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Ethan
I couldn't believe my ass was in Philadelphia. It made me look like a damn pussy. After unloading my anger onto the senator and finally getting Granger into his own private ICU room, Liam and Mason sat down with me to strategize. And after going through all sorts of scenarios on how we could handle this situation, we found that the best way was to confront the issue head-on. Philly was muggy and miserable. The humidity was stifling, at best and even hard to breathe. The sun beat down on our necks as we unloaded ourselves from the SUVs, and it was time to figure out our next move.
“Ethan!”
“What, Liam?”
“Stop being such an ass-stick for one second and listen to me. I just got word from the doctor. They feel confident that Granger’s going to pull through.”
“Wait, are you serious?” I asked.
“What’s an ass-stick?” Mason asked.
Liam and I shot Mason a glance before he shrugged his shoulders.
“How confident are they that Granger will pull through?” I asked.
“The doctor said the next three days will be touch and go, but if he doesn't encounter any serious issues, he’ll be moved to a regular room,” Liam said.
“Holy shit, that’s great. We’ve got one of our men set up in his room, right? In case shit goes sideways?”
“Yep. One is with him, and the other three are with us. They’re about to climb out of the last SUV.”
“Perfect. Okay. So, the plan is this—Senator Logan isn’t taking that meeting with the mob boss. We are. Technically. We’re going to set him and his guys up, and all the while we’ll protect Logan in the process.”
“We need to get somewhere and solidify those plans,” he said.
“I know. I hear you. But, I also contacted my mother while we were driving here and filled her in on the situation with Ollie. She’s working on pulling from him where the hell he stashed Diana.”
“And you’re sure Ollie stashed her somewhere,” he said.
“I’m positive. I should be hearing from her any second now. She said she was going to speak with him this afternoon.”
Then, as if we were all on the same schedule, my phone rang out on my hip.
“I’ll be here,” Liam said.
“This is Ethan,” I said, as I picked up my phone.
“Hey there, sweetheart.”
“Hey, Mom. Did you talk with Ollie?”
“I did speak with our friend. And after some fun and interesting persuasion from the town council, I got him to fork over the information you wanted.”
“And people think I got my ruthlessness from Dad,” I said, grinning.
“Diana’s in New York City. She’s staying in a penthouse suite that he has owned for years. It’s in the middle of the city.”
“And you’re sure of this?”
“You should have seen how sure Ollie was of it,” she said, giggling.
“Oh, you’re bad. How I wished I could have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.”
“It was a doozy, but yes. I’m sure she’s in New York.”
“Thanks, Mom. I appreciate your help.”
“Anytime, son. Now, you keep yourself safe. You come home to me, okay?” she asked.
“I promise you, I will.”
And for the first time in my life, I meant it.
I hung up the phone with my mother and slid it back into my belt clip. I wanted to drop everything and go to Diana. To run and search her down until she was back within my grasp. But I knew I couldn't. As much as I hated to admit it, Diana was probably safer where she was at the moment. I had to stay with her father and make sure all this shit with the mafia went down according to plan. I had to ensure that she was safe for good. Ollie had her short-term safety on his mind, but I had the rest of her life on mine.
So, I suppressed the urge to go after her and focused on the task at hand.
For the first time in my life, I was nervous before an operation. A lot of firsts were happening in my world, apparently. And maybe I didn’t have anything to worry about. Maybe all of it would go according to plan. Or maybe it was because I hadn’t had anything to worry about before. Sure, I regarded everyone’s lives with the same intent. The same importance. But this felt different.
This was Diana.
I wanted things to go as smoothly as possible. But if the issues I’d had on this case were any indication of what was to come, I had to be prepared for an assault from all sides. Even if we did manage to get the mob off Logan’s back, I knew I wouldn't rest until I’d had a chance to see Diana again. Until I’d had a chance to hold her and kiss her and tell her that I was wrong.
I wanted to apologize to her, and I wanted to look into her eyes when I did it.
After getting Senator Logan in a secured hotel room in the middle of Philadelphia, my men and I met at an agreed upon site for the proposed meeting between the Senator and the mafia don. There was an empty construction site not far from downtown that had a great deal of cover put up so the scorching summer rain didn’t destroy the work they had already done. The perfect place for a meeting like this. All we had to do was a bit of recon in order to set ourselves up correctly.
We only had one chance to get this right, which meant we had to be on our toes.
“Okay, men. I know this is short notice, but we’re prepared for something like this. We need to look for the best hiding places and the best ways to get the drop on our adversaries. You know how this works. You've got an hour to find your positions,” I said.
“Meet back here?” Liam asked.
“Yes. Meet back here so we can confirm. Then, we’ll disperse, prepare, and get back here and set up three hours before the meeting time. We need all the time we can get to make it seem like I’m the only one showing up. We’ve got one shot to give the mafia boys a message to leave the senator and his family alone. And I want you all set up to cover my ass if and when things go south.”
“Let’s go, men. You heard him,” Liam said.
Quickly, then, everyone dispersed.
The great thing about the construction site was that there were plenty of abandoned buildings around it. The meeting was taking place in a neighborhood undergoing ‘gentrification,’ which was controversial in and of itself. And with rain coming in that night, we all knew that no one would be coming around the construction site for a while. Which meant total privacy for the meeting.
At least the senator had been forthcoming with the information on the ride up here.
“I think I found our best avenue,” Liam said over the radio.
“Copy. Get everyone back down to the SUVs. We’ll discuss it over some food,” I said.
All of us headed back to the cars after about forty minutes of scouting, then drove toward a diner across town. As I listened to Liam’s set-up, I quickly realized why I had hired him to be the set-up man in the first place. With all of the abandoned buildings being updated and furnished, there were plenty of half-finished rooms for my men to set up shop in. Two could have rifles pointed at the meeting site, with night vision goggles and heat sensors to help them see through the tents and the fog. Liam and the other men could be set up in these rooms, ready to grab the mafia guys who would surely come in and try to set themselves up.
“They’ll get snagged before they even know we’re there, which means we can clear out the enemy for you and leave just yourself, the mafia don, and the two goons you know he’ll show up with. Our two guys can have their rifles trained on his two, which leaves you with only one man to contend with,” Liam said.
“And I take it you’ll have a rifle on his head, too?” I asked.
“I ain’t leavin’ my boy without backup,” he said, grinning.
After filling our stomachs and going to our hotel rooms to change, we got into our places. I hid myself out of sight from the construction property, but crouched beneath a piece of construction equipment so I could see when the head honcho approached. And all the while, Liam kept me updated via an earpiece in my ear. I watched the cars drive up and park, and I watched as five men got out of the car. They immediately went into the buildings we had infiltrated, and I saw that one of them had a gleaming bald head.
He turned his face over towards the site I was hidden in, and I recognized him instantly.
That was the asshole that had accosted Diana in the store.
It took all I had to restrain myself, and I knew Liam had spotted him, too. He kept whispering in my ear piece to keep a fucking lid on it. And still, it took all I had not to jump out and snap his neck on sight. I watched as the kingpin stepped out of the car, and was shocked when no one stepped out with him. Oh, hell yes. This was perfect. He thought he was coming to see the senator, so he didn’t even think about bringing extra backup. Just his bullshit brass knuckles and a gun at his side.
“We got five guys in the building,” Liam said.
“I want you to make sure you snag that bald-headed one. The kingpin’s alone. Once all of his men are inside, I’m headed straight for him,” I said.
“On my count.”
“I read you loud and clear.”
“Three—two—”
I readied myself to jump out and tackle the man as he made his way into the middle of the site.
“One!” Liam exclaimed.
Gunshots rang out and men grunted behind me as I ran out from underneath the construction equipment. I wrapped my arms around the mafia don before he even knew what hit him, and quickly took him straight to the ground. He rolled me over and slammed his fist into my cheek, but not before I reached for one of his side pieces. I ejected the magazine and tossed it to the side, then rolled him back over and introduced his face to my fist. The gunshots stopped and I quickly drew my weapon, aiming it straight at the man’s snarling face. I pressed my knee into his groin, causing his eyes to bulge, guaranteeing his full cooperation.
“Injury report,” I said.
“Five gunshots fired, all from our side. No blood. No injuries. You?” Liam asked.
“Nothing worth reporting. The kingpin hits like a little bitch.”
The man growled at me before he tried to move, but I dug my knee deeper into his crotch and turned that growl into a very deep whimper.
“Are you listening?” I asked.
The man’s eyes connected with mine as he rapidly breathed in and out.
“Call off your dog. Leave Senator Logan and his family alone, or we’ll be back. And when we come back, we won’t be stopping at a warning. You’ll never see us coming and the only thing you’ll be left with is a pile of bodies to toss in the river,” I said.
“You think you can take us? We’re everywhere, you pathetic piece of shit.”
The mafia boss spit in my face and I holstered my gun.
“You think your threats mean something? I’ll annihilate you. You’ll never see us coming, not the other way around. I’ll find your family. Your friends. Your neighbors. Your lovers. All of them will bleed in the streets, crying out for you. And I’ll make you watch.”
I slid my knife from my pocket and flipped it open, then pressed it against the man’s jugular. I watched his eyes widen as the blade of my knife cut his skin ever so slightly and I ground my knee deeper into his dick. He cried out in pain and sweat appeared on his brow. I got so close I felt his nervous breath hitting the side of my cheek.
“You won’t be the first man I’ve ever killed, stronzo. You won’t even be the one hundredth. So, if you want to press your luck—if you want to keep pressuring Senator Logan—then I’ll be back in the dead of night to do to you whatever it is you do to the Logan family. I won’t go after your friends, or your children, or your family. Because I don’t believe they should pay for the sins of their father. Or their son. Or their uncle. But you know what I will go after?”
I pressed the knife further into his neck, feeling him press himself further into the dirt to try and get away from my assault.
“I’ll go after your legacy. Do you understand?” I whispered.
The man underneath me nodded, swallowing thickly before I pulled my knife away. I got off him and watched one of my men wrangle him off the ground, then slap him in handcuffs. I drew in deep breaths and tried to right my mind as best as I could. But when I saw Liam hauling that bald-headed man out of the building, I snapped.
“You!” I exclaimed.
“What the—” Liam asked.
“I want to talk with you,” I said, pointing to the bald man.
And when he turned his face towards me, I slammed my fist into his chin.
“Ethan!” Liam exclaimed.
“You don’t get to approach Diana like that,” I said.
I slammed my fist into his chest, causing him to groan out in pain.
“Ethan, cut it out,” Liam said.
“You don’t get to scare an innocent woman!”
I slammed my fist into his stomach, forcing him to gasp for air.
“Ethan, enough!” Liam roared.
“I’ll make your life a living nightmare for even getting that close to her!”
Fist after fist. Connection after connection. Until blood riddled my knuckles and the man was hardly upright. My men pulled me off and away. Liam’s eyes grew wide before he quickly shoved the man into the SUV. It wasn’t enough. I needed more. I needed to beat that man to a bloodied pulp before stringing his body out for the entire world to see.
There were consequences when messing with the Logan’s.
There were consequences when messing with Diana.
“Hey. Deep breaths. Now,” Liam said.
I felt his hand come down onto my chest and it slowly pulled me back to reality.
“Deep breaths, Ethan,” he said.
But the only thing on my mind was Diana. She was all I could think of anymore.
