Page 5 of His to Take

Kamikaze raids, civilian kidnappings… Hell, not too long ago, someone had burst into a safehouse and shot Zane. They were still on his tail.

If this job meant tracking that asshole down, Ajax was ready. He'd do anything.

But he wasn't that lucky. Zane sighed, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the desk. "It involves… babysitting."

What the fuck?

Ajax let out a derisive snort. "Babysitting? Seriously? I thought you were keeping Eli out of the family business."

"Not Eli." Zane's expression darkened, and he rubbed his temples. "You know our friend in office."

Senator Howell Marsh. Yeah, Ajax knew him. Marsh had slipped a lot of money to the Thornes in exchange for protection and favors — and that money was coming faster and thicker now that he was up for reelection. With the city teetering on the verge of chaos, that money was a significant source of security for the Thornes. They had to keep it coming — and that meant keeping Marsh happy.

Ajax's brow furrowed. "What's the deal?"

"Marsh's son got a little too frisky with a date in a hotel room, and it didn't end well."

This wasn't out of the ordinary. "He knocked her up, or…?"

"Wrong kind of date."

Ajax whistled. "Didn't know that Marsh's kid swung that way."

"Neither does his constituents — and we're going to keep it that way."

Zane sighed before continuing. "Marsh Junior got a little too handsy with his date, and the guyhit Junior over the head. Six stitches, apparently. Now Junior's out for fucking blood."

"I don't like the sound of that."

"You shouldn't. One of Dante's guys grabbed the date just before he left the scene. Dante's boys had to strongarm Junior back into his suite, he was that hellbent on getting revenge."

Zane locked eyes with Ajax. "If I had it my way, I'd lock Junior up until Marsh is done with his election, but Marsh doesn't want to kennel his pride and joy. So daddy dearest's special little guy is out there right now, trying to track the kid down. Dante had to take him just to keep Junior from fucking him up in public."

Rich, spoiled, and used to getting his own way. Ajax had met Marsh Senior enough times to know that the apple hadn't fallen far from the asshole tree.

Senator's son caught beating gay hookup.The headline wrote itself.

Ajax's jaw clenched as he absorbed the gravity of the situation. "What are we going to do?"

Zane exhaled, the weariness etched in the lines on his face more evident than ever. "We can't go against Marsh's wishes and keep Junior on a leash, but the kid is a nobody. No-one will care if he disappears for a while. We're going to hole him up somewhere safe until Marsh and his asshole kid leave the city — and make sure that Junior can't sniff out where he is. The last thing we need is to have to clean up a murder. I need this to be rock solid, Ajax."

It made sense. Ajax nodded, accepting the trust that Zane had in him. "Alright, boss. Where's the kid, and where am I keeping him?"

Zane leaned back, the faintest hint of gratitude in his eyes. "I knew I could count on you. Right now, Dante has the kid. Get him, lay low in the hotel safehouse on fifth, and enjoy a boring week as a babysitter. We can't afford any loose ends in this mess." He raised an eyebrow. "Your place will run itself?"

Being a Thorne man was a matter of 24/7 devotion, but some of them ran shit on the sides when they had the time. Ajax hada restaurant in his pocket. It was handy to have a safe place to conduct family business without eavesdroppers — and he liked to make sure that the food punched above its weight, too. He'd had too many years of secret meetings in shitty bars. Eventually even the most cut-throat mafioso motherfucker wanted some good food.

"Yeah, I got some legit management running the joint these days." Ajax pushed himself up from the chair. "Consider it done."

As Ajax left, he sighed. In his life with the Thornes, he'd done a lot of dirty jobs, barely escaping with his life — and that suited him just fine.

He loved the challenge. Anything that tested his abilities and pushed him to his limits made him feel alive.

But spending a week in a hotel room babysitting some kid?

Christ, this was going to drive him crazy.

Ajax pulled up to Dante's bar, the neon sign sizzling in the night. As he drew nearer, he heard a mess of raised voices, muffled by the heavy wooden door. He pushed it open slowly, revealing the source of the ruckus.

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