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Sadie nodded. “We need to watch her closely, Cal. Very carefully. Once she’s lost to the drugs, there’s nothing more we can do.” Her words and her message were loud and clear. Her gaze slid to Virgil, silently communicating that he’d have Maisie to deal with if it came to that.
Bonnie would have to get clean or she’d be cut loose.
Or worse.
“Understood.” I’d do my best to make sure it didn’t come to that, but that was a thought for another time. “Now let’s talk about Savannah Rhymer.”
Sadie nodded and picked up the phone, mumbling some words, presumably to Thomas. None of us knew his exact title, only that he was always around and never more than a few feet from Ma. Always. “Have Lance bring the Rhymer girl to the salon.”
“She’s here? For fuck’s sake, Ma. Why?”
Sadie shrugged. “We need to talk her. Now. No more bullshit. No more games.” She lit another cigarette and stood, squaring her shoulders. Readying for battle.
“What do you expect to learn from her Ma? Exactly?” Savannah Rhymer was no more a delicate flower than Kat or Sadie. Or Maisie. “She won’t crack and if she does, how can we be sure the intel will have any value?”
“She is now the heiress to The Crusaders, the Rhymer heiress as well.” Though it wasn’t as big as the Ashby empire, the Rhymers had a solid wall of legit businesses in and out of Glitz. But there were definitely a few we didn’t know about. Yet.
The Rhymers had been on the rise.
Until recently.
“The point is, if she’s going to inherit Rhymer’s estate, this is the perfect time to learn who she is. How tough she is. If she’s formidable,” Sadie said, letting her gaze slide to Jasper, taunting him, “then we’ll kill her. Unless Jas wants to play with his food before he kills it.”
Jasper let out a groan to show his annoyance, much like he did as a kid when Ma was too effusive in her praise.
“Thanks Ma,” he grumbled and rubbed the back of his head. “I’m with Cal. What do you want to know? Exactly,” he said, his tone firmer than he generally used with her.
“Why Glitz? Why us?” She shrugged and sucked down half a cigarette of smoke, holding it in as she contemplated her next words before finally, dramatically, exhaling. “Call me old school, but I’d like to know just how brutal I need to be with these motherfuckers.”
Virgil stood, nodding. “I’m with Ma. Just a few questions. No touching.”
“Unless she tries to escape,” Kat offered with a sugary smile. “What? I’m just saying.” She rolled her eyes, and for a moment we felt like a normal family. Just a moment.
In the next moment, Lance Decker walked in holding onto the cuffed prisoner. Navy SEAL down to his bones. His broad shoulders were twice the size of Savannah Rhymer, his curly blond hair cut down just shy of a buzzcut. His eyes missed nothing. He scanned the room, the people, looking for any threats and all the exits within the first two seconds.
“Chair,” he barked to no one in particular.
I reached for the stool Ma kept hidden behind the weeping Ficus beside her desk. It belonged to our father, and other than a few of his guns, the only thing that remained of him.
“Has reinforced rings at the sides. Secure and uncomfortable.”
“Perfect. Thanks,” he growled and shoved Savannah onto the bronze colored metal stool. “Stay still and you’ll be fine.”
She nodded, her gaze moving around the room trying to identify everyone.
“Are you all right,” Sadie asked. “Fed? Hydrated?”
Savannah nodded.
“Good.” Sadie nodded and turned to look out the big window that overlooked a wild herb garden. Her eyes locked in a cold stare when she slowly pivoted to our captive. “Why did Ronan choose Glitz?”
“Why should I answer you?” Savannah said with a little too much attitude.
Jasper crossed the room and knelt down in front of her chair. He cleared his throat, and I knew he was about to go off on her for disrespecting Ma.
“Savannah, it behooves you to answer the questions. The sooner you answer, the sooner you can get out of here.”
He said it with so much power in his voice, I almost choked. I couldn’t tell if he was threatening her life or trying to fuck her.
She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. With her eyes fixed on Jasper, she said, “Daddy said because it was far away from Boston, where we lived when my mom died. Anything else?” Savannah kept her fear intact but she couldn’t hide it completely. She was outnumbered in this moment by her worst fucking enemies.
Sadie turned to Savannah and gestured for Jasper to move. The air was thick, intense. “Yes. With Brendan out of the picture, will you be running things soon?”
