Page 51 of Haunted Nights & Savage Sins
“Yes, Maxim?”
“Good evening, Mr. O’Sullivan. There is a Mr. Hawkley here to see you.”
Mr. Hawkley. I scour my memory, but I don’t recall ever having any dealings with a Mr. Hawkley.
“From where? I don’t know him.”
“One moment, let me verify.” Maxim pulls the phone away, and I hear him talking to someone but can’t make out the words.
Anxiety starts to build at the base of my neck, but I do my best not to let it overtake me. This is my new norm. People are going to start coming here more often.
“Sir?” Maxim comes back on the line. “He says that he works with Dean and your father.”
Dean. The name sours on my tongue.
I don’t know what this is about, but I know for sure my father didn’t send him. “Send him.” I growl into the phone before I hang up and look to Brenna. “Go on, keep looking around. I have to handle this.” I don’t want her anywhere around anyone who has anything to do with Dean. If he is here for trouble, Brenna needs to steer clear.
“You sure?” She puts a hand on my arm and squeezes a bit.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll come find you in a bit.” I flick my hand, dismissing her.
“Alright.” She turns and goes into another room.
I make my way back to the parlor room and wait for this new guest to arrive. The lights flicker, and the gravestone in thecorner takes on a more sinister glow. Something is wrong, I can feel it.
Walking over to the small desk, I pull out the pistol I keep hidden there and slide it into the back of my pants. Just in case.
Seconds later, Maxim walks in with a clearly overweight man. He doesn’t look like much of a threat, but I’m not going to let my guard down.
Maxim looks between him and me before asking, “Do you need me to stay?” His face is stern. It’s the first time he’s asked if he should stay for a meeting. He must realize something is off as well.
“No, I’m sure Mr. Hawkley will be leaving shortly.” I reply before I gesture with my hand to the chair opposite mine.
“Mr. O’Sullivan, thank you for meeting me on such short notice. I don’t intend to take up much of your time.” He huffs, out of breath from the short walk from the door to this room.
“Not a problem.” I sit and wait for him to get to the reason he’s here. “What do you need?”
“I’m here to talk to you about the meeting you had with Darren at the airfield earlier in the day. He let me know that you made some changes to the protocol.”
I don’t let the surprise show on my face. That moved fast. “What of it?”
“Well, sir, as I’m sure you are aware, that is highly unusual. Your father wants to make sure that we have open communication with the pilots and the clients that we serve. We can’t do that if they are barred from working with us.”
“Mr. Hawkley, I’m not sure where you are getting your information, but you can verify with my father. I am in charge of all the communication and clients when it comes to this aspect of the business. There have been some unfortunate events that have led me to tighten the reins a bit. You and your people are going to have to deal with that.”
The polite mask he was wearing falls slightly as he presses his lips together in anger. This is clearly not the answer he was expecting to get from me.
“I understand you took your new wife to the meeting. Maybe she had some input on this decision?”
What the fuck?
I push up from my seat and look down at him. “Yes, my wife was at this meeting, and she will likely be at any other meeting I desire her to be at. She is an extension of me. If she did counsel me on anything, I’d take her word over yours, and it would be of no matter to you. Also, the next time you mention my wife in any regard, be prepared to lose your fucking tongue.”
He doesn’t seem rattled, at least not on the surface. This Mr. Hawkley has been in the game a while.
“Of course, I meant no disrespect. It’s just that the O’Sullivan family and those that work with you have done things a certain way for a long while, and now all of a sudden, with the joyous addition to the family, it seems like things are changing a lot quicker than what would be considered normal. As you may suspect, there are a lot of people, people who have been loyal to your bloodline for a long time, who are a bit concerned about this.”
“What does that matter to me? If they are loyal, they will remain loyal. The ones that are ready to cause problems need to be weeded out and taken care of. I’ll be sure to make that my highest priority.” The threat is clear. I will not be the weak link in my family.
