Chapter Thirty-Five #2
“We’ve been looking for him for years, how was it so easy to find him now?” Onyx asks from between clenched teeth. Good point, I’d like to know the answer to that myself.
“This year we have some of the best initiates in their fields…some kid by the name of Burrito…”
“Taco,” Amelie interrupts.
“Tomatoe, tomato. He really is a bright kid – wasting his talent on being a bookie if you ask me – but to pass his test he had to find him. What has taken us years and many failed attempts, that kid managed within twenty-four hours.”
I smell a rat. I know Taco, not as well as my brothers, but well enough. Something doesn’t add up. By the disbelieving looks my brothers are sharing, I’d wager that they agree with me.
“And you would have sent in an extraction team?” Dad asks, probing.
Harold turns to look at him. We all know he might have sent in a crew – at the end of the night when it was too late. Harold thinks he’s smart, but what he doesn’t realise is that by hesitating to answer, he just sent our father firmly onto our side of this fight.
Dad has always been a fence sitter, and I’m sure he had some kind of agenda of his own, but now we have the upper hand to overturn the entire Order.
Something that should have been done a long time ago, except so many people from my father’s year mysteriously died.
You can’t overturn a board without a family member to replace them.
My siblings are unaware, but when the time comes, I have a full board ready and waiting to support us.
It wasn’t easy to find a couple, but it’s done.
“Of course I would have sent in a team! We have been looking for this man for years.”
“But not to help Amelie?” Kalen asks flatly. The small amount of faith he had in his grandfather is completely lost, I can see it in the slump of his shoulders and the hurt tone of his voice. I feel for the kid, but it’s time he woke up and saw Harold for the monster that he is.
“She clearly didn’t need our help. Let's all go inside and stop making a scene,” Harold dismisses.
“No, Harold,” Dirk Kessler announces, appearing at the top of the steps at the manor’s entrance.
“The board members have decided that we will be postponing tonight’s events until everyone is able to enjoy themselves.
Boys, take the girl home and we will do a small ceremony tomorrow at my country house to welcome everybody. ”
“The entire board did not vote,” Harold declares stubbornly, a mean set to his jaw and shoulders, icy fury burning in his eyes.
“You would have been outvoted,” Dirk replies calmly.
With that, we all race to Amelie’s side.
She seems relatively fine, unharmed at least beyond the superficial.
Surely she didn’t think the goon in the boot would need an ambulance?
Even if she beat him to within an inch of his life, he wouldn’t be receiving medical care.
Not after being involved in her abduction.
Not that I think for a second that he was the one to actually pick Amelie up.
No, I smell bullshit in Harold’s story. I don’t think for a second Amelie’s “sale” was part of an initiation plot. I think it was real. The hatred burning in Harold’s eyes tells me he’s not done with her either. He’s going to keep coming after her unless we neutralise the threat.
Which we will. We just have to be smart about it and play the long game.
For now, we just need to take care of our girl. Slate is already a step ahead of me and has had a valet bring a car around while we were watching the exchange.
Slate and Kalen slide into the back with Amelie in the middle, and Onyx jumps in the driver's seat. I look over at Baxter and nod, then look at Christos still slumped on the ground between Jasper’s and Frost’s feet.
Baxter knows what I mean. He salutes me before I jump into the car, and Onyx pulls off, heading towards my house.
I send a message to our doctor on staff to meet us there.
I need to make sure that Amelie really is okay.
Done, I place my phone in my lap and flip down the sun visor. It’s dark out but the mirror lets me watch Amelie in the back when I tilt it just so. I don’t want to take my eyes off her. My hands itch; she’s been back for – what? – twenty minutes now and I’ve still not touched her. It isn’t right.
I force myself to blink and not just stare at her like some psycho stalker. I have to think business otherwise I’ll reach into the back seat, unclip her seatbelt, and drag her ass into the front and onto my lap.
Business. Next steps. Cleaning up the problem...
Baxter will take Christos to the chambers where we’ll all meet later, once we know our girl is safe.
Kalen will have to stay with her while we take care of the problem.
I have no doubt he’ll want to be involved, but we’ve tried to keep his hands clean for him his whole life, and I don’t intend to let him start getting dirty now.
Besides, there’s no need for him to see his brothers enjoying tarnishing their hands with Christos’ blood.
Kalen may be a lot of things, but he isn’t broken.
We need one of us to be whole, ethical, someone who is good for Amelie when we can’t be. That’s Kalen through and through.
By the time we arrive at my house the doctor is already waiting, and so he should be with what The Order pays him.
Amelie has fallen asleep and so Kalen lifts her from the car.
I beat him to the door and unlock it, not bothering with any lights.
Marshmallow barrels through the house excited to see us, but Slate grabs him and takes him to the garden to lock him away while the doctor is here.
I can hear him whimpering, but ignore it and follow Kalen into my room where he has pulled down the covers and laid Amelie on my pillows.
She’s now awake and smiling at him. A rush of emotions overcomes me, the thought that she was hurt, that heart stopping moment when Jason called.
I step back out of the room to fill the doctor in on what happened.
Slate follows the doctor into my bedroom, and Onyx and I stay out to give them some space for now.
“After the doctor looks her over, I’m going to help Baxter,” Onyx says.
I can see he’s struggling with having all these feelings. Onyx doesn’t care about many things, just his brothers and The Order. I know he is grateful to our father for raising us, but I don’t know if he loves the man. He doesn’t let many people in.
“We all will. Except Kalen. He’ll have to stay with Amelie.”
“He won’t like that. He’ll throw a fit if he can’t help,” Slate says slipping out of the room.
“I don’t give a shit about Kalen’s hurt feelings!
I outrank you all and I have never used that against any of you, but tonight I will.
We need one of us to have our hands clean.
What if this all goes to shit when she finds out that we are murderers?
She’ll still have him. Face it, he’s what’s good about us. ”
“I agree,” Onyx answers, as the doctor exits the room. We all stare at him and he makes his way towards us.
“How does she look, Doc?” Onyx asks.
“Besides some bruised ribs and superficial abrasions, she will be fine. That is one tough girl. Make her rest for a few days to heal and she should be good as new. And like your brother asked, yes she can have sexual intercourse when she feels ready for it.”
I leave Slate to ask the reasonable questions about her health. Trust Kalen to think with his dick at a time like this, though it further reiterates the reasons I believe Kalen should not bloody his hands. I slip into my office and take an envelope of cash from my safe.
“Thank you,” I say, handing the doctor the envelope of cash. He slides it into his jacket pocket and nods before leaving.
Slate, Onyx and I head back into the room. It’s time to get some answers from Amelie about what happened. Kalen has stripped off and jumped into my bed with her, and is scrolling through Netflix. She looks up at us and gives us a small smile.
“Kalen, mute the TV and the rest of you take a seat. I know you all want to know what happened.”
We all make our way to the bed and find a spot to sit.
We must look ridiculous, rushing to her like lost puppies, but I find it hard to bring myself to care.
She’s become our centre, our core. The glue holding us together where it was once The Order and bonds of family.
She may not realise it yet, but she’s our family now.
“I don’t know where to start, but I’m sure you know, I was taken from my room. Whoever took me was a bit rough. I thought since it was a fake kidnapping they wouldn’t have manhandled me so much.”
A growl rips from Onyx’s lips, and I know Christos isn’t our only target tonight. He’ll be hunting down every person involved.
She goes on to explain about fighting and pride swells within me. She describes the cabin and I know straight away that it is not an Order location. In my mind that confirms that Harold was working off script.
“When I was in that room and had to get ready, I thought, if this is a test, I may need weapons. I didn’t have a phone or even my own clothes.
The only things in the room I could find were a spray perfume, a metal nail file, a paperweight and dental floss.
I only thought of that because Aadi hogged tied me once when we were young. ”
I’m impressed with how resourceful she was able to be under pressure. Looking at my brothers’ faces, I see that they are too.
“Anyway, when it was time to leave, a limo was waiting. I overheard the man talking in Italian, but I could only understand a little. That’s how I knew he intended to sell me.”
Rage threatens to bubble up and overspill from me every time that gets mentioned. I can’t wait to join Baxter and unleash some vengeance on this guy.
“When the driver stopped to fuel up, I went to use the toilet, or so I told him. That Christos guy. He was still on the phone and didn’t pay me much attention, so I slipped into the front seat, locked the doors, and started driving.
I didn’t get too far before he realised what was going on and started shooting.
I had to pull over, and when I did he managed to wedge open the divider between us. ”
I watch as Amelie takes a deep breath, composing herself. The slight tremble in her shoulders tells me that her adrenaline is starting to wear off. I think she’s going to crash soon, and hard.
“That’s when I stabbed him in the neck with the nail file. Things escalated fast though. I grabbed my bag and jumped out of the car, prepared to run, but to where with no phone? I knew I had to fight.”
“I managed to catch him off guard and spray him in the eyes with the perfume. We fought, but I used the paperweight to whack him over the head. I must have hit him in the right spot because he dropped like a sack of shit and I managed to tie him up with the dental floss.”
“How did you get him in the boot?”
“He started to stir and I freaked out and stabbed him again, but that made him mad, so I told him who my boyfriends were and promised that I would make sure they didn’t kill him.”
A laugh slips free of my lips at that. Onyx gives me a hard glare that says ‘like fuck are we not killing him’ and I agree…but she didn’t say Baxter wouldn’t be the one to end him.
“So, reluctantly, he helped me get him up and I shoved him in the boot. I whacked him on the head again, so that he wouldn’t try to escape while I drove.
I’m pretty sure I knocked him out, but I didn’t want to get too close to check if he was breathing.
I also took his phone to call Smalls, because I only know his number by heart. ”
Onyx stands, ready to leave. Ready to kill. I’m going to make damn well sure that she knows all of our numbers off by heart by the end of the week. I did not like being told she was in trouble by some guy on the other side of the world.
“Well, you did an amazing job and we are so proud of you. But I need you to understand that we have to go out now for a few hours.”
She nods, and we all get up and join Onyx. I look over at Kalen.
“You’re staying here with Amelie. Get the dog, watch some chick flicks and look out for Amelie.”
“Are you serious right now?! You can’t expect me not to come!”
“That is exactly what I expect,” I demand.
“I’m coming and you can’t stop me,” he sulks.
“I can. I’m your superior and it’s a direct order that you stay and watch Amelie.” I turn to Amelie. “We will be back. Rest. No getting up, Kalen is now your slave.”
Kalen perks up and says, “Sex slave.” Which makes Amelie laugh.
The twins and I leave while Kalen is subdued and not causing a scene. We all pile into Onyx’s car, and I dial Baxter.
“Is everything ready?”
“Does a bear shit in the woods?”
Onyx turns on the stereo and ‘Killing in the Name Of’ by Rage Against the Machine blares through the speakers. It’s Onyx’s go-to song when he feels rage. Fitting.
Besides the music, we drive in silence. I just hope Baxter hasn’t started without us because he isn’t one to wait. He prefers to work alone, but this one isn’t solely his, and he knows it. Him and Amelie may be friends, but she is ours.