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“Hunter, in this situation, you’re the boss, but you’re also my friend, and I’m telling you this can’t continue. The kid made one bad decision.”
“A decision that got Megan and my baby kidnapped!”
“You’re angry. I get it. If I still loved my ex half as much as you love Megan, I’d probably be the same way. But I’m telling you what nobody else around you will say. This is not the first time Megan has gotten hurt on your watch, and you’re mad at yourself, so you’re taking it out on him.”
“Vaughn–”
“Listen to me, you hardheaded son of a bitch, the snatch was random. Megan was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and you know it. Fabre was only here for the daughter.”
“Everybody has a soft spot for this traitor,” I mutter.
“What’s the endgame, Hunt? If you don’t want Christian and me to make the call, then you make it. You either need to kill Parker or let him go. What’s it going to be?”
“You don’t make the fucking demands. I do!” I roar.
“One thing you’ve always been is careful. That’s what makes you who you are. Parker has a mother in a hospital somewherewho’s going to call the police if she doesn’t hear from him or the morgue soon.”
I sit in silence for a moment and dwell on the fact that I know that Vaughn’s right. I just hate that he is. I have connections in the force, but I also have plenty of enemies. Enemies who have known me since I was a teenager and who have been trying to pin a felony charge on me for years.
“Are you at the club?”
“Yeah.”
“Go down there and put him on the phone.”
After a few minutes or so, Parker’s scratchy voice is on the other end of the line.
“Boss?”
“When will you stop calling me that? You’re sitting in the hole of the club.”
“But you can’t be that mad at me. I just had a medium rare rib eye steak and a loaded baked potato.”
Fucking Vaughn.
“Let me be crystal clear, Parker. You no longer work for me, and you never will again, but I won’t leave you empty-handed. I’ll pay for your mother’s care as long as she needs it and for you to relocate.”
“You want me to move?”
“Out of California for good.”
“But my mom.”
“She can go, too.”
“But all her doctors are here.”
This guy is unbelievable.
“Parker, I’m giving you a pass. Something I never give to people who betray me. I understand you didn’t realize the gravity of what your betrayal would mean, but that doesn’t negate that it led to someone I love being hurt.”
“Can I talk to Megan before I leave? I need to apologize.”
“The best apology you can give her is to do exactly what I tell you to do. Leave town and stay out of her orbit. Now put Vaughn back on the phone.”
“Thanks, Mr. Middleton.”
When Vaughn gets back on the phone, I give him a directive. “Pay for the mother’s care and let him go. Don’t let anyone see you do it, especially Lena.”