by Jade Kuzma
“Speaking from personal experience? Because that’s exactly what’s about to happen.”
I raised my piece up. In the blink of an eye, Jordan, Rex and Grant did the same. Picardo’s men responded in kind. The warehouse was silent. Nobody moved. There were enough bullets in the building to make sure everybody bled to death.
“I suggest you reconsider,” Picardo said, his eyes locked on me. “You’re outnumbered. You’re outgunned. You won’t walk out of this building alive—”
“And neither will you. I’m prepared to die… Are you?”
He raised his hand up slowly and scratched his chin. The smallest tick was just enough to let me know how nervous he was. I’d imagined not many people pointed a gun at him. Probably because they weren’t stupid enough to do it.
“I respect you, Cobra,” Picardo said. “All of this… for a woman. You won’t be able to take it with you though. She’ll live her life but you’ll be dead.”
“I’d rather be dead than do what you did. Threaten an innocent woman. Threaten her family. Pull a gun and fire at her when she’s not even expecting it. You’re not any kind of man, Picardo.”
“Just business.” He still had a grin, shaking his head while he kept his eyes locked on me. “I paid a visit to the Macdonalds but I had no intention of hurting them. I spoke to Rose because I wanted her to get a message from a brother. But I would never bother wasting my time firing a gun at an innocent woman—”
“You chased after me. You had that man fire at me with no regard for her safety. You wanted both of us dead. Just admit it.”
He took a step toward me in the center of the room with so many guns pointed at one another. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Butler. If I’d wanted you and the woman dead, you’d be dead. We wouldn’t be talking about it.”
“What are you saying? Are you saying you didn’t try to put a hit out on me just now?”
He stayed silent. He just stood there, his hands down like he wanted me to figure it out for myself.
I stared hard at him, looking into his eyes. I couldn’t let my guard down. Just a split-second was all it would take for his men to light up the MC. But I couldn’t find what I was looking for. There was no lie. There was no deception. Even a man like Picardo was just a man. And right now, he was telling the truth.
“If it wasn’t you, then who was—”
The warehouse door suddenly opened. Everybody turned and watched as a couple of security guards walked inside, pushing forward the small, disheveled man between them.
“Ah!” Picardo said. “Look who it is. The man I’ve been looking for. Mr. Joseph Macdonald.”
Joey gave a sarcastic bow and grinned back at Picardo. “In the flesh.”
Picardo shifted his eyes back toward me. “I’m a man of my word,” he said. “I’ve got no interest in you or your MC. You can be on your way—”
“But you do have business with them,” Joey said. “More than you realize.”
Picardo sighed in resentment. “And I suppose this is the point where the petty criminal attempts to weasel his way out of this.”
“It’s not me attempting to weasel his way out of anything. Things keep up, you’ll have to be the one weaseling his way out of things.”
“Enlighten me.”
Joey had all eyes on him. He was the only man in the room smiling. It was the kind of smile a man had when he knew something nobody else did.
“I know about the hit on Ash,” he said. “I know who was responsible for it.”
“Then it’s not Picardo,” I said.
“No.” He shook his head. “They were just hoping you’d think that. You’re a club member. A man takes a shot at you, you’re no doubt gonna go after the man who did it. They were counting on you to go after Picardo. Do their job for them.”
“And just who is this they you’re speaking of?” Picardo asked.
“They are someone even you need to worry about.”
Picardo smirked as he took a step toward the man he’d been chasing all this time. “You’re gonna tell me who they are, otherwise—”
“What?” Joey said. “You’re gonna kill me? You’re already planning on doing that anyway. No… If I go down, you’re coming down with me. And if you make it… Then I make it, too.”
Joey winked at me. I didn’t know if he was crazy or stupid. Probably both. But he spoke with the kind of confidence I couldn’t question.
“Here’s how it’s gonna work,” Joey said. “You got no beef with the Cobras. You don’t go near them. You don’t try to put a hit on any of them. You don’t lay a finger on them. Same goes for my family. My parents. Rose. You don’t even look at them.”
“I had no intention of getting involved with any of them,” Picardo said. “After all, you’re the one who started this entire mess.”
“It is. And I plan on ending it. If you wanna know who hired me, you let me walk. You don’t put a finger on me. Otherwise, you’ll never know who’s gunning for you. I want your word.”
Picardo clenched his jaw in frustration.
“What’s it gonna be?” Joey said. “Give me your word and you can stop looking over your shoulder for the faceless shadow who wants a piece of you.”
Picardo didn’t have much of a choice. That much was obvious from the look on his face. He raised his hands up and sighed, forcing his men to lower their weapons.
“You have my word.” Picardo nodded and rolled his eyes. “I won’t come after you, your family or the Cobras. All you have to do is give me a name.”
“I’ll give you the name,” Joey said. “But just to make sure you keep your word, know that I have safeguards. You go back on your word, all the money I earned from hitting you will go toward making sure you get taken down. If I die, someone will come after you.”
“Yes, yes,” Picardo said. “Now give me the name.”
“…His name is Goida.”
“Goida? The Yakuza gangster… I didn’t realize I’d gotten the interest of a man in the city…”
“Now you have. Now you realize, you have bigger problems than chasing around some MC in some hick town or some petty criminal who was just trying to make a buck. I can assure you, there are more people than Goida who want a piece of you.”
Picardo kept his eyes locked on the ground. I stared at him, wondering what was going through his mind as he contemplated the new threat. Considering how quiet he was, it was dangerous enough for him to be concerned with.
“I’m leaving Ivory,” Joey said. “Is our business done?”
“I’m a man of my word,” Picardo said. “Though I suggest you don’t make it a habit of coming back to this town.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t plan on coming back. I just need to make one last stop.”
Joey looked at me and smiled. I already knew what he was thinking.
“Come on,” I said. “Your sister’s waiting for you.”
“For the last time,” he replied.
Chapter 23
ROSE
Even though I knew it was for the best, the feeling of helplessness and knowing I had to just wait was worse than anything. Ashton told me everything would be all right but even that wasn’t enough to get rid of the uneasiness in my stomach.
Micah poured another shot of whiskey for me and my stomach rumbled again.
“It might help you relax,” he said.
“The only way it’ll help me relax is if it knocks me out completely. And even then, I’m pretty sure my dreams would be unsettling.”
“If you’re in a dream, then it wouldn’t be unsettling. All you’d have to do is dream about something pleasant.”
“Control my dreams… There’s an idea.”
“Why not? It’s all in your mind anyway.” Micah gave me a smile that was a lot more charming than anything I’d ever seen from a biker. He wasn’t as ruggedly handsome as Ashton but there was something about him that was friendly. He reminded me of Joey.
I looked over to the side where
Doc was sitting on a couch near the window. Micah took a seat next to me while he sipped on a beer.
Ashton had taken me to a small house in the heart of Ivory. The living room had all of the amenities I needed to last me a long time, though I hoped I wouldn’t have to be here for much longer. The lights were dim and the mood was calm. But it wasn’t too calm, given the circumstances. The rest of the club was out there dealing with a man who just tried to kill me. I didn’t wanna assume more bullets would fly but it was a possibility.
“Don’t worry.” Micah gave me that friendly smile of his. “Jordan and the boys know what they’re doing. Even dealing with a man like Picardo isn’t something they can’t handle.”
“I don’t know about that… You brought me to a place like this for a reason. Otherwise, I’d still be at the clubhouse.”
“The Bone Pit is the safest spot in Ivory for an honest woman like yourself.”
“But?”
“But you can never be too prepared. This safehouse is only for worst-case scenarios. Ashton promised you would be okay. As long as you got me and Doc by your side, you’ll be okay.”
“I don’t know if I can be okay without Ashton and Joey still out there. I don’t know if I could get through it without them—”
“Don’t start with that kinda talk now. The boys will be just fine. You start thinking about what you’d do to yourself if they weren’t here… No sense in doing something that wouldn’t change anything.”
Micah was nonchalant about the whole situation. He sipped his beer like I imagined the other Cobras would. It was more surprising coming from Micah though, knowing he had someone waiting for him.
“You have someone in your life… Audrey… I talked to her.”
“Audrey’s got a good head on her shoulders. I love her like nothing else. Guys see a pretty blond girl and think I’m with her just cause I wanna fuck her.” Micah’s bluntness made me laugh. He took another swig of beer and shrugged. “But I like talking to her as much as anything else. We fit together. I can’t imagine not having someone like her in my life.”
“I’m sure she feels the same way. I can’t imagine she’s comfortable, you being in an MC… dealing with all of the business you guys deal with.”
“Audrey worries about me whether or not she’ll admit it. It just comes with the territory when you’re dating a club member. But she accepts the life I live. She knows I have to do what I’m doing.”
“I don’t know… Dealing with something like this… It’d just wear on me to the point I couldn’t take it. You keep grinding on something, eventually it’ll turn to dust.”
“Is that what you think?”
Micah had a pondering look on his face. He was one of the younger members of the MC. That was even more apparent with Doc just sitting right over there. There was a wisdom about Micah though. In his eyes, I could almost see how much he’d been through.
“What about your brother?”
“Joey? What about him?”
“I imagine this isn’t the first time he’s ever gotten into any kind of trouble.”
“Ha! Joey was getting into trouble for as long as I could remember. When we used to play as kids, he’d always take things too far and break something. A vase. A picture frame. A window. Joey would always get me caught in some scheme to try and cover it up but it’d never work. My parents would eventually find out.”
“That must’ve been rough.”
I shook my head. “The anticipation of a scolding was worse than what actually happened. My dad would bark so loud it frightened the animals in the barn. We cried out of fear. What kid wouldn’t? But he never put a finger on us. Then there was my mother. She’d be right there after we got chewed out to wrap her arms around us and pat us on the back. She’d tell us it was all right and things would go back to normal. I think she liked Joey more than me. Most women wouldn’t in her situation.”
“What do you mean?”
“Joey’s only my half-brother. My father made a… mistake. His mother passed from drug abuse, so it only made sense our dad took him in. But my mother accepted him like he was her own when other women would’ve just looked at him as a reminder of my dad’s unfaithfulness.”
“I can respect that. Your mother did a good job.”
A smile came across my face. “It didn’t stop when we were kids though. When we were teenagers, he would always sneak out of his window to stay up late and hang out with his friends. He’d experiment with drugs and drink. He was always a troublemaker.”
“Still a troublemaker.”
“Still a troublemaker.” I chuckled as all of the memories came back to me. “I think about what it would be like if I lost him… I wouldn’t be sad. I don’t know if I’d cry. There’s just… nothing. An emptiness inside of me. Joey’s been a part of my life since… well, since all of my life.”
Micah put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed me gently. “They say life is about change. Nothing is permanent. Not even life itself. But tonight is not the night for change. I trust Ash. I trust Smoke. I trust Rex and Jordan. They’ll all make it through this. I’ve got no doubt about that.”
Micah’s smile was enough to give me the confidence I needed. “You know what? I’ve gotten so worked up, I’m actually starting to get a little tired.”
“There’s no shame in putting your head down. I always tell Audrey to take a break when she needs it because she’s always pushing herself.”
“I think being a nurse is a little different from what I’m going through tonight.”
“Hey.” Doc’s voice suddenly broke up the conversation. “Someone’s here.”
My heart rose so high up in my chest I swore it was in my throat. I jumped up from my seat and Micah stood in front of me. He put his hand up to stop me from moving forward while Doc answered the door. As soon as it opened, Jordan and Rex appeared. Right behind them were Ashton and Grant.
“Ashton!” I rushed up to him and wrapped my arms around him. As far as I could tell, he wasn’t bleeding or bruised. I kept him in my grip, tighter than I’d ever held him before. The combination of leather, oil and that masculine scent of his was familiar but never so satisfying.
I pulled away from him and looked up into his eyes. He stared down at me and smiled.
“You’re all right?”
“I’m all right.” He chuckled softly at me.
Even though he was smiling, I almost didn’t wanna say it. “…Joey?”
“I’m okay, sis.” I looked toward the door and saw Joey walk in. “Just wanted to make a dramatic entrance.”
“You idiot…” I muttered to myself as I walked over and gave him a hug. “Is everything—”
“Everything is taken care of. You know me, sis. There isn’t any situation I haven’t been able to dig myself out of. But… I think it’s for the best I get out of Ivory for the time being. Lay low and wait for the heat to die down.”
“You’re leaving?”
“I’ll be back. As far as I can tell, Picardo’s about to get involved with something everybody will wanna stay far away from. It’s for the best.”
It wasn’t like I’d seen Joey very often. It’d been years and now it felt like a few more years before I’d see him again. He held his hands in mine and smiled at me.
“You were always my better half, sis. I was never meant to help out Ivory but you were. Do me a favor.”
“Of course. Anything.”
“When I come back, be something amazing. Fulfill the destiny I knew you were meant for.”
“I’ll do that. Just promise me you’ll come back to visit.”
“I will. One day… I promise.”
My face was warm but the tear leaking from the corner of my eye was cool. I didn’t bother trying to hold my emotions back. I reached forward and squeezed my brother again. It wouldn’t be the last time I saw him but I hugged him like it was until he eventually pulled away.
He turned toward Grant and smiled. “No hard feelings.”
&nb
sp; “Sorry about your mouth,” Grant replied.
“Hey. I pulled a gun on you. I’d have done the same.” He looked at Ashton. The two of them held their heads high as they stared at each other. “I don’t care what you do or how you do it. I don’t even care about you. You just take care of Rose. I’d give myself up if it meant saving her. I expect you to do the same.”
Ashton looked at me with a smile then turned back to Joey. “Rose is everything to me. My life is hers.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear… But there’s no point in throwing your life away just yet. Like I said, Picardo’s got his hands full with Goida. The cartel and the yakuza don’t exactly have a history of playing nice. Stay away and you’ll stay safe. Oh, and one more thing. If anything happens to me, you’ll hear about it. Make sure you talk to Cain and the Devils if that happens.”
“The Devils?” Ashton raised an eyebrow.
“Just an insurance policy. I might jump from a plane but I’ve always got a chute.” He took a step toward the exit with the MC surrounding him. “No point in sticking around. Better get out of here before Goida tries to find out Picardo got a name and gets suspicious.”
Even though he was leaving, Joey smiled like nothing was wrong.
“Goodbye, Joey.”
“So long, sis… I’ll see you around.”
Chapter 24
ROSE
One week later…
Ashton had these dark tattoos that ran along his forearms. The ink was intricate but not so detailed it took attention away from how muscular his arms were. Ashton had just the right amount of bulk. Not so big I couldn’t put my hands on him. Still strong enough to overpower me when he needed to.
Right now, he let me take control. His muscular forearms in my grip, he had no choice but to let me pin his hands up over his head while I planted a kiss on him. I sighed into his mouth, enjoying the familiar taste of his tongue. That alone was enough to get me excited and I was definitely excited.
