Page 26 of Chief's Addiction

My lips turned down at the same time Morpheus appeared in the doorway. “Everyone’s here.”

I nodded. “Ready, old man?”

“Old man,” he scoffed. “I’ll show you old man. Let’s go.”

The chapel was quiet when we entered, all my officers seated around the table like I’d requested. Morpheus took his place at my right, Rage at my left. Dread, Reign, and Zero filled in across from them. The only empty chair belonged to Killer, whose absence spoke volumes.

“Where’s Killer?”

“Still with the girl,” Dread answered. “Said to start without him.”

I clenched my jaw. “Jesus.” This shit couldn’t continue. I needed my enforcer to get his head in the fucking game.

“I’ll go get him,” Rage offered, already rising.

“No,” I sighed, waving him off. “Let him be for now. We can fill him in later.”

Bringing the gavel down, the room went silent. “We’ve got a problem,” I began. “The trafficking ring we’ve disrupted? It’s a whole lot fucking bigger than we thought. Olivia, one of the women we found, believes the Talons operation was actually run by the Russians.” I nodded at my grandfather seated at the other end of the table. “Shade thinks we might be dealing with the Bratva.”

Zero’s head snapped up. “Russian mafia? What are they doing in Jacksonville?”

“That’s what we need to find out,” I said. “I want you digging into everything. The Talons financials, property deeds, any Russian nationals who’ve moved into the area in the last few years. Anything that might be connected to this shit.”

The tech man nodded, his fingers already flying across the keyboard of his laptop.

“Morpheus, you and Rage handle getting the last of these women home. I want them out of here by tomorrow night.” Last thing any of us needed was the cops busting down our door and finding women who’d been reported missing. Wouldn’t that be the icing on the cake.

Morpheus shifted in his chair. “That might be a problem, Prez.”

I quirked a brow.

“Not sure Killer’s going to let the little sprite that’s latched onto him out of his sight,” he explained.

Fuck me. “I already told him that he can’t keep her like a goddamn pet.”

Morph rubbed at the back of his neck, looking real uncomfortable. Nobody liked pissing off our enforcer. He had a tendency to slide off his rocker when he was pissed off. An unhinged Killer was on my list of things to avoid. Granted, it made him fan-fucking-tastic at his job.

Morph shrugged. “I don’t think it’s like that. Pretty sure she’s the one that isn’t letting go.”

“Jesus, fuck. Fine. Let that be Killer’s problem to deal with, then.”

“Thank fuck,” Morph muttered under his breath earning a few chuckles from the men seated around the table, myself included.

“Anyone have anything else they want to add?” When nobody spoke up, I brought the gavel down, ending the meeting. “May the gods protect us all.”

“Saints forever!”

As they filed out, Morpheus hung back. “So... How’d it go with Sparrow’s sister? Handling it personally isn’t like you.”

I gave him a look that would have stopped most men in their tracks. My VP, however, wasn’t most men and shot me a smirk instead.

Jesus. More bullshit I didn’t want to deal with. “Yes, Morph. Sparrow asked me to check up on his little sister and I did. Something you want to say about that?”

He held up his hands. “Nope. Not my business.” I rolled my eyes. Lord knew that never stopped him before.

“Good.”

A knowing grin played at the corner of his mouth. Seriously?

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