Page 35 of Own

“Yeah. My brother became a coroner so he could do this. I find a living vessel more captivating.”

I glance at Roberto and Jordan, amused at the horror on their faces.

“Well, Jordan looks like his stomach needs some exploring.” Angelo lights up at the idea as my phone starts dinging. “I’m going to step outside to speak with Zaiden. Don’t touch Roberto,” I instruct. He nods, moves over to the other brother and flips his chair backwards, so his feet are in the air. All tied up, Jordan can’t do a damn thing to stop his impending torture.

“Thanks, boss,” Angelo says distractedly as I exit the door and stand outside.

Zaiden picks up immediately when I call him back. “Hester’s awake, boss. I hear her moving up in your room.”

“Have Miles listen for her; I need you out here with Angelo.” I don’t think any of us knew about this side of the man before.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just think someone needs to watch his back as he works.” Z’s not squeamish, but I think this might even rattle him.

“Uh, okay, but why?”

“You’ll see.” I hang up and start walking back to the house. This is something best seen, not explained.

We meet halfway, and he raises a brow. “Boss?”

“Oh, trust me, if we choose, we’ll never have to get our hands dirty again. Angelo has a specialty we had no clue about.”

My friend appears even more confused.

“Well, shit, that doesn’t mean I can’t, though, right?” I shake my head to assure him. “Good, because I’ve wanted a piece of these assholes for years.”

“Better hurry then.”

Excited, he runs for the greenhouse. A few minutes later, I receive a text from him.

Z: WTF!

Me: Told you.

Z: This is fucking awesome!

Me: You’re both fucking psycho.

Not that they don’t already know that.

I believe there’s a reason Angelo has never asked to participate before, and now that the offer has been made, I’m not sure he’ll sit out another extraction again.

Entering the back of the house, Miles sits at the table with a computer in front of him and a scowl on his face. As our eyes meet, I sigh, immediately knowing I won’t like what he doesn’t want to say.

“Just fucking say it.”

“Ken needs to be dealt with.”

He turns the computer around, and I see an email from my attorney stating that my ex has found a lawyer and is suing for custody of the kids. It also implies she is threatening to go to the feds with information about my business and what I do. Which isn’t new; she’s always throwing that around. But she’s never done it through the lawyers, only to my face.

“Fucking hell,” I mutter, swiping a hand down my face. I fucking hate when everything goes to shit all at once. “Tell Cretin to head to Bakersfield; I’ll call Devlin. Set up a meeting with the lawyer first thing tomorrow morning; tell him he’d better have a fucking solution for me, or he’s fired.”

“Got it. Kids are heading to bed in a few minutes. Abuela made it clear that you’d better call or heads will roll.”

I nod, discard my bloody shirt in the trash, and call my mother as I head upstairs.

CHAPTER 20