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Chapter Twelve
Maceo
“Esteban is a dead man!” I holler at no one in particular and everyone at once.
Everything Josephine has said about the encounter could only point to Esteban. I wanted to believe it was Lorenzo. The fucker would be easy to take care of, a bullet to the head while he was sitting at home or in his restaurant, andbing, bang, boom,done.
But no. Lorenzo was squeaky clean aside from showering my woman with love notes and flowers. I thought after I cracked his nose open with my fist he’d stop, but he still sends her them. Gauge looked into him and there was nothing to connect him to the break-in or this recent encounter.
This was Esteban trying to strike fear in my pixie and in me.
Josephine whimpers in my arms and I hold her closer.No one touches my pixie.The very thought of Esteban within grabbing distance of her makes my blood boil. I will hunt him down and torture him slowly for attempting to be near my woman.
Gauge yanks Josephine out of my grip and pulls her behind him. My reaction is to snarl my possessiveness for her, lunging at him. I’ve got five inches on him, but the fucker is strong and gets a hold of me.
“Chill, Atlas! You’re scaring her,” Gauge yells, shaking me by the shoulders.
That snaps me back to my senses. I look at my pixie. She’s staring wide-eyed back at me with tears in her bright blue eyes. My heart crumbles.
You fucking idiot, Maceo!
“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to frighten you. The fact the bastard got so close to you, the person I treasure most, kills me. All I can think of is what his intentions might have been,” I apologize and pull her back in my arms, holding her tight.
She wraps her tiny arms around me and buries her tear-filled face into my chest, my apology accepted.
“Am I the only one who still thinks this is Lorenzo?” Eagle states. “The douche was driving a fucking Lamborghini. That has Lorenzo all over it.”
“Gauge has already ruled him out. This guy was speaking Spanish, not Italian. Plus, I have eyes on Lorenzo. He’s at the restaurant right now. There’s no way he could have made it from the construction site and back to his restaurant without me noticing. Yes, he has a Lamborghini registered, but it’s yellow. I’m agreeing with Gauge, and saying no, it’s not him,” Chase says robotically while working on his computer, video surveillance tapes taking up most of his screen.
“Have you tracked down Esteban?” Eagle asks.
Chase shakes his head. “I lost him once he got onto I-25 heading toward Denver. I’m hoping Punk and Stage have something to report.”
As if on cue, Punk and Stage roll up on their hogs. Punk is off and running inside the garage toward us. “Please say you were able to follow his ass through traffic cams,” Punk growls.
He curses up a storm when we all shake our heads and inform him it’s Esteban.
“We need to check all exits surveillance footage from here to Denver. I’d bet money he got off the highway before he left the city. He didn’t come here to poke the Ravens. He came to dance. He’s here in the city, I know it,” Punk says angrily, running a hand over his shaved head. He looks over at my woman, worry consuming his face. “Fuck, Jo, are you okay?”
Josephine’s response is a whimper as she clings to me.
Punk nearly growls, reaching out to brush her hair away from her face, tenderly. I practically bare my teeth at him for touching my woman, but he ignores me, and deep down I know it’s innocent. He’s who I’ve assigned to her as a guard when I’m not available. Aside from myself, he’s the closest to her out of my men. His concern is genuine.
“We’ll catch him, Jo. Don’t worry. But no more going off on your own, you hear me? Goddamn, nearly gave me a heart attack.”
Josephine gives a curt nod, agreeing. I’m confident she has learned that lesson.
“Esteban broke into Jo’s condo?” Stage asks, scratching his thick beard, and bring us back to our dilemma. “It seems a bit below his station.”
“Maybe he assigned it to one of his men?” Gauge suggests.
“Or maybe it’s two different perps?” Chase says with a raised eyebrow. “I’m not ready to rule out Jo’s ex-asshole. He may not be here right now, but he’s constantly harassing her.”
All of us curse. That would be the worst possible scenario. We cannot afford to split our team on this.
Gauge looks directly at me. “We may need backup on this, Prez.”
I thin my eyes at him. I know where he’s going with this and I don’t like it. “We’re not taking Lorenzo’s offer. The fucker wants to get in my woman’s pants!”
