Man of the House(113)

I turned and walked away. There was nothing I could do, and watching wouldn’t solve anything.

I wanted to call Soph so badly, but I couldn’t. I had nobody I could talk to. Natalie was nice to me, but she was still Louisa’s sister-in-law. I couldn’t go to her, couldn’t go to Vince, couldn’t go to anyone.

I was alone, so very alone.

I walked off in search of Sonya. I wanted to see the only person in my life who truly relied on me and would never mislead me.

Alexei, my son, the only decent thing I had left.





26





Vince





Part of me was surprised Bao came through. I’d had plenty of good business dealings with the Chinese in the past, but something had just felt off about the whole thing to me.

It wasn’t until the guns were docked at the mansion and we began to unload the stuff that I felt okay. Sure, I’d taken a big fucking financial loss to get these things, and in the long run I’d likely only break even, but this was huge for the war.

Rafa cracked open a case of weapons and picked up a rifle. He looked down the sights, checked the parts, and nodded.

“Stuff’s in good shape, boss,” he said.

“Looks that way.”

“We’ll test it out, but I think Bao came through.”

I nodded. “I think so too.”

I picked up a gun and sighted it. A lot of men were going to be killed with these weapons, and many of them were likely related to Kaley.

Fucking Kaley. I had no idea what I was doing with that girl, let alone with our baby.

But for a little bit there yesterday, I had felt normal. I’d felt like a regular fucking guy doing regular fucking dad shit. I’d held the baby, rocked him, even fucking sang to him at one point. It was completely bizarre and weird as hell. And then he fell asleep in my arms and I was able to get him down into his crib.

Then what happened next, of course. It made my cock hard just thinking about the way Kaley had squirmed under my touch.

I wanted her again, wanted her fucking badly. And here I was, unloading weapons, thinking about how best to murder her family.

Not that I had any other choice. The other bosses were gearing up and getting ready, and I couldn’t look weak around my men. I had to be prepared to break some fucking skulls, especially after they attacked me first.

I pulled the trigger. The hammer fell with a click. I nodded at Rafa. “Get some of this shit ready for our guys. We’re going out for a run tonight.”

He raised an eyebrow. “A run?”

“Yeah. We’re going to kill some of those Russian fucks.”

He grinned. “That’s what I like to hear.”

I patted him on the shoulder and headed back into the mansion.

I needed to start planning this attack now, before I got too distracted by anything else. I was already borderline out of the game, and I needed to get my head right.

I went back to my office, shutting the door behind me. As I turned around, I nearly pulled my gun from my belt out of surprise.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Waiting for you,” Kaley said.

She was sitting behind my desk, leaning back in my chair. Her face was set hard, and she didn’t look like this was a fun visit.

“I have work to do.”

“That’s okay,” she said. “I don’t really care.”

“What do you need?” I crossed my arms and stood in front of the desk.

“I saw what you were doing.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “What was I doing?”

“The guns. I saw the guns.”

“Why were you following me?”

“I wasn’t. Louisa showed me.”

“Fuck. That girl should learn to mind her own business.”

Kaley looked distraught suddenly. “Why, Vince?”

“It’s war. You know why.”

“But why you?”

I grunted, shaking my head. “The deal was in place before the war started. Arturo decided we were going to use the guns for this instead of trying to flip them.”

“You sell guns?”

I laughed. “Of course I do. And drugs, and pussy. What the fuck did you think I do?”

“I knew. I just didn’t want to know.”

“Your family does the same thing.”

“Don’t talk to me about my family,” she snapped. “I know all about them. They’re the ones that want to take my baby away. Our baby.”

“What do you want me to do, Kaley? Throw the guns away?”

“I want you to stop trying to kill my family. I may not be a part of them, but they still raised me.”

“Too late.”

She stood up, clearly angry. “You think there’s no problem with that?”

I grunted again. I had no answer to her question, although I had been thinking about it.