Page 6 of Avenging Laura

When she didn’t respond or give him a reaction, he punched her in the face which led him to deliver a series of blows to Laura’s face, torso, and chest. When Cyrus stopped his volley of blows, he was breathing heavily, as he stepped back, his knuckles bloody.

Despite being bloodied and definitely bruised, Laura started chuckling. Dangling from the meat hook, she leaned her head backwards and started laughing harder. Looking over at a confused Cyrus she just shook her head as best as she could.

“That’s the best that you can do, little brother? I’ve had cartels and gang bangers who hit harder than you do.” Laura spit the blood that was pooling in her mouth out at Cyrus’s feet. “You apparently didn’t know our father too well. I’ve dealt with this shit from him and the pansy ass Marine he sold me too. I actually expected better from you.”

“Oh, bitch, I’m just getting started. Trust me, you’ll be begging for death before I’m done with you. That’s just a taste of the hell that’s about to come,” Cyrus growled at Laura, storming up to her as he smacked her hard across the face.

“I’m curious why you’re so angry with me? I’m not the one who stole daddy away from you. I had nothing to do with that shit. The man had nothing to do with me, so your anger is really hilarious when it comes down to it.”

“You think that’s why I’m dealing with you right now? You’re a joke! For someone who is supposed to be so damn smart, you’re a fucking idiot. I’m dealing with you because you and your fucking team have cost me millions in revenue with your raids. You’ve caused issues with my reputation because of the shit you’ve pulled to rescue my products. Florida, Montana, Mexico, Colorado, California, New York, Arkansas. And those are just the top places.”

Laura couldn’t help but tilt her head as she looked at her supposed brother in the eyes. What the fuck was this asshole going on about? They have only dealt with Florida and California when it comes to the human trafficking ring. Something wasn’t right with the information that this asshole was spouting.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Highlander was going apeshit. His wife has been missing for two fucking days and his bitch of a mother-in-law wasn’t talking. This woman, Jeannette, wasn’t helping at the moment either. Laura loved her grandmother, yet he didn’t understand why this woman wasn’t making her own daughter talk.

“Hey, Joe.”

Highlander turned around to see Shane and Pattrick Jones walking into the department followed by his parents, Sheila and Eddie Jones. Highlander couldn’t help but give a soft smile to the little sister that Laura adored more than anything, besides her brother, her team, him, and their children.

“Hey, lass,” Highlander murmured softly as he engulfed her into a hug, holding on for dear life.

“Any news?” Pattrick moved near his wife as she pulled back from Highlander’s embrace.

“Nothing. We have Laura’s mother in holding but she’s refusing to talk.” Highlander sighed, running his hands up and down his face before sliding them through his hair.

“Why? You think she has something to do with her kidnapping?” Shane glared at Highlander confused.

“She knows more than she is telling. She’s refusing to talk, and her attorney is threatening to sue us. She’s even threatening to sue me to take Cody away from me. Dominick nearly lost his shite on her when she spouted that. I had to takehimout of the room.”

“It’s no secret Dom can’t stand the woman. There’s got to be a way to get her to talk,” Shane huffed as she leaned back into Pattrick.

“That’s because you aren’t asking the right questions, son.”

Highlander started at the statement as he turned to watch Laura’s elderly grandmother hobble down the hallway, dressed to the nines as always. Using her sporty cane she walked with, she headed where everyone was standing.

“Asking the right questions? What the hell does that mean?” Shane asked, stepping in front of Highlander as if to defend him.

The older woman just chuckled as she studied Shane through her glasses that seemed to be slipping down her nose. Once she got in front of Shane, Pattrick, and Highlander, she looked up at the three and smirked.

“You must be Shane. My granddaughter has told me a lot about you. So has my grandson. Since they both claim you as their sister, despite that asshole you have for a father, I’ll claim you as my granddaughter, too. Now, as I was saying, you’re not asking the right questions. You want her to talk, threaten her freedom of being able to show her face in polite society again. Inform her that you will make sure every country club in America knows that she sat by while her husband and former son-in-law beat my granddaughter. How she sat by while they threatened to sell her to the highest bidder when they were done with her,” Jeannette said, her eyes turning to fire.

“If you knew all that, then why did you sit by?” Shane questioned, anger in her voice despite knowing that Dom and Laura loved this woman.

“Because my grandmother didn’t know until I told her.”

Everyone turned to see Dominic Pratt walking into the area where everyone was standing. When he reached the group, he reached over and placed a kiss on his grandmother’s head as he stood tall next to the older woman.

“I didn’t know. I knew that my former son-in-law didn’t like my granddaughter because he considered her crippled and useless because of her hearing loss. But I never knew of all the other horrible things that happened. She nor Dominick ever told me. Had I known what was going on with my granddaughter, you can bet your cherry wine ass I would have used every arsenal I had to take both of them out of that home and put them under my roof.”

“I know you would have, Grandma. As I told you, we were worried Dad would have followed through with his threat to ruin you and we’d never see you again.”

“Humph. That waste of jizz wished he could have ruined me. He had no legs to stand on where I was concerned. The only reason he made his ranks was because of my family name. My grandfather didn’t immigrate from Ireland to the United States and sit on his arse. He served this great nation with honor and dignity. He built the family business into one of the most profitable companies in the world. It still remains that way. His arse is just upset that he wasn’t getting his filthy mitts on it. At least out of the three children I did have, two turned out pretty damn decent.”

“Wait, Kathy has siblings?” Dom and Highlander looked at the elderly woman in confusion.

“Yes. You have both an auntie and an uncle. Your aunt Ruth owns her own business, has a good husband who treats her well, and three children of her own. Your uncle Charlie now runs your grandfather’s business and does a damn good job. He and his wife, who runs the research lab of the company are damn goodpeople. Their four kids are pretty awesome too. They both hate the fact that your mother has kept you two away. They ask about you all the time.”

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