“I know I told you to stay in that room!” Jason spoke without turning around.
Click, she was gone.
Jason wasn't prepared to give their captive an opportunity to think up a fabricated story. He also had no intention of voicing his questions until the twenty seconds was up.
“Times up,” Josh said, still sitting in a relaxed position beside the now funky smelling man whose sweat had soaked through his clothes and his bindings.
“Where's your headquarters?”
“Headquarters?”
“Wrong answer!” Jason drawled.
As soon as he finished speaking, Josh slapped the man across the back of the head. The man's head snapped forward with the unexpectedness and force of the slap. Jason's only reaction to this was the raising of an eyebrow. Josh shrugged and rolled his eyes.
“Okay, let's try again. Same question, where is your headquarters?”
“Shoreditch.”
“You sweat soaked, shit. Are you trying to take me for a fool?” Jason asked in a low voice, taking a step closer to the seated man, his carriage and controlled movement’s belying his intent. His hand shot out with such speed the man only had time to feel the impact followed quickly by pain.
“Don't mess with me! Don't ever mess with me! I will kill you. You walked into my house with a gun, to kill me and what belongs to me, and you think you’ve got special privileges with me.” By now, Jason was nose to nose with the man, his teeth bared in anger. Who did this little fuck think he was messing with?
Face to face and up close and personal, with six-foot five of pure muscle, Jason didn't have to repeat his question.
“It's a warehouse in Shorditch. 177 North End Place.”
“Good, thank you. That wasn't so difficult, now was it?” Jason's question was completely rhetorical. He had absolutely no interest in what the man was thinking or feeling. Turning away, he addressed Josh.
“I want somebody over here after we've left to clean up the mess. On second thought, leave the clean up until tomorrow.”
At the same time, Jason walked over to the prone man who had started groaning as he returned to consciousness. Jason kicked him in the head. “That's for coming in here and thinking you can fuck with me and mine.” Jason followed up with a kick to the groin for good measure. “That was for using an innocent woman as a shield, you low life piece of filth.”
Jake and Josh didn't utter a word, nor did they flinch at Jason's treatment of the gunman. Their feelings locked behind blank masks.
“I'm going to get Aviva. Josh, conjure up some more of that binding for this fool,” Jason ordered, toeing the man with his shoe. “When I bring her out, I don't want to see any sign that they were ever here, is that clear?” He didn't wait for an answer, he just kept on walking towards the bedroom, and closed the door behind him without a backwards glance.
~~~~~~~~~~
Josh wasn't happy with Jason's tone of voice and if the mummy hadn't been in such close proximity, he would have had a word with his brother. He and Jake were in for the long haul, that was a given, but Jason needed a reminder that they weren't his minions. They were beside him because they were his brothers and that was where they wanted to be.
Almost as soon as his irritation raised its head, it was gone. He knew Jason appreciated their presence. He was equally clear that if he and Jake packed up and left at this moment, Jason would forge on alone, accomplish his goals, probably unscathed, and still have Aviva giving him her unconditional love.
“I need to use the bathroom.”
Looking over at mummy boy, Josh laughed. “Are you for real? You come in here uninvited, with guns, and then you want to use our bathroom. Well, let me apologize in advance because my answer is no. You're just gonna have to hold it because I'm not letting you out of your wrapping, and I still need to move you and wrap up that other thing on the floor. In case you don't get my drift, let me spell it out for you. If you piss yourself before I get around to moving you, I'm gonna pull out your dick by the root.”
Across the room, Jake winced and shuddered, laughing at Josh's comment. “I suppose I could move him while you go and get the rest of the binding for this one,” Jake said helpfully with a head motion towards the prone man, his dimples on display to accompany his suggestion.
The brothers stared at each for a moment then looked down at the eager man seated on the sofa, his relief apparent. The brothers again made eye contact and shook their heads.
“No?” Jake asked with a smile.
“Nah,” Josh replied. “Where's the fun in that?”
“True, very true, little brother. I've never seen a man's dick ripped out from its roots. That would indeed be something to tell the guys back home about. Okay, you win. He’ll just have to hold it.” Jake winked at his younger brother.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jason and Aviva returned to the living area to find only the brothers present. Aviva wasn't sure she wanted to know what had happened to the two men and decided not to ask. Watching her, always watching her, Jason knew what was running through her mind. He wanted to assure her they were unharmed, well, almost. The fools were lucky he hadn’t broken them in half and the next person that got in his way may not be so lucky.
Running around his mind was also the fact that when these men came up missing, the people they were going after would be on their guard. There was no question of whether he was going after them, that was a given. His only uncertainty was whether his brothers would be willing to do whatever was needed in order to come out alive.
“Don't worry, Angel. Josh just placed them in one of the bedrooms. Someone will come and let them out later on.”
“Oh, he placed them in the room, did he?” Aviva mocked.
“Sure I placed them in the room. Come on, sweetheart, you know me. Now if it had been one of them,” Josh said, looking between his brothers, “who could say how gently they’d have been treated.”
Aviva rolled her eyes, not bothering to answer. Josh may have more of a sense of the ridiculous, but when it came to the crux of a situation, they were all the same. It just manifested itself differently with him.
Having had enough of the conversation, Jason handed a few of the bags containing Aviva's clothing to Jake, and asked him if everything was ready for their move. At his nod of agreement, Jason placed his hand in the middle of Aviva's back to guide her forward. She immediately recoiled from his touch, her actions not lost on the other occupants of the room. Ignoring their stares of concern, Jason nodded towards the door that would lead them from the hotel suite.
“Shall we?”
She had hurt him...again. She didn't mean to, she just couldn't help it.
Chapter 7
Aviva wasn't paying much attention to the direction in which they were driving. Jake was at the wheel with Josh beside him. She and Jason sat in the back, not touching, not speaking. She knew he needed answers to what had happened to her, and she knew she would have to give them very soon.
Also aware that her physical withdrawal was hurting him but it wasn’t deliberate on her part. His gruff exterior was never directed at her. She alone was privy to the man beneath the shell of protectiveness he had erected years ago. The man who liked to hold hands, the man who smiled and made the most outrageous jokes when they were alone. The man who loved to cuddle after making mind blowing love to her. The man that no matter how much he had exerted himself, how much of himself he had given, always wanted to give her more.
Often times, Aviva thought he was...no, she knew he was attempting to show her that he was worthy of her love, her acceptance. He may not be aware of it, but he was still coming to terms with what had happened to him during his childhood.
He was a strong man, a powerful man. Strong, powerful men coped with what had been allotted to them, and this was a perfect description of her man. More than anything, Aviva wanted to reach out her hand and grasp his, to feel his strength to assure herself that he was beside her, but she couldn't.
; As Aviva mused, she became aware that the car they travelled in was slowing down. Curious, she started paying attention. They probably drove another hundred yards before the headlights of the car panned over the front of a house so quickly Aviva didn't have time to make an impression. She was aware, however, that there were no other houses in close proximity.
The car came to a stop, and while she looked around, her door was opened by Jake. He held out his hand to assist her to exit the car. Aviva ignored his hand and got out of the car without touching him. Their eyes met briefly and hers were the first to lower, avoiding the question she saw reflected there.
Their relationship was slower to develop than the one she had created with Josh. Jake's personality was more reserved than his younger brother’s. Rearranging her thoughts, Aviva knew it to be incorrect. Jake was the family protector, the watcher. There was something about him, something embedded deep within him that gave rise to a need to take care of those around him. Of all the brothers, he was the most silent, the one who missed very little, the observer.
A barely audible whisper was all she heard as she stood upright outside the vehicle. The words meant only for her ears. “It's okay, I understand. You need to tell Jason...everything.” He had no time for further comment as Jason quickly made his way around the car and stood waiting at her side. He heard the murmur of Jake's voice but had been too far way, the words too quietly spoken to decipher their meaning.
“What were you two talking about?” Jason asked.
“Not now, Jason. We need to get Aviva out of this chilly rain.” The deluge of earlier in the day having slowed to a light sprinkling of rain drops.
Feeling reprimanded for having to be reminded of his priorities, Jason stilled his inquires as to their conversation. He didn't like that Jake had been whispering to his woman, but he needed to trust that nothing untoward had been said; so he filed the incident away as something to bring up with his twin later. He didn't like the whispering, but right then he needed to get Aviva inside, and settled into the place they would call home for a short while.
~~~~~~~~~~
The interior of the house was beautiful. It was just the type of house every little girl who grew up in London dreamt of, and Aviva was no exception. As a child, she had wanted enough space so that she could entertain her school friends who had so much more than she and her mother had ever been able to afford. Enough space so that she could invite them over for afternoon tea of sandwiches and Earl Grey tea served from dainty china cups.
Her reality was something far different. On the occasions she had friends over, her mother was always a warm and welcoming host who never allowed anyone to leave their home without feeling the full force of her hospitality. She was also a fiercely proud Caribbean woman. While she respected the culture of which she was a part, she was also proud of the culture into which she had been born.
There were no cucumber sandwiches with the crust sliced off. Instead, there was bun and cheese, a dark, sweet bread with raisins. It was so doughy, its density would be remembered long after it had been consumed. Also served was hard dough white bread sandwiches, coupled with ham and English mustard, her concession to Englishness, but she always insisted on a Jamaican twist, hence the bun and hard dough bread.
Aviva remembered those tea parties with nostalgia of an age that had shaped her into the person she had become. Proud of her heritage, proud that she had been blessed with a mother who took the time to allow her to attend the tea parties of her peers, but had also allowed her childhood friends to experience another culture and to see that although different, there was much to be gained through that difference. Throughout the journey that was her life, she had come full circle. Here she was, back in England, walking into the type of home she had always dreamt of, and yet, at that moment, she would give anything to be surrounded by the warmth of her mother’s arms.
Standing in the hallway of the house, Jason saw the tears in her eyes and was immediately worried she was uncomfortable in her surroundings.
“Are you okay, Angel? If you don't like this place, we'll leave.”
“Oh, Jason, it’s perfect. It's a lovely house.”
“Then why are there tears in your eyes?”
“Memories, just memories of a bygone time. Beautiful memories that I'll tell you about one day.”
Jason wasn't convinced. He didn't want to see her tears unless they were accompanied by her laughter. He was certain she had already shed too many in the past week. The period of time they had known each other was short by the standards of others, but for him, he felt he had been waiting a lifetime for this woman. She was the one person who was his perfect fit and her happiness meant everything to him.
“You trust me, don't you, Angel? I'm sorry I let you down before. You have my promise, it will never happen again.”
“Jason, what are you talking about?” Aviva asked, looking up at his troubled expression.
“You can trust me. I won't let anything bad happen to you ever again, I promise.”
“Stop it, Jason. Anything that happened to me wasn't your fault. Those men had a choice. They chose their path. That has nothing to do with you.”
“Don't try to tell me I wasn't the catalyst that set this in motion.”
“I won't because you probably were. But you were a child, left to your own devices. God only knows how you survived. Whatever you did, whatever you have to do, I'll think no less of you.”
Before he could respond, his brother joined them in the hallway, loaded down with boxes and the bags containing Aviva's clothing.
“Follow me,” Josh said as he walked past them, continued across the hall, heading towards the stairs.
Following behind, Aviva and Jason climbed the stairs. Her awkward gait again reminded Jason of her pain, making him even more determined to get to the bottom of what had happened to her. He knew the telling would be traumatic for her, having to relive an ordeal always was, but he needed the details. It was through these details that he would plan and mete out his brand of justice.
The room they were shown to meant nothing to Jason, apart from it being the place they would be spending a few nights. Then they would be on their way back to the States. By then, his business in London would be completed, and he had no intention of sticking around to answer any questions that came up. When dealing with business of this type, his motto was, silent and deadly.
Josh deposited the bags on the bed and left the room in silence, leaving an awkward Aviva along with an ever watchful Jason. Aviva looked down at the pale pink carpeting in silence.
“Make yourself comfortable, Angel. I'll be back in ten minutes. I know it will be difficult, but time’s running out and we need to talk. I need to know what happened to you. Believe me, if I could give you more time, I would but we just don't have that luxury.”
Jason watched as her throat moved up and down as she silently swallowed.
“Ten minutes, Angel,” he said softly as he headed out the door to give her a few minutes of privacy.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jason retraced his steps down the stairs and followed the voices which led him to the kitchen. His brothers were seated at the table, a glass of whiskey in each of their hands. He also saw that another glass sat on the table, waiting for him.
Sitting down, he picked it up and downed it in one swallow and held his glass out for another. He needed the burn of the liquid moving down his throat and then spreading throughout his stomach as fortification for what was to come.
“What happens now?” Josh asked.
“I've given her a few minutes to settle in. Then I go back upstairs and she tells me everything.”
“Isn't it too soon for that? Maybe she needs more time.”
“We don't have any more time, Josh. These men are ruthless killers and it's only a matter of time before they move in us. I don't intend to give them that opportunity. I’m bringing it to them, and I'm bringing it hard.”
“What do you have in mind?” Jake asked.
“First things first; have you heard from your people, Jake?”
“Yes, I have, mummy boy told the truth. My guys were already on to the location. They counted ten men protecting Anderson.”
“Ten!” Jason sniggered. “Well, that's my lot accounted for. What are you guys gonna be doing?”
“Covering your ass, by the sounds of it, Mr. Invincible!” Jake snapped back, bothered by Jason's attitude. Didn't the pigheaded man realize that he could be killed? Yes, they had wronged them and the things they had done…no Kingdom would put up with. That didn't mean he was prepared to get into the Kingdom style of retribution without a plan.
“Did I ask you to cover my ass?”
“Someone has to, you hot headed bastard!”
Stuck in the middle of their constant mess, Josh reached the end of his endless patience. “The both of you need to stop because I've taken all I intend to of this constant bickering!”
“What?!” Jason and Jake said at the same time in disbelief at the ferocity of his words.
“That's right, you both heard me, and I'm not about to repeat myself!”
If their current situation hadn't been so dire, Jason would have been amused. But right then, he was hard pressed to find amusement anywhere. He knew he was reacting in this way because he didn't want to face what he was about to hear and Jake was always good for a distraction.
“Whatever, man,” Jason said without inflection, giving his younger brother a I don't give a shit what you have to say look.
For Love and Vengeance Page 6
