JUSTIN POV
I stood under the water on minute eighteen of my shower and let out a deep breath of relaxation. I was going to need it today.
I kept my mind clear and did my morning meditations that Maddie was forcing me to try. She said I had to work on my temper, which was obvious, but I didn't think I need some Zen master classes to teach me how to live a peaceful life. It didn't really matter what I thought, though, Maddie was having me read an ancient Chinese book that was supposed to improve my life through meditation. I told her I would try it out for a week.
With my track record, I was willing to do anything to get back in her good graces.
It had been two weeks since our "reconciliation", and I was basically doing everything I could think of to show Maddie how much I cared for her. I made a mistake and couldn't ever take that back, but I was going to try my hardest to convey just what she meant to me. I know that sounds incredibly pussy-whipped, but I couldn't help it. What else was I supposed to do?
Maddie and I were seeing a therapist. Granted it was only one of my father's friends, who thought he had the right to dive into our lives, but he got us talking. That was helpful. I didn't really say much, but I did listen and was told that was the main goal in all of this. We quickly found out that the crack we had just repaired went deeper than a forbidden kiss on the beach.
Maddie was watching me like a hawk after the whole "kiss-in-Bermuda" thing, and then the "almost-slept-with-stripper thing". I would probably be making up for those mistakes for a while, but I would do anything she asked-as long as we were together-because she was right: I wasn't a functioning human without her.
I had been fully clean for two weeks. I wasn't addicted to shit, so it didn't take long for the feelings of my permanent high to wear off. I hadn't had one hit, one pill, one blow, or one drink. Like I said, Maddie was watching. She was alwayswatching. I wasn't even allowed to have a fucking cigarette.
Surprisingly, the meditation helped curb the tingles I sometimes got in the back of my throat for something smoky.
I counted down the seconds in my head until minute twenty-seven was upon me, and then shut off the water. I got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist, heading to the fogged up mirror. Once I wiped all the condensation off, I could see my reflection.
I looked healthy; just another indication that Maddie worked wonders on me. There wasn't even a doubt in my mind.
Behind me, I could see Maddie standing in the reflection with a small smile on her face.
"Hi," she said.
"Good morning," I replied.
"You're up early." She stretched.
"It's Saturday. I'm always up early on Saturday." I got my shaving stuff out and filled the sink with warm water.
Maddie still refused to move back in, because she said we weren't ready. I understood that so I didn't push her, but I was keeping a close eye on her dorm. No one was getting in there without me knowing. I even installed a secret camera on her floor, with the perfect positioning to see her door. No one knew about that, not even Maddie. It was just safer that way. She would stay over a couple nights a week, but she tried to split her time between my penthouse and the dorms.
"I heard you have some... giant mob meeting today." She came up behind me and kissed my naked back.
"The yearly meeting of the minds," I sighed and smeared shaving cream on my face.
"Why don't you use a dry razor?" Maddie asked suddenly.
"Shaving cream gets a smoother finish. Plus do you know how much bacteria electronic razors have? Those things are disgusting."
Maddie watched me in the mirror as I made the first swipe down the side of my face. I continued to cleanly shave my face with Maddie watching for a couple of minutes.
"Can I try?" she asked when I was halfway finished.
"Uh...sure." I handed her the razor. "Don't cut me."
"I know what to do." She jumped on the counter and sat in front of me. "Don't move."
I raised my head so that she could make a fresh swipe on my neck. Maddie's soft touch almost made the razor glide over my skin without feeling, and when she rinsed it in the sink, I was actually surprised that she had done anything.
"So, back to this meeting of the minds thing. What is it?" she asked and continued with her light mechanically movements.
"Well, it's basically just a chance for all the mob families in the area to get together and agree on territories, rules; things like that for the year."
"A men's club," Maddie giggled.
"Yeah, but we get a lot done if we all keep our cool."
"Does it ever get violent?" she asked worriedly.
"Not for me." I shrugged. "I've never had a problem but a couple years ago, Keegan got punched in the face."
"You better not come home beaten and bruised."
"I'll do my best."
I didn't even realize that Maddie was done with my shave until she ran a warm washcloth over my face.
"All done." She jumped off of the counter.
"Not bad, Fell." I appraised her work in the mirror.
"That's barber quality," she argued. "I should get paid for that."
"I'll send you Keegan and Finn if when it's time for their tune ups." I began to walk out of the bathroom, but Maddie stopped me.
"I didn't get my kiss this morning," she almost pouted.
"Oh, forgive me," I chuckled and bent my head down to take her lips in mine.
Kissing was all we had done in regards to intimacy. Our "therapist" said we needed to build without a physical attraction. That was complete bullshit in my book, but I stayed true to his requests. I hadn't even so much as looked at anyone-let alone a woman-other than Maddie. She owned my ass.
After our good morning kiss, I left her in the bathroom to get dressed.
The annual meeting of the mob kings, as I liked to call it, was almost like a family reunion for us in the underworld. It always amazed me at how we could all come together and have a civilized conference of sorts, but as soon as we left the room, real world came rushing back. Of course, we weren't always so feisty, but this was a meeting to set up the crime regulations for the next year in Chicago. Territories were decided, business relationships were set up, and the drug alliances were laid out.
If you wanted something, you had to fight for it.
That's where things got dicey. None of us had the best tempers, and we would make our voices heard. There was no doubt that this meeting would be heated.
I dressed in a new Armani suit that was charcoal gray and slimmed me down. Underneath it was a pressed white shirt and a black tie. My shoes were polished, and my gold cufflinks were almost overly shined.
I tried running a comb through my hair, and it actually tamed.
As I walked down the stairs, I got a whiff of the amazing smells of breakfast, and my stomach suddenly started growling. I found Maddie at the stove cooking eggs, and there was a faint smell of the steak that we had last night for dinner.
"I made you some coffee, too." She pointed to the pot on the counter.
"Thank you," I sighed, getting the biggest cup out of the cabinet.
"We have a therapy session tonight; don't be late." She jabbed me with a spatula and gave me that look.
"Don't you think it's time to give up on this whole therapy thing?" I asked hopefully.
"No, we haven't even started. We have issues, Justin." Maddie gave me a goofy smile. "We're insane."
"I'm not insane," I argued. "But he's... so weird."
"Eleazar is one of your father's friends, and he knows what he's doing. We wouldn't have to go if you would just talk to me." She divided the eggs between two plates, and then pulled the steaks out of the oven.
"I do talk to you, or at least, I'm trying."
"Well, try harder. You barely speak about what happened in Bermuda."
"Because you don't want to hear that."
"Yes, I do." Maddie set the plates down at the table, and we both at down to eat.
"Eleazar is a joke. He dropped out of Harvard after he got arrested and didn't even graduate. He's a quack."
"Well, you have to admit that we're not the easiest patients to deal with. You better be there."
I groaned, "Don't worry, I'll be there."
A satisfied grin appeared on her lips. "When is this meeting supposed to be finished?"
I stabbed a piece of steak with my fork. "I don't know. It always changes. Two years ago, it took us a whole week to sort things out, but last year, we did it in a couple of hours. I'll call you, though."
"I'll be here. I'm reorganizing your DVD collection, and I have a couple tests to study for."
The first part of her statement brought a cringe up my spine. "My DVDs don't need reorganizing."
"They do since last night. Jaxon knocked the bookshelf down when you went to work out."
My teeth gritted together and my hand clenched. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I am telling you." She shrugged. "I'll make it perfect. Just like you had it."
I closed my eyes and did my mediation exercises. "I don't want to see it or hear about it." I went back to eating.
"That's why I didn't tell you."
"Can we change the subject?"
"Sure." She placed a clear cup on the table. "I need you to pee in that."
My eyes slightly widened. "Maddie, I'm not peeing in anything besides a toilet."
"I have to make sure that you're clean. Keegan's going to take it to the doctor."
"I'm clean," I insisted and handed her back the plastic container.
She grinned evilly. "Nope, it has to be medically proven."
"You're loving this, aren't you?"
"It is kind of funny. I told you I'd be your rehab. Before you leave, I need pee."
"That sounds dirty," I chuckled.
"Only because you have a dirty mind." Maddie leaned over the table and gave me a short kiss that tasted like our breakfast. It was incredibly tantalizing.
My phone suddenly started vibrating, shaking the table and interrupting us.
"Damn..." I mumbled and broke our kiss. I fumbled around to reach for my phone without looking and picked up. "Hello."
"It's time to go," Jaxon replied. "Dad just wanted me to call and make sure you were up."
"I'll be there." I got up from the table. "I'm leaving now."
I went to get my coat and started for the door, but Maddie was standing there with the cup in her hand. She had a raised eyebrow and the look that told me "you're not going anywhere".
"Hurry up. We're not going to stall for you if you're not there on time," Jaxon said.
"I said I would be there." I snapped my phone shut. "Maddie, I don't have time for this."
"I need your pee. I told you that I was serious about this."
"As much as I admire your unyielding determination, I have to go." I tried to move past her, but she stood firm.
"Just unzip and pee." She pushed me, and I stumbled backwards into the wall.
This situation was too funny. I would've laughed, if I had the time for that.
"I have to go." I pulled her hand away from my belt buckle.
Maddie now had a smirk on her face that could rival mine. "No, I'm trying to make you healthy so pee." Her hands moved quickly over my belt and unbuttoned my pants, pushing them down my legs so that they pooled at my ankles.
"This could turn very dangerous." I gaped at her boldness.
Her lips crept up my neck to my chin and finally to my lips. "You wish."
"Damn..." My eyes rolled in the back of my head from our closeness.
"Go pee, Justin." Maddie backed away and shoved me towards the bathroom with the cup in my hand.
"You are one horrible tease." I waddled away with my pants still around my ankles and didn't even bother pulling them up.
I did what I had to do and fixed my suit, making sure I didn't look as ridiculous as I felt. I reemerged and Maddie held out her hand at the front door, rising on her toes to kiss me.
"Thank you and I promise that you'll be rewarded."
"I better be," I mumbled.
"If this test isn't negative, you'll be in a steep pile of shit." Her tone changed. "I mean it."
"Can I go now, Warden?" I chuckled.
She nodded. "Play nice with the other mafia princes."
"I'll call you when we're done." I left the penthouse and got into the elevator.
The whole time I was going down to the parking lot, Finn was texting me to move my ass faster. They were already there and waiting.
I jumped into the Saleen and roared out of the building, getting into traffic with a little too much gusto. There were some car honks or whatever, but they weren't my problem.
The annual meeting was held every year in a mansion that was outside of the city. If it was even possible, the house was bigger than my parent's. It was one of those old, historic homes that was built at the turn of the century and probably cost more than even I was willing to pay. The mansion belonged to Dirk Misser. He was an ancient oil tycoon, who had had dealings in the underground before any of the other established families did.
He was older now-too old to get out of bed-and his grandson was running things. Coincidentally, his name was Dirk as well.
I continued to drive speedily, past the buildings of Chicago to the outer suburbs. I saw my parent's house on the left and sped up until I was a couple streets over. The Misser mansion was a few minutes away, and I slowed down at the gates, which magically opened when I got close enough.
I drove onto the cobblestoned driveway and saw a collection of fine cars. I found my father's, along with Keegan's, and parked next to them.
I jumped out of the car and went to the door, ringing the bell that rang out loudly like a church chime.
A stuffy butler stood in front of me with his nose in the air. "Name," he said.
"Justin Bieber." I gave him my coat and pushed past him, going into the dark foyer.
I could already smell the cigar smoke and brandy that was wafting through the house. No doubt the older men were congratulating each other on being masters of the universe. That's basically what we did for the first hour.
I walked into the massive family room that was filled with people. Dark furniture and hardwood floors set the backdrop for such a wonderful occasion as this. Old portraits of the Misser family dotted the walls, and it was as if I had stepped into Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, which was one novel I happened to hate with a passion.
I found my brothers in a corner of the room talking to some other men, and there were about thirty of us all congregated in the house. I was able to slip in undetected since everyone was talking and milling around.
Everyone was there: the Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Nigerians, Jamaicans, almost all the countries from South America were represented, and then the Irish who were still licking their wounds from a massive take over a couple years ago.
"You're late," Finn whispered to me.
"I know, I know. I'm not going to tell you why." I leaned against the wall and straightened out my hair.
"Early morning sex with the lady?" Keegan wiggled his eyebrows.
"I wish. Anything good happen yet?"
"Nope, we're being boring as usual." Finn shrugged. "Shinobu's here though." He pointed to sofa where he was laughing his ass off for some reason.
"Dad already had a talk with him. I would have loved to hear what that was about," Keegan chuckled.
I hummed a response and turned to Jaxon, who was hiding in the corner. I saw him taking small sips of something in a clear glass.
"What are you drinking?" I snatched it out of his hand and sniffed it. I tasted the drink, and the burn of scotch ran down my throat. I hit the back of his head. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I was thirsty," he complained with a pout.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Keegan swiftly took the glass from my hand and slapped the back of my head.
"I'm a grown man," I argued.
"Wait until I tell Maddie." He smirked. "She's not going to be pleased."
I got a slight chill, but hid it well.
What was she going to do?
My mind started creating weird scenarios that could lead to Maddie forcing me up against a wall again.
"Look, he went pale." Finn pointed at me and laughed.
"Shut up." I pushed him.
Jeremy strode over to us, like he was walking on air, and had a glass of his own that he was nursing.
"Are we all ready for today?" he asked us.
"I can't wait," I replied sarcastically.
"I think it's going to be fun." Jaxon, always the sycophantic suck up, smiled.
"That's my boy." Jeremy ruffled his hair.
"You two are disgusting." Keegan rolled his eyes and went to the bar.
I stayed with Jeremy for the hour, because there was no telling what I was liable to do if I was left alone with some of these men. We had been in conflict with many of them in the past, and some were even glaring at me whenever I took a breath. They all knew we were the shit and were always trying to defeat us, but it was pointless on their part. They would always be inferior, no matter how hard they tried.
Aro, Felix, and Demetri made themselves known about fifteen minutes after I got there. They knew not to speak with us, so there wasn't even a glance in our direction. Jeremy was through with them, and he made that known with several heated calls a couple months ago. They got the message loud and clear.
I had a glass of water in my hand for the whole time and drank it with a scowl. It tasted so... nasty, but I didn't dare grab for anything stronger.
I decided to use the restroom before the festivities got underway. I spent a longer than normal amount of time in there so that I didn't have to deal with anyone. I just stood against the sink and debated on whether to text Maddie or not, but I decided against it because there was no way I would be able to keep up a conversation once the meeting began.
I checked my watch and realized that I probably had been in here longer than I should have. I washed my hands one more time. I opened the door and was met with Dirk Misser Jr., who was leaning on the opposite wall.
He was three years older than me, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He looked fairly "normal", if there was such a thing. Unlike the rest of us, he was dressed casually in dark blue jeans, a plaid button-up shirt, and cowboy boots.
"Well, howdy, Bieber," he drawled in his Oklahoma accent. His words never really separated.
"Dirk." I nodded and tried to move past him, but he stopped me.
"Haven't seen you in a while." He smiled wryly.
"Yeah, I heard you went upstate for rehab."
"I heard you need to go upstate for rehab." He tilted his head. His lips then went up into a devilish grin.
Dirk and I had gone to college together. We were competitors of the worst kind when it came to things like sports, cars, and guns. I guessed you could call it a friendly kind of rivalry, but to me, there was no such thing.
"And how's the business treating you?" he asked, leaning against the wall again.
"Good," I replied cryptically.
"I was meaning to call you so that we could go paintballing."
"Sounds fun."
"It's the American way, Justy." He patted my back roughly.
Dirk was one of those "All American" boys who were into football and proclaiming how great our country was. He was known for his grandstanding, and on more than one occasion, I could have sworn that he was a senator from somewhere because he was always on his soapbox about something. Once he got started, it was impossible for him to stop.
"So, how you think this get-together's going to play out?" His words were so drawn together, I had to work to hear him.
"I don't know. If you keep Aro and his people in line, we should be fine."
"I've been trying to keep Shinobu away from you all day. He's got a bone to pick with you," Dirk snickered.
"Who doesn't?"
"That's true. They're all after you it seems."
The meeting started after all the men were a little oiled up off of brandy. We went upstairs to the gigantic conference room. It was on the second floor and could probably seat fifty, which was lucky for us since there were just around that many that filled the room.
We were all separated by family and sat around the shiny, wooden table in those specific groups. I sat on Jeremy's right side with everyone else behind us. My father had on his half-moon glasses, which meant business. He was going to fight his way in control of this meeting, like he always did.
"Alright, gentleman." Dirk clapped his hands at the head of the table. "As usual, welcome. My grandfather wishes he could be here but, of course, his health is not cooperating." He pointed above his head where I'm sure Dirk Sr. was stashed away in a medical bed.
"Can I first say that it's an honor to be sitting here with all you fine men?" Shinobu slurred and raised his glass.
Not to be outdone, Dirk puffed out his chest and actually brought out a fucking gavel from under the table. "As am I and I'm more than happy to open up my home for this grand occasion."
We're never going to get anything done.
Dirked banged his gavel on the table and everyone got very serious all of a sudden, bringing out their papers and folders of documents. Keegan handed me all of our stuff that I spread out in front of Jeremy. There were a lot of numbers, maps, and statistics that no one would understand but us. It was all coded just in case.
Jeremy's eyes scanned the pages eagerly. Keegan and Finn interjected with their comments when he asked them to. Jaxon was here for observation, since this was his first time.
Just as things were about to get started and the groups got their shit together, the double doors of the room opened. A man in a wheelchair was pushed through by Laurent fucking Denali.
The man in the wheelchair had his legs in casts, a neck brace, and was pulling an oxygen machine close to his body with the clear mask of his mouth.
A small snort escaped my throat when I realized it was James.
Had I beaten him that badly?
No one in this room except for my family, James, and I knew what had happened to him. For one, it was a huge embarrassment on his part to be beaten to near death. Second, he wouldn't get any compassion from the men of the table if they knew the backstory behind our debacle. Wives and girlfriends were sacred to us. Don't look, and definitely don't touch. Any other one of the bosses would have killed James if they were in my position. He was tight lipped on what had happened, so I doubted if even Laurent knew about it.
A lot of James' injuries were just for dramatics. I knew that much. He wanted sympathy from all the leaders so that the Denalis would have some sort of hold over what had been lost by them in the past year. They had squandered almost everything away, and the elder Denalis were probably rolling in their graves. Now, James and his coven had joined up with the other Irish gang for protection. They would be wiped out any other way.
There was a round of applause as James was wheeled to the opposite side of the table, and he gave a hand wave.
His eyes locked on mine, and I just tipped my head in his direction with a wicked smirk. I couldn't help it. The bastard looked pathetic.
"Damn, I would have at least thought he would be walking by now," Keegan whispered to me. "What the hell did you do to him?"
"You were there, and you only stopped me when he was about to die. This is just as much your fault as it is mine," I laughed under my breath.
"Touché." He leaned back in his seat.
"We felt that we needed to at least be present for the meeting." Laurent sat in a seat next to James.
This was already shaping up to be better than last year.
"Alright, so first, we'll start off with dividing up the territories. Any suggestions?" Dirk asked. A map on a giant TV screen appeared behind him with a picture of Chicago on it. It was split up into different sections by color, based on family.
Of course, Jeremy had to be the first to answer.
"I want everything from the far southeast side, down." My father actually pulled out a laser pointer and drew a circle around the massive area he wanted on the screen. "Plus, all of this around the north end."
"Whoa, there." Jerry, the Irish boss held up his hands. "I think you need to leave some for the rest of us."
"I would if any of you did anything with the territories you were assigned," Jeremy sighed.
Aro decided to enter the conversation with his deep tenor, "I think we just need to do this more democratically than last time."
"Why should we, when Jeremy just moves in on our territories anyway?" Shinobu said.
"I don't think you want me to bring up what happened a couple of weeks ago. If you would like to go down that road, then we can." Jeremy gave him a raised eyebrow.
"That was under special circumstances. I thought that you had some of my shipment."
"Exactly why we need to split up the territories in our favor," I interjected. "If you would have paid any attention to the map, you would have known that the north piers were ours. Your men had no business over there."
"Shut up, Justin," Shinobu growled at me.
I stood up so quickly that my chair flipped to the floor. I was seriously considering jumping on the table, but Keegan had a hold on me before I could even think.
"Stay calm." He lifted my chair back up and pushed me down.
I could feel my eyes squint as they darted towards Shinobu.
Did this fucker know who he was dealing with?
"I won't be responsible for my actions if you ever speak to me that way again," I ground out.
The meeting really got underway after that.
There was a lot of talking, and even more shouting, as everything was divided among the groups. The main issue was whether or not to separate Chicago based on merit or largest families. In both cases, Jeremy would have gobbled up almost everything, and people didn't like that one bit. To be honest, there was no way around any of it. We were going to get everything anyway, but I guessed people needed to put up a fight just to try.
At the end of the land divisions, Jeremy got everything he wanted plus more. He was now in possession of almost all of Chicago, including the Denali's territory, which he ripped from them, under the pretense that they didn't have a solid leader anymore. He was ruthless.
There was a massive fight when we started going internationally. The Jamaicans and Puerto Ricans began fighting for who was going to run the drugs out of Miami. We ended up having to break so that we could settle things down.
We broke for lunch after another couple hours of pure raging lunacy.
I was still pissed to no end. It might seem like nothing, but I had never taken lightly to anyone telling me to "shut up". I sulked and tried to stay away from anyone who didn't have the last name Bieber. It brightened my day up a little to see James trying to mumble something out of his wired jaw.
When we reconvened, everyone was ready to get into divvying up product markets. By that, I mean specialties between families. That didn't really bode well for anyone else either. The Biebers focused on firearms, but of course we dabbled in everything else as well. Jeremy stayed silent throughout that portion of the day, because we all knew that we would make more money than any of these fuckers combined when the year was out.
I kept checking my phone as the hours went on, and I groaned when I realized that this was going to be a more than one day type gathering. We would have to come back tomorrow for another meeting. That was only made worse since tomorrow was Sunday. Pattie would not be happy.
It was five, but I still had about three hours before Eleazar was going to be at my house for our therapy session.
"That was probably the worst day in my life." Keegan stretched as we got up from the table.
"It wasn't as bad as that one year when Justin almost threw that guy out the window," Finn laughed.
"He had it coming." I shrugged.
"You need to keep you anger in check, Justin." Jeremy started packing up our things. "I won't have this meeting disrupted because of your attitude."
"He started it."
"Well, when get here tomorrow, I need this to go quickly," he whispered to us. "Aro's going to try to bring up the fact that I haven't necessarily been playing by the meeting rules."
"That's bullshit," Jaxon snipped. "He's ten times worse than you. He doesn't even care about following instructions. He shouldn't even be here."
"I know, but there's nothing I can really do about it."
"These meetings set... guidelines, instead of laws, anyway," Finn replied. "It's not like they're cast in stone."
"True, but we should at least try to set some good ones," Jeremy sighed. "This is just getting very tedious, and Dirk has no idea what he's doing."
"You ended up taking over at the end." That was no surprise though. He always did that.
"Well, it would be nice to have this go smoothly. If they would just give me everything I wanted, I wouldn't have to shout."
"Greedy bastard." Keegan hit Jeremy on the back.
"May I be excused?" I asked gruffly, wanting to catch Maddie for dinner before it was too late.
"Why would you want to leave such a wonderful family reunion?" I heard Aro's voice from behind me.
We all turned around where he, Felix, and Demetri were standing with stoic faces. I had to contain myself from rolling my eyes at the fact that they might have thought of themselves as tougher than us.
"Aro, it's nice to see you again." Jeremy nodded. We didn't bother saying anything.
"You never call me anymore, old friend."
"And you know why," my father said coolly. "You threatened my family."
"All in good fun, though." Aro's grin was sickening.
"Is there something you needed? I have places to be." Jeremy actually sighed in frustration or annoyance. I'm not sure which.
"I just wanted to discuss the territories for this year. I find it highly unfair that you're taking the biggest... again."
"If you have something you would like to speak with me about, you will make an appointment like everyone else. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Jeremy grabbed his briefcase and brushed right past Aro.
"Peace, boys." Keegan waved and followed.
Felix was staring me down like I was the devil, and I kept my glare up as well. He just looked like he was itching to say something or start a fight. I would give it to him too. If he wanted to brawl, then I would just handle it right here.
"Let's go." Jaxon pushed me hard, and I started walking forward.
As I moved past Felix, my hearing, once again picked up his words.
"How's Maddie?" His voice was so sick and disgusting that it bordered on vomit inducing. His tone was dripping with innuendo and a hidden purpose that made me furious.
My Eagle was already drawn by the time someone noticed it.
Just as my finger pulled the trigger, my arm was pointed upwards so that the bullet flew into the ceiling with a loud bang.
Everyone ducked and the gun was taken out of my hand by Jaxon, who quickly stashed it in his belt.
No matter. I didn't need guns.
I jumped for Felix and caught him by the neck. He was almost as big as Keegan, so it was hard to take him down, but he collapsed onto the table behind him. I just started pounding the fuck out of anything I could reach for. I felt him struggling underneath me so I knew he was going to break free soon.
I curled my fist up tightly and landed a punch into his jaw that cracked loudly.
"Justin, get off of him." Keegan pulled me backwards but couldn't get me far enough away.
"Son of a bitch." I lunged again and the heel of my hand went up Felix's nose. We all heard a gruesome snap, "I'm going to kill you!"
Without warning, he craned his head upwards and knocked me right in the face.
I stumbled backwards slightly and saw stars, but I didn't let them get in the way of my prey.
"Get the fuck off of me, Justin. I'll fuck her up so badly." He snickered and I knew exactly who he was talking about when he said "she".
"Not if I kill you first."
I saw the gun in Jaxon's belt and snatched it back, pointing it at Felix's body.
I shot twice and didn't even bat an eyelash.
The gun vibrated in my hand and smoke poured out of the barrel as it crept upwards. The air filled with a scent of burning paper as the pistol released its bullets.
Just in the nick of time, he rolled over; instead of the bullets being lodged in his stomach, they struck the wood of the table.
"Getting old there," Demetri came out of nowhere and twisted my arm backwards so that the gun fell to the floor.
"Get your fucking hands off of me," I snarled. I snapped my head backwards and knocked him right in the face, but he didn't let go.
He was pulled away by a very angry Finn, who just started beating him as furiously as I had done to Felix. Keegan and Jaxon jumped to my defense and a lot of noise was being made as punches were thrown and bones were broken.
A lot of men had guns drawn and it was all happening so fast that they almost didn't have time to understand what was happening.
There was a rumble on the floor as I reached for Felix. Before I could do any damage, someone intervened.
"Get up." Jeremy grabbed me by the collar of my suit and tugged me until I was standing again before shoving me out of the door.
"Don't lecture me." I wiped some blood from my nose when we were in the hallway. There was still a hell of a lot of commotion going on inside the conference room. Sadly, I wasn't a part of any of it.
"This isn't high school, Justin."
"What would you have done if he had talked about Pattie?" I challenged in a strained voice.
"I would have killed him right there."
"So why can't I?"
"Because you're not at my level. You can't go killing every mob member you want. You don't have the infallibility that I do." His eyes were stern.
"You're not the fucking Pope."
"I might as well be." Jeremy closed his eyes and crossed himself. "Forgive me." He sighed. "The point of the matter is that you're my son, and I can't keep pulling you out of these situations. I won't be here forever, and they aren't as forgiving to you because you have no power."
"I have all the power I need to shoot his brains out." I tried to go back inside the room, but he held me back.
"Justin, go home." He started pushing me down the stairs. "I have to clean all of this up, but I want you gone."
I debated on whether or not to follow orders. I knew that Jeremy was being serious right now, but he had no right to tell me how I should behave when it came to Maddie. He even admitted that he would have done the same thing, so why was I being punished?
"Justin, go." Jeremy pointed to the stairs like I was a child.
"Make sure I get my gun back." I turned and stomped down the stairs.
"Coat, sir?" The butler handed it to me as I reached the door, and I ripped it out of his hands.
My body was shaking so badly, I thought I was going to erupt from the inside out.
The anger in me was enough to scare a bull. I couldn't fathom why that son of a bitch would even bring Maddie into this. Did Felix want to die? This was the second time that her name had fallen from his lips in my presence and last time I vowed to kill him. I was still planning on keeping that promise because I had warned him once. I didn't give second chances.
I sat in the Saleen for a good ten minutes, doing my fucking breathing exercises. I was still trembling too bad to drive, so I ducked under until I could reach the floorboard of the passenger's side and opened it up. I shifted through the guns and found the pack of cigarettes.
I rolled down the window, lit the end of one, and took a deep drag that instantly calmed me. I blew out the smoke, and my head started pounding from the nicotine that I had been off for the past two weeks.
Maddie was going to kick my ass when I got home.