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Chapter 36
Shane
Iglance at my brothers as they sip macchiatos and laugh amongst themselves while we wait for our lawyers to finalize some paperwork. We are about to add Jessie’s name to the deeds of every property and legal business that we own and it requires all four of our signatures. Jessie doesn’t know yet and she would no doubt try and talk us out of it if she did because she has no desire for money or material things.
We got a new team of lawyers in after I fired our previous one, which was headed by my ex-fiancée, Erin McGrath. She made it clear on more than one occasion how much she hated my new wife and our lifestyle and so I couldn’t have her working for us any longer. I stopped trusting her and I need to trust my lawyer. This new one came highly recommended but they work for the same firm as Erin, so I’m waiting to see if they can prove themselves trustworthy enough to handle all of our business affairs.
It’s not often my brothers and I get out like this these days, at least not for business, but our signatures need to be witnessed by two lawyers, so we have left Jessie to spend some time with her newly found half-brother. The kid seems to adore his big sister, not that I can blame him; she is pretty fucking adorable. I’m still not one hundred percent sure about him but I’m not sure I ever will be.
I am anxious to get back to her, and I know my brothers will be too. We’ve always been over-protective when it comes to her, but now that she’s carrying our babies too, well it just made my irrational desire to never let her leave the apartment ever again increase one hundred fold. The fact that she has left the apartment to get ice cream with Hayden makes me paranoid and suspicious, but according to Jessie, I’m always paranoid and suspicious and I need to learn to trust people more.
I go back to looking out the window as my cell starts ringing. I take it out and frown as I see Chester’s name flashing on the screen. He’s one of our most trusted and experienced security personnel, but as such, it’s usually Conor or the twins who deal with him. He is also one of Jessie’s personal security detail, so if he’s calling me, this isn’t a regular work thing, this is a Jessie thing. My heart sinks in my chest as I raise the cell phone to my ear.
“Chester?” I bark when I answer the call.
“Code red, boss. Daisy’s ice cream parlor,” is all he says before he ends the call because that is what he’s been instructed to do.
He protects my wife and I want every single bit of his focus and attention to be on her. Code red is the highest threat level and it’s the one that makes the blood freeze in my veins. That’s all he has to say because all I need to know is where she is and the fact that she’s in danger, and any seconds he’s spending telling me what’s going on are valuable seconds that he’s wasting protecting her. I have our best men watching her everywhere she goes and I have to trust that they will protect her with their lives because I wouldn’t be able to function if I didn’t.
Adrenaline kicks in and I focus on getting out of this office and getting to her because if I think about what might be happening or the fact that she and our babies are in danger I wouldn’t even be able to put one foot in front of the other.
“Boys. We’re leaving. Now!” I bark as I walk toward the door.
“What’s happened?” Conor asks as the three of them fall into step behind me.
“Code red,” I say and I watch as each of their worlds comes simultaneously crashing down around their ears. I can’t deal with it right now though. We have to focus. We have to get to her and pray that our team don’t let her down.
“I knew that piece of shit was bad news,” Liam shouts. “What the fuck, Shane!”
“We should never have let her go anywhere with him,” Mikey adds, his voice cracking.
“You are aware that would never work,” Conor snaps. “This is Jessie we’re talking about. Let’s just fucking get to her.”
“The team are with her. They’ll take care of her.” I try to reassure them, wishing with everything single thing that I have that it’s true.
“What if something happens…?” Liam says what we’re all thinking but he can’t even bring himself to finish the sentence.
“She’s got six ex-Navy SEALs protecting her. They’ll do their jobs,” Conor adds as he glances at me and I know that he’s feeling just like I am. There is conviction in his words but there is still doubt in his mind.
We walk straight past the elevator and run down the three flights of stairs to the basement to our car. Even if we break every speed limit there is on the way, it will still take us forty-five minutes to get to her and that is way too long. Chester will update me as soon as there is something to update, as is the protocol. And until then all we can do is wait and hope that she is safe. The thought of something happening to her and our babies is too much to contemplate. We have lost her twice and even though we got her back, both times it almost broke us. If we lost all of them, it’s not something any of us could come back from. It would be the end of us as we know it.
As Conor drives, my mind races with questions. Who the fuck is she in danger from? Is this something to do with Hayden? Or someone else? Is it someone who’s trying to get to us through her? It can’t be a coincidence that it happened today when we were out of the city. Who knew that we wouldn’t be around?
I hold my cell phone in my hand and have to hold back from dialing Chester’s number and asking him what the fuck is going on, because that could be moment that he gets distracted and he loses her. But fuck, it is killing me not to know, just as much as it’s killing all of us that we’re not there when she needs us.
“We should have heard from him by now,” Liam snarls from the back seat.
“He’ll call as soon as he can,” I remind him, the edge in my voice audible even to me.
“What if…”
“Fucking don’t, Liam!” Conor barks. “Don’t fucking say it.”
“We’re all thinking it, bro. You don’t have to say it out loud,” Mikey says quietly to his twin.
“I just…” I hear the strain in Liam’s voice and I reach back and put my hand on his knee.
“I know, son. There is not a chance in hell Chester and his team would let anything happen to her,” I assure him.
