Bad to Be Worthy (Bad to Be Good #2) - Andrew Grey Page 0,50

then talk to her.” Tucker hugged him, resting his head on Gerome’s shoulder. “Thanks for reacting so quickly. I don’t know what’s going on. It could be that Joshie just got scared.”

That seemed like a plausible explanation. “True,” Gerome said and looked down, realizing he was still only dressed in a robe. “I need to finish getting ready for work.” He leaned down to kiss Tucker. “I’ll see you later.”

Tucker slid his hand around the back of Gerome’s neck, drawing him into a deeper kiss that Gerome felt to his toes.

“Kissing….” Joshie giggled and raced by, still in his pj’s. Tucker and Gerome shared a smile, and Gerome returned to his apartment.

THE STORE was slow, and Gerome spent much of the day sitting behind the counter with very little to do. He tried to think about work, but Tucker kept coming to mind.

“How is it going?” Terrance asked as he charged through the front door. “Looks like someone had a really good night.” He snickered and leaned over the counter. “You have that well-fucked look.”

“Ass,” Gerome countered, but he didn’t deny it. “I saw another drop last night. Tucker and I got to the bridge, and I think I got the name of one of the boats involved, Flying Rage.” He spoke softly, even though there was no one in the store. “We have to do something.”

“Damned right we do,” Terrance said, growing serious. “I saw Winters outside the hardware store.”

Gerome tensed. “Shit….”

“Yeah. He didn’t see me and didn’t stick around, but there are guys from Detroit here on the key. What the fuck do we do? If we tell Elizabeth, we get moved.” And that was the last thing Gerome wanted right now. The three of them, along with Daniel and Coby, would just disappear, and Tucker would have no idea. “We gotta get rid of these guys without being seen.”

“Any ideas?” Gerome asked.

“Find out where Flying Rage is moored and then maybe we can check it out. If it’s is involved, then we sink the fucker. Take out their assets.” Terrance grinned. “Make them think that doing business here isn’t as easy as they thought it would be.” This sort of thing was right up Terrance’s alley.

“Okay. Do it. We can’t be seen, though, and there is no way they can know we’re here,” Gerome said. “But we gotta scare the shit out of these guys.”

Terrance grinned, his eyes shining. “Don’t you worry. I think it’s time that we take out everyone involved, just in case. Leave it to me.” He patted the counter twice and left the shop.

Gerome wondered exactly what Terrance was going to do and figured it was probably best if he didn’t know. Terrance was many things—loyal, tenacious, stubborn—and he could be ruthless as all hell.

Gerome meant to ask if Terrance needed to work, but apparently he was on a tear. He sighed and picked up the phone to tell Richard that he needed to talk with him, face-to-face, as soon as possible.

“I’ll stop by on my way to work.”

Gerome agreed and then hung up. Not that he wanted to stop Terrance. These were people who most definitely needed to get the message to get the hell away, and Terrance was damned good at what he did. Gerome only hoped that whatever Terrance had planned didn’t start a fire that none of them could possibly put out.

An hour later Richard hurried inside and checked that they were alone. “What is Terrance up to?”

“He saw some guys from Detroit. Things are getting pretty hot around here right now. Terrance is going to send them a go-away message, but I thought you had better know to be on the watch and damned careful.”

Richard growled. “What is he going to do?”

“A little asset removal. Take out what they’re using and then make sure there’s a trail back to the people we need out of the picture. The usual Terrance special.” Gerome was deadly serious.

“Is that wise?” Richard asked.

“What are we going to do, sit here and let these assholes take away what we have? You, Coby, and Daniel ripped away from what you have here? I would never see Tucker again, and we would just be gone. He would be back out on the streets, as would Joshie and Cheryl.” Fucking hell, when did they get to be the caretakers of the world? He had no idea, but Gerome had never turned his back on his family, and that now included the people they all cared about.