Chapter thirty
The Level Boardroom
Harrison
Violet holds on to me as if her life depends on it.
She’s sitting on my lap in the boardroom as everyone arrives, her head buried in my neck, tears still streaming down her face.
She wouldn’t stay in the apartment by herself, and there was no one here to help with Mrs. D. being away.
So, she came with me. I don’t like to conduct business in my home if I can avoid it.
It’s important that I have somewhere safe, away from the dark. A place the lights are always on.
“Merry fucking Christmas,” Russell barks as he strides in, but stops dead when he sees us.
“Violet, what happened?” He all but runs around the table and crouches down beside his sister.
His eyes dart over her frantically, trying to detect the issue.
It’s the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen him.
“Violet, is the baby okay?” he says, again, “speak to me please.”
"Both Violet and her baby are fine," I reassure him.
His focus moves to me. “Has that bastard got something to do with this?”
he snarls, and I nod. With one knowing look, the strain between us vanishes.
We come together in silent solidarity to seek vengeance for the devastated woman in my arms.
A woman we both love and have cared about for decades.
Violet may be the catalyst we need to heal our broken friendship.
She may not only bring me love but also return me my best friend.
Connor appears with Marshall and Hunter. He scans the room, and his eyebrows draw together when they land on the scene surrounding me. “No Damon?” he asks.
“Christmas day and he has a daughter,” I answer. “He’s going to call in.”
The three men sit down, but Russell remains on his knees at his sister’s side, reassuring her that whatever is wrong, between us all, we will fix it. She isn’t going to get hurt. We will all work together, as a team.
Violet’s crying calms, her body relaxing against mine.
She doesn’t look at anyone. Russell pulls a seat up next to her and sits down.
Everyone’s focus lands on me, waiting for an explanation as to why I called an emergency meeting here on Christmas day.
As Violet had run from the room, dropping and smashing the mug on the floor, I’d pulled out my phone and hit SOS.
“Violet received a package this morning,” I say. “Delivered here.”
“How the fuck did it get to her?” Connor snaps, his expression switching from curious to furious in an instant. “Someone will be getting fired.”
“It was a safe package,” I reply. “The security team scanned it.”
“You brought us here to tell us that? That Violet got a present.” He rolls his eyes then glances at the men either side of him. “Come on boys, we’ll get back to our beers.”
“Have you and Russell swapped personalities today or something? Don’t be so bloody stupid. If you would listen instead of interrupting, I’d tell you.” The phone rings, I accept the call, and Damon appears on the screen attached to the wall.
“Merry Christmas,” he says, a smile clear on his face. The delighted squeals of a woman and young child are audible in the background. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“A package was delivered here today for Violet, supposedly from her mother. It wasn’t, it was from Marley.” They all fall silent. “He’s laying claim to our baby as the biological father.”
“What was the gift?” Marshall asks. The men look between each other.
“A mug.”
“A mug?” Connor repeats. “You dragged us in here for a mug? Come on, I know you two are in the first throes of love, but for fuck’s sake could this not have waited until tomorrow.” Fuck, he has a bad attitude today. I wonder what’s aggravated him.
“It had our 4D scan picture printed on it. That picture hasn’t been shared anywhere electronically. The only copies we have are the hard copies we were given at the hospital,” I tell him.
I widen my eyes to emphasize my next point.
“So, he’s either managed to hack Violet’s medical information, or been close enough to get a copy of the actual document.”
“Shit,” Russell mumbles. He reaches over and strokes Violet’s back gently.
“We’ve got you, Sis,” he says, and her eyes flick to him.
She holds his gaze warily. He’s not exactly been the dependable big brother since she returned.
He makes her nervous, he always has. She wriggles in my lap and sits up before standing and moving to her older brother.
Her arms surround Russell’s neck, and surprise flits across his face with her display of affection.
“Thank you,” she says softly, and he smiles. “I love you, my brother.” After releasing him, she turns back to me. “I’ll go home. You will all have a lot to talk about. Probably things I won’t want to hear.”
“Probably not,” I reply, trying to give her an encouraging smile which is difficult with the fury running through me now. If Aiden Marley was in this room, he wouldn’t be walking out of it. “I’ll walk you back.”
“No need,” she says, waving me away. “It’s only across the hall.”
“I’ll go with you,” Russell interjects. “You stay here, Waite. I want to see my little sister to her new home safely.” I nod, accepting he wants to do this. That the gesture is him trying to start making amends. He rises and places a hand on her back, then guides her out of the room.
“Home?” Connor says as the door closes behind them.
“Yes, home,” I reply simply. “Violet moved in permanently a few days ago.”
A smile plays on his lips. “Good,” is all he says.
“Has your evil twin disappeared now?” I ask him. “Fuck, you were an ass when you arrived.”
He laughs then shrugs. “You interrupted my Christmas morning. I haven’t even opened my presents yet.”
Deciding that I don’t want to know what is under Connor’s Christmas tree, I change the subject.
“I want to dispose of Marley,” I state, “permanently.”
My words are clear and direct. “He is a complication Violet doesn’t need around her. After everything he’s done, it would be better if he didn’t walk on this earth.”
“That can be arranged,” Hunter says, his face splitting into a grin.
“What a start to the new year, offing a bastard like that. I may want to do it personally. It would be such good fun. I would make it slow and painful.”
He taps his lips. “I’ve always wanted to skin someone alive. He could be the ideal candidate.”
“I don’t think we can afford to finish him yet,” Marshall interrupts.
“He’s high up the chain in the drug business, if not right at the top. I hate to say it, but I think he could be our link. If we follow him, we’ll find the man in charge, whoever he is. And the fact he reached out to Violet makes him vulnerable.
He’s more likely to give us an opportunity than someone who is hidden in the shadows.”
“There was some new information that came in this morning,” Hunter says. “There’s going to be a drop tomorrow at a warehouse on the river at Dartford. This shipment is going to a gang in Glasgow. Joel Parker was told about it, and he called me, wanted to give us the heads up.”
“How would he know?” Damon asks, his eyebrows drawing together. “I didn’t think Parker dealt drugs?”
“He doesn’t. But the man has more informants than the fucking MI5. If it is a gang, a mob, or a women’s knitting circle, someone will be feeding intelligence back to him. He’s fond of double agents.”
Hunter chuckles. “That sounded very James Bond, didn’t it?”
He lifts his hands and creates a fake gun before pretending to shoot Marshall, then blows the imaginary smoke on top of it.
“But Parker is always good for information. He knows I’ve been wanting to shut this down; he was happy to pass it along. Plus, he owed me.”
“Are you going expand on that? He owed you what?” Connor questions. “Chocolate coins? A new knife? A fucking brain?”
“The most valuable thing known to man,” Hunter says with a smirk.
“Information.” He claps his hands together in obvious excitement.
“And I put a couple of traitors who were stealing from him to everlasting sleep too.”
He lifts a finger and draws it across his throat.
“It was a beautiful thing—they bled out and passed away peacefully surrounded by the boxes of liquor they had been light-fingered with.”
“Why do I not believe that it was peaceful?” I mutter, and he grins wickedly. Clearly pleased with the memory my words provoke.
“There were a few minutes of high-pitched screaming when I poured some of the said liquor into the slices I made.” He shrugs. “But it was beautiful. Art.”
“You're a sick fuck,” I tell him.
“But you love me,” he replies, standing then jumping across the glass boardroom table and landing beside me.
He leans down and kisses my cheek. “Don’t reject me now you’ve got your own pussy, Harry.”
His hands move to his heart, and he flutters his eyelashes dramatically.
“Even if you don’t realize it, you will always be my one.”
“Fuck off, you absolute psycho.” He throws his head back and cackles, then returns to his seat the way he came, the glass vibrating beneath his heavy boots. The door opens, and Russell walks back in. “How is she?” I ask him.
“Settled. She’s on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, watching some terrible dating show.”
“Yeah, she likes that sort of thing,” I say. “Anything with terribly tanned bodies, fake dating, and more ass on show than necessary. It’s on my television every bloody night.”
“My sister has managed to pussy whip you already,” he jibes. “If she can do that at seven months pregnant, imagine what you’ll doing for her when she’s back to full working order. You’ll be feeding her fucking grapes while fanning her with a palm leaf.”
“Russ, I’d crawl across hot coals naked while the devil himself whipped me for her.” The brothers glance at each other. “This is not a short-term thing. I love the bones of her and the child she’s carrying. We are creating a family. A home. A life. Violet is my future. My eternity.”
“Looks like I’m not getting rid of you, Waite,” he replies with an eyeroll. “She chose you.”
“She did.”
“Well, consider this your warning. Fuck over my sister, and they’ll find you floating in the river.” He narrows his eyes. “Blood is always thicker than water.”
“Oh, pipe the fuck down,” Connor mutters. “Sometimes I think you’ve grown up, then you go all caveman. Waite has had Violet’s back over the years more than we have. I’m happy about it. She could do a lot worse.”
“Thanks…I think.” I give him a skeptical look.
“You know what I mean—her last attempt at a lasting relationship was with a married man she didn’t even know was married.”
“You’re right,” Russell agrees. “Her benchmark is set pretty low.” They both laugh out loud. Bastards.
Marshall, Hunter, and Damon do not get involved in the conversation. In all honesty, I forgot they were even here, listening. Damon clearing his throat moves my eyes to the screen. When he realizes he has my attention, he speaks.
“As heartwarming as it is to see you all agreeing and getting along for once, some of us do have family Christmases to get back to. Could we decide on a plan?”
“We need to be at this deal going down tomorrow. If Marley appears, we know he’s the connection that will lead us to the main man, possibly Edward Chase. The informant was adamant Marley will be onsite tomorrow. It’s his drop, and it’s at the client’s request,” Marshall tells us,
straightening in his chair.
“Imagine the chaos we could cause,” Hunter says, twisting his hands together. “It's tempting to try to get our hands on the goods.”
“Are we saying we’ll try to intercept the shipment?” I ask.
“Yes,” Damon says. “If he loses the shipment, it will help force those higher up out to do the next one. Once a man loses a few million pounds worth of stock, they suddenly lose their dependability. They may even do us a favor and take him out for us.”
“What about his message to Violet?” Marshall adds. “Because that’s what it is, a warning, that he knows the baby is his and he’ll be coming for them.”
“If he’s the child’s biological father, does he not have rights?” Damon says.
“He gave up his fucking rights the minute he pinned Violet to the wall by her throat,” I snarl, and they all murmur in agreement. “We need to end him.”
“Not yet,” Connor says. “We don’t know enough about him and how he’s connected. Him being the father could be to our benefit; it gives him a reason to hang around. He might slip up.”
“We are not using Violet and my baby as fucking bait,” I roar, losing control. They all gape at me as I slam both hands on the table. Connor who was standing by the window walks over to me. He leans in close so we are nose to nose, his shrewd eyes assessing me.
“Your baby?” he says, raising an eyebrow.
“Of course it is. I’m the man who’s here. I’m the man wrapping my arms around her and feeling tiny legs kicking through her flesh. Marley is nothing but a fucking sperm donor. Violet and the child she carries are mine.”
“That gives me an idea,” he says, withdrawing and walking back over to the window.
“Care to share it with the rest of us?” Russell snaps.
“You marry her.”
“What?” Russell shouts. “No fucking way. They’ve only just gotten together. The last thing my sister needs…” He trails off when he sees Connor’s expression.
“You don’t know what our sister needs,” he replies firmly with emphasis on the word our. “If you could wind that short memory of yours back a few months, you may remember wanting to throw her out on the street when she appeared here.”
“We had been lied to,” he argues. “Father told us she knew he was married. That her running to Chicago had been planned. The pain she caused Mother…I couldn’t forgive her for it.”
“A discussion with Father may be a good idea,” Connor says, going off topic. “If I call him, talk to him about Violet and the baby. Tell him about Aiden getting in touch, he may allude to how involved he is with him. What their plans are now.”
“Can we rewind please?” Damon says. “Marriage?”
“Yes,” Connor replies, pulling out his phone and typing something.
“Here it is. According to UK government website, a man can be registered on the child’s birth certificate if he is married to the mother either at the time of conception or birth.”
He glances my way. “I propose you marry my sister before my nephew or niece enters this world. You list yourself as the father and Aiden will need to fight in court to claim any rights.”
“It does make sense,” Hunter says, twirling his knife between his fingers as he always does.
“Do you think she’ll go for it?” Russell asks, and I shrug.
“There’s only one way to find out.”