Page 22 of Bren

Between the two of them and then the shitshow that was Sam and Bella, it had been a tough couple of years for the second generation. Out of my children, only Ben and Ellie seemed to be going about their lives with minimal drama, and thank fuck that KJ was still too young to be getting romantically involved.

The room to Church opens and members start to filter in. Closing the file on the new threat that Ellie had given me earlier, I wait until everyone is gathered. There is standing room only with so many of us in here. The second generation giving up their chairs to the older generation of retired Crows.

Noting that Alec seated Bren and then stood behind her chair, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders, makes me want to smile. Bren is cradling Lexi, having asked permission from me earlier if she could bring her into Church because none of the older kids are responsible enough yet to look after her. Usually, she’d have been left with Aunt Maggie or my mum, but since I needed everyone in Church today, I’d agreed.

Once the last person filters in, I bang the gavel on the table, the room falling silent.

“We have a new threat,” I state, ignoring the angry mutters. I turn to my daughters, “Bren, do you or Ellie want to tell us what happened today?”

Bren and Ellie exchange a look before Bren stands. Turning, she hands Lexi to Alec and walks to the front of the room, slipping a USB into the computer and flicking the projector on; two pictures fill the screen along with a company logo.

“Meet the Helmsworths. We only found out about the son, Christian Helmsworth, today. This is the company that is owned by the family. They are extremely wealthy, having built that wealth by buying up companies on prime real estate. They run the companies they buy into the ground until they aren’t viable anymore, then they apply for planning permission and build houses on the land.

“They have people in most councils, police, government, and so on to make it happen. You get the picture. Nothing that we haven’t seen before,” Bren tells us.

She’s not wrong; it’s not the first time we’ve gone up against those using bribery, blackmail, and corruption to get ahead.

“They initially approached me about a month ago to buy out Crow Apothecary and Beauty. I thought it was strange because we’d only just started production and as yet we’re not that profitable. Anyway, I declined, but something was nagging at me, and I had Ellie do some checking. That was when we found out about how they did business.

“They really stepped up the badgering when the land that we’ve just bought next door for the farmers market went up for sale. That’s when I knew what they were about.” Bren hesitates, her eyes flicking towards Alec before she continues.

“I wanted to meet with them to ensure that I wasn’t seeing red flags where there were none, which is why I had Ellie in the meeting with me today. Not only is she part-owner of the company, but you all know she sees more than we do. I need to know I wasn’t imagining the threat to us. And it seems I wasn’t.

“They hadn’t done any sort of investigation into us, although I imagine by now that has changed. We have them snooping around the office on video, and when we walked into the conference room, they were digging through the dresser drawers.

“We let them give us their spiel and an offer, which we, of course, declined and threatened to get lawyers involved if we had to. They were, of course, angry, and the old man was blustering and throwing threats around left and right.” Bren hesitates slightly as Ellie and she exchange a look that has the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.

“What’s that look?” I demand to know.

“It’s not the father that we’re worried about; he’s all bluster and huff and puff. I mean, I’m sure he can carry out the threats to make it hard for us to go on, especially if he’s happy to bribe officials. But I’ve dealt with that sort of thing before and can handle the type of threat he was on about. I’ve already notified the lawyers and filed a complaint against him, including the video of them snooping and the threats they made against us.

“No, what got Ellie and me worried was the son. There’s something fundamentally wrong with him. He gave me shivers just looking at him.”

“It’s his eyes,” Ellie interrupts. “You can’t see his aura, which I’m happy that you can’t because it’s dark. But what got you was his eyes and that he threatened us without really threatening us, if that makes sense. He’s the type that likes to torture small animals and takes joy in seeing others in pain. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s killed before and more than once. The reason we wanted everyone in on this meeting is that we think he’s going to attempt to take one of us or at least someone from the MC. Bren was in a panic because her first thought was he’d go forLexi. He’ll use whoever he has as a bargaining chip, but I have a feeling whoever he gets won’t make it back alive.”

“Fuck that,” Alec bursts out angrily, making Lexi start to cry. “Sorry,” he mutters, bouncing her slightly to quieten her down.

“Alec’s right,” I agree, “fuck that, he’s not laying a finger on anyone from this family.”

Turning towards Onyx, I instruct, “There’s to be someone on all the women all the time. The children are to be escorted to and from school, no going to friends’ houses until this is finished. Dragon, check with Skinny and make sure everyone’s trackers are working.”

Ellie cuts me off, “Sorry to interrupt, Dad, but you don’t need to bother Skinny. They’re working; I checked them all this afternoon.”

“Okay,” I nod, knowing that over the last year, Ellie had taken on more and more of the technology side of our MC. The only thing she refused to do was go on the dark web. I continue to issue orders, “Nobody rides alone. From now on, Lexi stays with Alec at the garage during the day where there is more protection for her unless she’s here. Check the security cameras and make sure the gates are in working order. We’ve gotten lax over the last few years; let’s make sure our security measures are working as they should be.

“Brice, check the armoury and make sure we have weapons; if we need stock, let me know and I’ll speak to Coal at the Queens Wraiths.

“We’ve been here before, people; you know how to stay safe. Let’s keep it that way. Ellie, I need you to find me everything you can on this guy; if you find information that can only be found on the dark web, reach out to Skinny to do that.”

“Yes, Pres,” she replies with a nod. Even with all this going on, I can’t help but be a little saddened that my little girl is so grown up now.

‘Fuck, getting old is shit.’

“You know what to do. If you see anything unusual or your gut tells you something is off, let someone know. Once I’ve got more information, we can make further plans; until then, be safe.” Hitting the gavel on the table to end the meeting, I wait as everyone files out of the room.

My gut is churning at the thought of us being in danger again.

“It’ll be okay, Reap,” Draco says quietly from next to me, slapping my shoulder. “We’ll get through this, man, just like we always do. Together!”

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