by Ambere Sabo
When we pull up to a bar, I’m not sure what to think. I don’t really believe this is the best place to bring children, but when I see Lil making her way through the bikers to the car, I don’t have much choice but to let them out of the car. They still cling to me, not knowing any of the people that surround them. Havoc and Lil may be family, but the children have never seen or met them before.
Squatting down before them, Lil coos, “Hey, you must be Junior,” she says brushing the hair from the eldest’s forehead. Looking to the little boy who holds onto Junior’s arm like it’s the only thing keeping him standing, she smiles, “You have my sister’s eyes. Just like she told me you would, Santos.” Standing she takes the hand of the little girl I’m holding, “Dahlia, for the flowers your daddy used to bring your mama.”
“How do you know this?” Junior asks softly, looking at his feet. He’s quiet for a moment before looking up at Lilly with a tilt of his head, he says, “You don’t look like our mama.”
Kneeling down in front of him again, Lil looks him directly in the eye, “Your mama and I have the same father but different mamas. So, we don’t look much the same. But she’ll be here for you soon. Would you like that? For your mama to come to get you?”
The smiles that come to the boy's faces melt my heart as they both nod quickly. “She’s on her way already, would you like something to eat while we wait?” Just at the mention of food Dahlia’s stomach growls, causing Lil and the boys to giggle. Dahlia hides her face in the crook of my neck as her cheeks turn pink.
Carrying her, I follow Lil as she walks into Hyde’s bar. Adan trails after me. For once he isn’t in control of the men around him. His most trusted men all fell at the hands of our father or were left unconscious at the safe house. More than likely they’ll be the fall guys for Diablo’s murder. His life as he knew it is over. And mine… mine lays at the feet of the man who watches me from across the room.
After the children are settled in a corner booth with Havoc and Angel at their sides, Lil pulls Adan and me to another booth.
“My mama is coming with Rose, Maribel will be with her,” she says looking over at Adan. “As far as we know, she knows nothing about you. The only father she knew was Diablo, and when mama mentioned his name, she was terrified he was coming back for her. She’s never told anyone anything about him before today. All we knew was who she thought was her father had put her in the cells for being bad.”
I can see the tick in Adan’s jaw as he nods. I can only imagine what’s running through his head right now. What did Diablo do to her? Why would Diablo put her in the cells? Would he really have let her be sold to the highest bidder? I saw how he doted on her all those years ago. No matter how sick and twisted the fucker was he cared for her. What the hell happened?
I didn’t even realize he had walked up, so I jump a little when he says, “Mythic,” at my side.
Looking up at him, I’m at a loss for words. I ran from him again. Until just a few hours ago I thought I would never see him again. Having to once again disappear, but with Diablo gone… What does that mean for us?
“Snoopy,” I say quietly on a shaky breath.
“Can I steal you for a bit?” He asks looking over at Lil and Adan.
My brother lost in thought nods without looking away from the table Rose’s children now occupy. While Lil says, “Of course,” with a smile. “I need to go find Gunner anyway,” she finishes standing from the table.
Looking over at Adan I place a hand on his arm, drawing his attention to me, “Will you be okay here?” I ask quietly looking around the room. The Dominion brothers all keeping a close eye on the man they think is unredeemable. I already know most of them would like nothing more than to see my brother behind bars. Can I really leave him here, alone?
“Go, Lena,” he says, as his eyes scan the room. “I’m not leaving this seat until I see her.”
With a sad smile and a nod, I stand from my seat. Snoopy puts his hand out for me to take. Looking down I hesitate for a moment before placing mine in his. He leads me through the bikers milling about and heads straight for his bike. Without a word he climbs on, turning around when he doesn’t feel me slide on behind him.
“I want to show you something, but not here. Please get on Mythic,” grabbing the spare helmet out of his saddlebag, he holds it out to me. Without a word, I slip it on my head before sliding behind him. Pulling out of the parking lot I wrap my arms around his middle placing my head on his back. I have no idea where this ride will lead us. Can we make this work after all the lies I’ve told? After everything my family has done to those he calls his own?
Inhaling his scent, I close my eyes and hold on. Letting someone else control where life takes me if even for just a moment, is new. Scary even. But if it shows him how much he means to me, it’s a price I’ve got to pay.
Chapter 27
Snoopy
I feel her arms tighten around my waist just as we make it out onto the road. I need to show her what we did. That no matter how alone she’s felt all these years, she has people that would risk their lives for her. Just because she is who she is. Her past doesn’t define her, and I plan on making damn sure she knows it.
The ride to the hotel is short. We couldn’t all stay at the Dominion’s clubhouse. Aside from their safe house at the back of the property, all they had was a few couches. So, we got rooms at a hotel down the street. Pulling into the parking lot I can feel when she lifts her head from my back to see where I’ve taken her.
“I have something you need to see,” I tell her over my shoulder as I cut off the engine. Threading her fingers with mine, I lead her to my room. Walking in, the place is a hot fucking mess. Clothes are strewn across the floor, bed unmade, but the desk in the corner is clean with a single laptop open on it.
Standing beside the desk, I tell her, “Take a seat,” looking over at me she shakes her head, but does as I ask. With a few keys and the footage is live streaming. Before her, there are four headstones. It took some time, but between the ten of us who had cracked through the Diablo’s system, we followed the leads and found where the Armijo’s and her Iliana had been buried.
For a nice amount of cash, we had the bodies moved to an actual cemetery. The one her mama is buried in to be exact. Just a few plots over is what we now know is Maribel’s empty grave. I imagine, Alex’s will be searched to confirm whether she’s buried there or not as well, but that’s not my focus right now. Zooming in she runs her fingers over the letters on the screen. Iliana Marie Armijo.
Tears stream down her face as she looks up at me, she whispers “How, how did you do this?”
“After I left you that day at the clubhouse, I reached out to find anyone who could help me get into Diablo’s home,” I tell her before kneeling down at her side. “Nine people. Nine, Mythic, put their lives at risk to help you. Just because it was for you. You have more people in this world who you’ve helped or touched than you can imagine. His home became less of a priority when I came down here after your brother called G.”
“What?” she asks interrupting me. I figured he didn’t tell her.
“He reached out for help. To protect you when you met with Diablo,” I explain. Reaching over I wipe the tears from her cheek with the pad of my thumb. Holding her face in my palm when I’m done. “I saw the whole thing, and I just couldn’t let you spend another day not knowing where she was. So, we switched gears, found her and had her and the others, all moved to be with your mama.”
Closing her eyes, she leans into my palm, “I’m so sorry Ashton. For everything I did, I’m so…”
Putting a finger to her lips, I silence her, “None of that matters now. You have a fresh start with Diablo gone. The question is. Do you want to spend it with your brother or…” With a deep breath, I ask the question that could fuck up my world or make it complete. “Or with me?”
She takes a sharp breath, “Adan will always be a part of me. Something I should’ve realized years ago. But he has to face th
e life he’s led. And decide where he wants to go from here. I’ll help him in any way I can, but I deserve a life as well. One I can’t imagine not having you be a part of.”
My lips are on hers the minute I know she’s mine. Pulling her from the desk chair, I pick her up and carry her to the bed beside us. Slowly I lay her body on the mattress. Looking down at the woman who stole my heart before I even knew it was possible. I know life will never be the same with her at my side.
***
“What?” I growl into the phone that won’t stop vibrating on the table beside me. Mythic curls her naked form into my side grumbling in her sleep as she does.
“Wake the fuck up,” Havoc snaps. “Rose and ma will be here in thirty minutes, and there’s no way in fucking hell that bastard is meeting Maribel alone. Bring Mythic,” he demands as he hangs up on me.
Running my fingers down her side, right where I know she’s ticklish she starts to stir. Looking down I watch as her lashes flutter open, “No more,” she mumbles. “You already fucked me into next week.”
With a chuckle, I tell her, “Good to know babe, but we gotta head back to Hyde’s. Maribel will be there soon.”
Her head pops up, and her eyes grow wide, “She’s here?”
With a nod, “Yeah, and unless you want your brother to lose his head, I suggest we make it there before she does.”
Without warning, she’s climbing over me, and I get a knee to the gut, “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” she rushes out as she grabs her pants from the floor. Hopping into them as she grabs her shirt from the lampshade. Looking around in a panic as she realizes she has no clue what happened to her bra. “Fuck it,” she breathes out throwing the top over her head.
I’ve barely made it to a sitting position when she looks over at me, and with a huff tells me, “Hurry the fuck up.”
With a chuckle, I grab my clothes from the floor where I left them. She drags me from the room and down to my bike as fast as her legs will take us. The ride to Hyde’s is pure torture for me with her tits pressed up against me. Just knowing she has no bra on makes me hard. But now is not the time for this shit. I need to keep my brothers and the Dominions from killing her’s before he has a chance to meet Maribel.
Walking into the bar, all I hear is shouting.
“He doesn’t deserve to meet her.”
“Fuck him, what does it matter if she’s his blood.”
“How can we trust him not to fuck with her head?”
“Enough,” Hyde roars across the bar. “Rose’s children will be here with Lil any second. You will not scare them, after all they’ve been through.” Not a minute after the bar quiets down Lil and Angel come in carrying the sleepy children. It’s no wonder they’re exhausted after going through whatever that bastard did to them. They deserve to have a happy reunion with their mother.
Mythic pulls Enterrador to the corner booth they sat in earlier. Trying to calm him I assume as she whispers in his ear. I can’t imagine what he’s going through. The life he’s led and the choices he’s made all go back to the night he thought Maribel and his wife died. Who knows maybe he would’ve been a completely different guy if it hadn’t all gone down the way it did.
The ten minutes it takes for Rose and Vic to get to the bar feels like hours. The Dominion members sit with some of the task force watching Enterrador like a hawk. While me and my brothers are caught in the middle. He’s someone they’ve hunted for years, and right now he’s within their reach and there’s not a damn thing they can do about it.
All of the crimes he’s committed that they can prove were done on Mexican soil. They can’t tie him to anything in the states except for stalking Lil, but against Gunners insistence, she refuses to press charges. That girl has a heart of fucking gold. Gunner would’ve already had him six feet under if she’d only give him the go ahead.
With a light knock at the door, Vic walks in with Rose and Maribel in tow. It takes Rose a moment to scan the room and find her children before she’s running across the bar to pull them into her arms. Lil and Angel crying as she does. Finally, Havoc can rest easy knowing he kept the promise he made all those months ago to find them.
Maribel stands behind Vic, peeking around her as she clings to her side.
“Where is he?” Vic demands with a scowl planted firmly on her face. The woman scares half of my brothers treating each of them as if she raised them on her own. We’re her family, her sons, and Maribel has become the daughter to pull her from her regret.
She blames herself for most of the things Wrecker did. Thinking she could’ve done something to stop him. Maribel gave her a way to make up for some of it. If even in a small way and she’ll protect her with her life.
When everyone’s gaze flies to the booth where he sits. She doesn’t wait for him to answer. Instead, she marches straight to the booth where he and Mythic sit, Maribel trailing behind.
“I have so much to say to you, after all you did to my Lilly, but that is for another time. Now, where the hell where you when this one needed you?” She snaps at him, tilting her head in Maribel’s direction.
The look on his face as he sits stunned in silence seeing his daughter for the first time since she was born can only be described as pure sorrow. Mythic watches on with tears in her eyes, and when he still says nothing, she answers for him. “He believed she and her mother died the day she was born.”
“And that gave him the right to turn into the man who stalked my little girl?”
“No,” he chokes out. “It did not. I have a lot of things to make up for. I only hope one day she won’t look at me in fear.” He says as he stands from the booth with his head hung in shame. “Watch after her Lena. When I can prove to you both, I’m not the man that I’ve become I’ll be back to prove it to you both.” With a kiss on Maribel’s forehead, he walks out of the bar.
Even Vic is stunned by his exit. Everyone here thought there’d be a fight to the possible death if he tried to take her with him tonight. The look of terror on Maribel's face must have done something to change his mind.
With tears streaming down her face, Mythic takes a deep breath and stands from her seat. Walking over she looks down at Maribel, putting her hand out before her she says, “My names Mythic, I’m your aunt.”
Prologue
Mythic
I sit, perched in Snoopy's lap watching Maribel throw a ball back and forth with Jekyl. I love seeing her smile and laugh with him, but it kills me that Adan can’t be here to see it. She doesn’t know him. Doesn’t see the man he can be. All she’s heard are the stories of how he haunted someone she thinks of as a sister.
She has a new family here. One with people who love and care about her. People who help her with her homework and practice for softball tryouts. He may be her father by blood, but for years she thought he was dead. The only father she ever really knew was Diablo, and he sent her to the cells. For what reason? I’m not sure we'll ever know now that he’s dead.
Adan is doing all he can to prove to her he isn’t the monster she thinks he is. He turned himself into G and the task force. He works for them now as he serves out his sentence. Helping them find the missing pieces of the puzzle that was Diablo.
The cartel? One would hope it would’ve crashed and burned with no heir to run it, but that was her plan all along I think. La Ocho has swept through the compounds killing those she felt couldn’t be loyal to her because she’s a woman. Hell, she burned the Juarez compound down to the ground. With most of the men still inside if the reports from my brother are accurate.
I spent years of my life waiting for this day to come. A day when I wouldn’t have to run and now… Now, I really don’t know what to do with myself. I spend my days helping Ashton with whatever the club needs. And at night I lay in the arms of a man who almost gave it all up to be with me.
I’ve never been happier, but it’s like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Something to come and snatch this happiness from me. Lil says it’ll take time for me to stop lookin
g over my shoulder. I hope she’s right and that day comes, but right now, I'll live in the moment.
Sitting here surrounded by those who love me. Those who accept me for me, even with my fucked up family. Watching Evaristo’s children run and play while their mother smiles on from the side. Knowing in my heart, this is where I belong.
Angel walks up and hands me a letter as she makes her rounds passing out the mail.
“What is it,” Ashton says pressing a kiss to my temple.
“I don’t know,” I say with a shrug. “I doubt Adan would mail me anything.”
Reaching over I pull the knife from his hip, flipping it open. I slice the envelope from top to bottom. Something falls from the folds, but I’m too caught up in the words before me to notice.
I hope this letter finds you well sister dear. After all, I did let you walk away with your life for a reason. I know Enterrador is giving away the secrets of my organization. This is something I just can’t have. So let's call this a peace offering. He can be like a dog with a bone that brother of ours. I heard you were looking for Mi Reinita, or your boy toy was for a time, anyway. You can find her at A Calming Place here in Dallas. I’m sure you can find the address with all of your skills.
Until next we meet
La Ocho
“Who’s Mi Reinita?” I ask turning in Snoopy’s lap. He’s been reading the letter over my shoulder but hasn’t said a word.
“We thought she might’ve been Diablo’s new wife, but no one had any information on her.”
Maribel runs over a ball in hand, and her smile fades. “What is it Mija?” I ask as she bends to grab something from between my feet. “Mama,” she whispers.
“What did you say?” I ask pulling the paper from her hands.
Drawing a hand to my mouth, I can’t believe what I’m seeing. He said she was dead. Even with his dying breath, the bastard lied.
