Chapter 25

Axel

I shrugged into my leather jacket and was very aware of Ellie’s eyes on me as she sat in her usual corner on the sofa. Hanna was on the ground in front of her, surrounded by a cluster of brightly-colored toys of varying sizes and purposes.

“All right.” I nodded affirmatively. “I’m out of here.”

Ellie stood from the sofa and brought Hanna to meet me at the front door. Ellie pulled me in for a quick hug, and when she withdrew, I held her to me for another moment to plant a kiss on her lips. When I let her go, she was smiling at me, but I could see the nervousness in her eyes.

“It’ll be fine.” I tried to assure her, as I had been trying almost all night long. Nothing I said had worked. Of course, she wasn’t wrong to worry. Watson was the kind of man who had a track record of making sure things ended badly for everyone but him.

Hanna tugged on my pant leg. I crouched down in front of her, and for once, she didn’t shy away from me. “When you wake up tomorrow morning, the three of us will have breakfast and do something fun, okay? Whatever you like.”

Hanna’s smile reminded me of Evelyn. When she lurched forward and threw her arms around me, I was shocked. This was the first time she had hugged me since the cops dropped her off in my driveway. I glanced up at Ellie, who was smiling brightly and had tears lingering in the corners of her eyes.

When I stood, Hanna fell back a step to wrap her tiny fingers around Ellie’s red painted ones. I opened the front door, and the two girls followed me out onto the threshold.

“Be careful,” Ellie called as I made my way down the driveway to my car. “We’ll be waiting for you.”

I waved over my shoulder and gave her the most convincing smile I could manage. Then I got in the car and drove away without looking back.

It was time to do business.

I knew Watson like the back of my hand, so I had a good feeling which clubhouse he would be holing up in. He liked grandeur and money and luxury, so the mansion on the east side of the city was my first stop. It was an old Victorian-style home set on a sprawling, lush green property adorned with fountains, statues, and clusters of furniture for enjoying the outdoors. It looked like no one ever bothered to walk the grounds. A grand waste of money, in my opinion.

I parked my car outside the front door in the roundabout driveway, and two men in black suits came out to meet me. They patted me down for weapons, which I had known they would, and when they found me unarmed, they asked me what my business was.

“I’m here to see Watson.”

The two men, who looked so alike they must have been brothers, exchanged a look. The one with the beard turned back to me. “You’re with Moretti. What the fuck makes you think we’re gonna let you walk in there without putting a bullet between your eyes?”

I was in no mood for this horseshit. “You tell Watson that Jeremiah Cooper is here to see him. Let him decide if you shoot me or not.”

The two brothers shifted uncomfortably. Then the one with the beard dismissed the other with a flick of his chin toward the house. The clean-shaven brother slipped inside, leaving me standing alone with one of the guards.

He was tall, almost as tall as me. His thick hair gave him some extra height, and his bushy eyebrows made him look like he was permanently scowling. Or he was just a grumpy guy. I would be if I was still working for Watson.

“So how long have you worked for him?” I asked.

The guard rolled his eyes. “Shut the fuck up.”

I shrugged. “All right. Just trying to make conversation. I worked for him, too, back in the day. Mind you, he gave me more important jobs than greeting guests. Little embarrassing, isn’t it?”

I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to ruffle this asshole’s feathers. Just as he was about to retort, the front door of the house swung back open, and the clean-shaven brother motioned me inside.

I gave the guard I had been harassing a big grin and winked at him. “As you were.”

He stiffened but let me pass, and soon, I was stepping into the massive house. All the curtains were drawn over the windows, and it took some time for my eyes to adjust to the dimness that contrasted with the bright sunshine outside. The guard who had opened the door for me prodded me roughly between the shoulder blades, encouraging me to step ahead of him down a long corridor lined with a red carpet with gold trim.

The walls hosted sconces holding candles with flickering flames. It smelled like sandalwood and cinnamon. The door at the end of the hall was dark cherry oak and had an iron knocker on it.

Everything was lavish and overkill, and none of it surprised me.

I drew to a stop outside the door with the iron knocker. The guard behind me reached around me to use the iron knocker. His three raps on the door echoed in the corridor, and then a deep voice from the other side of the door beckoned us inside.

The guard pushed the door open and shoved me through.

The office was massive. It was dimly lit like the rest of the house, and a fire burned in the wall to my right. Surrounding the stone fireplace was a wall of bookcases filled with dark-colored hardcovers with gold writing on the spines. Two green chairs sat in front of the fire. Both were empty.

I looked toward the far corner and found what I was looking for. Him.

Watson had his back to me. He was wearing a navy suit and shiny black dress shoes. His hair was as black as I remembered and slicked back. He spoke to me before turning around.

“I didn’t think to see you so soon, Jeremiah.”

His voice had that same darkness to it. It brought a rush of nostalgia to the foreground of my mind. I remembered when that voice commanded me. Every order it gave me, I followed.

Watson turned slowly in place until he was facing me.

In his right hand was a glass of liquor. The hand clutching the crystal glass was covered in gold rings and jewels. I recognized only one, the plain, thick gold band sitting above the knuckle of his middle finger. It was decoration, sure, but it was also a weapon. I’d seen him strike men while wearing that ring, and it did more damage than one would expect.

He was bigger than he used to be, and he had already been a massive man. He was nearly six foot six. He was one of the only men I knew that I had to look up at. His neck was thick with muscle and decorated in thick veins that vanished under the collar of his shirt and tie. His black beard was short and clean, showing off his square jaw and high cheekbones. His nose was the same, crooked and flat from being broken probably a dozen or so times.

Watson looked like a businessman, not the leader of a deranged motorcycle gang.

“Can I get you a drink?” Watson offered, turning slightly to gesture to the bar beside him.

“No. I’m not staying long.”

“I believe that’s what you said last time, and then you stayed with me for half a decade.” Watson cracked a smile that held no humor. It was a practiced smile, a smile he had learned from others to use in social settings where appropriate. “Take a seat then, old friend.”

We went to the chairs by the fire. Watson sat first, and I followed, the leather of my jacket creaking around me as I moved.

“You haven’t changed at all.” Watson’s eyes looked me up and down. He was calculating and analyzing like he always used to do. Guessing my weight, my strength, my agility. He was prepared for everything, always.

“Can’t say the same about you.” I didn’t look him up and down. I waited for his eyes to meet mine, and I held his dark stare. “Can we skip the niceties?”

Watson chuckled and leaned back in his seat. He crossed one leg over the other and watched me over the rim of his glass as he took a sip of his drink. He swirled the liquid in his mouth and then, after swallowing, nodded slightly to me. “Go on then. Tell me why you’re here, Jeremiah.”

“Why the Black Hearts? Aren’t they a bit too simple for your tastes?”

Watson shrugged. “When the opportunity came my way, I figured it could be a lot of fun. New people. New jobs. You know how it is. Besides, President has a nice ring to it, wouldn’t you say?”

I ignored his question. “What do you want with the MC?”

Watson tapped his finger on the side of his glass. His eyes never left mine. “Nothing yet. I’m just poking them to see what they’ll do. Moretti has a bit of a temper, I hear. I’m surprised he hasn’t done anything more than beat up a couple of my boys.” A smile touched the corners of his thin lips. “Unless, of course, Moretti wasn’t the mastermind behind that little attack.”

“You burned our shop down, and we hit one of your clubhouses. Let’s leave it at that. We don’t need a turf war.”

Watson let out a great rush of deep laughter and shook his head at me. “Just like that? Jeremiah, please tell me you don’t believe that proposition is enough for me to back off. Do you know me at all?”

“Unfortunately, I do.”

Watson grinned and tilted his head to the side. “I’ll tell you what. I need a man like you. You do a job with me, and I’ll leave Moretti and your precious little MC alone.”

“I’m not getting involved with your shit again, Watson. I’m out. I’ve been out for a long time.”

“And you can stay out,” Watson said, his voice hardening with anger. “Don’t confuse things. I don’t want you back in. You made me look like a fucking fool when you left, Jeremiah. Gave people the wrong idea, making them think they could walk away from me.” Watson let out a primal snarl that reminded me of how things had been when I ran with him. “You owe me. One job. One bank hit. Then, we’ll be square.”

One bank hit. One robbery and Watson would be in my rearview mirror. He would never cross paths with Ellie, Hanna, Johnny, or any of the people in the MC that I cared about. I had the opportunity right now to make sure they were all safe from a man whose insanity and depravity could destroy us all.

“Fine.”

Watson put his glass down on the table beside his armchair and then pressed his fingertips together. “It’s good to see you, old friend.”

“The feeling isn’t mutual.” I got to my feet. “When is this bank run?”

“Monday.”

“I’ll meet you here.”

Watson nodded slowly and didn’t move from his position.

I turned and made for the door. Watson cleared his throat, and I paused with my hand on the handle but didn’t look back at him. I could feel his eyes burning into my back.

“I can’t wait to work together again, Jeremiah. Just like old times. We’ll see if you’ve still got what it takes.”

I wrenched the door open, startling the guard who had remained on the other side in the hallway during my chat with his boss. I gave him a cold stare as I walked around him and went to the front door.

The walk down the hallway was tense. For some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that if Watson was smart, he would just shoot me in the back and discard my body in a river or something. I’m sure the thought crossed his mind.

But I made it to the door and then to my car, and I pulled out of the driveway with a pounding heart and racing mind.

I took a long route home to make sure no one tailed me. The last thing I wanted to do was lead Watson straight to Ellie and Hanna. Then, I would have to kill him.

Or he’d kill me.

When I got home, Ellie met me at the door. She was dressed in a pair of light gray sweatpants and a loose white T-shirt. Her feet were bare, showing off her red-painted toenails. She threw her arms around my shoulders when I came up the steps to the door, and she buried her face into the side of my neck.

“I was so worried,” she whispered.

I hugged her back, wrapping my arms around her and holding her to me. “It’s all right. I have it all under control. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

She pulled away to look up at me. Her eyes were wet, and her nose was pink. She’d been crying for a while. I brushed the tears from the corners of her eyes and rested my forehead on hers. “I’m a big boy, Ellie. I can handle myself.”

“I know,” she said softly, cupping my face in her hands so she could press her lips to mine. Her kiss was sweet from her cherry Chapstick, and I detected hints of wine on her tongue as she pushed it between my teeth.

Soon, she was pulling me into the house, and her hands were hurrying to pull my leather jacket from my shoulders.