Chapter 43: Chapter 21: Moving

NATE

We walk out of the condo to the SUV, and when I climb in, I just sit there staring out the window. This is the part of this job that I hate.

We have never had this kind of incident before, even though we knew it was a possibility. I feel Mandy slide in next to me. I just pull her to me and bury my face.

Granted, before, my dad would take care of it, but this is on me now. I’m the one taking over, and this was done on my watch. I just keep my face buried as I feel the car start moving.

The car ride to the estate is very quiet until I receive a call from Mike that everyone has been removed and now they are cleaning up.

After I hang up, I call the funeral home, giving them all the payment info so the families won’t have to worry about a dime.

The car ride seems to be taking forever. I sit there with Mandy snuggling into my chest and crying. I know it’s the situation, but the pregnancy hormones probably don’t help either.

When we pull into the estate, the front is littered with cars, with my men standing everywhere. It has been a sad, sad day for all of us, as we have never had this much loss at one time.

Those guards that survived have their families with them at the hospital and are expected to recover. The seven families whose kids didn’t make it are here waiting on me in the conference room.

I take it very personally since this happened with me being in charge. The families know the business that we are in and the risks. They may not be happy about their kids’ choices, but understood what could happen.

We have always had a separate fund set up just for this kind of instance. We made sure there was more than enough money to compensate families should this situation ever happen.

I am pulled from my thoughts when the car stops and my dad walks out of the house with my mom, who is crying also. We slowly unload.

Mandy runs up to my mom and they embrace, crying. I walk up to my dad, and he pulls me in for a huge hug. He looks at me and we know what we have to do next.

I follow him into the house, and we make our way toward the conference room as Mandy and my mom hang back. They are a mess right now and won’t help the situation at all.

We can hear low chatting and light sobs, as I am sure they have an idea why they are here. I slowly open the door and walk into the conference room. The room falls silent as everyone turns to me. The kind of silence where you can hear a pin drop.

“I will have to be honest that I never hoped or thought I would ever be in the position I am right now in front of you folks. I want you to know first and foremost that everything will be taken care of by us.

“You know this line of work is dangerous and comes with risks. We try to be as prepared for things as we can, but sometimes things happen. Today there was a security breach at the apartment building.

“Some rivals stormed the building trying to get to my family members on the upper floors. In that process, your loved ones were shot and did not make it. I am truly sorry. I’m still in shock having to deliver this news.”

While I’m talking, the mothers and other family members start wailing their grief, and I can’t help but let tears slip as I brace myself on the table, looking down. It takes everything in my power to continue to talk and get everything out.

Once I am finished, I collapse in a chair with my head on the table. My shoulders shake as I start sobbing. My dad sits next to me and wraps his arms around me, trying to comfort me.

Here I am telling them about their loved ones who are the same age, if not a little younger, as I am. I’m sitting here while we have to bury their loved ones.

Before I know what is going on, I feel arms being wrapped around me from all angles. When I look up, I see the family members coming up and wrapping their arms around me.

I stand up and, within a few moments, I am surrounded by everyone hugging everyone. This right here is why I treat my men the way I do. We are a big family, and I would do anything for them.

As the moments pass by, families sit back down as I take a deep breath to start talking again.

“When you leave here, contact the funeral home to set up arrangements. Everything is already taken care of. We will be in touch with each family for dates and compensation for your loss. It will never bring them back, but please know their lives mattered to me.”

I slowly take my leave while my dad stays behind to answer any questions they may have. I make my way back out to the front and see Jessie, Jocelyn, Luis, Carlos, Kerri, Mary, Mandy, and my mom.

“Where will you go now, Nate? The apartment isn’t safe anymore.” Mom says.

“I don’t know, Mom. I need to look at the properties we own and see which is big enough for all of us. We will need to house extra security there, also, so we will need a huge place. Let me call a local realtor and see what I can find.”

I walk into my dad’s office and sit down at his desk, pulling out my phone. I look at the properties we have but don’t see anything that is large enough for all of us.

There is one guy that I use to get properties, and he always knows what’s available quickly. I locate the contact and hit send. It starts ringing.

“Nate, how are you! What can I do for you?”

“Hey, John, I need a large property. Needs a basement and tons of rooms, among other things.”

“I have a ten-bedroom mansion with a basement.”

“I need bigger.”

“Okay, well, let me look through what’s available. I have a twenty-five-room estate on fifty acres. Basement, elevator, and a secret entrance and exit.”

“Perfect. Is it available right now?”

“Yeah, man, it’s been empty for a couple months. It’s on the market for—”

“I don’t care what it’s on the market for. Just draw up the paperwork. I will be able to sign it at the house within the hour. I have to move into it this week. Give me the address so I can start having stuff delivered.”

I quickly hang up after getting the address and head out to the front of the house. I hand the girls my card and tell them to go shopping. We have a house to fill. They all squeal in excitement and start flipping open laptops.

“Nate, how big of a house?” Mandy asks.

“Mandy, it’s twenty-five bedrooms and at least that many bathrooms. You just need to order enough for eighteen of them for now.”

The look on her face was one of utter shock. I just smile and walk out to the front of the house where a lot of the men are.

“Okay, we have got a task ahead of us! I need about thirty men to go to the apartment building and load up all the clothes, appliances, food, and furniture. Have the truck drivers go and grab large moving vans so we can do it quickly. I want to move in this week.

“It will all be taken to the address I just texted everyone. I need about ten men to go to the new address and stay during the day since there will be deliveries. We will be there during the day so we can direct where everything will be going.

“Then as the stuff arrives, we can quickly set it up in the rooms. We will also have deliveries coming today since we have to furnish the property.

“We will have seventeen extra rooms, approximately, so we will be moving in the same amount of guards. If you want in, let me know, and you will be part of the crew going to the apartment, so you can grab your stuff as well.”

While they are all discussing who is going to go where, I walk back inside and tell the girls and guys to load up. We are headed to the new place to check it out. We will set up over there as stuff arrives.

Before I can finish, I see Jocelyn, Kerri, and Mary quickly jump up and run for the door. Mandy goes as fast as she can, and I can’t help but think she looks so damn cute with her belly, waddling along.

The guys laugh as they walk slowly, waiting for Jessie since he is on crutches at the moment. I head back out and see a crew has already taken off toward the apartment building. So the others load up and follow us to the new property.