Chapter 7

Chapter Seven Scar

“I brought coffee,”I announce loudly before pushing in through Jade’s bedroom door. It’s always a risk, but there’s no way those idiots didn’t hear me coming. I made more noise than should be humanly possible as I let myself in.

If I do catch them unaware, Ian will spend the next forty-eight hours straight in intensive training. I might just move in too. If he’s that inept at keeping her safe, he could use my help.

Ahh, alas. Everyone is clothed and not at all surprised to see me. Though Jade only grumbles when she sees me, hardly even opening her eyes as she makes grabby hands for the coffee. I put mine down on the side table so I don’t drop any of the three drinks before handing hers to her. Another dark head of hair pops up from the covers where she was leaning against Jade’s shoulder.

“Sorry, Ian. I guess no coffee for you,” I say.

He flips me off. “Don’t act like you ordered that for me anyways. We all know it’s an extra hot caramel macchiato with more espresso than should be legally allowed to sell.”

Someone is grumpy in the morning. “Well, you could have had it if Rachel wasn’t here.”

I hand the other cup in my hand to her and she gives me a grateful smile. We all ignore her puffy and swollen eyes and the fact that she can barely stand to be in the home her and Alec shared for so many years.

I grab my iced coffee and start crawling into bed on Rachel’s other side. Jade pushes against Ian to make room for me. He grumbles the whole time about how it’s too early for this many women to be in his bed.

Jade scoffs, “You’ve never complained before.”

He pinches her side before rolling over and pulling the covers over his head and ignoring us as he tries to fall back asleep.

Good luck with that.

Rachel scooches up into a semi-sitting position and both Jade and I take it as an invitation to rest our heads on her shoulders. We stay silent as we consume our coffee and I let both of them wake up a little bit before going into more pressing matters.

Rachel breaks the silence as she looks around the room. Ian and Jade, well Jade really, have made this place their home. Every time I come by, there’s more and more intimate details shared on their walls. New decorations that just fit them. There’s even a small bookcase on Jade’s side of the room now to store her slowly growing collection of books.

I’ll have to remember to ask Kade for recommendations on some new ones to buy her so she can fill her shelves. We can consider it partial payback for his recent attitude. Dickhead.

“When do you think the twins will move back in?” I ask, pushing away the annoying thoughts of my grumpy dickhead.

Jade beams and I smirk into my coffee. She’s been preparing for those boys to come live here since the week she was released from the hospital. We all knew it was only a matter of time before it would be safe enough to bring them back.

“Not until Romano is gone,” she answers. “But their rooms are all ready. We even set up a playroom where Trevor and Roe will be able to come over and they can all have sleepovers in there.”

“It’s going to be a nightmare separating them after they’ve all been living together,” I comment with a smile. Even though I know it’s going to be a trying process when we get there, I still remember when Roe was too scared to even look at the boys in the face.

“Speaking of,” I say with a cheshire grin.

Rachel perks up so fast she almost spills her coffee. “So you did come with something to tell us?”

“Damn, bitch. Spit it out already. What’s the holdup?” Jade taunts.

I raise a brow in her direction. Sassy little thing she is now. “I was waiting for you pussies to wake up a little bit,” I point out. They both look back into their coffees and take another long sip. Apparently neither one of them has a smart ass comment to that. Though Rachel’s fire has been rare nowadays.

“It’s nothing definitive,” I start, “but we’ve found proof Romano is still trying to keep in contact with associates,” I explain. While his business did have a lot of fall out after we hit the auction, he had auction houses all over the country. There are many that are still operating, especially the ones on the other side of the country. Less and less people are willing to work with Romano now, but even our power can’t be unrivaled throughout the whole country.

There are plenty of people willing to risk it. They believe the distance keeps them safe from us. They’re not wrong. It’s kept us from making a move, for now. It won’t be like that forever and we keep a long list of names that need to be eliminated.

“That’s why he isn’t already dead.” That’s something Charles began speculating to Noah about that got us to start trying to track call logs of those we know are still running his rings. “Christopher Donahue would not have kept him alive unless he thought he could still be of use, or Romano has some type of insurance against him in the event of his death. The second option isn’t likely, as Romano was far too cocky and left in a hurry. Who would he have been able to give his insurance to? William? Ciar? They’re already dead.” I shrug, a small smile playing at the corners of my mouth.

We really have isolated him so beautifully.

“We’re trying to track their phone calls to locate him. Charles is also trying to glean any information from his father, but we’re getting close now. I can feel it.”

There’s some of the fire I’ve been missing in Rachel. Her brown eyes burn with her need to make Romano pay, to see him suffer. It’s exactly why I came here this morning. She needed this pick me up. Ryder and Kade have all but completely taken over her business as she tries to heal from this loss. It doesn’t feel like anything we do for her could ever be enough but this felt like it could maybe be a start.

“What’s the plan once we do find him?” Ian asks.

I flop back against the pillows and shrug. It’s hard to decide when we don’t know what we’re going into. I already know everyone is going to want to be a part of it, but I don’t really think a team of fourteen will be necessary or practical.

“Don’t know,” I admit. “We will get a team together and take it from there. I have to guess he’s pretty isolated.” I can’t imagine him having a lot, if any, security around him. Charles seems to be in agreement that his father would only spend the bare necessity until he was sure Romano was no longer of any use to him. That, and killing him wouldn’t set anything into motion.

“It should be quite simple once we find him.”

Ian scoffs, “I doubt there will be anything simple about it.”

A maniacal grin spreads across my face. “You’re probably right.”

Rachel chuckles at my side. A flicker of her strength lighting her up. “Is there anything we can do in the meantime to help?”

I hesitate, not knowing what type of job to give her. The truth is we have a million things going on and even with how many of us there are, we are working long hours to keep all of our businesses up and running while we also dig into Romano and the wealthiest people of this country.

“Get dressed and come to the house. We still have a lot of information to sort through.” I jump out of the bed and trade looks with Ian. He nods and I know he’s got both their backs.

A tingle races down my spine, causing me to shiver. I pause in the doorway, leaning against the frame and try to pinpoint the cause for the sudden rush of unease. My eyes volley around the room one last time but find nothing out of place. The feeling doesn’t subside even as I say my goodbyes and make my way back home. Rather, a sharper edge of excitement pulses alongside the unease as I sit in the driveway.

My head falls to the steering wheel as I try to make sense of the chaos in my head. Something is coming. We’ve been sitting on pins and needles for weeks as we’ve tried to make headway into finding where Donahue could have hidden Romano away from prying eyes. Even with the information pouring in, the leads it has garnered have been few and far between.

A sigh spills past my lips. There are too many moving pieces on the board right now as we’re working on too many different fronts without a solid plan to keep us all organized. It’s my own fault. Some days it feels like I’m barely holding on to myself, let alone managing the team the way I should be. The way I normally do.

One little text should solve the majority of my unease. I exhale a deep breath and push the door open to finally make my way inside. I barely make it past the threshold before I hear Ryder.

“Team meeting?”

I arch a brow as he turns the corner and we come face to face. His lips twitch into a satisfied smirk as he answers my silent question. “I was watching you sit in the driveway and contemplate your life choices.”

I roll my eyes and smack his chest as I walk by. It doesn’t faze him, instead he falls into step beside me, his hand resting on my ass as he steers me toward the kitchen. My eyes narrow as soon as I make my way into the room and find Kade eating cereal at the counter.

He gives me a sheepish look and I flip him off. Fucking asshole. Ryder and Noah both laugh at my ire. He throws both of them a dirty look, but he damn well knows he deserves it. He’s lucky I haven’t dumped his bowl over his head as it is.

Actually, I hum to myself. That isn’t such a bad idea.

“Don’t even think about it, Baby Girl,” Noah soothes, appearing in front of me suddenly. His hands fall to my hips and he squeezes gently. My attention snaps away from Kade and to my sweet, yet mischievous boyfriend. “Do you really trust him to do a good job of cleaning it up afterwards?”

“Hey,” Kade protests. “Scar knows exactly how good I am at cleaning things up.”

My pussy involuntarily clenches at the innuendo in his words and my cheeks heat. Noah chuckles as he notices and a new thrill creeps up my spine.

Ryder shakes his head. “Do you even realize what they’re talking about?” he asks Kade. “Just a hint, it wasn’t about her cunt.” I grin as I study Ry. There’s a gleam in his eye that tells me he’s hoping I ignore Noah and do it anyway. Especially since Kade himself encouraged it.

It’s Noah’s turn to shake his head. He squeezes my hips again before releasing me and stepping out of my way. “Be my guest. He did ask for it.” Kade only looks confused as if he wasn’t fully listening to the conversation and is now lost. He probably wasn’t, or he would have known better than to speak up the way he did.

A playful smirk grows across my cheeks as I approach him where he’s happily eating his cereal. He watches me warily but doesn’t reach out to stop me when I lean into his space. He’s too focused on examining my face, he misses when I swipe the bowl away from him. The metal spoon clangs to the hard countertop at the same time as the milk and soggy bits of cereal pour down his face, dripping down and soaking into his shirt before spilling over the counter and floor.

His mouth parts open in shock as Ryder’s raucous laughter fills the room. I smirk as I meet his green eyes sparking and some of the weight lifts off my chest. My big guy is still in there. I’m still here. We might be twisted and feeling lost, but we’re still us. “Guess you can remind me just how good you are at cleaning,” I tease and my smirk transforms into a full grin as he dramatically wipes milk from his face.

“I don’t even want to know.”

Luca’s droll tone makes me snort as I whip around to find him and Declan walking to the kitchen with both of their laptops.

“I’m sure he deserved it,” D remarks dryly.

“Oh, you’re gonna pay for that, Ladybug,” Kade snarls behind me. Faster than I can turn around, his big arms envelop my waist and my feet are lifted off the floor as he picks me up. I squeal as I feel the milk seeping through my thin shirt but can’t help the laughter that tumbles from my lips when he spins me around and burrows the top of his head into the crook of my neck.

The whole room blurs as I hear the chuckles of all my men surrounding me, filling my broken soul with an almost forgotten warmth. Worries that were just plaguing my mind and making lightning dance across my skin drift away as cold milk and bits of cereal are smashed into my hair and skin.

It’s a stupid and fleeting moment. One day it will just be a silly memory. Something that will get brought up to tease Kade when he’s getting a little too cocky. But right now, it’s my lifeline. My reminder that I’m alive and no matter what happens I have my men. My family. My home.

It’s an inconsequential scene that maybe just saved my sanity.

I throw back my head and laugh, but Kade still doesn’t release me. He turns me in his arms and I wrap my legs around his waist. It’s been weeks since I felt this close to him. Even in the gym when our bodies and souls connected, there was a distance between us I didn’t know how to bridge. The truth neither one of us is ready to put into words an obstinate obstacle between us. His eyes bore into mine, alight with his feelings and happiness I haven’t seen on him in weeks.

“I thought we were having a team meeting, not a food fight.” Ian’s low timbre finally draws my eyes away from Kade’s, but I relax into his arms.

A loud smack follows his words. “We were about to get a show,” Jade admonishes.

Kade snorts and I grin as the rest of my men just roll their eyes. “I can give you a show if that’s what you want, J,” I flirt. Kade’s arms tighten around me. I repay him by squeezing my legs around him until he grunts and narrows his eyes at me.

I see Declan and Luca trading looks before Luca finally sighs. Guess it’s his turn to attempt and rein us in. “You know this is only going to get worse as more people show up,” he scolds, using his hands to gesture for us to go get cleaned up.

The sound of the front door opening makes me raise my brows in his direction. His lips thin as he shakes his head just as we hear Britt calling out her hellos.

“Oh, hell no,” Declan curses.

“That’s a recipe for an even bigger disaster just waiting to happen,” Ryder snickers.

“Go to your room and get cleaned up, Scarlett,” D demands.

I lift my hands from Kade’s shoulders in D’s direction. “Okay, Daddy.”

Kade’s body shakes with laughter as Declan starts cursing.

“Come on, Ladybug. I have to remind you just how good I am at cleaning you up.”

“You will be cleaning up the kitchen,” Luca yells after us as we turn down the hallway.

Britt must have heard him. “Is it safe to come in here?” she asks. “I can never trust what kind of mess I’m walking into.” She scoffs, “Oh, joy. White liquid on the counter. Why are we here again?”