Page 73 of Four Fiances & I

“Time to remind them who they work for,” he sighs, straightening his collar and throwing the door open before storming into the room, his sheer presence demanding everyone’s attention. All looking scared, knowing that when Christian is pissed, we all are, and they are in the firing line.

“Which one of you has betrayed us?”

ChapterTwenty-Four

CHRISTIAN

I lean forward, resting my arms on the table and count to ten in my head for the umpteenth time today.

Every one of the men and women in front of me denies sharing any of our secrets, and the biggest problem is that I believe them. One look at my brothers and Terry tells me they do, too. I pretend to be listening to Terry giving them all a formal warning, telling them what will happen if he finds out any of them have been helping the enemy.

There is a new routine for security now, and Calvin has promised to supply armed security for the perimeter. They are trained to be hidden, and that’s what we need right now. He will head home and talk to his business partners to determine who will patrol and when. He has told us not to expect anyone to start for the next twenty-four hours as they will need to move things around first.

“For now, I want everyone to act like everything’s going on as normal. We pretend that the O’Reillys are none the wiser of the threat out for them other than what happened last night. That especially goes for Jasmine.” Terry looks at me, and I bring my attention back to the room. I sense Maximus behind me, placing an arm around Jasmine standing between him and Sean. Jason, as always, is to my right and has had eyes on Gordon the whole time.

“Jasmine is usually kept in the dark about things like this; it’s what they’ll expect, so we will keep them thinking that. She will pretend she knows nothing about the hit out on me or that we have people gunning for us. She will tell her friends she has no idea what happened this weekend. We want people to think she is still out of the loop to keep her protected.” I stand up and look around the people watching me.

“Nearly everyone in this room was present the last time I had to deal with security lying to us. You are all well aware of how that went for them. But here is a reminder. If anything happens to our fiancée, on your watch, your life is forfeit. There will be no second chances. If you fail to report anything suspicious and we find out, you sign your own death warrant. You protect Jasmine with the same commitment as the four of us.” Looking around the table, I can see fear in every eye looking back at me. I tell myself I have made my point and sit back down.

“Does anyone else have anything to say?” When I’m met with silence, I nod once and lean back in my seat. “Then follow Terry and receive your new assignments. Take tonight as the only warning you will get.” They all turn to look at Terry, who stands from his seat and nods towards the door. Everyone stands and starts to leave the room in silence. Jason joins them, and I see him pulling Gordon in the opposite direction from the others. I know he will be giving him his warning.

I stay in place, counting each of the ten staff members and Calvin out of the door until Terry is the last to leave and closes the door behind him. I relax back into my seat and curse under my breath.

“What a fucking day,” Maximus sighs behind me as I pinch the bridge of my nose. I feel two small hands slide over my shoulders before her arms wrap around my neck, her cheek resting against mine.

“Are you okay, Daddy?” she whispers in my ear. I take a deep breath, inhaling her sweet scent.

“Been better, Sweetheart,” I sigh. Pushing my chair back a little, I take her hand and pull her around to sit on my lap. I look deep into her eyes as I cup her face. “I am so proud of you and how you are handling everything.” Leaning in, I press my lips to hers. “You have been my biggest strength the last twenty-four hours.” Jasmine smiles before kissing me again.

“I’m glad I can help.”

We all turn our attention to the door as Jason walks in, looking a little murderous.

“Everything okay?” Sean asks behind me.

“Yeah, he says he doesn’t speak to anyone, and I believe him. He’s been warned, though.” Jason walks over to me and places a kiss on Jasmine's lips. “You were amazing; I’m so proud of you, Jazzy.”

“We all are,” Sean adds as he runs a hand over her head.

“I didn’t do anything,” she argues as we shake our heads.

“You stood beside us and didn’t show one ounce of fear. You held your head high and refused to look away,” Maximus explains as he looks deep into our girl's eyes.

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I need a drink,” Jason announces as he turns and heads back to the door.

“Sounds good to me,” Maximus laughs, following him, quickly followed by Sean. Jasmine looks at me, and I can’t help but smile as I help her to her feet and stand beside her.

“I think you deserve one, too.”

Jasmine grins as she kisses me on the cheek and skips off to join my brothers. I turn the lights off in the dining room and follow behind them all. Unknown to Jasmine, there is another reason we are all heading for a drink in the sitting room: we plan on talking to her about what she revealed last night.

We discussed it when we were coming home from Mitchell’s this afternoon. We need to know so we can help her heal. We have given her time, and if she asks for more, we will give her that, too. The controlling side of me wants to know everything, but like Jason said the other day, she doesn’t ask for anything from us. So we have to give her this if it's what she wants.

Walking into the sitting room, I find the twins sitting in their usual spot with Jasmine between them. She’s leaning against Sean's side, her legs bent to the side, and her feet resting on Maximus’s lap. The three of them talk quietly while Jason watches from the makeshift bar. I can already see five glasses out when I reach him. He’s pouring the fourth glass of whiskey as I stop beside him.

“What did you make of it all?” I ask quietly. Jason shrugs as he puts the stopper back in the bottle of whiskey.

“Nobody stood out as lying. I spoke to Calvin very quickly after Gordon, and he said the same. If any of them have shared anything significant, they have no idea they’ve done it.”

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