Page 105 of A Knight’s Revenge: The Complete Series
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
JOLIE
A fter a few minutes, Mrs. Spencer was back to smiling again as she took a delicate bite of cheese from Zach’s unnecessarily large charcuterie board.
Bennett had wrapped his hand possessively around my thigh under the table, and I tried to decide if I had the brain space to process his casual declaration that we’d be getting married.
“I can’t help but be worried for you still, Bennett,” Mrs. Spencer said. “Challenging your father like this. Dominic and John tell me that Spencer is… taking some hits, but your father can be so….”
“Vindictive? Soulless? A violent asshole?” Bennett finished drolly.
She let out a humorless laugh. “Yes, exactly.”
“Spencer is dying while the Knight empire is thriving and powerful, Mom,” Bennett said. “This tower is a fortress. He won’t touch us here.”
Noah returned to the table after pouring himself a second mug of coffee, and he handed me a fresh mug as well, like the perfect man he was. After a smug smile at the lusty look I gave him and my coffee, he looked at Bennett’s mom. “Has someone explained the Shadows to you, Mrs. Spencer?”
“John has,” she replied, smiling down into her little cup of espresso, and I felt Bennett tense next to me .
Oooh, Martinez was in trouble. But also, get it, Mrs. Spencer —Martinez was kind of a Daddy, and I would let Andrea throw me off the roof of Ferrero Tower before I ever said that to Bennett.
Noah smiled warmly at Mrs. Spencer. “Then you know what kind of force has been working against Spencer and the other Families for years now. Jolie’s united a lot of connected, talented people, and many of them have a personal stake in seeing the Families fall.”
“A lot of us have lost people,” Dom added soberly. “We won’t let it happen to anyone else.”
All three of my boys eyed Dom curiously, and I realized they hadn’t heard his story yet. I said, “Dom had a very close friend from his time in the special forces who worked for Ferrero and… didn’t make it out.”
Zach’s eyes widened. “Fuck, did you have someone on that gun run that was ambushed fifteen years ago?”
He nodded. “My best friend from my combat unit—Captain Joseph Turk. He wanted nothing to do with that stuff. He’d been content to work security at the casino, but the powers that be knew his background and wanted his skills on the runs.
He refused, but then Andrea’s head Enforcer at the time paid a visit to his pregnant girlfriend, and he changed his mind. Seven months later he was dead.”
Zach blew out a breath, a pained look marring his handsome face.
“I’m sorry, Dom. That incident is still talked about as the worst hit Ferrero ever took—at least before the Shadows blew a hole in my mom’s muscle to pull me out of that warehouse.
I heard Mom didn’t even give restitution to any of the families of the men and women who died. ”
“That’s correct,” Dom replied.
“And that’s why you joined the Shadows?” Bennett asked him.
He nodded. “I’d heard rumblings about the organization for years. No one on the Southside has any love lost for the Families, but you don’t bite the only hand that feeds you, you know? But that incident pushed me over the edge. I couldn’t just let Joe die without trying to do something about it.”
“And Gemini joining made the mission seem like it could be more than just a dream,” I pointed out.
“Gemini?” Noah asked, crunching his brow.
“She’s an anonymous benefactor that joined up around the same time I did,” Dom replied. “The Shadows really became a power to be reckoned with then, because she brought a lot of money with her.”
Bennett looked suspicious. “And what’s her story?”
I shrugged. “No one really knows. I met her briefly over video once, and she checks in occasionally. Now that Knight is able to fund the Shadows completely, she seems happy to sit back and watch us work.”
Mrs. Spencer still appeared uneasy. “And what’s the end goal? Will you settle for Peter, James, and Andrea losing their money and power? Or will you keep going until someone is… dead?” Her wide blue eyes went to her son once again. “Will you kill him?”
“If that’s what Jolie wants,” he replied.
The entire table was silent for a beat before Noah asked me, gently, “What truly was your end goal when you started this, sweetheart?”
I met Dom’s and Laura’s gazes, both of them warm and understanding, before I formulated my answer.
“Honestly? I was going to wreck the City and take everything from Peter, Andrea, and James. I’d destroy their lives—maybe they ended up dead and maybe they didn’t, as long as they were fucking done , it didn’t matter.
Then I was going to take my family and get the hell away from this place I thought I hated.
I’d leave it to the Shadows to build something better. ”
My boys watched me closely. “But…?” Noah prompted.
“But….” I blew out a breath before I met Noah and Zach’s eyes, and I squeezed Bennett’s hand where it remained wrapped around my thigh.
“I think a big part of that was the idea of living in the City without you guys—on opposite sides of everything, with you knowing I was alive and hating me for what I was going to do to your Families—it was too much for me. I wanted to run away. But now that I have you? Now that we have a home together and are all working to take everything from your parents and use the power of Knight to make some real changes for the City?”
Zach’s smile was so wide, so full of love, that I almost stopped breathing. “Now staying here doesn’t seem so bad, does it, Princess?”
I felt the flush hit my cheeks, which only made all three of my boys chuckle. “I think I’ll stick around,” I replied with a nonchalant shrug of my shoulder. “I know Dom didn’t really want to sell the gym and run off to the Virgin Islands with me, anyway.”
Everyone laughed, and the mood lightened considerably for a few seconds until Dom said, “You’ll get your happily ever after, Jojo, but first we have to keep you alive.
We know Ferrero and Spencer don’t have the resources now to attack the behemoth that Knight has become, so they’ll continue to target you personally like they did at Montgomery.
Everyone needs to stay alert until we can end this thing. ”
Bennett pulled his hand from my thigh and threw his arm around my shoulders instead, pulling me tight to his side. He looked at Dom. “Always. Nothing touches her.”
Zach and Noah nodded, resolute as he was, but I knew the score. I was going to bear the brunt of the Families’ anger and frustration as they attempted to cling to power and relevance in the City—and tried to take their Heirs back by force.
I just had to be ready.
The rest of the break flew by, and the four of us never left the lovely little cocoon we’d created in the Knight penthouse except to pop down to the security floors on occasion to train or bullshit with the team.
Max and Mari were more adventurous, coming and going from Knight Tower as they pleased, Max keeping Mari safe while Mari enjoyed showing Max her favorite spots in the City he’d rarely visited as a born-and-bred Southsider.
On Friday morning, Max, the boys, and I spent our usual couple of hours in the gym.
Zach and Max had gone several rounds in the cage while I ran on the treadmill next to Noah.
While I ran, I kept one eye on the two idiots beating the shit out of each other and the other on Bennett’s ass while he squatted an ungodly amount of weight.
We returned to the penthouse sweaty and in good spirits, and even Max and Zach’s bickering in the elevator over who actually won their fight couldn’t put a dent in my relaxed mood.
As we exited the elevator, Mari’s soothing voice sounded out in the living room. “And now reach forward, rooting your energy into your feet as we move into warrior two.”
We padded quietly into the kitchen, and there in front of our huge couch was Mari, hair braided back, wearing a sparkly purple sports bra with matching high-waisted leggings, and holding the warrior two pose on her mat. A shirtless Frankie was next to her, mirroring her pose.
“Alright, well—now I’ve seen everything,” Zach muttered. “Frankie’s wearing yoga pants and happily engaged in an activity that doesn’t involve maiming anyone.”
I grabbed Max by his shorts and physically sat him down on the barstool furthest from the living room. I didn’t have to even look at him to know his eyes were now glued to Frankie’s lean, tattooed torso and those extremely low-slung, tight pants.
“Jojo, what the fuck!”
“Lock it up, Max,” I said, pointing a finger in his face. “No eye-fucking Frankie, and no weird posturing with him over Mari’s friendship. I am in a fantastic mood, and I don’t feel like dealing with your weird bullshit with him that you still refuse to tell me about. ”
I wasn’t pouting, no sir.
He smirked at me. “Stop pouting, sis.”
“Hi, guys!” Mari called, waving. “We’re almost finished.”
Frankie ignored us, bending over into a perfect downward dog that made me want to slap my hand across Max’s eyes.
Zach’s phone buzzed. “What’s up, Marcus?
” he asked as he lifted it to his ear, stepping away from where he, Noah, and Bennett had been setting out food for lunch and very purposefully ignoring the Frankie situation in the living room.
“Oh, really? They just showed up without an appointment? Bold move.” He listened for a few seconds.
“Let me run it by the boss. I’ll text you. ”
He hung up, and I raised an eyebrow at him. “What are we running by me?”
“Actually,” he replied with an amused grin, “I meant Mari. Her parents are here unannounced, and they request a meeting with the head of Knight.”
“What!” Mari shouted from where she now lay flat on her yoga mat.
“Shh, Miss Mari,” Frankie cooed. “We’re doing savasana— relax your body and your mind.”
I sighed. Back to business, then.