Page 6 of Revenge & Truth

I paused to take in his appearance. There were bags under his eyes that even his glasses couldn’t hide, which caused his blue eyes stand out more. His hair was mussed like he hadn’t bothered to brush it, which was highly unusual for the meticulous man.

Setting aside my shoes, I walked up to him, took the binder out of his hands, and directed him to the bench at the end of my bed. I gently removed his glasses and realized two things. One, those dark circles weren’t from lack of sleep but looked more like it was from a black eye that was fading. Rage swelled in me as I gingerly brushed my fingers over his left cheekbone. He flinched slightly, telling me this had happened far more recently than it looked. Suspicious, I applied a little more pressure to a far less swollen area, and makeup came away on my finger.

It took everything in me not to storm out of my room and find the person who dared lay a hand on my men. Instead, I cupped his face, tilting it up so he met my gaze. “What happened?” I whispered, trying to keep the fury out of my tone, knowing he’d think I was mad at him.

“It happened last night,” Atticus started, dropping his gaze. “We were at the last club we needed to audit, and they refused to let Braxton in the building when they found out who he was. They said they no longer needed the Caprioni Family protection if it was going to be run by a whore. It seems they’ve made an agreement with Harvey to manage the girls and drugs that go through their club. Braxton told them that wasn’t how things worked, and they couldn’t just walk away from the deal they had with us. He then told them they could buy out of the contract, but we would need to be paid in full for the inventory they have on hand and the money they still owed us.”

I let my hands fall away from his face, knowing I couldn’t keep them from shaking at the rage I was feeling. “They attacked you? Didn’t you bring along protection?”

Atticus looked at me with sadness and fear swirling in his gaze. “When Braxton wouldn’t back down, they drew their guns to prove how serious they were. I wanted us to leave and come back when we considered the best course of action. Braxton was reluctant but started to back away. That was until the owner of the club taunted him, saying all kinds of insulting things about you, then calling him a slur about preferring males in a sexual manner. I’d really rather prefer not to repeat that term. Nothing could stop him at that point, and he pulled his gun on the man, but we were outnumbered. Honestly, I think we’re lucky to be alive and only coming back with minor bruises.”

“Why didn’t either of you call me?” I snapped, unable to keep my temper from showing. “Anyone thinking they can lay a finger on any of my people is unacceptable.”

“Someone called the cops, and they swarmed the area. It was almost like they were lying in wait for something to happen. Braxton concluded we were set up, and they wanted a fight or for us to kill someone so that more of us would be thrown in jail,” Atticus explained. “I wanted to call you. I knew it was the right choice, but Braxton took my phone from me, so the second we got back, I came right here to tell you.”

Just as he finished speaking, Braxton burst into my room, not even bothering to knock, his chest heaving as if he ran all the way up the stairs. His dark brown hair was wild, adding to the chaotic energy he had swirling around him. His face was covered in bruises, his bottom lip split, and a cut just above his brow confirmed what I’d just been told. Not that Atty would ever lie to me, but what else it told me is Braxton made to protect his fellow lieutenant.

“Please, before you punish me for not calling you, there is an exceptionally good reason I did that,” Braxton blurted, holding his hands up to stop me from speaking. “Give me a chance to explain it all to you, then you can do what you feel is necessary.”

I glanced down at my watch, cursing under my breath. “I need to go see Luca right now, but when I come back, you better have an explanation of a lifetime for failing to tell me what the fuck happened last night.” Dropping onto the bench, I slipped on my shoes and grabbed my jacket. “In the meantime, get cleaned up, and I want you both to see Dr. Hayden. We need to make sure there’s no underlying injuries or internal bleeding.”

Braxton nodded. “Yes, Mistress.”

Heading for the door, I paused in front of Braxton, reaching out to put a hand gently on his chest. “I’m still pissed, but I’m glad you made it back in one piece.”

“Me too,” he whispered, placing his hand over mine and slightly squeezing it. “Go see Luca. I know how worried you’ve been.”

With a quick kiss on the unbruised cheek, I hurried out of my rooms and down to the front door where Liu was waiting.

“Everything okay? I saw Braxton running up to your rooms like his feet were on fire,” Liu commented when I joined him.

I just shook my head and wrapped my arm around his. “Let’s talk about that later. There are only so many problems I can deal with at once. After we meet with Luca, then we can manage Braxton’s issue.”

“Of course,” Liu said with a nod and escorted me to his car which was pulled up to the front door.

The drive took forty-five minutes since the prison was outside city limits, but getting a chance to see the more rural side of Springmont was a nice change. Then we pulled up to the barbwire entrance of Ashgate, and the cheerfulness fell away. A guard stopped us, took our IDs, and marked us off on a sheet directing Liu to where he could park. Then we had to make our way through security, get patted down, and have my purse and his briefcase examined before we could enter the waiting room.

“I thought we were going to be meeting with Luca in a private room for lawyers?” I whispered.

Liu hummed his agreement. “We have to wait here for them to escort us to one of those rooms and get Luca from solitary.”

“Fuckers really like to show off their God complex, don’t they?” I mumbled.

Liu’s lips twitched in a smile, but he didn’t comment on my thoughts. They left us waiting there for almost half an hour before a guard entered the room. “Lawyer for Luca Velius.”

We both stood and walked over to the man. “Sorry, just his lawyer can go back.”

“She’s my assistant,” Liu challenged. “By law, you can’t refuse to keep my client from a fair trial, and preventing his defense from doing their job would be breaking that law.”

The guard looked me up and down as if he was searching for another reason not to let me through. “Don’t get your dick twisted. Your fuck toy can come with this time, but it’s not gonna happen again.”

I wanted to roll my eyes at this idiot, but I managed to control myself, choosing to give him a tight smile instead. We followed the guard through many airlock system gates as if he were trying to show off how impossible it was for anyone to escape. The stupid thing was all it took was one key to open them all, so if that happened to go missing or a copy was made, someone might have a chance.

Finally, we reached the intended destination, and the guard unlocked the door, holding it open. “Here you go. The inmate will be here in a few minutes. It’s a long walk from isolation to the main building.”

As I entered the room, I slid up against the guard, letting my hand bush across his crotch. “Thank you, sir,” I murmured, fluttering my lashes at him. “You’ve been so incredibly helpful.”

The guard’s chest swelled as did his cock. “Just doing my job.”