Page 12 of Vengeful Reign

I nod. “Yes, I understand. I accept, and I will protect him.” With one last hug, she hands him over to me and leaves, never to step foot in my home again.

I finally turn my phone on and realize I have a voice message from Jeremy.

Hey, babe, I know things have been bad. I’m sorry. I want to talk about it, but I’m going out of town for the weekend to see my parents. Hehe.I hear a faint feminine giggle in the background.Shush. So, we’ll talk when I get back. I’ll miss you.

The bastard thinks I’m dumb. Shaking my head, I send him a text that it’s over and that he can spend his time away with his giggling girlfriend. I’m not interested in a relationship. Once that’s done, I toss my phone on the counter and carry on with my evening. Jeremy doesn’t matter to me anymore because I have a child to care for and don’t have any time for a cheating boyfriend.

Chapter Four

Jack

June 2013

“You need to stop obsessing over your brother. There are so many things to worry about, including the fucking governor.” My blood pressure flies through the roof with those words, and I have him pinned to the wall with my hand on his collar, staring the old man down.

“Are you serious right now? Did you just tell me to forget about looking for your son—my little brother?” I snarl, teeth gnashing like a damn wild animal. The man has a serious lack of self-preservation. Luckily for him, his men are there, and I won’t pull the trigger with too many itchy trigger fingers around. Not to mention, I don’t have the proof I need to say he was involved. If I get any inkling he was involved with my brother’s kidnapping, he’ll be dead. It’s been two months, and we haven’t heard a word or found his nanny yet.

“The kidnappers haven’t contacted us, and the nanny hasn’t surfaced in her usual spots.”

“It’s been two fucking months, and you’re just going to give up?”

“No, but I can’t keep thinking about it or I’ll go insane, and every damn enemy we have will strike. You can’t be a damn leader if you let everything get to you. You look weak, Jack.”

“Family is everything, Father, or have you forgotten?”

“I haven’t. I just know when to act. I still have people searching for clues every day, but that doesn’t mean I don’t go about my day.”

“He’s five, and he needs us.”

“Yes, and if he’s still alive, they’re taking care to keep him that way, so be cautious and keep yourself alive so that you can take care of him when you do find him.” He has a point. If my enemies notice that I’m so damn distracted, they’ll put a bullet in my head, but that doesn’t mean I’m giving up my search. My biggest search is still his nanny. I have to find her before it’s too late.

“Fine. I will. Now get the fuck out of here. I have things to do that don’t require your presence.” I escort my father out and as I do, my phone rings. It’s my brother Connor. “What’s going on?”

“I got a lead on the nanny.”

My heart pounds in my ears with that news. “What?”

“Yeah, we found her. She’s holed up in an apartment on the West Side.” So, she’s in Chicago? That’s a fucking miracle. She’s either got to be stupid or up to something.

“Is John with her?”

“No. There’s no sign of him anywhere, but we’ll get the answers from her one way or another,” he says, the darkness in his tone reminding me of myself, and I know that he’ll string her up. Ordinarily we don’t harm women, but for her, we’d make an exception.

“No, I want to get them.”

Connor understands the chain of command, but it’s more than that. I love John the most, and it’s my fault he was taken. “Of course, Brother. I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Good. Bring her to the cell, and I’ll deal with her.”

“If that’s what you want. We’ll have her there shortly.”

I’m out of the house in a matter of minutes, forgetting all of my plans for the day because the contact I was going to see had been about her anyway. I take the drive to the cell on the Northwest side of the city where we can privately interrogate people under the train tracks, and no one is any wiser. The sounds of my victims’ cries are muffled from the outside noises. It also helps that I jam all electronics in the area so no recording devices can capture my dirty work in the building as well.

Although, this torture I look forward to administering.

My driver pulls into the warehouse, and I see her tied to a chair with Connor standing to the side with his arms folded and waiting for me. “You got here just in time, Brother. I’ve been running out of patience for this bitch to talk. She stole our little brother.”

“We don’t know that. All we know is that she was taken with those thugs, but if she was involved, she’ll pay.” I storm up to the older woman with venom in my heart, ready for the torture to begin. She attempts to move backward in the chair, but it’s futile since she’s tied down. “What happened to my little brother? Where is John?”

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