Chapter 74

(**Rayne’s POV**)
*A few days later*

Parker swears he is fine, but she doesn’t believe him. Physically, he has healed from the gunshot wounds, but he has been distant since they released him from the hospital. It has been three days since his release, and he has jumped right back into his nightly routine at the bar.

When she tries to talk to him about Killian, he shuts the conversation down, pretending to be super busy or too tired to talk about it. They decided the day before that Owen, Nyla, and the baby would move into the beach house. The wards on the house would always keep them safe.

Rayne waits patiently in their shared office. It is time to talk about the direct threat Killian poses to their family. It is also time to get more background information on who Killian is. She called Owen to join them for this meeting. There are things he needs to disclose to the rest of them that he hasn’t yet.

Who is Killian? Why does he want Owen back so badly that he would try to kill Parker? There is so much that is unknown in this situation. The unknown pisses Rayne off.

When the door to the office opens, she prepares for a fight. From the hushed conversation, she can tell he is on the phone as he walks into the office. Stopping in his tracks, he just stares at her for a moment, then he hangs up the phone.

“What are you doing up here? I thought you were downstairs with Lena,” Parker asks.

“I was until she no longer needed my help.”

“I just came up for a file, then I am going back down,” he says.

“Who was on the phone?”

Parker shifted from one foot to the other and avoided her eyes. He is hiding something from her. This isn’t good for either of them.

“No one important,” he says.

She watches him as he walks to his desk to retrieve the file that he claims he came for. “We need to talk, Parker.”

“Later, I am...”

“Busy? Too tired from work? How much longer are you going to keep feeding me those lines when I ask about Killian?” She asks.

Rayne stands from her chair then walks over to close the office door. She feels her anger simmering as she turns to face him after closing the door. She is done with the distance between them and his unwillingness to talk.

“We have this conversation now or you find somewhere else to sleep tonight.” She says.

“What the hell do you want me to say?” Parker yells when she faces him again.

“Fist, lose the attitude. Second, I am just as scared as you are. I want to know what you plan to do about Killian.”

Parker laughs as she moves closer to him. “You think I am scared? Is that why you have been an enormous ball of worry for the last few days? Stop fucking worrying about me!!!”

Rayne stops in her tracks as he yells at her. This is a side of Parker that she has never seen before. Under the circumstances, she can understand his anger. However, she isn’t ok with him taking it out on her. Before she could respond to him, someone knocks on the door.

“I will be down in a minute with that file!” Parker yells.

The door opens and Owen peeks his head in. “There seems to be a man in here who has lost his damn mind.”

“Great, did she call you here to harass me too?”

“No,” Owen lied smoothly. “I am here to talk to you about what we are going to do. I need to give you a deeper history on Killian.”

“For fuck’s sake. Look, I just want to get back to work. All I want to do is go back to my goddamn life. Maybe I would just be better off if I went back to my nomadic ways. No one to tie me down.”

Rayne felt that he truly meant that, too. Just as quickly as she got those emotions from him, he shut the link between them. Then he turned his back on them both before sitting down in his chair. He lifted his hand to signal for Owen to speak while ignoring her.

Owen looks at her in confusion before he walks to the sofa. “Killian is a major mob boss in the supernatural underworld. He has his fingers in many pies. Killian sells guns to the Irish, Russian, and Italian Mafias. Unbeknownst to any of them. He has factories where he makes drugs to sell to the humans and another one where he makes versions of those same drugs with ingredients that effect supernaturals. Wolfsbane, Vervain, and even silver dust are mixed in with his drugs. Between the guns and drugs, he has a lock down on those trades. Then there are the brothels. He has five total with one of those catering only to the supernatural.”

“How do we take him out? That is the only way to end this. So, how do we do that so we can all be free?” Parker asks.

“Many have tried over the years I worked for him, none succeeded.”

“What exactly did you do for him?” Rayne asks. She walks to her desk, then sits in the chair behind it.

Parker shoots her an annoyed look, then goes back to staring at Owen. Owen looks over at her, then lowers his head. He looks like he is trying to gather his thoughts.

“I was his enforcer. I did all the things he told me to do. From collecting money to killing those who he deemed needed killing. I never asked questions. He had my loyalty and he never second guessed it. At least until I brought Frank into the mix.”

“So much comes back to that little shit.” Parker growls at the mention of Frank.

Rayne says nothing about Frank and just waits for Owen to continue. The more that he shares with them, the better picture they will have of how to fight Killian. The sick feeling in her stomach worsens as she listens to what Owen has to say.

The feeling of dread is hard to shake as she watches Parker’s face. He has pulled back, shut her out, and gone deep into his anger. Anger she can understand. He just found Owen after all those years apart. Now he may lose him.

Knowing how he is, she knows he will fight with everything he has to prevent that from happening.

Even if it costs him his life.

Unable to listen further, she stands up from her chair. Parker makes no move to acknowledge. He continues to listen to Owen. Owen, on the other hand, stops talking when she stands up.

“Everything ok, Rayne?” Concern fills his voice as he notices her hand over her stomach.

“She is fine. Continue with what you were saying.” Parker dismisses his brother’s concern for Rayne.

Without a word to either of them, she leaves the room before the tears threaten to spill over. Between the hormones, the situation that they are in, and Parker’s behavior, she has had enough. Is a little peace too much to ask for?

Instead of going back to the main area of the bar, Rayne grabs her keys, then heads out the back door. She walks past the jeep, out of the parking lot, then keeps walking. When she reaches the street, she keeps walking, heading toward an all-night diner down the street.

However, when she reaches the diner, she changes her mind and keeps walking. Nyla is at the beach house with the baby, so going home isn’t a good idea right now. Finding somewhere to be where no one knows who she is sounds like the perfect plan.

Anything to get her mind off the situation and her moody mate.

Soon Rayne finds herself sitting down at the docks. The hard wood underneath her, the sounds of water lapping against boats, and her feet dangling in the water, help to relax her mind. She looks up at the stars as she thinks about what to say to Parker when he finally pulls his head out of his ass.

After sitting on the docks for a good thirty minutes alone, someone joins her. The scent told her it was one of their more recent regulars at the bar. Nial, an old shifter from the coast of Scottland. All the interactions she had with him were positive. He was a kind old man.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Nial said anything. He said one short phrase that had her frowning at him. What would he need to be sorry for? Why would he feel the need to say that now?

She is so lost in her thoughts that she doesn’t hear or smell the man who sits down beside her. The sharp pain in her side makes her look over at him. The man’s face is familiar, but for some reason, she is having trouble placing him. He isn’t making her feel threatened at all.

“Good girl, just let the drug take effect. I will do everything else.” His voice is smooth with a thick Irish accent.

Where did she know his face from?

“This will all be over soon. Just let the drug take hold and you will be just fine.”

Nial! Is this what he was apologizing for?

“Who... are...” Her mind became fuzzy as whatever he injected her with began to do its job.

“Who am I? That is a very simple question. One that I will answer in due time. For now, my dear girl, you will come with me.”

Rayne frowns at this and tries to move away from him. Her body doesn’t move when she tries. Her arms and legs feel like something weighs them down. A gasp leaves her lips as her vision darkens. Before she fell into the water, the man catches her.

He scoops her up into his arms like he would his bride. “There you go, just relax. If your mate and his brother want you back, they will do as I tell them.”

Then darkness consumes her as his laughter echoes in her ears.

Killian....

(**Parker’s POV**)

Frustration sings along his every nerve as he listens to Owen tell him all the rough details of his work. Underworld Mob Enforcer. His older brother was a killer for one of the meanest, deadliest, single-minded mob leaders in the supernatural underworld.

What happened to Owen that made him turn to someone like Killian?

Owen seemed to see that Parker was struggling with what he was telling him. He pauses his story to leave the room. He comes back a few minutes later with a bottle of their special alcohol and two tumblers.

“I think this family share time needs drinks.”

“I second that idea.”

Owen pours them both drinks, hands Parker his, then sits back on the sofa. “Do you want to explain what you are being an ass to your mate?”

Parker sighs as the guilt of how he treated Rayne hits him. He knew he was hurting her by refusing to talk about the Killian situation. He also knew he hurt her deeply when he said that he would be better off alone.

It was something that he thought of in the heat of the moment. At the time he thought of it, he really felt it would be best for everyone. Now that his anger has settled down, he realizes that the idea of going nomad again was selfish. No one would be better off.

If he left, it would break her heart.

“I was and still am frustrated with this situation. We have enough on our plate to deal with already. The Collectors, Vicktor Treadstone, the attack on his compound in France, and now Killian. Did you know he would come after you when you moved to California?”

“No. I mean, I always had a suspicion that he wouldn’t let me quit so simply. He let me buy my way out and educate my replacement. I figured he was ready to move on like I was. I am just so sorry that I was misguided.”

“Whatever we decide to do to take him down, we do it together. Do you hear me? No going rogue on me to deal with Killian on your own.”

“Parks, he is my problem, let me handle it.”

“Fuck that shit, Owen! You are my brother and I only just got you back. I will do anything to help you get free of him.”

Letting out a sigh, Owen nodded his head. “Well, it is a good thing I am not alone anymore then, huh?”

“What do you think we should do?”

“Killian is sneaky, so he will most likely come at us when we least expect it. He proved that already by threatening Granger to shoot you. Right now, however, I think it is a good idea to call in all the muscle and back up you have. Then I highly suggest you speak to your mate.”

“I was an asshole to her today.”

Owen nods his head. “Yes, you were. Why did you take your frustration out on her like that?”

“I couldn’t seem to help myself or stop even after I knew I hurt her.”

“Then you have some making up to do, Little Sparrow.” Owen stands up and walks to the door. “I am going to go to your house and spend time with my family. When you get home later, we can all talk about the game plan. Or come up with one.”

After Owen closes the office door behind him, Parker opens the links between him and Rayne. He hesitates for a moment before reaching out to her. What is there to say? What can he say to have her forgive him?

Nothing, because he doesn’t deserve her forgiveness.

*Rayne, where are you? We need to talk.*

While he waited for her response, he grabs the file off his desk and heads back downstairs. He hands the file over to Edmund, who was at the bar, then heads to his corner table. After five minutes of waiting, he tries to contact Rayne again.

*Rayne? You left the bar; did you go home?*

No response.

Fear spiked in his gut when she continues to not respond to him.

*Look, I know I was being an asshole. I didn’t really mean it. Please meet me at home so we can talk about how far in the doghouse I am.*

Parker grabbed his coffee cup so he could take it into the kitchen. After placing it in the sink and bidding Malcolm a goodnight, he heads out back to his motorcycle. As he exits the building, he bumps into someone, practically knocking the other person down.

Nial, that is the old shifter’s name. “Are you ok?”

Nial’s eyes go round as he looks up at Parker. He opens and closes his mouth like a fish fighting for air. Then he stammers an apology before running away. After Nial ran off, Parker heads to his bike but stops when he notices the jeep was still in the parking lot.

Why is the jeep still here, but Rayne isn’t? Did she go for a walk? Why would she go walking in this area this late at night?

That was when Nial’s words came back to him.

“I am sorry, he made me do it.”

**Author's Note**
I am sure some have questions about the spell that Arabella cast that prevents harm from coming to all those who were affected by it. Why were some people able to get past the spell. I answered that a few chapters ago, but I will do it again. There is a flaw in the spell. This flaw is what allowed two people to slip through and cause harm. I will address this again in another chapter.

Also, I would like to reach out to all my readers with a big heart felt thank you. Thank you all for your patience while I recover. I am unsure when I will be back to 100% but I am trying to stay positive.