Page 13 of Vengeful Pawn (Adair Legacy #6)

Hendrix

M y woman. My fucking woman. She’s a masterpiece in heart, mind, and spirit.

She’s strong, fierce, and loyal to degrees I never understood until now.

She’s expressed her desire to help me, to be there while I heal from past scars, but until last night, throughout the night really, I hadn’t realized just how therapeutic she is for me.

Until today, I’d woken up with dread settling in my chest. Afraid and angry about my actions in war, the nightmares that have followed, and the shame that resides inside my soul.

Sure, therapy has been helping; I’m seeing my actions for what they truly are. However, with MiaBella at my side, I’ve felt the shift in my head and heart. I’ve felt the healing in my body as I slowly learn to accept the past for what it is.

The past.

I no longer need to suffer for my transgressions, even if they were accidental and unintentional.

I’m not only moving forward into a future that offers me peace, but I’m also looking forward to the future and planning it with Mia. I notice the hope and relief in her eyes every time I mention something I want to do. Even if it’s just planning to see my parents or sister.

“You focused, man?” Bishop asks from beside me as Saint approaches.

“Yeah, just having revelations.”

Bish cocks his head in confusion but doesn’t comment.

“What’s the plan?” Saint asks as we lean against Bishop’s truck. Mia has mine so she could do things with my mom today. She needs to have some control while she’s here.

Retrieving the folded picture of Jeff Gold that I snagged from Holden when he hacked the DMV to get a clearer image of the man, I hand it over to Saint.

“He’s the target. Thinks he can harass Mia.

Leaves images of her in her car, at her job, and recently taped to my apartment door. He needs to learn some manners.”

Saint cracks his knuckles. There’s a particular rage that this giant human reserves for men who harass women. Given Lake’s most recent breakdown and refusal to leave the house or even see him, the one person she has always considered her safe space, he’s filled with fury.

“I’d like to get my hands on him, Saint.” Meeting his black eyes, I wait for the frenzy to clear before he nods.

Mr. Jeff Gold works in an accounting office in Mobile, Alabama. Bishop enters the building first, while Saint begins his walk around the ten-story structure. I wait out front until receiving a text from Bish that Jeff is in the office and not currently in an appointment.

Two security guards share a look before one shakes his head, deciding that approaching me is a bad idea, while I make my way to my friend at the elevators. As the doors open, two men and a woman halt briefly, giving us a hesitant look before stepping off and allowing us entry.

“It’s like they haven’t seen large men before.” Bishop rolls his eyes and scoffs.

“As long as they stay the fuck out of my way, I don’t give a shit.”

We stride down the hall, leading into a bullpen of cubicles, where little men with no lives sit, typing away, before I spot Jeff in a back corner office.

He’s taking a call, a pinched expression on his face when he realizes there’s complete silence beyond his open door.

Popping his head up, he looks around until he spots me and Bishop storming his way.

His face pales, and the phone drops from between his ear and shoulder.

He slowly stands, stepping back as his chair rolls to the side, before realizing he can shut the door and tries to beat me to it.

“I don’t think so, little man,” I growl, my anger reaching a boiling point now that he’s within reach.

Grabbing his collar, I lift him off the ground and bash him into the bookshelf against one wall. There’s a cracking sound, and he whimpers as Bishop closes the door, locking it and shutting the shades in the room. Leaving us completely alone.

“W-who are you?” He shakes in my hold, his feet dangling a good foot off the ground.

Smirking, the predator in me takes immense pleasure in the fear rolling off him.

“I’m MiaBella Dion’s man.” If possible, he pales further, and the stench of nervous sweat pours out of him.

“She’s being harassed, and it all leads back to you.

” Slamming him against the shelf, his head cracks off a book. “I’m here to make it stop.”

He swallows and looks to Bishop, a plea in his eyes.

“I’m only here to keep security away. He’s your master now.”

Tears spill from the man’s eyes at the realization of how screwed he is.

“She led me on!” he screeches. “For a year, she made me believe we’d be together forever. I only want what I was promised.” His sniveling annoys me.

“So, you thought the way to get what you wanted was to threaten her? Make her feel unsafe in her home, her work, her own fucking car?” I slam him back again for emphasis, when what I want is to throw him out the fucking window.

“You entered her home while she was sleeping and touched what’s mine.

Do you know how dangerous that is?” My snarled words have him blubbering further, and the smell of urine permeates the air.

Glancing down, I see he’s soaked himself.

“I don’t know what the fuck she saw in you, but I swear to god if you ever come near her again, I’ll rip your arms off your body and beat you to death with them. Are we fucking clear?”

Shaking him some more, he stutters, “Y-y-yes. Crystal.” And with one last smack against the shelf, likely breaking a rib from how he cries out, I release him. He sobs as his body crumbles to the floor.

“Don’t make me come back for you, Jeff. I won’t be as nice.” He nods his head, wheezing as Bishop opens the door and slams it shut behind us.

Four security guards approach, and we exchange a look. I’m jonesing for a fight, but not with people who’ve done nothing to me. Doesn’t mean I won’t clean their clocks if need be.

Bishop raises his hands with a smile on his face.

“We’re leaving, boys. Nothing to worry about.

I’d have a word with dear old Jeff’s boss about his stalking tendencies, and let's not forget breaking and entering and threatening my friend’s pregnant wife with the killing of their child.

” That sets off a ton of murmurs, and a few people glance back at the office we’ve left with disapproving looks.

“She’s not my wife,” I tell Bishop, the grumble in my tone expressing my displeasure over that fact.

“Yet.” He grins as we step onto the elevator.

We find Saint lounging in the lobby with everyone giving him a wide berth. The man is larger than life with a deadly scowl on his face.

I ask, “You good, man?” He seems more intense than when we went up.

“Lake.” He hisses her name like a prayer and a curse.

Neither of us asks for more because he likely won’t tell us anything, but on the off chance he wants to talk, it’ll be on his own time.

Saint is a different breed. He’s possessive, obsessive, and more caveman than modern-day man.

He grunts and growls to communicate, only enjoys the company of Lake, and when he does spend time with someone else, it’s his sister, Scotlyn, and her kids up in Baltimore.

That’s when he’s not burying bodies, of course. Because he’s taken to doing what Holden has been for years. Something none of us knew about until Holden found a life with his woman, Noelle. Vigilante killers in the dark of night.

“You know she’s going to trust you eventually, right?” I say. He grunts and shakes his head as we leave the building, and without a goodbye, Saint is gone.

Bishop and I jump into his truck, heading to the Deviant Sinners clubhouse so I can have this conversation with Castle in person.

He’s been grumpy that Mia is spending so much time with me when I haven’t committed to her or the baby.

Not to his knowledge, at least. Mia knows exactly where I stand with the two of them.

“You ready for this? Big brother isn’t going to be a happy camper with all that’s been hidden from him,” Bishop warns as we pull into the parking lot. Prince, Cross, and Joker are outside working on a bike.

“You forget who my father is?” I snort.

There are few men scarier than Castiel Adair. If you don’t count Carver and Saint, that is. I don’t frighten easily, and while being damaged, there’s nothing I won’t face for Mia, including her brother.

“Look who the cat dragged in.” Cross stands, squaring up his body. The intimidation won’t work on me.

“Castle around?”

He eyes me up and down before Joker nods towards the door.

“She okay?” Cross asks, and all three men stand and wait for my answer. It’s then that I realize she isn’t just Castle’s little sister, she’s theirs, too. They all raised her together after her parents died, and they’re every bit as protective and invested in her well-being as Castle is.

“She is. She’s with my mom today; they’re shopping and doing girl shit.” I wouldn’t be surprised if Hadley and Aria were with them as well.

“Good. She deserves it.”

I agree and head inside. Bishop hangs back. The clubhouse is mostly empty for this early in the afternoon, so it isn’t hard to find Castle in the back office.

“About fucking time,” he growls, shoving back from his desk to approach me.

“Things have been happening,” I reply as we square off.

“Like what?” He’s entered big brother mode. I would do the same for Hadley.

“You should sit down.”

He cocks an eyebrow but realizes I won’t budge until he does. A few seconds pass before he makes the first move. I follow suit, sitting in a chair in front of his desk.

“Get on with it, Hendrix, or I’m going to lose my fucking patience.”

Snorting, I shake my head. He doesn’t realize how little he intimidates me.

“Mia has had someone sending her images of herself in private settings. Places they shouldn’t be.” I raise a hand when he’s about to interrupt. “She only told me recently, and I’ve just come back from handling it.”

“By handling it, I hope to fuck you mean killing the motherfucker.” He’s on his feet again.

“It was her ex, Jeff Gold, and no, I didn’t kill him; however, he received a very clear message about what happens if he so much as thinks about her again.”

Castle rounds his desk, a lion looking for a fight. “Why the fuck is he still breathing? You care so fucking little about my sister and your baby?”

“It’s because I care that I didn’t cut his head off and mount it to my fucking wall. There were witnesses, and I wasn’t risking getting locked up because some pussy thought he could target her. It’s handled.”

“Fuck.” Castle drops his head back, closes his eyes, and breathes deeply for a few minutes before glancing at me again. “What about the two of you? What’s going on there because, pretty soon, she won’t be able to keep driving down to you.”

“I’m aware, and I’m working on it. Whatever she wants is what will be done.”

His eyes work me over. “You going to marry her?”

“If she’ll say yes.”

“Don’t give her a choice,” he smirks.

Not sure how we went from hostile to making his sister mine forever, but I’ll take it.