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I frowned. “Does this make sense to anyone?”

They all shook their heads.

“The only thing we know for sure is that Target was focused on Chelsea,” Blizzard explained. “He had all her info—info that was not easy for us to get in the first place. Nothing named her parents, just foster parents. The rest of it is pretty bland, nothing suspicious.”

“He went through a lot of trouble to do this,” I said, picking up one of the other pages and eyeing it carefully. “This shit looks legit.”

My brothers nodded in agreement.

“No shit. This ain’t Photoshop. This is a document that has been altered by someone within the state who has access to this kind of shit,” Wrench explains. “I rang the prison on Leo’s info. It says they have no record of him ever being incarcerated there, so obviously they changed it back when they had the proof they needed.”

“Motherfuckers,” I muttered under my breath. “There’s a game going on here that we are very unaware of. We need to sort this shit out and now.” My voice slowly rose, my anger clearly evident to my brothers.

“That’s not the only problem,” Blizzard said solemnly

I scratched at the scruff on my face. “Fuck me! What?”

He lifted off the chair and pulled something from the back pocket of his jeans, holding it up for me to see. There were pictures. The first was of me dragging Chelsea possessively from the club after her night out with Rose. I reached over and took it from his hand, examining it closer. Flicking through the other three photos, they were all taken within minutes, even seconds of each other, but the look in my eyes was unmistakable. Even an idiot could see that I was basically staking a claim, and if they had possibly been watching from inside they could’ve even seen or heard what I’d done when I’d seen her rubbing up on that fucking bastard.

“Where were these found?” I demanded.

“Were left on one of the tables at X-Rated,” Leo growled. “I was there last night, didn’t notice anything off. One of the girls picked it up. She thought it might be significant so she gave it to me on her way out.”

“You check the camera footage from inside?” I asked, still not taking my eyes off the photo. It must have been taken with a reasonably good camera because I could see and read both our expressions and body very clearly.

The hold I had on her screamed caveman—it was dominant, strong and full of ownership.

“Cameras only showed an average looking guy. Gray suit, short hair, mid-thirties. Nothing set him apart from any other businessman that comes in. Hell, he could’ve just been another guy that had been paid to drop off a message,” Leo described. “He came in, watched a couple of the girls dance and then as he left he pulled it from his pocket and dropped it on the table.”

“He wanted to show us that it didn’t matter where she goes. He has eyes on her,” I said more to myself than my brothers as I attempted to fit together the pieces of a completely fucked up puzzle. “He wanted to prove that the connection between us is undeniable. And that I was protective of her.”

“He’s trying to scare you,” Wrench observed as he reclined back in his chair, rolling the tension from his shoulders. “Instead of taking that picture, he could have been looking down the scope of a gun and taken Chelsea out in a second. But instead, he’s sitting back, taunting and pushing buttons. It’s a damn game.”

“And we’re sure this is Anthony DePalma we’re talking about?” Blizzard asked.

“Who else?”

He shrugged. “The guy has balls of steel. He rocked up to the compound with just the big ugly bodyguard, knowing there would be ten to fifteen men here that could fill them both full of lead in milliseconds.” He folded his arms across his chest. “He doesn’t seem to be the game playing type.”

Blizzard’s observation mirrored my own thoughts. Anthony DePalma hadn’t become one of the most feared men on the east coast by making soft threats. He never waited around to play with his prey, he went straight for the jugular.

“This just proves that Chelsea is his primary target. He’s shown that he’s willing to use her to get to you,” Wrench said pointing at the photo. “She needs more protection.”

“Protection from me.” My boys all frowned and I sighed. “She wouldn’t be in this position if I’d been capable of just staying the fuck away from her.”

I saw Blizzard shake his head. “Don’t be an idiot, Op.”

“I’m being realistic.”

“No, you’re being fucking stupid,” he growled, slamming his hands on the table with a loud thud. “You’re going to give the girl fucking whiplash, and sooner or later she’s going to get tired of your fucking shit.”

I pointed at him angrily. “Watch your fucking mouth, VP.”

He shook his head but glared at me.

I knew he was right.

I’d thought about last night. We had yet to talk about what was going on, but we’d shared a night full of passion and sex and in that moment I know we’d both felt things shift.

But with this information fresh in my mind—the pictures proof—I needed to keep the fuck away from her if I wanted her to stay alive. No matter how much it would rip the two of us apart.

I wouldn’t lose another person I loved because of my own selfishness and stupidity.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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