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“I get your concern, but low jacking Tessa is tantamount to treating her like a dog. Can’t speak for the other brothers, but this is wrong. There are other ways to protect Tess.”
“Like you protected Largo,” I snapped.
Fucker has balls telling me what to do with my woman, when he couldn’t even keep his.
No one in the room moved.
The second the words left my lips I knew I crossed the line. There wasn’t a brother in this room that didn’t know what was going on with Mercy and Largo. We all knew our brother still loved his wife. Well, ex-wife now. For Mercy, no piece of paper would ever tell him his marriage was over.
And as much as I regretted my words, I stood my ground.
Mercy slowly stood, steel fire raging in his eyes.
“None of us has a problem helping you protect Tessa. Hell, we’d all lay down for her, but you seriously need to think about what you are asking. You are asking this club to watch, monitor and follow a woman who is used to living her life as she pleases. A woman who is smart, capable and trained to protect herself. A woman who this club respects. What happened over the weekend was unfortunate and those who were involved are dead. You do this, and Tess finds out, she will never forgive you.” He retorted, then added. “And fuck you, asshole. You ever mention my wife again, I will demand retribution in the pit.”
Mercy said nothing more as he slid his chair back under the table and quietly walked out of the boardroom. It was the first time he’d ever left before a meeting ended.
None of the brothers said a damn word as the Vice President of the Soulless Sinners walked away, quietly closing the door behind him.
Rubbing my hands down my face, I didn’t know what else to do. I needed Tessa safe. Soon, she would be a mark. A target for those who wanted toeliminate me. They would use her to get to me.
Clearing his throat, Storm spoke, changing the subject. “You asked me to look into who is blacklisting, Tessa. It took some doing to trace the donation, but it originated from the JP Morgan Chase Bank on 5th. I used my connections and learned that the donation made to St. John’s Presbyterian Hospital came from a non-profit account namedMon Châtiment.”
“It’s French. My Retribution,” Malice whispered.
“Exactly,” Storm nodded. “I looked into this charity and though it’s registered with the government, there is no information on them. Not even a website. The charity or nonprofit, established three years ago, has been quiet until a month ago when it started making large donations to several hospitals in the greater New York City area. All with one stipulation. To receive the donation, the hospital must refuse to hire general surgeon Tessa Jackson.”
“What kind of donations are we talking about?” Fury asked.
“Depending on the hospital, anywhere from fifty million to five hundred million. These hospitals are clamoring for the money. With the strain of Covid, a lot of these hospitals are understaffed and in desperate need of funds.”
“You would think hiring a general surgeon would be at the top of their lists,” Payne muttered.
“Not when the large donation could hire several nurses and other staff. Money talks. These hospitals may be understaffed, and thanks to pandemic bleeding them dry, they need the funds to replenish their coffers. Three of the hospitals were on the verge of bankruptcy, but thanks to this nonprofit, they are still open. Whoever is behind this nonprofit is making it so these hospitals, while understaffed, look the other way.”
“By blacklisting my Tess.” I growled.
Storm nodded. “Yeah. It wouldn’t matter if Tessa was a world class surgeon, Montana. No hospital will hire her and forgo a donation of that magnitude. It’s bad business.”
“This makes no sense,” Vicious said, leaning forward. “I know I’m the newbie but hear me out. Storm, you said the nonprofit started three years ago. If my memory serves, wasn’t Tessa scheduled for her residency program at St. John’s Presbyterian? She was a student back then. What changed?”
“Her mother,” I replied, sitting up. “She got a call that her mom’s cancer took a turn for the worse. She withdrew from the program and moved back home to be with her.”
“What else?” Vicious persisted, shaking his head. “That can’t be the only thing. No one could predict her mother’s cancer would get worse. No. It must be something else. Because with that information alone, and correct me if I’m wrong, Storm, if Tessa stayed, she’d be a resident at the hospital.”
“She would have been, yes. A resident student places with hospitals depending on grades, skill and so forth. Tessa was at the top of her class. She could have gone anywhere, yet she accepted St. John’s Presbyterian,” Storm stated.
“But that never happened because of her mother. I’m betting this nonprofit was getting ready to make its first donation back then but didn’t because Tessa withdrew from the program before they could. Which begs the question, ignoring her mother, what was happening in Tessa’s life three years ago?”
“I branded her,” I muttered.
“You claimed her?” Vicious stated, smirking. “That’s got to be it. The President of the biggest M.C. in the United States, with charters in several countries around the world, not to mention the fact that you are a billionaire. I’m just gonna say what we’re all thinking here, Prez. This blacklisting has nothing to do with Tessa. It’s about you.”
“Vicious is right, Prez,” Fury agreed. “I remember the branding ceremony. The club partied for three days. We had brothers flying in from all over to celebrate. It’s not every day that the President of a National Chapter brands a woman.”
“There’s more. Isn’t there, Prez?” Happy asked, steadily looking at me. “You wouldn’t just brand Tessa. You wanted to marry her, too. Didn’t you?”
I nodded. “After the branding, I was going to wait a few weeks before introducing her to Mom and Dad. I planned on asking Tessa to marry me at dinner with the family.”
