Xavier

 

The insistent knocking on Xavier’s front door pulled him out of a deep sleep. He rolled over to look at the clock. It was the middle of the afternoon, but he’d had a long night. The Reapers had pulled off yet another successful exchange with an arms dealer who had once worked exclusively with the Labriolas. The bikers had stayed out late celebrating.

 

Yanking on a pair of pants and stomping down the stairs, he hoped that whoever had roused him had done it for a good reason. He wasn’t pleased to find Kenzie on his doorstep, and he leaned against the doorframe without offering to let her in. He was glad to see that her eye had healed, but that was about the extent of it. “What do you want this time?”

 

“I just need to talk to you.” Her voice and her eyes were serious.

 

“I’m pretty sure we got all that done the last couple of times we saw each other,” he reminded her. “You want money and goods from my club, and we’re not going to give it to you. Your father made it very clear how this whole thing works.”

 

“This is something different. Something more important.” Her brow creased, sending a look of desperation across her face that he hadn’t seen before. He had seen Kenzie look strong and angry, and the only other emotion she’d shown him was passion. This was different, indeed.

 

Xavier questioned himself once again on her role in this, but he couldn’t believe that she was completely innocent. At the very least, she had gone ahead with the scheme. He didn’t want his men to harm her, and he wouldn’t mind having her in his bed again, but Xavier wasn’t going to be gullible enough to trust her. “What? Now I’ve raped someone else?”

 

“Just shut up and listen to me, please.” Kenzie choked on the last word.

 

It startled him, making his muscles tense. He took a deep breath and puffed his cheeks out as he let it go. “You can come in, but just for a minute. I don’t have time to deal with any more blackmail.” Xavier stepped aside and watched her carefully as she stepped over the threshold, wondering if she had any weapons hidden on her.

 

“It’s not that.” Kenzie took the liberty of sinking into one of the plush recliners in the living room, and she buried her face in her hands. “You’re going to think it is, because it sounds like it. But I’m just here to tell you about it, and maybe ask for your help, but not to threaten you.”

 

Xavier felt his patience slipping quickly away. “Just spit it out.”

 

“I’m pregnant.”

 

She hadn’t pulled a gun on him this time, but she might as well have. Xavier stood stock still as he assessed the statement. “And what does your father expect to get out of me now?”

 

“He doesn’t know.” She lifted her face to him now, tears running down her cheeks as she sobbed. “I haven’t told him. I only just found out for sure today.”

 

Xavier blinked. “If this is true, then why are you telling me? You held a gun to my head, and I turned around and did the exact same thing to you.” His mind was racing as he looked at the situation from every angle, trying to decide what his next move should be. He and the other Reapers had been doing a lot of planning, but none of them had expected this.

 

“Because I need your help.” Her eyelids were red and swollen, and she sucked in a shaking breath. “My father came up with this whole scheme because he was pissed that you guys had stolen a corner of the black market from him. He wanted me to sleep with you and then claim that I had been raped if you didn’t pay up.”

 

“That much I follow,” he replied. “It wasn’t hard to figure out.”

 

“I know. And I’m sorry. I didn’t want to do it, but I didn’t have a choice. My very existence is in his hands, and I want nothing more than to get away from him.”

 

This whole idea frustrated Xavier. “Then why haven’t you left? What’s stopping you from just getting in your car and going?”

 

“Don’t you know what it means to be part of the mafia? I can’t just leave!” She cried harder now, and he handed her a box of tissues from the end table. “They’d track me down before I even crossed the state line. They’d bring me back home, and the things my father would do to punish me … I don’t even want to say.”

 

“All right.” Xavier was glad to see that at least his gut feeling about Kenzie had been right. She wasn’t really at fault here. That made it a little easier to deal with, but it didn’t make everything go away. He sat down on the edge of the coffee table and braced his hands against his knees. “So what is it, exactly, that you want from me?” He hadn’t thought about becoming a father. His life was taken up with the club and his motorcycle. Women had just been entertainment up until this point. His own father hadn’t needed a permanent woman in his life to stay happy, and Xavier didn’t think he was any different.

 

“I don’t want to keep the baby,” Kenzie sniffled. “I can’t. I need to have this taken care of, but I don’t have the money or the means. That’s why I need your help.”

 

Xavier’s spine stiffened. She wanted him to pay for an abortion. It was such a new thought that his mind didn’t seem quite capable of taking care of it. He just sat there and looked at her.

 

“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, even though she really didn’t. “But I’m not going to go through with the rape charges. My father has sent the paperwork and the photo to the police, but I’ll deny the whole thing. I won’t take the stand against you. I never wanted to in the first place, but if you can get me out of this than I definitely won’t.” Her hands were clasped in front of her now, pleading for his mercy. “Please. Just get me out of this. Pay for the clinic and give me enough money so that I can get away from here and take on a new identity. I know it’s asking a lot, and you don’t owe me anything, but I’ll find a way to pay you back someday.”

 

Shooting to his feet, Xavier ran a hand through his dark red hair and tried to think this through. He had no real reason to believe her. Most women could make themselves cry anytime it suited their purposes. But he could easily see Matteo as being the kind of man who would use his daughter. The man hadn’t even batted an eye when Xavier had used her as his shield, so it was clear he didn’t care about her as she should. For that matter, her black eye had said a lot on its own.

 

Still, there was a part of her plan that didn’t sit right with him. “I’ll help you, but on my own terms. I’ll get you out of your father’s house. You don’t need to do anything but sit tight and wait, and I’ll come for you when the time is right.”

 

The hope he saw in her eyes was almost unbearable. How could a man be such a monster? Xavier knew he hadn’t always been a gallant gentleman, but this was unthinkable.

 

“However, the baby is staying right where it is for the moment.”

 

“But—”

 

“No. You don’t get to argue with me on this. It’s my baby, too, and you aren’t the only one who gets to make the decision here.”

 

“But my father will kill me when he finds out!” Tears flooded anew down her cheeks, and she swiped another tissue out of the box.

 

“If you’re just a little bit patient, he’ll never have the chance.” Xavier’s mind was churning through what he and the Reapers already knew about Labriolas’ house and habits. “I’ll get you out of there, and without Matteo hovering over you, we can sit down and make this decision rationally. Together.”

 

Kenzie opened her mouth as if to debate the issue once again, but she clamped it shut. “All right. When should I expect you?”

 

“You won’t. I’m not going to tell you anything, because then you won’t be able to tell Matteo even under duress. For this to work, it has to be a complete surprise.” He slammed his fist into his open hand and paced around the coffee table as he thought.

 

“But you are coming, aren’t you?”

 

He was angry with her. She had used him, even if had been against her will. It seemed she’d probably had some opportunity to confess this all to him before it had gone so far. He could have helped her, even if it had been that night he had taken her home from the bar. But every time he turned around, he was in a deeper mess. “You’ll just have to wait and see. Call me in two days.”