2. Drake #2
Douglas crossed his arms and huffed. “What happened to your face?” He vaguely gestured to the scar running over my brow and down my temple.
“Had to jump out of a burning plane.”
“Ah, so the Dragon can be burned after all,” he joked, looking far too smug for my liking.
“Don’t call me that.”
“You know Drake hates that nickname, you moron.” Julian slapped him in the head again, earning a quirk of my lips.
“Less talking and more focusing on the current situation.” The first grey inkling of dawn greeted me when I rose from my seat.
“There are three dead men in my home, all of them wearing masks. We need to search the bodies before the cleaners get here. Since you already called my father, they’ll all likely be here soon. ”
Julian crouched, digging into the pockets of the masked man with an icepick jutting from his chest. Douglas examined the man near the kitchen, finding a golden watch.
I found a wad of cash in the front pocket of the man riddled with shards from my glass table.
None of the assailants had anything identifiable on their persons. That was odd.
“Mercenaries?” Douglas shifted nervously.
“Not sure. I can count on one hand the number of people who knew I’d be home...” Only the most important individuals in my inner circle would have that intel. A rising cacophony of footsteps in the exterior hallway drew my attention.
Five men dressed in white hazmat suits swept into my home.
Four bodyguards dressed in black trailed after a tall, broad man with salt and pepper hair and a commanding air.
When he snapped his fingers, the cleaners descended on the bodies with half of them opening totes of cleaning supplies. One of them had a bone saw.
“Dad.” I nodded, head bent low in greeting. Julian and Douglas mirrored my movements.
“Thanks for calling me, Dougie.” William Graham had the low rasp of a man who spent too many years of his life smoking—and he had. The bad habit left him with a threatening voice that sent chills through his enemies.
“Of course, Mr. Graham.” He beamed.
Kiss ass. I rolled my eyes and shared a glance with Julian.
“Now, what do we have here?” Dad strolled through the working cleaners and cautiously stepped around the smattering of blood. “Something smells burnt.” His expression pinched.
“Three assailants.” I answered the first statement, not wanting to revisit the sad memory of my failure in the oven.
“Few know where you live, son.”
“That’s right.”
“And you’re sure there were only three of them?” He walked around the bodies, brows pinched as he examined the blood on my walls. “Anyone sending men after you should know they’ll need more than three.”
“Perhaps it was a message.” Dougie shrugged. Julian narrowed his eyes at him.
Dad’s finger bounced as he pointed, almost in a sign of agreement. Then he nodded and stroked his graying beard. The lowlight glinted on the gold signet ring on his pinky finger.
“It must have been if they attacked your penthouse. This is your home turf. If they really wanted you dead, they would have caught you in-between locations. Somewhere out in the open. You had the advantage here.”
“Or they don’t know who they’re dealing with,” I returned.
“Cocky bastard,” Julian teased.
Dad chuckled, smiling fondly at my closest friends. His chest fell with a heavy exhale as he took a second look at the masks of the anonymous attackers.
“Hm. Did you question any of them, Drake?”
“Oh, yes. We talked about our favorite colors after braiding one another’s hair. It was a grand old time,” I quipped back.
He shot me a glare. And when William Graham shot you a glare, you shut the fuck up. So, I, being the obedient son that I was, shut the fuck up.
“You always kill first and ask questions later. That’s your problem, son. You’re too quick to jump into action and too good at killing.” That was rich coming from the man who honed me into a living, breathing weapon. “You can’t ask the questions later when they’re dead, now can you?”
An irritated huff breached my lips, but I covered it with a soft cough. I shook my head to clear the arguments rising in the back of my throat.
“It must have been the Montgomery family,” I said. A jolt went through my chest just saying the name.
In the corner, Julian dropped his face into his hand and groaned. His muffled “not this again,” got lost in the squelch and wet slap of the cleaners mopping up blood.
Dad crouched near the dead man on my couch, scanning the black mask. He stroked his thumb over his mouth, deep in thought. Likely running through the past several years of history with the rival family. Then he shook his head and faced me.
“Things have been quiet between us and the Montgomerys for years now.” He waved at the mask. “Besides, this isn’t their style. Say what you will about their family, but they’re classy.”
“Perhaps they’re making a move on our territory. Doesn’t it make sense they’d go for your only child in the process of taking you down?”
“No.” He barked a short laugh. “If Charlotte Montgomery wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”
“So little faith in me, Dad?”
“Oh, I know what you’re capable of—” he gestured at the savagery littering my home, “—but Charlotte is a spitfire.”
“Just like her daughter,” Julian coughed into his hand. Something in my chest twisted against my ribs.
I shot him a glare Dad would have been proud of if he’d noticed.
“We’ll investigate the Montgomery family if it makes you feel better. But we’ll have to look into the others—” a musical ringing cut him off. Dad’s brows knit together into a singular bushy caterpillar as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.
He answered. Someone on the other line spoke rapidly for several moments. Too far away for me to hear with the five cleaners making noise in the background.
“Alright. Understood.” Dad returned the phone to his suit pocket and snapped his eyes between me and my friends. “There was an attack on the Montgomery family.”
My chest squeezed, and my stomach dropped to my feet. A nasty chill rushed through my blood and seeped into my bones. “Is Helen safe?” I blurted, before my brain caught up with my mouth.
Dad glanced quizzically at me. I smoothed my expression and cleared my throat.
“I mean… What happened?”
His frown deepened as he watched me, looking for something I hoped he didn’t see. Something I tried to shove so deep I forgot about it myself. Pleased with what he found, he moved on.
“Masked men attacked one of their businesses just a few hours ago. The public facing one.” He adjusted his silver silk tie before doing the same with his matching cufflinks.
“They didn’t offer details beyond that, but Mrs. Montgomery is calling for a council meeting.
Heads of all the crime families have been requested to attend. ”
“So, it wasn’t just us.” A pressure on my chest prevented me from taking a breath of relief. It should have been good news that her family wasn’t targeting me, but knowing their office faced an attack only brought another bout of fear spiking through my nerves.
Did she remember me? Did she ever think of me? Did she dream of me as often as I dreamt of her? Why weren’t ten years enough to erase her from my flesh and bones?
I built walls around those memories and lit them on fire.
“Get this mess cleaned up and prepare for the meeting. I’ll send the details when I have them.
” Dad aimed for the door with his guards on his heels.
He paused at the hallway entrance to face me.
“If someone has attacked two crime families already, we might be facing a common enemy. Be prepared to set aside your grudge, Drake. The outcome of this meeting will probably be a temporary truce and cooperation.”
“Yes, sir.”
With that, he left.
Julian, Douglas, and I shared a long look over the bent heads of the cleaners. Douglas seemed pale with his lips pinched as if he’d just sucked a lemon. Julian smirked as his eyes gleamed wickedly.
“Oh, is she safe?” he repeated in a high-pitched feminine voice.
I pointed one finger in warning at him. “Shut the fuck up or I’ll kill you.”
“Bite me,” he laughed. Douglas chortled with him.
I flopped back onto my couch, head thrown back. The insides of my chest felt raw and exhaustion flooded my limbs, making them heavy. I wanted nothing more than to erase the memory of blue eyes escaping the cage I kept them in and a nap. Fuck, I really needed a nap.