Page 20 of Destruction

Jude rolls his eyes but reaches for Tennant to pull him in again. “Fine.”

The next kiss they share is rough, neither giving in to the other, until they finally have to pull away for breath.

“Another good thing about your new role,” Tennant says, adjusting his position on the bed so he can grab a pillow and hand it to Jude. “I can finally step up your training.”

Jude shoves the extra pillow under his bad hip. “Oh joy. Are you telling Jayden? Because I volunteer to be far, far away from that conversation.”

Tennant grins. “Benjamin is a trained physical therapist, it's fine. Jayden can't possibly get upset, because technically, someone will be there to watch you.”

Jude doesn't look convinced, but he must agree that a distracted Tennant is a good one, because he doesn't protest. I'd feel bad for Benjamin, but well, he brought whatever happens on himself.

Tennant reaches for me and helps me shift across the bed, settling into Jude’s other side, without having to set Roman down. The boy is still awake, but far less tense than when we first came in—that's all I can ask for at the moment.

Resting my head against the headboard, I close my eyes, letting Roman’s weight, and the presence of my partners, settle me.

Whatever comes next isn't going to be pleasant, but the four of us have each other, and I'll be damned if I let go of them without a fight.

The phone ringing jolts me awake. Groaning, I fumble for it on the bedside table. I answer it quickly, swinging my feet over the edge of the bed and pushing up into a seated position. I check the time while I grunt out, “What?”

“Fuck. Marcus, it’s bad.” The voice is rushed, but I immediately recognize Damien. It works better than ice water being thrown on me, because my captain is never anything but calm.

“What the hell is happening?” I snarl, standing up and heading for the closet. Whatever it is, I’m going to need to leave, I can fucking tell.

“Warehouse on 34th got hit. A raid. Jimmy and Alex were picked up. Everyone else got out.”

“FUCK!” I throw my clothes onto the bed as Keegan wakes up. I’d feel bad for waking my partner, but right now, there’s notime. “We just paid the cops off less than a week ago. Why the fuck are they raiding one of our weapons warehouses?”

“I don’t know, boss. This is crazy. First Il Padrone gets kidnapped, and now law enforcement comes after us? Do you think it’s connected?” Damien whispers, and my entire body flushes with anger—and fear.

“No, I’m sure that’s not it. We still have a Head of the Family. The cops know better than to fuck with us. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll figure it out. First thing, though, I need to get a lawyer down there. We need to bail Jimmy and Alex out. They’d better keep their fucking mouths shut.” I pull on pants as I’m talking, rapidly going through what needs to happen next in my mind.

“You know my cousin won’t talk. And Jimmy is loyal.”

I shake my head, even though he can’t see me. There’s never any guarantee with people. I know that better than anyone. I won’t rely on someone’s loyalty right now, especially with Il Padrone missing.

“Look, go lay low. I need to handle this shit show. Thanks for the heads up.”

I barely wait for his acknowledgment before I’m hanging up and dialing another number, praying that I’ll get out of this call with my life. Fuck knows this is my area, and now it’s all gone to shit. The line clicks open, but there’s silence.

“Boss.”

“What’s going on, Marcus?” Lio growls, and I hear the rustle of bedsheets and the click of a lamp in the background. Fuck, waking him up is never a good thing.

“Warehouse got raided. Two of our men were picked up.” I hold my breath as I plop down onto the bed. Keegan is already up and moving, so I can’t disturb him anymore than I have.

The silence on the other end of the call is disturbing. This could go either way. I’m not familiar yet with Lio’s style of leadership—none of us are.

“How the fuck is that possible?” I gulp at Lio’s soft voice. It seems he’s been taking lessons from Il Padrone, because I know that nothing good comes from that deadly tone.

“I’m not sure, but I will find out. We paid the police already. This shouldn’t have happened.”

“You’ve got that fucking right. Alright, give Jenna a call. Tell her I gave the go ahead for her to get her ass over to the jail. I want our men out of there. And fucking wake up one of our judges if you need to. You have two hours to find me what officer approved this shit, and what judge signed off on it.”

Lio hangs up and I toss my phone onto the bed, bending over and scrubbing my face with my hands. Because, fuck. That’s barely any time.

“What’s going on?” Keegan asks, as he comes and sits next to me, rubbing my back.

“Warehouse got raided by some fucking law enforcement. Two of our men are locked up. And I’ve got two hours to get hold of our lawyer, send her to the courthouse, wake up a judge, if needed, to get the men out. I also have to find out which cop and judge signed off on the raid in that time.”

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