The Perfect Stroke (Lucas Brothers #1)(114)

“Ana.”

He gets this weird look on his face, but he nods his head in agreement. Finally.





It’s been a f*cking day. I wish I had just stayed in bed with Ana. I left her brother and it’s official. I can’t stand the motherf*cker. That’s the only conclusion I’ve come to. His constant disrespect of Ana tests my limits continually. I get the feeling he’s holding something back from me, something he’s enjoying keeping a secret. I have no idea what it is. I wanted insight into Ana. I thought I’d be able to get more personal information from her brother than what my men would have found. I just can’t figure out exactly what cards Allen is holding—or thinks he is. Something about that man sets every alarm bell I have off. I’m going to have Bruno dig deeper into Ana’s background. If she’s hiding something, I need to know what it is.

The day got worse after dealing with him and I wouldn’t have thought that was possible. I traveled to the Ocean View Nursing Facility to visit Reese’s mom. I lost two good men thanks to that f*cking stunt pulled by Paul Banks. That f*cker is a thorn in my side and I’ve been putting off dealing with him. He’s a cop, but as crooked as the day is long. I should know; he used to be on my payroll. The thing is, most of the men I have on my payroll I can trust. There’s honor involved, honor among thieves if you must. Paul Banks has no f*cking honor. He didn’t feel he was getting a big enough cut and the motherf*cker mishandled a deal I was involved in, so I cut him loose. Problem is, Paul didn’t take to being fired and left out of the payoff. I could give two shits about it, except now he’s morphed into super-cop, determined to bring me down. I would have already killed the motherf*cker, but I was trying not to draw attention to myself while brokering a deal with Kuzma, but my patience is near an end. Telling a wife her husband wouldn’t be coming home yesterday was bad. Today, telling Reese’s mom that her son is dead was worse. He’s all she had. I’m taking over all of her bills and she’ll never have to worry about anything for the rest of her life, but that means shit when it comes to never seeing her son again.

I’m walking down the hall to go outside when I hear a woman screaming. At first I tune it out. Hell, if I was in this place and unable to get out, I’d probably be screaming too. I walk by the door of the room in question. Hearing some woman call another person every vile name they can think of, and all I can think is, I need out of this place.

That’s when I hear her. Ana.

“Mom, I told you I can’t get you out of here. I have to work fulltime. There’s no way I can take care of you.”

“Bullshit. It’s your fault I’m in here! Get me the f*ck out of here! I’ll go live with your brother, Allen.”

“That’d be great mom, except no one can find the *,” Ana says with a huff.

“I don’t give a f*ck what you have to do, Ana Louise Stevens, you get me the f*ck out of here. You owe me that much.”

“Mom, I can’t,” Ana argues. The distress in her voice is so thick, I find myself walking into the room before I can even think about it. Ana has her back to me. She’s talking to an older woman across from her who sits at one of those table-on-wheels. “You’re fine here,” Ana continues, walking around the table to her. She begins putting an afghan around the woman’s obviously useless legs. “They take good care of you. With my job, there’s no way I can…”

I see it happening, but there’s just no way I can stop it. The woman screams loudly and slaps Ana hard across the side of the face. The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoes in the room followed by Ana’s pain-filled gasp. I don’t think. I take the few steps that are necessary to get in front of Ana and look at the shrew in question. Her hand is half raised to strike Ana again. I grab it by the wrist.

“Lady, if you lay so much as one more finger on Ana, it will be the last thing you do,” I warn her coldly.

“Who the f*ck are you?” the bitch barks at me, trying to yank her hand away. Not happening.

“Roman!” Ana gasps. I lift my eyes to her and the angry telltale hand mark has already bloomed on her face.

“Ana, go to my car.”

“Roman, that’s my mother, I can deal with her.”

“I said go to the f*cking car, Ana.”

“Jesus, is this the man you’re f*cking?” the woman growls.

“Mom,” Ana starts.

“Now, pet.”

“Yes, now, Ana,” her mother mimics, and I’m starting to see where Ana’s brother gets his charm. Thank f*ck my woman seems to have skipped that particular family trait. “Has he taught you to fetch too?”

That’s it. No more. “Ana, Robert is waiting by the limo. Go and get in it now,” I growl and the command in my voice is one I’ve not really used with Ana before, and perhaps that’s been wrong. She looks at me, her eyes round. The anger and coldness in my voice isn’t directed at her, but there’s no way for her to know that. Truthfully, I am upset with her and she will know that later, but I want to shut her bitch of a mother down first, then I’ll deal with Ana.

“Limo? Well, la-de-dah. No wonder she’s f*cking you. All that money and you are leaving me in this hellhole? You f*cking cunt,” her mother hisses the vile words. Ana’s body physically jerks from the verbal blow. Then I see this steel mask lock into place. She doesn’t even look like the woman I know.