JETT
“What’s wrong?” I asked Ronni as she stood in the kitchen, her hands on her hips. She was almost startled to see me there.
“Nothing.”
She came to sit down with me at the table, a plate of cold toast in front of her.
“Jesus… just fucking tell me.”
If something rattled her, I knew it couldn’t be good. I ate my breakfast waiting for her to spill the beans.
“We really need Aubrey.”
“Why?”
“He’s damn good at what he does, that’s why.”
“A lot of people are good at killing, Ronni.”
“Yeah, but he’s a strategist. Seeing him again was amazing. I’d forgotten what a good man he is.”
“So what’s the reason you need him now? You seem to have a fine empire set up here.”
“I do, but I can’t risk my girls’ safety all the time for things that shouldn’t affect them. Remember how I told you I killed my father?”
I nodded.
“Well, I’ve been on the run for a long time from those who wish to see me dead for it.”
“Like who?”
“His brothers.”
“Okay… aren’t they dead?”
“Not quite. You see, the brothers aren’t his blood relations. My father was the Founder of the Brotherhood.”
I dropped my spoon in the milk unable to comprehend what she’d said. Surely, I hadn’t heard her correctly.
“The Brotherhood?”
“Yeah.”
“As in The Brotherhood of Pain?”
She nodded, unable to look into my eyes. “Back then, I didn’t know what that meant. I always saw him address people as Brother, but I had no real understanding until Johnny explained it to me years later.”
“Is that why you hide?”
“No, under Johnny’s protection I was never hurt. I hid from Johnny after wronging him a decade ago, but he still kept me under his protection.”
“So why did you help me kill him?” I asked.
“He needed to die for his sick intentions toward Ebony. There was no doubt about that.”
“I’ll help you with them… not sure what I can do. They have contacts fucking everywhere.”
“I know.”
“What hold did Johnny have over them?”
“I don’t know,” she told me. “There’s a lot I didn’t know about Johnny when I double-crossed him. I used to be his confidante, but that was one thing he never told me.”
“Would Aubrey know?”
Ronni looked up at me, surprised. “Maybe. He knew a lot of different groups. He may know someone.”
“I’ll visit him, get as much info as I can.”
She nodded, nibbling on her toast. “I don’t mind dying, really. I just… want my girls to be okay when I’m gone.”
“You’re not going to die,” I said. “You’re the only family I got left.”
“Jett, you’ll always have family. It’s not blood, but it’s who is there for us when we’re down. York protects you with his life, Ebony loves you and would do fucking anything to protect you. Look at those scars on her back. She endured those without caving. If I were to garner a bet, that would be because she didn’t give up on you saving her.”
Killing John once was just not enough for what he did to her. At least her spirit wasn’t broken, and I couldn’t be happy about that.
“York is in town looking after your business,” Ronni said. “Be thankful for that. You can focus on what you’re going to do now. You’ll need a stronger army and a better business standpoint. You can’t just rely on your protection services and clubs to keep you safe. You’re one of the big boys now.”
She pushed up from the chair and put her plate in the sink. “Go and see Aubrey before the Brotherhood finds out where we are. I suspect they have brothers on the way now.”
✽✽✽
York opened the gate to the prison before me, and I walked through. The Warden, Benj, was standing at the steel door to the place, a grim expression on his face.
“Haven’t heard from you in six months,” he said. “What’s wrong?”
“I need to see him.”
“For what reason?”
“Personal reasons.”
“I can’t allow that.”
“Really? Something change in your personal life for you not to care about that beautiful teenage daughter of yours?”
He looked back at me, his eyes flitting around, searching mine for any possible lies.
“You don’t have the balls to do anything to her.”
I lifted my cell to my ear and dialed. “Chaz, do it.”
Benj faltered a little but only briefly. “She’s not where you think she is.”
“You mean she’s not in the city? Yeah, I know. It did take a little bit to find her, but hiding her with your mother wasn’t exactly the smartest thing to do.”
“You’re lying… you don’t have her.”
Chaz put the girl on the phone, and I handed it to Benj.
“Baby?” he gasped.
I could only imagine what was being said on the other side, but from here I could hear her whimpering.
“It’s okay… no, baby, I’ll take care of this.”
He handed back my cell without a word and opened the steel door to let me through. “I’ll get him.”
York and I moved inside, sitting on the cold seats near the table. Chaz wouldn’t hurt the girl. He was too much of a softy, but until I found another enforcer like York, I’d need him to do jobs like this. He seemed up to the task, but if it came to the point of torturing the girl, he’d probably pass out.
“Have you found any more men?” I asked York while we waited.
“Yeah, recruitment is ongoing, but I see some promising talent.”
The door opened and a heavily chained Aubrey came to sit down. He waited for the door to close and for Benj to disappear from view before he looked over at me. He had two black eyes and a cut lip.
“Thought you didn’t want to come to prison,” he said to me.
“What the fuck?”
I looked at his injuries, some of them looked worse than minor scuffs. He also sat in a way where he was leaning to one side.
“They took me out of isolation.”
“Benj did that?”
“No… the Governor did.”
“Look, Aubrey, I know you’re in pain and probably don’t want to help me at all given your state, but I need your help… again.”
“Sure. How’s Ebony?”
“She’s better… a lot better. The scars have healed more than I expected at this rate.”
“Good, that’s good.”
He was fidgeting with his hands.
“Something you want to ask me?”
“I’m sure you know how to look after her,” he said. “She needs to be protected.”
“Of course, you know I will. She won’t be out of my sight or the sight of someone I can trust. She’s with Ronni now.”
He nodded. “Why did you come here?”
“Who is doing this to you? I can get them to stop.”
“No, you can’t. I can take it… I just want to make sure you know to look after Ebony if something does happen.”
“Ronni’s worried. She said the Brotherhood is after her.”
Aubrey’s eyebrows raised. “Of course, I forgot about their vendetta against her.”
“She thinks you can help her.”
“I have no contacts anymore,” he said. “But I do know someone who may be able to help you.”
“Who?”
“Your grandfather.”
“Ronni killed him.”
“No, your maternal grandfather. He’s one of the Brothers.”
“What?”
“Your mother was the daughter of the head guy in the Brotherhood after Ronni killed her father. A successor was appointed, and that was your mother’s dad. Why do you think John tried to control her so much? Why he killed her that night? She was planning to escape with you under the protection of the Brothers.”
“But why would they help me?”
“Because even though Robbie is one of the toughest Brothers out there, he’s a huge family man. He was gutted when his daughter died. Tried to get you back, but John’s claim on you was too big. If you sought him out, he’d probably be okay with the old debt.”
“How do I even find him?”
Aubrey sighed. “That’s always the hardest part. If I were out, I could probably do some things with old contacts, but as it stands, I have no idea. You could probably use your real name. He knows that.”
“I haven’t been that guy for a long time.”
“I know,” Aubrey said. “And you’re Jett Black in every way, shape, and form, but maybe to save Ronni, you need to be James again.”
“I don’t think I know how to be him.”
Aubrey leaned forward, the sound of his chains hitting the table with the movement. “James is inside you. The way you went after Ebony, the way you protected her… that’s James. He was always the sweetheart looking after others. Jett was someone who was born out of the hate his father gave him. The part of your soul that protected the good side.”
“James is dead.”
He had to be. James would have been killed by John if he knew even a tiny part of my goodness escaped through unscathed. That was why I became Jett. Well, that and the fact no one was scared of James.
“No, he isn’t, but even if you think he is, he may be the only way you can save Ronni’s life.”
He got up and bashed on the door to alert them he was done. I let him shuffle out of the room and away from view without another word. York moved to the door beckoning me to follow.
“Could I become James again to save my aunt’s life?”
York turned back to me which made me realize I’d voiced my thoughts.
“I think Ebony has made you realize you aren’t completely incapable of being James again. I mean, you’ll always be Jett, he is who you are now, but for maybe five minutes you could adapt to be James for the sake of what the cost of not being James could mean.”
York shut the door of the car on my face sealing the fact that I did need to dive into that role again. This was a dangerous business, even more dangerous than what I’d previously experienced. My father’s life was starting to make a hell of a lot of sense now. He was priming me to take over his business, which meant dealing with all these fucking pests. I had no idea he was messed up with the Brotherhood, though, a secret sect that no one thought existed anymore. They were almost like they were a fairytale you tell your criminals to keep them in line.
York started the car and drove us back to the city.
“York, take me to the cabin. And put the word out. James Lambert is back in town.”
“You got it, Boss.”