Page 21 of Reckless Forever (Jennings Mafia Family #3)

Judah

Banging on the door made me and Ivy jump from our sleep.

One minute, we were sleeping with her leg hooked over mine, and the next, this.

I reached out with no hesitation and grabbed the Glock that I kept on the nightstand.

A bullet was already in the chamber. Using my elbows, I pulled myself up and swiped the tablet open.

Every angle of the estate came into view: the gate, driveway, perimeter, and everything in between.

Enlarging the door view, I saw who was stacked up at my door, knocking like they were the fucking feds.

I looked in confusion as Trouble, Jax, Storm, and Kennedy were piled outside the door.

None of them looked like they came to socialize.

“Judah,” Ivy whispered as she clenched the covers against her body with a panicked look on her face, like she was waiting for me to tell her some bad news.

“That’s my brothers and sisters, throw on some clothes and come down,” I cleared my throat and said before I found some joggers and a T-shirt and threw them on. The second round of banging went through the house. Ivy flinched so hard that I had to grab her and steady her.

I walked out of the room, feeling the heat going through my body. Before I could make it to the bottom of the stairs, the banging started again. I was agitated. They had already come to my house, waking me up, but knocking on my shit like they wanted it off the hinges was straight up disrespectful.

“Aww hell nah,” I mumbled under my breath as I made it to the last step.

I swung open the door. “What the fuck y’all out here banging for?” I snapped as I grilled all four of them.

Trouble didn’t even wait for me to move to the side; he stepped past me with Jax right on his shoulder. Storm came in, her face was softer than theirs, but her eyes swept the house. Kennedy clutched her purse like they had made her come.

“Where the fuck is the girl, nigga?” Trouble’s voice carried through the house. He asked, but it wasn’t a question. It was just an accusation. His eyes swept my house like I had bodies stacked in the corner.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” My voice dropped low to meet his. I didn’t like his energy, and I didn’t like the fact that he had brought it to my house.

“Santos’ goddaughter, don’t play stupid,” He stepped deeper into the house, eyes still raking over everything.

“Why? Why the fuck are you coming to my house questioning me?” I called Jax and Trouble, G, and OG because respect was owed. But my patience was as thin as ice, and they weren’t getting to the point quick enough.

“You done smuggled a damn girl to the States and got us in the middle of some bullshit,” Jax said with his jaw tight.

The air shifted then.

Everybody’s heads turned toward the top of the stairs when Ivy appeared.

Her hair was just barely done from being asleep, dressed in one of my hoodies and some leggings.

She stood frozen halfway down, gripping the railing like she needed it for support when she realized what they were here for.

Her face changed, like she had been holding a secret, and it just got exposed.

Trouble’s glare snapped to her so hard she winced, and Storm looked at her sympathetically. Kennedy just focused on the ground like she didn’t want to stare.

No one said anything until she was standing next to me. I could see the rise and fall of her chest; she was nervous.

Jax’s jaw was locked so tight the muscle ticked. He didn’t say a word at first, just dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The glow from the screen lit up the expression on his face.

“Look,” he said coldly.

I was tired of all the mystery, and I wanted to know what the hell they had come to my house for. I snatched the phone from him, irritated as I pressed the play button. Then I froze.

On the screen, the video began with a sweep through one of my parents’ vacation homes.

My parents didn’t even live there; the place was barely used except for holidays and when they wanted to change the scenery.

But now, three men moved through it like it belonged to them.

Guns on hips and rifles on display. Big ass boots tracking mud across marble floors that my mama loved and paid top dollar to keep clean.

One of them sat on the couch like he owned it, scrolling his phone.

Another opened a bottle from the Pops’ bar and poured himself a drink, smiling like it was all a fucking game.

The third stared dead into the camera. I committed his face to my memory.

My heart dropped. Heat went up the back of my neck. I’d been expecting something, but nothing like this.

Trouble’s pacing started again, his loafers clicked against the floor. Then I scrolled down and saw the message typed to Jaxon in Spanish from Santos:

Santos: Jennings Mafia, you are not untouchable.

You have something that belongs to me, and you have to return it.

You have been warned. I don’t play fair.

I destroy entire families one member at a time.

You have twenty-four hours to get Ivy home.

If not, I’ll show you just how serious I am. Don’t test me.

My eyes snapped to Ivy. She looked guilty.

“You don’t have shit to say for yourself, huh? You so fucking reckless!” Trouble said as his voice carried through the house. I knew that nigga was pissed, I could see the veins coming out of his neck. Trouble never yelled, not even at his kids.

“Watch your tone in my shit,” I gritted back at him. He took a step forward, making Storm step between us.

“This is not what we need! Ivy come over here.” She said as she waved over Ivy, who looked scared out of her mind.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Storm. Judah’s sister.” Storm said as she hugged Ivy, who seemed hesitant. The fire in Trouble’s eyes as he glared at her caused her to shift.

“I’m Kennedy, his sister as well,” Kennedy said, looking like she didn’t even want to test Jax and move, but she did anyway.

“Y’all knew about this shit?” Jax scoffed as he looked at them.

“I mean, it was kind of like how y’all left me in the dark about your fake marriage,” Storm said as she gave him an uneasy shrug.

“Gah damn! Storm don’t piss me off; that’s not the same damn thing, Mama!” Trouble said as he paced.

Ivy was frozen in place like a deer caught in headlights.

“You got Ma and Pops in PC because you can’t control yourself?” Jax snapped at me.

My chest was tight, and it felt like I was about to snap, and chaos just kept unfolding around me. The thought of anybody getting near my parents had me on edge.

“Shorty, what’s the deal with you? Why is you leaving Bolivia some sort of national emergency?” Trouble asked Ivy through slits in his eyes.

She started to cry, which pissed me off.

“Go upstairs, I’ll be up there in a second.” I interrupted him. She turned to walk away.

“Trouble, last time I’m going to tell you to watch your fucking mouth in my house,” I warned as I rolled my neck. Ready to test this nigga’s old man strength.

“Judah, I will break you in your muhfucking house,” He shot back.

“Y’all niggas chill the fuck out. Ain’t nobody breaking nothing.” The good Samaritan, Jaxon, intervened. “Judah, Trouble ain’t wrong. It’s a reason why Santos is going this hard for her. She’s grown, and she can’t leave the house? Have you run a national background check on her?” He asked.

When he said it, I closed my eyes and could kick myself in my ass. The report came through three days ago, and I hadn’t even opened it.

“Judah,” Kennedy groaned, disappointed that I hadn’t.

“And y’all think I’m overreacting? This nigga is reckless.” Trouble scoffed.

I blew out a deep breath and calmed down. I know that all his smoke came from the fact that Santos had put our parents in the middle of it. If anything happened to my mama, Trouble would be so mad he would be able to kill me with a cotton ball.

I walked over to the couch and sat down as they trailed behind me, and I went to my emails.

Review immediately: Two profiles detected.

I opened the attachment and read the security report.

The first profile was of Ivy Montana. The details and her date of birth took me by surprise because they weren’t any of the information she had told me.

The second profile had been deleted, but my system was able to retrieve it.

The name was Ivanys Montoya, a different name, but all the other details that she told me seemed to add up.

I didn’t respond to them, just pushed past Jax and walked up the stairs into the room. I pushed open the door so hard that it hit the wall, scaring her.

“Judah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause issues with you and your brothers,” She apologized as tears fell down her face.

“Look at me,” I touched her chin.

Her eyes slowly met mine, and she wiped a tear as she looked me in the eye.

“Tell me the truth. Why the fuck does Santos care if you leave Bolivia?”

I could see her swallow hard. “I don’t know.”

She lied.

I blew out a deep breath. “Don’t lie to me, Ivy. Not after all the shit I just dealt with downstairs.” Her breathing hitched. For a second, I thought she was going to shut down on me completely.

“Who is Ivanys Montoya?” I asked through clenched teeth.

She looked like she was considering lying, but I could tell from her body's reaction when I asked that I was on to something.

“Me,” She admitted, and I wanted to flip my shit.

“This whole time, we’ve been talking, why haven’t you mentioned that?”

“Because I couldn’t,”

“Ivy, Ivanys, whoever the hell you want to be today. Stop the riddles and tell me why the hell Santos has men at my mom’s crib?”

Her leg started shaking on the floor, and it made me brace myself for whatever she was about to say.

“Are you more to him than his goddaughter? Ya’ll married or something?” I asked. The thought almost made me sick.

“No.” She answered quickly.

“Then what? I’m waiting.” I pushed her along.