me settled at the command center. As he finishes giving me an overview, Bug arrives as do most of the Kings.
Heart beating in my throat I turn my attention to the monitors and watch the events unfold before my eyes.