chapter ELEVEN

Nix

The incessant ringing of my cell phone wakes me from my slumber. I search for it with my hand and groan in frustration when I come up empty. I sigh in relief when it stops but groan seconds later when it starts ringing again. After scrubbing my face clean of sleep, I search for my missing cell with my eyes this time. I answer after six rings.

“You awake?”

“Nate, someone had better be dying or dead!”

“No one’s dead yet, but you’ll be if you don’t perk up, sunshine. Pops is coming over to The Fort. He wants the three of us in his office in thirty. Be there.”

“Do you know what it’s about?”

“Not a clue. I’d jump in the shower if I were you. Mama Ada is coming, too, and if she sniffs Tanya’s nasty ass on you, all hell will break loose.”

“I’m fucking twenty-seven. I can do whatever I want,” I grumble.

“Wowzer! Someone grew some balls overnight. All right, be like that. Let me know how it goes for ya. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though. I’m out!”

I sit up, cracking my neck. My feet hitting the cold wooden floor does not even faze me. I hang up and jump in the shower, like Nate said, to rid myself of Tanya’s scent.

“I’m glad you guys are here. There’s enough coffee to go around. Don’t forget to thank your mama later.” Pops eyes the three of us to punctuate his point. “I called Greg, he’s our contact in the FBI, to give him a heads-up that Grace had arrived. I also told him what happened in Tacoma. He’s certain, Takahashi’s sons were in on it, and I agree with his assessment. Of course, we don’t have credible evidence, but the motive is there.”

“You can say that again,” I mumble under my breath before taking a sip of my now semi-hot coffee.

“Takahashi’s group is known to taunt their victims just to let them know that they’re being watched. Well, they did. We’ll be on guard but not to the point of holding Grace hostage. Plus”—he pauses and smirks—“the FBI has an asset inside Takahashi’s organization. Greg will tip us if a hit on Grace is imminent. All we need to do is keep Grace safe. Trust me, it’s just a matter of time before the FBI completely takes his network down.”

“Why didn’t he disclose his asset until now?”

“Nix, we don’t disclose everything either. I didn’t inform them about Grace’s extraction. I told them after the fact.”

“So then, we’re good.” Nate leans back, looks up at the ceiling, and lets his arms hang loose at his sides. “We can relax. Thank fuck.”

“We can’t totally relax, Nate. But it’s not all hands on deck either, which means Ada can relax.”

“That is a good thing,” I say. “God knows she needs the reprieve.”

“So, now that we have that squared away, Ada wants Grace to move in with us.” Pops’s brows lift, waiting for any objection.

I spin my cup a few times, waiting on my brothers. I get crickets instead.

They have lost their damn balls.

Since they have officially lost their gonads, I am going to take the heat for them. “I don’t agree with that idea, Pops. I know we’re sort of in relax mode, but the danger is still out there. You know they’ll strike when we least expect it.”

“I get what you’re saying, but our house is like a damn fortress. You guys made sure of that.”

“And look at what happened to Matt,” Drake points out.

Thank God, he got his balls back.

“He had cameras installed in and outside of his house. That didn’t stop Takahashi from pulling a fast one on them.”

“But his house wasn’t set up like mine. Before they could get to us, we’d be in the panic room in no time.”

“Pops has a point, guys.”

I glare at Nate, mouthing, Pussy.

I think Nate castrated himself.

“I’m sorry to burst your bubble, Pops, but your reaction time isn’t the same anymore. If shit hit the fan, by the time we got there, it could be too late,” I reason.

“I have a solution!” Nate shouts, jumping off his seat. “Mama Ada can move in here! Problem solved.”

“We’ll see.” He smiles at Nate and then switches his gaze to my other brother. “Drake.” His look says it all. He wants us to agree to his plan.

Drake jerks his chin upward and then leaves the room.

“Nix.”

Slowly, I rise, shaking my head. “I’m not on board, Pops. And I can’t control Mama. So, I lose.”

He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. I don’t know if it is a sigh of relief or preparing for a rebuttal.

“But, as soon as something happens, she comes back here whether Mama likes it or not.”

“Understood. Now, can one of you get Grace for me? I need to talk to her.”

Nate hurriedly leaves the room, eager to escape the tension building in the air.

“Listen, Nix, my desire to help her stems from two things. One, my promise to her father, and two, my guilt. I should’ve taken her out years ago. From the beginning, you’ve been against saving Grace. I want to understand why.”

I stare him down in defiance. “I was against it because of the danger; that’s all. You showed me how to protect my own, right? Well, I am doing that. I am protecting what’s mine.”

Pops can only return my stare. His eyes yell out disappointment in a voiceless, wordless confession.