Loving the Wild Card (28 page)

Chapter
30

Josh wanted to laugh as he watched what was going on behind Camille’s
back. She might be his father’s date, but even he could see she was completely
wrong for him. There was no doubt she was a beautiful woman, but Camille had
their mother’s dead eyes.

He and Lux were finally at a good place and they were working on their
relationship. They still had a way to go, but each day he could feel them
moving closer towards what they once had.

That Aviva wanted that for his father made Josh happy. He didn’t know
the woman Aviva was attempting to insinuate into Jackson’s life, but he trusted
her.

When he agreed to help her out, he hadn’t given much thought to what he
was supposed to do with Camille if she began to irritate him. Which was exactly
what she was doing. Catching Aviva’s gaze, he silently warned her that he was
done.

A nod later, she and Delphine began to make their way towards him. Just
then Ronson, their butler appeared at his side and whispered in his ear. Every
muscle in his body tensed. Replying to the butler, and without waiting for the
women to arrive, he walked away.

What he didn’t notice was the exchange that passed between his father
and brothers. Without comment, Jason and Jake also strolled from the room.

Needing time to cool down, Josh allowed the chill of the night air to
wash away some of his rage. He knew this confrontation was coming. That they
had the gall to attempt it in the midst of a party his family was hosting
angered him so much his temples pounded. He’d warned those fools about coming
back to his house uninvited. Josh knew their presence here tonight was for no
other reason than to humiliate him and his family.

“You need to calm down,” said an ambient voice.

It took him a moment to recognize the words as Jake’s. Exhaling, Josh
attempted to do as his brother suggested.

“That’s kinda hard for me right now. If we hadn’t amped up the security,
I’d be marching out of here in handcuffs.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we did, and you’re not.” Again the voice of
reason, Jake tried to placate him.

“I need to deal with this once and for all.”

“Whatever it is we’ve got your back.”

For the first time, Josh became aware that Jason was also present.
Somehow, in his anger, he’d missed his mostly silent brother’s presence.

“How do you want to play this?” Jason asked.

“Let me make a couple of quick calls then just follow my lead,” Josh
replied as he walked away, in no doubt they would do as he asked. Never in his
life did he want to put a beating on anyone the way he wanted to at this
moment. The jury was still out on whether he’d be able to hold back from doing
exactly that.

When he set off, Josh headed towards the guesthouse. The lights were
already on and he knew everything was as he’d instructed. Opening the door, he
saw that detectives, Saunders and Bonetti were already there and madder than
hell at being thwarted in their plan.

“Thank you, gentlemen, that will be all,” Jake told the four security
guards.
They all ignored
the
detective’s shouts about being the law, and how they were going to throw the
book at them. With a nod of acknowledgment, the guards trailed out and left the
brothers with the detectives.

Jason moved with a suddenness that caught Josh unawares. In a series of
twisting hand movements, he removed a gun from Saunders’ hand. The detective’s
face showed shock at how quickly and effortlessly he’d been disarmed, as he
looked from his hand and Jason’s.

“If it were up to me, I’d make you eat this.”

“Well, it’s a good thing it’s not, and just for the record, neither you
nor Josh are going to even think about shitting on our doorstep,” Jake warned.

“How about pissing,” Jason asked. “Much less detectable.”

“That I can live with,” Jake replied.

Josh couldn’t help but laugh at their double act. With his attention on
his partner, Josh shouted,
boo
, in Bonetti’s ear. He jumped so far in
the air, all Josh had to do was give him a small push and he landed in a chair.
Regarding the sweating detective for a moment, he turned his attention back to
his brothers.

Jake still stood by the door with his arms folded and his face
expressionless. Jason on the other hand stood towering over Saunders as though
still undecided about what to do with the gun.

When he finally spoke, it was in a measured voice. “Take a seat; I
believe my brother has something to say to you.”

Josh allowed the tension to build as he and his brothers silently looked
between the two men; unconcerned that Bonetti still had his gun. From past
experience he knew Saunders was the leader of their two man operation.

“You guys know I’m the reasonable brother. That’s why I gave you fair
warning the last time we… talked. I told you never to come back to this house
uninvited. You didn’t listen, did you?” To punctuate his words, Josh smacked
Bonetti across the back of his head. When Jason did the same to Saunders, he
raised an enquiring eyebrow at his brother.

“Reflex,” Jason said with a shrug.

Josh couldn’t help but laugh. Although the situation was serious, he was
enjoying Jason’s by-play. The grin that split Jake’s face told him, he was too.

“Now, what do you both think I should do about the way you so blatantly
disobeyed me, hmm?”

“You better fucking kill me because if you don’t, you’re going to wish
you had!” Saunders mouthed off.

“Thank you for that,” Josh smiled. “When you come face to face with the
devil, be sure to tell him you hastened your meeting.”

“You’re not going to do shit; too many people know we’re here.”

“That’s right,” Bonetti finally found his voice. “Too many people know
we’re here.”

“Shut the hell up,” Josh told him giving him another slap to the head.

Saunders recoiled as Jason moved his hand, but he only ended up ruffling
his hair.

“Of course, you’re both right, I’m not going to physically hurt you. I’m
going to do much worse. I’m going to destroy you. When I’m finished with you,
you’ll both be locked up for a very long time.

The beauty of this is, you won’t see it coming. Picture this… “Josh
swept his hand through the air, “… you fools locked up with all those people
you’ve arrested. What do you think guys, good plan, right?” Josh asked his
brothers.”

“I like the way your mind works, little brother,” Jake responded.

“I say we kill them,” Jason’s replied with a straight face.

“See what I’m up against, detectives, and I use the term
detectives
loosely, you understand. You should be pleased that on this occasion, I’m going
to side with my brother standing by the door.”

“Are we supposed to be afraid?” Saunders asked.

“That’s up to you, but my advice would be that you be very afraid.” Josh
paused and looked between the two men who had been his bane since his youth.
“There’s something I don’t understand; from what I read in the papers,
Matthaeus hasn’t been seen for weeks. It would seem to me this would make it
the perfect opportunity for you guys to redeem yourselves. So why are you
here?”

“We’re here because this family thinks they can get away with anything
they like. Well, I’m here to tell you that you can’t!”

Josh laughed as he shook his head. “You’re a fool. I don’t know if you
would have gotten away with your connections with Matthaeus being uncovered,
but now, I guess we’ll never know.”

Josh kept them there for another twenty minutes while he and Jason toyed
with them. When he deemed enough time had passed, he nodded to Jake. Standing
outside were the four men who’d been in the guesthouse when they arrived.

“I want these men off this property; please take them to their car.”

“Yes sir.”

“You boys take care now because you’ll be hearing from me,” Saunders
snarled as one of the guards grabbed him by his arms.

Josh couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Bonetti. There was no
doubt in his mind that he was more of a follower. But he’d made the decision to
support his partner so he’d have to deal with the consequences.

When they were finally alone, Jake asked the question he’d been
expecting.

“What did you do?”

“I had their car moved outside the gate, where certain illegal
substances were placed inside. Said car is now back in its original position.
The other call I made was an anonymous tip-off about two crooked cops.

I can see the headlines now…
Two of New York’s finest caught and
charged with drugs with the street value of a million dollars!
”

“That’s a hell of an outlay!” Jason whistled.

“But worth every cent,” Josh smiled.

Walking back to the main house, Josh positioned himself between his
brothers “God I miss shit like that,” he said throwing his arms around their
shoulders. “You guys have got to promise me that the next time you have some
ass to kick, you’ll include me.”

“Deal,” Jason agreed.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” The brothers said at the same time.

Epilogue

Josh and Lux had been away for a few months. First, they’d spent time
alone solidifying their relationship, and regaining some of the ground they’d
lost over the last seven years. During that time, they’d finalized and taken
care of all Lux’s unfinished business in Trinidad.

Their next stop had been on the island of Bermuda. The family had just
acquired a hotel and as he and Lux were in the Caribbean, he’d offered to deal
with a few problems that had arisen. Bermuda was beautiful and as it turned
out, when he wasn’t working, he and his wife enjoyed something of a second
honeymoon.

Josh looked around and couldn’t help smiling. The love he had for his
family was ridiculous. The Kingdoms had come a long way. Somehow, he and his
brothers had managed to traverse the vagaries of their early lives to find
themselves in this place of happiness.

He didn’t know which gods were on their side, and he didn’t care, he was
just grateful. They didn’t need a crowd of people because they had each other.
Their children would have each other, and the pride on his father’s face told
him their family unit couldn’t be broken.

As the day drew to an end, all the adults sat around the dinner table.
Upstairs. Jakes’ children, Noelle, and their baby son were asleep.

Sitting beside Aviva, from the corner of his eye, he saw her cast a
surreptitious glance around the table before she helped herself to another
piece of cake.

She looked so sheepish and cute, with her eyes now glued to the cake,
Josh leaned over to give her a hug. Before he could make contact, a voice
stopped him in his tracks.

“If I were you, I’d move away from The Aviva before she eats you, too!”

Snapping her head around, Aviva looked at Jackson and frowned. At the
same time, Meredith reprimanded him with a frown. The older woman was laughing
at the same time so her reproach didn’t carry much weight.

“That’s not fair, I’m pregnant, and I don’t eat that much!”

“My dear, I’m a rich man, yet it becomes increasingly difficult to feed
you.”

“Jason,” Aviva pulled her husband into the conversation. “I’m being
insulted and you need to say something.”

“You’re perfect, Angel. I love that you’re five by five.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Oh hell, here we go!” Jake said under his breath looking at MacKenzie
with a shake of his head at her wide grin.

“Maybe not, but I know what will.” Reaching across the table, Jason handed
Aviva another piece of cake.

Aviva rolled her eyes at the eruption of laughter at her expense. “You
lot think you’re so bloody funny!”

“God, I love you guys,” Josh laughed. “Please don’t ever change.”

ANNOUNCEMENT

Jason and Aviva Kingdom take great
pleasure in announcing the birth of their twins.

A boy for his mother and a girl for
her father.

Thank You!

If you are reading this message; then I
want you to know that I sincerely appreciate your support throughout the
writing of the Kingdom series. The series has been a huge learning curve for
me, and I hope you've enjoyed reading the stories as much as I’ve loved writing
them. When I first embarked on this journey, I honestly never imagined I knew
how to write five books, but here I am!

Initially, it was my intention to end
the series with book #5. However, many people have said that they hope to read
about the woman who captures the heart of the patriarch of the family. I agree
Jackson deserves his H.E.A. With this in mind, I will release a Kingdom story
for Christmas 2015. The book will also be an opportunity to catch up on what’s
going on with the rest of the family.

The Kingdoms will always be dear to my
heart; so if you would like to read more about them, let me know and I'll try
to oblige.

In the meantime, I'll be turning my
attention to writing a few standalone books, which will be a new venture for
me.

Once again, thank you all so very much!

Much love,

Theresa xxx