Page 117 of Protector

Lauren was a force to be reckoned with, and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she and Celia could run the fucking world if they ever teamed up. The girl was a spitfire who took shit from no one, least of all my boy.

I sighed with the realization that I couldn’t call Slim up or ride down to buy the bastard a steak dinner before telling him he was right.

After issuing orders for Goblin and Crossbones to deliver Blake Jr. to the clubhouse, I found a prospect to start mopping up the blood and directed Mikey into the back office.

“Let’s talk in here.” I sank down onto the desk again as he dropped onto the couch where Bear had been only minutes before. “He fuckin’ took Dakota tonight, Mikey.”

Hades and Persephone had come from separate worlds, and she’d simply divided her time between the two. His world had never started to bleed over into hers.

Until now.

The kids we’d fought to keep safe were now in the middle of a war, being used as pawns by our enemies. I’d always thought my biggest challenge would be getting Mikey sober and clean and keeping him that way.

It turned out, the secret I’d been keeping was the only thing that had saved him from becoming a target. Bear was right though. It was only a matter of time until our enemies noticed the similarities between us and put two and two together.

Jackson Blake had insisted he was in love with Dakota, and I’d been too blind to see the truth. If I’d missed that, then none of them were safe. Our enemies had disguised themselves as friends.

I spun my skull ring before admitting, “I’d agreed to their marriage months ago; thought it was a win-win situation for everyone. The Blake family has transported for us for years. After seeing Lauren on your wedding day, though, I had second thoughts. Dakota deserves the same happiness that you have, and Jackson would’ve made her miserable.”

Lauren looked at Mikey the way Celia looked at me; like we were something worth fighting for. Kate and Dakota deserved the same.

“I backed out of the merger, and he called off the wedding. I thought that was the end of it until he took Dakota tonight. I guess he thought that he and his fucking pal, Bill, would use her as leverage to get what they wanted from the club.”

He blinked up at me with furrowed brows. “So, the blood?”

“Dakota has a broken nose, and Zane got shot in the shoulder, trying to protect her.”

In reality, Dakota had been the one to shoot Zane, but I wasn’t up to arguing semantics.

Mikey winced, no doubt seeing the millions of ways it could go south. “What’s the story with them?”

The grin returned to my face. “He fuckin’ loves her—”

“Great. I can use that. Okay, what if we use the cop angle and run with it? It might be enough to keep suspicion low as long as Masterson plays along. What about the Blakes?”

I ran a finger over my throat, adding, “They’re thinkin’ of fleein’ the country once it comes out that they’ve cooked their books.”

Their deaths would be slow and painful; a reminder to anyone else who’d had similar thoughts of going after my kids.

Jarvis fell into the door on the way into the office, and I sighed. If he was here, it meant he wasn’t with Kate. “Slight problem,” he panted.

“I know I was supposed to keep an eye on Kate, but I got busy with club shit and she—um, well she’s in Vegas.”

He had the same look of panic on his face that Goblin had, but for an entirely different reason. I’d put the kid through college and gotten him a job as a realtor for the real estate company I owned, and he’d repaid me last year by taking my daughter home and fucking her.

The only reason the fucking ginger was still breathing was because it had only happened the one time, and then Kate had gone out of her way to avoid him.

It didn’t mean I’d planned to let it go unpunished.

Trouble was, the prick had fallen for my baby girl, and I realized that him being forced to watch her day in, day out was better than any of the shit I could’ve doled out.

Sensing he was about to hyperventilate himself onto the floor, I casually said, “So, she’s safer there than she is here. She’s a grown woman, Jarvis. I think she’ll be okay.”

He shook his head. “Well, she’s with the doctor and based on their credit card trail, I think they’re getting married.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose at the same time Mikey did. “What do you mean, married? Celia said they weren’t even serious.”

My phone vibrated against my hip, and I quickly answered when I saw it was my wife. “How’s our girl?”

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