Chapter 10
London
“Hey, Tate, I have a few things I was hoping to bring to your attention. You can tell me to mind my own business, but I think you might be interested in what I just found out,” I blurt as soon as Tate makes his way to me and Cain.
He smiles and nods, waiting patiently.
“All right, London, what can I do for you guys?” he glances from me to Cain then back to me.
“Well, first off, did you know Cam has been helping your dad out?”
He crinkles his forehead and shakes his head, confirming what I’d suspected all along.
“Okay, so Cain just recognized Cameron. I guess he saw him at a meeting they had with your father and Cain’s motorcycle club. Now what would Cam be doing helping him at that kind of meeting when Cam told you he wasn’t going to work for Gizya? Think also about all the different times he would just disappear and y’all couldn’t find him.” I study his face closely to see if he gives off any clues.
He seems perplexed for a minute before he responds. “Yeah, I even asked him the other day if he was at my dad’s club because I’ve been seeing his car there. He told me he had something come up and had to take off. I had Niko follow him and sure enough, he went to my dad’s club. I haven’t said anything because I was hoping he would talk to me about it.”
Tate turns to Cain and brings him into our conversation. “What was Cameron doing there in your meeting, do you know? What was the meeting about anyhow?”
Cain glances at me and shakes his head then turns to Tate. Ugh, wrong questions. Cain will lock up like Fort Knox before he talks club stuff.
“Sorry, man, but I can’t discuss my club’s business.”
Bingo, called it!
Guess I’m going to have to try and work some of my magic. Especially now that I have baby momma status, hopefully my gorgeous man will take my word on this one.
“Cain, you can trust Tate, I promise you. He’s a good guy and a serious businessman. I think some people are lying to him, and I really hope you will see if the guys will let you tell him what’s going on.”
Cain grunts then turns back to him when Tate starts speaking again.
“Look, man, I’ll extend an olive branch first, okay? I’m not The Big Boss like my father, Gizya, but I am a Boss. They call me Knees. Maybe you’ve heard of me?”
Cain nods at him and looks at him with a little more respect now. Good start. My best friend’s boyfriend needs to be cool with mine.
Wait. My boyfriend? Is he my boyfriend? I think of him as more than that. We will have to discuss this later.
Cain stares at me earnestly, silently warning me when he and Tate start talking. “Yeah, your name was brought up in our meeting, actually. Baby, you can’t repeat to anyone what you hear, okay? It could seriously get you killed, ya hear me?”
“Of course, Cain, I would never. Your business I will always keep between you and me,” I reply genuinely. I would never jeopardize him and the club.
“All right, so your dad said you’re familiar with weapons, you know what I mean? And you will be assisting in some merchandise,” Cain mutters low so no one can overhear.
Tate’s face heats up in anger. “Fuck, and Cameron was at this kind of meeting? He doesn’t know anything about that business. Was he just observing or something?”
Cain shakes his head, a grim look overtaking his features. “He seems to be assisting your father in certain merchandise knowledge for distribution. You feel me?”
Tate nods, glowering at everything he’s hearing.
He takes a deep breath then turns and motions to Emily to come to us. She walks toward us, and Tate gives Cain his attention again. “Thank you, Cain. I’m going to give you my number, since it looks as if we will be working together in the future anyhow. If something seems out of place, please call me and I will return the favor. I don’t like fishy shit, and this feels fishy.”
Emily treks along beside me while the guys are exchanging numbers, smiling largely. She most likely thinks the guys have become buds or something. I wonder how much of Tate’s business she knows about.
Tate wraps one of his arms around her and pulls her in close.
“Come on, moi kpacota, I have business to take care of. London, Cain, we will see you soon. And thank you for bringing this to my attention.”
The guys shake hands, and then Tate and Emily head for the exit.
“Love you, chickadee!” I yell loudly at Emily. She turns around and blows me a kiss.
“Love you back, sexy!” she calls in return, and then they’re gone.
I look up at Cain and smirk. “Wow, crazy night and I’m even sober.”
He chuckles. “I know, baby, it wouldn’t be a night out with you, without some kind of drama.” He wraps his arm around me as we walk to the exit.
I smack at his arm and my eyes grow wide with false innocence. “What on earth are you talking about?” I act outraged, but I know it’s true.
“Please, there were plenty of nights I got you off the bar or you blacked out or you tried to…” He begins to go into detail and I jump to stop him quickly.
“Okay, okay, I get it. No need to be naming instances.”
He chuckles loudly, and I beam up at him. I love when he smiles or laughs; he’s so unbelievably sexy—covered in tattoos, scruff, and muscles.
“Come on, sweet cheeks, I need to hit up Ares when we get back and let him know what’s going on.” Cain tugs me into his body tightly and gives me a sweet, soft kiss with just enough tongue to get me wound up.
He pulls away and hops on his bike, then holds my hand so I climb on behind him. I will be so grateful when it warms back up; this cold weather sucks.
We arrive at the apartment, and Cain calls Ares to update him. They set up a meet for tomorrow to discuss everything properly, I guess.
I put on a pair of Cain’s boxer shorts I had stolen before I moved and my bra. He strips down naked and gets in the middle of the bed. Jesus, he’s sexy with his bedhead and tired eyes.
“Come lie down, baby,” he says all sleepy and sweet. I love when he’s like this.
“Okay, honey bun,” I whisper and crawl in next to him.
He has the sheets all nice and warmed up for me. His body is like a giant heater. I curl up and lay my head on his chest and wrap my arm over his stomach muscles. He does the same, wrapping his strong arm around my back. Rubbing me softly, the tenderness has me dozing off, when I hear him whisper right as I’m falling asleep.
“I love you, baby boy, and your gorgeous momma, too.”
I sleep with a smile on my face. I love him so much, and I can’t wait to tell him.
Cain
“So what do you want to do?” I meet Ares’ intense gaze.
I just got done telling him everything that happened at the club with Tate and his buddy. I’m still pissed at that little prick. At least Tate turned out to be pretty decent.
Ares seems a little lost and irritated at the same time with the new information. I know he won’t let any of the other guys see him frustrated. He reaches back to massage his neck muscles. I bet he’s stressed out and ready to go home.
“Looks like I’m going to have to call Prez and see what he thinks. I agree with Tate, though—something ain’t right. Contact him and see if he can come and meet with all of us. That way if anyone has questions, they have a chance to ask him. We may find out some useful information that way, ya know?” he mutters, and I nod.
I pull out my phone to make the call to Tate. “Hey, man, it’s Cain. You mind stopping over at the motel and having a chat with my brothers about the shit going down?”
“Of course, no problem. Do you care if I bring my guard, Nikoli?”
“Yeah, you can bring him. You can bring a few guards if it makes you feel better. We just want to talk, though, no bullshitting around.”
“Cool. I have Emily with me. Is London at the apartment?”
“Yeah, London’s chilling. She can go hang out if she wants to; I know she misses Emily.”
“Great, then it’s settled. I’ll drop her off then stop by.”
“Cool, appreciate it.”
“Of course.”
“Later.” I hang up before he says anything else and turn to Ares. He’s sitting there staring at me, obviously having heard my whole conversation.
“All right, brother. Tate and his boy are coming by after he drops his girl off.”
He blinks and studies my face for a moment. “Do you know the guy coming with him, too?”
“Nope. I went to school with Tate’s ol’ lady; that’s how me and him met in the first place. London is best friends with Emily. Talk about a small world, huh?”
He grunts. “Ain’t that the truth?”
Speaking of London, I want to let everyone know all about our good news. I know they’ll be happy for us. I’ll quit moping around the clubhouse, and they’ll get to see sweet cheeks around again. “Hey, man, I’m going to call everybody in here for a minute so I can tell y’all at the same time, okay?”
Ares stares at me puzzled and nods. “You two didn’t elope or some shit, did ya?” He smirks, like he knows me so well.
If only she would, I’d be long gone with her on a honeymoon right now.
“Shit, I wish we did. I know she won’t or I’d bring it up.”
I round up the brothers quickly and ask them to come to Ares’ room for an announcement. They figure it’s orders from Ares, so they all come to his room right away.
Once everyone’s all settled I beam a smile and share our news. “So besides the Russian shit we got going down, I have something I’d like to share with y’all.”
They nod, waiting for me to make my big announcement.
“So London went to the doctor the other day and found out she’s four and a half months pregnant. We are having a son around mid-April,” I finish and grin at my brothers.
They hoot and holler, making me chuckle. “Congrats, man,” Capone congratulates first. I fist bump him, and he claps me on my shoulder.
“Fucking awesome, brother. A muthafuckin’ mini Cain is going to be running around the clubhouse,” 2 Piece cheers and gives me a man hug. I hug him back and beam a cheesy smile. A mini Cain. I fucking love it.
“That’s great, man,” Ares acknowledges and claps me on the back next. I turn to Twist since he’s remained quiet.
“Cupcake doin’ all right? Is she happy?” He peers at me worried, and I look at him crazy. Has he lost his fuckin’ head? I’m about to deck his ass.
“Of course she’s happy, fucker. She’s over the goddamn moon about this shit.”
What the hell is he talking about? He never gives two shits if someone’s happy about anything.
“Then I’m glad for you, brother. You both deserve to be happy together.”
I blink at Twist a couple times and he fist bumps me. That came straight from left field.
“Thanks, brother, that means a lot, and I know she’ll be pleased to hear that.” He nods and then sits on the edge of Ares’ bed.
Leave it to Twist to be weird. I know he cares about her, but damn. Brother was looking at me like he was going to scalp me if she wasn’t content about everything. We better find someone for him to relieve some stress on soon; he’s like a ticking time bomb. I’ll be damned if he takes that shit out on me. I’m glad I’m not staying here.
We’re all sitting around discussing the baby and London when there’s a knock on the door. We grow silent and all glance at each other. I reach in my holster and pull my Glock out and point it toward the door. 2 Piece pulls both of his out as well. Ares clears his throat and goes to the door. As the Enforcer, he always heads up any potential threats or dangerous situations first. It’s fun, but I’d hate to be in his shoes all the time.
“Yeah?” he calls loudly through the door and peeks out the side of the curtain.
“It’s Tate for Cain,” replies a deep voice matching the one from the club. Ares glances at me and I nod.
He leans over and opens the door and scoots back so we can all watch Tate enter. He comes in with the giant Russian I saw at OO7.
I stand up and shake hands with Tate then turn and shake hands with the Russian. “Hey, thanks for stopping by.”
I want to be as friendly as possible so we can work together. Plus, I don’t want to cause any shit between Emily and London because of their men. Those girls have been best friends for as long as I have known them. I’m not going to give London a reason to confiscate my balls.
“Of course. I want to get to the bottom of this, also.” He gazes around, nodding to each biker.
“Brothers, this is Tate. He was referred to at the meeting as Knees. He’s supposed to help us on the weapons front. Tate, these are my brothers: you have Ares, our Club Enforcer, Capone handles our weapons, 2 Piece here, and this is Twist.”
Tate shakes each of their hands respectfully. That will immediately earn him some respect in return. Not many men have the balls to do that when they first meet the brothers.
“It’s nice to meet everyone. This is my friend and head guard, Nikoli. He heads up security for me. This is my brother, Viktor. He’s familiar with the businesses and does disposal when needed. He’s been hearing things that my father has been into from my Uncle’s Bratva men as well.”
Ares stands and shakes Viktor’s hand. “Y’all have a seat so we can figure out what’s going on.” He gestures toward the small table and desk chairs for them to sit.
“What all was your meeting with my father over?”
We all shift to watch Ares and see what he wants to say. He looks back at us. “Get the samples that Gizya pushed on us,” he orders, and everyone complies. We each place our bags in front of the Russians. Tate looks at the drugs in the bags.
“Y’all bought this from him?” he asks, meeting our gazes.
Ares huffs. “No, he gave it all to us to sample. He tried getting us to do it right there in front of him with your boy and a bunch of bitches. We didn’t test any of it, though. We told him none of us do the drug thing. We were only coming for a weapons deal, so I don’t know why he’s trying to push this on us when we don’t sell drugs. Our MC actually tries to clean most of the shit up off the street. We each have our own little vice we like, but we ain’t out selling the shit to anybody.”
Tate looks at Viktor then to the ground and shakes his head angrily. “We were supposed to be out of this shit,” he mutters. “I can’t believe he’s still up to his old tricks. Viktor, do you think Uncle is in on this with Gizya?” He turns to his brother and becomes more livid as he thinks it over.
Viktor shrugs. “I don’t know, Tatkiv. It wouldn’t surprise me, though. You want to be legit besides the weapons trade, but they just want to do business and make money. We may get along better with him now, but he’s still the same man as before. I look over the accounts to the clubs, so he’s not putting the money into them. Uncle must be helping him with that part at least,” Viktor reasons, and we remain quiet.
Gotta’ see what they want to do; it’s their pops. Tate looks from his brother to Ares. “Ares did your club come to any terms for distribution for my father?”
“No. We told him that we’d try the shit out at our club, but we don’t sell for nobody. Not even the fucking Russian Mafia. My Prez don’t want none of that shit. We’ve got plenty of our own stuff to worry about.”
“All right, is your contact Cameron or another of my father’s men?”
“Gizya gave me his line directly to give to my Prez. I have Cameron’s number for questions about the product or if I need to order any. I have one of your father’s men’s numbers that’s supposed to handle weapons and work with Capone. He’s supposed to be hitting you up to get in touch with Capone here. You’re supposed to be setting up details for the delivery and pick up of the crates we want.”
“Okay.” He nods. “Cain has my number already. I’ll also leave it with each of you in case something happens then you each can get a hold of me. Thank you for bringing me into this with you. I’m not pleased with my father’s decision to distribute drugs and try to get you all hooked on product so you decide to sell for him. My uncle pulled the same thing before. Now it makes me wonder if it was my father’s plan all along. I’m going to be The Big Boss soon and even sooner if he keeps this up. I won’t be in the drug trade. Right?” he states firmly and turns to Viktor and Nikoli.
They both nod at Tate then at Ares.
“Sounds good. We’re due to head back home in two days. We’ll let you know if he tries to set anything else up before then,” Ares states and gets to his feet.
Tate, Viktor, and Nikoli get the hint and stand to leave also. Ares shakes each of their hands and we all follow suit.
Tate stops in front of me last. “Cain, I’m going to head over and get Emily, as soon as I discuss a few options with my men.”
I nod. “All right. I’m going to head on over to the apartment after I talk to my brothers, too. I’ll probably run into you there.”
“Oh, and, Cain?”
I meet his gaze, cocking an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
He smirks. “I’ve known about London’s secret since she first found out. If I’m adding that up right, then congratulations are due. I know Emily will be thrilled with this news.”
I smile wide and shake his hand again when he presents it to me. “Yep, that’s my baby. I am so fucking happy, too. Got my girl and now a kid on the way. Life’s pretty fucking perfect right now,” I reply proudly.
He smiles back. “Good, I’m happy for you both. She deserves someone like you, a man that truly cherishes her,” he states and heads out of the hotel room.
Did we just become best friends? Ha, fucking London and her movie quotes. We are definitely watching Stepbrothers tonight.
“Ares? What’s the plan, brother? You’re in charge on this run,” 2 Piece reminds us, and we all turn our attention to Ares.
Good question; glad he brought it up.
“Fuck, of course shit would be fucked up when the Prez doesn’t come with us. I don’t know what to do just yet, it’s the fucking Russian Mafia. I’m going to call him back again and let him know what Gizya’s sons said and see what he wants us to do.”
Twist stands up. “That sounds good to me. We’re down for whatever, you know this.”
I can tell that crazy fucker is just waiting for some shit to pop off. I know he’d love the chance to add more blood to his resume. I wouldn’t mind getting a piece of these idiots trying to get us all hooked on their shit either.
I’m not trying to become a fucking junkie, and neither are my brothers. I need to see London. We have to wait to hear what Prez wants, so essentially we’re done with this meeting and I’m going to pop smoke if nobody needs me here.
“Cool, then I’m going head to my girl’s place. Bitch is being stubborn about coming back home, and it’s driving me fucking crazy. I’m going to end up packing up all her shit for her and having someone pick it up.”
A few of the brothers chuckle and Capone snorts. They know good and well I won’t do anything without London’s approval about shit like that. I’m not a fucking pussy or anything either; I just respect my baby and her opinions.
“Why don’t you borrow my truck to come get it?” 2 Piece suggests. “It’ll give her an excuse to come visit her friend again.”
I could fucking hug him for the suggestion. I won’t, but I could. This might be the way to get her to tip over to my side and come back with me.
I squeeze his shoulder—affectionate but still manly. “That’s a real good idea. I’ll run it by her and see if it helps motivate her. Thanks, man.”
“Sure, brother, no problem, you know we’re here to help if you need it, too.”
I nod and fist bump each brother on my way out.
“Later,” I call on my way out the door.
I’m stepping out of the motel room when I’m hit from behind with what must be a steel pole.
Oh, hell no.
I flip around quickly and back up a step then a few paces to the side in case the person on the other end of that pole swings again.
Fuck! That shit hurt!
Bastard got me good in my mid-back. If it wasn’t for all the fights I’ve been in, I’d probably be on the ground right about now. I’m lucky I’ve built up a high pain tolerance.
I come face-to-face with the sandy-haired fuck that was texting my ol’ lady.
Oh, I don’t fucking think so.
I knew I should’ve taught him a lesson at the club when I first saw him. It’s cool, though; I’ll show the fucker right now that I mean business.
“Oh, boy. You done fucked up now. Do you have any idea what I do for my club?” I grit out menacingly. It probably sounded more like an angry growl leaving me, but that works just as well.
Spreading my legs apart a little, I brace for impact in case the asshat decides to clobber me with his pole again. I glance over to the door and notice Twist grinning like it’s Christmas morning. Good, he can tie this clown up after I’m finished with him.
“Screw you! What did you tell Tate about me?” He’s wielding the pole in front of him like he’s going to play baseball. It keeps shaking really bad. I don’t know if he’s scared or just pumped up.
I glare at him. “Don’t you fucking worry about shit that I tell anybody. Why the hell are you here, making mistakes?”
He sneers and throws the pole at me. I dodge it, and when I look back over at him, he has a small gun pointed in my direction. It’s probably a nine; he’s too much of a pansy to have anything bigger. He’s so damn shaky that I wouldn’t be surprised if it went off by accident at this rate.
“He wants to get sliced and diced it looks like,” Twist snickers, and I smirk at him. We’ve had some fun in the past together practicing torture methods on some low-life child abusers.
“You better not touch me, and you better not tell Tate anything! I’m going to call Gizya and let him know how you went behind his back to his whiny son!” He screams it angrily and waves the gun around between me and Twist.
Twist laughs loudly when the gun points in his direction, not worried one bit. No doubt he’s already imagining what he’s going to do to Cameron when he gets the chance for payback.
“Ah, you see that’s where you’re wrong.” Cameron lowers the gun when Twist’s laughing distracts him even more.
I leap forward with a quick two-two jab to the face. He stumbles back, and I’m kind of surprised he didn’t fall. Guess he has some balance after all.
Cameron assumes a defensive position with his arms up and his knees bent. He has one hand pointing the gun at me but I can see it’s not actually going to hit me with where the barrel’s aimed. I taunt him, hoping to fuck with him some more.
“You want to play, motherfucker? I’m going to fuck you up so badly for pissing my ol’ lady off, and then I’m going to let Twist here see if he can twist some shit in ya.”
It works. He glances at Twist, and I use it to my advantage. Leaping forward, I clip him in the temple. He didn’t even see it coming.
He falls to the ground, and I nod at Twist to secure him if need be. Twist grabs the gun up quickly and tucks it in the back of his pants.