Call me irrational, but my hackles rose at his reasoning. It was too close to Stefano’s possessive bullshit. “You don’t have a say in what I do. You don’t own me. I’m not your property. So you don’t get to keep me or let me go,” I lashed out before jerking my arm free.
Leaving the steamy bathroom and the man who had my head and insides jumbled, I grabbed clothes and began to dress.
He followed me out, but I ignored him.
As he dressed, I braided my hair. Knowing we needed to get on the road, I didn’t bother with makeup. Silently, I packed up the few things I’d used.
It was nearly seven, and true to his prediction, Presley began to wake up. I had to bite my tongue when I found myself wanting to offer to get her ready.
The bizarre nature of my thoughts didn’t escape me. Twenty-four hours ago, I wouldn’t have so much as talked to a child unless I was forced.
Lost in my thoughts, I missed the quiet conversation he had with her as he dressed her still-sleepy form. What I did hear was her request after she saw me and smiled the sweetest, brightest grin.
“Daddy, you braid my haiw like Princess Waiven?” Her blue eyes looked up at him then to me as she waited for him to answer.
“Sure, baby girl.” He proceeded to deftly braid her silky curls, which did something to me. I’m talking ovaries-exploding kind of something.
For the eighty-seventh time, I wondered how he ended up as a single dad raising a little girl. I knew Presley’s mom was obviously out of the picture, but I couldn’t imagine how she could not want to be a part of her little girl’s life.
Memories of my dad raising me after my mom hauled ass flooded my mind. I’d been older than Presley at seven, but not by much. The difference being, I’d been old enough to remember her and miss her.
“You ready?” he asked me without looking in my direction.
“Yeah.”
He picked up the room phone and called who I assumed were the other guys.
“Hey. You up and ready? Cool. We’ll grab the continental breakfast, then pop smoke. See you down there.” He hung up and lifted his daughter up to place a kiss on her cheek.
“You beawd tickos, Daddy.” Her giggle brought a small smile to my lips that matched his.
He proceeded to rub it into her neck as she roared with laughter.
Then he stopped and kissed her nose. “Let’s go eat.”
“We hab panacakes?” Excitement lit her eyes and she clasped her hands together hopefully.
“We’ll see what they have. It may be waffles. Let’s go check it out.”
He grabbed the small duffle he’d brought in with their combined belongings and waited at the door for me. I grabbed my big purse that I’d shoved my stuff in.
Gunny and Soap were waiting at the breakfast area for us with plates loaded down.
“Morning, gorgeous,” Soap said with a grin on his handsome face and a bite of food poised to enter his mouth.
Turning at the growl I thought I heard come from Lock, I saw him quickly look away. He took Presley over to get food as I set my purse in a chair. Both men were staring at Matlock with raised brows and mouths agape.
“Something wrong?” I glanced from them to Matlock, trying to figure out what was going on.
“Uh, no.” Gunny returned his attention to his food and seemed extremely focused on his plate.
“Okaaaay.” Shaking my head, I followed Matlock and grabbed myself a plate of fruit, yogurt, and popped a bagel in the provided toaster.
“That’s all you’re eating?” he grumbled at me after I sat down.
Looking at my plate in confusion, because it was a lot considering I rarely ate breakfast, I raised a brow. “It’s plenty for me. Mind your own plate.”
“Yeah, Daddy, mind you own pwate.” Presley was so matter-of-fact in her comment before she shoved a huge piece of waffle into her mouth that Soap nearly snorted orange juice out of his nose. I had to pull my lips between my teeth to keep from laughing. Gunny held his napkin over his mouth.
“Hey. You better watch who you’re talking to, pipsqueak.” Her dad pointed his fork in her direction. In true Presley form, she raised her unfazed eyes to meet his as she put a forkful of food in her mouth. Half the eggs fell off and back onto the plate, but she was completely unconcerned.
His blue eyes looked more of a stormy gray that morning as he glared at his friends after he finished his food in record time. Matter of fact, all three guys had inhaled their food.
“Did any of you even taste your breakfast?” My eyes bugged at them.
In unison, they all said, “Military,” as if that explained everything. If it weren’t for growing up with my dad and my uncle, I wouldn’t have understood. Since they were both veterans, I remembered them saying the army had taught them to eat when they could and quickly, because they never knew how long they’d have.
All I could do was shake my head at them.
“Any sign of trouble out there this morning?” Matlock asked the other two.
“None that I noticed.” Soap became uncharacteristically somber.
“We about ready to roll?” Matlock pitched his empty plate in the nearby trash.
“I full.” Presley had eaten nearly everything on her plate.
“Would you mind taking her to potty and washing her hands?” Matlock asked. By their expressions, I knew they wanted to talk about something without us being there.
“Sure. Come on, little princess. Let’s clean you up so we can get on the road.”
She climbed down and placed her sticky hand in mine. Where before I would’ve cringed at the feeling, that time I smiled and shook my head.
The little spitfire was doing crazy things to my head.
Just like her father.
“Whatever It Takes”—Hollywood Undead
“What did you get back from Hacker? Anything useful?” I didn’t waste time once Raiven and Presley were out of earshot.
We stepped out the front doors but kept an eye on the door to the bathroom for the girls to come out.
“Seems Stefano is a soldato, a made man with the De Luca family,” Gunny quietly informed me.
“Jesus Christ. She knows how to pick them.” I ran a frustrated hand through my hair.
“Hey, isn’t Joker close with one of the De Luca cousins? That band member?” Soap piped in as he lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply.
Gunny and I looked at each other.
“On it.” He stepped away and pulled out his burner phone to call Joker.
“You think that asshole is still following?” Soap took another drag.
“Yeah. After what she told me, I’d be surprised if he gave up.” I’d filled them in briefly before I’d gone in the room the night before.
“What are the fucking odds she was eating at the same restaurant where he goes in for a hit? Christ. That’s some shit luck there.” Finishing his smoke, he stubbed it out and flicked it out into the parking lot.
Gunny came back. “Joker and Hacker are on this one. Joker is contacting the cousin and Hacker is trying to see who it was that Stefano killed. Maybe that will give us some insight or leverage with this fucker. One of them will have info soon and call you, since Soap and I will be on the bikes.”
“Sounds good.” Except I had a bad feeling brewing.
Raiven and Presley came out of the bathroom, and I waved so they saw us outside.
“Let’s load up and get down the road. We’ll get on the turnpike and stop as needed but try to keep moving. Let me know if either of you need to gas up before I do.” They nodded at me, and we got everything packed up, Presley buckled in with her headset on and movie playing, and on the road.
I didn’t give Raiven the opportunity to bring up going off on her own again.
She was quiet for several miles before she spoke. “Matlock?”
“Yeah?”
“Where is Presley’s mom?” A quick peek at her showed her staring out the window as she chewed on her lower lip.
&n
bsp; “Presley’s mom is….” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “She died over a year ago.”
“Oh my God, I feel like a huge piece of shit. I didn’t know. I only wondered if she would…. Well, never mind. It doesn’t matter.” The protective wall she threw up was almost visible.
Silence ensued after that.
We’d been traveling for a couple of hours when Soap rode up next to me and tapped on his tank. Giving him a nod, I watched for the next service area and pulled in.
“Goddamn, what a boring fucking ride,” Soap bitched as he filled his tank. Gunny only laughed. He’d been down this road before when he went down to pick up a bike years ago. I remembered him telling me about it.
“Oh, come on, enjoy the ride.” I chuckled.
“Hey, I love riding, but damn, it would be nice to look at something besides fields. Flat fields at that. Not even any hills or trees like we have at home.” Soap returned the nozzle and cracked his back. “I gotta piss. You want anything?”
“Naw, but I gotta take Presley in to try to get her to go to the bathroom.” I finished with my gas as I spoke.
“Too late.” Gunny nodded toward the gorgeous raven-haired beauty walking my daughter back out to the truck, hand in hand. I watched as Raiven threw her head back to laugh at something my little girl had said. Her sleeves were brilliant in the sun, and I made a mental note to ask her who’d done her ink.
I cursed myself for being so preoccupied I hadn’t noticed them get out.
“Goddamn, she’s fine. Maybe I’ll stay down in Texas too,” Soap said with a grin as he headed to the building.
My hands clenched into fists at the thought of him trying to get with her. I wanted to throat punch him. It was a pivotal moment for me. One day and one incredible night with her, and I was completely and totally fucked.
Back on the road for less than an hour and both my girls were out.
My girls.
Yeah, absolutely fucked.
How did that shit even happen? I’d never laid eyes on her two days ago. Didn’t know who she was or anything about her.
Now I was claiming her as mine? What the ever-loving fuck?
Presley still had her headphones on as her movie played, and Raiven had one of my hoodies wadded up as a pillow against the glass. She looked so damn young as she slept, and it made me wonder how fucking old she was.
When Hacker’s info flashed on my truck screen, I turned the volume down and picked up the call. “Hey bro, what do you have for me?”
“Nothing you’re gonna like. Joker is waiting for Dominic to call him back. He’s trying to get in touch with his cousin, but he’s out of the country right now.” He sighed.
“Okay? Anything else? You said nothing I was going to like.”
“Yeah, man. The only murder that fit the description you gave me was a Giacomo Caruso.”
“Who the fuck is that?”
“Was, you mean? He was one of Lorenzo De Luca’s caporegimes,” Hacker muttered.
“What the fuck is a caporegime?” I’d never been big on mafia movies or shit like that, so it was all Greek to me.
“A capo, a pretty important guy. Falls under the underboss who answers to Lorenzo De Luca himself. The current underboss is Dominic’s cousin, Gabe. Talk about connections, huh?” As Hacker spoke, I could hear his computer keys clicking away.
“So how exactly does Stefano fit into this? I thought he was one of De Luca’s guys?” I was confused as fuck.
“He is. Stefano Leone. Soldier under Giacomo Caruso.”
“Holy shit. So you think he killed his own boss?” A nervous glance in Raiven’s direction told me she was still zonked.
“Well, technically, the boss is Lorenzo De Luca, so no. However, yeah, Stefano answered directly to Giacomo.”
“How the fuck do you know all this?” At Hacker’s low chuckle, I shook my head. “Never mind. I doubt I want to know. So do you think the De Lucas were behind this, or you think he went rogue?” Trying to make sense of all that shit was making my head hurt, because in the middle of all of it was Raiven.
“My guess is he was hoping to blame the hit on a rival family or some random, then step up as the capo. If Raiven witnessed it, she could bring down his entire plan with a word to the wrong person. You need to be careful, bro. You have little Elvis with you. Maybe you should drop her off somewhere and wash your hands of her.” Though he tried to hide it, I could hear the worry in his tone.
“Fuck, she’s Pops’s only living relative now. I can’t do that. I promised him I’d keep her safe and get her to Styx.” That was the excuse I gave him and the one I tried to swallow myself. The truth was, I fucking knew damn well I didn’t want to give her up. There had to be a way to keep both of my girls safe.
I also needed to convince Raiven that she should stay with me. Permanently.
Hacker had started to say something about getting back to his search on Letty and her family. Except I cut him off because I noticed a dark car coming up fast behind Gunny and Soap. Before any of it could process, the car went to pass them and clipped Soap’s back tire.
“Shit! I gotta go. Car just hit Soap! Out!” Stomach churning, I watched as Soap lost control, Gunny swerved to avoid being taken out, and Soap went down.
Trying to keep my eyes on the road and on what was going on behind me, I started to pull over when I saw Gunny wave me on. The car was gaining on me in the passing lane.
I heard the sound of gunfire and saw Gunny shooting at the car. That told me it was no accident.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
My gas pedal mashed to the floor, I risked a glance at Raiven and Presley. How they were sleeping through all of this I had no idea, but I prayed they stayed that way.
The car suddenly hit its brakes and then swerved at Gunny, running him off the road.
There was no time to stop to see if he was okay, and I wanted to fucking vomit. That was not only my club brother, it was my big brother. My best friend. My only sibling. It had been him and me against the world growing up.
Adrenaline was surging through my veins as I tried my best to get some distance between us and the car. My truck was modified, fast, and it was a badass motherfucker but whatever they had under the hood of that fucking car was a beast. It was quickly gaining on us.
Swerving slightly to cut them off, I cursed when Raiven jolted awake.
“What’s going on?” Wide-eyed, she looked over her shoulder. I knew she saw the car by her sharp audible inhale, then her gasped, “Oh my God.”
The whimper that slipped from her throat had me reaching over to grasp her hand. “It’s going to be okay. Just hang on and don’t lose your shit on me. Okay?”
I hated to, but I needed to let go of her hand to keep both hands on the wheel.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” she rasped in fear.
“I’m not sure. I think so.”
For a few miles I was able to stay ahead of them. Of course, there wasn’t a soul in sight when you needed them.
As I barreled down the center of the highway, the car suddenly shot over onto the shoulder and up next to me. They rode on the passenger side before swerving at me.
“Raiven. I need you to take this and shoot out the window at that fucking car.” I handed her my pistol and she stared at it like it was a poisonous snake. “Raiven! I need your help!”
Her helpless gaze told me she wouldn’t be able to fire the weapon.
“Fuck!” Taking the pistol back, I pressed her back with my forearm. Rolling down the window while driving with my knee and praying like a saint, I reached over her and fired out the window. She shrieked, and I fired again. The problem was, I couldn’t drive, aim, and fire.
Presley started crying.
Fuck.
I flipped the safety on and set it in the console. The car swerved at us again, and I narrowly missed being hit. If they ran us off the road at the speed we were going, it was likely we’d roll. Then we’d be sitting ducks—if we survived.
&nb
sp; “I need you to listen carefully.”
“O-o-okay,” she stuttered.
“When I get out, I’m going to provide cover for you.”
“When you get out? What are you talking about?” she shouted in a panic.
“I’m going to stop the truck, and I need you to climb over here as fast as you can. As soon as I’m out, you gun it and go around them. Haul ass and don’t look back.”
“No!” Panic was seeping from her pores. I needed her calm if she had any hope of getting my baby girl out of there in one piece.
“Raiven, listen… you need to pull your shit together. I need you to get Presley to safety. Gunny and Soap will be here shortly, and I’ll have backup. We’ll catch up to you. My phone is here. Call Styx, tell him what’s going on, he’ll fill Smoke in. Then call Snow. The numbers are programmed in.” Her head continued to shake as I fired off my instructions to her.
“No. Please no.”
“Raiven! Don’t argue with me!”
“I’m not leaving you! He’ll kill you! Don’t you understand that?” Tears coursed down her face and she reached over to clutch my sleeve.
“You don’t have a choice, goddammit! Do you understand what I’m saying? Presley needs to be safe.” A methodical calm washed over me as I realized I likely wouldn’t make it out of this. I rationalized it would be worth it if they were safe.
She cast a terrified glance into the back seat, where Presley was crying.
“Presley, it’s okay, baby. Can you put your headphones on so you can finish your movie?” She just kept crying and it was breaking my heart. “Raiven? Are you with me?”
Swallowing hard, she nodded as her shaking hands pushed wisps of hair out of her face and her inhale wavered.
“Good girl. Now, hang on!”
Right at the moment they swerved my direction again, I hit my brakes. Not expecting that move, they shot past me before hitting their brakes and spinning sideways. By the time they stopped, they were facing the ditch.
Time seemed to stand still as my chest rose and fell in heaving breaths.
I turned to Raiven, rapidly trying to memorize every detail about her. Knowing what I had to do didn’t make my decision any easier.
Lock and Load: A Demented Sons MC Texas Novel Page 9
