Colby's POV
Julia and I spent the night together, watching movies and just hanging out. We ended up getting ice cream and it was actually a really good time.
I woke up early the next day because I had to get to the office. It was going to be a long day and I seriously wasn't looking forward to it.
"Babe?" Julia mumbled, reaching for the empty spot in the bed.
"I have to go." I whispered and walked over to her side of the bed. "Will you be back later?" She asked and cracked her eyes open.
"Not until tonight, sweetheart. The girls are here and will hang out with you though." I said and crouched down so I could kiss her.
"Okay." She whispered then yawned. "Please be careful going down the stairs." I said as she nodded. "Yes, sir." She said then cuddled into the blankets again.
"Bye, sweetheart." I said then turned and left. I didn't particularly want to go to the office today because I knew I would have to be on and intimidating all day.
I used to be like that all time. Someone with a stick up my ass constantly. When I met Julia I felt that wall slowly coming down.
There was something about the fear in Julia's eyes that sobered me up.
It took a while for her to really break my wall down but once it was broken I didn't want to see her scared anymore.
It was good for me. It made me feel more human than I felt before.
I had become so numb, working constantly and keeping myself as aggressive as possible.
Now I was able relax and be a human being around Jules. I could be soft and I felt comfortable being soft around her.
However, it was dangerous for me now.
I would have to limit it to when we were alone. It might piss Julia off from time to time for me to yell at her when we're around the guys, but it was necessary.
I had to be on my best game now.
The whole drive to the office I thought about what could be in the box sent by Alexander Quill.
It surely had to do with the missing gem search. I still hadn't confirmed or denied being involved in that, but now that Tony was gone I should confirm it.
Once I had my gang in line again we would start the search for him.
It was a project that I felt I was being forced to partake in anyways.
When I got to the office I put on my hard persona then went downstairs.
"Good morning, Colby." Nate said as I nodded. "Morning. Sam here?" I asked as he nodded. "His office. The box is in your office." He explained as I nodded.
"Great. Thanks." I said then went to my office so I could grab the box and go to Sam's office.
"Hey, man." I said and walked into the room. "Hey." He said with a yawn. "Did you sleep here?" I asked and sat across from him.
"Yeah. Didn't feel like going to the house for a couple hours." He said and rubbed his eyes.
"Hopefully after today things will slow down for us. You're not working at all tomorrow." I said as he nodded.
"I'm gonna sleep all night and wake up and take Katrina out. How was your day with Julia?" He asked as I set the box on his desk.
"It was fine. Poor girl can't do much and she spends a lot of time being high off percs. She hates it." I said with a sigh.
"It's gotta be hard. She's already trapped in the house and now she's got the broken leg on top of it." Sam said as I nodded.
"Yeah, I feel bad. She loved the library and art room though. Thanks for setting that up." I said causing him to grin.
"No problem, man. What's in the box?" He asked and pointed to the velvet box on the desk. "Quill sent it to us." I said with a shrug.
"Oh?" He asked as I nodded. "Yeah. Gotta open it." I said with a sigh.
"You don't sound excited." Sam said as I shook my head. "I'm not. Honestly don't want to get involved in something so dangerous and high stake but I feel like I have to." I said then grabbed the box.
"Yeah, we can handle it though. Then we won't have to worry about anything again." Sam said as I laughed.
"Yeah, sure." I said then opened the box. Inside of it was a teddy bear made of red roses that were painted gold at the ends.
On top of the bear was a card.
Mr. Brock,
You're invited to the Christmas Grand Ball.
December 17th.
9873 Porter St. Seattle WA, 98104
Your members and plus ones.
"A ball." I said and looked up at Sam. "With our girlfriends?" Sam asked as I shrugged. "With plus ones. That could mean anyone." I said and ruffled my hair.
"Would we want to bring the girls?" Sam asked as I scrubbed my face with my hands.
"I don't know. It doesn't seem too harmless. We'll decide closer to the day though." I said and inspected the bear, looking for any recording devices.
"Are we ready to do some interrogating?" I asked with a grin. "Hell yeah." He said and stood up.
It was funny how excited we were for this considering it was going to be a long ass day with a lot of intimidation.
It would be fun for a little while at least.
We decided to do this in my office since people usually weren't allowed in there.
It made it scarier for them.
"First victim." Jake said with a laugh as he shoved Jason into the room.
"Colby, I didn't ha-" Jason started but I held my hand up. "It's Mr. Brock. And you don't fucking speak yet." I said harshly and gestured towards the empty seat across from me.
"Sorry, Mr. Brock." Jason said and sat down. He looked nervous as fuck.
Good.
"Did you know about what transpired at the party?" I asked and crossed my arms. "I didn't know what was exactly going to happen." Jason said and kept his eyes locked on mine.
He knew I would think he was lying if he looked anywhere else.
"Zach came around, asking us if we wanted in on a project." Jason explained. "He said a lot of money would be involved and that I should take the offer." He said and looked at Sam nervously.
"I said no. I thought they were going to kill Julia and I knew that would be a horrible idea." He said as I clenched my jaw slightly.
"If you thought that was the case, why didn't you tell me?" I asked and cocked my head to the side.
"I didn't have time. They came to me the day before. I didn't think it would be that fast." He said as I unfolded the pocket knife that was sitting on the desk in front of me.
"How do you expect me to trust you if you can't tell me when suspicious things happen?" I asked and twirled the knife on the desk.
"Th-they threatened me." He said as I narrowed my eyes. "Well which one fucking is it? You didn't have time to tell me or they threatened you?" I asked harshly.
"Both. I was scared and that's why I didn't have time to tell you. They threatened my little sister. Said they would kill her if I told. I was scared. Before I could even think it through it was already happening." Jason said with wide eyes.
I didn't know if I fully believed that but he seemed sincere enough.
"Who else was involved?" I asked and crossed my arms. "I don't know. When they asked me it was Zach and Trevor. That's all I know." He said as I looked at Sam.
He was sizing Jason up, trying to decide the exact same thing I was.
Sam and I were so close that I could tell what he was thinking just by looking at him.
He believed him.
"I'm gonna bargain with you." I said and leaned back. "I'll let you stay in the gang but I'm gonna keep a close eye on your little sister. One microscopic mistake and she's gone. Do we have an understanding?" I asked and raised my brows.
"Please don't hurt her Co-Mr. Brock. Please, she's only five." Jason begged as I shrugged. "Balls in your court. You fuck up. She dies. Better keep in line." I said then raised my hand and shooed him out of the room.
"Mr. Brock?" Sam asked as I chuckled. "I'm feeling spicy today." I said then cracked my knuckles.
"You did good. Very intimidating." Sam said as the door opened with our next victim.
I had to admit that it felt good to feel so much power. Everyone was terrified by me because of how thick I was laying it on.
That's what I was going for.
I needed them all to be scared of me.