Chapter 3 #2
I know I’m stalling in the shower, so I turn the water off and step out, wrapping a fluffy towel around my body.
Wiping the steam off the mirror, I stare at my reflection and almost don’t recognize the girl staring back at me.
Her eyes are sad, but there is also hope hiding behind them.
If he’s telling the truth, can I forgive him?
He didn’t know what his father did to me, that I knew for a fact, but did Evander and Mateo?
Leo said they were nothing like Frankie.
So, could they set a plan in action to have their brother pursue me, knowing Frankie set me on a crash course of having to grow up too fast?
Shaking those thoughts from my head, I brush my teeth and put on minimal makeup, jeans, and a t-shirt, not even close to ready to take on this day. It was just after seven in the morning, and I had barely slept. All the thoughts of Leo ran through my head.
I walk into the kitchen to find Micah fixing breakfast. Walking up, I snag a piece of bacon, and he swats at my hand with the spatula. “Back off.”
“What are you, Betty freaking Crocker?” I ask with a laugh.
He has his usual three-piece suit on, without the jacket at the moment. At thirty-two, he looks so much like my dad that it hurt to looks at him sometimes. He has the same black hair and blue eyes as my father and me. He is tall, broad, and doesn’t look a day older than me.
“For your information, shithead, I like to cook. I don’t have the staff do it all for me.” He points at me with the spatula before resuming to his eggs.
“I don’t have the staff do it all for me,” I defend.
He scoffs. “You can’t cook for shit, Les.”
I laugh. “Fair point, but we order out. We don’t always keep staff here.”
He looks around. “No kidding. This place is a mess.”
“Shut up, asshole,” I say, throwing a kitchen towel at him.
He chuckles. “I’m just fucking with you. You never were the princess people made you out to be.”
“Like mom would have ever let me,” I say sadly. Mom died when I was twelve, but she never let me use our lifestyle as an excuse to be lazy; Dad was the one who spoiled me to no end.
He wraps me in a one-arm hug. “I know..” He squeezes me once before ushering me to the other side of the island to sit down. “Where are the guys?”
I shrug. “I don’t know; it’s not my day to keep up with them.”
He blows air out through his nose. “Yes. It is. They are your team.”
Getting under his skin is my favorite pastime, so I keep pushing buttons. “Who was the girl last night? Am I going to have an auntie?”
He glares at me. “Not a chance in hell.”
“Come on, Micah,” I beg. “I need a woman figure in my life.” I grimace. “Unless she’s younger than me.”
Micah shrugs. “She had big tits. That’s all I know. I don’t even remember her name.”
My mouth drops open. “You’re disgusting.”
“You started this game.”
Fuck, I did. “Truce,” I declare. I do not need to hear about Micah’s little flings.
He grins and turns back to his eggs. I might fuck with him to get a reaction out of him, but he does the same to me.
I didn’t have siblings growing up, so Micah was the closest thing I had to a brother, and I didn’t know what I would have done without him after my dad died.
Gage walks in, laying a noisy, sloppy kiss on my cheek. “Morning, wifey.”
“Stop calling me that,” I say, wiping his kiss off my cheek.
Micah turns around, jabbing a finger at Gage. “And stop putting that shit on her pictures.”
“What?” Gage asks innocently.
“Don’t play stupid, dickhead. You get the gossip mags fired up every time,” Micah points out.
Being in a high population area like Abbs Valley, the paparazzi and gossip magazines follow you around like vultures if you have any type of status.
I have seen so many laughable stories that it was crazy.
We didn’t play into their shit, so we never sat for interviews.
They ended up making up their own stories.
“I’m just playing my part as arm candy,” he says with a wink at Micah.
“If anyone is the arm candy, it’s her,” Dex rumbles as he walks in, covered in sweat.
“Ha!” I laugh and point at Gage, who’s scowling.
“You’re a bunch of fucking children,” Micah sighs. “What about your locked-up friend?”
“Haven’t been in there. I’ll take him some food, though,” I tell him.
“Do you think you should? Maybe one of the guys could do it.” I narrow my eyes at Micah, and he backpedals. “Fine. Do it yourself.”
We all sit down around the island after Ryder and Holden come in from their workout.
I dig in, plating eggs, bacon, and biscuits, savoring each bite.
Micah doesn’t just like to cook; he loves it and is damn good at it, too.
It’s the only time we get home-cooked meals, so I usually beg him to cook for us.
I look over at Holden; his long dark blonde curly hair and brown eyes make him look boyish. But I knew the time he was putting into the gym with the other guys. Just because he sat behind a desk all day didn’t mean he was letting himself go.
“Anything new?” I ask him.
He glances up with a small smile before looking back down. “Yeah. I’ll bring it out after breakfast.”
Progress. Holden looked me in the eye for a second.
Holden is the newest addition to the team.
He has been with me for over a year, and when he first started working for me, he was the office dweller Gage picked on him about.
I found him when a lower family of the Mexican cartel was trying to make a rise, using him against us.
It didn’t take long to track him down, and how we found him was awful.
So, instead of killing him for hacking my systems, we offered him a better life.
They kept him locked in a room since he was sixteen; we got him out at twenty.
Now at twenty-one, the guys have given him the confidence he needs to work out and stay healthy.
He’s the best hacker I have ever encountered; he could find anything you needed.
“Thanks,” I tell him before plating up more food. “I’m taking this to Leo. I’ll meet you back out here.”
He nods, so I walk in that direction. I knock on the door to announce myself before unlocking it.
Leo is standing in the middle of the room, a towel around his waist, water dripping down his body from his wet hair.
“I brought you food,” I say lamely, sitting the plate on the metal desk, trying to tear my eyes from the water running down his abs.
“Good morning, baby,” he smiles. “Thanks.”
I shake my head and shut the door back. I’m so confused. This man is part of one of the most powerful crime families. He was locked in a room and just took it without a fight. I can’t help but think he is up to something; there is no way he’s ok with all this.
When I get back to the kitchen, everyone is gone except Holden, sitting at the kitchen island with papers in front of him.
I slide onto the stool beside him. “Hit me.”
“He’s telling the truth,” he says, sliding some papers towards me.
My heart leaps in my chest, and I try to push it back down, trying not to get my hopes up.
I peer down at a birth certificate, bank statements with a large amount of money deposited, and a few pictures of him and his mom; he looks almost identical to her. She was tall for a woman, thin, and beautiful.
“Fucking hell,” I say, running my fingers over his baby picture. “I’m going to have to sit down with Evander and Mateo, aren’t I?”
Holden shrugs. “Looks that way,” he mumbles. “I have more proof if you need it.”
I shake my head. “No. I believe you,” I say with a smile, making him blush. “Where is everyone else?”
He chuckles. “Gage swatted Ryder on the ass with a towel, and they took off. Dex and Micah are in your office.”
I squeeze his shoulder. “Thanks, Holden,” I say and scoop up the papers.
I hear Gage’s crazy laugh from the living room and head that way. He and Ryder are standing at opposite ends of the couch, with Ryder throwing out threats. I’m not even surprised because this type of thing happens way too often.
“Serious time,” I say, walking towards the office, knowing they will get the hint that it’s time to stop playing around.
I push into the office, everyone sprawling out where there is a chair; I sit in the chair that used to be my dad’s. Micah refused to sit here, saying it was disrespectful to me since he was just filling in. I didn’t know how to tell him; he was better at this than I would ever be.
I fold my arms on the desk. “Leo’s telling the truth.” I spread everything on the desk so they could see.
“Son of a bitch,” Micah says, surprised, and looks up at me. “So, that means….”
I shrug. “He lives for now. But I have to call a meeting with his brothers.”
Micah’s eyes soften. “Are you sure? I can if you need me to.”
“They were too young to be involved, but I need to find out what they know.” I swallow. “I have to do this.”
I could kill a man in cold blood but couldn’t face two men attached to my past. Even though they are way too young to have been involved, the last name Perez still gives me fucking nightmares.
Get your shit together.
I pick up the phone and dial the number I stole from Leo’s phone.
Evander Perez.