I waited for a response. All he said was, “Go on.”
“The police, bomb squad, fire department, and Drex and Gemini came. By that point, it was over and there was nothing to do. Everyone was safe. Jeremy went to the hospital. He suffered a severe concussion but is being released today. To be honest, when it was all over, I was so damn tired, all I wanted to do was sleep.”
He scowled. “And did it ever cross your mind to stay with me?”
I stared straight into his eyes—eyes that turned icy with anger. “It did.”
“Then why, may I ask, did you stay here?”
“The truth?”
“What do you think, Scottie?”
“The truth is, I’m not ready for that yet. A night or two is great. But I was afraid that if I came to you, you’d want me for longer than a few nights.”
“I see. And is that thought so distasteful to you?”
“Of course not! I love spending time with you. I’m just not ready to move in with you full time yet.” Gesturing with my hand, I continued, “We’re still too new. We’ve only just begun, so to speak. I don’t want to ruin that.”
He attempted to rub his chin, but his bandages prevented it. “I have plenty of rooms. You could take another bedroom.”
“Really? Do you seriously think that would work? And be honest, Raiden.”
“Never in a million years.”
“Precisely.”
His eyes bore into mine, and then he turned and disappeared through the doors.
Why were men so frustrating? This situation was so clear to me, it made no sense that he didn’t agree.
Chapter Eleven
Raiden
Anger coursed through me. The worst thing about it—I was utterly helpless. Another fucking bomb and in Scottie’s house. What the hell was going on? Was this retribution? And why Scottie? She hadn’t been involved with the O’Briens.
When I arrived at Kent Enterprises, the progress that had taken place shocked me. They’d gutted and renovated my office. Cruze came in and asked, “Thoughts?”
“Are they planning to return it to its former beauty?”
“You’re the one to decide that. As soon as they get the flooring in, they’re ready to paint. What do you want to do?”
“I don’t care. At this point, I’m just pissed off. They could throw in some cardboard boxes and I’d be fine.”
Cruze threw an arm around my shoulders. “I take it you heard about Scottie then?”
“I just came from there.”
“Her house?”
“No. I went to Wolfe’s and confronted her.”
“And?”
“I was angry with the way I heard about it. Through the fucking news on TV. So I made a damn fool of myself.”
“Like we all would’ve done in your shoes.”
I turned to face my brother. “But why Scottie? She had nothing to do with the O’Briens.”
“True, but where is your brain? She works for Wolfe and with us.”
My fists clenched. Why hadn’t I thought of this? “They’re watching us.”
“Yes, they are. Why would you think otherwise? When these bombs didn’t do the trick, I’m guessing they’ll resort to other methods.”
“Shit.”
Cruze was silent.
“The rest of the family. They need protection.”
“Raiden, it’s handled. While you were in the hospital, we decided it would be prudent for everyone close to us to have it. So now my question is, where are your bodyguards?”
I shrugged. “How the hell am I supposed to know? They’d been at the hospital, but I left this morning after I heard the news about Scottie. No one was around then.”
Cruze fished his phone out of his pocket, and moments later was talking to Drex. “I don’t know where they are. Raiden said they weren’t there when he left the hospital.”
Cruze’s questioning glance had me nodding. “No one was around when I left. I assumed they’d gone home.”
Drex must’ve heard me because I heard him shout, “Fuck.” And then he followed it with, “We need to put a search team out on them. I’m hiring more men.”
Cruze answered, “Do what you have to do and send us the bill.”
Cruze ended the call and asked, “So you left without speaking to the doctor?”
“Yeah. He told me last night he’d release me today.”
Cruze grabbed my arm. “Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“Back to the hospital. You’re not leaving without your doctor’s approval.”
His bodyguards drove us, and we went back to my room. We all stayed put, waiting for the doctor to arrive. A nurse came in and gave me a dressing down.
“Mr. Kent, we looked all over for you.”
“I had to leave for a while.”
“Next time, please let us know,” she huffed. “We searched everywhere for you.”
The doctor took his sweet time in getting here. When he did, it was to write me two prescriptions and orders for occupational therapy.
“You’re on the schedule for tomorrow. They’ll expect you at ten a.m.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Call if things aren’t going as we discussed and I’ll see you in my office in one week.”
“Got it, doc, and thanks.”
Cruze had stuffed my things into the bag he’d packed for me and we left. On the way to work, he asked again about my office.
“I want it like it was before. It was perfect that way.”
“Fine, I’ll take care of it. Why don’t you go home and rest?”
Giving him the stink eye, I said, “I’ve had enough rest to last me a lifetime. I’m ready to work. We have databases and software to develop and a killer to hunt down.”
“Slow your roll, bro. We have Wolfe’s team to find the killer. Let’s just focus on what we do best.”
I thrummed my bandaged fingers on my leg. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. “I think we all need to stay together, as in one house.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You, Acer, Isla, the baby, Isla’s mom, and our parents. I don’t like the fact that we’re so spread out. That would allow us to have more men too.”
Cruze didn’t respond.
“We all enjoy our privacy, but maybe it’s time to give something up. Both of us have houses large enough. It makes sense, Cruze.”
He rubbed his eyes and agreed. “Yeah, you’re right. Now we have to sell Little Guy and his wife on the idea. Isla thinks she can take care of them.”
“That’s how we sell it. Isla can be in charge of it.”
“I like the way you think, bro.”
Later, after lunch, we called the family into Kent Enterprises. Everyone was there, except for Isla’s mother. We explained what our plans were.
Cruze put me in charge of presenting the idea to them. “We face a dangerous threat, which is why we have bodyguards. We’d like to take it a step further and have everyone move in together until this is over. Cruze and I both have immense houses that can fit everyone. Isla, we’d love for you to be in charge of Operation Safe Kent. You have the most experience, but seeing as we all have bodyguards assigned to us, we figured we could double up on the manpower at the house, making us all safer. Having us together would help us monitor each other.”
If I thought Isla would immediately jump in, I was wrong. She frowned, then began, “One thing that makes sense is the manpower. One thing that doesn’t is having us all in one place. I think we should split up between your place and Cruze’s. Here’s why. Having everyone in one place makes it too easy for them. One target. Two targets are more difficult.”
“Good point,” Cruze said.
“That would still allow us to have more men at each place and keep a better handle on things. But if O’Brien tried to hit one place, it would be more difficult to hit all of us that way.”
Acer stood. He paced the room and said, “What about an
unofficial safe house.”
“Explain, please?” Isla asked.
“Why don’t we rent a house and stay there? They wouldn’t know where we are. We work from home.”
Isla bucked at that idea. “I have to go into the office regularly. That defeats the purpose.”
I stepped in, adding, “Same for us. We can work from home for certain things, but meetings with clients must be face-to-face. Locating us would be simple. They could tail us from the headquarters.”
Acer nodded. “When you put it like that, I get your point. Then two houses?”
“I like that idea,” Isla answered. “We split up. They won’t know which house we’re staying in. And one more thing. We need an escape plan.”
An idea struck. “Why don’t we do this? Stay in a hotel for a few days while we create an explosion-proof room in both houses?”
“Can we add an escape door leading to the outside?” Cruze asked.
“I don’t see why not? We can do anything as long as we’re willing to pony up the bucks.”
Isla grinned. “I love the sound of that. Keep in mind, the room should be large enough to fit everyone.”
I glanced at her and said, “Duh.” That broke the tension and everyone chuckled for a moment. “I’ll call Drex. Surely he knows someone who can install this.”
That evening, the entire Kent clan, including Isla’s mother, checked into a hotel. We took up an entire floor and cut off anyone else from accessing it. The hotel was very accommodating, considering the late request.
The next day, construction began on our safe rooms. They were digging into the ground next to the basement and then would attach it by drilling out an opening through the wall. The opposite end of the room would have a door leading to a staircase that exited in the back yard. They would camouflage it, but we hadn’t decided how yet. The two jobs would take a few weeks at a hefty price tag, but who could put a dollar amount on a human life?
My next job would be to persuade Scottie into moving in with us. The thought of something happening to her was unbearable.
Chapter Twelve
Scottie
Raiden had gone off in a huff over a week ago and I hadn’t spoken to him since. Isla filled me in on the latest Kent project, aka, Operation Safe Kent. It was damn ingenious if I said so myself.
Isla was getting coffee when I bumped into her this morning.
“Scottie, need a cup of morning perk up too?”
“You bet. Can’t go long without it.”
She took a sip of hers and hummed her pleasure. “Gah, I love this stuff. Hey, how are the renovations coming along?”
“Terrible.” A long sigh huffed past my lips. “I’m frustrated with the company I’m using. The entire front of the house is gone, and they have made very little progress.”
“Hmm. Want Acer to stop by and check things out?”
“Does he know anything about construction?”
She shrugged, then took another sip of coffee. “But you know contractors. Their reputation with women can suck. Maybe having a male popping by would help.”
“It surely can’t hurt. If he doesn’t mind, then yes.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, what?”
“What’s up with you and Raiden? He’s as grumpy as an eighty-year-old man.”
Grabbing her free hand, I asked, “Has he told you anything?”
“Not a word.”
“He was so angry I didn’t immediately call him about the bomb.” I turned my attention to making my cup of coffee and when I finished, I went on. “I probably should have called him, but that night, all I was thinking about was Jeremy and being grateful he wasn’t dead. Then there was getting my things together to stay at the apartment. I was a mess. The next morning, he blew in here like a thunderstorm and dumped a shit load of hail on me. I get it upset him, but so was I.”
“Kent men are fierce and protective. They like to control things. I got the gentler one of the family, so I understand your dilemma. He’ll get over it.”
“He’ll have to if he wants us to be together, plus he owes me an apology.”
She squeezed my shoulder. “Good luck with that. Raiden considers himself the boss and caretaker of the Kent clan. He’ll also, I’m sure, consider it his duty to see you’re safe too. I doubt he’ll apologize for something he sees as the norm.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, boy, we have the alpha male getting his hackles in a dither.”
Isla winked. “Sure, but I bet the make-up sex will be worth it.”
“Oh, my God. I can’t believe you said that.”
She burst out laughing, just in time for Gemini to hear.
“What’s so funny, ladies?”
“It’s not funny at all,” I said with my lips pressed together.
“Oh, yes, it is.”
Gemini leaned in. “Come on and share. You know how I love gossip.”
“This isn’t gossip.”
Isla giggled. “Yes, it is.”
I wanted to smack her, playfully. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to…”
“To what?” Gemini asked.
“I don’t know. Slap Isla with a wet noodle.”
“Good. Now that we have her punishment figured out, fill me in on why she needs punishing.”
Isla wouldn’t stop chuckling. “Because Scottie won’t admit how great make-up sex is.”
“Say it isn’t so?” Gemini and Isla were teaming up. “I have an idea. Why don’t we get together for a girl chat after work tonight?”
Isla’s eyes gleamed. “I could use a break from Olivia. As much as I love my child, sometimes a break is in order.”
“Scottie, you in?”
“I am.”
Gemini stared pointedly for a second. In a tiny voice, she asked, “Could we do it in the apartment?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Great. It’ll be easier explaining it to Drex. He gets overly possessive of me when I go out with the girls, as if I have any friends to hang with. He’s scared them all away.”
“We can’t have that, can we. And we don’t scare that easily, do we, Isla?”
“Hell no! I’ve been through hell and back, so Drex is a puppy dog in comparison.”
Gemini pumped her fist in the air, just in time for Drex to see it as he sauntered into the break room. “What did I miss?”
“Not a thing.” Gemini’s eyes twinkled.
A brow rose. “My wife never does a fist pump unless she’s excited about something.”
Her hand waved through the air. “We’re going to have a girls’ night out tonight. That’s all.”
Drex’s lips formed one thin line. “That a fact?” I could almost hear his teeth grinding. I wanted to snicker, but didn’t.
“Yep.”
Oh, this was great. She was goading him.
“When were you going to tell me?” He took a step toward her.
She met up with him and threw her arms around his waist. “You are so much fun to tease. We’re doing it here, in the apartment, after work, so stop getting your panties in a wad.” Then she slapped him on the ass.
“I don’t wear panties and just for that, I’m going to get you back.”
She winked. “Can hardly wait.”
“Break it up you two. The apartment belongs to me for the time being,” I called out.
“Eh, not a problem. We have an office we can use.”
“Wayyyyy too much information. This chick has to work.” I laughed, heading out of the room.
“Hang on, Scottie.” Isla caught up with me.
“What’s up?”
“Have you gotten any more leads on Aiden?”
“None. You?”
“No, and I’m getting antsy over that. Huff and I were thinking he may have gone back to Ireland.”
“What makes you say that?”
“His silence. And he has guys stationed all over Denver, as we know. It leaves his hands clean.”
She
made a good point. “What’s next then? How do we track him to bring him down?”
“If he’s gone, we can’t.”
“I don’t accept that. We have to find a method to lure him here. We need to grab one of his men that will talk.”
“Scottie, that sounds easier than it is.”
“Anything worth fighting for isn’t easy. Let me get to work on this and I’ll talk with you at lunch.”
We parted ways, and I went to my office. My head pounded with frustration. What did Aiden O’Brien value the most?
Jumping onto the dark web, I scanned everything I could get my information greedy brain on. It took nearly five hours of digging, but I finally landed on something. It had me leaping out of my chair and shouting for joy.
The printer shot out several pages, and I grabbed them before heading over to Huff. When I walked into the communications center, I didn’t wait before making my announcement. “I got it. A way to get back at O’Brien.”
Immediately, a group of heads turned as I gained their attention. Drex was here, along with Huff, and he asked, “What?”
I handed him and Huff the sheets of paper.
“You’re kidding. How did we miss this?”
“He’s kept it a well-guarded secret. But it’s our way to him.”
“How do you know?”
Putting a hand on my hip, I asked, “Are you serious?”
Drex slowly nodded. “Yes. He’s been here for how long? If she were important to him, he wouldn’t have left her behind.”
“Yes, he would. Safety. Anyone in his shoes would understand that the safest place for a young daughter is away from her father… especially one with mob ties like him.”
Chapter Thirteen
Scottie
It wasn’t easy convincing the men about O’Brien’s daughter. I had to drag Isla in the room and then she had to call Acer.
With her phone on speaker, she asked, “Do you think it’s improbable that O’Brien would hide a daughter if he had one?”
Raiden: A Stand Alone, Irish Mob Crime Romance (The Kent Brothers Book 2) Page 7
