Jonny's Redemption (Gemini Group Book 7) by Riley Edwards (audio ebook reader TXT) 📕

to agree or disagree before he continued. “And we already cleared out the downstairs office we were using for storage. It’s hella small but it has a window. I expect your ass behind that desk. Jameson already put together a file he needs you to go over. You can do that after the brief.”

“If that’s your way of convincing me to take the job, friend, I have to tell you you’re doing a shit job.”

“Right. Then the alternate scenario is you buy-in. You don’t want me to be your boss, then you become a partner. Already talked to Weston, Jameson, Alec, Chasin, and Holden—they’re all on board. They want you in however that comes to be. Same buy-in we offered Alec when he joined. I’ll have McKenna print out the documents. Look them over. If you’re interested, we’ll walk across the street to Sagle’s office, he can charge us five hundred dollars an hour to draw up a new operating agreement, and you’ll be the proud owner of Gemini Group. Or you’ll be one-sevenths owner as it were.”

Part owner in Gemini Group.

Fuck, he wanted that.

He could do the job he was born to do and not be bogged down with red tape. No more Cassie Hampton calling in only to go back to her abusive husband and get the shit kicked out of her only to start the fucked-up merry-go-round all over again. No more having to beg and plead with the State’s Attorney to do his job and prosecute the criminals Jonny arrested. He could follow the leads and trust his gut. He could have a team of men at his back. No, not a team—friends. Men he trusted. And then there was McKenna, Nixon’s wife. The woman was brilliant with a computer, most of which Jonny had had to turn a blind eye to when he was a cop. The work McKenna did wasn’t legal but no one could argue with the outcome. At the end of the day, she’d saved lives because of her skills.

So Jonny made another decision—this one far easier than the one he’d have to carry out when he got to his mother’s house.

“Call Sagle. Tell him to get started on the operating agreement.”

“Good choice.” Nix smiled.

“I appreciate—”

“Don’t say it, Jonny. Don’t tell me you appreciate it when we both know it’s not needed.”

“It is needed. And I’m not just talking about the job. I appreciate you always having my back even when I didn’t have yours.”

“The way I see it, Jonny, you’ve always had my back. When we were growing up and when all that shit went down with my wife, you also had hers. I’d say I owe you for that, but you’d twist it up into some bullshit about me wanting you at Gemini Group as some sort of repayment instead of you acknowledging you were a damn good cop. But more than that, you’re smart and your instincts are spot-on. I think you’ll find without all those pesky laws holding you back you’ll actually get to do what you’ve always wanted. Protection, stripped down to the purest sense of the word.”

It was safe to say Nixon Swagger knew Jonny.

“I’ll be in at eight.”

“I’ll have keys ready for you. Now get back to your woman. And if you need help with your mom call me.”

Another punch to the gut. That simple; call if he needed help.

Jonny stood in the reception area and looked around, letting Nixon’s offer wash over him. He was going to need help, there was no doubt about it. And when the time came, he’d call Nixon.

“Will do.”

“One more thing, Jonny. When you’re ready, I hope you tell me that long, fucked-up story. Not because I need you to give it, but because, brother, you’ve been living under a cloud since you were ten years old and it’s way past time you get that shit off your chest. It was time when Doug was fucking up in high school and bore the brunt of that. It was time when he fucked over his wife and kids. I think sometimes you fail to remember he did those things, not you. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know but Doug was an asshole. He was one when we were kids and he grew into an even bigger one.”

It was on the tip of Jonny’s tongue to defend his brother. Years of conditioning to make excuses, to lie and brush it under the rug. A hard habit to break but one Jonny was determined to free himself from.

“He was more of a motherfucker than you can imagine. A story I should’ve told you a long time ago. A story that Macy and Alec need to hear. It's time to come clean about everything.”

Nixon nodded but said no more.

Jonny walked out of the office, jogged down the stairs, and made it to his truck. All the while hatred suffused his body. Calvin and Doug were still fucking Jonny from the grave.

12

Jonny was going to freak.

It was a good thing he’d taken off to cool down because if he’d been the one to walk into the mess that was his mother’s house he would’ve lost his ever-loving mind.

The drive back to Mrs. Spencer’s was awkward at best. The woman looked older than she had the last time I saw her but her demeanor was childlike. She looked properly chastised and was silent after Vaughn had explained that I was there to pick her up. She hadn’t asked where Jonny had gone even though I knew she saw him at the station. When we’d arrived at the house, she’d sheepishly argued I didn’t need to wait with her for Jonny’s return. However, albeit reluctantly, she’d let me in.

And that was when I saw it.

The real reason she didn’t want me in her house. I was a virtual stranger so I understood her not wanting me to see the state of her house. But, seriously, the woman should’ve been more concerned with