Mine: A Dark Billionaire Romance

by Brook Wilder

  Ms. Keigel nodded solemnly. “I’m really sorry this happened, I don’t know what to say.”

  “Why are you apologizing?” Junie asked worriedly. “I need to thank you, you did all you could to make sure those kids were safe,” she continued. There was silence.

  “I talked to the police about what happened,” Ms. Keigel said, brushing a hand through her silver locks. “They have a theory it’s that biker gang, the Mercenaries, who did it.”

  Junie was stopped dead in her tracks. It wasn’t every day that the people spoke of the Mercenaries, but for some reason, this was the second time they popped up this week. “And what made them think it was them who did it?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

  “Well, it turns out,” Ms. Keigel started, following Junie into the TV room. “Some of those kids’ parents are a part of the Rebel Disciples.”

  “And those two motorcycle gangs are rivals?” Junie asked, already knowing the answer to that.

  Ms. Keigel nodded. “I believe so,” she said. “I’m not really up to date with all the news surrounding motorcycle gangs,” she continued, rolling her eyes. “But this time, the police were really strict, they really want to know who did it.”

  “I can see why,” Junie said. “I can’t believe it, what kind of monsters would just barge in on a daycare like that? Matt was scared shitless, and I’m pretty sure they weren’t just there to steal your purse.”

  “I’m pretty sure they weren’t,” Ms. Keigel said, shaking her head. “I think the motive was to scare the kids, hence the creepy dog masks. I swear, those things will haunt me forever.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Junie said, letting out a sigh. “Of all motorcycle gangs, the Mercenaries are the worst, in my opinion.”

  “I’m not informed to give my opinion on the matter, but I wish I was,” the woman said, her hands clasped in her lap. “It must’ve been so traumatizing for the kids, though, are you sure there’s nothing I can do for Matty?” she asked.

  “What you did was more than enough,” Junie said, her lips coming to a smile. “He already loves you… I’m pretty sure he’ll grow up to appreciate what you’ve done for him,” she continued.

  “Well, I better get going,” Ms. Keigel said after a long pause.

  “But you just got here,” Junie said, rising to her feet. “Let me get you a cup of coffee.”

  “No, that’s okay, I’ve got to pass by the police station, see if there are any updates about that purse they stole,” she said, getting up and dusting herself off. “I’ll let you know if I find something out.”

  “Alright,” Junie said, leading the way to the door. “Oh, and by the way, I wanted to ask you something… did the police mention why the Mercenaries are going around spooking the Rebel Disciples’ kids? Is there a motive?” she asked.

  “Well, I did hear something about the Mercenaries trying to influence the Rebels to abandon their turf,” Ms. Heigel said, peering at Junie above the rim of her glasses. “I’m not really sure what that means, but I’m pretty sure it’s bad.”

  Junie didn’t know what to say, her brain was on overdrive. She couldn’t help but think about Aiden, and what he had to do with all of this. She knew he wasn’t a part of the Mercenaries, and neither did he look like the kind of guy who would do something like this, but deep down, she was afraid. “Well, I have to thank you again,” she said, throwing her arms around Ms. Keigel. “If it weren’t for you, my son would’ve gotten hurt.”

  “It’s nothing, Matty’s like the son I never had,” she replied. “I’ll talk to you soon.” Junie often thought about how sorry she felt for Ms. Keigel. She was an elderly woman living with five cats, but she wasn’t complaining. The woman loved cats. Rumors were going around that she couldn’t have kids, so she replaced the desire to bear children with the willingness to take care of a thousand tiny fur balls running around. Junie couldn’t help but feel sorry for her sometimes, not because she didn’t have a family, but because the people around the neighborhood didn’t give her nearly as much credit as she deserved. The woman was an angel, and now, Junie thought it was safe to say that she trusted her with her life.

  ***

  Junie flinched awake to the sound of people screaming. She opened her eyes and blinked repeatedly, the room swimming in and out of view. She threw her feet off the side of the bed, trying not to trip over anything, and she walked over to the window, catching glimpses of people running around in the street. “What the fuck?” she whispered to herself. The sound of screams mingled with little squeals of excitement; when Junie looked closer, she could see little kids scurrying around the empty streets, some of them on bikes, and they were being followed by masked men.

  The fucking dog masks, she thought to herself. Junie froze. For a while, she didn’t know what to do. Should she call 911? She turned around and scanned the room with her eyes. Why were the Mercenaries doing this, why now? she thought as she drew the curtains and peered through the sheer fabric.

  “What the fuck!” she heard a voice say in the distance. She was wide awake now. Her eyes followed a bunch of people and kids as they ran up and down the street, looking behind them every now and again. The men in dog masks were chasing after them, but they didn’t seem to attack anyone. It seemed to Junie like they were harassing the people outside, especially the kids on bikes. The little squeals shot up in the air and then, without warning, they stopped. A sudden stillness lingered in the air outside, but Junie knew it wasn’t all in her head. She knew that, the next day, she would be seeing news headlines about a bunch of thugs in dog masks running around terrorizing little kids in the streets. She thought about Aiden, how he probably had a pretty good idea about what’s happening. She needed to talk to him, and she needed to do it soon.

  ***

  “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t expect to see you,” Aiden said, smiling at Junie as she walked up the driveway.

  “Well, you were right,” Junie said, faking a smile. “I really need to talk to you.”

  “Let me guess, is it about the Mercenaries?” Aden asked, folding both arms across his chest.

  Junie nodded. “And what better person to come to for information than you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

  “What do you need to know?” Suddenly Aiden felt a bit apprehensive.

  “Well, I’m sure you’ve heard about the whole daycare thing?” Junie asked, shifting her weight to one leg.

  “Yeah,” Aiden nodded. “They’re pathetic, trying to scare little kids like that.”

  “Matty was at that daycare center,” Junie said. There was silence.

  “What?” Aiden asked, frowning. “Did anything happen to him?”

  “No, but he’s shaken up by it.”

  “Those bastards won’t get away with this,” Aiden said after a long pause. His hands were balled up into fists; he was furious. “Why go for the little kids? Why traumatize them like that?” Junie didn’t really know what to say. She just watched as his face drooped to a scowl, like his mind was being plagued by bad memories. “They’re going to pay for this,” he said again, staring out into the distance.

  Junie nodded solemnly. “What are they trying to do?” she asked, her head cocked to the side.

  “They’re trying to get the Rebels to abandon their turf,” Aiden said, sighing. “Listen, I gotta go right now, I’ve got some thinking to do.”

  “Alright,” Junie said. “I’m sorry if I bothered you with this, I just really need to know what’s going on, for Matt’s sake.”

  “Don’t apologize,” Aiden said, his eyes fixated on hers. “The people around me can’t get hurt by this… or there’ll be hell to pay.”

  CHAPTER 5

  “The Mercenaries strike again: popular motorcycle club terrorizes kids at Rockwell High School.”

  “What the fuck, this is still going on?” Amy asked, slumping down on the couch. She grabbed the remote off the coffee table and upped the volume.

  “Yeah,” Junie nodded, n
ot taking her eyes off the television screen. “This is getting pretty serious… I’m thinking of not sending Matt to day care this week,” she said, averting her gaze to Amy.

  “It’s the right thing to do,” she said, her eyes darting from Junie, to the TV, and then to Junie again. “I’m worried about you.”

  “About me?” Junie asked, tilting her head sideways.

  “You know,” Amy said after a long pause. “I’m scared for you, and for Matt,” she continued, her eyes dropping to the floor. Although she never really liked to talk about it, Junie knew exactly what Amy was thinking.

  “Listen, I’m not going to let anything happen to Matt,” she said with a low voice. “What happened to Dave… that was something no one could’ve saw coming,” she continued. “The point is, those people need to be stopped.”

  “And how’s that gonna happen?” Amy asked, her eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t even understand what their motives are.”

  “I do,” Junie said. “Vaguely.”

  “And?”

  “I heard it’s an inside thing… a ‘biker war,’ of some sorts.”

  “Wait, how do you know this?” Amy asked, narrowing her eyes at Junie.

  “I heard from our new neighbor,” she said, looking away. Amy’s eyes were boring into her, like she knew something was up.

  “Who’s your neighbor?” she asked, fumbling with some knick-knacks on the table.

  “This guy, his name’s Aiden… he’s a part of the Rebel Disciples,” Junie said, looking down.

  “And you’re talking to this guy, why?” her sister asked, her nose wrinkled. “Come on, Junie, you know better than to make friends with a guy like that.”

  “I’m not “friends” with him,” Junie said defensively. “I just thought it would be good to have some inside information, you know, just to be safe.”

  “How’s snooping around ever a good idea?” Amy asked, shaking her head. “Junie, do I need to remind you? Come on, those people aren’t good people… what if you get yourself killed?”

  At that moment, Junie could feel her eyes swell up with tears. She held back, trying not to let the emotions pour out, but the truth was, they overwhelmed her, and it happened all so suddenly. “You’re right,” she said, her voice trembling. “I really shouldn’t be getting in the middle of any of this.” She thought about Aiden, and how stupid she must’ve been to let him into her life. After all, he was a total stranger. Who was he to claim that he cares about her, or her son? Junie felt like an idiot. “Oh my God,” she sighed, holding her head in her hands.

  “It’s okay,” Amy said. “Just stay away from him.”

  “Yeah, besides, I really need to focus on my nursing exam… that shit isn’t going to pass itself,” Junie said, taking in a deep breath and letting it out through her nose.

  “Exactly, Junie, this is really good for you and Matty… I hope you realize that.”

  “I do,” she said, brushing a hand through her hazel brown locks. “Well, I think I’m gonna go study now… but I’ll pass by you later today.”

  “Alright,” Amy said, getting up. “I’ll see you later.” Junie walked Amy to the door and then made her way back inside. Her mind was buzzing with thoughts about Aiden, the Mercenaries and her husband. She couldn’t stop thinking about Aiden’s ways, and how determined he was to protect her son. Why did he care so much? Did he have any ulterior motives? Junie figured she should listen to her sister and lay low for a while; who knew what Aiden could possibly be plotting. On her way back to her desk, she caught a glimpse of him on his front lawn. “Well, I spoke too soon,” she mumbled to herself, peering through the window. He was shirtless, bent down in front of what Junie could only guess was his bike. She tried to look away, but whenever she caught glimpses of a tiny version of him dancing in her peripheral vision, she would turn around again, her eyes roaming his sculpted body. He got down on one knee and started to polish the chain; whenever he would get down too low, Junie would lose sight of him, as he would disappear behind the fence. She found herself getting on her tiptoes, trying to locate him again. His back muscles flexed as he moved, and she could feel herself getting tingly at the mere sight of him.

  Look away, look away, she thought to herself. Nothing was working. Inside she could hear Matt playing, so she went over to him.

  “Hey, Matty,” she said, crouching down next to him. “What are you building with those Legos?” she asked.

  “It’s a fort,” the little boy squealed. “To protect us from the doggies!”

  Junie’s face scrunched up into a frown. She brushed a hand through her son’s hair, thinking back to that time at daycare. She could feel the heat boiling up inside of her, a heat that was hard, almost impossible, to extinguish.

  Those bastards are going to pay for this, she thought to herself. Her maternal instincts were acting up; she felt like a lioness, a lioness fighting to protect her cub. She wanted to get rid of the Mercenaries, if it was the last thing she ever had to do.

  ***

  “So, this is definitely not good,” Tom said, standing there for a moment before he slumped down on the couch.

  “Yeah, and it’s getting worse,” Aiden said. “They’re going around scaring little kids, who the fuck does that? We need to figure out a way to stop them!”

  “Well, I already had something in mind, but I don’t know how you would feel about it,” Tom said, his eyes locked on Aiden’s.

  “You’re the boss,” Aiden said, raising his eyebrows at him. “What d’you have in mind?”

  “A blitzkrieg,” he said, his voice stern. “We’re going to barge in on one of their local bars, and we’re going to surround them from all directions.”

  “So we’re going to ambush them?”

  “Yeah, we’ll block out all the entrances, open fire on all of them… they’ll be so disoriented, they won’t know what hit ‘em!” Tom said, his eyes wide.

  There was a pause. Aiden didn’t know what to think of this. Tom was always ambitious with his plans. “Have you thought this out, though?” he asked, a worried look on his face.

  “All our men will be armed… there’s no way the Mercenaries will see this coming. But there is one thing,” he said, his glassy eyes fixated on Aiden’s. “The space is too tight, there’s a good chance some of our men might not make it.”

  There was silence. Aiden felt a lump rise in his throat. This wasn’t the first time a suicidal mission was in the question, but for some reason, Aiden was more apprehensive than ever. He knew what kind of bars those people hung out at; they practically resembled shoe boxes. There was no way all of those men were going to make it out alive.

  “I don’t know about that,” he said after a long pause. “This is too risky, this isn’t just like any mission… this is dangerous.”

  “Hence, the term ‘suicidal mission’,” Tom said coldly. “We’ve conducted operations like this a million times before, what’s with you?” he asked, crossing one leg over the other and tilting his head sideways. “You need to get it together.”

  “It’s not about getting it together,” Aiden said, sighing. “The operations we’ve conducted before were low risk, but this one’s just dangerous. This is a bar, Tom, do you know what this means? It means alcohol, flammable substances… this is a disaster.”

  Another pause. Tom uncrossed his legs and started stroking his beard with the back of his hand. “You have a point,” he said, his eyes fixated on the floor tiles. “Listen, this isn’t a final call or anything… we haven’t even set up a meeting to discuss anything yet.”

  Aiden nodded slowly, but deep down, he knew Tom was going to go through with it, anyway. He knew how stubborn he was; he always thought he was right. “The problem’s in the premise, not the tactic… we’ve conducted blitzkriegs several times before, but never in a bar in the middle of the city,” he said. It was like the more he talked about this, the more he became convinced that this was anything but a good idea. “Innocent people might get hurt in this.”
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  “Hey, when did we ever hurt anyone who had nothing to do with what we came for?” Tom asked, suddenly defensive. “When have we ever shot a stray bullet? Never.”

  “I know, you’re right… but this is the city, Tom, you know better than to blow up a place in the middle of town,” Aiden said, his eyes wide.

  “Not all the bars they hang out at are in the city and you know that,” Tom said. “There’s one nested somewhere on Rosenburg Hills, they always go there to plan missions, which I’m sure they are these days,” he continued, raising an eyebrow at Aiden. “Now, we’re going to meet again to discuss this further, you and I. Right now I need to assemble some of our men to track down that place, so we know exactly where it is. There’s no room for error here, Aiden.”