Chapter Fifteen
The others moved back against the walls as the two men Donny had come to the club with ungagged the man whose nose was bleeding. One of Donny’s men held up a pair of pliers and a stun gun. The bleeding man’s eyes widened with fear.
“We can do this the easy way. I’m fine with that. I’m gonna take the gag out of your mouth, and you’re gonna give me your name. Your real name. And then we’ll get you to a doctor to get that nose taken care. Are we clear on this?”
The fear in the man’s eyes faded as he nodded. Donny’s associate removed the gag and the man spit blood onto the floor. He coughed a few times before speaking. “We were sent here by Mad Dog.”
The other three clearly were not happy they’d just been ratted out, but there was nothing they could do about it other than shoot daggers with their eyes at the men in the room.
Donny’s associate nodded. “Good. Now give me your real names. All four.”
For a second or two, Mastema thought the idiot would keep silent, but then finally he rattled off four names Mastema had never heard. From the looks on his Brothers’ faces, neither had they.
“You’re not part of the Outlaw Dogs,” said Donny. “Who are you?”
“We sided with Mad Dog.”
“He’s dead, dumbass.” The officers laughed.
“Yeah, but his followers have their own club now, and we got some new members.”
Fuck. That was news to them. The Brothers gave each other dark glances.
“Why’d they send you here tonight?”
“Just to scope out the place. That’s it. We didn’t mean to cause no trouble.”
“Looks like you fucked that up, no?”
The officers laughed again.
“You mean you were sent to see if you could get inside,” said Gorgon.
Donny shot him a warning look.
“Why did he send you? He already tried that with Tom Becklin and Merle Grady. Didn’t work out too well for them, did it?”
A shiver ran down Mastema’s spine at the tone in Donny’s voice. What did he mean? The man whose nose was broken narrowed his eyes. “How the fuck do you know about that?”
“You mean that the FBI picked them up three days ago, right outside the Last Stop Saloon? Didn’t anyone tell you? I’m the one who called them and let them know two men most of New Jersey and all of New York was looking for were hiding out right here, in Creek Ridge, Ohio. They were much obliged for the tip.”
The officers laughed one more time. It was really difficult not to. Donny was both dangerous and too cool for his own good.
“So, I guess that means Mad Dog figured since that plan wouldn’t work again, he’d simply send in people we didn’t know, sporting fake IDs, to do what, exactly? Check out the place? Stir shit up?”
“No. I told you. We weren’t supposed to cause any trouble.”
“Yeah. You said that. But you fucked up. Shouldn’t have made a fuss about the drink, or struck a woman!” Donny’s face was red and angry.
“The bitch pissed me off!”
It was all Mastema could do to stay where he was. Donny muttered something in Italian and nodded toward one of the men who’d come with him. The man smacked broken nose in the face with a gloved hand, sending more blood flying, and forcing a pathetic wail from him.
“Enough with the fucking chit-chat,” said Donny, his voice hard and cold. “Whose protection are you under?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
Donny’s associate stepped closer, and the man winced. “I think you should anyway.”
“He’ll kill us!”
“Would you rather I do it now then? Because I’m fine either way.”
The bleeding man glanced toward the other three with desperation on his face, but there were no clear answers coming from them. The stench of urine filled the room, but Mastema wasn’t sure which man had just pissed himself. They all looked equally terrified and defeated.
Donny’s associate cut his gaze toward his partner, and pointed to the man closest to the one whose nose was bleeding. “Start with him. He’s the ugliest.”
“No! Wait! I’ll tell you.” He moaned loudly, spat more blood onto the floor, and let out a second wail that sent more shivers down Mastema’s spine. He suddenly understood that whether these men talked or not, they were going to die tonight.
“Roberto di Stefano.” He whispered the name, but they all heard it.
The door opened. Rahab took in the scene, his gaze resting on Gorgon’s face. “Might want to send one or two more officers out here. Customers are asking a lot of questions.”
“I’ll go,” said Mastema. He’d watched enough men die in his lifetime.
As he walked among the crowd, reassuring customers that everything was fine and they had nothing to worry about, and offering them drinks on the house for the remainder of the night, he couldn’t get the sight of Kayla punching that man in the gut out of his mind.
On the heels of that, the memory of her tending to Meghan’s bruise looped through his head. Soon, everyone would hear what she had done. How bravely she’d reacted. And how she’d never hesitated to help Meghan. She was so different now than when she’d first come here, it was hard to believe she’d ever been any other way. All she’d needed was someone to listen. To understand. And to tell her that if she wanted things to change, it had to start with her.
That advice extended to him, too. If he wanted his life to be different than it had been since Tina died, he needed to make changes as well. He already had, by letting Kayla inside the walls he’d built around his heart. But he wanted more than that. More than her as his lover and his confidante.
It was time to let go of the fear that if he asked her to be his old lady, she would die. Mastema had to sit down on one of the barstools as the reality of what had been holding him back washed over him.
Had it been watching Donny’s associates toy with those men? Or had it been the moment when one of them pissed his pants from fear? Yes, he’d watched men die before. All of them had. They’d all lost family members or friends in the fire that had destroyed their original compound, over twenty years earlier.
Since then, they’d taken care of plenty of threats to their MC and to the business they ran inside this building. A mere six weeks ago, they’d killed Chloe’s ex-boyfriend in the kitchen. But tonight, something had changed. Something deep inside Mastema had shifted.
Tina had been gone for eight years now. Eight lonely, unfulfilling years during which he’d had plenty of pussy, but no love. No one had been allowed to get close. Mastema had kept them at bay, enjoying their bodies, but not letting himself feel one damn thing for them.
Not until now. Not until this girl with the short dark hair and luminous blue eyes had captivated him. Bewitched him. Put him under her spell. And then transformed herself from a frightened girl who kept everyone at arm’s length, the same way he had done, into a caring, compassionate, hard-working member of this club. Her dancing had improved, and she now ran circles around the others who shared laundry duty with her.
And tonight, she’d stepped up without a second’s hesitation to help neutralize the men who had come here to threaten their club and one of their bartenders. If that wasn’t the kind of woman Mastema wanted to spend the rest of his life with, no one was.
The only question now was, would she say “yes” when he asked her?
****
Kayla stayed with Meghan until they both grew tired. Meghan wanted to sleep, but instead of returning to her room, Kayla ventured downstairs. The customers were gone, and the men were finishing cleaning up the club for the night. She spotted Phenex and Vassago outside the office Donny used. The smell of dried blood and urine hung in the air.
“Hey, are you all right?” asked Vassago. “Let’s see that hand.”
She couldn’t help smiling as she held out her right hand. “It’s fine.”
“We were all impressed,” said Phenex “Is Meghan okay?”
“Yes. She got tired and went to bed, but I don’t think I can sleep yet.”
“We’re almost done here.”
“What happened with the men?”
“You don’t want to know.”
A shiver ran down her spine. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“You might check with Mastema,” said Phenex. “He’s cleaning the stage.”
He was the only one up there, and he was done cleaning by the time she climbed the stairs. “How are you?” he asked.
“I’m all right. Meghan went to bed. Sounds like everyone knows what I did tonight.”
“Damn straight they do, and we’re all very proud of you.”
“Anyone would have done the same thing.”
Mastema pulled her close. “Yes, but a few weeks ago, you wouldn’t have bothered.”
It was true. She wouldn’t have. “I was afraid, Mastema. I acted like an ass. I told you the reason I blew off laundry at first was to concentrate on my dancing, but that’s not entirely true. I was terrified to let anyone get close to me.”
“I know that, Kayla.” His voice was so tender. Emotion washed over her as they stood there on the empty stage, holding each other. She gradually became aware that the other voices and sounds had faded. They were alone in the club.
“What happened with those men tonight?”
He gave her a dark look. “Are you sure you want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Two men who work for Donny showed up and got some information out of them.”
“And? What did they say? Where are they now?”
“We won’t see them again.”
A chill ran down her spine. “What did you find out about them?”
“Mad Dog has his own club now. They might be working for a Mob boss who’s based in Queens.”
“That doesn’t sound good. I thought they were under Vito’s protection?”
“They were. And if they no longer are, it’s not good. It adds a layer we hadn’t anticipated to this fucking turf war. Donny has contacts he’s gonna check with and make sure the men were telling the truth before he figures out his next move.”
“So what happens now?”
He shrugged. “We let Donny and Vito take care of it.”’
“Those two might end up in business together before all this is over.”
“You might very well be right.”
“What about the two men who tried to get in here through the fence? Is there any connection?”
“Yes. They’re with the same group. Their intention that night was to cut a hole in the fence they could use later, after the club was closed. They would have shot the two men we had guarding the back lot if necessary.”
“But why did four others come here tonight, then? That makes no sense.”
“The two men who cut the hole in the fence were wanted in two states for a series of crimes. They’re in FBI custody now. According to what Donny found out tonight, the four sent here tonight weren’t supposed to cause any trouble. They were only supposed to scope out the place. They’re new to the group who now follows Mad Dog.”
“I thought Mad Dog was dead.”
“He is, which makes his followers even more dangerous.”
When she hugged herself, he pulled her close. “It’s all right.”
“Really?”
“No, not really, but we will handle it. I promise you that.”
Kayla didn’t want to think about it. She only wanted to hold him all night. She glanced around. “Looks like they left us here alone.”
“Yeah. What should we do about that?”
Her pussy grew wet. “Well, I don’t know. I could show you some of the things I’ve learned on the poles.”
“You could do that, yes.” He brushed a finger down her face, sending shivers up and down her spine. “Or, we could do this.” When he leaned in for a kiss, Kayla didn’t hesitate, until he cupped her breasts through the tube top she wore. “And we could do this.”
“Maybe we should go to your room first?” She wiggled out of his grasp.
“There’s no one here but us.” The lust in his beautiful eyes took her breath away. “Dance for me, Bedroom Eyes. I’ll be your audience of one.”