Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
MADDOX
“There’s someone at the gate,” Cai says, glancing at his phone. Our property is wired for video and sound, and there are also guards outside.
Our father is very firm about our safety, even though we’re playing at being legitimate business. The little omega is going to fuck all of that up.
“We should have kidnapped her,” I growl, glancing at the two cars outside of the gate captured on Cai’s security app.
“Who?” Gareth asks, strolling into the room.
“A hiccup,” Aled says, grinning as Gareth sits in his lap. “We seem to have company outside.”
Gareth isn’t technically a dirty little secret, but he knows we prefer not to have people meet him if possible. Our cover may be blown, but my adopted brother is moderately insane. It’s very difficult for him to hide it.
“Fine, have your little meeting,” Gareth grumbles, kissing Aled’s lips. “You have to tell me about the hiccup, though, or I won’t leave.”
This is what I was worried about. He’s like a dog with a bone.
“We just have a disgruntled secretary that I had to fire,” Aled says nonchalantly. “Make sure you’re tied up the way I like when I get upstairs and I’ll fill your tight ass full of cum.”
I would love to say that I’m disgusted by this display, but they’ve been fucking since Aled was sixteen. They’re only three years apart in age. I’m used to it at this point.
“Happy now?” I ask Gareth. Turning to Cai, I add, “Open the gate. Gareth is going to be a good boy now.”
“I’m only a good little slut for Aled. Don’t get it twisted, brother,” Gareth says, squeezing Aled’s cock hard enough that he grunts in pleasure. They’re such deviants. I’m pretty sure every guard has seen Aled’s pale ass flexing as he’s fucked Gareth on the estate.
I don’t care where they fuck as long it’s contained to behind the gates. Gareth gets up and saunters out of the room and I wait until he’s through the doors before snapping my fingers at Aled.
My brother stands and moves quickly to watch as Gareth disappears up the stairs.
“We’re clear,” Aled mutters. “I’ll get the door.”
“They’re getting out now. Wait until they knock,” Cai suggests. Turning to me, he waits until Aled is out of earshot. “There weren’t any traces to her mafia influence online, Maddox. I swear it.”
“I know,” I mutter, knowing he’s talking about Olivia. “You didn’t look into her daughter though, did you?”
“Outside of what I knew we could exploit, no,” Cai says, rubbing the light scruff on his face roughly. “That was my fault. I’ve since rectified the situation. Pack Dray is composed of Tommy Madden, Gabriel Martinez, Augustine Dray, and Jasper Rivers.”
“See, we should have known that before confronting her, Cai. This is why we had to reject her as a pack. Olivia Quinn is a distraction,” I say, standing as Aled opens the front door. “Get up.”
“Fine,” Cai mutters, standing and brushing off his suit. We just recently got home, and I’m unsurprised that these people have found where we live.
The rules of the mafia don’t seem to apply in terms of coming over without an invitation. Striding to the front door, I watch as several alphas step inside. I recognize Cian Sullivan and his right hand man, Hayes standing beside him.
The other four men behind them I don’t know, but by the way Cai stiffens infinitesimally next to me, I can tell they’re the men we were just talking about. Fucking awesome.
“I don’t believe we’ve formally met,” I say, my lips moving by rote. My breaths are even, and any hint of anxiety over how pissed I am that they’re here is hidden. “Please, come into the living room so that we can have the chat that I seem to have delayed too long.”
“You mean that one you forgot to have when you moved into our city over a year ago?” Cian Sullivan asks, appearing at ease as he strolls behind me. “You see, I can do my research too.”
Fuck, he’s not going to make this easy.
“Our business is legitimate, so while I was setting everything up, it did slip my mind,” I reply, my body angled to watch both the men behind me and everything else.
It’s awkward, but it works.
“It’s very difficult to go completely legitimate when crime runs through your veins,” Hayes chuckles under his breath.
I know him well from Cai’s initial research into the crime heads of the city.
He is Cian’s right hand man, and rarely goes anywhere without him.
“My understanding is that you didn’t want us to find out. ”
“Not before I could make the time to make an appointment, no,” I allow, sitting on the couch.
Aled and Cai spread out across the room, forcing Cian and his men to do the same.
“Is that why you threatened my mother-in-law?” an alpha with his blonde hair in a top knot says.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are,” I say, smiling apologetically.
Cian’s eyes pinch slightly, but he introduces Cerenity’s pack before he leans forward.
“Olivia Quinn is off limits,” he says. “You cross the street if you see her, and don’t look back.”
“It sounds like a little omega squealed loudly,” Aled says, looking bored.
Cian’s scent sours slightly, and I can tell that we’re pissing him off. What’s so fucking special about this woman anyway?
“The little omega has more trauma stored inside of her than one person has any business being able to survive,” Cian says. “As it is, someone is going to have to check on her.”
“Maybe it’s not safe for her to be out of the mental facility,” Cai mutters under his breath.
I know we seem like spoiled men, and that’s exactly what I want. There’s nothing dangerous about us, we simply want to coexist.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jasper snaps. “Mama Quinn was hiding from her pack. Think before you speak. Does she look like someone who is unstable?”
The name he uses for Olivia doesn’t escape my attention, and I force my face to remain impassive. It’s clear they adore her. I can’t allow myself to think that we may have made a mistake.
What’s done is done.
“No,” Aled says. “That’s why I can’t seem to understand why she was there. What pack does she have?”
“We killed them,” Augustine says, his green eyes sharp as he gazes at my brother. “Maybe that should be an important lesson you all learn today. We protect our own.”
“Do you?” I drawl, smirking. “What would have happened if we’d chosen simply to take her?”
“What? And force her to work as your slave?” Cian snorts. “Olivia would rather die than be taken by anyone…ever again.”
There are too many disjointed clues being thrown at me, and I feel like an asshole. Dropping the facade, I raise my brow.
“So she’s someone who regularly gets kidnapped? That sounds like someone with a victim complex.”
“My omega was almost born in captivity,” Gabriel says evenly, his brown eyes filled with the need for my blood.
I was wrong when I said these men were all alphas, it’s clear by his thinner stature that he’s a beta.
Every one of these men are dangerous, though.
“Olivia doesn’t need any of your bullshit. ”
“We attempted to intimidate her to get her to keep her mouth shut. Clearly, that didn’t happen,” I say with a wave of my hand as if to dispel the messiness of that situation. “The rest is private business between Olivia and my pack. It seems a little odd to air out personal business, doesn't it?”
“Our family has very few secrets,” Jasper says with a wicked flash of his teeth. “My mother-in-law and I took shots of tequila together while imagining what your blood would look like sprayed over the walls. How is that for personal?”
Is that true? Did I misjudge her? Fuck. It doesn’t matter now. I still don’t think she has what it takes to survive our lives. What’s done is done. She definitely can’t handle my father.
“It sounds like you have a very healthy relationship,” Cai snorts, his legs splayed wide. “Are you only here for her or did you want to discuss business?”
Cian and Hayes exchange a glance before Hayes removes his firearm. Jasper and Tommy do the same, while my brothers and I do nothing. While we’re all armed, it’s a draw on who would be able to shoot first.
“Business is my favorite subject,” Cian says with a grin. “Let’s talk reparations for offending a daughter of the mafia and the fact that you attempted to slither into Minnesota with nary a fuck you, how ya doing?”
Goddamnit. My father warned me that Cian likes to play with his food, and I can practically feel myself wiggling on the hook.
“We can discuss recompense as long as we will be allowed to remain in Minneapolis,” I say calmly. My foot desperately wants to tap, but I push my shoes into the plush carpet to keep still.
My brothers and I have all learned how to have excellent poker faces due to my father’s not so gentle ministrations. I have a scar from a hot poker in my side from when I was ten years old and unable to keep my head. I learned very quickly the importance of decorum when it’s necessary.
It’s why my brothers and I let loose in private. Boiling pots of water will always boil over and need an outlet.
“We have a lot of people who depend on us for their paycheck,” Cai adds. “The business actually is legitimate, and where we’re laundering money through.”
“So that’s your angle,” Cian muses.
It’s no use lying at this point. Fuck, all of this really was for nothing.
“My father is pretty adamant that his money be laundered as far away from California as possible,” I reply. “We have a large philanthropic branch to our business where we are donating money to help others, and that’s also legitimate.”
“Outside of that, we are an advertising, marketing, and branding company,” Aled says. “We hired the best the Midwest had to offer, offered to cover moving costs, and also have some people telecommuting. I needed an assistant, which is how Olivia came into our orbit.”
“I think she’s cured of wanting to rejoin the workforce, thanks to you,” Tommy mutters. “We‘ll be lucky if she ever leaves the house now.”