The Jacksonville Demons aren’t ready for the level of hell that my family is about to unleash on them. I made a promise to Charlotte when I said she would be safe with us, and I goddamn keep my word.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Patrick
Things move fast and also at a snail’s pace. I don’t make it to bed until late, and I’m up the next morning before the sun.
I take several men to view the warehouse Moretti plans to use for the exchange, and Cormac comes with me to study the vantage points.
No matter what Moretti suggested, Charlotte will not be in attendance this evening.
There’s no need.
I’ll take a damn picture of her ex as I saw his head from his lifeless corpse or take a photo of me holding his heart as proof.
There’s no way I’ll let her anywhere near this fucking mess.
I have no trust in Emory, outside of believing he doesn’t like to be ordered around. That still doesn’t leave me feeling confident that he won’t fuck us over if Blade decides to pay him for his hard work.
Cormac strides over from where he was examining one of the ladders to get up onto the scaffolding. “It’ll work fine for me. I suggest having at least one other sniper on the other side for full coverage.” He nods to the far wall of the warehouse. “Does Moretti have an estimate on how many deep they’ll be rolling?”
My head shakes. “Not that he mentioned, but they’re doing a better job of hiding this time. I’ve had patrols out just to see if they run across anything. Emory has also, but so far there’s nothing.”
Cormac nods. “I’ll see if my guest can give me any additional insight into how many they might bring with them. I think we’re done here, unless you have anything else you’d like to check?”
“Nah, let’s head out.”
My office has more traffic in one afternoon than it’s had in the last year.
I brief my men, selecting who will be staying with Charlotte and Lucky and who will be coming with us. It’s highly tempting to have Malachy stay home with them. That way, if Moretti turns on us, Charlotte will be able to keep one of her bonded mates.
Just by looking at him, I can tell that’s not going to fly.
Cormac is still down in his workshop, attempting to gain extra information about how many MC members we can expect, their names, weaknesses, and anything else he can squeeze out of his prisoner.
Excuse me, I mean hisguest.
He likes to pretend what he does is more civil than it truly is.
Without him to back me up, there’s no way I can successfully convince Malachy to stay home.
The door flies open, and I hit my feet as Charlotte comes into my office, closing the door behind her.
She glances at Malachy but makes her way around my desk, stopping just in front of me. “I understand none of you want me there tonight, but I need to be there.”
“Absolutely not,” Malachy growls. He’s been busy pacing the room, but he rests his hands on the back of the chair he always sits in. “You don’t need to see that kind of ugliness.”
Charlotte sighs, glancing over her shoulder at him. “Just let me tell you why I need to be there.” She turns back to me, resting her hands on my chest. “The night I thought I killed Blade, I didn’t make it out of the clubhouse unseen. Magnum caught me. He could have dragged me back inside. Ratted me out to Blade. It probably would have gotten him a promotion. At the very least, he would have been in Blade’s good graces. He didn’t. He let me go. I owe him my life.”
“If he comes to Boston with the Demons, there’s no way we can spare him,” I tell her, planting my hands on her hips. “That’s just asking for him to go back and regroup for another attack.”
The door pops open again, and I frown as Moretti strides in.
“Why the fuck are you here?” Malachy growls, beating me to it.
“I would rather be anywhere else.” Moretti closes the door, leaning against it. “Unfortunately, we have a problem, and it’s of the significant variety.”
Charlotte spins to face the room.
