“Richard said that you were fine and taking an extended school abroad program in Brazil. I only thought it was odd because you don’t even know Portuguese,” Stephanie laughs shrilly.
“That son of a bitch,” Kian snarls, standing up. “He knew she had disappeared.”
“Richard knew no such thing, son,” Tae says, waving his hand to silence him. “Don’t speak ill of the dead. He always took care of us.”
“Until now,” Stephanie shrieks. “Everyone has been telling me what a little whore you are and I refused to believe them. Not my Patience! And here you are dating your step-brother and three other men? How the fuck does that work? You only have so many holes. Oh my God… did you fuck your grandfather for his fortune?!”
Tae looks a little green at the thought and looks balefully at his wife. I’d feel bad for him, but he’s been living with her for years. This can’t be the first time that she’s lost it like this.
“Respectfully, Mrs. Park, that is called incest. Patience hasn’t spent much time with her grandfather since her birthday,” Cal says while standing. “The old man has been trying to force her to do things that she doesn’t want, and Patience is an independent woman who does what she wants. You will find that your actions have consequences. Don’t come around when you realize your vitriol is wrong and depraved as well. I’m taking my fiancée and her boyfriends’ home now.”
Cal just claimed us all. I think I may be dreaming this entire day. And yet, I find my feet moving as we walk out.
“I will never speak to you again, Patience James. Do you hear me? I disown you!” The crash of the glass as we walk by makes us curl around Pay to protect her. Thankfully, the glass didn’t shatter.
Hurrying away, we thunder past the surprised secretary.
“We’re so sorry,” Rooke mutters as we move past. Jesus, I hope they bill Stephanie and Tae for this and not us.
Patience takes a huge breath of fresh air as we make our escape outside. The rain is finally gone, and the sunlight is peeking through the clouds, making the puddles sparkle.
“That could have been worse,” Ki murmurs, making us glance at him in surprise.
“How?” I sputter.
“Stephanie used to go to the gun range regularly up until recently. She could have drawn a gun,” he says with a shrug.
“Fuck, walk faster,” Pay says. Soon, we’re in the car and peeling out of the lot.
Ki gets a call as we’re arriving at home, and he grunts at the preview of who it is.
“It’s the Society, let’s all get inside to see what’s going on,” he says. Hurrying, we get into the elevator as he answers.
“I’m almost inside the apartment,” Kian says in greeting as the request for a video call comes through.
“Don’t accept the video request until you’re inside,” says Dragon, except his voice is disguised and sounds odd. “I’ll use the voice changer till you’re clear.”
“Thank you,” Ki murmurs as the door opens. “Three doors away.”
I unlock the door, and we pile inside. Rooke locks the door, making a beeline for the kitchen to get water. Opening the bottles, we wait for Ki to accept the request.
“Thank you for your patience,” Kian says. Dragon is sitting on a couch, and I wonder if that’s his home.
“Not a problem. I know the funeral was today,” he says, his voice normal again. “We have a bit of a development, though. I’m getting ready to leave my home, I have my bag packed, and I need to see you all immediately. Give me a safe address.”
Looking around the room, we prepare ourselves for whatever is about to happen.
* * *
So what I had planned as a simple getaway is now turning into a business meeting with the infamous Dragon and the Locked Souls Society. I still don’t know what to believe about it all, but the fact that they took down Richard, and that Spider, AKA: Ash, kept my girl safe… so I owe them.
I’m not sure how much help I’m going to be, but I’ll do anything they ask of me. We all would.
“So, do you even know where we’re driving to?” I ask Kian as he’s loading up an SUV that he rented for our trip.
“Yeah, Dragon said to just go to the cabin and he will meet us there. He didn’t want to inconvenience us, and it’s not too far from their headquarters,” Ki says as he closes the hatchback and moves over to the driver’s side door.
He insisted on driving and I let him. Cal and Pay kept me up half the night. I love to hear my rabbit moan, but for four hours straight! I think we all need to have a chat.