Page 36 of Blood for Blood

“You seem a little nervous, Owen.” Enzo states, running his pointer finger across the counter top. “Why is that?”

“I’m not n-nervous.” He stammers, his gaze bouncing between the three of us.

“Good, because there’s no reason for you to be nervous, unless you’ve done something wrong. Have you done something wrong, Owen?”

“I haven’t, I swear.” He shakes his head swiftly.

“What’s the point of lying?” I sigh, shaking my head. “Do you know who I am?”

“You’ll be a dead son of a bitch if you don’t walk out that door right now.” A man walks out of the back room, aiming a shotgun at us.

“Put the gun down, Brad.” I take a few steps toward him, hoping he takes the bait. “There’s no need for anyone to get hurt.”

“I’ll put the gun down when you Italian pricks are out the door.” He growls, stalking toward me.

“Do I sound Italian to you?” I raise a brow at him. “My mother brought me to America every chance she got. I was only in Italy for a few days at a time before we left again.” Pointing to Lorenzo, I continue, “He moved to Italy when he was seventeen.” Needing to piss him off just a little more, I keep going. “Drew, have you ever even been to Italy?”

“Nope.” Drew responds, shaking his head.

“It doesn’t matter.” He spits, pushing the gun into my stomach. There’s my cue.

Quickly stepping to my right, I push the barrel of the gun to the left, twisting it out of Brad’s hands and aiming it at his head.

“Let’s move this conversation somewhere a little more private, yeah?” Gesturing toward the door, I wait for both of them to walk ahead of me. “There’s a black escalade right outside the door.

Both of you get in the back. If you try to run, or make a scene, my men will be paying a visit to Charlotte, Cassidy and all of those adorable little crotch goblins.”

They both stiffen at the mention of their wives and children. My men don’t even know they exist, but these fuckers can go ahead and assume that I’m just like Mathias. Their opinions don’t matter to me at all.

“Please don’t hurt them,” Owen whimpers. “We were only doing what we were told.”

“Ok, let’s stick with that theme.” I press the gun into Brad’s back. “Do as you’re told and get in the fucking car.” I give him a little shove as they both walk out the door and climb into the car without incident. I sit in the backseat beside them, Enzo drives and Drew rides shotgun. I slide my phone out of my pocket to text Travis.

Me: We’re bringing two back. Have the syringes ready..

His response comes through immediately.

Travis: On it, boss.

Lorenzo drives us to the back of the property, about half a mile behind the house. Travis and another one of our guards are waiting for us. As soon as Owen and Brad step out of the car, they’re both injected and knocked unconscious.

“Take them to the basement. I want them chained and waiting for me when I get back,” I order. “This needs to stay fucking quiet. Travis and Brody, you’re the only ones I want down there. Nobody else. Am I clear?”

“Yes, boss.” Travis nods, grabbing one of Owen’s arms to drag him inside. There’s an old sawmill on the back of our property, so nobody would suspect a thing when they see the old wooden building. Underneath, we had the basement reinforced with solid steel floors and walls.

“Let’s see if the ladies want to be here for this.” Enzo says, coming to stand beside me.

“I’ll call Rae and see if the sitter is free.” Drew takes a few steps away from us and pulls his phone from his pocket. Since he’s no longer a police officer, for obvious reasons, he’s one of the guys we always call when we handle shit like this. I don’t think there’s a single part of him that enjoys what we do, but the love he has for Rae makes it easy to turn a blind eye and help out.

“Luna will want to be here, I just texted Alaric to see if he’ll bring them.” I tell Enzo, just as my phone pings. “They’re on the way now. Luna wants to be here, but Aurora wants to wait at home.”

“Rae is dropping Avery off with Kai and Sadie.” Drew smiles, sliding his phone back in his pocket. “She’ll be here in about twenty.”

“Let’s go get changed while we wait, I’m not ruining another fucking suit.” I climb back in the car and wait for Zo and Drew to climb in before driving to the house.

Thirty minutes later, Drew, Enzo, Luna and I are outside the sawmill waiting for Rae. When her Jeep pulls up, a huge smile crosses Drew’s face and he opens the door for her, holding her hand while she climbs down.

“Sorry it took so long.” She kisses his cheek, “Sadie wasn’t home yet, but Kai said he can handle Avery on his own for as long as it takes.”

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