heavy look. “He’s buying his life off every month at a time since he got jailed up in that hellhole. He owes every major gang an x amount of money. Your money barely grazes the surface.”
Jem’s face fell. He crossed his arms, looking defensive again, but also troubled. “How was I supposed to know that? Dom’s blocked us all out, the way you’ve done. How’s he…how’s he surviving then?”
“He inks mostly.”
That was the best response to give to Jem for the time-being. He wasn’t going to get any more specific than that. Judging by Jem’s stillness, he was aware there was more to it, but he didn’t want to prod. Jem lived with far too many regrets, and this one was probably at the height of them all.
Aside from Addison, that is.
Although, now that Thames really watched Jem fidget, he wondered just how much weighed on him.
“I’m just asking you not to discard him the way you’ve always discarded Locke,” he then said, unable to hold back.
Jem’s eyes dimmed. “Now we both know Locke is entirely another thing.”
Thames frowned. “Do you ever miss it, Jem?”
“What?”
“The togetherness. The way us four boys used to be.”
Jem wouldn’t meet his eye now. “I miss it,” he admitted. “But we were kids, Thames. We were destined to go our own way, no matter how hard we tried to keep it together.”
“When Dom is out, I think he’ll need to remember what it means to have brothers again.” Adding tightly, “And I think Locke needs to be part of that, too.”
Jem offered no response now.
They sat in tense silence for some time, the weight of the past heavy on their shoulders.
Gathering his thoughts, Thames finally stood up on a sharp exhale. He went to the door, and, just before leaving, glanced back at Jem. “Don’t tell her I’m coming.”
Jem didn’t look happy. “You expect me to keep quiet?”
Thames nodded. “For me, yeah. Please, Jem.”
On a heavy sigh, he conceded with a forced nod. Thames hurried out of the room, out of the bar, away from the music and the loud noise. He sat in his car and removed the paper from his pocket. Splaying it out on the dashboard, he read both addresses, frowning slightly at the latter one.
Why was Charlotte in downtown Blackwater at night?
Chapter Three
Thames
He came to a stop outside a non-descript dark-bricked building. There was no name on the front. No lights to suggest it was open. It was too dark to see anything more than bodies occasionally leaving or entering the establishment.
He remained in the car for a good thirty minutes, watching carefully, studying every person that left or entered. The door would open at the side of the building and a giant bouncer would appear. There would be an exchange of words before something was produced from the person for the bouncer to look at. Then he would be let in.
Thames noted several things. One, they were all men coming and going. Two, they drove expensive cars, parked discreetly half a block from the establishment, and would come walking up dressed in expensive clothing. Three, they had a card of entry. Thames couldn’t freely go in there unless he bulldozed his way past the bouncer, and that just screamed trouble.
No. More. Trouble.
Thames let out a frustrated sigh. Jem would have known Thames couldn’t gain entry. Asshole set him up to just wait around outside, or maybe he was testing his oath. Whatever it was, Thames wasn’t happy. He found himself nervously bouncing his knee up and down, stifling an angry growl every time he watched these men come and go, wondering… wondering many things.
This place was hidden for a reason. It wasn’t illegal or anything. It was just not obvious to the public. He guessed it was a strip club.
Was Charlotte stripping right that very moment? Baring her body to these finely dressed men? The thought tasted sour. Thames was certainly being tested.
“Violence doesn’t solve shit,” Dominic said, looking across the laundry table at Thames. “You choose your actions, man. When you get out, don’t fuck it up again.”
But Thames had left the car, pushing Dom’s words to the back of his mind. He wasn’t going to start trouble, but he couldn’t wait around in that fucking car and not do something. Charlotte was in there and he was out here. And god-fucking-dammit, she wasn’t his, she might have been someone else’s, and maybe this was all for nothing, but he couldn’t sit in the dark and not know for