Our War (The Family Book 4) Read online

  She didn’t like the way her heart was racing, or the feelings it was inspiring. She needed to nip this in the bud right now. “It’ll cost you a diamond necklace.” She pulled away, heading toward the bedroom, knowing she didn’t want anything from him. The kiss was enough for her.

  Chapter Six

  “You didn’t need to come home,” Luiz said.

  Jake shook his head. “No offense but our family is more important than a honeymoon. Emily understands that, and she was the one who suggested we come home. I need to find out who is killing our men, and I want to kill them.” He looked around the table at Donnie and Tonio. Neither of them had spoken just yet, but that was fine for him. They had all told him he should have stayed on his honeymoon. “So, what do we know so far?”

  Donnie sighed. “Bracken was right. There is a lot of disrespect right now. It would appear having four boys isn’t what some of our enemies or even our people wanted. There are a lot of rumors that we’re going to be taken out, picked off one by one.”

  “There are attacks planned?” Jake asked.

  “Yes. Our wives are all heavily guarded, and so are our families,” Donnie said. “We have three men, Rufus Conwell, Ryan Charles, and Damon Seagus.” One by one, Donnie handed over the files. Jake picked them up looking through the details.

  “Crime lords?”

  “Yep, they deal in guns, drugs, women, and they’ve been spreading out their territory as well. They’ve been looking for supporters,” Luiz said. “According to Bracken’s sources, Damon’s the one that we need to be looking at. He is wider spread, taking up more territory.”

  “Usually they’re too busy with their own conflict to bother us, and when it’s on the small scale it doesn’t usually affect us,” Tonio said.

  “When we overthrew our fathers, we opened up their interest. We’re four boys. Our fathers had a lot of support when they were in power, and that didn’t transfer. So they’ve branched out, moved on,” Donnie said.

  “We killed a lot of their supporters,” Jake said. “The big party. We took them out.”

  “We took out the ones we knew. There are some that bided their time. They waited for the right moment, and while we were focusing on our internal problem, externally, they were building up a big problem,” Donnie said. “We took our eye off the ball, and because of it, we now got it fix it.”

  “No, we didn’t take our eye off the ball. We were all hoping for a different future. We’ve changed our path, and now we have to keep on going.” Jake ran a hand down his face, and then released a sigh. “Where do we start?”

  “Damon’s gone into hiding. We’ve got alerts out to let us know when he shows up. We did a trace on all of our guys’ activities, and several of our men have shown up to have taken some suspicious payment,” Tonio said.

  “Suspicious payment?”

  “They’re being paid to give out information. Our information.” Tonio held up the details of the men he was talking about.

  Jake took the letter and glanced through the names. “I know these men. They’re our soldiers.”

  “We knew you’d say that, which is why we also have this,” Luiz said, taking out another file.

  “Wow, I’ve been gone a handful of days, and already you’re filed up. You know they still chop down trees. Whole forests have probably been demolished for this use of paper,” Jake said, opening up the file.

  “Very funny. I take it the honeymoon didn’t go according to plan. I was expecting you to be accused of murder,” Donnie said.

  “The honeymoon went fine. Murder? What the fuck for?” Jake asked, looking up.

  “You didn’t look happy about being married to her, and you said yourself she’s a bitch.”

  Jake shook his head. “I was wrong about her.” He glanced over the files, which were the men’s bank transfers, and he didn’t like what he was seeing. Fucking traitors. He couldn’t stand them.

  Looking up, he saw his three friends staring at him.

  “What?”

  “You like her?” Luiz asked.

  He frowned.

  “You know, like like, like her?” Tonio asked.

  “Planning a happy future together?” Donnie asked.

  “You guys need to get a life and to stop thinking about mine. Next time I see your woman, I’m telling them you need to all get laid.”

  “Come on, give us the juicy details,” Tonio said. “You’re the only one of us that isn’t married, and then you’re with a woman you don’t know. It’s Bracken’s daughter for crying out loud.”

  “Emily is just fine. You don’t have to worry about me killing her any time soon. I actually like her. She’s a nice woman, charming, sweet,” he said.

  “Wait, we’re all talking about the same woman here?” Donnie asked. “Bracken’s daughter.”

  Jake sighed. “Fine? What do you want to know? That we’re both pissed about being married to each other. Check, we are. But guess what? We’re dealing with it. Neither of us wants to spend the rest of our lives hating each other. We are going to do the best we can. We’re going to make this marriage work. If we somehow fall in love for it, then great. If we’re good friends, then great. Is that what you want to know?”

  “Falling in love?” Tonio asked. “That’s a big step for you.”

  Jake held up his finger and thumb. “I’m this close to putting a bullet in all of you. I’ll be friendless, and I’ll have an opening. Don’t tempt me.”

  Silence fell in the room, and he watched as his friends sat back with a sigh.

  “Told you he’d figure something out,” Donnie said.

  Jake rolled his eyes and went back through the files. When he saw the transaction that was the largest, he knew who he wanted to go and see first. “This one here, Matt Veno. He had a transaction of fifty thousand go into his account.”

  “You’re changing the subject,” Luiz said.

  “No, I’m getting down to business. We all what this marriage merger to work, right? I’m making it work. Now we’ve got business. We can sit around and talk like girls, or we can move on, and then talk when everything is over, and we prove once again we’re not boys.” He was getting tired of having to prove himself. All of his life, he’d done nothing but have to do the same thing. Fighting to prove that he had a right to be here.

  “The only language these men know is that of violence,” Luiz said.

  “It’s a good job we all know how to respond in kind then,” Tonio said. “If violence is what they know, then they are all going to regret the day that they awakened us. We are all monsters. Our women, they keep us at bay, but I’m growing tired of fighting this. Once and for all we make our final stand. We kill anyone who stands in our way, agreed?”

  “We do not allow for excuses either,” Donnie said.

  Jake stood up. “Let’s go.”

  They left the apartment building, which was heavily guarded with their closest friends. Bracken and his family had also taken up residence, and had included his closest security team.

  His wife was in that building, and as Jake waited to climb into the car beside Tonio, he glanced up at the building. For a couple of days, he had been able to forget and had been given the pleasure of simply being a man with Emily. Having her lay her head on his lap as he read to her had been one of the greatest pleasures of his life.

  He wanted to do that again, and soon.

  The car ride to Matt Veno’s place didn’t take very long. Jake had his final transaction at a casino place that they owned.

  The manager, Greg, was a friend of Jake’s and had called him ahead to let him know that Matt was gambling away a lot of money, and had also brought dope into the establishment.

  Jake asked for Greg to meet him at the back entrance, and to make sure no one alerted Matt to their presence.

  Greg was smoking a cigarette as they arrived.

  “Hello, Greg. Good to see you,” Jake said, climbing out of the car and shaking the man’s hand. He was a few years older than the fo
ur friends, close to thirty. He had three kids, one with asthma that ran up in medical bills, which Jake took care of.

  “I’m so sorry, Mr. Carter. I want to promise you men that I’m a full and loyal Family supporter.”

  “We know,” Jake said.

  “Matt is saying that shit is going to change, and that he’ll own the casino, and he said to just put a bullet in my boy’s head because I will be gone. He doesn’t want trash like me working his zone, Mr. Carter.”

  “I’ve told you many times to call me Jake.”

  “I’m sorry, Jake. I really am. There’s so much talk, and we’re all scared,” Greg said.

  “You have nothing to be afraid of,” Donnie said. “We’re in this together, and we’re going to fight for it, I promise.”

  Jake didn’t like the fear in Greg’s eyes, and he was going to make sure that his men didn’t feel this way again. Being part of The Family, they were his men, and he would protect them.

  Greg led the way, taking up the back entrance that also provided access to every single part of the casino.

  “He brought women and drugs here?” Jake asked.

  “Yes. Told me that I was a dog and needed to learn to respect my masters, and that he was one of them.” Greg touched his face, and Jake had noticed the shiner there. “This is what you get for disobeying orders.”

  Greg was not a violent man. This casino was a legit business, and they made sure that none of their illegal shit touched this place. It was a diversion for the Feds.

  “He has guards, two of them,” Greg said once they were outside the floor.

  “Bring them out here,” Jake said.

  He, Luiz, Tonio, and Donnie grabbed their guns and waited. The moment the door opened, Jake grabbed one guy, slamming his head into the wall, and then the other. Years of training made him tackle the danger first.

  His life didn’t mean anything. His father had taught him that, so he handled the threat always. Luiz and Tonio, grabbed the first man, silencing him. Jake just went to him, pressing the silencer on his gun against the man’s head, and shot.

  They only needed one man, and they didn’t really need that. With the next, he held him against the wall and shot again.

  “Jake, what the fuck?” Luiz asked.

  “They’re working for Matt. We only need Matt alive.” Jake went to the two men, grabbing out their identification and tossing it over to Donnie. “We put a search on their names when we get back, and see what we get.”

  Leaving the staircase, he nodded at Greg, who knew what to do next. This wasn’t Greg’s first time handling dead bodies.

  With his three friends at his back, Jake put his hand on the door.

  “Jake, you don’t have to go first,” Donnie said.

  Luiz and Tonio agreed.

  “We can talk about this another time. Right now, we’ve got to get to the bottom of this. You want to kiss my ass some more?” Jake asked, smirking at them.

  “Get your ass shot off then,” Donnie said.

  “Emily will kiss it all better,” Tonio said, to which Luiz started making kissing noises.

  Jake rolled his eyes and entered the hotel room.

  At first Matt didn’t even seen them. He was too busy fucking one woman as another woman watched.

  This wasn’t a sight he’d not seen before.

  The woman watching looked toward them, and her eyes grew wide. Clearly, this wasn’t new to her either. He pressed a finger to his lips and moved closer to Matt.

  “Your fucking pussy is so fucking good. I could fuck it all day long. So fucking good.” Matt kept on slamming inside the woman, who was moaning like the guy was the best lover in the world.

  They were paid to do that, though.

  “Yeah, take my big, rock, hard dick, baby.”

  This was just getting worse, and Jake was now bored. Pressing the gun against Matt’s neck, Jake tutted. “You know, you really shouldn’t brag about how big your dick is. Poor woman probably doesn’t even know if you’re fucking her.

  “Jake, what are you doing here?” Matt asked.

  “I thought you and I would have a little chat. I’m sorry to say this, ladies, party time is over.”

  The woman who had Matt’s dick inside her, moved away. She didn’t look at Matt. She just grabbed her bags and clothing, and left without a word. The two women were talking about groceries even before they left the room.

  Luiz pulled out a chair and forced Matt into a seat.

  “It would appear, Matt, that our generosity is not good enough for you.” Jake began walking around the chair.

  “Whatever that fucking bastard has said, he’s lying.”

  “Oh, Greg’s lying, is he?” Donnie asked. “So you didn’t tell him that you were going to own this casino, and he’d be out on his ass.”

  Matt shook his head.

  Jake crouched down and stared into the man’s eyes. “Or that he should put a bullet in his kid’s head.” The man went pale. “You should be afraid right now.” Jake put his gun on the bed, and bent down, pulling out his knife. He had gotten it on his eighteenth birthday. “I was given this by my father who believed that I had more than earned my loyalty to him. He told me that this very blade had cut more than a hundred men’s throats open.” The blade was clean, shiny. The handle showed the age. “It was passed down from father to son, for several generations. The moment a son proved himself, this was handed to him as if it was a pot of gold. He also told me that not only did this slit men’s throats. It also gutted them. Simply opened them up like butter.”

  Matt whimpered.

  Donnie, Luiz, and Tonio stood back, giving him the stage. Greg was his friend, his ally, and it was up to Jake to protect, no one else.

  “Who do you work for?”

  Matt shook his head. “He’ll kill me.”

  Jake burst out laughing. “He’ll kill you. There’s four men right now who would love nothing more than to see your pasty ass dead. Who are you working for?”

  Matt continued to be silent, shaking his head.

  Growing bored, Jake held the knife and pierced Matt’s leg.

  Screams filled the room and echoed off the walls. Jake was completely numb to it. He didn’t give a shit at all. He didn’t pull the blade out, and as Matt fought, Luiz, Tonio, and Donnie held him down.

  Jake didn’t pull the knife out of the man’s leg. He continued to move it down, cutting through muscle, and wiggling it a little just to add a little more pain. He made sure not to nick any major arteries. He didn’t want his fun ending just yet.

  “Do you need me to stop?” Jake asked. Matt was panting and looking pale. The pain had to be excruciating. “Fine, I’ll stop.” He removed the blade and grabbed the shirt on the floor. Wiping the blade, he hummed to himself.

  “Who are you working for?” Donnie asked.

  Matt began to cry then. He had already pissed and shit himself. The scent tainted the air, and Jake waited.

  “Damon Seagus. He’s reaching out, and has taken land from Rufus Conwell and Ryan Charles. He’s planning a takeover. Said that you are just a bunch of fucking babies that haven’t been off your mother’s tits long enough to rule this city,” Matt said. “Please don’t kill me.”

  “What is his plan?”

  Matt sobbed and panted. “I’m losing too much blood.”

  “What is his plan?”

  “He has men everywhere, okay? He wants you gone, and The Family will be his to control. This was supposed to be mine.”

  “Where is he going to start?” Jake asked.

  Matt looked at Jake, and he saw the evil lurking beneath the surface. Matt was a monster to the core.

  “You should already be dead,” Matt said.

  “And why is that?”

  “Because he knows where your apartments are. He knows how you like to keep your women close. There’s an attack on the hotel tonight. He’s going to take your women, and sell them. Make sure they’re fucked up real good, and keep you guys alive long enough
to watch, and then he was going to take you down, one by one.”

  Fear gripped Jake, and he hid it, as did all of his friends. Their families were at the apartment, and right now, they couldn’t do anything.

  Jake got up from the bed, and slid the blade cleanly into Matt’s throat. None of them spoke as they left the room.

  “Come on, Paige, pick up,” Donnie said, already on his cell phone.

  Jake got his cell phone, and even though he wanted to call Emily, he put a call through to Bracken.

  The call kept ringing. Cursing, he tried again until he was told the call was not available. This was just one fucked up moment after another.

  They climbed into the car, and Donnie was already pulling out of the casino as Jake closed the door.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Donnie yelled each word getting louder as they drove their way back to their apartment building.

  “Bracken knows what to do,” Jake said. In that moment, he had to have faith in his father-in-law. He just had to. There was no way that Emily could die. Not when he had turned his back for just a moment.

  Chapter Seven

  Emily stared at Jake’s space and was shocked by how bland and boring he was. The furniture was all black, and the walls a pristine white. In the far corner, next to the sitting room, was a punching bag. The windows were huge, and looking out over the city seemed to be a big deal to The Family.

  She wondered if he was compensating for something, but then didn’t want to think about it.

  Running fingers through her hair, she spun in a full circle. There was no way she could live here for a long time. It was like a bad omen waiting to happen. This was the kind of apartment that filled scary horror movies with phantoms and ghosts. Running her hands up and down her arms, she scrunched up her nose.

  The apartment screamed coldness.

  Jake wasn’t a cold person.

  She had noticed that he was a very charming kind of guy. A bit different but then, no one was perfect.

  Blowing out a breath, she took a seat on one of the large, overbearing black seats. She sat down and sank into it, only it wasn’t comfortable.