by KJ Dahlen
Rogue held out his hand to her as he met her anxious gaze. “I promise.”
Hesitant, Sevie finally stepped closer and took his hand.
Chapter Twelve
TALON
He and everyone else waited for Rogue to appear. What the hell was going on with him? It wasn’t like him to be...
Rogue came through the open doors dragging the reluctant looking woman known as Sevie behind him.
“Nice of you to come,” Eagle growled.
Rogue seemed to ignore him as he sat the woman in a chair. “Sorry Prez,” was all he said as he made his way to the long table.
“Shut the doors Crater!” Eagle yelled out.
The sound of the double doors closing echoed through the room.
Talon watched the woman closely.
She looked terrified though her eyes never left Rogue.
His gaze swung over to Rogue.
The man gazed right back at her as he sat down.
Oh, fuck. He likes her? Dammit. This could turn out real bad.
“Ok, meeting to order,” Eagle stated. He looked over at the chairs. But not at her.
Bytes sat there, a chair away from her. He stood up, brought the files from under his arm out, and laid them in front of the prez.
Eagle raised a brow. “Why don’t you just relay to us what’s in here? I have a god dammed headache.”
Talon shook his head. A hangover. He grabbed the files up. He did want to read them.
Bytes looked extremely uncomfortable as he gazed along the row of mean looking faces. “Well, umm. I found that—”
“Speak up man! The church choir can’t heart you!” Tollman called out.
Eagle turned his head to glare at him.
He shrugged. “Sorry prez but all I hear is squeaks.”
“That’s just bedsprings echoing in your head,” Falcon cut in.
The men all laughed loudly.
Talon even smiled but he kept his eyes on the files as he read them.
“Ok...” Bytes started again, really loud this time. “She definitely is Dmitri’s niece.”
Then men all mumbled and stared at Sevie.
She swallowed heavily and looked away from their hard stares.
“But...” Bytes went on.
“But?” Eagle cut in. “What fucking but?”
The men all snickered at the phrase.
He turned his glare to them.
They shut up instantly.
He turned that stare to poor Bytes. “What is it?”
“Well, she came from Russia when she was four. According to the files, we have. Her grandmother brought her over.”
“Ok and...?” Eagle raised a brow at him.
“Her parents were found murdered there in Russia and there had been no sign of her, their only child.”
Talon kept reading this very thing as he heard what Bytes was saying. He gazed up at her. “Miss? Miss Grigori?”
Sevie’s gaze did not shift to him. She stared at Rogue. Not responding to the name at all.
“Miss Gregory? Sevannah?”
Her startled gaze swung over to Talon.
“Did you know all of this?”
She swallowed heavily and stood up. “I didn’t. Well, not until this morning.”
Talon’s brows furrowed. “What?”
“What do ya mean this morning?” Eagle wanted to know.
Rogue spoke up, “She had a nightmare last night. She was terrified, she kept pleading with someone to not hurt her mom and her dad. Then she shouted out Dimitri’s name as Uncle Dmitri, begging him not to hurt them. When I grabbed her up to stop her from screaming, I asked her what she was talking about and she told me he killed her mom and her papa. Like her voice even sounded like a child. Then he tied cement blocks to her feet and threw her into a river.”
The men all began muttering and the room grew loud with it.
“All of you shut the fuck up!” Eagle yelled.
They again quieted.
He stared at Sevie. “How do we know she didn’t make all this shit up as an act to cover for her lies?”
Bytes opened his mouth to answer this.
“Because it is all right here,” Talon announced as he raised a file.
Eagle looked over at him.
“It says here that Alexander and Matiyanna Grigori were found murdered in...” he paused to read it. “...1996, in a town just outside of Moscow. The copy of the translated newspaper piece says that their four year old daughter, Svetlannah was never found.”
The men again all whispered amongst themselves.
“So?” Eagle asked. “She’s still related to Dmitri and he wants to destroy this club. He would want this woman returned to him.”
Rogue stood up as his chair fell back with a thump in the floor. “He would kill her as a witness to his crimes!”
Eagle shrugged. “I don’t know it could be worth three million to him. If all this is true.”
More mutterings came for the lieutenants.
Talon looked over at Rogue and he could see that this was about to hit ugly and real fast. Just like he’d thought. He stood up from his chair blocking Eagle’s view of Rogue’s enraged face. “We can’t hand a woman over to be killed Prez.”
Eagle looked incensed as he too, stood up. “And why not? She ain’t nuthin to us. In fact, she helped to take your kid Talon!”
Rogue grabbed Talon’s large arm to move him aside.
Talon wouldn’t budge. He knew that at any time, Eagle might strip Rogue of his rank and maybe his cut if he were pushed too far. “Look Prez. We aren’t about killing women and you know it.”
Eagle glared at him. “So now, you think she’s innocent too?”
Before Talon could respond, the double doors burst open.
Panther and Nix held a very larger man by each huge arm as they dragged him in.
“What the fuck is this?” Eagle yelled.
“Sorry prez, but we caught one of the Russians casing the place,” Nix explained.
Eagle raised a brow and looked over at the big Russian. “You work for Dmitri?”
The man had a cut lip and a bloody nose. He just stared blankly back at him.
“Oh, so you won’t talk huh?” Eagle glared at him.
In a response no one could misunderstand, the man spit on the ground.
“Take him to the cell room. The interrogation room... not the actual cells.”
The two large bikers dragged him out.
“I think we should let him go Prez,” Condor suggested. “This will just piss Dmitri off.”
Eagle snapped his head over and stared at the man. “Are all of you thinking you are boss, now?”
Condor shook his head. “No, sorry.”
Eagle let out a breath. “Well, we are getting nowhere pretty fucking fast!” He paced back and forth, as he spoke, “We got five fucking days to pay this sonofarussianbitch. We all need to vote on it.” He looked around at the men. Then he stared at Talon.
Talon had managed to get Rogue to sit down. He stared back at his prez. “Vote on what?”
Eagle stopped and glared at him. “Are you dumb all the sudden?” He looked all around the room with a disgusted expression on his face. “We need to take a vote on whether we hand over this Russian bitch to her Russian uncle if he agrees to let the debt go.”
The men all simply stared at him like he was out of his mind.
“Prez!” Talon called out to him.
He swung his gaze over to stare at Talon. “What the fuck is wrong with you all? We are gonna burn by the end of next week if we do not pay off this debt!”
Talon stood very still. He looked around the room at his lieutenants.
They all looked down at the table or somewhere else.
The room grew quiet.
Talon again tried to speak, “Can we at least—?”
“At least what?” Eagle cut Talon off. “Wait another fucking day?” “What Talon? You got another 100 grand stashed away to give to this a
sshole?”
Talon shook his head.
“No! You don’t!” Eagle looked around. “This could be our chance to pay this off and our club will survive!”
The men all grumbled.
“So you all don’t agree eh? You just wanna keep waiting until the boom lowers?” he shouted.
“You honestly feel that it is ok to give me to my murdering uncle? To pay off some debt?” Sevie spoke loudly so everyone could hear. She looked at each man.
“You have no say in this,” Eagle snapped at her.
“But I do.” Rogue stood up. He walked around the table and down to where Sevie stood.
Talon let out a sigh. Here it was. He’d wanted to avoid this split in the club. He sure as hell didn’t want to have to choose between his best friend and his prez.
Rogue took his cut off.
The men all gasped.
Talon blinked. No. He would not.
Rogue then placed it on Sevannah’s shoulders. “I’m claiming her. As mine.”
Sevie’s mouth popped open as she gaped at Rogue.
“Oh, well. That’s just great! How fucking convenient! You don’t even know this woman! Why the fuck would you give her your god dammed cut?”
“I do know enough.” He looked up at Eagle. “I had her last night. I suppose you were right, Prez.”
Eagle shook his head slowly. “The fuck you talkin’ about?”
Rogue shrugged. “A good piece of ass can change a man’s mind.”
Eagle stared at him then at her face.
A long tense but silent moment stretched out over the room.
Abruptly, the prez tilted his large bald head back and laughed.
The men all looked at each other with uncertainty about Eagle’s sanity then they glanced at Rogue, and over at Talon.
Talon just stared at his best friend. His best lieutenant and the most trusted person in his life for the last 5 years. The man who went out alone and brought his son back to him. He always said the man was highly unpredictable, but this? This floored even him.
Finally, after swiping his tears away, Eagle’s laughter halted. He leaned his large hands on the table with his fingers spread out and glared at Rogue. “You are going to regret this. Sure as I’m standin’ here. I as the Prez of The Princes of Hell now declare that IF this woman leaves this club as in breaks up with you or if you kick her ass to the curb...” he paused for effect as every eye remained on him. “I will remove your cut, strip your tat and blackball you from any clubs in this state.”
Rogue stared back at him, not backing down.
Talon lowered his head at the decree. When a prez made one, it stuck. Forever. Rogue’s fate was just sealed and there wasn’t a damn thing he or Talon could do to change it.
The men all moved around in their chairs as if they were uncomfortable at all this bickering and threats but they didn’t utter a sound.
“And...” Eagle spoke again, as he apparently, wasn’t finished. “I will have her tracked down and she will be sent to the same damn place we will be sending Cat and Beth.”
Rogue looked livid as his hands balled into fists at his sides.
Talon’s body tensed up at the look on Rogue’s face. Fuck! Rogue better be sure about this. He willed him in his head to not say a damn thing. This was like having a room full of TNT and one match could blow the whole thing up in their faces. Yes, The Pistols MC would be her doom. Cat and Beth might survive it, as they had been used to the Life all this time, but a woman like this Sevannah? She would perish in less than a few days.
Sevannah looked from Eagle to Rogue. Her expression showed her utter confusion, as she didn’t seem to comprehend any of it. “I-I don’t understand?”
Eagle swung his livid gaze over to her. “Yeah, right,” he snorted. “You do not understand how you just turned the head of my best damn Lieutenant. Turning him against his club’s President even! And for all we know, you are in league with Devin Brooks along with Grigori. You were an accomplice to Brett’s kidnapping!”
“NO!” a small but loud shout came from the open doors.
Talon and the men all swung their surprised gazes over.
Brett stood there.
“The fuck?” Eagle shouted. “Crater! Why are the doors—”
“Brett!” Fiona shouted, then they all saw her at the doors grabbing Brett’s shoulders. “You can’t take off like...” Her voice faded away as she saw all the men staring at her and Brett. Her gaze swung over to Talon. “Oh... I am so sorr—”
“Mom!” Brett grabbed her hand and tugged her forward into the meeting room.
“Brett? Sweetie bear, you can’t just—“
“Mom, they are saying Sevie kidnapped me!”
Fiona halted and looked up at Talon.
He shrugged as he held all emotion from his face. He didn’t want his woman in this. He needed for her to just leave and take Brett with her.
She then moved her gaze over at Eagle to see he looked more than angry. Next, her gaze found Rogue and Sevie, standing together. She opened her mouth to speak.
“Hey!” Eagle cut her off before she could start. “If the kid’s got bal—umm, guts enough to break in here to speak...” He looked over at Talon. “Then he should damn well speak then!”
Talon wasn’t happy at this new turn in events. The tension in the room was now at an all time high. He had been worried about Rogue keeping his cool. When he, himself, could easily lose it when it came to Fi and Brett. He looked back over at Brett’s small face.
The kid stood there unafraid. In a room full of men who were not friendly looking. He had to agree with Eagle this time... the kid had balls. He gave Bret a nod.
Brett’s eyes widened a little at the fact that they were going to let him have his say. “So...I can talk here?” He was asking Talon in particular.
Talon nodded. “Yeah, boyo. Go ahead and say what ya got to say.”
Fiona put her arms around him and hung onto him as he tried to step forward.
He looked up at her. “Mom, you gots to let me do this. They can’t be saying this stuff. It isn’t true!”
Fiona stared down at him and reluctantly let him go.
Brett stepped over to the long table. He gazed at all the very large men sitting around it.
They all stared back at him.
Tollman gave him a wink.
He swallowed heavily then he spoke loud and clear, “She was there with scrow papers. She asked Dev— Devin to sign them. He said he would but he had a call, an emerg—m—ermergen...”
“Emergency?” Falcon added for him.
Brett swung his gaze up to the dark haired man with muscles that were bigger than even Talon’s. He nodded rapidly. “Yeah that was it! He got a call on his cell phone. Then he asked Sevie...” Brett paused and looked over at her.
She smiled nervously at him.
He nodded at her and went on, “He asked her if she could watch me while he went to get my mom.” He cleared his throat before he continued, “But he was lying! He took me from my mom and he said he was gonna sell me off and that she would be crying and then he was gonna come after her and sell her too!”
The men all looked shocked.
Concerned at the look of anger and fear on his son’s face, Talon stood up.
A tear escaped Brett’s eye. “He said mean things about my mommy. He wants to hurt her.” He swiped the tear away as if it were an offensive occurrence as he turned fully around and met Eagle’s gaze. “I am not a liar Mister President. He left me there with her and she did not know what he did! She then gave me cookies and milk!”
The men all stared at Talon’s kid. Smiles broke out on their hard faces.
Brett swung his gaze over at Talon. “There! Now you all know. She did not do anything wrong!”
Talon felt... he felt so proud of the kid.
“Well, fuck!” Eagle exclaimed. “He is your kid, Talon!”
The men all burst into laughter.
Fiona stepped forward and grab
bed him up. Kissing his cheek.
“Mom! Not in front of the guys!”
Male laughter rang out through the hall.
Then Fiona turned to Rogue and Sevie. She brought Brett over to stand next to her as she faced them. “Rogue...” Her voice caught in her throat. “...You saved my baby. You were the guardian angel I prayed to God for.” She stepped up, rose to her tiptoes, and planted a kiss on his cheek.
A low growl rumbled in the room. Talon had released it unknowingly.
Eagle stared over at him for a second and raised a brow.
Fiona then stepped up to Sevie. “And thank you for your kindness to my son. He said you made him feel safe.” She grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
Sevie swiped a tear from her cheek and nodded. Looking down at Brett, she knelt in front of him so she could be face to face with him. “Thank you, little man.”
He hugged her around the neck. “I just told the truth is all.”
“Alright, alright!” Eagle yelled out. “Family hour is over! Now. Get. Out!”
Talon looked over at him with steel in his gaze.
The prez met his hard stare then said, “I mean, please leave,” Eagle amended his statement.
Fiona grabbed Brett’s hand and tugged him out of the room like her pretty little ass was on fire.
Talon watched that ass until she disappeared beyond the double doors.
“Crater!” Eagle shouted.
Crater looked up startled.
“Close the GOD DAMMED DOORS!” Eagle shouted.
The large man jumped and went to close them with a loud boom.
Eagle then glared over at Talon. He did not look happy about any of this.
Talon tried to ignore Eagle’s obvious anger. “So Rogue?”
