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Zane’s fist hit Tristan’s jaw with such force the traitors head flung to the side and then bounced back. There was a cracking sound of teeth being dislodged.
“What the fuck did you just say!” Zane shouted, feeling he had lost his temper completely at the mentioning of his father.
“If you keep hitting him like that, you will break his jaw,” Jax pointed out.
“Fuck if I care,” Zane grumbled.
“Just saying. It will be a lot harder for him to speak,” Jax said, holding up his hands.
“Should I get Mrs. A?” Tom asked.
“Why the hell would I want my wife to come here?” Zane asked.
“She is usually able to calm you down with just a look,” Tom explained. Zane drew in a deep breath and then released it slowly. They weren’t wrong. His angel had always been able to make him reign in his darker emotions. And he needed to keep calm, no matter how pissed off he was at the situation. At least until he gor all the answers he needed.
“Give me my phone,” he told Carlos. The man didn’t hesitate but held out Zane’s mobile to him and Zane quickly called Ava.
“Zane, is everything okay?” she asked as she picked up.
“Everything is fine. I was just calling to check up on you, and Gabriel,” he told her and he felt himself breathe easier.
“We’re fine. We are watching Beauty and the Beast, next up is The little mermaid,” she said and he could hear the smile in her voice.
“That’s good. We’ll be a while longer so don’t get worried.”
“Thank you for letting us know. Is everything going okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, we are finally starting to get somewhere. I love you, angel,” he told her.
“Love you too, honey,” she replied. When they hung up Zane felt a lot better, he had found his balance again. As he handed back his phone to Carlos and turned towards Tristan, he saw the man was regaining his consciousness. Perfect timing.
“So, Tristan. You went behind my back and took orders from my father?” he asked.
“I-I didn’t think you would mind,” Tristan said,
“I don’t think I belive you. If you thought I didn’t mind, then why sneak around? Why hide what you were doing?”
“Your father said it was a test. He heard you got married and he said he needed to make sure you haven’t gone soft,” Tristan explained.
“Gone soft? Is that what you thought? That I had gone soft?” Zane asked.
“No! I never thought that. I told your father you were as strong as ever, even stronger. I told him about that doctor you killed and how the business was doing better than ever with the new accountant. I even told him that you had killed that woman a year ago. Mrs. A’s aunt or what ever,” the man rambled on. Ryder almost growled at the mentioning of Gabriel. Zane felt his temper slipping again. Not only had this piece of shit blabbed all about their business to his father. His father had then ratted them out to the police. It was too much of a coincidence that the things Tristan had told Zane’s father about was the same things the detective had asked Ava abut.
“And he didn’t belive you?” Zane asked in a deceivingly calm voice.
“He did,” Tristan said, nodding his head and flinching with pain from the movement.
“Bullshit! Then we come back to the original question. Why were you breaking into Ryder’s place?” Jax asked.
“He said he needed to know how you would react in an crisis. He asked if I knew how to get into Ryder’s safe. I told him I had helped Ryder design his security system, so I would be able to get in and I knew where the safe was. He gave me this device that can be used to break the code of a digital safe and told me to break in to the apartment, steal everything in the safe and then hand it to him. He would keep it safe while he assessed how you handled the situation and then he would return it.”
“Do you think I’m a fucking schoolboy? Do you think I need idiots to test me? I took down the second fucking largest organisation in the country in one go. Do you think I would shit my pants because of a break in at one of my men’s apartment?” Zane asked.
“I’m sorry, boss. I didn’t mean for all of this to happen,” Tristan said.
“You should have come to me, Tristan. When my father approached you, you should have come to me. Instead you spilled secrets to him, you put my wife and Gabriel in danger and you made the organisation look weak. You will tell Tom and Carlos everything about how you have been keeping in contact with my father. Where you have met him, how he has contacted you. Every little thing. If I find out you are holding back, or are lying. You won’t like what will happen. I will see you later,” Zane told the man. He then gestured to Jax and Ryder to follow him. Took back his phone from Carlos and left the room. The three of them stopped at the locker room in the gym to unwrap their hands and get rid of any traces of the traitors blood that they had on them.
“We need to talk, and I think Ava and Gabriel needs to join in,” Zane told the other two. Both Jax and Ryder nodded. “Do you want Linda to join us as well?” he then asked Jax.
“Yeah, I’ll text her,” Jax told him. He sent a text and got one back almost at once, he smiled and shook his head as he read it. “Apparently she is watching the Little Mermaid with Ava and Gabriel,” he told them. Zane smiled. It was good that the three of them were as close as he was to Ryder and Jax, it made things easier for all of them. They walked upstairs and found their partners all crammed into one loveseat in the living room.
“You do know we have several coaches,” Jax asked with a grin.
“It’s not as much fun,” Linda said. Ava stopped the movie and walked over to Zane. His hands took hold of her waist and drew her into him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“We need to have a talk in my office, all three of you should join us,” he answered. “I’m sorry, I know you have had a long day,” he whispered to Ava.
“It’s fine. I have relaxed, and eaten, and am ready to work some more,” she whispered back. They all went upstairs. The mood was sombre, everyone knew this was a serious talk. In his office, Zane sat down in his chair and pulled his angel into his lap. Ryder and Gabriel took a seat in the visitors’ chairs and Jax tugged Linda down on the couch with him. Zane told them what Tristan had confessed to. He felt Ava’s hand find his and squeeze it tight. She knew how deep this went for him. After he had told them everything, the office remained silent for a while.
“Do you think it’s true?” Gabriel asked.
“His confession?” Ryder wondered.
“No. I was thinking about this being a test. Do you think this is Zane’s father making sure Zane has a good grip on the organisation?” Gabriel clarified.
“No,” Jax said.
“I agree,” Zane told them.
“Then what is his end goal?” Linda asked.
“He is coming after the organisation, isn’t he?” Ava said.
“I think so. For some reason he want’s it back,” Zane agreed.
“Fuck that,” Jax said.
“Agreed. No disrespect to your father, but this organisation has improved since you took over. Fuck being soft. It’s got nothing to do with that. The men respect you, they trust you to make the right decisions and everyone that remembers the old days are relieved we don’t have to suffer through your fathers sometimes erratic decisions,” Ryder said. Zane felt gratitude towards the two men. He would never tell them how much he appreciated their support, not outright. But he was lucky to have them.
“But why break into our apartment?” Gabriel asked.
“In case of emergencies, if we have lost most of the men or are unable to use our regular assets. There are three hidden storage spaces that are stocked with weapons, money, gold, diamonds and other necessities. In these places there is also hard drives with backups of all the important information and documents the organisation has. It’s updated once a month. To enter these storage spaces you will need an access card along with a key code. Three people have one of these cards. Me, Jax and Ryder,” Zane told them.
“You think your father wanted the key card?” Ava asked.
“It makes sense. If he want’s to take back the organisation he is going to need weapons and cash to hire men. The hard drives are encrypted, but if he can take down the organisation he can have hackers working on those,” Jax agreed.
“But how does he know that Ryder has it and why go after him?” Linda asked.
“I don’t think he knew, I think it was a fishing expedition. Best case he gets his hands on the card, worst case, he rattles the organisation and maybe end up with other interesting information,” Zain said.
“And why he went after me is because I’m the easiest target. Not that it’s easy, we all saw that. But the bosses both live inside the mansion grounds. There are patrols, the gate and the wall keep most unwanted guests out. Our apartment was just easier,” Ryder told them. They all nodded.
“Your father didn’t count on Tristan being caught in the act,” Jax said.
“No. But he probably knows that something went wrong right about now. Since Tristan hasn’t made contact with him,” Zane said.
“Okay. Now we know who has been causing all this chaos. We just need to figure out what we will do about it. Any bright ideas?” Ava asked. Zane looked at her and smiled. She was amazing.