“I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself. Case in point,” she grumbled, motioning at the boys. “These guys are trespassing.”
“Are they now?” Aravis arched an incredulous brow in Jessie’s direction.
“They don’t work for me,” Jessie shrugged, rocking back on his heels. He saw the Enforcers behind Aravis all scoping out the car graveyard. He smirked to himself as their faces grew lesscocky with each passing second.
“And as the business owner, are you going to press charges?" Aravis rolled his eyes with a groan.
“Oi! Don’t I have a say in this? They beat us with a tire iron!” Pierre roared as he clambered up to his feet.
“You’re lucky I didn’t rip you apart!” Katarina was held back by a firm, fuzzy Nik arm as she lunged at the bloodied man. Pierre jerked away from her, only to flinch when he met gazes with Jessie. While he didn’t want to let Pierre off easy, he couldn’t press charges. That would end up with all five of them in a jail cell overnight. Long enough to decide better than to tell him what they were really here for.It’s not about the money!That’s what Pierre said just before the Enforcers ruined the party. If Jessie wanted answers, then he couldn’t let Aravis leave with them. Jessie opened his mouth to tell Aravis no thank you when Katarina whirled around on her heel. “If he won’t press charges, I will! They dropped in here and told me to my face they were here to hurt me. All of this was self-defense!”
Nik and Jessie swallowed audible groans of displeasure as Aravis smirked from ear to ear. “You heard her, men. Cuff them for aggravated assault.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Pierre cried out and Jessie almost joined him, but he bit his tongue. Face scrunched up, glaring at Aravis, he stepped aside to let the enforcers round up and cuff the five bloodied men in his yard. Jessie and Nik locked eyes. Nik told him in a single stare,we gotta tell her.To which Jessie replied,I need to know what Pierre knows first.But that conversation was cut off as Aravis stepped up between them.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Bonesaw.”
“You know that arrest won’t stick,” Jessie spoke in a low growl, making sure Aravis alone heard him.
“Pardon, I didn’t know you were in the business of doling out legal guidance to criminals, Mr. Bonesaw. Especially the ones who attack innocent bystanders.” Aravis cocked his head to the side, narrowing his obsidian gaze on Jessie’s face.
“I’m not,” Jessie sneered with a cruel smile on his face. “Just don’t see how this is a good use of taxpayer money, Lord Commander.”
“Why don’t you let me worry about the proper use of government funds, and you worry about your business...while you still have it.” Aravis took a step back from Jessie.Was that a threat?Jessie didn’t like to think Aravis had it out for him. There were bigger fish in the city to tackle, like the Devil in the woodsor people like Frankie the Fridge. Jessie, in the grand scheme of things, wasn’t the problem in King’s Fall.
“Have a great evening, Lord Commander.” Jessie nodded to the door and stewed in his fury the whole time he waited for them to leave. Pierre rattled in his cuffs, but there was nothing he could do. The smart move would be to let them book him and call for a lawyer to raise a riot about hearsay and battery given that Katarina didn’t catch a single punch…but Pierre wasn’t that smart. Jessie had a feeling one of those fools would say something on their way to the council building that would land them in deeper shit.Or, Aravis will offer them a deal to snitch on me, and Pierre will shut up so tight not even air could pass through his lips.
Either way, Jessie needed to address the issue at hand. The moment the Enforcers left the property, Jessie barked, “We’re closed for business! Finish up your customers and pull the doors!”
The shop rushed into action as he stormed to the giant wooden fence. With a hard crack, they shut and Nik locked them behind him. Katarina was an arm’s length from him, face fallen and panic in her eyes.
“Whoa, Jessie, wait, I need to go—”
He raised a finger to Katarina with a glare, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. Keeping that finger raised, he dialed his mother. She picked up within two rings, “Jessie, what’s wrong?”
“Ma, I need you to go pick up Bella from school. She gets out in thirty, can you step away?” He turned from Katarina, nodding at Nik. His right hand sighed, hanging his head. He motioned for Katarina to follow him, but she refused to go. Jessie stared at her firmly then nodded after Nik. Katarina’s face hardened and her arms crossed over her chest.Fine.
“Yeah, I can. Everything alright?” His mother sounded worried, more than usual.
“Everything’s fine, we’ll see you at dinner.” Jessie hung up before his mother could interrogate him. He quickly texted her which school Isabella went to—something he didn’t tell Katarinahe knewas it wasn’t important before—and stuffed his phone deep in his pocket. “You really shouldn’t have done that.”
“Done what? Let those assholes beat me up?” she scoffed.
“Nah, you can whoop anybody you want to’s ass. I don’t care. Pressing charges?” Jessie pointed further away from the fence. “Nik, turn on some noise.”
Nik nodded, not having to be told twice.I don’t trust the Enforcers not to leave some toys lying around to pick up on conversation.Before Katarina could argue, he brushed past her and stomped deeper into the maze of crunched cars and desolate parts scattered in the middle of the graveyard. He waited for her to join him. Leaning against a rusted out car, he whirled around to her. Katarina followed him between two stacks of smashed metal, all bound in rusty wire. A radio cranked on nearby as well as a rumbling engine, the sound of both echoing off the walls and muffling the world outside the wooden fence.
“Katarina, you don’teverand I fuckin’ meanevertrust the Enforcers like that again. You understand?” Jessie furrowed his brow.
“Trust the Enforcers? They caught you beating in his face, and had you not pulled me off them, they would have caught me doing it!” She threw her hands out to her side.
“Yeah, and? Unless Pierre had a problem with it, and wanted to press charges, which he wouldn’t, they can’t do shit. He was onmyproperty, making a mess withmy girl!You hear? You let Aravis walk away with him, and now I can’t fucking talk to him!” Jessie snapped his head up as Nik approached. He huffed, motioning at Katarina with one hand while the other was at his side. “You have any idea what Pierre was yapping about?”
“Nada,” Nik grumbled.
“See!” Jessie jabbed his hand at Nik as he returned his attention to Katarina.
“Wellsooorrry!” Katarina sneered, cocking out a hip. “I didn’t know you were running some underground thieves guild!”
