City Of Need

40 ❤️‍🔥 Clan

Roxy

I knew when I saw that tartan flag what it meant. We are in lockdown. No new people. No comms. No Wi-Fi.

The front door closes behind me. The foyer is empty. A typical power play. I fish my phone out of my bag just to check. No signal.

I could go searching for my brothers and father, but there would be no point.

Making my way to my room I scan the hallways knowing the cameras on the ceiling are tracking my every move. I keep my eyes front and when I get to my room, drop onto one of the chairs and put my head in my hands.

What are my options? There are none, except wait till I'm called to my father's office to receive instructions or a dressing down. Probably the latter.

I pray that London behaves on the ride back to the airport. If I'd have seen that coming I'd have warned him. I should have seen it coming. I should have warned him. But he'll be ok. He's not an idiot. You don't get to call yourself a brat tamer without knowing how to control yourself. The boys will see him all the way through the airport and make sure he gets on the plane. I've seen them do it before with my ex bodyguard turned ex-boyfriend. It's not a difficult choice – be unalived or relocated.

"Roxy," my brother Brody calls from the other side of the door. He's my favorite and the youngest, it's a good sign that they've sent him. "You decent?"

"As I'll ever be," I yell back

His grin appears around the side of the door. "Hey Rox."

"Hey Brody," I grin back despite myself. Brody is my enemy, but also he's my brother and he's funny and cute. I mean less cute when he's got his gun in his hand. I've never actually seen him use it, but I've heard the gossip.

"How are you doing?" He says in a strong Scottish accent.

I pout. "Not that great really. Seeing your boyfriend carted away. Is not the best start to a family reunion."

He rolls his eyes and says, "They'll just shake him up a bit on the way to the airport. If pretty boy goes missing after disembarking in Edinburgh, it'll just stir up more trouble. And you've already caused enough of that."

"Yeah, I know. Is your father mad?"

"Mad!" He snorts. "He destroyed his office when he heard you'd comprised us. The Glasgow mafia could hear him shouting."

"Shit. That bad?"

"Yeah, that bad."

"So what's the plan for me and Lilah?"

"She needs to get her ass back up here, pronto. She should've come with you. Dad's putting you both on a job to redeem yourselves."

"What kind of job? Drugs?"

"Is there any other kind?"

"Yeah, protection."

"Freya deals with that and she's got her crew. We don't get that involved."

"Sounds like my mom."

"He's gonna use you and Lilah as a distraction while we go in the back door of the Macdonald Estate."

"What? Why?"

"They have information, on all of us. Recordings. We need to find out what it is and wipe it clean."

"But how?"

"There's going to be a party. Your kind of thing judging by the club you were photographed coming out of. You and Lilah will cause the distraction, get all of security up to the third floor. Me, Callum, Finn and Lachlan will get into the basement. Callum will deal with the tech. And we'll deal with anything else that comes up."

"Sounds risky. How are Me and Lilah going to distract all the security plus the party at the same time?"

"Not on my remit. Dad is going to give you the instructions. Once everyone has their roles, he'll put us all in a room together to work it out. But first you need to get Lilah up here."

"There's no way I'm getting Lilah involved. I promised her I'd keep her out of it."

The door to my room opens, and Callum walks in. with a curt, "Roxy."

"Callum, I'm not bringing Lilah here. No way."

"Yeah?" He smirks. "So your popstar boyfriend really was a casual thing, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

He hands me his phone. "It's a live feed."

I take the phone from him. There's a man tried to a chair. His nose is bloody. It's hard to make out his features as his face is mostly in shadow. Then I hear his voice. "I'm telling you if anything happens to Roxy I will kill you all and those brothers of hers and her fucking father."

"Awfully confident from a man tied to a chair don't you think, sister?" Callum says.

The blood in my veins turns to ice. Those three psychopaths have got my boyfriend and unless I do everything my family tell me to they're going to kill him. But if I call Lilah she will come here and then she'll be in danger too.

There's a smacking sound on the phone as a fist connects with London's jaw. Then a cracking sound followed by a wail.

Callum turns the phone off and smiles his psycho smile. "Let me know when you're ready to call Lilah."

He turns and leaves with Brody following him. As the door clicks shut I fall to my knees and fold into a fetal position.

London. Oh my god. What the hell have I done?