Moving Forward

Nursing a Grudge

Gabriel's POV

Who the fuck do they think they are? Mr. Blackbourne would never lie to us. He was right; they were trying to break up the team. Well, I wasn't going to let them. Luke and Victor would haul their asses back to Charleston once Mr. B talked to them. I wasn't stupid, I knew she was controlling them by their dicks. They slept in her wing, not with us. Idiots, how could they forget what Mr. B and Doc told us? Girls just want to get their claws into us, they get pregnant and we are stuck supporting them for life. They should have been snipped like the rest of us, especially Victor. If he knocks her up, she will have a noose around his neck until she goes through all his money. To get out of getting the vasectomy, Vic had used the excuse that as the Morgan heir, he was expected to have children one day. Doc had explained to him that it could be reversed, but Vic wouldn't hear of it. He had recited studies that were on how very few reversed vasectomies were successful and he refused to chance it. Luke and North had also refused. Luke claimed Uncle would kick him into next week if Luke had done something so foolish and North declared there was no way in hell he let any male touch him down there. Ignoramuses, all they had to do is look at Sven Ericson, a father at fourteen. If Sven had been smart, he would have let his daughter stay missing. Look at all he had given up for her. Shit, he had been the top Street Fighter in all of the U.S. from age sixteen to age twenty-two; he could still have been the champion if he hadn't quit to be with his daughter. What a fool, think of the money and women he missed because of that girl.

Mr. B should know about the girl's history, she was bad news. Maybe he could use it in some way to get rid of her, get the Lead Team off our backs. I knew my brothers would agree with me, I wanted our team back to normal. Now, what was the name again? Sarah? Sandy? No, that wasn't it. Something to do with music; Sing, Song, wait, it was Sang. As in, I Sang a song. I remember hearing Kota mumbling it to himself as he did the search on his phone. I grinned as I reached for my phone, ha, it should still be in my search history. All I had to do was message it to Mr. B and he would know the best way to use it. I added a quick note and included the link to the story stating both of her names, hitting send before putting my phone back on the nightstand. Victory would be mine; the Ericsons would regret messing with the Blackbourne team. None other than Gabriel Fucking Joseph Coleman, the one they tried to steal his best friend from, would hand their defeat personally to them.

Victor and Luke would both owe me after this. I was going to make Victor take me to Hollywood, I deserved an all expense paid shopping marathon in the shops there and I wasn't talking about the malls. By the time I was done, even the Movie Stars would be in awe of my skill with clothing. They would be begging me to be their personal dressers. As for Luke, he would be my personal chef for the next year.

I was smarter than the team gave me credit for; I have been watching Mr. B for years, learning how things work. Give me a couple years and I would be second in command, Doc was busy at the hospital and would be happy that I was willing to take the extra work off his hands. It wasn't as if he had done on many jobs since he decided to become a doctor, we have been covering for him more than not. If it had been anyone other than Mr. B's lover, we would have removed us from the team quicker than we could blink. Ha, they thought no one knew, but I had my ways.

James' POV

"Uncle was correct," Victor informed Sven and Colt. "Ten minutes after he arrived home he sent a text to Owen. He gave both names Raschel used and added a link to the news story that highlights your career as a fighter and the abuse she suffered."

"Why would he send it to Owen Blackbourne?" Sven was frowning.

"Blackbourne has a sticky beak, feels it his right to pry into everybody's business." Colt revealed. "While being closed mouth about himself."

"Why would he be interested in mine and Chel's past? It is ancient history and public knowledge," Sven was confused.

"He will go through it with a fine-tooth comb to get every scrap he can to use against you." Victor muttered.

"Victor?"I studied my grandson sternly.

"When father used to pressure me to do a concert or record an album, Owen would find some dirt on him to convince him  to leave me alone." Victor admitted, shamefaced.

"Victor that is blackmail and illegal, yet, you are standing here and telling me that you let your so called friend blackmail your own father; the same father who was supporting that ass through you. Is that what the man has taught you and your friends, to blackmail people and break the law because you don't like something?"

"You don't understand what it was like," Victor cried. "He was always yelling at me, I never did anything good enough for him. It was always more, more, more; I would have never had any friends if it had been up to him."

"That doesn't excuse you for breaking the law." I couldn't prevent the hurt I was feeling from filling my voice. "I told you that you could come to me with anything and I would help you, did you not believe me?"

"You were always gone, rarely home anymore."

"I was only a phone call away; I would have dropped everything and rushed to your side if you said you needed me. You are my grandson; you and your mother are the most important people in the world to me."

Victor threw himself into my arms and sobbed. "I'm sorry; I should have listened to you."

"It is going to be okay lad; we won't let your former teammate hurt our girl." I patted him on his back as I hugged him. "Now run and clean your face, then join your friends, I'm sure they are wondering where you are."

"Chel and I are supposed to be helping Luke practice for his cooking test; we will be eating soup for a week." Victor tossed over his shoulder as he left Sven's office.

I shut and locked the door once he was gone, and then joined my companions at the large carved desk. "I've never liked that Blackbourne fellow, to pompous and prim for my tastes. He is always wearing five hundred dollar suits that Victor paid for. Acting the Lord of the manor and reminds me of a viper. Cold and biding his time, strikes when you least expect it."

"He can't do anything to hurt me, but Chel is a different story." Sven scowled. "People aren't always nice to victims and she has had people demand to know what she did to deserve the beatings. One man had the nerve to ask her if the dad raped her and that was why the mother beat her, as if she was at fault for being kidnapped in the first place."

"Kitten was seven at the time; she hadn't understood what he was asking her." Colt's tone was filled with disgust. "The man was a pervert; he was writing a book on how little girls seduced men. He wanted to devote an entire chapter to her. He kept staring at her with a salacious smile and we all wanted to kill him. Bjorn wouldn't let us."

"Hopefully he has been arrested by now and won't reappear." I didn't like this one bit. If Blackbourne thought to play games, he would soon regret it. Sven was no George, the smarmy kid would be lucky to be alive when Sven finished with him if he did anything to hurt Raschel. There was the chance though that he would be smart enough not to try anything.

"Have Akers form a team to investigate Blackbourne," Sven ordered. "Tell him to use as many of the free range as he needs. I want to know everything about Owen Blackbourne, from the time he was conceived to the last time he took a dump. If he wants to go after Chel, I will be waiting for him." I meant every word; my daughter has suffered enough because of other people. I fought to have the Sorensons sent to prison and had been keeping them there; I would do the same to anyone else who thought they could attack her in any way.

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I'm sorry about the mess.  I made the mistake of leaving my computer with the kittens.  As you can see, they had fun in my absent.  One loves the keyboard and the other has fun batting the mouse around.  Once I figure out what they did to  Microsoft Word, I will fix it.  I know it has to do with formatting, but that is the extent of my knowledge.  If there is an expert out there who has an idea how to fix it, I would be grateful for any help given.