Panicked, laughter dying, I leap off the bed to follow her. “Hey baby, why don’t I run you a bath?”
I spend the next few hours pampering my women. There’s laughter, but beneath it is the understanding that before dawn breaks, we’re heading into war.
43
DECLAN
“I don’t like this,” Colt mutters from the backseat. I don’t either, but no way could I get Cara to budge on this. She insisted on being here.
It’s only right we do this at Knight Street. It’s the place where everything started for us. And we know every inch of this place. We can lock it down.
Cara turns to glare at him. “This is my fucking life, Colt. I am not going to sit by while the men fix this.” He growls and crosses his arms over his chest. He’s protective as fuck. It used to annoy the shit out of me. But I get where he’s coming from now. Cara’s mine, and I don’t want her anywhere near this either.
“You promise you have this locked down?” I ask him. For the millionth time. To his credit, he doesn’t show a hint of impatience at having to answer again.
“Swear. My guys are everywhere and have been since we sent that message.”
It’s early, but in this area of town, a few of the businesses are waking up. But we’ve got a few hours yet before things get busy. We have the night to ourselves.
We could have waited, maybe. Done this later tonight. But I want this done for Cara. I want them out of her life for good.
“And the other thing?” I ask him. He glances at Cara, then back at me, and nods. Good. This will be done soon.
We all roll up, all my brothers here to support Cara. Once we’re in the office, I pull her to the side. “You’re here. I won’t fight you on this. We’ve done everything we can to make this safe, but I need you to stay where I put you.” She opens her mouth to argue, and I cover it gently with my hand. “No. I will not risk you getting hurt. You’ll be in there with us, but you’re going to be safe behind one of the cars. These men have a lot to lose, and that makes them dangerous. Promise me you’ll stay hidden. I will not survive you getting hurt. You own too much of me now.”
Her face softens and she slides into my arms. “Okay.”
I’m terrified she’ll expose herself, come out into the open, and be hurt, but I have no option but to trust her. I thought about locking her up somewhere to keep her safe, but taking away her control like that might break us, and I can’t fucking do it. I can’t risk losing her.
“I won’t do anything stupid. I don’t want anyone hurt, but I can’t stand sitting around and waiting any longer. That’s not me. I need...”
“You need some control back.”
“Yeah, I do.” Her face is white, eyes wide. She’s scared, but I see her determination in the set of her shoulders. She’s going to see this through, no matter what.
“Tell me again what the plan is.”
“They’ll arrive. Ransom will lay out some of what we’ve found and tell them that if they don’t drop the bullshit charges against you, everything will be turned over to the police. They agree, walk out of here, and it’s done.”
“You say it like it’s all going to be fine, but so much could go wrong.”
“We weren’t always on the straight and narrow...fuck, we aren’t now. This is not the first time we’ve been up against men out to get us. It won’t be the last. We’ve got this.”
EVERYTHING IS GOING TO PLAN. THEY SHOW UP, PREDICTABLY PUFFED UP AND THREATENING US, AND Ransom is fucking ice. We’re all scattered around the room, surrounding the two men, ready for anything. I can feel Cara’s eyes on my back like a laser cutting through me. But she stays put.
When it goes off the rails, it’s sudden. Jackson, faced with the mountain of evidence Ransom slapped on the hood of an old sedan, goes on the attack. “You fuckers are done. I’m the fucking District Attorney. I will have you all up on charges so fast your balls will shrivel. And all of this,” he says, waving at the files, “is a desperate attempt to discredit me. I will spin this so fast, you’ll lose everything.”
The Judge, mostly silent up to this point, pastes a sneer on his face. “You have no idea who you’re fucking with. In the court of public opinion, we will destroy you.”
I catch Colton’s eye, and he reaches into his pocket with a nod. When he nods again, I step forward. I am done listening to this. Done standing by. My brothers startle when I step forward, all but Colt anyway. “Time’s up.”
“Ah, Mr. Wilder. Your fingerprints are all over this. This is what you do, after all, dig for dirt? You’re nothing better than a scavenger, hunting through garbage for the filth.”
“Filth. That’s a funny word coming from your mouth. You know all about filth, don’t you, Jackson?”
Ransom steps back, eyes flat, to outsiders at least. I can read the what the fuck are you doing look on his face. This isn’t me. I don’t ever do the talking. I mean, ever. I’ve always been content to let my very capable brother handle things.
Not anymore. I shoot Ransom a grin. Time to have some fun. Because for the first time, I know I have this. These fuckers have no idea what’s coming. There is even more shit in this guy’s background than even my brothers know.
