Broken Soul (Jackson Family 3)

jaxon

“I’ve gotsomething I need you three to take care of,” James said during a family meeting a few mornings later.

“Like what?” I asked, reaching forward for the folder he held out. I flipped it open, glancing through all the information it contained.

“This is the leader of the group I believe is trying to set the Russians against us. I want him in my basement by the end of the night, am I clear? After midnight, you are late.”

Which meant punishment, and not the kind our women normally enjoyed. James’s punishment was meant to cause harm and pain.

I bit into the apple in my hand, nodding once. Darren chuckled. “Hungry?” he asked me. “Fucker, you’ve been snacking like crazy lately.”

I shot him a glare. “Going gluten and dairy free is a pain in the ass,” I confessed. “My body feels like it’s starving while it adjusts.”

“Leave him alone,” James ordered his younger brother when Darren opened his mouth to say something else. “Jaxon hungry isn’t something you want to deal with. Remember that.” I smirked. I always ate hearty, well-proportioned meals because James was right; I was a fucking asshole when I was hungry, though I could go a while without eating.

Didn’t mean it was going to be pleasant for everyone around me, though. I took hangry to a whole new fucking level.

Darren took the folder from me. “Fucker looks like he could be that asshole’s son,” Darren grumbled in distaste. “Hate how much he looks like my wife.”

“Could be family,” James told him. “Keep that in the back of your mind. I was only ninety-nine percent sure I wiped out the entire family. Someone could still be lurking, and he could be one of them. We’ll find out tonight.”

I stood up, tossing the core of my apple into the trash. “Let’s go,” I said, ready to get a fucking move on. I hated sitting on my ass. And the quicker we left, the quicker I could get back home to my wife, too.

“Alright, pissy ass. We’re coming,” Adrian grumbled.

“Get your panties out of your ass,” Darren told him. “You’ll be right back to sniffing my brother’s ass tomorrow.”

I snorted right as I heard Adrian smack Darren. Leave it to Darren to make a dumbass remark like that.

* * *

“Fuck!” Darren barked.

I ducked as a bullet whizzed right over my head. I fired back, getting a fucker right between the eyes. Darren rushed forward, taking out two other men. He waved me forward as Adrian covered me from behind. I kicked in the door in front of us and killed the two guards before pressing the barrel of my gun to the forehead of the fucker we were here for.

“Good evening,” I sarcastically greeted.

His eyes were a bit wide and panicked, and I could see disbelief ringing in them, too. It was like he couldn’t believe we found him so fucking easily.

Fucking with the Jackson family was just something you didn’t fucking do. We would find you—always.

I slammed the butt of my gun to his temple, knocking him out cold. Adrian and I set to work on tying him up as Darren kept watch, making sure no one was able to sneak up on us. Once Lorenzo was tied up and immobilized, I hefted him over my shoulder and followed Darren back up the long hall we’d come up.

“All clear,” Darren called from outside after checking the area. “Let’s get the fuck out of here. James is a real dick when we’re late.”

I dropped the fucker into the cargo area of the SUV, and Adrian moved in beside him. I closed the back and hopped into the passenger seat. “Go,” I told Darren as I pulled my phone out. My head soldier answered on the first ring. I didn’t waste a beat. “Clean up,” I ordered. I snapped out the address. “Get it done.”

I hung up. Darren glanced over at me. “He doesn’t get a please?”

“Darren,” I deadpanned, tired and hungry, “just get us the fuck home, yeah?”

He snorted. “James was right.”

I just grunted and ignored him, my stomach rumbling loud enough to fill the silence of the car.

* * *