Not even a minute later, Princeton and Murphy walked into my office.
“Were you just hanging out by my door?” I drawled.
Princeton took the chair next to Apollo, while Murphy leaned against the window by my desk.
Murphy folded his arms over his chest. “Figured it was only a matter of time until you needed us.”
“It always comes down to needing us,” Princeton laughed.
“That’s because it’s your job to be there when I need you,” I reminded them. “I’m the reason for the shoes on your feet and the clothes on your back,” I growled.
“Damn, you’re an asshole pretty early this morning,” Murphy mumbled.
“He really is just like Leo. Swear to God, Leo would be acting the same way.” Apollo shook his head. “I think the problem both of you have is you don’t have a woman.”
“You’re only saying that because you have Greer and you think she solved all of your problems,” I murmured.
Apollo shrugged. “I mean, you got an argument for why she didn’t solve all of my problems?”
“I’m just surprised you don’t already have Greer here with you,” Murphy chuckled.
Apollo cleared his throat. “She’s scheduled to be on the jet at noon.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Don’t you think you should have cleared that shit with me?”
“Oh,” Murphy howled. “It’s not too often we get to see Apollo get his balls handed to him.”
“I didn’t think it was a big deal for Greer to fly out. We’re gonna be here for at least a week, if not more. Besides, she’s been with me when we’ve been dealing with other shit.”
“Yeah, but that other shit didn’t involve some lunatic family hell bent on revenge. You’re bringing your wife into a dangerous situation,” I growled.
“Does anyone else want to tell him we’re the fucking mafia?” Murphy laughed. “Not exactly a nine to five.”
“She’ll be safer here with us than she is back in Chicago. Who knows,” Apollo shrugged. “Maybe Meeks really is a fucking idiot and he might try to come for all of us.”
I shook my head. “He wants Royal. He wants what he thinks belonged to him when we made the deal.”
“He wants her so he can fucking sell her and the kid. Not like he wants her and the kid because it’s his grandson.” Murphy shook his head. “He’s a piece of fucking shit we should have taken care of right away. No fucking reason why he still needs to be breathing.”
“In hindsight, yes, I agree,” I drawled. “At the time, it seemed like a good way to send a message to Meeks.”
“A message he didn’t like, and now, he’s hell bent on being an asshole,” Murphy mumbled.
“So now we deal with him.” I turned in my chair and looked out the window.
“And how do you suggest we do that?” Apollo asked.
A slow smile spread across my lips. “We’re going to make him come to us.”
*
Chapter Six
Royal
I sat on the edge of the bed and stretched out my legs. “So that’s what my feet look like,” I mumbled. I wiggled my toes and sighed. Too bad I couldn’t actually reach them to paint my toes.
A knock sounded on the door.