Page 61 of Bound by Destiny
Princess pauses for a moment like the words are lodged in her throat. I’m almost expecting my bossy Aunt Princess who makes the rules to come out, but she doesn’t. “Then when you get back, we’re throwin’ you a hell of a party.”
Bristyl finally smiles, probably worried about what we would think of her decision. Would we like to be there for the wedding? Of course. But if this is what she wants, then it’s what she shall have.
“I’m thinkin’ we need to call the boys and get it round up tonight. We gotta shit load to celebrate!” Cruz slaps down his hand on the table then his finger points at Ryker. “You hurt my baby girl, I’ll cut your balls off with a dull blade and shove them down your throat.”
Ryker holds up his drink. “Wouldn’t expect anything else, Dad.”
“You little…”
Princess’ arms shoot out as Cruz starts to stand. “Alright, calm down, big man.”
“On that note, I’ve got shit to do,” Nox says, throwing down his napkin.
Attention immediately goes to him. “Where are you going?” Cruz practically barks.
Nox levels his gaze on his father. “Got shit to do. I’ll be around later.” He says nothing else and leaves. Something is going on with him, and it’s confirmed when the men at the table look at each other. Damn.
What has Nox gotten himself into?
26
Jacks
The gavel slamsdown on the table getting our attention immediately. The air in the room is tense, but that’s because there are quite a few issues that need to be dealt with and resolved. Nox sits in his chair, cool and collected, and I have no clue what’s going to be in store for him. Plus, we have Micah, Derk, and Deke. It’s gonna be a long one.
“First things first,” Cruz starts us off. The damn man is still hard to read even after all these years. He’s mastered stonewall face. “Micah.” He nods to Tug who clasps his hands together in front of him, looking us each in the eye as he speaks.
“Micah came to his mother and me about going into the Marines. I spoke with Cruz and GT about this, and it was decided that after Micah does his time in, he will then get the consequences for digging into Ravage information. I know he has earned a punishment, a harsh one. There are answers for him to atone, for which will happen in four years when he returns. He needs this, brothers. He needs his attention on this. As much as I hate to say it, because I did my time in the Army, my boy needs this. Whatever is goin’ on in his head, he needs to work out.”
The room is so damn quiet while we wait for more.
“If anyone has an issue with this, take it up with me at the end of church,” Cruz finally says. “Micah did pick the better branch.”
Tug chuckles at the crack. Cruz was in the Marines, and they’ve always had banter between the two of them for it.
“As far as we’re concerned, this is closed until he gets out,” GT finishes.
I’m a bit conflicted about that. One, because four years is a long fucking time and lots of shit can change. Two, because I want something to pound on. He stuck his head in where it didn’t belong, and I feel he should pay for it. But what the President and Vice President say, goes, and I deal with it.
“Buzz, status on Derk,” Cooper orders. He’s third in line, the Treasurer.
Buzz pulls out his laptop and reads, “They’ve put in discharge papers for him to leave, but he’s going to the jailhouse right from there.”
“Yeah, attempted murder will get you in the can,” Pops utters and has every right for being angry.
“He’ll see the judge in the morning and bail will probably be set, but it’ll be high,” Buzz continues, still reading the screen. “That’s all I’ve got.”
“Any other family?” Rhys tosses in.
Buzz shakes his head. “Unless there’s another fuckin’ kid out there I don’t know of, which let’s be real—there could be. I did an algorithm search to see if Ransom’s DNA was anywhere in the system and came up blank. I’ve checked out everyone with the same last name and came up with nothing. No parents. No siblings alive. I looked for nieces and nephews, but nothing stood out. They all appear to be nine to five business people. Except one’s a teacher. There was nothing that pointed to any communication with Ransom.”
“So this is as cleaned up as it can possibly get because I’m fuckin’ tellin’ ya.” Pops levels his eyes to us and points his finger harshly to the table. “Another one of those fuckers comes after this family—I’ll end the entire line and not give two fucks if it’s women and children. Know we don’t do that shit, but I will not have my family put in jeopardy because of them anymore.”
That’s a tough call he just made, especially the children declaration. Ravage doesn’t fuck with kids, but to keep us clean we’ll do what we have to do. Never said we had to like it.
“Buzz,” Cruz starts. “This is an ongoing thing. I want tabs on the ones you found. Anything suspicious or out of their ‘norm’, I want to know about immediately and we’ll get it taken care of.”
Buzz lifts his chin.
