Chapter 113 Occupied
Daxton
Josh brought two men over to the mansion. Bastien the French and Sean. Just Sean. A disaster had gone down in the strip club over the weekend where someone came into the club.
He had drugged Stella and almost got away with luring her out until one of the bartenders noticed and alerted security.
“Who was the bartender on duty that night?” I collected the tablet that he held out to me.
“Liam,”
Liam? The name echoed in my head as I tried to put a face to the name. Nothing.
“Is he new?”
“No…”
Wow. This was the reason I needed to spend more time overseeing the affairs of the club.
I clicked my tongue. “Tell Dashiell to give him a raise,” I stole glances at Verena who sat on the couch with her headphones over her head.
Josh exchanged concerned looks with me—if it was okay to do this here with Verena around.
I broke eye contact, scrolling through the pictures of this brawny man with pretty weird eyes as I glanced up at Josh, confused. “Who?”
“His name is Theo and those are pictures of him partying with those I suspect to be involved in this sex trafficking ring,”
Oh. The one who had drugged Stella, whose body was currently tucked in the basement’s freezer.
I should take Kian there one of these days. You know, lock him up and watch the horror take over his face as he panics from being alone with someone dead.
I laughed silently at the wicked idea, Josh’s voice bringing me back to reality.
“And these two men, I guess I have introduced them earlier. But, let me do that again. This is Bastien and he specializes in private security. He’s snapped the head of more than a few people who have crossed his clients and this is Sean—”
“Sean?”
A silent growl rumbled from my throat as I followed the direction he was staring at. Her. My Verena.
From the moment he walked in, almost losing his balance as he gawked at her, I knew he was going to be a fucking problem.
She was wearing lace shorts. Shorts that barely covered her ass and these bastards’ eyes were on her cheeks.
I had never policed Verena on the things she wore around Josh or me but with this idiot, whose eyes removed her clothing…
Arrgh.
Possessive rage burned in my veins, my fingers balled into fists as a cloud of darkness descended over the room. Verena’s sweet voice touched my ears, her smile warming my heart. “I’ll go grab a quick snack,”
I returned her smile and even as she walked out, his eyes were on her, following her until she disappeared from his sight. That was when he released a slow breath—his hand on his chest as he turned his head to me and froze, the moment his eyes met mine.
Fear flashed in his eyes as he glanced at me, then Josh. “Is there a problem…”
Before he could finish, Josh had sent his fist connecting with Sean’s face.
“Grab him,” my voice was low and dark.
They grabbed him by the arm to stop him from moving while I rose from my chair, sauntered to the door—turning the lock—before Verena could barge in on me draining the life out of someone.
I opened the drawer next to the door, reaching for the metal lying inside of it before strapping the brass knuckles over my fingers.
Panic flared in Sean’s brown eyes, a trail of blood down his nostrils. “What’s going on…” his voice shook with fear.
What’s going on?
I scoffed, tilting my head to the side. “You were staring at what was mine. No one looks at her like that and goes scot-free. Sean,”
His chest heaved. “She is your girlfriend? I thought she was your sister?”
“You just made things worse,”
Before the next words could leave his mouth, the brass smashed into his face, blood spurting from his mouth as he almost dropped to his knees.
I flexed my fingers, gesturing—raise him back up. “I’m sorry…” he choked out blood.
“Sorry? You were openly staring at her. If I weren’t here, you would have pounced on her—” the thoughts of the things he could do to her sent fresh fire burning through me.
My brass-knuckled hand came down on his face once more as blood exploded from his nose, splattering all over my white shirt and shoes as he fell to his knees.
“I committed a sin, please spare my life”
I glared down at him condescendingly. “I will but we are not done yet–“ just as he raised his head, I jerked my knee upwards until it smashed into his jaw, two teeth knocked out as he collapsed with his face forward.
Irritation rolled down my spine as I stared at the body at my feet, glancing up at Josh. “Take him away and find someone to clean this mess before Verena returns,”
“Bastien can stay but not him. He thinks with his dick and will sell the girls out,”
I opened the faucet, watching the swirl of crimson mixed with water going down the drain as I scrubbed my hands to get his filthy blood off them.
My phone vibrated.
“Mr. Kian has listed the mansion for sale and just moved out of the neighborhood. Before he drove past this place, he paused outside and swiveled his gaze around like he was searching desperately for someone and when I tried to confront him, he sped off “
An annoyed noise sounded from my throat.
“Good. The next time you see him hovering outside my mansion in one of those stupid disguises, please don’t hesitate to open fire. Target those knees,”
Mason responded. “Copy that sir. I will relay the information to the team.”
I disconnected the call, returning to the home office when my heart skittered to a stop.
Verena held the pill container, tilting it and—
Panic clawed at me and instinct took over as I snarled. “Put it down!”
Startled, the container dropped from her hand to the table as her hands flew to her chest and I was instantly sorry for the way I had yelled.
I moved with sharp precision, grabbing the container and tucking it into my pocket. How could Josh be careless about something like this?
Verena’s eyes narrowed on me, suspicion in them as her gaze settled on my pocket. “What is that and why isn’t it labeled?”
Inquisitive Verena wouldn’t drop this until she unraveled why I had acted that way.
I forced a smile. “They help with sleep,”
I flopped on my seat, removing it from my pocket and tossing it into my drawer while I noticed the way her eyes followed me.
I could already decipher what was going through her mind. She would be back to check what it was. But by the time she returned, it would be gone.
“Sleep? Have you been having difficulties sleeping?” she walked towards me, concerned.
The corner of my lips tilted in a smile. “I am sorry for yelling at you. It just came out before I could stop it,”
“You scared me,”
“I am sorry,” I said as she stepped between my legs, the feel of her fingertips on my face as I pressed my cheeks into her palm, drowning in her touch.
“I didn’t know you had difficulties sleeping. When did it start,”
“Just nightmares Verena,” I pressed a kiss into her palm, hands resting on her waist as her fingers slipped through my hair.
“Nightmares…” her voice shook with concern. “When did they start? What are they about,”
“About you leaving me,” I joked, staring into her eyes.
Her face scrunched with worry. “Daxton. It isn’t a joke,”
“Nothing serious. Just old memories but they’ve gotten better since I have been waking up to you in my bed and not finding you perched over the kitchen aisle, worrying about some jerk that isn’t me!”
While she threw her head back and laughed to the point of tears, anger coursed through me all over again and I should actually consider returning Kian to that basement and locking him away.
Verena’s soft fingers on my jaw dragged me out of my thoughts. “You know you can always talk to me about anything, right?” Our eyes locked.
“Sure,”
Sure.
But, I didn’t think I was ready to.
I tried to change the subject. “About Kian. If he harasses you with his calls or texts, please don’t hesitate to let me know,”
“He wouldn’t dare, not after what he’s done” I loved that mix of irritation and anger in her voice. “Plus what are you going to do?”
“Me?” My eyes lit up.
“I guess I would just have a friendly conversation and plead with him to stop already,”
Since he resumed office, I made sure Mikael buried him under an overwhelming workload—keeping him frustrated and leaving him no room to breathe.
He only had Sundays to himself.
I wanted him exhausted—physically, mentally and emotionally—so badly that Verena would be the last person to occupy his mind.