Bound In Secrets : A Death Kings Novel

**Sawyer**

"I'm sorry to have called you in and ruined whatever you had going with these two," Dillan says with a wink of their sparkling neon pink eye.

"D, sweetie, I love you, but I will not go to jail for fucking children. These two are minors. They are fifteen. To top it off, they're family."

"Well, they look legal," Dillan says with a wave of their well-manicured hand, sporting a set of neon marble coffin nails.

"Thank you for the compliment, gorgeous," AC purrs at them.

Dillian makes a show of themselves as if they are hot bothered by this teenage flirt. "Oooo, baby. I wanna keep you." They croon, giving the kid a wink.

Kassius watches the exchange with a smirk, and I roll my eyes at them. "The boys are here to work D, not have fun. They got into major trouble with their father and mother, so they are now going to be attending Venin Federation Academy and working for me."

"Let me just put it this way, babe. We lovingly refer to them as the Murder Twins for a reason. So, it's best to not involve yourself with the little psychopaths."

"Says the woman who likely has psychopathy," Dillan teases.

I grin at them. "No baby, I just can compartmentalize where it doesn't bother me to kill someone. I feel emotions like everyone else."

"She's a soldier, just like we are," Kassius states.

He isn't wrong either. That's how the Death Kings operate: a family of soldiers and commanders. "The difference is, I may have started as a soldier, but I'm a commander now," I remind him, so he understands I have the authority they don't possess yet.

"Look at you, D! You are looking on fleek, hooker," Carmen says and whistles at Dillan when she walks through my office door.

I yawn heavily. I had a restless night and a hectic day looking after the kids and running errands. I'm not sure that I've eaten at all today as it rumbles.

Cruz walks with a thunderous face. He is livid.

Carmen gives him an enormous hug and rubs the creases on his forehead. He lets out a sigh and his features soften at his wife's touch. I'm so jealous. I want someone who defuses me like that.

He bends down to give her a sweet, brief kiss and thanks her for the hug he needs. He then turns Carmen in his arms so that her back is leaning against the hard planes of his muscular body.

"Sorry to call you in, boss, but it's been a shit show tonight. We had to toss and ban a group of drunk frat boys for harassing the servers and bartenders. Jeremy ended up in a fistfight with several of them. He is in the restroom getting cleaned up."

"I'll go check on him," Carmen assures me and then leaves without another word.

"Three of the girls didn't show up for their shifts," he says with a sigh.

"So, we are short-staffed?" He nods at me.

I look at the Murder Twins. They can't legally serve alcohol, but they can help Jeremy by being bouncers. These boys can take down grown men three times their size without breaking a sweat.

"Kass and AC can help Jeremy. Where are the three girls, no-call no-shows?" I question. Cruz nods this bald head yes. "They are to be terminated effectively immediately," I state. "For tonight, I guess you, Carmen, and I will fill in. How bad is he?"

"Black eye and bleeding knuckles, as far as I know. He will be bruised and sore tomorrow, for sure. I couldn't get to him and help, but a guy dressed like a 1940s gangster helped him." My attention perks at this tidbit of information. "Is the guy still here?"

"Yeah. I got him set in a VIP booth with unlimited free drinks. Why?"

"Because I need to personally come to the aid of my employee," I tell him and he nods to me in understanding.

"Take the boys, get them set up with earpieces," I tell Cruz, who eyes the boys as if he thinks they won't be much help.

"Trust me, Cruz. I've seen these boys fight. They'll do well tonight as bouncers. They are minors, so can't have them serving alcohol."

"Okay. If you say so, Sawyer. I know better than to doubt you."

I give him a wink. "Damn right, you do. Now you take the boys while I go talk to a customer who will drink for free from tonight on."

"What about me?" Dillan asks. I forgot they were there.

"Just go do your job. Why are you here, anyway?" I question them.

They bit their lower lip, shifting their platform-booted feet. They are nervous, but why?

"I hate to ask this of you, but I'm going to need a few weeks off." I'm completely taken about. Dillan has never asked me for a day off, much less a few weeks. Something is wrong. "When do you need them off?" I question.

"I know we sort three people and I hate to put you in this position, but it's important," they rush out.

"I usually have to force you to take days off, so I'm just surprised. It has to be vital for you even to ask. What's going on, D?"

"I'm going to Texas to get seen by a cancer specialist," they say in a strained voice. Tears are gathering in their eyes. "I'll have to do lots of testing. I will leave next week. They wanted me to be seen as soon as possible. I didn't even know men could get breast cancer." Their voice cracks on the last word.

The damn breaks and Dillan cries. Heaven help me, I embrace them with tears falling down my face for the battle one of my best friends is going to have to go through. We take the time to fall apart before fixing each other's makeup so that we are presentable.

"Whatever you need. You got it. You know that, right? I'll even support you if you can't work," I say to comfort them.

"I know your cray-cray rainbow ass will. You're a damn unicorn with snakeskin." They say while applying powder to their face to cover up the streak marks.

I chuckle at the mental image they conjured for me. That would be an interesting creature. "Okay. Think you can go back to work?"

They give me a wink. "You know it, bitch," they say with hip cock and snap of the fingers.

"Love ya, D," I blow them a kiss and they give me a wide smile, telling me they love me back before walking out the door.

Now to hunt down Jonathan Thomas Brandt. Because who else would dress like a 1940s gangster for going out but my Capone?