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“I already have. You know how Liam likes to brag.”
“Hey—”
“The club owner,” Sedric cut him off, his voice stern and low. I could hear him flipping through something. This was business.
“Yeah. He was in a coma. I guess we were a little too rough.” Liam snickered. Though Liam had been the one to take care of it all.
“He’s awake and I want you to burn down his club,” Sedric said before Liam could say anything else. “I heard he had a business partner. Make sure he can’t stand on his legs either.”
“Understood. Is Otis talking?” I asked.
“All of you need to be on the lookout. A new gang is in the city. They call themselves the Seven Bloods. We’ve lost a lot of cocaine about the same time they started selling theirs. It’s a perfect match to ours.”
“A gang did this?” Neal finally chimed in.
“We were all gangs once. They aren’t any different. Not only do they not respect us, they are far more organized than they let on. The Ram is one of their houses.”
“Are you sure we shouldn’t just kill them?” Liam questioned.
There was a pause for a moment. “Declan, go the hospital tonight and see if you can get more out of Otis. If not, then do what you need to do. Neal and Liam, I want you to head to the club tonight. I already have cars for you to switch with before you go.”
He hung up.
“Have either of you heard of the Seven Bloods?” Neal asked.
“No,” Liam answered before hanging up on Neal.
“I’m sick of my father making me go on these brotherly assignments with him.”
“Well, if either of you fuck up, it will be your last assignment, that’s for sure.”
If there was one thing Sedric Callahan didn’t tolerate, it was a mistake.
I hung up before Neal could bitch at me.
FOUR
“You don't find love, it finds you. It's got a little bit to do with destiny, fate, and what's written in the stars.
?Anais Nin
CORALINE
On the car ride home I tried not to think of him, but I turned on my phone anyway hoping that he had called or texted even though I had once again pushed him away. However, instead of seeing anything from him, I had forty missed calls from Imani. Shit. I had turned off my phone because none of them ever called, especially if they still had money in their accounts. In the four years I was away I don’t think I had ever gotten a call from them for any other reason.
She’s okay, right? Uncle Adam was just in my office this morning; he would have said something…
Dialing, I called her back.
“Where are you? I called you like million times!” she yelled and then broke out into a fit of sobs.
“Imani…”
“Cora.” She sobbed.
“Imani? Are you okay? What is it?”
“Otis got in a fight at the club and he’s beat up really badly and ended up in the hospital. They had to put him in a coma.”
“Oh my God, I am so sorry! What do you need me to do?”
“Can you come here? I can’t see him alone, they’re waking him up now. What if he doesn’t remember me or something?!”
“Imani, breathe, okay? This isn’t a Lifetime movie, he will remember you. Which hospital are you in? I’ll be right there.”
“Mercy. Do you remember how to get here?”
“Yeah. I’ll be right there, okay?”
I didn’t know Otis very well, but what kind of monster would hurt someone to the point where they needed to be placed into a medically induced coma, for God’s sake?
DECLAN
The hospital wasn’t that far from me and I wanted to go alone. But Sedric demanded that I have back up. Usually he left things like this to our people to handle. The fact that he had called on us meant that he saw the Seven Bloods as a real threat, and that he wanted them out of his city as soon as possible. I had changed into all black, and was now riding my motorcycle. I gripped on tightly as I sped down the street, cutting off more than two cars off before entering the hospital parking lot. I found a parking spot and pulled off my helmet. Eric and Patrick were already there. They handed me a gun and I glanced at it before I shook my head.
“The sensors are off,” he stated.
“No. You two carry. I doubt a gun will scare him. He knows I can’t just shoot him here. I’ll have to be more…creative.” I adjusted my gloves and stepped off my bike.
Patrick nodded as we turned to walk inside. “I heard most of the crew left him last night. He only has a few friends around him right now. If there’s any trouble, we have people here.”
I paused once we got to his floor. “Well then, why don’t we make some new friends?”
One of the nurses at the station tried to stop me from going in. Eric spoke to her and without any further questions, we went up the elevator. I hated hospitals. It brought back too memories for me, but I was sure that that was why Sedric had sent me here—to make sure I could work in a place I hated and still keep a clear head.
When we opened door, we found that the place was eerily quiet; the nurses all drifted around like ghosts.
“That one,” Eric whispered as he pointed to the room, and I walked on and pushed through the opening of the door.
Otis lay on the bed with his hand in a cast, his face a swollen mess, and a small woman who sat beside him crying. However, neither of them caught my attention. It was Coraline who stood just off to the side, still in that goddamn dress from this afternoon, who surprised me. Her mouth dropped open when she saw me and I was sure that if this were any other place and any other time, I would have shared her astonishment.
However, I ignored her and focused on the man in the bed.
“Hello, Otis,” I said as I walked over to the foot of his bed.
“You two know each other?” The small woman beside him wiped her eyes.
“We go away back. Don’t we, Otis? You ladies mind if I talk to my friend in private? I really want to know who did this to him.” I forced myself to stay focused on the man in front of me.
“Babe, go,” he whispered to the girl beside him.
She looked between us oddly.
“Babe,” he said more sternly.
“Imani, come on, let’s get you something to eat,” Coraline said as she came up beside me, and I wished I could reach out and touch her.
I ignored the urge to look at her as she and her friend left.
“What do you want, Callahan?” Otis asked me. “Breaking my bones wasn’t enough for you people?”
“Are you bitching at me right now? Should I feel bad for the fucking moron who thought he could disrespect my family’s name? You’re lucky bones can heal. If it were me, I would have taken your tongue.” I replied as I grabbed the IV and wrapped it around his neck.
“Agh—” he tried to scream, but I pulled tighter causing him to claw at my hands.
“I’m going to say this once. You have two choices—work for us, or die for them. And remember, if you make the wrong choice, death will come for you in small, painful doses,” I hissed.
I released the line just slightly, but he wasted his words.
“The Seven Bloods will kill me.”
I strangled him again and he gasped as his body rose from the bed.
