Xavier

 

Xavier ran a hand through his hair as he paced the living room floor. He had read Kenzie’s note a hundred times, and still he couldn’t take his eyes off of it.

 

I’m being held prisoner in my room. My father knows about the baby, and he won’t let me leave. He plans on keeping me here until I deliver, and then he’s going to keep the child for his own to continue the Labriola line. He took my phone and my computer. Please help me, Xavier.

 

The words were bad enough, but even the handwriting showed him what a desperate situation she was in. He hadn’t seen what her script looked like before, but he highly doubted it was normally full of smudges and shaky lines. No, Kenzie was in a very desperate situation. She was a scared girl trapped by her father, a girl who needed to be rescued. It was no wonder she hadn’t called or texted him, since her father had taken away every form of communication. His visit to the Labriola mansion hadn’t been entirely futile. At least he now knew exactly what was going on with Kenzie and where she was.

 

In his mind’s eye, he could easily seem himself breaking down the front door and charging up the stairs. He would fling open every door in the big house until he finally found her, probably in a room filled with pink lace. When he scooped Kenzie up in his arms, she would instantly agree to go with him anywhere he wanted to. He would her knight in shining armor, and she would ride off on the back of his bike with him. When they reached safety, they would make love all night, that sexy body of hers writhing underneath him as he pleasured her over and over again.

 

It was a nice fantasy, but it was still fantasy. Matteo and the rest of his men would never let him get away with something like that. He needed a plan, and he knew where to start. He launched across town on his motorcycle, dodging down side streets to avoid stoplights until he pulled up at The Scythe. He recognized Chrome’s bike in the parking lot and was glad to see it.

 

Xavier quickly found the ex-con sitting at the bar. He had a computer set up in front of him, which might have been an odd scene at a pub if this was any normal place. But the skinny man’s sharp elbows moved quickly as he entered information into a spreadsheet.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” Xavier crossed the floor in a few long strides and looked over his shoulder.

 

“I’m keeping track of the Labriolas’ movements,” Chrome explained without looking up. Several empty beer mugs sat on the counter next to him, but the alcohol didn’t seem to have affected his work ethic. “I’m taking all the information about the comings and goings of the thugs—like the times and where we think they’re going—and putting them in here so we can look for a pattern. Obviously, some of it is going to be purely random, but we’re already seeing a little bit of a routine.”

 

“Such as?” Xavier was eager for this information. It was the one thing that was going to help him save Kenzie. If Matteo had been just a normal asshole, Xavier could have easily extracted her from his clutches. But he was disgustingly rich and horrifically powerful. Matteo knew the reach of his fear, and he used it to his benefit. That wasn’t helping matters at all.

 

Chrome lifted one shoulder and let it fall again. “It’s early, yet. We haven’t had nearly enough time. But it looks like Tiny—that’s the big guy—leaves every Thursday at nine in the morning and goes to visit his mother.” He laughed and shook his head. “It’s kind of funny to think about a big ol’ brute like that being sentimental, but that’s just what the statistics show! The others haven’t been nearly as regular, shall we say.”

 

“What about Matteo?” Xavier demanded. He didn’t give two shits about Tiny going home to see his mother. Granted, it helped in a small way, since he was planning on getting into that house one way or another. Having Tiny out of the way wouldn’t hurt. But the boss was the one he was most concerned about.

 

“That one’s going to take a little more time to establish, and that’s even saying that we can.” Chrome flipped the screen to a different spreadsheet and pointed at some numbers. “I’m pretty sure he’s been in the business long enough that he knows how to keep his schedule random. For instance, we’ve been able to find that he has lunch with his top associates every week at Vigiano’s, but it’s never the same day of the week or even the same time. He even gives different assignments to different men, making sure they’re shaking down the businesses under their protection on a rotating basis.”

 

Xavier gritted his teeth together and shifted his weight from foot to foot. He was antsy for some real information, and he hadn’t thought the mob men would be so hard to track. “This isn’t helping me, man. I need something concrete.”

 

“Only way you’re going to do that is if you have a live camera watching his house. Even then, you’d need quite a few of them. The place is huge, and all the windows on the cars were tinted. It’s almost impossible to tell when they’re coming and going, unless they want to make it obvious. The only reason I really know about Tiny’s visits to his mother is because he always stops at the supermarket to buy her flowers on the way there. He gets out of the car, and that’s when we have confirmation of who’s coming and going. But if a car leaves and we don’t happen to see someone getting in or out, we don’t really know who is where.”

 

“Damn it!” Xavier slammed his fist down on the bar.

 

“Easy now. We’re doing our best, and I told you it would take some time.” Chrome’s fingers clacked away at the keyboard once again.

 

“Yeah, but I don’t have time! I want to get in there and punish the Labriolas, like we planned, but I’ve learned some things that have bumped up my schedule a bit.”

 

Chrome turned to look at the VP now, his dark eyes curious. “What’s going down? You’re not thinking of heading in there alone, are you?”

 

“I’m not going to give you all the details,” Xavier replied. “It would just make you an accomplice when Asphalt finds out what I’ve done.” He knew he shouldn’t have gone to Matteo’s by himself. Vice president or not, it had been a risky decision. He would be making that same decision again when he went back, but he wasn’t going to drag anyone else into it.

 

“But you can’t go there on your own. You’ll get slaughtered.” Chrome slid off his stool and went around behind the bar to pour himself another drink. The Scythe didn’t bother employing a full-time bartender, since all the men knew what kind of drinks they liked and how to mix them. Someone always stepped in to pour when they decided to party, and they didn’t have to waste their money paying someone.

 

“Not if I’m careful and I go when Matteo is gone. The men who work for him are idiots, and I think I can get past them without a problem. But I don’t think Matteo will hesitate to kill me if he finds me coming after his daughter. I need to know when he’ll be gone.” Xavier could feel the tension in his muscles, tightening him into a stiff statue. He was used to urgency when it came to missions for the club, but this was completely different. Not only was his own life on the line, but Kenzie’s and the baby’s. He had no choice but to ask. If Asphalt and the others didn’t understand it right now, they would eventually.

 

Chrome shut off the beer tap and admired the head on his drink. He took a long swig before he pressed his lips together and glanced up at Xavier. “I can’t give you a guarantee. But I can tell you that sometime around lunch is going to be your best bet. You might need to wait and watch the house, but like I said, just because a car leaves doesn’t mean we know who’s inside it.”

 

Xavier nodded, mapping everything out in his head. “Okay. Thank you.”

 

“Listen.” Chrome grabbed Xavier’s arm just as he was turning to leave. “I get that this is important to you. But can’t it wait just a few more days? We can gather up the men and finalize our plans. We’ll make our advance on the mansion like we’ve been planning, except we move it up a few weeks. It won’t be as precise as we originally wanted, but at least you won’t be at the battlefront all alone.”

 

“I appreciate it, but there’s no time to wait.” He hesitated, not wanting to reveal everything but feeling the need to at least let Chrome know he wasn’t being reckless without a reason. “Kenzie’s in danger. That’s all I can really tell you.”

 

“Then at least let me come with you, if nothing else. You’ll have someone watching your back.”

 

“It’s nice to know I always have someone willing to do so. That’s one of the good things about being a member here. But sometimes, it’s better to be on my own. As you said, we don’t have their exact movements mapped out yet. It would be crazy for us to attack. They’ll hear us coming from a mile away, and they’ll be prepared. But if I go in on my own, I’m less likely to get caught.”

 

“And what if you do?”

 

“Then it will only be one of us lost. Maybe I’ll have a few good men willing to avenge my death.” Xavier clapped Chrome on the shoulder and turned for the door. “Don’t worry, Chrome. I’ll be back, and you’ll have your chance for a piece of the action.”

 

“Crazy son of a bitch,” Chrome muttered as he returned to his work.

 

It was hell waiting. Every second that Xavier wasn’t there trying to save Kenzie was another second that she could be getting hurt by her father or his men. Xavier tried to tell himself that if Matteo had her locked in her room, then at least she was safe. But it was clear that Kenzie wasn’t the kind of woman to just give up, and he wouldn’t be surprised if she pushed the crime boss into doing something rash. Still, it didn’t make sense to return the very next day. Matteo would be expecting him. He had to bide his time, at least for a little while.

 

Two days later, Xavier parked his bike half a mile away from the Labriola mansion. He had gone back and forth on what vehicle he should bring. A car would let him get closer without looking suspicious, but a bike would provide an easier getaway once he made it back out. It was a risky endeavor either way, and in the end he chose to go with the one thing that made him who he was. There was a certain amount of comfort and confidence that came with riding his motorcycle, and this wasn’t the time to trade that off.

 

He approached on foot, wishing Matteo preferred to have meetings with his men over dinner instead of lunch. At least then it would be dark, making it easier to get close to the house. Nobody could miss him with his red hair, tattoos, and leather. He slipped into the shade of a tree on the side of the neighbor’s house, right where he had a good vantage point on the front of Matteo’s mansion.

 

Xavier could not only see any cars that left the driveway, but he had a steady view of Kenzie’s window. He watched it carefully, hoping for some sign of her. If he could just see her open the window to let in the fresh breeze or pause in front of the glass for a moment to view the world she could no longer be a part of, then he would feel much better for knowing she was safe. He knew that his conversation with Matteo the other day—and the fact that he knew about the baby—could have put Kenzie in even more danger than she was already in.

 

No, he reminded himself. He couldn’t think that way. Kenzie had said in her note that Matteo wanted the baby, and that had to mean he would keep his daughter out of harm’s way at least until the child was born. By that logic, Xavier could wait weeks or even months before he swooped in to save her. But he wasn’t that patient.

 

He had to wonder, as he waited, why Kenzie had bothered to tell Matteo about the baby in the first place. If what she had told Xavier was true, and she had only slept with him as part of her father’s blackmail attempt, then surely a pregnancy wasn’t going to put her in her father’s good graces. Was that why he had locked her up? There were too many things that didn’t make sense, but that was Matteo in a nutshell. He was a rich and powerful man gone mad, and now it was up to Xavier to deal with him.

 

The quiet hum of the garage door opening snapped him out of his mind and back into the present. Xavier stayed in the deep shade, hoping to keep himself inconspicuous while the black sedan glided down the street. As Chrome had noted, all the windows on the vehicle were tinted so dark that it was impossible to see who was inside. It could have been Matteo, one of his men, or even Kenzie. That thought reminded him of the doubts he’d had about her. Was her pitiful note just another part of her plan to fool him? Was Matteo thinking several steps ahead of him, gambling on Xavier feeling sorry for the girl? He refused to believe it, and he was willing to risk his life to find out for sure.

 

Once the vehicle had disappeared down the street, Xavier advanced on the house. He made sure to stick close to the big shade trees, hoping that it would at least keep him from being right out in the open and completely noticeable. Moving down the fence line that ran between the Labriola mansion and the neighbors, he jumped on top of the wall and paused a moment while he surveyed the backyard. It was massive, with trimmed grass, extensive flower beds blooming in a riot of colors, and a pool big enough for a small boat. He saw no evidence of gardeners, pool boys, or mafiosos on Speedos, but he knew the chances of the house being empty were incredibly slim.

 

Xavier headed toward the back door, touching the weapon at his side to make sure it was still in its holster and ready when he needed it. Even if Matteo was gone, there was very little chance that he wouldn’t encounter at least one of the hooligans. How he would love to see the look on Matteo’s face when he came home to a house full of slaughtered mob men and a missing daughter. It was only part of what he deserved, and Xavier would gladly give it to him if he had the chance.

 

The back door was locked, which wasn’t a surprise. Xavier slipped several long, skinny pieces of metal out of his pocket. Beads of sweat formed on the back of his neck, and not just because the midday sunshine was beating down on his back. He was an easy target, right there by the door. But he was good at picking locks, and he was inside in less than a minute.

 

He didn’t have time to appreciate the blast of cool air that greeted him as the door swung open. He was in a back hallway with white tile flooring and freshly painted walls. If a guard had been assigned to this part of the house, he had left his post. Xavier quietly shut the door behind him and advanced toward the front of the home. He knew from his previous visits that the stairs ascended from the living room. Kenzie’s room was on the second floor, and he had to get to her as soon as possible.

 

A rattle sounded to his left. Xavier swung around a corner of the wall as he whipped his pistol out of its holster and held it at the ready. He waited for the attack, but it never came. He peered around the corner, expecting to see a man in a black suit ready for him, but he only saw an empty kitchen. The rattle had come from the ice maker.

 

He shook his head at himself. This was no time to imagine danger when there was plenty of real danger ahead of him. Xavier made it to the living room without incident, and he paused to listen. If Matteo was in his office, he ought to be able to hear him from there. The man didn’t seem to feel the need to be quiet, at least not when Xavier had run into him before. But once again there was no sound, and so he moved toward the stairs.

 

This was too easy, and it worried him. A man like Matteo ought to have guards stationed near each door at all times, no matter what other business the family had going on. If he was careful enough to vary his routine each day, then why had he left his mansion unguarded? It made the hairs on the back of Xavier’s neck prickle as he wondered just what waited in store for him. He had known he might be walking into a trap. It was the same thing he would have done if he had expected Matteo to break into his house. But it was a trap he had no choice but to spring, since Kenzie was the bait.

 

The upstairs hallway was much as he had imagined it during his fantasies of rescuing Kenzie. The pale, plush carpet was lined on either side with heavy oak doors. Thinking about where the window to Kenzie’s room had been, he took a left and listened for movement at the first door. When he heard nothing, he twisted the knob and slowly cracked it open. Just a bathroom, unoccupied.

 

Xavier performed the same steps at the next door. It was just as silent, but when he opened the door he knew he was in the right room. While most of Matteo’s house was decorated in a sleek, modern style, this room had a definitive feminine touch. The dark cherry bed had carved posts and a dark purple canopy that matched the expensive rug over the hardwood floor. The closet door was partially open, revealing a few dresses and tank tops. Near the window was a desk with several notebooks and pens scattered on it, and Xavier’s heart raced as he imagined Kenzie sitting there writing to him.

 

As he slipped through the door, his pistol at the ready, he knew this had to be Kenzie’s room. It wasn’t the den of pink lace he had envisioned, but it was much more her than anything else he had seen. The problem was that Kenzie wasn’t in it. The bed had been made, the deep purple bedspread pulled over the pillow. There was no sign that she was there or that she had been anytime recently. Only the open closet door gave him any indication that someone had at one point been in the room, but it didn’t mean that she had left in a hurry. The dresser drawers were closed, and as far as Xavier could tell, most of her belongings were still there.

 

Anger and concern welled up in his chest. That car that had just left the house could have held Kenzie and been destined to take her to the doctor, but he highly doubted it. Had Matteo seen her throw the note to Xavier? Had he moved her in anticipation of Xavier’s arrival? Anything was possible now, and he didn’t like it. If Matteo had taken her out of the house, then she could be anywhere. It would be impossible to track her down, and the Reapers didn’t have the kind of resources the Labriolas did.

 

Xavier reached for his cell phone and was about to update Chrome on Kenzie’s absence when a different idea struck him. Since he couldn’t snatch Kenzie from her room and carry her down the street to his bike, the next best thing was to check the rest of the house. He would be an idiot to have come this far and not at least peek into the other bedrooms to find her. What if Matteo had put her in a different bedroom to throw Xavier off? Or he could have even decided to let her out for a little while, and she was just somewhere else in the house. This last scenario was unlikely, but still possible. He would check the rest of the place until he was satisfied.

 

But when he slipped back out Kenzie’s door and into the hallway, he found Matteo waiting for him at the top of the stairs. “Did you find what you were looking for?” he asked calmly, his thin lips curving up into a smile. He was the very picture of a mafia boss, from his fine suit to his carefully combed hair to the confident look on his face.

 

Xavier swung the barrel of his gun straight at Matteo. It would be so easy to shoot him right there and send his lifeless body careening down the stairs. It wouldn’t solve all of Xavier’s problems, but it would go a long way. “Where is she?”

 

Matteo took his hands out of his pockets and held them up to show they were empty. “Go ahead. Shoot me and get it over with. You know you want to.”

 

Adjusting his grip on the pistol, Xavier kept his eyes focused on the mob boss. Where had he been hiding? How had he known Xavier was there? “Just tell me where she is, and I don’t have to.”

 

The older man laughed, and it echoed through the open space around the stairs. “I’m not going to tell you anything. You forget that she’s my daughter. You come in here and act like you have some sort of claim to her, but we both know that isn’t really true.”

 

Xavier took a few steps forward. “She’s carrying my child. I think that’s claim enough.”

 

“That child also happens to be my grandson. You can’t really imagine that I would give that up, can you?” Matteo maintained his position at the top of the stairs, undaunted by the gun pointed at him or the biker advancing on him.

 

“What I can’t imagine is a father who uses his daughter like you’ve done to Kenzie,” Xavier spat. It made him sick inside when he thought about it, and so he had tried not to. But he was right here with the old bastard, and it was impossible to ignore. “You made her sleep with me just so you’d have leverage over me. You can see that it hasn’t worked out in your favor. The Reapers haven’t given in to your demands, and we won’t. I’m not in jail, and I won’t be. You’ve lost, Matteo.”

 

“Have I? You’re the one relentlessly chasing a woman who willingly used her body to trick you. How do you know she isn’t still doing the same thing? How do you know whose side she’s on?” He raised a thick eyebrow, challenging Xavier to think about things from a different perspective.

 

He was trying to get into Xavier’s head and feed into his doubts. It might have worked if Xavier hadn’t seen the fear in Kenzie’s eyes when she had come to him about the baby or seen the rushed handwriting of her note. There was a possibility that she was still on her father’s side, but Xavier doubted it. Nobody was that good of a liar. “If that’s true, then why don’t you bring her out here to tell me herself? Let her be the one to tell me that she’s been stringing me along all this time.” At least then he would know where she was, and that she was safe. That would be enough, at least for the moment.

 

“She’s not interested in seeing you.”

 

Xavier had come closer, and he was now in point-blank range. It would be so simple to just send a bullet flying right through Matteo’s skull and watch the blood spatter on the carpeting behind him. Xavier had no doubt that some of his thugs were waiting in the wings for the right opportunity to do the same to him, and he would never make it back out of the mansion alive, but it was almost worth it. “Prove it,” he growled.

 

“I’m her father,” Matteo replied, concern wrinkling his brow. “My daughter got nothing from you but a black eye and an unwanted pregnancy. It’s my job to keep her safe from men like you, and if she doesn’t want to see you then I’m certainly not going to make her.”

 

“Liar. You’ve never done anything to keep her safe, and you know it. Just bring her out. Let me see her. Let her tell me the truth. And then I’ll leave, and you’ll never hear from me again.” If he managed to get Kenzie out in the open, there was still a chance he could escape with her.

 

“I’m afraid you’re just going to have to take my word for it. Kenzie isn’t even here anymore. She’s gone to stay with her cousin in Sacramento for a little while, to rest up and prepare for the child.”

 

“Boss, can I just shoot him now?”

 

Xavier looked over his shoulder to see Tiny standing in a doorway on the other side of the hall. They’d been waiting for him, or they had at least seen him come in. His chances of getting out of her alive were getting slimmer by the minute.

 

His looking away gave Matteo just enough time to grab at Xavier’s gun, but the biker’s grip was strong. He yanked the weapon back and reached out with his left hand, pulling Matteo close to him. The older man stumbled, and the duo went careening down the stairs. They were carpeted, but the edge of each step slammed into Xavier’s back, ribs, and legs. The air flew out of his lungs, but he kept himself together enough to hold Matteo close. Tiny couldn’t fire if he thought he might hit his boss. It would keep him safe for the moment, and that was all he had time to think about.

 

When they skidded to a stop in the living room, Matteo groaned and reached for his head. Xavier fired toward the top of the stairs, just missing the big man’s shoulder as he backed toward the front door. He was outside and took off like a bat out of hell, running for his life toward his bike and cursing. It took little effort to get to his ride, fire it up, and take off. He dodged onto every side street and alley way he knew, winding his way through town with no real direction. If the Labriolas had bothered to follow him, they would never have been able to find him.

 

Finally coming to a stop in a back alley behind an old greasy spoon, Xavier got off his bike and kicked the brick wall. “Fuck!” Where the hell was Kenzie? What had Matteo done to her? Why had Xavier been stupid enough to go in there on his own? But he already knew the answer to the last one. He’d wanted nothing more than to rescue Kenzie and for her to see him as someone more than just a biker she had tricked with a night of passion. He’d wanted to be the man to pull her out of her life and show her a different world. At the very least, he’d wanted to know that his child would be safe. Xavier could never guarantee that Kenzie would stay with him willingly, even if everything Matteo had said was a lie, but there was so much more at stake here.

 

Resigned and frustrated with his failed efforts, he headed for The Scythe.