THIRTEEN
"Mrder—all I need is u."
—Jarod Kintz
LISA
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," I said to them as I stared at the stacks upon stacks of boxes rising to the ceiling of my library.
"Your grandfather never liked computers." Marco snickered as the men brought more of the shit in. At this rate, we were going to be buried alive.
"He did this to fuck with me. The bastard knew that I was going to come after his shit eventually." I could hear the old fuck laughing beyond the grave. I would have thrown him in the river, but mother thought it would be best to at least show some sort of respect to our dearly departed grandfather. His body would be buried in the local cemetery, forever separated from his beloved Ireland.
Bambam, the giant that he was, dropped the last five boxes around my desk. "That's all of it."
"Out," I snapped. Everyone but my father left quickly. They hated any paper that wasn't cash.
"So you're going to read through all of this alone?" Marco asked, looking around at what was once a very beautiful green and gold study.
Grabbing one of the brown boxes, I made my way over to a chair.
"Until our favorite snake Scarlet slithers out from whatever rock she's hiding under, this is all I can do. Hopefully, this will lead to a shortcut in beheading her." Scarlet's head rolling off her neck would be worth the oncoming paper-cuts.
"How's Jennie?" he asked, grabbing a box.
"I don't—"
"Yes, you do." He cut me off. I hated when people cut me off. "You need help and you're getting help. Now, how is your wife?"
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed. "You mean the crazy homicidal woman you arranged for me to marry?"
The bastard snickered. "Yes, that woman, whom you're madly in love with and overly protective of."
"There is no such thing as an overly protective husband in the mafia," I replied. "And the woman is driving me insane! She doesn't listen to me at all."
"My poor, poor child. Have you not learned? Women don't listen, they talk. Listening is our job. In return, we get sex, children and food." He laughed, making light of how chaotic up everything was.
"I'm listening! She's just talking crazy! I swear sometimes I want to ring her pretty little neck." Other times I just wanted to kiss her down to her…
Concentrate.
"Yes, they do that as well…she may be Bloody Jennie, but she's still a female, a pregnant female," he stated.
I froze, staring at him. It had been three weeks since the accident and Jen still wasn't showing. She was great, seeing as how neither of us were ready to tell the family. But apparently we weren't careful enough. Jen was going to be pissed.
Maybe there was hope?
"Does mother know?"
"Everyone knows."
Fuck me.
"Urgh—"
"Honestly, Lisa, it's been three weeks since she's drank anything but tea and water? She demanded Bambam wear new cologne last night at dinner. We aren't brain dead, we can all connect the dots," he said simply, as he pulled out a brown file.
"Great, you can all connect the bullet holes when she finds out," I muttered under my breath; I didn't even know why we had bothered to try and keep it from them.
"Lisa," he said seriously, "you're going to keep her safe—both of them safe—but if you don't relax, at this rate you're to get gray hair or worse, lose it."
I snorted. "When was the last time you saw a bald Manoban?"
"Lisa…"
"I heard you, dad. I just need to believe you. None of this makes sense. Scarlet makes no sense. If she wanted Jen dead, she would have killed her, but she didn't. I don't buy for a second that the woman has any type of maternal anything." I paused, releasing a sigh. "Nancy's family is gone. They took her body and left. These papers and the McDonie are all we have and I just want to set fire to them both. Meanwhile, the very woman I'm killing myself for is yelling at drug runners and selling dope." Brandy. My mind begged for it.
Rising to my feet and maneuvering around boxes, I grabbed the bottle at the far end of the room.
"What were you expecting her to do?"
"What would you expect a pregnant woman to do?" I snapped, drinking from the bottle. "I swear, she gets pregnant at the worst possible times. Just to kill me slowly."
"Yep. She planned to get pregnant all on her own…"
"Whose side are you on?" I hissed, causing him to laugh. These were our "father-daughter" moments. He always knew how to get under my skin.
"And this is why the men call you the Mad Hatter."
What the bloody fuck?
"They call me what?" I do not get a nickname. It's Lisa to family, Boss, and Ceann Na Conairte to every other motherfucker.
"You know, the Disney—"
"I know who the fuck it is!"
He laughed, making me want to rip his tongue from his month and staple it to the paper covered table.
He simply pointed at my face before flipping through some papers. "That, right there, and whatever you are thinking is the reason. Calm yourself down, I think I found something."
Breathing through my nose, I grabbed the sheet of paper he was staring at. But I didn't see anything worth the effort.
"It's just a contract stating you and Nancy's mother were to get married." Thankfully, God's sense of humor wasn't that cruel. If that woman were my mother, I would have lost it a long time ago.
Marco grabbed the bottle from me and pointed to the witness signature right next to my grandfather's.
Jesus why?
JENNIE
"Lisa is going to kill me," Nickhun stated for hundredth time as he drove.
"Say that one more time and she won't have to." He was such a little bitch sometimes.
Luckily, he didn't say anything else or I would have had to hurt him. Leaning into the seat, I ate my chocolate slowly as he drove us deeper into the cloud-covered city. I had to admit, there was something about downtown Chicago at night that made me grin. I enjoyed how beautiful it looked from afar, but close up, as you drove through the streets, you saw the thugs and suspicious alleys. At that, I couldn't help but grin. Chicago was our city. Everyone walking the streets was our guest. They lived because of us and they died because of us.
I got a kick out of watching one runner check the street before dashing over to an awaiting car. Whether they knew it or not, they worked for us. They were working our streets. After all, this was our playground.
"This is it," Nickhun said, as he pulled up in front of the club. There was no line or even a sign for that matter. Just one man dressed in black, smoking what was most likely my weed. He eyed our car carefully, and with envy; Morris' Bentleys tended to have that effect on people.
Opening the glove compartment, I placed my chocolate inside before grabbing my gun with my right hand. My right hand was still a little stiff, but I sure as hell couldn't work much with my left. Thankfully, I could still shoot a gun. Probably not as well as I could before, but well enough to get my point across.
"Jennie, are you …"
"Shut up, Nickhun and stay in the car," I told him, putting the gun behind my back before grabbing my cane and opening the door.
The moment I stepped out, the guard stood straighter and smiled at me. After all, what could go wrong with a little woman using a cane?
"You on the wrong street, lady," he said. "This place ain't for your kind."
I fought the urge to roll my eyes, but managed to smile kindly instead. "I'm here to see Chuck."
His eyes widened before they narrowed. "You ain't here to see Chuck, cuz Chuck ain't seeing nobody today."
"Oh?" Idiot. "Not even Mrs. Manoban?"
"You're Mrs. Manoban? Wife of Lisa Manoban?" he stammered. I would have enjoyed it if he hadn't said "wife" as if I was some sort of accessory.
He didn't even give me a chance to reply before opening the door.
"Jen—"
"Sit, Nickhun. The grown-ups are working," I said before walking—limping—in. My leg burned, but there was a bully in my playground and I hated bullies. I knew what type of club I was walking into, and it wasn't the first time I had entered one. However, the smell of sex, sweat, and other miscellaneous fragrances, made me want to hurl. The place was so dim I was surprised the people could see the very ropes they were using to tie each other up; or that they could even concentrate over the music. But I preferred it loud. Maybe for the same reason they did. The louder it was, the harder it was to hear someone scream.
"You looking for a good time, bunny?" A man grinned at me, eyeing me from head to toe. His cock looked as though it wanted to rip out of his leather pants and attack me.
"Bunny?" I asked without emotion.
He grinned, stepping closer to me. "You know, cute, sweet," he looked at my cane, "injured. You came here to explore your inner lioness, didn't you? Don't worry…"
I simply walked around him, but he grabbed my arm. Before I could smack the shit out of him, Nickhun beat me to it.
"Touch her again, and I'll kill you," he hissed, and for the first time, I could actually see how he and Lisa were related. His dark eyes glared into him.
"My bad, man…"
Ignoring them both, I continued on my way, not bothering to make any eye contact with any of the other horny men…and women, who may have been looking for a new partner. However, I doubted most of them were paying any attention to me.
"Mrs. Manoban for Chuck," I told the man in front of the door that stood at the back of the club; he didn't even hesitate. He simply opened the door.
The room, covered in nothing but cheap fur rugs and lava lamps, looked as if I had stepped back in time and into an Austin Powers-esque porno. And there sat Chuck, getting the blowjob of his life, from some very tiny redhead. He was so carried away with himself that he didn't even seem to notice me or the five men "guarding" him for that matter. They stood against the wall of bear fur, looking at the man in disgust.
"Ugh, seriously!" Nickhun snapped when he walked in, causing Chuck's eyes to pop open.
His eyes narrowed in on Nickhun, but he didn't stop thrusting into the girl's mouth…poor girl. How he could find his penis with all that fat rolling off of him, was beyond me. And when he came, he looked like a dying boar. He grunted before grinning and pulling out of her mouth.
"What the hell do you want, Manoban? Ran through all the drugs I sold you already? You people adding it to your tea and biscuits or some shit? " The man snapped out between breaths.
He didn't even spare me a glance. Nickhun, on the other hand, turned to me as if to ask what next?
"You should leave," I told the girl on the floor.
The tiny red head on her knees rose, wiped her mouth and stared at Chuck, unsure of what she should do.
"The bitch stays," he snapped.
Sighing, I nodded, pulling my gun quickly before shooting him in the knee cap. No one ever listened to me until I started shooting, and they said I was trigger-happy.
The moment he dropped to the floor screaming, I handed Nickhun my gun before taking my cane to the side of his face. I didn't stop until the fucking thing broke and I lost my balance. However, once again, Nickhun grabbed hold of me, helping he regain my balance.
"You thought you could screw me! My family? Have you lost you motherfucking mind?" I hissed at him.
Shaken, he tried to reach for his gun, but one of his men grabbed it before stepping into the background.
"What are you doing? Kill her!" he screamed as he coughed up his teeth and blood. The redhead ran to his side, but he just pushed her away.
None of his men moved.
"Three weeks ago, a stash for thirty was bought after we agreed on twenty. But suddenly, we aren't selling because someone has a cheaper product. Would you happen to know who that is?" I asked, pushing Nickhun away to stand on my on my own. It felt as though blades were running across my skin, but I ignored it.
Chuck didn't answer, he was too busy trying to stop the blood from flowing down his face while holding his knee. He looked around, but none of his men bothered to help.
"You." I snapped my fingers at one of his men. The smallest of them all, but also most nicely dressed, stepped forward. Which meant two things: he wanted his boss' job and he was sick enough to do anything to get it.
"Help Chuck find his tongue," I told him and he didn't even hesitate. He grabbed the fat boar, pulling him up from the ground before beating the shit into his face. Idiot.
"Jesus, honestly?" I sighed.
Nickhun snickered before walking over and pulling the man away. Latching onto Chuck's hand, he placed it on the desk before grabbing a pen and ramming through it.
"Lesson one," Nickhun yelled over Chuck's screams. "You don't punch a man in the head while he's being questioned. How can he answer any questions if his brain is rolling around in his skull?"
"Whatever this bitch is paying you, I'll double it!" Chuck screamed.
Poor, stupid Chuck.
"You mean after you give them their share of the product you've been selling? We've made a lot of money Chuck, and yet no one else seems to be making anything. You've been stealing from the pack." I smirked, taking a seat in one of his fur chairs. The man had a fetish, it seemed.
He stared at the pen in his hand, doing his best to reach for it, but the way in which Nickhun had him pinned, he couldn't.
A sob broke through his fat lips.
"I was going to share the take with you, I swear! I wanted to make sure it was possible…AHHH!" He screamed as Nickhun pulled out the pen with as much force as possible before picking a new spot to ram it through.
Strong pen.
Nickhun grinned. "Lesson two: cheaters and thieves lie. Cause bodily harm the second time and they will tell the truth. Right, Chuck?"
Poor Chuck was going into shock, but nodded anyway.
"I will pay you back! Please…"
Nickhun grabbed a new pen and once again made a new hole for Chuck.
"Lesson three?" I questioned, smiling, trying to ignore the horrible smell radiating off the chair.
Nickhun shrugged before smiling back. "He hung up on me after I called for our money."
"Say it ain't so, Chuck." I frowned at him before turning back to the rest of his men. "If he were to die, who takes over?"
They looked confused.
"We ain't got a system," one of them said. "Whoever got the most power—"
"I take over," the very same nicely dressed man said, just as I thought. He was young…older than me, but young. He wasn't muscle, but he had brains and those with brains hated to be second.
"Take a good look at Chuck," I said, turning back to the man whose blood was now running across the table like spilled wine. "This is me being nice. In fact, this is me in a good mood. Chuck thought he was untouchable. Chuck thought he fucked us over, not only once, but twice. But Chuck was wrong."
To prove my point, Nickhun reached for the cup of pens, but it was empty. Smirking, he pulled a knife and slammed it down, right in Chuck's thumb.
"Lesson four?" I asked him.
"Motherfucker was getting his cock sucked in a lady's presence," he snapped angrily, staring at the girl who sat frozen in shock on the ground. Her blue eyes were wide as she just stared, taking in the screams. She should have left when I told her to.
"What's your name?" I asked the man.
"Roy, ma'am," he said quickly.
"Roy, Nickhun is the man who will be setting up all of our business. We will now be buying at fifteen. You should know, at some point, you will care for someone or something deeply. If you ever stand against the family again, I will take that thing and destroy it in front of you." I nodded at Nickhun, who, picked up the redhead and pushed her over to one of Chuck's former, men.
"Take care of both of them." Nickhun told them.
Roy's eyes widened slightly but nodded. We didn't kill in front of others unless they also would lose their lives.
"Anyone have a problem with that?" I asked around the room, but no one answered. Nodding, I rose, stumbling just a bit, but Nickhun walked over to my side and took my arm. We left Chuck pinned to the table, sobbing like a child.
"I think we've made our point. Good evening, gentlemen." I started walking towards the door when Nickhun turned and handed one of them a gun. When one of them shot Chuck through the eyes he spoke again.
"Lesson five; never piss off a Manoban. It's a hazard to your health."
"I hope my presence here is enough to haunt you for a lifetime, because I will not be back at this shithole anytime in the foreseeable future. And none of you have any ever met me." I stated as we walked out.
I was only a few steps away from the exit when one of the strobe lights illuminated the corner of a man's face.
"Nickhun, do you see who I see?" I asked him when we were back with the rest of the sexually frustrated lovers of rope and chains.
He scanned the dimly lit club, and once again I saw that darkness creep into his eyes.
"Call everyone," I told him, making my way over to the bar. I couldn't drink anything, but my leg was killing me, and by the time Nickhun got off the phone, all of the family would be on their way. Even Evelyn.
It made me laugh and cringe at the thought of Evelyn at a bondage club. But what could I do? Vermin liked to hide in the dark.
"So we wait?" he asked.
I simply nodded.
He was a silent for a moment before whispering; "Why didn't you tell me you had flipped his men?"
"Because I shouldn't have to, Nickhun. I'm not sure why you keep underestimating me. Or why you seem to think I'm some silly little girl trying to play mafia. I'm neither an idiot, nor would I willingly put the family, the business or myself in danger. If you weren't family, you wouldn't be here." In fact the second time he doubted me, I would have cut off his hands.
"My apologies, I'm still not used to all of this," he replied.
"Your wife seems to be getting there." Despite the fact that I hadn't really had time to spend with the woman.
He simply snickered. "Victoria has changed, but she's still my Victoria. No matter how much she trains, no matter how badass she becomes, she's still my sweet Victoria. She's the sun and you're Pluto."
"A cold, dead, floating rock?" My eyes narrowed at him. "Is that what you say to all the girls at bondage clubs?"
His eyes went wide as he tried to figure out what to say, however, he wisely realized it was just best to keep his mouth shut.
Facing the crowd again, I fought the urge to rub my stomach. It was like I was checking to see if it was still there. But under my loose fitting shirt, I could feel the bump. The kid was fucking with my emotions, and not in the way I would like. I was either happy, horny or hungry. Sometimes all three at the same time! It was driving me insane and making it hard to concentrate.
"They're here," Nickhun said, looking towards the door.
And sure enough, there was my wife, dressed in all black, and though she didn't look pleased, she still looked sexy.
Her eyes scanned the club before they landed on me.
She looked at me as though she wanted to wring my neck. And if she did, she was in the right place to do it.
"She's going to kill me." Nickhun sighed.
"Possibly." I said, watching the way everyone seemed to hover around Lisa as she walked toward me. I could feel my lust for her grow with each step she took. By the time she got to me, I just wanted to jump her.
"Wife," she hissed at me.
"Come here often?" I smirked.
"I'm going to find Bambam before she loses it," Nickhun said, leaving us quickly.
Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose before turning to the bartender.
"Your best Scotch," she demanded.
"Scotch? Someone's uptight."
"Maybe because my wife is in a bondage club in downtown Chicago, with only one man beside her. Jennie…"
"I may be carrying your child, but I am not one. Breathe and celebrate. Not only are we now buying at fifteen, but Chuck's dead, and we just spotted Harvey King. Today is a good day. Drink and be happy, Lisa." I turned to watch as Hanbin and Jiwook pulled a very drunk Harvey away from the women who surrounded him.
Lisa stepped in front of my face. "You and I, wife, are going to have a chat later."
"Code for you fucking me angrily?" I smiled and she took a deep breath before kissing me hard, pulling me off the chair.
"Shut up and let me be pissed at you," she said when she broke away.
LISA
How could one woman drive me so insane? There she was, sitting at the bar as men got whipped, and women were chained to walls. She looked completely out of place, but she wasn't even bothered, she just sat there sipping on what I hopped was cranberry juice.
"Stop being pissed at me so we can handle this and go home," she added before smiling.
She was doing that a lot. Smiling and laughing…in public. I knew it was the hormones; it was beautiful, but I didn't want to get used it. With all the shit going on, I was happy that she was happy. I could never be pissed with her for longer than a few seconds before she completely disarmed me with that smile. In my mind, I knew this was God's doing. It had to be. She got pregnant at the worst possible times.
However, from what I had learned, this went far deeper than just Scarlet's hatred for the Kims. And I now knew that we seriously needed to go to Thailand.
"What's going on?" She frowned, looking over my face as if she were reading something.
"Later?" I said, kissing her lips. "Mina wants to handle this at the Manor. We can talk after that."
Her eyes narrowed, but she nodded.
We would go home, we would watch Mina kill Harvey, and then I'd have to explain to my wife why my "mistress" was part of a much bigger puzzle.