Page 19 of His Virgin Angel

“I have to go.”

Leaving the office, Jack climbed into the car, and gave Drake instructions to take him to his warehouse near the docks. He had a few problems he needed to fix.

“Has there been any other sighting of the mystery man at the college?”

“Once but he didn’t stop Piper. I didn’t get a good look at his face, and you told me not to be seen looking at him.”

“I don’t want anyone to know that we’re onto them.” There hadn’t been any more appearances from Ronald at the restaurant either.

“Did you get her safely home?”

“Yes. She was really tired, and I hate to say it, withdrawn.”

“The new woman at Exquisite is not exactly helping.”

“Why don’t you just fire her?”

“This is about her. You don’t think Piper will have some questions?”

“Speaking of questions, she asked if I’d ever heard from her mother. It would seem her assignment in English is to write a paper about family. In doing so, she’s now asking questions.”

“What did you say?” Jack asked.

“Told her that she didn’t want to know about her mother. She didn’t care to know what happened, and that she was pleased to no longer have to deal with her kids.”

“That’s harsh.”

“It’s the truth. Her mother was a first class bitch. You’ve got more chance of her believing that. I take it you didn’t want me to tell her that her mother is dead, and buried six feet under in the local graveyard with her honey. Oh, and the men that had been part of her life were also dead.”

Jack gritted his teeth. “Have I ever told you how much I hate a smartass?”

“Isn’t that why you hired me?”

“No. I hired you for protection, but you do have a knack for reading people.”

“Whatever is going on, she’s getting curious about the situation. It has taken four years, but you knew this was going to happen.”

Jack rubbed at his eyes.

He’d known that there would be a point where he could no longer lie or make excuses. The biggest problem he had was the truth would make life difficult for him, in more ways than he wanted to cope with.

The way Piper looked at him filled him with so much fucking joy that not having her near him like that killed him. He knew it would destroy him to ever have her scared of him. That was not what he wanted, and he worked hard to make sure it didn’t happen, and would never happen.

An hour later, Drake pulled up toward the docks. Climbing out of the car, Jack entered the warehouse where he usually stored products that needed to be distributed. He had the means and the ways of getting shit moved. Right now, the warehouse was empty apart from some crates, and his men. They were stood in a circle a good distance from a man who was strapped to a chair.

“David,” Jack said.

The man in the chair whimpered and pissed himself. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Sosa. I tried to help—”

“Yourself? You stole my money, and then gave it to my sworn enemy. Tell me, David, how do you think I should deal with that?” Jack grabbed a chair, and pulled it in front of David. Taking a seat, he folded his arms, staring at the other man.

David Smith was his accountant, and once a trusted employee. A little gambling problem had made him steal, and then go to Ronald, Jack’s enemy.

“I’m sorry, please, I will do anything. Anything.”

“Look around you, David. You stole from me, and you stole from each of these men. You took money that didn’t belong to you. You took their wages, and you gambled it away on numbers and horses.”

Jack looked at the men. He was able to pay them, but it didn’t excuse David’s behavior.

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