Page 121 of His Enforcer

“Who said it was a guy!” Martha shouts, and Lex rolls his eyes.

He takes the call off of speaker and stands up, moving out of Anthony’s office as he chastises her gently for being so irresponsible. When he’s gone, we turn to one another and the seriousness of the situation looms.

“Who’s going to tell Bane?” I ask.

“Not it,” Tatum chimes in as he leans back against Anthony’s chest. “He will lose his mind.”

Anthony takes the glass of bourbon from his desk and takes a sip, thinking this through.

“Viktor and Luca, I want you to take a few men and go to this club. Lex has the address. I want to see if we can catch Henry in the act. I want Bane to have a chance with him as well. I’d love to know what the fuck he thinks he’s doing messing with us like this. And I’ll send that picture to Declan and see if he recognizes him. Fuck. That little shit. He’s messed with the wrong family.”

“Is he the one dumping the bodies?” Vik asks, and Anthony shakes his head.

“No fucking clue. But I wouldn’t put it past him. Seems he has a grudge against us and wants to take us down.”

I run my tongue across my front teeth and then reply, “He won’t be able to.”

But Anthony seems unsure. “We can’t get complacent. He’s more dangerous than we realize.”

“Especially if he’s behind the body dumps,” Tatum adds, and Anthony pulls him closer.

“Exactly. We don’t know his motive, which makes him a liability.” Then he whispers quietly to Tatum, “You okay, Little Light?”

Tatum turns slightly, blinking at him over his shoulder.

“Yeah. I am. I’m safe with you.”

Anthony pulls his hand up, the one with the missing finger, and brushes his lips across it.

“Good. I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

“I know.”

The trust they have, the love, it makes me realize that something inside of me is broken. I think it died that day my family died. My aunt and uncle rebuilt some of it during the years I lived with them, but I was too broken by the time I arrived. I still am. I can’t ever give anyone what they need, what they want. I peer over at Viktor, who is texting on his phone, probably gathering some more guards to go with us to Palm Springs, and I feel my chest expand.

I don’t know if I can ever love someone the way they need, ever fully give someone what they want. I’m too fucked up. But Viktor, perhaps he’s different. He’s just as broken as me.

I think together we can make something work.

Or at least we can try.

“What?” he asks when he catches me staring.

“Nothing, just wanted to remind you to bring lube for the trip.”

He scowls at me, but I can see the way his cheeks redden.

“I won’t fucking forget that,” he grumbles and then nudges me. I pull him into me slightly, grabbing onto the back of his neck andmassaging him gently. “Anyway, I have Jax, Quincy, and Rafe on call. They’re ready to head out with us.”

“Good. Keep me updated,” Anthony says and then presses his face into Tatum’s neck. “I want to be kept in the loop for all of it.”

“Will do,” I say and then move to the office door. I’m ready for this trip, to put an end to whatever this little shit has planned for us. And more importantly, ready for tonight when I can get Viktor all to myself.

I’m going to make him scream.

The drive to Palm Springs takes over two hours due to traffic and by the time we check into our hotel, Viktor is grumbling about how hungry he is.

“You get hangry, don’t you?” I say with a smirk as I touch his lips gently.

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