TWENTY-TWO
The Trouble with Enemies
Lucky
“Three dead. Thousands of dollars in damage.” Knuckle settled down in his seat at the head of the table and shook his head. “Giovanni’s isn’t going to be back up and running anytime soon.”
The grim faces of my brothers stared back at me, many of them sporting their own hostile expressions on the matter. “What’s G’s plan after all this?” Clearly, with the damage done to his business, he wouldn’t be able to pick up right where he left off before the attack.
Hastie was the one to answer now. “He doesn’t have much choice. He put his heart and soul into that business and not much is salvageable. Even with the funds, it’s hard to obtain that kind of machinery in the post-flare world.” He slid a single piece of paper towards me. “He said he’s running here.”
On the faded, old newspaper, there was some scribbled handwriting. I recognized the coordinates as an address of some sort. “Haven Road.” I glanced up. “He’s moving out of Ward Two?”
“Yeah. Said he isn’t safe here. If the Phantoms find him again—and they will try to seek him out for refusing them—he’s going to find himself in a whole lot of trouble.” Hastie eased back into his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s all about pride with the Phantoms.”
I thought of the older man with a fiery spirit who had put so much of himself in his work, only to have it taken away from him. “Isn’t there something else we can do to help?” G didn’t deserve one bit of what was thrown his way.
“We are helping,” Knuckle answered. “We’re going to help him move.”
“But that’s—”
“That’s the most we can do without alerting the Phantoms that he’s running. We’re going to have to do it at night when no one can see. If word gets out that we’re helping him, G’s life could be in greater danger.”
I swallowed the next retort on my lips, understanding Knuckle’s reasoning but it still didn’t make me feel good about this. What would happen to all those workers left without a job? How would they survive? Finding work in the post-flare world was nearly impossible.
Seven came to mind then. What would she think of all of this? She’d be devastated. She’d really enjoyed her job even though her true calling was cooking. With the death of many of her co-workers, the attempted rape and the break-in still fresh in her mind, this would no doubt be hard for her. “I want to be there,” I said decidedly.
“Good.” The prez of Glory MC nodded once. “We need to do this soon. Maybe you could bring Seven along so that she can say goodbye to him?”
“Yeah, she’ll want to see him one last time.”
“But what are we going to do about the Phantoms?” Beck asked.
“They’re virtually uncontrollable,” Kitt added. He turned to me. “I still have their leader waiting for you.”
Shit! After everything that had happened with the break-in, I’d almost forgot about him. “Where is he?”
“I put him in the safe house.”
Knuckle reared up, suddenly annoyed. “Wait. You’re telling me you’ve had one of the Phantoms locked up in one of the safe houses and you didn’t tell me?”
Kitt and I exchanged glances. “I thought you knew.”
“You never told me shit.” Knuckle turned to me. “So who is this motherfucker?”
“He was there the night of the raid at Giovanni’s. Their leader.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? You’ve had this guy locked up for how many days now and no one thought to report this to me?”
“I thought you knew,” I said, echoing Kitt.
Knuckle shook his head, fury rising like smoke from his ears. “The raid occurred days ago. Why haven’t you gone to see him?”
“I had other things to attend to.”
“The break-in.” Knuckle nodded in understanding. “But you know the longer he stays in there, the greater chance the Phantoms will find him. And when they do, who will they blame?”
You, I silently answered in my head. The Phantoms wouldn’t hesitate to point fingers at Glory MC and use it as an excuse to call war on us. That wasn’t something we wanted to encourage. “I see you catch my drift,” Knuckle said as he stared at me. “You got somewhere to be? Because I’d like to pay this asshole a visit.”
I rose. “Let’s go.” I wouldn’t allow this to fester any longer than it needed to. The Phantoms were hunting G, which likely meant that Seven would also be in danger as well. The sooner we could get this over with, the better.
Kitt led the way as we rode towards the safe house. Located on the outskirts of Ward Four, this safe house was a perfect place to run away to. Or in this case, the ideal place to hide someone you didn’t want to be found.
I rode urgently, adrenaline pumping through my veins. When we arrived, the engines of our Harleys cut off one by one, the roar flatlining to a dead silence. Out here, there wasn’t much to look at. And the house itself was an eye sore. Only partially finished, some of the walls were half up, exposing wooden beams and electrical wires. I removed my gloves and helmet and tossed them onto a nearby table. Kitt was the one who opened the door to the basement, standing aside as Knuckle stepped into the darkness. I flipped on the switch, lighting up the single bare light bulb in the room.
Gagged and bound to a chair bolted into the floor, the Phantom blinked at the sudden illumination.
I loomed over him, cracking my knuckles. Knuckle was right. I should’ve handled this earlier, but the break-in had distracted me. Seven had distracted me. But it was now time to handle business. When the Phantoms’ eyes lifted and met mine, only one thing flashed into the forefront of my mind: kill him.
He cried out as my fist met his nose in a sickening crack. I shook out my hand. That was for the men he had killed at Giovanni’s who would never see their families again. I hit him again, harder this time. This time it was for Seven, for putting her through a nightmare of a night as she watched her co-workers die and nearly got raped.
Pulling a blade from my back pocket, I watched as his eyes went wide. Did he think I was going to carve him up like a Christmas ham?
It was a good idea, but not what I was planning to do. What I did instead was release him of his bonds. He seemed entirely surprised as he flexed his arms and legs. “Get up,” I barked, pocketing the blade again. I wasn’t going to kill him while he was bound and defenseless. I wanted him to believe that he had a fighting chance so that when I did kill him, he knew that he’d been defeated, fair and square.
His hair was a messy knot on his head, the color merging from black to brown in the dim lighting. The blood-spattered shirt he wore was torn in many places, his belt and shoes having been removed prior to being thrown in here in case he got smart and wanted to use them as weapons. As far as killers went, they could take anything and use it as a weapon so we’d played it safe. With a rough tug, Kitt removed the gag from his mouth. “What do you plan to do with me now?” the man rasped. “Kill me?”
“No.” I wasn’t done with him yet.
“Wait!” Knuckle called out just as I was swinging for another hit. Kitt and I shared confused looks. “I can’t believe this,” he breathed. When the Phantom simply stared at him, Knuckle smiled. “What, you didn’t think I would make the connection? You gotta give me a little more credit than that, Cavezza.”
Cavezza?
Now the bloodied face showed emotion, the corners of his lips curling up in a terrible rendition of a smile. Blood coated his teeth where I had knocked one of them out. “Knuckle Haste,” he mused. “You gonna let your secretary do all the bloody work or are you going to fight me instead?”
Everyone knew that the higher up you were in rank in a motorcycle club, the less dirty work you did. It wasn’t a matter of not being able to hold your own, but it was a level of respect that was gained with rank. Knuckle laughed. “And why the fuck would I be stupid enough to do that?”
The low, threatening voice caused the little hairs on the back of my neck to rise in panic. “I want a chance at killing the man who murdered my brother.”
His brother? My mind quickly tried to process the files of information I had on the Phantoms in my head. There were two brothers in the Phantoms. The eldest, Anthony Cavezza, was known for his leadership skills and his knack for racketeering. His diamond mind and skills in trading made him powerful and intelligent—two attributes that many would pay good money for to covet.
Vincent Cavezza, on the other hand, wasn’t gifted with a sharp mind. He was selfish, ruthless, and money-hungry, often barging through the carefully paved path his brother had made. In taking Anthony out, we’d hoped that it would shut the Phantoms down. After all, once you chop of the head of the beast, or the brain in this matter, everything else faltered without it.
That was clearly not the case here. The man in front of me was worse than his brother because he was willing to do anything to get what he wanted.
Vincent made a go for Knuckle, but the prez had anticipated it. His arms shot out, grabbing hold of Vincent’s arm before he could land a punch. Eyes of the coldest steel narrowed as Vincent attacked again, this time landing a hard blow that knocked Knuckle over.
I jumped into the melee, tackling Vincent before he could lash out again. Despite the fact that he’d been tied to a chair for days, Vincent had a surprising amount of strength left in him as he pummeled me with heavy fists. On a grunt, I flipped him over, returning the many hits to his torso and head. Vincent slumped forward.
“Stop!” Knuckle barked. “Don’t kill him.”
“Why?” Kitt and I asked in unison. The bastard certainly deserved it.
“He’s their leader. We could use him.”
“For what?” Kitt sounded angry now.
“Just trust me, will you?” Knuckle snapped as he pulled out his red bandana from his pocket and dabbed the gushing wound of his head. In this state, it was hard to argue with Knuckle. He was a grumpy fucker on the best of days but when he was bleeding, you’d better watch your ass.
“He killed all those innocents,” I argued. “And nearly had Seven raped.”
“Trust me,” Knuckle said as I shot him frosty daggers with my eyes. “He won’t be doing any of that after this.”
“Weren’t you just saying I needed to finish this?” Why had he suddenly changed his mind?
Knuckle stepped forward, an angry look of determination flaring in his eyes. “We aren’t going to kill him.” His tone rang with finality. To argue would be to question his leadership.
I beat back the retort on my lips. Fucking hell. Juiced up, there was nothing more I wanted than to see Cavezza’s lifeless eyes staring up at me. But I forced myself to back away from Vincent, allowing Kitt to handle him. I couldn’t trust myself not to do anything while he was so close.
I knew that as long as he was living, he would remember who did him wrong and that meant G, Seven, and Trey were likely on his hit list. What Knuckle was asking me to do was beyond what I could handle at the moment. I stepped out of the room to go back upstairs before I could do something I would regret.
“Get Angel in here,” Kitt called out. “We need to clean up the blood.”
If I had my way, there would be more of it. Blood splattered on the walls, the floors. Blood meant redemption had been achieved. Instead, Vincent was still in there breathing when he shouldn’t be.
* * *
“What the fuck did you do in here?” Angel seemed pissed when he saw the state of the cell. Kitt and I shrugged, disclosing no information whatsoever. “Fuck, I hate you guys,” he muttered as he stepped over a pool of blood. “You know how I feel about this shit.”
I hid my smile. Everyone thought it was fucking hilarious that Angel had a severe case of OCD. The prospect had to have things in meticulous order or he’d go ape shit. While it was a pain most of the time as he griped about everything not being in the exact position it was supposed to be in, in some ways, it kept us all on track. The files were always in order. The bikes were perfectly lined up in the back. The bathroom was always clean. Having him around had its uses.
And yet how did he hope to survive in this lifestyle where everything was done on a whim and people did shit simply because they wanted to? No wonder Angel complained so much. I would too.
“Get to work,” I said with a smile.
He shot me a glare over his shoulder. “Why don’t you get your ass in here and try cleaning this shit up?”
“Hey, watch it. I’m not above reminding you of your place.”
Kitt laughed and walked out of the cell, probably to keep an eye on Vincent while the basement was being cleaned. I closed the door behind him, enclosing Angel and myself in the blood-splattered room. “So,” I said as Angel began to work. “Learn anything?”
“Daniel Harrison killed himself two years ago,” the prospect rattled off. “He has one living sister. They were both abandoned as children so he was a little bit clingy; she was the opposite—very detached with everyone. I checked on her. She’s harmless.” He wiped his hands clean with a bandana, another compulsive habit of his.
Hearing those words was a bit of a relief. It meant that Daniel wasn’t a threat to Seven. However, if he wasn’t the person who had broken into the house then that meant there was still someone out there. “What about the Martins?”
“They’re dead. Died in the initial flares.”
I nodded. It was just as Seven had said.
“Sorry there isn’t any more info,” Angel said. “But that was all I could find.”
“Thanks, man.” I clapped the prospect on the shoulder. “It does help.” By process of elimination at least.
An eyebrow arched at this. “Sounds like you really care about her.”
“Seven is a friend.” The look the prospect shot me told me that he didn’t believe that lie one bit. But before he could say anything, I left him to his cleaning, pulling out my phone to check on Seven. She picked up on the third ring.
“Hello?”
“How are you feeling?”
I could hear the smile in her voice. “I’m okay. You know, you don’t have to keep calling in to check on me. I told you I’m fine.”
“I know. I just want to make sure.” I found that I couldn’t stop thinking about her, worrying about her. “Anyway, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about Daniel. He killed himself about two years ago. I thought you might want to know.” There was a gasp on the other end of the line. When there was only silence, I asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said after a moment. “I just wasn’t expecting that news.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Daniel and I had a special relationship. It was rooted in our shared experiences with our pasts. He and I were both abandoned as children, and I guess we seemed to bond over that fact. Learning that he’s dead . . .” She let out a weak sigh. “I just wished there was something I could have done for him.”
I knew what it felt like to feel helpless. Daniel was no different than my mother who suffered from her own self-created depression. And there was no question that abandonment could fuck with your mind. To have it done to you at such a vulnerable age must’ve been hard on the both of them. But Seven had proven that people could rise above it and still come out as a full, able-bodied person. Sadly, the same couldn’t be said for Daniel.
At least he wasn’t the one responsible for the break-in. But because of Seven’s past, it wouldn’t be easy finding out who did. Any number of those men she’d been with could want to hurt her.
“There’s something else,” I started, knowing that Seven wouldn’t want me to withhold any information from her even if it involved protecting her. “G won’t be re-opening Giovanni’s again. There’s too much damage.”
“I was afraid of that. Guess I’m out of a job, huh?”
“We’ll find you a new one.”
“What’s going to happen to G then?”
“He’s leaving Ward Two.”
“Why?”
“It isn’t safe for him here. He stood up against the Phantoms. Made himself their enemy, Seven. The Phantoms will hunt him down. No one stands up against them and walks away.”
“That isn’t fair! What was he supposed to do? Just throw his money at them whenever they came knocking?” Her words were appropriately angry.
“It’s fucked up,” I agreed. “But I’m more concerned about his safety. Glory MC will be helping him relocate. But I wanted to let you know in case you wanted to see him one more time.”
“Of course, I do.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “God, I can’t believe this is happening.”
I wish I could be there beside her instead of simply talking to her on the phone. “We’ll figure it out together. Don’t worry.”
“Where are you now anyway?”
I hesitated to tell her to truth, mostly because I didn’t want to trigger any more bad memories of the other night. I wasn’t sure how she would take it if I said I’d just beaten up Vincent Cavezza. “I had a meeting with Glory MC and now we’re at one of the safe houses.” At least that was part of the truth.
“You’re coming home soon, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I’ll wait up for you.” A smile spread over my lips. I liked the sound of that. A lot. Perhaps maybe too much.
Seven
After calling me, Lennon had encouraged me to come to Neptune’s. I hadn’t realized until now but I was acting like a hermit, cooped up in my alarm-protected home while everyone else was trekking on without me. I guess in a way I needed that time to myself to recuperate. After everything that had happened, I just needed time to compose myself privately before facing the world again.
Neptune’s was closed to the public today. I was thankful for the smaller crowd because it meant that anyone in here was a trusted person of the club. There was no need to worry about unexpected guests or random fights. I could relax here.
Focus, I mentally chanted to myself as I held the dart poised steadily in my hand. The game had been Kitt’s idea of fun. I had only agreed to it because I thought it would shut him up. Apparently not.
Just as I was about to send the dart sailing, Kitt bellowed loudly, throwing my concentration off while startling me in the process. Instead of the dart hitting the dead center of the board, it zoomed right, nearly catching Dex in the eye.
“What the hell?” he cried.
“Sorry!” Good thing he had fast reflexes otherwise we’d have another disaster on our hands. I whirled on Kitt who had dissolved into hysterical laughter behind me. “You’re such an asshead!”
That outburst only made Kitt howl even harder. “Oh come on, Seven. You pushed me on my last turn and I caught myself only when my face crashed into a pair of boobs!”
I grinned. “That just makes me a great wingman.”
Kitt hooted as I headed for the bar. “She just hates losing,” I heard him tell Lennon.
Indy shot me a smile as she poured a drink for me. “Nice aim,” she said with a wink.
“Dex certainly won’t agree. I think he’s scared of me now.”
“Might be a good thing,” she drawled but her smile disappeared as I tossed back my drink. “So how are you feeling?”
“Still a bit gutted about it all but I’m dealing with it.”
“Yeah, I still can’t believe what happened but I’m here if you need me.”
I smiled. “Thanks.” Just then, shouts exploded outside. “What the hell is going on out there?”
“I don’t know.”
“Seven!” a familiar male voice cried out. “Seven!”
Indy’s eyes grew wide. “Who is that?”
The other people in the bar were starting to notice the disturbance. I rose from the stool, frowning as everyone turned to me as though I could explain what the hell was going on. Hell if I knew myself.
Trey pushed through the doors of Neptune’s, looking like a man who’d just escaped a scuffle. His hair stuck out in all direction as he staggered towards me. “Seven!”
Angel barreled in right after him, slamming a hand down on the back of his shirt, ready to haul him back out. “What the fuck is going on here?” Trey was breathing hard from exertion. “Are you okay?” I asked him.
“You’ve got about five seconds before I throw you back outside, motherfucker,” Angel threatened.
“It’s okay. I got this.” Angel shot me a skeptical look but didn’t budge. “What’s wrong, Trey?”
Trey let out a breath. “Thank God you’re okay. They wouldn’t let me see you. I heard about the attempted rape. I went by your house a few days ago but no one was there. I just wanted to know that you were okay.”
“I was with Glory MC. And I’m okay.”
“You don’t need them.” His tone quickly turned angry. “They’re the reason the Phantoms came to Giovanni’s that night. If there’s anyone to blame, it should be them.”
What was he talking about? “The Phantoms were the ones that attacked us. Lucky stopped them from raping me.”
“Don’t delude yourself. This is their world, Seven. You can’t honestly believe that their hands are clean of blood.”
I thought of Lucky, knowing full well that he’d killed before. I’d been there when he’d put six bullets into the two men who were going to rape me. But then I also thought of Tansy and how Glory MC had taken her out of that cage and given back to her what the Phantoms had stolen.
“I think you should leave.” I wasn’t going to stand around while he badmouthed Glory MC.
Trey looked completely shocked by my request. “What? No, I’m not leaving here without you.” He stepped forward to grab my arm, but not before I could put a chair between us. Bright eyes peered down at the barrier before his gaze lifted, meeting mine. “Don’t be stupid, Seven. You aren’t safe here. Come with me. I’ll protect you.”
“Don’t patronize me. You’re hardly in a position to tell me what to do.” My tone had turned sharp and angry.
“I wasn’t—”
“And don’t stand there making assumptions about things you know nothing about, insulting what has become my family. Glory MC came when I called them. They were the ones who put a stop to it all. They helped us. Helped me. And now they’re going to help G. So don’t stand there insulting them like they didn’t save your life that night. I won’t let you do it.”
“Seven, just let me—”
A voice behind me thundered with deadly warning. “The lady asked you to leave.” Spinning, I found Lucky standing behind me, arms crossed over his chest.
“Don’t act like you’re any different than the Phantoms,” Trey sneered. “Can you stand there and say you haven’t killed anyone?”
Lucky slid a look in my direction. “You don’t have to answer that,” I said quickly.
“I have actually,” Lucky admitted, shocking not only Trey and myself, but also the other onlookers who had come around us to see what all the noise was. “I killed two men who were going to rape Seven. I also killed others in Ward Three before that.” Lucky advanced, lessening the distance between them. “He was a mistake though. I should have kept him alive long enough to question him first.” He shrugged and Trey gave me a look that communicated, See? I was right! “But I don’t regret it because if I allowed him to live, he would’ve taken one of those girls he was fucking into the sex trade. So you tell me, should I have left him alive to prey on those women?”
Trey remained speechless through all this.
“Go home, Trey,” I told him softly.
Angel took that as his cue, grabbing a rough hold of Trey’s arms and pulling back. He fought against his hold, unwilling to give up so easily, but something in my expression must’ve gotten through because Trey allowed himself to be led out. I let out a breath, feeling worse than ever. Had I just gained an enemy?
“I’m sorry about that,” I said to Lucky.
“It’s okay.” His eyes were still on the door. “I want to talk to Angel when he gets back from throwing that asshead back outside though.”
“It’s not his fault. He tried to stop him.”
“He clearly didn’t do a good enough job. Look,” he said, stepping closer to me. “I don’t want you seeing him again. Until we know who broke in—”
“Trust me, Trey is the last person I want to see right now.”
“And about what he said—”
“Don’t worry about it, okay?” I tried to soften my eyes, to show him how thankful I was that he’d been here to help me, but I wasn’t sure it translated to him. Already this day was proving too much for me. “I’ll see you at home.”
Lucky
Seven’s mood hadn’t lightened entirely by the time dusk rolled around. It made me wonder what was going through her mind. Did she really mean what she said about not wanting to see Trey anymore? It was clear that the guy wanted to be with her. There weren’t many people who would fight their way through a bunch of bikers just for a chance to speak with a woman. I was beginning to think that the bastard might actually love her.
I clenched my teeth at the surge of possession that ignited within me. Was I jealous of the fact that Seven had an interest in him before?
We were arguing less and less. At first, I wondered if it was because of everything that had happened recently. Maybe Seven was still feeling down about G leaving and losing her job, not to mention all that she’d endured the night of the Phantoms’ raid. However, tonight proved that she still had that spark of fire. It was just that for the first time it hadn’t been focused in my direction but on Trey instead.
That fire. Damn, what would that be like channeled into passion? Images of unrestrained sex assaulted my brain, making me grow harder than ever before. Why did this keep happening? Was this reaction a result of the stress and the fatigue all rolling together into an avalanche? Or was it that I was finding Seven more and more attractive as I learned more about her?
After making a delicious dinner, Seven went up to take a shower. The scent of her shampoo drove me crazy in the best way possible. And her tanned legs made exposed by the itty bitty white towel she used created more fodder for my fantasies.
As she entered her bedroom, she let the towel drop. Bronzed skin was revealed to my gaze. I turned away quickly but not before my cock turned impossibly hard.
Feeling like a complete bastard, I peeked again, unable to stop myself even if I tried. Seven was putting on her earrings, two little studs that flashed when they hit the light. The next thing she put on was a kimono. I’d seen plenty of women in movies wear it to know what it was. The light pink satin glided effortlessly on her skin, heating me more.
You would think that someone like me would’ve had better control of himself after all the women I’d seen naked. But the sight of Seven nude would forever be imprinted into the back of my eyelids. Like a kid who had been caught peeking, I ran to my bedroom, hoping that the saying rang true. Out of sight. Out of mind.
Going over my to-do list for tomorrow didn’t help one bit. Hours had passed and need still coursed through my body, making my skin feel tight. My cock was demanding attention and knowing that Seven was in the next room over, the fire in my belly erupted into an inferno. Gritting my teeth to stop the moan from sounding through to the other room, I took myself in hand and began to stroke. My eyelids dropped, images of Seven swirling through my mind.
I remembered the way she’d looked in Indy’s car that first night, looking so ethereal and smelling like fresh rain. It unnerved me. Made me crazy with lust.
I stroked softly at first, then more forcefully. Seven would hate that I was jacking myself off to thoughts of her, but I couldn’t stop myself. I stroked until my breath hitched and my toes curled. My hips arched off the bed, straining for completion when there was a knock on the door.
“Shit.” I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and hastily searched for my jeans, pulling them on. “Just a second!”
When I swung the door open, Seven stood outside, her head canted slightly as she stared up at me. Those cerulean blues dipped low to rake across my chest and down to my hips.
Her eyes widened.
Aw shit! I hadn’t zipped up my pants! Slamming the door shut, I cursed my moronic stupidity as I adjusted myself. Then on a breath, I opened the door again.