Page 51 of Dare To Free Us
Her lack of painting told me something wasverywrong, but no matter how I tried to talk her about it she wouldn’t tell me.
Her unhappiness weighed on me heavily.To the point I was having trouble focusing on other things, and frustration had my calm demeanor caving. Seeing her so overwhelmed with dejection felt like the ultimate failure since she had yet come to me like she usually did. I’d failed to protect her and failed to be able to do anything to remedy her spirit. And the fact she’d refused to come to me on her own, burned.
A knock sounded at my door. I sat up straighter. It was not the time to be unfocused. Reluctantly, I put the Arianna concern out of my mind. The Irish don was smart, always trying to get the upper hand in any situation. I needed to be one-hundred percent in the moment.
Nico opened the door, O’Connell and his son, Daniel, entered behind him. The fact his son had come and I hadn’t been informed didn’t surprise me. The MC President, Storm, walking in with his son, Rush, as well… was not only a surprise but royally pissed me off.
I highly doubted the MC President just happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped by at the same time. This was a calculated move on O’Connell’s part.
Nice try asshole.All he managed to do was put me in a foul mood. Well, more than I already was.
With a sweep of my hand I gestured for them all to take seats. Storm and Rush had to get chairs from the table and drag them over in front of my desk. O’Connell and Daniel took the cushy chairs and Niko stood beside me. I didn’t bother to stand or greet them after their little stunt.
Nico frowned at me and I knew he had the same thought I did. His shoulders stayed a bit tense as everyone settled in.
“Matteo, you remember my son, Daniel?” O’Connell asked, with his shit mood already surfacing in the pleasantries.
“It’s been a long time, but yes.” His son had been back in Ireland for several years, running things after his father decided he wanted to stay in the US, but visited sometimes. We exchanged a nod.
“I have to say I am a bit surprised to see you two here.” I directed my gaze at the other two without holding back my scowl.
“Well we figured a friendly visit wouldn’t be a bad surprise compared to the one where you told us we are now at war. Or when we hear of a mansion full of bodies being burnt to the ground.” It was all I could do to keep from rolling my eyes.
“We’ve gone over it a million times. I’m not repeating myself.” All of them glared at me but they could shove it up their asses. “Why did you demand this meeting O’Connell? Nothing has changed.”
“Exactly, nothing has changed,” he bit out. “Things are getting messy. The streets are out of control. He’s using the same tactics his father did, slowly pulling at all the strings until the whole thing unravels. The cops are not going to stand the bloodshed for long. We need to do… something, other than add to the pile of bodies and inquiring eyes.”
“I’m guessing you have a suggestion.” I steepled my hands in front of me and prepared for a shit idea that I wasn’t going to agree with.
“We use the girl,” O’Connell said coldly. God, he sounded like a damn broken record. I had the notion to tell him to get the fuck out of my office for waisting my time, but he kept going. “Give Shura what he wants.”
I stared at him in disbelief and seething anger. “And what exactly do you think he wants?”
“A place to operate. We give him crumbs and use his sister as a way make us all tie together. He wants to use her as a paycheck, fine. My son has agreed to marry her when she comes of age. Her uncles won’t give a shit about her being kidnapped if her union brings profit. She’ll live with me until age eighteen when she can wed Daniel.”
I glanced at Daniel who sat resolute in his chair. There was cunning and intelligence accompanying his dangerous size. He didn’t say anything but felt he was a man of little words. Fine, his father rambled enough for the both of them.
“I don’t see another way Matteo,” Storm added. “He is going to bring down hell on us as soon as he feels it’s necessary, he’s already been bringing in more men. All of us have been suffering loses. He’s making too much noise. Pretty soon the FBI, DEA, and the ATF will be so far up our ass we’ll all choke on their dicks as they fuck us.”
Storm’s son glared at me like I was the big kid on the playground threatening to take his toy away, his pretty boy blond hair a stark contrast to his dad’s dark brown. Rush reminded me of a spoiled rich boy playing biker rather than someone who actually had the intelligence to run anything. At least his ever present arrogant grin was gone, I almost smiled at that.
Then my brow furrowed because not only had they come here to gang up on me about this, but more importantly they were altogether wrong.
“The problem is,” I started, trying to find patience, “that’s not what he wants. He wants to chop me into pieces and steal my wife. So if you think for a second that your son,O’Connell, promising to marry the girl will work, you have wasted everyone’s time today.”
“Actually, I haven’t.”
I raised my brow in a silent gesture, asking him to not hold us in suspense.
He cleared his throat as the others shifted in their seats. Suddenly the mood changed and it reeked of something bad so strong my nose wrinkled. Nico read the change in the room also and shifted on his feet.
“I talked to Shura,” O’Connell said without a hint of remorse.
Shock rocketed into my brain, telling me he wouldn’t fucking dare. There was no way that he would not only go behind my back and bring Storm in to get me off guard, but also go into negotiations with the man who wanted to kill me and fuck my wife. Slowly I placed my hands on the desk and rose from my chair, leaning forward. “You did what?”
My anger vibrated up my body and into my voice. My jaw cramped as I ground my teeth. I wanted to jump across the desk and rip them all apart with my bare hands.
“He can’t afford to lose again and go back to Russia in defeat. You made him desperate. But desperation can also be very dangerous. He agreed to leave your wife out of it and operate in the old territory his father had for many years.”