Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Fury
Most people wouldn’t consider hanging out at a client’s house with his family, diving into research, as their idea of a good time, but I was all in. We had taken over the Manning dining room table, our documents scattered across it like a chaotic paper landscape. It was a welcome distraction from the nagging obsession over Sienna ghosting me ever since our hot little encounter at the club two nights ago. That was, of course, until I accidentally opened my mouth about her.
Leaning back in his chair, Gavin fixed me with a steady gaze that felt both serious and unnerving. “Look, man, I know we’re all about business here, but we’re becoming friends, too. And I’ve got to be upfront, I was serious about Sienna being off-limits.”
“You know I’d never intentionally cause her pain,” I replied, the memory of our fiery encounter flashing through my mind—the intensity of my grip, the sting of her nails etching into me, even through the fabric of my shirt. Had I been too forceful? Had she said something to Gavin? The questions lingered in my mind.
“Seriously, Fury, let it go,” he urged, his voice calm but laced with genuine concern. “There are literally millions of other women to pursue in this city.”
Chuckles from the kitchen caught our ears, and I noticed Gavin’s face softened as his daughter, Skylar, twirled past, clutching her younger brother, Micah. Thanks to a series of events I only vaguely understood, her grandparents had raised Skylar from the get-go, but Gavin had always been present and Skylar knew he was her father. These days, she spent at least one weekend per month with Gavin and Carrie’s family to nurture bonds with her half-siblings.
Given Gavin’s protectiveness over Sienna, I felt sorry for any potential suitors of Skylar. She was well into her teens, and that day was fast approaching. Oh yes. I knew all too well. As a protective brother and cousin myself, I felt the urge to shield my loved ones.
If Skylar possessed even half the spunk and determination I suspected she did, Gavin would have his work cut out for him.
Of course, none of that helped me figure out a way to politely, but firmly, tell my friend to back off the Sienna issue. I appreciated that Gavin would always have her back, but I wasn’t some creep. Despite my reputation as a bit of a player, I didn’t mistreat women. Sure, things hadn’t always ended on good terms with every woman I’d been with, but any animosity usually stemmed from them not believing me when I’d stated upfront that I wasn’t looking for anything serious.
Except Sienna had completely thrown me. Having sex with a virtual stranger without clarifying it was a one-time thing was something I never did. Even in college, I’d been smarter than that. But something about Sienna seemed to turn my brain cells to mush.
“Maybe we should only meet here or at your new office for our business dealings,” Gavin continued. “Limit your time at the club. Out of sight, out of mind, and all that.”
“How are things going in here, boys?” Carrie’s question cut into our conversation, and from the look in her chocolate brown eyes, I could tell she’d shifted the subject on purpose. “Figure out what Arthur Dalton is up to yet?”
She came around the couch and leaned down to kiss Gavin’s cheek. Pregnant with their third child, she wasn’t yet far enough along to be showing, but the way she rested her hand on her stomach said just how aware of it she was.
I smiled as I took in their home, every corner reflecting the importance of family. Toys littered the floor despite Carrie’s lovingly exasperated reminders to the kids to pick up after themselves. The younger kids’ artwork adorned the fridge, alongside a test Skylar had aced. And pictures. Pictures were everywhere. Of the kids. Gavin and Carrie. The whole family, including Skylar.
It warmed my heart to see just as many pictures of her as there were of Micah and Katy. All the important milestones were captured, without a hint of favoritism from Carrie or Gavin. Coming from a blended family where explaining our connections usually involved charts and PowerPoint presentations, I knew all too well the asinine things people thought and said about ‘non-traditional’ families. I was glad to see my new friends didn’t hold onto any of those notions.
“We’re still looking,” Gavin said. “It’s nothing you need to worry about.”
“I’m not worried,” she assured him. “Just curious. It’s been a while since I’ve heard either of you mention his name.”
The pointed look she gave him clearly confirmed she’d interrupted on purpose to get him to lay off hounding me about Sienna. I wasn’t sure if that meant she actually thought Sienna and I would be good for each other or if she just wanted to remind him that his protectiveness over his employees should have limits, but either way, I welcomed the reprieve.
A sound from a nearby baby monitor offered even more distraction. It wasn’t exactly a cry, but it definitely sounded like it could become unhappy quickly.
“Katy’s awake,” Carrie said. “She slept longer than I thought she would with Skylar here.”
She started toward the stairs, but Gavin was on his feet in an instant. “Hey, we had an agreement. You need to take it easy, so our compromise was when I’m home, I’ll do the heavy lifting, including picking up our toddler from her bed.”
Carrie rolled her eyes. “I’m pregnant, Gavin. Not made of glass. And in case you’ve forgotten, I’ve done this twice before.”
“Yes, but Katy was two years ago and now you’re...” His voice trailed off as Carrie’s eyes narrowed.
“Finish it,” she said. “Finish what you were going to say Gavin Manning, so I can put you in your place.”
He ran a hand through his hair and looked at me as if I could save him from his pregnant wife’s wrath. I shrugged and gave him a look I hoped conveyed I had no clue what to say, but was rooting for him. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before finally just giving up.
Carrie pointed at him, still glaring. “Yes, I am two years older than I was when I was pregnant with Katy, and yes, I am thirty-two, but if you ever use the phrase ‘geriatric pregnancy’ or ‘advanced pregnancy,’ I swear you will wake up the next day with your balls in a vice. And not in a good way.”
He winced and held up his hands in surrender. “I swear, babe, I wasn’t going to say that. I was there when you informed the doctor that you were still a few—um, I mean, several years away from that. I was going to say that two years ago, you just had Micah, and now you have Micah and Katy. Two kids under the age of five are a lot when you’re also creating a human being inside your body.”
He tentatively put his hands on her hips, his thumbs brushing her stomach in a touch both innocent and intimate enough to make me wonder if I should excuse myself. His voice dropped low enough that I almost didn’t hear what he said next, and when I did, I wished I’d followed my instincts.
“Your very perfect and beautiful body that I will definitely spend some time later today worshiping until you forget all about this.”
Okay. I was fairly certain they’d both forgotten that they had company.
I cleared my throat at the same time Katy made another sound in her room, and the moment was broken. Gavin kissed Carrie’s forehead and the love that shone on both of their faces filled me with something a lot like wistfulness and envy. I’d seen that look on the faces of more than one member of my family recently, but it’d never been something I’d coveted. Until now, maybe.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Gavin said to me before heading for his daughter’s room.
Carrie’s cheeks were pink, and she had a pleased look on her face as she turned toward me. “Sorry. We got a little carried away.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I’ve gotten used to the public displays of affection recently. Half my family seems to have had encounters with Cupid over the last couple of years. It’s nice, though, to see a couple who’s been together for a while still be like that.”
I hoped I didn’t sound like I was complaining, because I wasn’t. I didn’t begrudge my family anything. While my cousins and step-cousins hadn’t lost both their parents like my siblings and I had, they’d all lost one parent, and all of us had struggled when we’d first put together our blended family. And then there were the ones who’d had their own individual struggles. Eoin’s near-death experience with an IED. Alec’s ex leaving their daughter on his doorstep. Maggie’s abusive asshole ex-boyfriend. They deserved to be happy, and for many of them, that’d come in the form of the people they’d found to love.
This was just the first time I’d ever thought that the same thing might make me happy.
“I heard what Gavin was saying about Sienna,” Carrie said. “I will not tell you he’s wrong to be protective of her, but I do think he’s wrong to tell you to leave her alone. My gut says the two of you will be good for each other.”
“Thanks.”
Carrie smiled. “But if you hurt her, Gavin will be the least of your worries. Remember my threat to him?”
“Balls. Vice.” I nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And I like his balls, so imagine what I’d do to you if you pissed me off.”
She said it all so sweetly that my brain didn’t want to accept it for the threat that it was.
“Mama!”
Gavin returned, his adorable little girl squirming in his arms as soon as she spotted her mom.
“Hey there, my little Katy girl,” Carrie beamed, reaching out for her daughter. “Tell Daddy to let me take you so he and Mr. Fury here can keep doing the work they’re supposed to be doing.”
“Let Skylar help you,” Gavin said. “Please.”
“I will,” Carrie promised as she settled Katy on her hip. “If you two need anything, holler.”
“We will,” Gavin said, reclaiming his seat beside me.
For a moment, I thought he’d pick up where he’d left off before Carrie had interrupted us, but he just opened his laptop.
“Ready to go back down the rabbit hole?” he asked.
I nodded, and we dove back into trying to uncover more about Arthur Dalton. Gavin was using his contacts to track down anyone who might know something, while I did what I did best - following the money.
A couple of hours later, I let out a string of curses that I really hoped the kids couldn’t hear. Gavin looked over as I leaned back, staring at my screen in disbelief.
“Is that frustration because you keep hitting brick walls, or did you find something?”
“Oh, I found something.” I turned my laptop so he could see. “Do you want the details or the overview?”
“Overview,” Gavin said. “If I have questions, I’ll ask.”
“The company Dalton’s working with, Pendragon Holdings, is connected to a foreign group known for human trafficking.”
“Fuck.” Gavin ran his hand through his hair. “Trafficking.”
“Indeed. I didn’t go deep, but I checked it out to make sure it wasn't merely a handful of isolated rumors," I clarified. “It took me less than fifteen minutes to find enough to be fairly confident that it’s not mere hearsay.”
“Did I ever tell you that trafficking played a role in Skylar’s mother’s death?” Gavin asked quietly.
“What? No?”
“The guy I used to work for, the one who originally owned Club Privé, used it as one of his many fronts for one of the biggest trafficking rings in the country. He nearly trafficked Carrie.”
I let out a low whistle.
“You said Dalton is shady, so chances are he knows about this company’s reputation,” Gavin continued. “I won’t sell my club to someone who has no scruples about working with traffickers.”
“I can’t say I disagree,” I said. “And I should warn you. As I have said before, I know Arthur Dalton will not be happy to hear he won’t get what he wants.”
My breath caught as I watched Gavin’s eyes darken. “I don’t give a damn if he’s happy or not. He just needs to keep his hands off my club.”
His phone rang, and I glimpsed the name on the screen. Laila Chiles. She was the new manager at the club. Gavin had told me he’d hired her so he could have more flexibility in his schedule now that they had another baby on the way.
Gavin put the call on speaker. “Hey, Laila.”
“Gavin, I’m sorry to bug you, but there’s an issue with a private party at the club.”
The worry in Laila’s voice put us both immediately on alert.
“We’ve got a couple of our girls in there and... I didn’t want to call the cops, but...”
“I’m on my way,” Gavin said as he ended the call.
“I’m coming with you.”
I didn’t know if Sienna was one of the women involved, but if she was, I wanted to be there. If she wasn’t, well, Gavin might need some extra muscle. No way was I going to let my friend walk into an unknown situation alone.