The next time I have her in my hands, I’m going to handcuff her and drag her back to my house.I don’t care what she says or how good it sounds, I’m not giving her a choice again.The girl is the world leader at bad ideas, and that’s what’s got me so nervous right now.
How long is she going to be able to stay in her father’s house without trying to kill the bastard–and getting caught?
Even worse I’m starting to hear other whispers from the people I have out on the street.Other families have noticed that Brooks Landry is home and that she’s walking in circles she shouldn’t be in.
And those who are talking are saying that she’s my weakness, and that her father brought her home to draw me out and get rid of me as a way to start a war with my father.
I don’t want to think those whisper are right, because the truth is, I’m the one who brought Brooks back to New Orleans.Hell, I practically forced her to return, and she’s not here for her father at all, but for Aislyn Brennan, who’s been kidnapped by Dom for his fucking sex ring.
But the minute I heard the whispers, I started to wonder.Because they make more sense than I’d like.Brooks hasn’t been in New Orleans for years, and then suddenly she shows up two weeks ago, saying she needs men to help her win a war in New York.She finds her way into my catacombs and asks me for help, while reminding me of the history we share.Then when I come home, she’s being mentioned in circles that shouldn’t even know her name, and when I go back to New York to try to protect her, she’s looking for a girl I happen to know is New Orleans.
She gets a ride down here on my plane.
And she immediately starts doing whatever she wants, regardless of what she and I have talked about.
Now she’s in her father’s home again, and he’s telling everyone she’s his new heir and taking over the family business.And I’m like a crack fiend who hasn’t had a fix in days, itching to get to her and rescue her.
Hell, I’ve already been to the Landry mansion just to see her, risking everything to reassure myself that she’s safe.
It’s not that I don’t trust Brooks.The opposite; I’d trust her with my life every day for the rest of time.But I don’t trust her father, and if he’s found a way to use her against me in some plot I didn’t even see coming...
But Brooks would never, my more rational mind tells me.She would never take part in anything that might lead to me being harmed.She might not want to admit that she loves me, though I’m positive she does, but she would never, ever be a party to me being harmed.
Unless she didn’t realize it was going on.
God, I need some action.I’m going insane, listening to nothing but smoke and rumors and making up stories about the girl.
I reach out to the next man who passes by, recognizing one of my best soldiers, and pull him to me.“Where are we on the Landry watch?”
He glances at me once, then gets his phone out and makes a call.Two seconds and a nod, and he’s hanging up and giving me a look that has me already rising to my feet.
“Your timing is impeccable.Our scouts have just seen five vans leaving the Landry mansion.Blacked-out windows, driving in single file.Heading toward the port.”
Five vans leaving the mansion.Blacked-out windows.Heading toward the port.
He’s moving the girls earlier than I anticipated.
But I was ready for that.Last time we tried to stop a shipment, they caught me by surprise.This time, I have a plan in place, and men ready and waiting.
“Then let’s fucking move,” I say.“Time to play hero.”
***
We get to the port in record time, courtesy of being closer than Dom’s mansion is, and I tell Daniel to park the vans in the shadows next to the first row of shipping containers.There are only five of them, so we don’t need to take up much space.And I only have ten men with me–men who’ve never had anything to do with my father–so it doesn’t take us much time to unload and arm ourselves.Everyone gets a rifle, two handguns, and a knife–because every gun fight can be made shorter by a knife to the eyeball of your enemy–while only two men get the rocket launchers.
I have one of them.
I don’t think we’re going to need them–what the fuck would we be launching rockets at?–but one also never knows when one might need to intimidate the bad guys, and I’ve never found anything more useful than rocket launchers for that.Something about the other guy knowing you could literally blow them off the face of the planet, I suppose.
Though I hope we don’t have to use them.
If there are only five vans coming, I’m estimating fifty girls, and that should mean only three to four guards.Easy enough to pick them off and get the girls out of here.
Once I have them safe, I’ll work on questioning them and figuring out where the other girls are being housed, and how to get them out.I doubt the survivors will know anything about the leadership of the ring or how to get to Dom or his partners directly, but if they can direct me to the other holding houses and I can start cleaning them out...
Dom’s going to have a lot of trouble running his rings without merchandise to sell.
And I’m guessing that once things begin to go wrong, his partners will take care of him for me.
