The women set up in the media room with enough girlie flicks and junk to last a month while us men hung back in the kitchen which seemed to be the new designated spot.
I checked the hallway making sure the coast was clear before going back to Tony. “Where is he?”
“He bailed out, the boys are keeping tabs on him.”
“What happened?”
“They still don’t know where he went when he disappeared last week, but it’s obvious he was planning this shit. He was watching your place, so he must’ve been hiding out in the city.”
“As far as we can tell, he watched you leave before making his approach. So far that’s all Jackson got out of him. By the way there was a piece in the newspaper this morning.”
He threw the paper across the table with a look of distaste. We both hate the media, not because we think there’s anything wrong with reporting the news, but because some of these assholes take their shit too far.
I’d thought when I left the game that my time in the limelight was at an end, but nope. They stay in my ass every chance they get, which isn’t much. Not since Tony almost ran a bunch of them over a year ago.
I glossed over the words on the page and felt my ire rise. They had her name. “How the fuck did they get her name?” He shrugged his shoulder and went back to what he was doing.
I tried to think how that could’ve happened, but nothing made sense. No one in the building knew her name, so it had to be someone at the club. Then again these fuckers have ways and means of getting shit.
I’d spent a good portion of the night after she fell asleep thinking about my next move. If I’d broken his fucking neck in the beginning this wouldn’t have happened.
Just as I’d thought, he blamed her and not me for losing his job and all the other shit that has befallen him in the last couple of weeks. So in essence this shit was my fault.
I checked on her and found her asleep with the TV going and mom, aunt Jess and Sherrie whispering. “What’s going on?” I came into the room and stood over her pulling the blanket higher on her chest.
“Nothing, we were just talking.” From the guilty looks on their faces I could imagine what they were ‘just talking’ about. Mom is usually a very levelheaded woman, except when someone she loves has been hurt.
Add the influence of aunt Jess to the mix, not to mention Sherrie and her crazy ass, and there’s no telling what they were up to. “Why didn’t you tell me that he put his hands up her skirt?”
“How did you hear about that?”
“Never you mind.”
“What I want to know is how he found her here, how he know where you live?”
“I don’t know that yet Sherrie, I’m working on it now. Speaking of which, I think you might have to put off the shopping trip.”
“Nope, no asshole white boy ain’t making me, and my girl go into hiding.”
“Girl watch your mouth.”
“Grown ass woman with a kid mama. As for you, you need to get to the bottom of this mess quick. Send one of your goons to follow us around if you have to, but the last thing she needs is to hide like she did something wrong. We going shopping and spend all your damn money.”
There was no point arguing with her, and she did have a point. Though my first instinct is to bundle Anna up and take her to Miami out of the line of fire, she didn’t do shit wrong and she’s not going to run and hide from that spineless asshole.
Travis came running into the room like his ass was on fire and one look at his face told me this shit wasn’t going to be good. I looked at his sister still asleep on the couch and relaxed. As long as she was safe I can face whatever this shit was.
“What is it?”
“My dad.” He swallowed hard and looked down at his phone. “He saw the news, he wants to talk to Annie.” Like fuck!
“Is he still on the phone?”
“Nah!” From the look on his face I got the idea that things hadn’t gone well.
“Come!” I brushed my fingers through her hair and turned to follow him from the room, leaving the women to whatever the hell they were up to. I found the last number that called his phone and went to the privacy of our room.
He answered on the second ring. “Annabelle? Sweetheart, are you okay?”
“This is Max Carrington.”
“Oh, where is my daughter?” I always planned to deal with this asshole at some point in the future, but now wasn’t it.
“She’s asleep, is there something I can do for you?” He was obviously taken aback by my words and the only reason I was even entertaining this shit is because of her attack. What I really wanted to tell him was to get fucked.