1 Chapter One: Loving Vincent

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Vince snarled.

He stood slowly from behind his desk and shot Jared the type of glare he reserved for people that knew they truly screwed up. Usually the life expectancy that followed was extremely short. Of course, he wasn’t going to off his business partner and best friend just because his plan wasn’t going smoothly, but he was going to make the other man deeply uncomfortable for a few minutes.

Cracking his tattooed, scarred hands he placed his knuckles on the top of his desk, which was littered with papers, and growled, "How exactly did things not go according to your plan? You told me to trust you with this. That you would make sure Enrico would get the information he needed to make the hit. Now you’re telling me it won’t go down as planned? Am I getting this right?"

Jared nodded his big, shaggy head and looked grim. "That about sums it up. There were unforeseen circumstances."

Vince breathed in through his nose, trying to call up some patience, a quality he wasn’t known for. "Tell me."

"The girl refuses to cooperate."

He frowned, trying to recall a girl. He hadn’t actually been briefed on many of the details. It hadn’t been necessary. That’s what he had people for. He just needed the hit done, so the fucker that cut off one of Vince’s suppliers was taken out and used as a message for anyone else that thought prison was a safe haven from his wrath.

"What girl?" he asked impatiently.

"The health nurse that oversees Enrico's insulin shots," Jared explained. "We’re using her to get a message to him. Enrico’s gang-affiliated, same as the rest of us. The prison locks them down tighter than a nun’s ass. No visitors, no calls. She's the only one he sees regularly."

Vince nodded absently. He knew how the prison dealt with gang; he'd had the displeasure of experiencing their local penal system himself. It’d been a risky move putting any of them back in the pen for that reason. It had been Enrico’s idea to go in because he had a minor outstanding warrant, meaning he wouldn't be in the prison long. And Enrico’s need for health care gave Vince a way to send messages. Except apparently their nurse wasn’t bribable.

"How much did you offer her?" Vince asked. Fuck, anyone could be bought. Jared hadn’t gone high enough.

"I ended around five hundred large, just because she was pissing me off."

"Jesus fuck," Vince exploded. "Half a million! Who the fuck does this bitch think she is? A trust fund baby?"

Jared smiled grimly. "That’s just it, she lives like a damn beggar in a shack in the old army barracks on the edge of town. Place should be condemned."

"I assume you went to plan B when bribery didn’t work?"

Jared didn’t say anything, refusing to make eye contact. Vince swore the giant enforcer would’ve rubbed the toe of his booted foot on the carpet if he thought he could get away with it. What the fuck?

"You didn’t force her compliance? Rough her up a little?" Vince assumed.

"Not exactly."

Vince rubbed a hand over his face, flexing his tattooed fingers over his eyes. "Why exactly am I paying you?"

"I couldn’t do it, man. As soon I threatened her, she begged me not to hurt her. She said she has a little girl. You know how I feel about kids!"

It was almost laughable that Jared, who was the size of a bear, could be brought to his knees by small children and mothers. Both men were ex-bikers. After decimating their own club for betraying them by setting them up after a drug pick up went wrong, they'd moved onto greener pastures and created their own opportunities. They both still looked the part with large, ruthless physiques, tattoos and take-no-prisoner attitudes. Most of the guys on Vince’s payroll fell into a similar category. Except for the Accountant. That guy was beyond fucked up.

"Okay, fine. Where's the kid? Just threaten the little urchin. You don’t have to mean it, just shake mom up a little, get her compliance. I don’t care what you do, just do your fucking job."

"Apparently Lola’s dad has custody. Jenna lost the custody battle because he has shit tons of money and lied about her mental health in court. He even made it so she only gets supervised visits so she has to see him four times a month, the fucker," Jared growled popping his knuckles.

Vince raised his eyebrows. "Did you have a nice cozy tea and chat with our little nurse who you’re supposed to be turning into an informant? Jesus man. So why didn’t you mess her up after you found out the kid wasn’t around?"

Jared stared at him in disgust, like he had no heart, which was probably true. "She’s still a mom," he said, like that explained everything.

Vince slammed his fist on the desk. "I own this fucking city and one little nurse thinks she can fuck up my plan? If we don’t get Enrico the time and place for the hit we’re going to miss our opportunity to send the fucking Ghosts a message," Vince said, an unholy light gleaming in his eyes. "I assume you have a file on her, with her complete schedule?"

Jared handed it over without another word. There would be no arguing with Vince, even if Jared liked the health nurse. There's no way she'd be getting her daughter back now, she was about to become collateral damage in a war she didn't even know about.

Vince flipped the file open and stopped cold, dark eyes on the contents. He picked up the picture in his long fingers and held it up taking in her sweet, pretty features and shoulder length red hair. Lifting his other hand he pointed at her, marking her with a finger tattooed with the word ‘hell’.