Chapter 2

Chapter Two

THERON

Sliding my tongue along my bottom lip, I sink down in my chair and lean back as I wait for the other seats around the conference table to fill up. Lifting my hands to my face, I temple my fingers together in front of my mouth while my elbows rest on the tabletop.

I look around the room and take it in. This is the house we built. Six men from the worst backgrounds imaginable, and now we run the most exclusive security company in the city. We run this fucking city, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The conference room, along with the rest of the office, has been decorated in dark, masculine colors. There is a lot of sleek black furniture with light-gray accents and then some artwork that I don’t fucking understand.

We hired a woman to come and do it all for us, and she said it was going to make the aesthetic what we desired—whatever the fuck that means. I still don’t understand anything about it, but she did her work, and we paid her for it.

So, here I am, staring at some oil painting of some gold swirls. I don’t understand that shit at all. Not even a little fucking bit. But she said it was calming and classic. So, here it fucking is, along with some huge slim vases that also make no goddamn sense to me.

The door opens, interrupting my thoughts about the confusing artwork. Merrick is the first to walk inside. Boden is trailing behind him. They both sink down in their chairs with chin lifts. We don’t say anything. Everyone is busy on their phones, answering morning emails.

We wait for the rest of the guys to make their way into the office, and before I can even ask my assistant for coffee, I watch as Hale, Vaught, and Grayson waltz through the door. Grayson is last, and he locks the door behind him.

“The gang’s all here,” I murmur.

Shifting my gaze over to Merrick, I dip my chin slightly. He clears his throat and stands up from his seat just as the others take theirs. Leaning back, I focus my attention on him. I already know what he’s going to say, but I want to hear it in person.

“I was at the Willow Club yesterday setting up their new system when I heard one of the owners mention the name Ravet.”

The air in the room shifts. It becomes electric and heavy all at the same time. That name means the same thing to each of us. That name is the one we all know well. And one that I wish I could never hear again.

That name dredges up memories of physical pain and mental anguish. If it were up to me, I would find a way to eliminate that name from the world immediately.

I wish I could end him instantaneously, too. If I knew where he was, I would do it myself and just get it over with. And hopefully, I’ll be able to do just that soon, especially if this shit pans out.

“What information does that give us?” Boden asks.

“Nothing, except I snuck in and bugged the office. I’m hoping it gives us something,” Merrick states.

Hale clears his throat. He leans forward, placing his elbows on the table. His eyes flick from me to Merrick before he speaks. I can read the pain in them before he says a single word. “This is the best lead we’ve had in a decade,” he says.

You would think in a city of only two hundred thousand people, plus the fact that we are a security firm, we would have been able to find this fucker before now. It’s been years we’ve been looking for him to no avail.

“I don’t understand it,” I murmur, voicing my thoughts. “He’s been fucking dust in the wind for years. How ?”

“I don’t know,” Vaughn murmurs.

He’s usually the quiet one, stoic without much to say, except when it comes to Ravet. He hates him as much as we all do, hell, maybe even more.

“We’re the best in the business, and yet, he is so far underground that we can’t find him. It doesn’t make sense.”

“It doesn’t, but it’s the reality,” Merrick says. “Until now. He’s so close, I can taste it. But we need to do this together.”

Arching a brow, I tilt my head to the side as I look up at him. This is new information. I’m not sure what he’s going to suggest, so I am just as curious as everyone else as to what he’s going to say next.

“We need to have ears on that office at all times,” Merrick says.

“All times?” Grayson asks. “What does that mean?”

Merrick chuckles. “It means exactly what you think it means. We’re going old school. I want ears on that office.”

Vaughn stands, placing his palms on the table, and leans over. Our gazes flick over to meet his and wait for whatever it is he’s going to say. He has something to say, and it’s clear he wants all our attention for whatever it is.

“We do this, and it’s done. We finish Ravet and the rest of the group. I want every single one of them. Every. Single. One.”

Jerking my chin, I nod once, then stand. I place my own palm on the table and lean forward, my gaze finding each one of theirs until it lands on Vaughn’s before I speak, and when I do, he jerks his chin in my direction. I’m not sure why, but I brace myself, waiting for whatever it is he’s going to suggest,

“Every single fucking one pays for what they not only did to us but what they did to hundreds of boys just like us over the years.”

I slam my hand down on the table. Vaughn slams his next, then Merrick, and the rest follow suit. Then we do it again and again, picking up speed until we chuckle and take a step backward.

“I’m going to get a schedule put together that doesn’t conflict with our actual work. It’s going to be a lot of sleepless nights, but the reward will be worth it,” Grayson says.

“It will,” Hale agrees. “I am ready to put this part of my life behind me. It will never happen until they’re all dead.”

“All of them,” Boden growls.

We break the meeting with Grayson promising to send us the schedule by the end of the day. Merrick stays behind as the rest of the men go about their day. Boden and Hale need to get back home and catch some sleep. They were working all night. The rest of the guys head to their offices to do whatever the fuck they’re supposed to do today.

“That went better than I expected,” Merrick murmurs.

I’m not sure what he thought was going to happen, but I didn’t expect anything bad to be said. These men are our brothers, and I knew it would bring up some bad memories, but past that, we’re not kids any longer.

Sure, being taken to the past doesn’t feel good, ever , but it doesn’t ruin my whole fucking year anymore, either.

“It did. We’re men now, Merrick. We have to think about this objectively. Ravet isn’t the only one. I don’t even think he’s the one in charge. Sure, he was in charge of us , of what happened to us, but there is no way he’s the one in control. This is much bigger than him.”

Merrick nods. “I agree. And we aren’t stopping until it’s done.”

“May take us years.” I point out what I’m sure he already knows.

“Yeah,” he murmurs. “Got that since it’s already been ten. Worth it.”

I agree. It is worth it. Merrick leaves me alone again in the conference room to take care of his shit for the day. Picking my phone up off the table, I do something that I know I should have stopped doing years ago.

I unlock my phone and find the tracking app I added almost a decade ago. Touching her icon, I tilt my head to the side while it searches for her. It doesn’t take the phone long to find her.

She’s at her apartment.

Then I do something I really shouldn’t do. I go to my camera surveillance app, and I find her bedroom. I know it’s wrong, but my morals are nonexistent. So, instead of feeling guilty, I zoom in on her. She’s sitting up in her bed, wearing a tank top and panties.

She’s fucking beautiful, as always. She is doing something on her laptop, then she picks up her phone, and I watch as she runs her thumb across the screen before turning back to the computer.

Lucille lifts her head, and her eyes look straight into the camera. I know she doesn’t realize it’s there. She may have been one of my first setups, but I’m that goddamn good. Always have been.

I watch as she lifts her hand, running her fingers through her long brown hair. It’s just as fucking beautiful as she is. I don’t know how she’s gotten sexier over the years, but she has. If I could create the perfect woman out of clay, it would be her. She shifts her attention back to the computer and returns to whatever it is she’s doing.

My cock twitches at the sight of her, and I adjust myself. I should be fully and completely satisfied, but I’m not. I never am. Because Emmie, or any faceless woman sharing my bed, they’re not Lucille.

LUCILLE

Emmie has accepted my friend request.

Let the games begin.

I have already figured out where she works. An art gallery. What the hell is she doing at an art gallery in Nights? Sure, it’s a larger city, but it’s not the city. I didn’t even know we had one here.

I can’t imagine who is buying expensive fancy art here, but who knows? Maybe there is an underbelly of superrich people just begging for fancy art, and I know nothing about it. I mean, I now wonder if that should be my calling, finding the übersuperrich of Nights.

I find the website of the gallery and look through the available pieces. They’re all abstract and totally not my style. Although, I can’t really judge too much because I don’t have a style. I don’t know anything about art. I haven’t had enough money ever in my life to learn the basics of art, let alone buy any.

Picking my phone up, I call down to the gallery. The phone rings a couple of times, and then she picks up.

“Nights Art Gallery, this is Emmie. How may I help you?”

I bite my bottom lip, roll it a few times, then end the call. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do next. Right now, I’m in the learning stages. I’m gathering information about her, and then I’m going to use it against her.

Logging back into social media, I make a post about needing a coffee and five million dollars to make it to tomorrow. It’s kitschy and funny but will no doubt earn me a few likes, but when I start to close the computer, I receive a notification.

It’s Emmie.

She laughs at the post and then comments: No kidding . I chuckle at her comment, then close the screen with a smile playing on my lips. I can’t move too quickly on this, but as I stand up and make my way to the bathroom to start the shower, I think about what I’m going to do next.

I think it’s time to follow her a little bit now, physically. I can see her every move on social media. I know where she lives and where she works. Now, I need to learn every little thing about her, all of her moves, so that I’ll know what she’s going to do before she does it. I need to know her better than she does herself.

Only then will I be ready to sabotage her.