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“I’m speaking the truth. Now you listen to me, Knoxville Bronson.” I tense at hearing my real name from her, she only uses it when she’s serious. “I may be tender toward Gio for what he did for me and you kids but, if you find out he had anything to do with hurting River or… if you find out he hurt your… if he hurt my baby–” A whimper escapes her. Closing my eyes for a second, I force my own emotions to remain in check. “You bring that son of a bitch back to me. Do you hear me? If he hurt my little girl, you bring that bastard back to me, am I clear?” A smile crests across my face. My mom is a badass. People think because of who my father was that I get my ruthlessness from him. They’re fucking wrong, that shit is all from my mom.
“You have my word.”
“I choose you, Son.”
“I choose you, Mom.” I end the call. I never said I love you as a kid. Mom said it was because I watched other kids say it to their fathers and refused to say it to anyone because of that. So one day she started to say she chose me. After a while, Wave and I both started saying it back and that saying became our thing until I said it to someone else and it seems she recalls those three words. Hearing her say them to her sister today floored me. I forgot all about her knowing them, so hearing her say them sent me back down memory lane to the first night I said it to her.
“You’re it for me, Lakeland Deveraux. I choose you forever.”
“What does that mean?” she whispered, nothing but love shining in her eyes as I cupped her cheek and leaned forward, resting my head against hers as I breathed her in.
“People always say I love you but love never lasts. I don’t want to be the person you love, I want to be the person you choose because being chosen by someone means they are your person. They are the person you fight for, live for and if it comes to it, you die for them. So, I choose you, kitten.”
When we reach the new house, dusk is starting to set and Lake is still knocked out in the back seat. I carefully lift her out of the car and look around to see my men scattered around the house and yard. Walking to the front door it’s opened from the inside before I even have to knock or say a word. I take two steps inside before Taylan is on me and looking at the girl in my arms with worry.
“She passed out after one of those headache things,” I say before he can ask.
“What triggered it?” he asks.
“I said Waverly’s name.” His shocked gaze meets mine before he nods.
“We need to figure out why the fuck she keeps blacking out, it’s not normal, brother. Second room on the right is yours,” he says as he points in the direction of the rooms. This is the first time we’ve been to this house since acquiring it six years ago. The room is nothing special, it’s small. The house itself isn’t even large, but what is perfect about this house is we own the two beside it and the three on the opposite side of the street from it. I lay her gently on the bed and remove her sneakers before pulling the throw blanket over her. Before I can do something stupid like climb in beside her, I leave and close the door quietly behind myself and head into the lounge room where I find Floyd, Xan, Tay, Patrick and Thomas.
“I thought I told you to stay with—” Xander cuts me off before I can finish going at Thomas.
“She didn’t make it.”
“Fuck,” I growl tugging on the strands of my hair, I man up and ask Xander. “Where is River?” His face hardens at the mention of her, I know he’s mad and I get it but we need to deal with this now.
“We called Jerry and paid off the mortician at the local funeral home to fuck off for a couple days. Jerry just got to her about an hour ago. He’ll take care of her and prep her for… her farewell,” Taylan answers. I nod. Jerry is our Mortician on staff and the only one we trust to handle our fallen soldiers.
“Once he’s finished with River, I want him back home to take care of Laura, Sophie and the rest of our men. All their funeral costs will be covered by us and their families are to be taken care of.” I look at Patrick as I finish. “I want you to organize the transportation of the fallen and oversee the arrangements for their families. When you get home, call my mom and she will notify the families and sort out taking care of them.” Patrick nods and leaves immediately. Next I turn to Floyd who stands straight under the pressure of my gaze. “I need another hacker, find me one within the next two hours. When we get Tristan back, he is to be given the full rat treatment, he will face each of us and the men.” He nods. “An invitation will be sent to each of the fallen’s families as well. They will be given a chance to claim a pound of flesh from the rat that cost them their loved ones.”
I turn and walk out of there, needing to place a call that is going to wound my pride but I know through the grapevine and from experience that he is the best at what he does. “Knox, hold up.” I pause and turn to see Taylan and Xander coming after me. I motion for them to follow me out the back and claim one of the old wooden seats, they both stand and lean against the railing as they look at me expectantly. Sighing, I lean back in my chair and stab a hand through my hair.
“What happened at the hospital?” Xander asks. I lull my head back and stare up at the sky as I answer.
“They ran tests on her. I was waiting for them to come back and tell me that River’s story was bullshit and she was drunk the night of the accident but…”
“But what?” Tay presses. I look between the both of them before answering.
“All her medical records from six years ago don’t exist, there is no trace of her ever being in the hospital.” They both frown and exchange a look before looking back to me.
“What the fuck does that mean? River said she was in the hospital for months,” Tay breathes out.
“It means there may be some truth to what River said and she wasn’t drunk.” I nod my agreement. “Lakeland thinks Knox or one of our guys ran her down because that’s what she was told… but what if those are both just bullshit and the truth is the most farfetched story, the story her own sister told us?”
“I’m not saying I believe it but I’m going to call Knight Murdoch and ask for his help.”
“Why?” Xander snaps.
“What the hell for?” Taylan grits out.
“Because the last hacker we had was a fucking rat and I know for a fact that Knight is the best at what he does. Do you know how much that guy gets paid from other families to find shit out? He is one of Bishop’s greatest assets. I’d say it’s because of him that Bishop is always a step ahead of everyone else.” Neither of them look happy about my idea but we are out of options. “I need to know the truth about that night. I need to know if the girl I fell in love with did kill my sister because she is a selfish bitch or not.” The anguish in my tone has both of them nodding.
“Do it.”
“Put it on speaker,” They say unison. Nodding my head, I pull my phone from my pocket and dial Knight’s number. It rings for so long I begin to think he won’t answer but when he finally does he isn’t happy.
