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I’m just closing the door behind the delivery man when my phone rings. Pulling it free from my pocket, I quickly answer it.
“What you got, man?” Guessing I’m in no mood for niceties, he gets on with it.
“Her name is Eva Trent, 25, lives in Camden. I’ll send you the address. Otherwise, her record is clean.”
“Cheers,” I say, ending the call. I make a note to find time to pay her a visit and find out who she is to Axel, especially in light of his earlier confession. Something makes me think she’s of some importance.
I spend the rest of the day sorting out the replacement of the new windows and throwing a couple of backhanders to the relevant people to ensure Rogue can open tonight.
At around five, the bar manager, Chase, arrives along with a couple of the bar staff. After a quick chat about what happened last night, I disappear off to meet Maddox.
When I arrive at the docks, I find Maddox chatting to Bowser. They finish up just as I stop next to Maddox, and Bowser gives me a nod in greeting before heading back off to the warehouse.
“Where is he?”
“I had Rocky take him to the house and secure him downstairs.” Maddox begins walking towards the car, and I follow behind him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I have my reasons. Now let’s go.”
After I knocked Axel out, I called Maddox. He didn’t give me details over the phone because that would be fucking stupid, but he told me to have the package delivered to the house.
“Bad day at the office?” I jest as we reach the car and both climb in. Maddox doesn’t answer, just side-eyes me with a grunt. Deciding not to push him, I ask, “And last night, what’s the word on that?”
Wheel spinning onto the main road, narrowly missing a car, Maddox slams the car into third and tears off down the street.
“Not a fucking peep. And with no sign of Laskin’s crew last night, that tells me he knew something was going down at the very fucking least.”
“This is not his style. The guy has assassins for hire. There’s no fucking way he’d shoot up Rogue.” We drive in silence for the next thirty minutes. As we pull up to the gates to our home, I ask, “What about the tip off from Ripley, where did that come from?”
“I checked with him this morning,” he says, stopping in the garage. “He has a mate in the Acers. They go way back, and Ripley trusts him, despite who he runs with.”
The Acers are a pain in our fucking arse, but they aren’t a big threat to us. A small outfit that have gained a bit of traction in the last year thanks to Rogers taking out their main rivals. No doubt the guy has an ulterior motive, he always fucking does, but so far, the Acers have managed to remain outside of the main trifecta that pulls the strings of London like a damn puppet.
Inside the house, we find Rocky in the kitchen talking to Maria, the housekeeper, and stuffing his face. The house is full of the aroma of roasted lamb, rosemary and garlic, and there’s the sweet and unmistakable scent of melted chocolate.
“Ah, here are my boys. Just in time for a nice roast,” Maria states, stepping round the island to give each of us a hug.
“Hey, Maria. Something smells delicious.” I release her, and she goes to check the pans on the hob.
I watch from the corner of my eye as Rocky gives Maddox a nod, letting him know that everything is ready.
“Get washed up, boys. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes.” Mad goes to speak, but she stops him. “Dinner first, then business. He’s been there all day, a little while longer won’t hurt. Now, come.”
I stifle a laugh, giving Rocky a slap on the back as I pass.
Maria and her husband, Arthur, used to work for Rogers’ father Theo, and had been with the family for years. After Theo was murdered and Rogers took over, he got rid of a lot of Theo’s most loyal men.
About six months after Theo’s death, Arthur went missing. He was gone for several more months before his body turned up floating down the Thames. When we heard what had happened, we moved Maria in here with us. The woman had lost everything. For as long as I can remember, she was a part of our lives. Cooking and cleaning, and even fixing us up too if we got hurt whilst on a job. I’ve no doubt this woman could put a lot of men, us included, behind bars for a very long time with the information she knows and the things she’s seen over the years.
Despite Maddox’s impatience to get to business, he does as she asks, and we eat dinner first.
ChapterEleven
Roxy
Igently remove the arm that’s laying across my body, trying not to wake him, and slip from the bed. Closing the bathroom door behind me, I lean against it and stare at the ceiling for several seconds, silently berating myself for being so stupid last night.
I climb into the shower and turn it on, wincing as the icy-cold water rains down on me. When I arrived home last night, Noah was here waiting for me in his car. To say he was pissed at me would be a slight understatement. But it’s nothing to how I was feeling. Unfortunately, amongst all the other emotions that were warring in my body, horny was top of the list. I had planned to come home and quite literally send myself into an orgasm induced coma. So, when we got inside and Noah was spouting about how irresponsible I was and how I could have got hurt or ruined everything, I couldn’t help myself as he stepped into me, wrapping me in his arms.
