Xavier

 

“Have you slept?” Throttle peered at Xavier, his thick eyebrows drawn together in concern. “You don’t look so hot.”

 

Xavier thought about lying. He didn’t need the entire club to know that this plan of attack was completely consuming him. There were so many things to think about, to plan, to make sure they went right. What if Matteo had more men than they thought he did? What if there was a problem with Throttle’s bombs? Worse of all, what if they didn’t get Kenzie out of this alive? Matteo could kill her as soon as he realized what was going on, or maybe his own men would kill her accidentally. It was more than he could handle. The bar had been a constant riot of planning and scheming, with the members coming and going at all hours as they each performed their tasks. Some of them sat at tables with computers, others with guns, and then there was Throttle in the corner, with his wires and switches. Everyone was organized and eager.

 

But he hadn’t slept, not really. Every time he tried, he just woke up with another worry on his mind. A few naps here and there didn’t add up to much, and he lifted his coffee mug once more. “Nope.”

 

“We’ve got this under control. I have all the switches wired up, so we just need to have Crocodile’s group get them into the buildings. He’s a slick little fucker, and I’m not worried about that. Chrome has really stepped up the surveillance, so we know a lot more than we did last week. It’s in the bag.”

 

Xavier nodded, wishing he could really believe Throttle. The man had done the work that was asked of him, and there was no doubt that he was good at it. But that didn’t guarantee perfection when they executed their plan. “Yeah. I’m sure you’re right.”

 

Chrome pulled up a chair. “I’ve gone back over everything we’ve seen, and I don’t have any proof that Kenzie ever left the mansion.”

 

“You said yourself that you can’t see into the vehicles,” Xavier argued. “She could have been smuggled out easily and you wouldn’t have known.”

 

“That’s true, except for the cars that we followed,” the other man replied with a grin. “We might not see who gets in the car while it’s in the garage at Matteo’s house, but we usually see who gets out when they reach their destination. We’ve accounted for plenty of thugs, but no pretty women.”

 

“And this cousin in Sacramento?” Xavier raised an eyebrow, concerned that something had been missed.

 

“Exists,” Chrome confirmed, “but there’s no evidence that Matteo or anyone else related to him has been there for quite some time. I’ve got a buddy at the transportation office that let me have access to the traffic cameras. No Labriola vehicles have gone that way in over a month.”

 

Xavier nodded. That, at least, was the most solid information he had. Kenzie was still somewhere in the city, and it was likely that she had never left the mansion. But then where was Matteo holding her?

 

“I know what you’re thinking.” Asphalt stood over them, and his eyes were hard as he looked at Xavier. “But we’re not going to wait around any longer. We said we would get revenge on Labriola, and that’s what’s going to happen. The men are ready, the plan is ready, and there’s no point in holding off.”

 

“I’m not sure you understand—”

 

“I understand completely.” Asphalt leaned down so that the entire room wouldn’t hear him speak. “I understand that this is a rescue mission now and not pure revenge. I get it. But the longer we wait, the less of a chance we have of finding her and pulling this off without a hitch. If Matteo gets word of it, he’ll come after us first, and I don’t need to tell you how disastrous that could be.”

 

“Yeah. I know. It’ll be fine.” But Xavier wasn’t so convinced that it would be fine. He had never worried about anything so much in his life, and he knew exactly what that meant. He didn’t like it. “I’m going for a ride.”

 

“Be safe.”

 

He headed out the door and kicked his engine to life, eager to get out on the road and away from all the planning for a while. He drove away from the downtown area where The Scythe was located and headed into the suburbs, winding around the neighborhoods. Eventually, he pulled up across the street from the house he had lived in as a child.

 

It didn’t look like much. It was just a small bungalow in a neighborhood full of similar houses. It wasn’t very big, but it hadn’t needed to be. It was always just Xavier and his father, and his father was gone half the time with the club anyway. Still, it was strange to see how far he had come since those days. Jack Flynn hadn’t cared about having a nice house or keeping a big balance in his bank account. If he was getting by, then he was doing fine. Xavier had been happy enough to roll along with it.

 

But Jack had been taken away from him so suddenly, and then everything had changed. Xavier had drifted through the next few months of his life without any real direction. His grades had slumped, his friends had left to hang out with other kids who weren’t so depressing, and the aunt he had been forced to live with hadn’t been any help. She had issues of her own and didn’t need Xavier’s issues on top of them.

 

Eventually, Xavier realized that he wanted to be just like his father, only better. He got a job after school, and he saved every dollar he could for the day he would eventually buy his first motorcycle. He would be a Reaper, and he would be a damn good one.

 

He couldn’t avoid it when thoughts of his past turned to Kenzie. She was in every part of his mind now, and he wondered if the man he had always wanted to be would be good enough for her once he had her safe in his arms again. Damn him if he wasn’t developing feelings for her, and especially after everything she had put him through! But it was all that time he had invested in her already that made his heart constantly tug toward her. She wasn’t just using him; she needed him. Kenzie trusted him with her life, and that had to mean he was more than just a random guy to her.

 

As he took off and sped away from his childhood home, he imagined a son that looked just like him. Maybe he would have those dark eyes of Kenzie’s instead, but it wouldn’t matter. He just wanted to hold his child in his arms. Asphalt had been indirect about the issue, but he hadn’t been wrong when he’d said Xavier needed a family. He had one kind of family in the Reapers, and he was hopefully about to gain a whole new one.

 

But Kenzie’s words came back and haunted him once again. She didn’t want the baby. She had made that very clear when she had come to him for help. He had refused to help her in that way, at least for the moment, but he was fooling himself if he thought he could make her do anything she didn’t want to. She had Matteo for that, and who was Xavier to think he had the right to do the same? But maybe—just maybe—he could convince her to go through with the pregnancy. If she didn’t want the baby, then fine. He would keep it. His father had raised him, and there was no reason he couldn’t do the same. He could be a good dad. A good husband? Maybe not. But he knew he could pull off the dad thing. At the very least, he had a whole crew of men who had his back.

 

That one night with Kenzie had completely changed his life. It was only a matter of time to see just how much it was changing.

 

Xavier headed back for The Scythe. It was almost time to ride out and begin their plan. His men were waiting for him, counting on him. He held a small, silent hope that everything would go well.