“Anton? No! He’s in Chicago?” he blurts out in shock.
“I reckon he made the trip especially for this,” I huff.
“Do you think he's behind the attempt to kidnap her before? And the attack on the operations?”
I sigh, pressing my fingers into my eyes. “I don’t know. I mean, messing with the operation makes sense, seeing as he is clearly against the alliance. But Anton doesn’t need to manipulate smaller groups to do his work. His messages are clear, not underhanded. He has too much power to bother with small-time games. If he wanted to kidnap Kayla, he would have succeeded. But then again…he might just have been toying with me for the fun of it,” I sigh.
“Playing games with you is his style,” my brother says.
“It’s true. He loves messing with people.”
“What do you want us to do?” Isaak asks. “He came into your city and handled your wife!”
“I know. And he sent a message home with her.Tell Josiah I say hello, and that he hopes my family is well.”
Isaak growls in anger. “That fucking motherfucker!”
“Look, we don’t have evidence that he’s the one who messed with the operation. For the time being, I am leaning towards him being the primary suspect, but we can’t say that until we know for sure.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t mean…”
“It doesn’t mean I'm going to do nothing. He fucked with me today, and he will pay for that. He will pay for what he did today with the full force of my wrath,” I snarl.
I hang up the phone after saying goodbye to my brother with my anger still at a boiling point.
“Josiah,” she says my name and makes me jump. “Are you going to go after that man?” she asks with her brows knitted.
“Yes, Kayla. He needs to learn that he can’t treat you, or my employees, like that and get away with it,” I tell her.
She bites her lip. “I don’t like this at all. What if he was baiting you into going after him?”
I walk over to her, gently pulling her close to me. "That wasn’t bait, sweet girl. That was a blatant threat.”
Chapter 22 - Kayla
Another day passes, and I still can’t shake this horrible feeling. There's something about Josiah’s obsession with revenge that doesn’t sit right in my chest. My mind keeps racing, trying to warn me. Although I can’t pinpoint anything specific, the feeling refuses to let up.
As I walk past his home office, I glance inside, and he hardly notices me. “Jos,” I whisper.
He looks up, his expression strained. “Can we talk?” I ask.
“Of course, baby, come in,” he says, spinning his chair away from his desk. I walk over to him, and he pulls me onto his lap and cradles me there like I’m a little broken bird.
I love his tenderness, but I hate how he's treating me like I’m broken or damaged.
I push his arm away and climb off his lap, shaking my head. “You can’t keep doing this,” I huff in frustration.
“Doing what?” he asks, clearly confused.
“I’m not broken, Josiah. I’m not this fragile little thing that is going to shatter if you speak too loudly,” I insist.
He clenches his jaw and leans forward in his seat, pushing his hand through his hair. “I know, Kayla, I just…it really scared me, what happened to you. That man had you in his hands…he…”
“You need to stop this!” I snap.
“Kayla, this is one of the reasons I broke up with you. Men like him will do anything they want. They will take what they want and hurt whoever they want to get to where they want to be,” he tries to explain.
I shake my head.
