“Jesus,” Ash muttered.
“When we got back, Charles confronted Mia outside the office building when she went out to get us something to eat. He tried to blackmail her into giving him information on the bids. He knew I had no intention of doing business with him, but he figured if he bid low enough we wouldn’t have a choice. He showed her that picture and said that if she didn’t give him what he wanted that he’d go public with it.”
“Un-fucking-real,” Jace growled.
“Mia came to me instead of caving in, and I took care of the matter. Or at least I thought I had,” Gabe said wearily.
Ash’s jaw bulged. Rage smoldered through him like a wildfire.
“I’ll handle it,” Gabe said quietly. “I fucked up. I’ll make sure that son of a bitch doesn’t get his hands on Mia or Bethany and I’ll make sure he pays for what he did to Josie.”
“No,” Ash said, the word whipping through the room like a gunshot.
Gabe and Jace both looked at Ash with narrowed eyes.
“You had your chance,” Ash said in an even tone. “I’ll take care of the little bastard.”
Jace’s face flashed with alarm. “Don’t think that’s a good idea, man. Your emotions are running high. Let me and Gabe take care of this.”
“I said no,” Ash snapped. “This is mine. Gabe had his chance. He fucked up. I’m not leaving this to him.”
“Ash,” Gabe began but Ash silenced him with a look.
“If it were Mia or Bethany lying in a hospital bed, bruises, broken bones, punctured lung and God only knows what else, would you just sit back and let someone else take care of the asshole who did that to her?”
Jace’s lips twisted and then he sighed. “No. I wouldn’t. But Jesus, man. After what went down with Michael, this is too risky. You got away with the first. You won’t get away with this. Charles Willis has nothing to lose. He’s not going to sway under threats. You touch him and he’ll have your ass in a sling.”
“Who said anything about threats?” Ash asked calmly. “In my world, threats are meaningless unless you do something to back them up. I have no intention of threatening Charles Willis. But I have every intention of taking him down.”
Gabe and Jace exchanged worried looks but Ash ignored them. They’d try to talk him down but in this he would not be dissuaded.
“This won’t touch you. It damn sure won’t touch Mia, Bethany or Josie. Not ever again. You don’t have to worry. You won’t be remotely tied to this.”
“Oh fuck you,” Jace said rudely. “The hell I’m letting you take this shit on by yourself. We’ve already been over this. You never have to ask. We’ll always have your back.”
“Means a lot,” Ash said quietly. “But I’m not pulling my family down. You and the girls mean far too much to me. I’m not going down either. You can take that to the bank. No way in hell I’m leaving Josie to survive on her own. I’m going to be there for her every step of the way and she will never have to worry about some asshole with a grudge against us using her to get to us. That will not happen again.”
“What are you going to do?” Gabe asked quietly.
“You’re better off not knowing,” Ash replied.
Gabe ran a hand through his hair. “Jesus, man. This is on me.”
“You had your shot,” Ash said carefully. “Not saying you did wrong, but whatever you did was not enough. I’m going to make sure that this time it is. He didn’t beat your woman half to death, even if she was the intended mark. He fucked Josie over, and I’m going to make damn sure that never happens again.”