Mine

Tate - 14

My phone rings one after the other, nonstop. A guy can’t even shower in peace anymore these days. I’d decided not to live at the warehouse right now. It’s too risky, and now that Hiram suspects I’m doing something behind his back, it’s best I keep myself away from those girls—all of them—as much as possible.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” I groan to no one as I exit the shower, dripping and tying a towel around my waist.

“Yeah," I answer picking up the phone.

“You better get down here. Hiram’s losing it on your women."

Hiram’s goon hangs up before I can say anything else. I never bothered learning their names since he changes them out regularly. Needless to say, Hiram has a temperament issue.

I quickly dress and grab Ian as we embark on the long drive to the warehouse. Hiram’s always kept me in his line of sight, but I can’t shake the feeling that this whole move wasn’t calculated. This time, Hiram doesn’t want me anywhere near his warehouse, the girls, or him.

We rode on in silence, our driver peeved that he had to come out here again, but that’s his job and The Order doesn’t allow us to drive ourselves.

I barge into the warehouse, ready for what I might find, not ready to see her strapped to a chair, spread eagle. Her body is so perfect, but I can’t look. Can’t feel. So, I turn it off. Hiram’s kicking another one on the floor, blood seeping from her mouth.

“Is this necessary?” I spit at him, barely containing my outrage.

“You weren’t here. Don’t undermine me, Tate.” Hiram grunts, his agitation increasing again.

“Jesus Christ, Hiram.” I yell, leaning down next to bleeding blonde girl, making sure Hiram didn’t just kill her.

“I come in here and you’ve got one on the floor and another barely conscious tied to a chair. Another crying her eyes out!” I shout, gesturing around the room of broken girls.

“This didn’t need to escalate.” Ian says, attempting to ease Hiram’s wrath as I tend to the blonde.

Hiram storms out, his men following closely behind. I pick up the blonde from the floor and hand her to Ian before walking over to her. I work to release her legs, so long and smooth…focus Tate. Then moving to release her arms and chest, carefully avoiding her peeked n*****s… f**k, focus, I’ve still got to deal with Hiram.

“You,” I say glancing over at her guardian, “take her back to her room.”

Just as the man goes to move her, she vomits all over the floor. I am going to kill Hiram.

Once the girls are taken care of and gone, I take off down to hall towards Hiram’s office. His men don’t even attempt to stop me as I barge open the door, they can sense the fury radiating off me.

“What the f**k do you think you’re doing?" I bark at him.

“Unimpressed, Loren? Don’t like it? Too f*****g bad. This is what you started! This is the mess you made,” Hiram sneers.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Hiram,” I spit back at him.

He tilts back what I’m sure is not his first drink of the day and laughs as he slams the glass down.

“Let me ask you something. Why did you purchase these girls? Why didn’t you talk to me first before showing up out of the blue?”

“Threatened?” I say, raising a brow.

His hand still on the glass he slammed, his face goes through an array of emotions, landing on something between anger and despair, and he chucks the glass across the bar top where it hits the cement wall and shatters to the ground.

“This isn’t a game, Tate. Those women were promised to those men!” He shouts.

“I didn’t know that.”

“Obviously. Now, you’ve created a mess for me, for The Order, and for yourself. Get your bitches under control, or I will.”

“I’ve heard it all before, Hiram. Touch any of them like that again, and I’ll lay it back on you. I don’t know what mess you’re talking about, but handle it with me, not them.”

Hiram approaches me with a sneer tugging at his lips. Spitting at my feet he leaves without saying another word.