“Cel, you’re overreacting—”
“How dare you tell me I’m overreacting! Do you know what it’s like to lose you to a ghost time and time again? Do you know how fucking heartbreaking it is to never be enough for you?”
“Never enough? You’re fucking everything to me.”
She shakes her head sadly as my anger boils.
“This,” she waves her hands around the parking lot. “This is everything to you. You can pretend all you want but I saw your face tonight when you got that phone call. Do you know what I was about to tell you? Can you even remember what we were talking about before you left?”
Frustrated, I run my fingers through my hair and try to recall the events from earlier. Jack walks over to me and lays a hand on my shoulder.
“Maybe you two should call it a night. Take her home, get your shit together and we’ll talk tomorrow,” he says.
“Yeah, Cobra, your boss is giving you an order, better not disobey,” she sneers.
“Stop,” I warn her.
“Or what?” she hisses.
Turning toward Deuce, I reach into my pocket and pull out the keys to her car.
“Take her and Skylar home,” I say, throwing the keys in the air. He lifts his hand to catch them and I turn back to Celeste.
“Old habits die hard, huh Cobra?” she cries.
“Think you need time to process things,” I say evenly, biting the inside of my cheek as I step closer to her. She takes a retreating step back but I quickly reach for her hips and pull her back. My hands cup her face and I force her to look at me.
“You’re more than enough.”
“I wish I believed you.”
One sentence.
A lifetime of regret.
Another win for Yankovich.
-Thirty-three-
Cobra
Three days.
Giving her time to cool off and process yet another nightmare, I stay away from Celeste for three days. I send Deuce by to make sure they’re okay and stop into the day care center for an hour a day to spend time with my little girl. Having had enough of this shit, I decide after church I’m going to her apartment. I’ve given her more than enough time to blow fire. It’s time to sort this shit out.
Standing in the parking lot of Pipe’s garage, I watch Rick pull his mustang into a spot and kill the engine. It’s the first time he’s sitting down with the club. It’s also the first time Rocco will be sitting at our table and the first congregation Wolf will be a part of since being released from the hospital.
Rick pushes his sunglasses on top of his head as he walks toward me.
“Thanks for coming, man,” I greet, noticing the large legal envelope tucked under his arm. “What’s that?”
He glances at the garage and then back at me.
“You sure you trust these guys?”
“Are you telling me there’s a reason I shouldn’t?”
“There might be,” he admits, turning his back to the garage. “I got a hit on Yankovich and someone’s going to have to explain the politics of this club bullshit.”
“Talk to me,” I insist, narrowing my eyes curiously.
“Motherfucker has been playing nice with the Albany chapter.”
Not giving his words a chance to sink in, I push past him and charge toward the garage.
“Jagger, hold on,” he calls behind me, but I don’t stop. I storm into the garage, head straight for Jack and slam my fist on the table in front of him.
“Are you fucking crazy?” Blackie sneers, jumping out of his seat. Ignoring him, I point a finger at Jack and glare at him.
“You know something I don’t about Yankovich?”
Crossing his arms, he leans against his chair and studies me. His eyes slice to Rick and then back to me.
“Cobra, I’m going to give you ten seconds to get out of his face before I remove you myself,” Blackie hisses.
“Leave him, Black,” Jack orders. “You got something you want to say, boy?” he asks me.
“Rick got a hit on Yankovich,” I shout.
Rick pulls me back and steps in front of me. Holding out his hand to Jack, I watch as he introduces himself.
“Rick Grayson,” he offers.
“Jack Parrish,” Jack replies, sliding his hand into Rick’s. “You want to explain what’s got him all riled the fuck up?”
Rick tosses the envelope in front of Jack. Lifting the envelope, Jack motions to the empty seats.
“Sit,” he orders before turning his eyes to me. “You too.”
Then he slams the meat mallet on the table and Blackie introduces the club to Rick. At the end of the table Rocco sits with two men I’ve never seen before. I learn one is Joaquin, his bodyguard, and the second is Nico, his underboss. After the introductions I look back at Jack and watch him stuff the papers back inside the envelope and look at Rick.
“How accurate is this?”
“As accurate as knowing we’re all going to die one day.”
“You going to shed some light on what’s in that envelope to the rest of us?” Wolf grunts beside me.
Jack tips his head toward Rick, giving him the floor.
“Yankovich met with the president of the Satan’s Knights Albany chapter last week. Any of you familiar with him?”
“Rush,” Wolf says, before pointing toward the empty seat across the table. It belongs to Stryker but since Gina’s attack he has not left her side. “He’s been the president for years. That’s also Stryker’s old stomping ground before he went nomad. If anyone knows Rush, it’s him.”
“Well, Stryker’s not an option right now. He needs to take care of his woman and trust we’re going to do our part.”
“Hold it,” Rocco says from across the table. “Your part? Understand this, Parrish. I came to you several times. You didn’t want to listen. Now you think you’re going to take the reins on this one…you’re wrong. It might be Stryker who is taking care of her, but it’ll be me who takes care of the men responsible for what happened to my sister.”
“Not going to happen, Spinelli,” Jack spits. “I made a promise to my brother, told him I’d deliver those men to him and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. You can take part in that, but they will go by his hand not yours otherwise you and I won’t work together at all.”
“Can we get back to the Albany shit because if we don’t find the bastard no one is doing anything,” I point out.
“Yankovich transferred funds into Rush’s account. It’s a personal account that has nothing to do with his club. What those funds are for I don’t know. I also don’t know if his club knows he’s dealing with Yankovich. It might be something just between the two of them. I traced Rush as far back as I can go and there was another transfer made about ten years ago, but after that nothing.”
“Ten years ago, half of us weren’t even sitting around this table.”
“Cain was the president back then,” he says turning to Wolf. “I don’t even remember if we had many dealings with Rush then, do you?”
Wolf shrugs his shoulders.
“Not many that I can recall,” he offers, turning to Riggs. “Can you find out the club’s holdings? What could Rush offer a man like Yankovich that would require a payout?”
“I’ll tell you what he’s getting in exchange,” Rick says, pointing to Rocco.
“Triton Containers. Rush is the middle man in that deal. Originally, Yankovich was leasing the containers and used the Corrupt Bastards’ address. In exchange he funded the rebirth of the club before you people wiped them off the grid. Now with them out of the picture Yankovich needs a new front man. It also helps that Albany isn’t that far from Canada. What he can’t transport through the harbor he’ll move over the border.”
“Are you sure about that?” Rocco asks. “I have very good intel that says the shipment he’s planning through the harbor is a go.”
“Of course you do,” Rick replies. “And I’ll bet my life those containers will be empty. All you’ll f
ind there are the men who raped your sister. That’s how Yankovich works. He’s feeding your enemies to you. Those men who fucked with your sister don’t know their days are numbered, but you better believe Yankovich knows you guys are hunting him. He distracts you, gives you what you want and then when no one is watching he moves what he really wants.”
“Which is?”
“Women,” Rick answers, turning to me.
“He uses women or sometimes young girls to transport his product to other countries. They swallow balloons full of drugs, shove them in places where no one will be looking and gives them a fake identity to get them over the border. Then after the shit is delivered, he kills them or sometimes he sells them,” I inform them all.
My tone lacks any emotion, and for the first time I don’t get angry when I speak the truth. I accept it for what it is and look around at the table of men who swear to end the cycle. My brothers vow to bring this bastard down as I watch them all digest the facts.
“Jesus, fuck,” Deuce says, breaking the silence. “So what the fuck does all this mean?”
“It means we need more information,” Rick answers. “Jagger and I have been chasing this cocksucker for years and right about now is where it always becomes a dead end. I can guarantee you I’m not going to get any more information on this guy.”
“Are you saying the shipment I was planning to intercept is in fact a decoy? Do we move ahead and plan to intercept anyway knowing we’ll at least get the men who harmed Gina?”
“I would think so,” Rick says. “I mean that’s between the two of you,” he says as he points from one end of the table to the other. The mob boss and the president stare off as Rick continues. “You want to avenge that girl’s attack, you start there.”
“You get those guys where you want them and then Stryker delivers them to hell, agreed?” Jack questions.
“Fine, but if he doesn’t finish them I will.”
“Trust me, he’ll finish them,” Jack assures him. “You get me a date and time and my boy will be there with a dirty knife and rusted pipe.”
“What about the rest?” I ask, turning to Jack. “That’s just getting the men he hired to attack Gina. What about him? What about the rest of the girls he’s using and abusing?”
“This is your show, boy. You and Rick know how this bastard operates better than us. If you don’t think we will get anything else digging then we gotta go another route,” Jack answers, glancing around the table. “And we’re going to have to send someone into Albany to be the eyes and ears of this operation.”
“Ideally, sending Stryker would be best considering he has a history with the club,” Riggs points out. “Even though that’s off the table, once this shit is squared away with his girl someone will need to talk to him about what’s going on over there.”
“I don’t know how much time you think you will have, but if you plan on sending someone in there you gotta do that before that farce of a shipment takes place. It won’t be too long after that he will strike for real. In fact, that’s being generous because if you ask me his plan is to move those girls when all eyes are on the harbor,” Rick offers.
“If that’s the case we’re fucked,” Blackie says. “Everyone sitting around this table can’t be in two places at once.”
“We can work the logistics of all that out,” Rocco offers. “I’ll work the harbor, make sure all our ducks are in a row. If you’re going to put one of your men inside Albany, Parrish, you need to decide who and get on that. We don’t have much time, a week maybe two if we’re lucky before we intercept.”
“I’ll go,” I volunteer automatically.
Force of habit I suppose. But the minute the words leave my mouth I instantly regret them and picture Celeste and Skylar.
“It makes sense if he goes,” Blackie says. “He decided to go nomad again, stops off in Albany, maybe even brings up Stryker to Rush. Tells him they were in the same chapter and that Stryker suggested Albany would be a good place to park his Harley until he hit the road again.”
“No,” Wolf says from across the table as he stares at me. “Boy’s got a little girl he barely knows, and this Yankovich has already robbed too much time from them. I’ll go.”
“You just got out of the hospital, old man, where you going?” Riggs spits.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Deuce says. “I’ll go.”
Turning to my side, I watch him push back his chair and slide off his cut. Laying the leather on the table, he pulls out his utility knife and immediately begins to cut the threads from the Brooklyn patch.
“Deuce,” I start.
“Fuck, man, Wolf is right,” he says. “You need to be here with your family, Stryker needs to be with Gina and Linc, well I’m sure if he could fucking move he’d be offering too.”
He stares over at Jack.
“You still got my nomad patch?”
Silence falls over us as Deuce continues to cut the patch, removing it completely before he tosses it into the center of the table.
In war, all give some.
Others give their all.
-Thirty-four-
Celeste
Slipping two pot holders on my hands, I grab the pot full of boiling pasta and drain the water as Skylar sits anxiously in her high chair. It’s been days since my cousin was raped and I last saw Cobra. I’ve spent each day staring at the door praying he’d walk through it.
After giving it some thought, I feel awful for the way I acted toward him. I shouldn’t have blamed him for anything. None of this is his fault. He didn’t ask to be a part of this nightmare the same way he didn’t ask to be a part of the one we lived when we were fourteen. It’s that damn cloud, it keeps finding us and dragging us back to hell.
I could call him and tell him to come home. I could call him and ask him to explain what’s going on. I could call him and tell him I’ve had a pregnancy test in my purse for days but I’m too scared to take it. Yeah, after the night of Gina’s rape, I did the math and I’m actually two weeks late.
I mix the pasta with the sauce and begin to fix Skylar’s plate when the door opens. I don’t have to turn around to know it’s him. I feel him everywhere. Still not prepared to look into his eyes and see the hurt my words have inflicted on him, I keep my back toward him and fix two more plates.
Habit.
Right?
No, more like hope.
“Dada,” Skylar cheers as she claps her hands.
“There’s my girl,” he whispers. “Daddy missed you so much.”
Drawing in a breath, I grab two dishes and turn around as he bends his head and showers her with kisses. I place one dish in front of Skylar’s high chair and another in front of him as his eyes lift to mine.
“Thank you,” he murmurs as he reaches into his pocket and pulls something out. He slides a bag of peanut M&M’s across the table. My lips twitch as I lift the bag from the table and look back at him. He winks at me and I swear my heart beats uncontrollably.
I’m such a girl.
“We’ll work it out, gorgeous,” he says, loading Skylar’s fork with pasta. He makes airplane sounds and waves his hand all around before feeding her the first bite.
They’re quite the picture. Listening to her giggle, watching him smile at her as he feeds her, it makes me dream of what it’ll be like having two kids. If I’m pregnant, it will be different this time. He’ll be a part of everything. It’s mainly why I didn’t take the pregnancy test. I didn’t want him to miss that, even if the results told us we weren’t having a baby.
I grab my own plate and the three of us sit at the table and eat like a real family. Like we did before the world reminded us how ugly it truly is before Gina’s attack. We don’t talk about what happened, we laugh and enjoy every smile our daughter flashes. Cobra wears half of Skylar’s dinner but doesn’t seem to give a damn. He wears spaghetti as perfect as he wears leather.
After we finish dinner, he cleans Skylar up and brings her into the living room to play wit
h her toys before he joins me in the kitchen. Taking the dish I just washed, he dries it before putting it away in the cabinet and reaches for the second. We continue to wash the dishes in silence before he reaches over and turns the water off.
“I told you I wouldn’t walk away,” he murmurs, leaning one hip against the counter.
Taking the dish towel from his hand, I dry mine and turn to him.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I shouldn’t have lashed out the way I did.”
“You were upset,” he counters, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m sorry you had to see that and I’m even sorrier I asked you to help. At the time I thought it was a good idea, I thought it would be better she saw you than some stranger.”
“You weren’t wrong about that,” I say softly. “If it was me, I’d want my cousin to take care of me too.” I pause for a moment, gathering my thoughts before angling my head to the side. “I guess I thought we were done living through things like that. I guess the bubble we were safely tucked away in finally popped.”
“I don’t know what to say, Celeste. I don’t know why this shit keeps finding us but I promise you this is it. He’s not going to get away with it this time.”
“How can you be sure?”
“It’s not just me anymore. I’m not a lone man hunting the impossible. I’ve got a group of men, a band of brothers all eager to make Yankovich pay. If in this life I’m ever going to get him, it’s now. Otherwise it’s never going to happen.”
“You really believe you’re going to get him, don’t you?”
“Yeah, baby, I do,” he says, reaching for my hips. He pulls me between his legs and runs his hands up my side. Pushing my hair behind my shoulders, he takes my face in the palms of his hands and bends his knees so we’re eye level.
“And when it’s all over, you know what the first thing I’m going to do is?”
Before I can answer, his lips quirk and he places a quick kiss to my lips.
The Nomad Series-Collectors Edition Page 54
