<h4>Chapter 145: Chapter 145 : Taking Charge</h4>


    Ba.


    The next morning when I woke up, I was in a mad rush to try and get everything done that needed to be done. I wasn’t sure how long the kids, me, and La were going to be staying over at the surprise house Neal had on the ind, but I had a feeling it was going to take a while for us to get back to normal civilization.


    Not that I was enthusiastic about that part.


    Then there was the other issue at hand—my parents.


    After the talk I had with Allegra in private about my father, I figured it was best I went ahead and filled them in on our surprise ind but left out the main reasoning behind it until they arrived. My father would kill me if I tried to tell him over the phone about everything going on.


    So I simply left it as we had a surprise home on an ind when he got back in town, and I wanted him and his wife toe and spend some time with me and the kids without Allegra and Neal being present.


    It was pretty straightforward. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?


    The sarcastess of my thoughts were clearly evident, however not spoken out loud. Thest thing I wanted to do was continue to show my displeasure in all of this. Dahlia and Alessandro were happy as could be, doing their usual thing. I continued packing their bags, exining to the children, though they didn’t understand we were going on a fun family vacation.


    Why did I actually keep telling them about this family vacation like they understood me? Well, that was simply because I needed to improve my own sanity.


    “Ba, I managed to get the rest of the kid’s stuff together in the bags you told me to put them in.” Turning to look at La over my shoulder, I saw her meek smile and her uneasiness. I had tried to talk to her multiple times and convince her it wasn’t safe for her to be present, but she refused to leave and said her ce was with me.


    “Thank you, La. I really appreciate it. You’re a tremendous help.”


    “It’s no problem,” she replied softly as she made her way over towards where Dahlia wasying in her crib. “I’ll go ahead and give Dahlia a bath now, and then I’lle back for Alessandro. That way, they’re freshly clean before we leave.”


    With a heavy sigh, I spun around to face her. “La, I don’t know how many times I told you that you don’t have to go. This isn’t really safe for you.”


    She hesitated for a moment, as if contemting what I was telling her. The smart thing for La would have been to run for the hills, but for some reason, she was so adamant in staying with me. She was loyal. I would give it to her, but it wasn’t really the smart thing for her to do.


    “I know,” she breathed out. “I want to go, though. You need my help with the kids, and even though I can’t battle an army or anything like that, I can at least be there for you for moral support.”


    “Okay, as long as you’re sure.”


    La didn’t wait a minute longer before she picked up Dahlia and quickly left the room with her. I was seriously going to have to pay this girl a heavy bonus for everything she was going through for me.


    If it wasn’t for her, none of this would have been possible. I would have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything done. She had been a trooper. She stepped up to the te. She took care of things. She did anything I asked. She did it all without question.


    Most people would have thought she had a hidden agenda. However, honestly, I think she was just lonely. From what I understood, she didn’t really have much family, and the family she did have treated her like shit. So the moment she’d begun to work for me, she’d found a home.


    I finished packing the bags, quickly zipping them, and took them out into the main living room. There were numerous people wandering around. All of whom worked for Neal, getting everything prepared we would need in order to go.


    “Hey, are those bags ready to go?” ncing up, I came face to face with Neal, who was staring down at me with so much concern in his gaze it made me uneasy.


    “Yeah,” I replied hesitantly. “Is everything okay?”


    Letting out a heavy breath he tilted his head from side to side and then shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, everything is fine. Just a lot to do to get us over there.”


    “Okay.” I chose not to pry further into what he had going on. I was over trying to figure things out, and from what La had told me, Allegra said he was focused more than usual. Which I could understand, considering the situation.


    Pausing for a moment, he let the corner of his lips turn up slightly and then bent down, picking up the bags before walking out with them. I wasn’t sure why he didn’t let one of his men do it, but I let it roll off my shoulders as I moved to finish the rest of what I had to do.


    Something deep down inside me felt off about all of this.


    A metaphorical storm was brewing, and I just hoped we would make it out unscathed.


    ******


    James.


    The moment Neal called me and let me know what exactly he was nning to do, I forbade him from doing it. I was already nning to proceed to New Zend to get Ba and the kids before he called me, and hearing what he had to say was enough to make my blood boil.


    I didn’t need him taking them to an ind. I needed him to keep them safe until I got there. But Neal, per usual, thought he was doing what was best, and that irritated me more than anything.


    Ba and the children needed to be here in Italy with me where they would be safe. Where high security and constant protection was avable. Danger wouldn’t daree to my uncle’s property—even my cousin wasn’t stupid enough to start shit here.


    The one thing about my uncle I actually respected more than anything was he had taken the initiative to highly protect his home. Before anyone could get anywhere near the actual house, barbed wire fences surrounded the property which connected to guard towers that were manned at all times.


    All of which connected to therge iron gate at the front of his very long driveway nearly half a mile long. Normal people may not have taken note of everything, but considering my cousin had disappeared and befriended people he shouldn’t, my uncle increased security on this property even more. He even hired the local police force toe in and help protect what he owned.


    Part of it reminded me of what it was like when I went down to Mexico. The cartels did very simr things. They would use the local military and the local police officers to help with patrolling things.


    But here in Italy, things were run a little differently. Thankfully, my uncle’s connections ran deep, and those were connections he was passing to me.


    I had been nothing but kind since I got here. I had been respectful, which was unusual considering I was not known to be a man who did things like that, but I was trying to give respect where it belonged. My uncle had helped me through a tough time when I’d hit rock bottom and became somebody that I didn’t even recognize any more.


    I hated that it had taken me losing everything to realize I’d let my pride be the reason why my life had beenpletely turned upside down. But now, I had found my bnce again, and my uncle had put me into a position worth having, I wasn’t going to let him down, or anybody else.


    Sitting in his meeting room with six other men that he did business with—all of various sizes, ages, and descriptions—I contemted what it would be like when I was the one who took over. When they’re cowering, eyes looking at me with the same fear they showed my uncle.


    “As I told you, James will be taking over everything from here. Do you understand?”


    They all nodded their heads in agreement before their eyes cast to me. I wasn’t exactly taking over everything for right now, but when it came to running the operation from New Zend, my uncle did themon sense thing.


    Had me lead it since it was my business.


    “Thank you, Uncle,” I replied as I let my eyes cast around the table, taking in every single man. “As my Uncle said, we have a problem in New Zend that needs taking care of. It seems the Michelson brothers have decided they’re going to move in on shit that belongs to me, and I need men who can go with me to retrieve what is mine.”


    “Can we ask what it is that we’re retrieving?” a short, fat, plump man with graying hair my uncle called Dotson asked, as if he had higher seniority than anyone else. I didn’t appreciate his smug look and the way he sped his hands over his rolling fat belly, but keeping my calm, I raised a questioning brow.


    Men like him did nothing but make me sick. Theyid on the backs of others, and when it came down to getting their hands dirty, they didn’t f*cking know how to.


    “It doesn’t matter what the f*ck we’re going to get. I need your men to do it, and you’re going to f*cking help me.”


    Dotson chuckled at myment as if it was the most amusing thing he had heard all day. It was a sign of disrespect I wasn’t going to tolerate. “Look, James. I respect your uncle, but I won’t tolerate you speaking to me like that.”


    Before my uncle could say anything, I leaned forward on the table, my eyes narrowed as I stared at him with a wicked grin upon my face. “You’ll do what the f*ck I want you to do, or I’ll serve you up to the f*cking pigs out back. They’re always looking for their next meal, and we starve them on a regr basis.”


    Myment was unexpected, and even my uncle turned his gaze to me, a little wide-eyed. As a grin grew across his face, I couldn’t help but smirk.


    I could be ruthless when I wanted to be, but I was trying to turn over a new leaf.


    A new leaf that obviously wasn’t working. If these men didn’t want to respect the nice side of me, then I had no problem with showing them what kind of man I could be. A man who would destroy everything until I had my daughter, grandson, and future wife safe behind guarded walls.


    Guarded walls mine to control.