Page 30 of Shield and Savior
Alana leans back in her chair. “It’s been going on for a few weeks now.” She reaches for her coffee mug that says “bad bitch” on it. “Specs has been keeping it off her radar, but the threats are getting more violent.”
Vomit races up my throat, and I swallow it before it can make its brazen escape. “Does her family know?”
Alana shakes her head. “They know he’s tried to make contact, but so far I’ve been able to keep them off his scent. He’s a dirty motherfucker. We’ve got footage of him talking with The Deviant, trying to broker a deal to get Majesty in the country.”
I consider all the evidence and swing at one hopeful thought. “Any chance he’s stringing The Deviant along?”
“No. He has a personal vendetta against the Four Families. He’s proudly working with The Deviant, no doubt about it.”
I hate this. The fucking sperm donor is hovering over Izzy and Drew’s life like a phantom ready to attack. Fuck. My stomach knots up, and heat burns my back. Alana narrows her eyes, and I shift under her gaze. She reads me way too well. It’s the reason we can’t play poker together. Well, that, and she cheats.
“You okay?” she asks, taking another sip of her coffee.
I give a halfhearted shrug. “It sucks.”
“We’ve got three circles of protection around her at any given time, plus whatever the Four Families are providing. You’re her body man.”
I’m her body man. Ugh, so many things about this feel right and wrong. “Yeah.”
“Are you taking this seriously? Keeping it professional?”
My spine snaps straight. “Of course.”
Alana’s laptop beeps, and she drags her eyes from me to the screen. She sighs and opens her desk drawer and out comes an aspirin bottle. “Awesome,” she says in a tone that’s clearly not awesome at all. “More issues with the medical insurance.” She starts typing and continues her conversation with me. “There’s a training on Majesty next week. Make sure you go. If the Four Families can’t hold back The Deviant. Majesty will flood the market, and we’ll have another crack epidemic. They know it, and they’re the last line of defense, so keeping Nessie and Champ safe is your number one priority. Got it?”
Yeah, like those two don’t dominate ninety-six percent of my thoughts. Oh. “Hey, she has a wedding she needs to go to but she can’t take the kid. Since it’s the weekend, I thought I could go with her, and Specs could watch Champ. They have a whole Minecraft and pizza hangout thing they want to do.”
As we’re talking, Specs pops into the office. Alana doesn’t waste any time confirming my request. “Hey, you want to go to a wedding for mob associates or hang out with the kid playing Minecraft?”
Specs thinks it over. “Can I get drunk at the wedding?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Can I join the Minecraft server and build a house?”
“As long as you keep the kid safe.”
“From Creepers and Mobs? Sure,” Specs says with a shrug.
“From fucking assassins.”
Specs rolls his eyes, “Well, obviously I’d do that too.” He leans against the door frame, regarding Alana like she’s losing her mind.
Alana pops two aspirin and downs it with whatever’s left in her mug. “I guess you’ll dive on the wedding bomb?” She eyes me up and down. “Did you want overtime?”
“Can I drink if I’m off the clock?”
She frowns. “No. But you can get extra cake.”
“A long-ass wedding ceremony for strangers and awkward conversations plus cake in my free time. Sounds like a party,” I say.
Alana opens her drawer and slides me a folder. “Got another mock up for the logo.”
It’s an elephant standing on its hind legs, holding a gun all John Wick-style. “I hate it.”
She looks at the picture and back at me. “What? Why? It’s so edgy and cool, like we are.”
“It’s fucking stupid. Try again.”