by P. J. Belden
Rufus reached for his phone as his door flew open. He jumped slightly at the sudden intrusion afraid that it would have been his son telling him the worst. It wasn’t, however. It was a girl he considered his daughter.
“Daddy,” she cried as she ran around his desk and into his open arms.
“What’s wrong my dear child?” Rufus asked as he tried to calm her down.
“Why can’t he leave me alone? Why does it always happen when everything goes right?”
“Zee, dear, you’re going to have to tell me what’s going on.”
Kenzie – or Zee as Rufus had dubbed her – Kelly has been a part of his family since she was fifteen and the death of her father put her in a lot of danger from her stepbrother, Carlos. The bastard was money hungry and wanted Zee’s inheritance. Thankfully, she came into his hotel when she did. The minute that son of a bitch crossed his doorway, Rufus put him in his damn place. He’d let him go with a warning – only because Zee had begged him not to kill him that it would kill her stepmother – but lately, the bastard has been getting brave again.
“Carlos, he… he…” She sat up and took a deep breath. “He trashed ‘Let’s Heal and Build’ last night.”
“He did what?” Anger and something more sinister built inside of him. Rufus knew how hard she had worked to get that off the ground. Kenzie had been so adamant about doing it on her own and no help from him.
“Everything is ruined. I had to cancel all reservations this morning. That’s what I’ve done until now. The loss of business and the cost to get it back right… I’m going to have to shut it all down. I’ll be too far into the red to even recover, let alone break even again.”
Rufus sighed in frustration. “I know we’ve had this talk before, but baby, let your dad help you. Please. If you really want, you can pay me back over time, but I don’t want to see you lose your dreams.”
She climbed off his lap and moved to the chair across from his desk. “I just want to make you proud of me. Not thinking I’m…”
Rufus slammed his hand down on his desk causing Zee to jump. “Don’t you even finish that sentence! You’ve never asked me for a damn thing in all the years you’ve worked for me. You’ve worked your ass off at several of my businesses while going to school. I have never thought of you that way. I won’t either. You are my daughter! Let me be the father you say I am and help you achieve your dreams. Please?”
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll let you help, but can you please let me pay you back over time and not get upset about?”
Sighing in defeat, Rufus rubbed his face. “Fine. I don’t like it, but fine.” Reaching over he pressed a number on his phone. A few moments later the door opened.
“Yes, sir.”
Kyan – Ky – Cannon was one of his right-hand men. He and Cray were the two he went to for anything. He trusted them and knew that they had his back at all times. Kyan was not your typical Irish man. He had blond hair with red hues mixed in. His dark blue eyes hid secrets that even Rufus has yet to figure out. He was tall, tall enough that even Rufus had to look up to him. The man used weights as a way to deal with the past and stress. He and Cray will go at the weights together. Those boys were always in competition with each other.
“Ky, I need you to stick with your sister here.”
Rufus knew the minute he said that Ky would be on alert. Ky, Cray, Sage, and Zee were all very close. There wasn’t anything one wouldn’t do for the other. They were respectable people, which was why he never understood their families treating them the way they did.
Kyan moved next to his sister and looked down at her. “What’s going on?”
Zee looked at Rufus, pleading for him to tell Ky about it all. Nodding his head to let her know he would, he cleared his throat and waited until Kyan looked up at him.
“Carlos is at it again. Only this time he destroyed her dreams. Zee has agreed to let me help rebuild LHB, but I’m worried that if he found her place of business then what else does he plan to do.”
“I want that bastard’s head on a fucking stake,” he growled with a hint of his Irish accent. It wasn’t thick, but when he got emotional, you could hear it come out some.
“And we will. We just need to figure the best possible plan that your sister doesn’t suffer from the downfall. You know that.”
“Sure, but she’s already suffering because the bastard thinks he’s above everyone!”
“Ky, I’m fine. I just want my business back up and running. I’ve just lost so much because of his mess. It needs to be cleaned up, put back together, and I need to get back to business as usual.”
Once Rufus had Kyan calmed down enough, he and Zee went to her building to assess the damage and get the crews started on making sure it was all done the way it needed to be done. Rufus grabbed his phone and dialed the number to his other right-hand man. Creighton – Cray – Campbell was everything Kyan was and more sometimes. That man had a mind that could assess and establish a plan faster than anyone he’d seen before. Since Sage’s boy had been in his accident, Creighton has been working to figure out who the mole was and what their gain for the information could possibly be.
Ember had an incredible plan in weeding out the culprit, and they’ve since implemented it. Hopefully, Creighton has come up with something, anything, that they could go off of. He needed answers for them now, especially if they lose Hudson. Revenge was a powerful antidote to agonizing, suffocating, sadness. Yet at the same time, it hindered any healing or acceptance.
“Yeah,” his clipped voice filled the line.
“I need you in my office… now.” Without waiting for a reply, he hung up.
Cray was a man of few words. He didn’t beat around the bush and he damn sure didn’t deceive or betray anyone. To most people, he was considered gruff, maybe even a little rude. To everyone that knew him, knew that what looked as being an asshole was caring too much after losing even more.
Cray had lost so much in just a span of a second. He had it all, love, a family, the whole nine yards. But one day, his wife – who was five months pregnant with their twin daughters – was mistaken for someone else. They followed her to their house… Creighton hadn’t been home due to being away on business. When he walked in the door that day, he found his wife, son and everything he loved more than anything dead. It was his search for revenge that Cray had crossed Rufus’s path. They were still looking for the fuckers that caused him to lose it all, but he had no doubt that they’d find them.
Soon, his door was opening, and Creighton came in, plopping himself in the chair that Zee had been sitting in. Crossing his arms over his chest, he glared at Rufus.
“I need an update, Cray. We just got word that his son may be brain dead. These fuckers need to pay, and they needed to pay yesterday!” Rufus’s voice climbed in volume the more he spoke.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! Are they still at the hospital? I’ll go see him when we’re done here.” Cray said as he sat up straight in the chair.
“What do we have?” Rufus reiterated.
“You aren’t going to be happy about this, but it looks like the whore has dug her nails into Trainor. It seems like our leak falls from him. So upon finding this out, I decided to test it. Yes, I know we had a plan, but I needed to be sure.”
Shoving from his desk, he stood and walked to the mini bar in his office and grabbed a drink out. Pouring it into a tumbler, he walked back over.
“What did you do?”
“So, I walked into ‘GoGo Gourmet’ while he was working and I pretended to be on the phone with you. Mentioned about some money drop and the meeting spot and time. Later that night, I watched that spot and what did I find, but Trainor trying to find where the drop was. He grabbed the bag and took it home.”
“What was in the bag?”
“A tracking device and also a listening device. He called the whore and asked her if she wanted to come over and forget about Sage, that he could now take care of her.”
&nbs
p; “Okay, so it proves that he took the bag, but not that he’s been leaking the information to her,” Rufus said frustrated.
Creighton stood from the chair, walked to the bar, grabbed out a pop, and sat back down. “You’re right, but I firmly believe by some of the comments made that he is the one. I know it’s a hard pill to swallow, but if you’re honest with yourself, you suspected him of being shady all along.”
“So Trainor?”
“Yeah.”
“Get it started. I’ll call Sage to let him know.”
“No,” Cray said as he stood from the chair and downed his can of pop in one gulp. Tossing it in the trash, he grabbed his keys. “I’ll tell him. I’m going to the hospital to see him.”
“Fine. Give my love, please. I really hope that Hudson pulls through. Death will be a treat if he doesn’t.”
Nodding his head once toward Rufus, Creighton walked from the room and out of the door. This was make or break time. If Trainor was behind this, then he was going to pay and Rufus would really have to reconsider the people he has working for him. A mole was a grave crime in his world. What the mole has done to his family, would be a crime that would be punished severely and over a very long time. They would suffer for every tear that the family had shed, for every second his grandson has been in pain, and for every tear his son and soon to be wife have shed. Trainor better pray that he wasn’t the mole because Rufus knew where to hit on him. Rufus knew everything. Starting up his computer, he got busy collecting everything he’d need for the ruse to weed out the mole.
Ember looked down at her son. They said the swelling had gone down, but he was still in a coma. She wasn’t stupid. There was something that the doctor didn’t get a chance to explain. When she’d looked around the room, she noticed that the doctor, Sage, and her father were all missing. Though she probably should have gone out there and demanded to know what was going on, she wanted to play into this good moment. So, she has kept her mouth shut.
Sage sat next to her running his hand up and down her back. It was driving her insane. His touch had always done things to her and now was not the time for those things to be happening. Their son was lying on this bed, unsure of whether we’ll ever take him home or not. Guilt ate at Ember. They had to postpone Hudson’s party because he’d gotten sick and then she had. Before they knew it, a month had passed. They were supposed to have done it the weekend that he was hurt. Now… Now she wasn’t sure if they’d ever get to celebrate his birthday.
This birthday was the year he’d been looking forward to too. He’d said that when he was five he’d have it all. Turning to look at Sage, she smiled sadly. Hudson had been right. In his eyes, his father was the best man on the planet next to his grandpa of course.
“He’s going to make it through this, my love. I won’t let anything take him from me, from us. I didn’t just get you guys in my life to lose you guys again. Did I tell you his birthday wishes he asked me for?” Sage said sadly.
“What,” Ember asked, barely able to breathe.
He looked at Ember oddly. She couldn’t place what it was that crossed his face, but whatever it was it was hard for him to talk about his son. That pain was clear as day in his eyes. It was the same pain that reflected in her own. It didn’t matter that she had almost five years with Hudson and Sage only had weeks. His love for his son still ran so deep that not even he’d come out of this whole if they had to let him go.
“He wanted away from the apartment. He wanted a house with a backyard.” Sage laughed sadly. “He wanted a dog.”
There was a long silence after Sage told Ember about Hudson’s birthday wishes. She thought of all the things that he’d expressed to her over the years, and a dog has always been the top of his list. He’d struggled to make friends because of how smart he was, and Hudson wanted a dog because he knew it’d accept him for who he was.
“Maybe we could get a dog for him. It’d at least be one thing off his list.” Ember said after a while.
Sage looked over at her father. When Everett nodded his head to Sage’s silent question, he turned to Ember and took her hands. The look on her face stalled his heart in his chest.
“Come with me for a moment. There’s something I wanted to show you.” He pleaded.
Just as Ember went to protest, Everett stepped in. “Go on. It won’t take long. Your mom and I will be here. You’ve not left the hospital since his accident. It will be good for you.”
The door flew open, causing everyone to jump. The people that walked through the door shocked Sage. He stood from his chair and walked toward them. Standing in front of three people that were his only family for a long time, his eyes filled with tears and the hard exterior he’d kept in check until now broke. The minute his brothers and sister saw he was on the verge of breaking, they wrapped him in their arms and let him cry.
After a while, Sage stepped back and wiped his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he looked at his family. “What are you doing here?”
“No matter how hard you pushed, you’d never keep us away,” Kyan said first.
“You need us. We want to be there for you as you have always been for us. We love you.” Kenzie had said next.
“Even though we never met him, or knew about him,” he glared at Sage for that. “He’s part of this family. We’ll be here until he recovers and then until we die. He’ll never want for nothing or have a reason to worry.” Creighton had said last.
“Sage?” The small angelic voice that calmed his nerves instantly filled his ears.
Turning around, he walked the short distance to her. Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her slowly but deeply. A small smiled played on her flushed face as desire lit her eyes. Turning, he walked them back over to his brothers and sister.
“Ember I’d like you to meet my siblings. This here is Creighton, but we call him Cray. Kenzie, but we call her Zee for short. Lastly, this is Kyan, but we call him Ky. You guys this is my fiancé, Ember.”
“It’s so lovely to meet you,” his sister squealed as she hugged Ember tightly. “I’ve always wondered what you looked like now. Had he not found you, I was going to find you for him.” She laughed.
“I-i-it’s nice to meet you too,” Ember replied.
“Ignore her,” Kyan said as he glared at their sister. “She gets overly happy and excited when she’s upset. It is nice to know that our brother found his girl, though. Frankly, I was getting tired of hearing about his only love, blah blah blah.” He winked at Ember before hugging her.
“Sorry, you were bored. If it makes matters any better for you, that’s how my friends feel about him,” she chuckled.
“I’m glad he’s got you, and you have him. Know that we are always here for you. Nothing will happen to your family. Not as long as I’m around.” Cray looked between the two of them, and Sage saw the old clouds filling his brother’s eyes.
“Cray…” Sage started.
“I’ll be okay, but I’ll be damned if you lose yourself like I had to. Oh and I’m to tell you two that the plan has started.”
Sage cleared his throat, but before he could say anything, Ember moved to Creighton and hugged him. Her tears starting anew. Cray looked at Sage worried. All Sage could do was shrug his shoulders as Cray wrapped his arms around Ember. Ember cried for a moment before pulling her head back and looking up into Cray’s eyes.
“I know loss when I see it. I don’t know what happened in your past or the magnitude of your loss, but if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here.”
Stunned silent, Creighton just nodded his head. Once again, Sage cleared his throat and looked at his family.
“I’m taking Ember somewhere, and we’ll be back soon. You guys are more than welcome to stay here if you’d like. These are Ember’s parents – Kimberly and Everett. You are welcome to sit here. They can fill you in on everything that we know and maybe we can get this fucker before they’re able to do something again.”
“There’s a list right there on the wall of the peop
le welcome to come in here. My parents know everyone. If you’ll add your names to the list and allow the desk to take your picture, Rufus has supplied us with this security so no one else can get in here,” Ember added softly.
“We’ve done that already. He said to tell you if you don’t want us up here that he’ll remove us from the list.” Kenzie said.
“No, no, no. It’s fine. If you matter to Sage, you matter to all of us. You’re all fine.”
Sage looked down at Ember. “Are you ready?”
She looked back at their son lying in the bed. With a frown, she nodded her head, and they made their way out of the room. Without a word to each other, they walked out to Sage’s truck and climbed in. After a while, Sage couldn’t handle the silence any longer.
“I love you Ember.” He whispered.
Turning she looked at him, smiling softly. “I know, and I love you too.”
Creighton looked around the room. The past was beginning to sneak back up on him. Hospitals have always given him the creeps since that fated day. He’s avoided them at all costs. Not that they died here, but more this was where he died. The day he came home from that trip continued to haunt him daily. He saw them everywhere he turned. Shaking his head, he focused on what was going on right then. He focused on making sure that Sage and Ember – or this whole family – never felt the pain he lived with every single day of his life.
“Would you mind telling me – us – how it happened?”
“You work with Rufus?” Ember’s father asked.
“I do. I became part of the small family a few years before Sage came. That man helped us all out more than I can even begin to explain. Please do not fear him. If you fear anything, be afraid of the thought of not getting your chance at these bastards.”
Everett chuckled. “That’s what I figured.”
Once Ky, Zee, and Cray sat down in chairs, Everett began going through the events of the day. Of course, this was all confirmed by the video. He knew the gist of everything, but sometimes others can reveal things that weren’t otherwise known when they don’t realize it. The more you talk about something, the less you force your brain to pull as much detail from it. It then allows things to surface that hadn’t at first.
