Page 29 of The Cleaner

Sounds like a Jennings alright. They’re all power and money hungry bastards, but not one of them have a brain cell between them.

“Last I heard of Tommy’s daughter, she was living down south of the country with her new husband.”

I hear Jer’s scoff. “That woman broke up a marriage. They both did. Her now husband was already married, had a kid and family. They fucked up the mam and daughter with their bullshit. His ex-wife had bipolar and was struggling to find the right medication to help her through her depression. From what Niall found out, Tommy’s daughter was switching the pills. The poor woman couldn’t even get the help she needed.”

That’s beyond fucked up. Why would you destroy a family and then continue to destroy the wife’s life? You’ve got what you want, so why continue? It’s all down to the power. That fucker wanted to show she had the power to take everything. Narcissistic bitch.

“What happened to the ex-wife?” I ask, wondering if she got the help she needed.

“She committed suicide. Her thirteen year old daughter found her.”

Christ.

“Then the thirteen year old went home with her dad and that bitch of a girlfriend. She was there all of two days before she tried to take her own life too.”

Fuck. Fuck. That’s heavy. Christ. What the fuck was her dad doing?

“Tommy will no doubt expect us to retaliate to this,” Jer says. “But I’ll be fucking damned if I give that man anything he wants. No, we’re going to play this smart. That fucker will be waiting for us, so we’ll ensure that we don’t do a fucking thing.”

While I understand why, it’s not in my nature to sit back and do fucking nothing. This is not how we operate. It never has been. Someone sends a shot at us, we fire one back ten times harder and we do it so they don’t see it coming.

“Let me call my guy in France, see what he knows. The shipment should have reached Calais port two hours ago, but hasn’t. I’ll let you know when I do.”

“What do you need from me?” I ask, knowing he wouldn’t have called me if he didn’t.

“Thomas Grace,” he says thickly.

Ah, his brother-in-law and my uncle. The man is a bastard, always has been, always will be. No one but my aunt Patty likes the man. I have always wondered what the hell she saw in him. He’s creepy as hell and loves money and power. Many nights I’ll find him at the local underground poker ring and watch as he blows through thousands of euros nightly. He’s also very handsy with the women servers that work there—something that both Jer and I have warned him about. I laughed when Jer broke his arm when he brushed his hand along one of the server’s breasts as he tried to put money into her bra. He’s lucky that’s all that he got. He’d have had every fucking finger broken, along with his jaw. But Jer sent his message and the man’s on his best behaviour—around us, that is. I don’t trust him, however, that’s for fucking sure.

“What about the cunt?” I ask with a snarl.

"Thomas Grace needs to disappear for a while. I need you to make sure he stays out of the picture until we figure out what Tommy Jennings is up to. Keep an eye on him. Tommy may try to use him against us,” he seethes. “There are things not adding up with Thomas, things I can’t put my fucking finger on. I don’t trust him, Mav, not at fucking all. I need you to ensure that he stays far a-fucking-way from Tommy.”

Jer has always had trust in every single one of his men. He’d give them the benefit of the doubt if anything went wrong. He’d never doubt them–publicly at least. But Thomas... Christ, whatever that fucker is up to, it isn’t making him look good.

“You know I’ll ensure he’s gone. I’ll have him go to Portugal. He can take Patty and Jess with him for a few weeks. I’ll tell him we’re looking at purchasing property out there.”

I hear Jer’s chuckle. “Smart. It won’t piss him off. We don’t need Thomas Grace acting more suspicious than he already is. Keep him far away from anything to do with the Jennings. He might try to play both sides, and we can’t take that risk.”

He’ll be pissed that I’ll be delivering the message that he’ll be going to Portugal, but there’s nothing that can be done about that. Jer wants me to take over from him when the time’s right. He wants to move me to be his second in command, something that Thomas thinks he is.

"And, Mav, keep an eye on your sister. I don't trust Tommy's daughter one bit. If she's as cunning as they say, she might try to use Callie-Girl to get to us,” Jer says thickly.

If those fucking Jennings’ even think about coming for Callie, they’ll die. Not only from us, but from Denis too. Going after Callie would be the wrong motherfucking move.

"She'll be safe," I vow and end the call.

No one is coming for my family. I'll take them out before they even try.

Chapter

Thirteen

MAVERICK

"Where the hell have you been?"I ask Emmanuel as he slides onto the barstool beside me.

It's been nearly two weeks since I last laid eyes on him, and he's looking more tan and refreshed than ever in his crisp white T-shirt and black jeans.

---