Chapter Seven
Emily stared at Jake’s space and was shocked by how bland and boring he was. The furniture was all black, and the walls a pristine white. In the far corner, next to the sitting room, was a punching bag. The windows were huge, and looking out over the city seemed to be a big deal to The Family.
She wondered if he was compensating for something, but then didn’t want to think about it.
Running fingers through her hair, she spun in a full circle. There was no way she could live here for a long time. It was like a bad omen waiting to happen. This was the kind of apartment that filled scary horror movies with phantoms and ghosts. Running her hands up and down her arms, she scrunched up her nose.
The apartment screamed coldness.
Jake wasn’t a cold person.
She had noticed that he was a very charming kind of guy. A bit different but then, no one was perfect.
Blowing out a breath, she took a seat on one of the large, overbearing black seats. She sat down and sank into it, only it wasn’t comfortable.
He had furniture that was so uncomfortable it wasn’t even funny. Falling into the seat, she stared up at the ceiling just as a knocking came at Jake’s door. Climbing out of the chair, she made her way toward the door and opened it up.
Paige, Donnie’s wife, stood on the other side as did Zara and Raine.
“Hey,” she said, looking at the three women.
“Hi, we thought we would interest you in a bit of a girly day. Your mom decided to take the kids and asked if we’d come around to meet you.”
Each woman held a platter of some kind. She looked at the woman with the pizza, and her mouth watered. Moving out of the way, Emily gave them a chance to enter. Closing the door, she secured the lock and followed them in.
“I’m Emily,” she said.
“We all know,” Zara said. “I’m Tonio’s woman.”
“I belong to Luiz,” Raine said.
“Well, I don’t belong to Jake, but I’m his wife.” She held up her hand. “We’ve all met, and all done the introductions so you don’t need to redo them.” Around other women, she was awkward. It had always been this way.
Jake being the first person who didn’t seem to mind that she was a little different.
The three women looked at her with smiles on their faces.
This was making life a little uncomfortable for her.
“Erm, why are you here?” she asked.
“Oh, well, we wanted to get to know you. You’re Jake’s wife, and seeing as we’re all wives, it’s kind of a secret club.”
“Right,” Emily said, looking at each of them and frowning. “You brought pizza.”
“Yes, I cook pizza. I’m good at it.” Zara opened the wrapping and offered one.
Unable to resist pizza, which was what got the women in the apartment in the first place, Emily took a piece followed by a bite.
Emily fell in love. “Wow,” she said in between chews.
“You like it?”
“Can you marry me? In like all seriousness. I know it’s cold, but that is the best pizza ever.”
“You should try it hot,” Paige said.
Emily finished her pizza and went for another slice.
Somehow, they all ended up in the sitting room. Emily didn’t take one of the chairs, and instead took the floor, which was more comfortable.
“How is Jake?” Paige asked.
Emily took another bite of her second pizza and stared at Paige. She was beautiful, and she had heard a lot about Paige. The stepdaughter who was forced to marry her stepbrother. From the pictures that Emily had seen, there was no fear. Paige was in love with Donnie.
“He’s fine I guess. He’s with you guys’ husbands, right now.” They were all watching her, and Emily hated being the center of attention. “I’m really not used to this, like at all. It’s kind of scary. Could you just tell me what you want? I really don’t know what this is?” She pointed between them all.
“We told you. We want to get to know you. You’re Jake’s woman, and we’re all a family in our own way. Isn’t that okay?” Paige asked.
Emily winced. “I’m sorry. I’m really not good with this, and I’m not really part of the friendship—”
“We didn’t all know each other,” Zara said. “We all became friends, and it helps. It keeps the guys on their toes.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Have you ever been friends with anyone?” Raine asked.
“Yeah, sure, totally, lots of time. I have friends all over the globe,” she said, lying.
“Really?” Raine asked.
“Being Bracken’s daughter doesn’t come with an all you can eat buffet of friends, if that makes sense? That’s kind of weird, isn’t it? All you can eat buffet?” Emily ran her fingers through her hair. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I am really, really bad at all of this.”
“You totally couldn’t tell. You seemed to be a total natural,” Paige said, laughing.
Smiling, Emily looked at her pizza.
“Don’t worry. You now have the three of us, and we’ll get you in total BFF shape,” Raine said.
“You forgot Charlene. She’s a sweetie as well,” Zara said.
Paige coughed and looked at her. Emily saw they were all doing that silent communicating thing that friends seem to do.
“Don’t be nervous about Jake’s feelings for her.”
“You know?”
“It’s not secret news. Jake told me, and he also told me that he didn’t have feelings for her anymore, so no need to worry. I look forward to getting to know Charlene.”
“She’s a lesbian as well. She won’t be stealing your guy,” Zara said.
Emily chuckled. “I know. Jake’s many things, but I know he won’t cheat on me.”
“He’s told you that?” Paige asked.
“Yep. We’ve got an agreement, and we’re both going to work to make sure we’re happy and safe. No big deal.” She was happy with their arrangement, more than happy. There were no complaints coming from her. The three women stared at her a little confused. She was about to say something when she heard her cell phone ringing from the kitchen. “Excuse me, I’ve got to get that.”
She got to her feet and left the room, pleased to have a small break. It was sweet of the three women to try to make her feel welcome and part of their group, but it was kind of weird to her. She was used to being on her own. When she went away to high school, a lot of people were afraid of her because of who her father was. Humming to herself, she glanced down to see that it was Jake calling her. Accepting the call, she couldn’t help smile. “Hey, Jake, gu—”
“Babe, there’s guys coming to the building. I can’t get in touch with your father, but I need you to go to my room and grab my gun in the drawer beside my bed.”
Emily started moving straight away. She didn’t freeze up, even as her heart started to pound.
“Do you have it?”
“I’ve got it. Jake, Paige and the other are here.”
He cursed. “Keep them there, baby. We’re close. You’ve got to protect yourselves.”
She nodded, and then frowned. “Don’t worry. Dad taught us all how to shoot.” She held the phone against her ear and walked back into the sitting room. Zara and Raine were dancing. Turning off the music, the three women looked toward her. “Can I tell them?”
“Do it. They’ll help you, and I don’t want anything bad happening to you.”
Emily didn’t have time to think about his words. “Men are coming,” she said. “They may already be in the building.” The sounds of shots and screams rang out. She didn’t know what floor they were on. Turning off the lights, the music, she made sure the other three hid after they grabbed something to hurt whoever was coming toward them.
“Did you hear that, Jake?”
“I heard it. We’ll be right there,” he said. “Don’t hang up.”
She was petrified, but she moved so that she was covered behind the wall near the kitchen, and was able to look down the long hallway toward the main door.
“Are you okay?” Jake asked.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re scared?”
“Of course I am. My dad trained me for this. He’s got your friends’ kids, Jake. If something has happened to him—”
“Don’t think about it right now. Focus on those men. They’re coming, and it’s between you and me to stop them.”
“Why does it always have to be you?” she asked.
“We’ll talk about that another time.”
She closed her eyes as the someone shimmied the doorbell. “Someone’s here,” she said.
“We’ve just arrived, baby. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
She heard the car doors opening, and then the sound of him running. There was a loud crash outside her door. They were trying to break the locks, and with a few short jabs, they were inside the apartment.
Her heart was racing. She had never been so scared in all of her life.
Help Jake.
Save them.
Save yourself.
When it’s over, kiss him.
It was probably stupid, but she was really looking forward to kissing him.
They were inside the apartment. The gun was locked and loaded. She had already checked that back in the bedroom.
“What do we do?” one of the men asked.
“Our orders are to take no prisoners. Anyone we see in this building will die tonight.”
The moment she saw the ankles of one of the men, she had slid down the wall to be on her ass, lower down than where they were looking. That’s what her father always told her to do. She pointed the gun, aimed, and fired. The first man went down, screaming.
Emily had given away her location, and the second man aimed his gun at her. She thought she was a goner until Raine slammed a metal lamp over the back of his head with so much force she knocked him clean out.
Before the other man could reach for a weapon, Emily moved quickly, kicking it out of his way. She pointed the gun at his face, staring down at him. She didn’t recognize him.
“Who do you work for?” she asked.
“I don’t talk to little girls.”
Raine came over and smirked. “Little girls? You’re down on your ass, and we’re alive.”
Paige and Zara held their weapons over the falling man. Emily kept her focus on the one that could do damage. “I won’t ask again,” she said.
She held the gun straight at his chest, near his neck.
“I’m not telling you anything. You won’t shoot me.”
His arms were spread out.
“I hate cocky men.” She pointed at his arm and shot. He immediately jerked, holding onto his arm. Bending down, she pressed her knee against his chest. She wasn’t a small woman, never had been. For the first time, she didn’t give a shit if she made a guy uncomfortable with her weight bearing down. This man had come to kill them. “Answer my question.”
****
Jake rushed the building. His friend behind him. He fired off his gun, taking down three men who were waiting at the ground floor. The time for answering questions was not now. He had to get to his floor, to Emily. He didn’t know if she would be able to protect his friends’ wives.
Moving to the main stairs, he began the ascent to his floor. There were another three men in the stairwell, on his way up. After slamming them into the wall, he shot them, and threw them over the rail so they landed with a sickening crunch at the bottom.
Whoever thought for a second they were dealing with little children, were sadly mistaken, and he was bored.
That’s right, he was fucking bored with this shit. Once and for all they were making a stand, and as far as Jake was concerned, war had been declared. Damon thought he could take The Family easily and without a fight. That bastard didn’t realize what he’d woken up.
Breaking off onto Bracken’s floor, Jake saw Emily’s father was guarding one door. There was blood seeping from Bracken’s shoulder, and several dead bodies lined the floor.
“I’ve got your kids. Go and save my daughter, Jake. Now!” the man yelled, but Jake was already running the last few feet up toward his room.
He needed to get there to protect her. They had only just found each other and already he couldn’t lose her. There was no way he would be able to live with himself.
The moment the entered the floor, he saw that his door was wide open, when he entered his apartment, he paused.
Emily was kneeling on the man’s chest, putting a great deal of force behind it. Raine stood over her, holding a metal lamp.
Paige and Zara were staring down at another man, who was unconscious.
“Who sent you?” Emily asked.
“Fuck you!”
“You want me to do the other arm?”
Jake turned on the lights, and all four women turned toward him. Emily still had the gun trained at the man’s throat.
“Didn’t your father ever teach you that you shouldn’t ask, baby?”
“He’s being stubborn and won’t tell me, Jake.”
Jake tutted. He moved forward and helped Emily off the man. “Are you done asking nicely?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Good, now, ladies, I suggest you leave if another man being punished is not really your thing.” He didn’t wait for the women to leave as he grabbed the man and slammed him against the wall. “Who sent you?”
“Fuck you.”
“Nah, thanks. I’m already married.” He slammed his fist against the guy’s face. Instead of asking a question, though, he just kept pounding him.
The man tried to fight him, but Jake saw red. He was so fucking angry that this bastard had come into his home, and had made Emily hold a gun at him, and even shoot him.
“Jake, we need him to talk,” Donnie said.
He looked behind him to find Emily still there, but Donnie, Tonio, and Luiz were also there.
“You should go,” he said, talking to Emily.
“I’m not leaving. I want to know who sent him as well.”
His friends had already tied up the other man, and there was a chair ready for this guy he pummeled.
Handing him to his three friends, he went toward his wife. Cupping her face, he stared into her eyes. “Are you okay, baby?”
She covered his hands on her face. “I’m not leaving. He didn’t get the chance to hurt any of us.”
“Where’s your dad?” he asked.
“Dealing with the clean-up. Several of your soldiers are down, Jake. It was an ambush of twenty men. They did everything they could.”
“Two men still got here. They still got close to you, and we can’t have that. Not at all. I need you to go so that I can do this.”
She shook her head. “Whatever you need to do doesn’t scare me. You think I can’t handle this? I can, and I will.” She pressed a kiss to his inner palm. “I’m not leaving you.”
He didn’t want her to leave, but he also didn’t want her staring at him like the monster that he was.
Pulling her in close, he pressed a kiss to her head. “We’ll have our honeymoon.”
“We will. First you need to get rid of this threat. No turning back, Jake.”
When he went to turn away, she grabbed his arm, turned him back, and held onto his head. She pressed her lips to his. The kiss was hard, firm, and exactly what he needed.
In those few moments on his cell phone he had feared that he wouldn’t see her again.
“Do you want a coffee?” she asked.
“We could all do with one,” he said.
“Then that’s what I’ll do.”
She left the sitting room, going straight to the kitchen, which provided him with visibly privacy.
“The Family are training women now. That’s a first,” said the man Emily shot.
Jake laughed. “That’s Bracken’s daughter.”
Even with blood dripping from the man’s face, Jake saw him pale. “Bracken?”
“You guys didn’t know?”
The man who had been unconscious spoke. “No, we didn’t know. This was a kill mission. The whole of The Family would be here. They are four young boys who a little cocky. Kill them, and everyone within the building. We had no idea that Bracken was here.”
“But you’ve heard of him?” Donnie asked.
“Of course we’ve heard of him. Anyone in this life has heard of him. Man’s a living legend. He survived The Family, to then start his own organization.” The man was very talkative.
“And you just threatened his eldest daughter, my wife,” Jake said.
“We’re as good as dead.”
“I liked Bracken,” the one bleeding said. “He … he saved my father.” The man looked toward him, and there was a steely determination in his eyes. “Damon has been working for years to infiltrate The Family. Your fathers’ greed allowed this to happen. He’s making a move. Ryan and Rufus are already in his pocket. He has their men, including his own.”
“Why the sudden change?” Jake asked, to the man bleeding.
“Bracken. He … he’s a man that deserves loyalty. There was talk that you four could also hold that same loyalty, but you guys were too limp wristed. You were busy wanting to lead your own lives, and pretend that this was not happening. The world, the city is always at war. You choose what you want to do, otherwise we’re all dead.”
This had been a change from what Jake anticipated.
“I’ll go and get Bracken,” Jake said.
He didn’t wait around, and left to go and get Emily’s father.