Chapter Ten
Two days later
Russ sat in his pristine office, with his floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city. It had been two days since he fucked Anna, and since then, they had gone to take a look at the few items she had gathered over the years with Karen. There was little in the way of furniture, but she had kept every single item that Karen once owned. The clothes were donated to charity, and her table and chairs were passed on as well. She had a suitcase worth of items, little trinkets that the pair had given each other as memories.
Anna hadn’t broken down while they went through the small storage locker. He’d expected the trip to be difficult. Instead, Anna had smiled, telling him stories of how they had gotten certain items. They were not expensive, and once again he was shown the two women’s desire for something more. The hunger for a business of their own he could relate to, as he’d been the same. He’d wanted to put his mark on this world, take the business world by storm, and that was exactly what he had done. Russ couldn’t believe how little she had amassed in her time. There were so many people who had so much stuff that had no memory, and yet Anna had none. She didn’t put much stock in material goods, yet the few items she did have meant something. The items came with tales all of their own, from a birthday, to something funny, to a memory.
When they had gotten back to his apartment, Russ had looked around his space with a critical eye. His apartment that he’d spent thousands of dollars on was pure luxury, and yet it told nothing. Russ didn’t put down roots. He didn’t look at settling down, or making his apartment belong to him.
The apartment was impersonal, as was this office. Nothing merged his two worlds together, that of his business and his MC. Anna, she was the only thing that merged his two worlds together. She was his woman, the one he saved and protected. Anna was the color to his plainness, and she didn’t see it.
She had returned to work today, and he’d hated it. He had taken her to the supermarket, which she had been determined to go back to even though she didn’t need to work.
A knock at his office door pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Richard waiting.
“What’s up?” Russ asked.
“Can I come in?”
“Yes.”
Richard closed the door and made his way toward the seat opposite him. “Lewis found something.”
Russ made to get up, but Richard urged him down.
“He’s found something?”
“A possible location, and he’s taken it to our contact on the force.”
“Why wasn’t I called?”
“Lewis needs access to the secure police files about human traffickers. He found a possible location, but it’s to a mansion owned by some kind of rich guy. There’s no concrete evidence that the man is involved in the trafficking, and it needs to be dealt with carefully.” Richard sat back.
“Lewis is going to lose his mind over this woman.”
“He’s not the only man in our club who is losing his mind over a woman.”
Russ stared at Richard without saying a word.
Richard didn’t say anything either.
They had a standoff, and Russ refused to be the one to speak first. He wasn’t the one invading another brother’s space. If Richard had something to say, then he could say it.
“You’ve not been around the club much,” Richard said, breaking his silence.
“I’ve not had much reason to come to the club. We scanned through all the devices, gave all of the evidence over to the cops, and Lewis was decoding the final laptop where he believes he’s found his informant.”
“Check your email,” Richard said. “Lewis sent you confirmation yesterday.”
Russ turned to his email, typing in his password, and bringing up his private mails. This was a secure server where he contacted members of the club. He opened up the email, and several documents downloaded.
The image of a woman, Mandy, came onto the screen. She was a beautiful woman, and as he looked over the files, he saw that she was indeed the woman whom they’d been searching for. A couple of months ago she had been admitted to hospital, where blood work had been drawn, and the documents were on file.
“He hacked into a government database.”
“Lewis is losing his mind, and his need to find this girl is getting stronger,” Richard said.
“The intel, this place, what do you know about it?”
“Some rich retired billionaire, believe it or not. It’s in his name, and there’s no record other than one company, which goes by the name Augustus, Limited.” Richard leaned back in his chair.
“What do you think it is?” he asked.
“I think after all these years, Lewis has found the girl he’s been searching for, but I also believe that it’s out of our hands. We can’t go in and save her, like Lewis wants. It’s overseas. The location you’re looking at is on some exotic island. Makes sense, girls are shipped over, trained, and sold. Big business.”
“I can’t believe we’re even having a discussion about women being big business.”
“It’s a hard topic to deal with, but it’s what we do.”
Russ agreed. “If he’s found her, and she’s brought back, Lewis may find some peace.”
“Or it can send him on a mission to help more like her.” Richard shrugged. “I just thought I’d come and make sure you were still alive.”
“You knew I was alive. I’ve kept in touch. I’ve just not been around the club.”
“This thing with Anna. Is it serious?”
“Yes.”
“How serious?” Richard asked.
“I made sure she lost her apartment, put her stuff into storage, and fucked her without wearing a condom. She’s not on any birth control either. That’s how serious I am right now.”
“Shit!”
“Yeah.”
“How did she take that?”
“Anna freaked when she realized I hadn’t used a condom. She shouted, and I stopped her from losing her shit, by fucking her against the wall near her room. Since then, she’s moved into my room, and I spend every chance I can, making sure I get her pregnant.”
“You’ve got issues.”
“I’m not giving her the chance to walk away. Call me a pussy all you want, but I know what I want.”
“It’s what has made you a great businessman. You’ve not spent time dawdling on a decision. You’ve always been precise.”
“Thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You should probably stick your head into the club to let them know what’s happening. Lewis wants to demand a church meeting tomorrow.”
“I’ll talk to Lewis when I stop by the club.”
Richard got to his feet. “For what it’s worth, I happen to like Anna. She’s a good woman, a fighter. You need a fighter in your life. Take care of her.”
“I intend to take care of her, and protect her, Richard.”
“I’d be careful of Tina. She’s grown attached to you, and seems to be under some kind of impression that she can win you over.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.”
Russ watched Richard leave, and on his way out, several women stopped to admire the large man. Richard stood out in a crowd, and even though he was a large, scary man, women still flocked to him.
Pulling out his cell phone, Russ put a call through to Franny.
“This is your third call of the day, Russ. Anna’s fine, and I’m making sure she’s not overdoing it. If she finds out you’re calling every couple of hours, she’s going to get angry. Let her breathe.”
“I’m sorry. I worry about her. Call me if anything changes.”
“You will be the first man I call.” The line disconnected. Logging out of his emails, Russ got to his feet, and got his PA, Daniel, to cancel the remainder of his meetings. He had his cell phone, which allowed him to conduct business from wherever he was in the world.
Within minutes he was on the road, heading toward the exclusive club for their MC. While he was driving, he went back over the night over a couple of months ago when he’d heard Anna’s scream. She had changed his life forever, and he’d not even known it. When he’d gone to her hospital room, he’d needed to know she was okay. Fuck, if he’d left it another night, she would have been dead. He hated the fuckers who took her, but he hated every single bastard who hurt women.
Growing up in foster care, he’d seen a shitload of evil in other people. One of the homes he’d been to had a father who liked to use his fists on his wife and the kids. Russ couldn’t stand to hear a woman crying, and when he had heard the sounds of the sweet foster mother who took him in, he’d not been able to keep his fists to himself.
One night, Russ had made sure he was awake when the pleas had started. His foster mother had been so kind. The kindest woman he’d ever known until Anna. She loved to bake, and cook, and sing as Anna did. The only darkness inside her was that of her husband. He scared her into staying with him. Looking back, Russ had no doubt that someone would have saved her. She’d been too kind, too beautiful to ignore. That Friday night had changed everything. He had walked downstairs, making sure not to make a noise.
His foster father had his belt in hand, and was beating her, slapping, and hurting the woman who was just trying to protect herself.
Russ had seen red. He’d grabbed the nearest lamp and thrown it at the man, distracting him. When his foster father turned on him, she had tried to protect him, jumping in front of him, and telling her husband to back off.
The next part still broke Russ to remember.
His foster father had back handed her so hard that she was pushed across the room. The only problem was, the attack made her impact with a corner of the glass table. He’d watched his foster mother smash her head on the corner and fall to the floor dead. The single blow to the head had killed her. Russ had gone to her, checked her pulse, and discovered she was dead. He’d exploded in a fit of rage, grabbing a poker, and unleashing hell upon the man who had just killed the one woman who had protected him.
Pulling out of his memories, Russ found himself at the parking lot of the club. He’d not gone to jail for killing his foster father. It had been proven he’d attacked in self-defense. It also helped that their children testified against their father, and that had saved him a long jail term.
He was given a warning, and was placed in a home for troubled kids. Russ had taken many lives since that night, but he had never raised his hand against a woman, and he never would.
Locking up his car, he made his way toward the elevator. He hadn’t thought about his foster mother in a long time. It sucked, the memory of that night, but had cemented his path.
The door opened to the club opened, and he stepped inside.
Tina was walking across the club when he arrived. She turned toward him, and the smile on her face grew as she spotted him.
“Hey, baby. It has been too long since you were here.” She walked up toward him and ran her hands up his chest.
He grabbed her wrists, and shook his head. “No. I’m not interested in what you have to offer me.”
Tina’s smile disappeared. “Is this because of that fatty you brought here?”
“Don’t think of disrespecting my woman, Tina. Anna belongs to me. She’s my old lady.”
The club members had never taken an old lady, but Russ had decided he was going to change that now.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t believe you’d pick her over me.”
“Your pussy belongs to the club. Anna belongs to me. You’ve got nine other brothers to satisfy, not me.”
“I don’t want anyone else.”
“Then I suggest you find a job that pays well. You don’t fuck the brothers, you don’t get to be in the club, and you don’t get paid for the pleasure.”
“You’d kick me out?”
“There are plenty of women who’d take your place without any fuss. You’re not the best pussy to ever be here.” He released her hands and walked past her.
Russ had more important things to do with his time.
He entered the main office, and saw Lewis staring at a projector with Mandy’s three images. There was the image of when she had disappeared as a child, the one that had gone through the aging program, and then the image of the woman on the security footage.
“It’s her then?”
“Mandy’s blood was tested when she was a child so it was on record. I matched the two blood samples, and discovered them to be the same. It’s her, Russ. That’s Mandy. She’s alive, and she’s the one who has been helping those girls and women. I don’t know how she’s been doing it.”
He moved behind his friend, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find a way to get her out.”
“I’ve already made sure our contact knows money is not a problem.”
“What happens now?” he asked.
“They’re going to find the background info on Augustus, and then come back to me.”
“You don’t sound hopeful,” Russ said.
“Every second we wait, it risks Mandy. She was being monitored. If someone knew there was a leak of girls, she could be dead. My involvement could kill her.”
“Have you removed her photograph from the missing persons?” Richard asked.
“Yes, I removed it, and closed down any trace of that image ever being taken.” Lewis stood, and ran fingers through his hair. He had several weeks’ worth of growth around his face, and he looked like shit. Russ told him so.
“Have you gone home?” he asked.
“No. I’ve not wanted to go home. This is important to me, Russ. I can’t just go home.”
“What good are you going to be if they come back with an answer for bringing her home? You’re tired, worn out. What are you going to do then?”
“I’ve got to get her out of there.”
“You will, but you’re going to have to be prepared for what comes next. It may not be good.”
“I know that. I know she’s not going to be the same fucking Mandy who was taken. I get that you all care about me, and you’re all just looking for me, but it’s fucking hard, okay? It’s hard to know someone I’ve been looking for, for fucking years, is right there, and I can’t do anything about it.”
Lewis stormed over to the map and pointed at a location. He was being torn apart, and it was hurting him.
Russ couldn’t do anything but listen.
“We’re all here for you. None of us are going to back down. This is our mission as much as it’s yours.”
Lewis deflated. “I’m sorry.” He rubbed at his eyes and released a sigh. “I’m fucked in the head right now. I can just imagine her screaming for my help. She screamed for me then, and I was too damn slow. I don’t want to be slow now. I’ve got to be strong for her.”
Richard nodded. “We will.” He wasn’t about to tell his friend that Mandy could very well be dead. That wasn’t what Lewis needed to hear right now.
“I heard you and Anna are a thing right now? The girl that we saved?”
“Yes.”
“Then you will know part of what I’m going through. Imagine Anna being taken, Russ, and you can’t find her, or locate her, and she’s always there. Her screams for help, begging you. She’s within your grasp, and you just can’t do anything.”
The very thought had Russ in knots. He couldn’t handle anything like that.
“Keep hold of her, Russ. Life is too fucking short, and it’s too fucking painful to live a life with regrets.”