Warriors (Ghost #4)

Part 51

Joanna glances worriedly around the dining room of Jen's small diner, slightly confused about how empty it is. She was looking forward to talking to her nephew again, but this setting is a little suspicious.

"No need to look so concerned. - Blake assures when he notices Joanna's look - No one will disturb us here."

"What I find weird is that there are no people here..."

"It's empty because I asked a friend of mine to let us use it. I wanted to talk to you in private and I didn't want to bother my girl at home. She has some work to do." Blake explains calmly, playing with his ring distractedly.

"I guess it makes sense. - Joanna nods in understanding - So... is there anything you'd like to know?"

"You said that our family is an organization that trains killers... - Blake starts tentatively - Who can hire them?"

"Why do you want to know?" Joanna implores suspiciously.

"Just tell me."

It takes only a moment for Joanna to realize what Blake's asking about. "We don't kill innocent people if that's what worries you. - she says truthfully - We go after worst of the worst, those who for some reason evade law and punishment for their crimes."

"Who can hire your men?"

"Anyone who can afford them. But if we find out that the target is an innocent, we don't take the case."

"You do realize that it's mostly shady people who can afford such services, right? - Blake scoffs mockingly, getting an amused chuckle from his aunt - I don't see what's funny about that." He grumbles in annoyance.

"I wasn't laughing at you. - Joanna defends - I know what kinds of people come to us, Blake. I know what they're capable of. But they're not a threat to us. They need us. They need our men. They need our skills. We're the best in the field. And those 'shady' people as you called them know that, too. They're not stupid enough to go against us."

"I had no idea our family was involved in something so serious... - Blake sighs heavily, roughly tugging at his short hair in frustration - Dad really had a lot of secrets..."

"He kept it from you to protect you, Blake. He left the family years ago and ever since then he didn't get involved in anything we were doing. He was no longer under our protection, so he didn't want you to know about any of this..."

"I guess it makes sense... - Blake nods slowly - He always said that he wanted me to be a 'good' person."

"He didn't want you to follow in his footsteps. We both agreed that if I ever managed to have children, they would take over the family, but I wasn't so lucky. That leaves you. You're the sole heir to the business."

Blake is not happy about what he's hearing. Sole heir of the family... Those words are not something Blake wanted to hear. They're putting a huge burden on his shoulders. Now he's forced to think about not only his future with Lia, but also about his family. How is he supposed to know what to do with that?

"I know it's a lot, but you don't need to worry about it for now. You can take as much time as you want to digest it, to think about what you want to do, how you want to proceed... I know you're not ready to take over yet, and that's alright. I can keep a hand on everything until you want to get involved."

"Give me five years. - Blake requests - Then I can take over the business."

"Why five years?" Joanna implores curiously.

"I think that's how long it'll take for me and Lia to have everything under control. We have some things we need to take care of and we don't want to do it half-assed."