Reese

ChapterTwenty-Three

“So let me get this straight. He knows that he has bad people after him, knows they want the gym, and yet he said nothing? What the fuck?” Blink curses as Vega silently fumes in the corner.

I take the bottle of water Graves offers me. I give him a tired smile when he sits beside me.

“That’s the gist of it, yeah. Now it seems that the gym is out of contention, but Hank’s life insurance policy isn’t.”

“Who the fuck is this guy?” Law snarls from his spot beside a sleeping Hank.

“I can answer that.” I look up at the sound of Sugar’s voice and see her standing in the doorway, looking like she just stepped out of a two-page photo spread.

“For those of you that haven’t met her yet, guys, this is Sugar. Sugar, this is Graves, Blink, Law, and you’ve met Vega.”

She nods before closing the door behind her.

“The man Mike owes money to is known only as Mr. T.”

Law snorts. “Mr. T as in, I pity the fool?” he asks with a put-on accent.

“Apparently so. What I’ve been able to gather so far is that he is a loan shark who nobody seems to be able to identify.”

“How the fuck does that work?” Blink questions.

“He communicates over a secure burner phone, wiring money that’s been funneled through so many dummy corporations I’m still trying to figure out who they belong to. When the client doesn’t pay up, Mr. T sends his thugs out to do his dirty work. If he wasn’t such a colossal asshole, I’d be impressed.”

“I’m assuming then it wasn’t him personally that broke into the gym.”

“That would be Duncan. No idea if that’s a first or last name yet, but he seems to be Mr. T’s right-hand man. The goons answer to him.”

“I need him found, Sugar.”

“And I have the team working on it, but it takes time. These guys have made a business out of being discreet.”

I huff, knowing she’s right. I’m just frustrated.

“What did you do with Mike?”

“Taught him the error of his ways and dropped him off at home. Funny enough, he mentioned maybe relocating for a while. I heard Canada is nice this time of year.”

I snicker. As long as he is far away from me, I can deal with it.

“What about Hank?” I ask as the man in question groans.

“You’d think a blow to the head would get me some sleep. But no, all you want to do is talk and talk and talk some more. Inconsiderate assholes,” the man himself grouses as he stirs, making me laugh.

“Well, aren’t you just a little ray of sunshine? I can see where my girl gets it from now.” Sugar beams at him as he opens his eyes.

I grin when he huffs. I stand up and walk over to him, kissing him on the forehead, careful to avoid the neat white dressing.

“How you feeling?”

“Like my brain has been scrambled, but otherwise, I’m okay. You find the asshole who did this?”

I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and tell him everything.

“Fuck. Nobody likes to think badly of their kids, but I’d like to kick Mike’s ass myself.” He looks up at me and reaches for my hand.

“Thanks for looking out for me. How did you even figure out he had anything to do with it?”