Page 58 of The Nanny and the Don
“My job is letting me come back, and King is starting school in the fall. I don’t want to uproot our whole lives. You understand that don’t you?”
“I’m finding it hard to, but it’s your life, Angie.”
“I don’t want to feel like I’m mooching off of you again. I owe you enough. I want to stand on my own two feet for a change.”
“Do what you gotta do,” I said, standing from my seat and walking over to King. “I’ll miss you, buddy. Just know if you ever need somebody to beat up Batman, I got you.”
“Can you come see us one day and bring Ms. Devy too?” he asked.
“I can’t make any promises, man. I’ll see you soon, but Ms. Devy might not be able to come.”
“Aww.” He pouted and folded his arms over his chest.
Kneeling until I was eye to eye with him, I put my hand on his shoulder and waited for him to look at me. “We can’t always get what we want, but we have to make the best out of what we get. You be good and don’t give your mom a hard time. I’ll make sure I come see you after your mom gets y’all settled. OK?”
“OK,” he agreed, nodding slowly but never uncrossing his arms.
I stood, kissing the top of his head as I rose to my full height.
“Bye, sweet face,” I said, tickling Evie as I headed toward the door. I knew if I stayed any longer, I was likely to shed a tear. Who would have known how hard I would fall for those kids? Turning back to face them, I addressed my sister, “Angie, call me as soon as you even think you might need me. Don’t let it get too late. No matter what it is, I’m coming.”
She smiled softly. “I love you, baby brother.”
“Love you too, sis.”
Once I was out of the restaurant, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Four. “You there yet?”
“Right behind him.”
“I’m on my way.”
The blood running down Brendan’s face and chest from the multiple injuries he sustained at the hands of my men was little consolation for the way I felt. The cybersecurity team had been able to trace several of his wire transactions and retrieve a million of the three million plus dollars that he’d stolen over the course of a year.
That didn’t mean that I no longer wanted blood. The price for his level of betrayal was always death. I’d let him get away with enough when I never even spoke on him backdooring me for Devlan, but today he would meet his fate.
The sound of the hard bottoms of my shoes must have brought him out of whatever daze he was in because as I walked deeper into the room, he lifted his head. His hands were bound and suspended over his head with two meat hooks.
As I walked deeper into the abandoned meat processing plant where my search and rescue squad sometimes liked to do business, the stench of rotting flesh made my stomach turn. I was sure that no amount of cleaning and sterilizing could get that smell out. The smell of dead animals was probably in the paint and soaked into every crack and crevice in the building. I knew that I wouldn’t be there long. I didn’t want to hear an explanation or know what was going through his mind when he took from me. There was just one piece of business I needed to take care of.
Using the barrel of my gun, I lifted his chin. His swollen eyes fluttered open, and it was like he saw his life flash before him once they focused on me.
“Bro, listen,” he blurted.
Shoving my gun in his mouth, I cut him off before he could try to make up some lame excuse. I knew him well enough to know that he would try to talk his way out of his impending death but there was no use.
“Save that shit. I deserve better than one of your bullshit stories. There’s nothing you can say to save your ass. I just have one question for you. It’s the only reason my men let you live. Listen to me carefully and use your head to indicate yes or no. Do you understand?”
His eyes were as big as his head as he quickly nodded.
“Did she know?”
“Who?” he asked, voice muffled by the barrel of the gun.
I sighed as I removed the gun from his mouth. He was more pathetic than I remembered. If he honestly didn’t remember her, I would kill him twice. “Devlan.”
“The girl from the bet? Come on, bro. You know I don’t let a bitch in my business. Is that what this is about? That stupid ass bet?”
“Nah, it’s about loyalty,” I said, shoving my pistol between his eyes and pulling the trigger.
