Redemption

by Elizabeth Knox

  “We have a lot of allies, the Vipers don’t really have shit,” I tell Elena, and she isn’t shocked by my statement. Her Pops had the club beforehand, and he really ran it into the ground. There are good clubs like the Skulls, and then there were the Vipers who ran any drug they could, were well into the sex trade, hell, half of their members got off on beating their women and kids. That’s not shit we tolerate, not one fuckin’ bit.

  “These allies aren’t the ones my father had been in cahoots with. These are all people I’ve established relationships with. We’ve got the Raiders MC in L.A. who have chapters all over the west, we’ve got the Demons of Hell MC in my home state of Texas who’ve just expanded to Mississippi, Georgia, and are as far north as Indiana now. I’ve been chatting with the Italians…”

  “The fuckin’ mob?!” I snap, glaring at Reed. He dismisses me with his hand.

  “Yes, Seamus. The important thing is that we’ve got friends everywhere, we have allies. It only cost me one small price, but it was a price I was willing to pay to ensure the safety of the club.” Dmitri settles into his seat next to Elena. I finally sit in mine, and she continues “I gave up the Vipers territory. I had to do that to get the Demons of Hell to step on board. They’ve been having issues with the Brotherhood MC and need the club to help resolve their minor problem. We have a month to get everyone up here to Tennessee before they take over the old clubhouse.”

  I’m shocked. Fuckin’ shocked that Elena gave that up. It was her birthright, she didn’t want any of it – but it doesn’t matter. She’s going from being the Prez of the biggest MC in Texas to what exactly?

  “That’s not all though,” she continues, “I’m destroying the Vipers MC. We’re merging with the Skulls. If they’re loyal, they’ll follow, and the club will expand. If they don’t want to move, I can’t blame them, and I’ll find some way in the bi-laws to release them without eighty-sixing them. Dmitri?” Elena looks to Dmitri, who stares directly at her.

  “Da?” He grew up in Texas from what I understand, yet speaks Russian a lot of the time. We’ve learned to pick up on a few words.

  “Are you with me, or?” Before Elena can finish, Dmitri rises out of his seat and wraps his arms around her.

  “Of course, I am with you, da. You are my family, I would not be anywhere else.” Dmitri and Elena aren’t related. He’s a few years older than her, but they have a special bond. All I know is that Dmitri was six or seven when he came into Jimmy’s life. I don’t know how or why, but I know that Elena grew up with Dmitri. From her youngest age, he was her defender.

  “I’ll need you to go to Texas as my VP, tell them all what’s happening. We’re merging with the Skulls, per Reed’s approval. They will transfer in at whatever standing they have now. If they’re prospecting, they will prospect up here, if they’re full patch, they’re full patch, etc., etc. I want as many up here as soon as they possibly can, especially those with construction skills. We’ve got the shipment of girls coming in shortly and now we’ve got a whole club moving up here too.”

  “We’ve got a lot of shit to do,” I say, and Elena nods in agreement.

  “Yeah, and you’d better tell Butch to stop fuckin’ around with those hot rods and get to doin’ some actual work,” Reed grumbles. I can’t agree more myself. He’s good at fixin’ shit.

  “We fixin’ up the old cabins out back in the woods?”

  “What’s he talking about?” Elena questions Reed, who fills her in on how we’ve got about thirty old cabins just sitting back out a few miles into the woods behind the clubhouse.

  Her mouth gapes open, “Are you kidding me? Why haven’t we been working on these instead of building new shit by Bubba’s?”

  “Uh, well, I dunno, babe. I would think you’d like the girls close together and not spread out a few hundred meters away from each other. Safety in numbers and all. Plus, you don’t wanna spook em’.”

  “We’ll get the old cabins ready for the Vipers, then. I’m expecting at least forty to fifty to make the move up here.” We can make it work.

  “The merger wasn’t the only reason we brought you two in here today,” Reed says. Both Dmitri and I look at him. Elena has a concerned look on her face and starts to pace in the room. “We’ve gotten a request from Rafael.”

  “What kind of request?” I ask

  “Rafael seems to think that somehow in his fucked-up mind, Maria belongs to him.”

  “How on earth would she belong to that fucker?”

  “Oh, they’re engaged. Didn’t you know?” Reed seethes sarcasm; he tosses the letter on the table.

  “She was never engaged to him. He’s doing this as a ploy, he wants her back, but he’ll have to kill me first. I’m not letting that poor girl get sucked back into that hell. I guess he’s moved on from Natasha Kolosov and is now interested in Mar…” Elena growls, sounding like a mother protecting her child.

  “I know she wasn’t, baby, we all know that he’s desperate and is trying to use Maria to his advantage.”

  “Maria doesn’t belong to Rafael. She’s one of us, she’s a Skull, now and she’s under our protection,” I tell everyone in the room, and they nod in agreement.

  “Are we telling the girl?” Dmitri asks, making eye contact with everyone in the room.

  “No. She doesn’t hear a word of this. It will only stress her out and make things worse for her. She’s finally started to feel like this is home. I don’t need her looking over her shoulder in the slight possibility that Rafael is going to be an idiot and send someone after her. And if he does, we’ll kill them before she even knows she was in danger.”

  “Have you heard anything about Valentina?” Elena asks Reed. Valentina is Maria’s younger sister. They were separated the day that Rafael came into their home and tore them apart. She hasn’t seen her sister in years, but we’ve been trying to find her for ages. We won’t stop, and Reed sure as hell won’t stop. We’ll find the girl.

  “No, not yet. I have Fist checking with his contacts, they’re using an out of date photo, the girl could’ve changed so much since Maria last saw her, but we’re looking. We’ll find her.”

  “I’ll have Kristie do some digging too,” Elena adds.

  ***

  We left our small meeting, grabbed Enzo and went to go meet with Logan to retrieve our shipment of guns. Elena and Reed stayed back at the clubhouse, it was always best that they did on these types of runs. There was always that element of surprise, anything could happen out here – even if I did trust Logan with my life.

  We pull up to the drop off location. It’s quiet and deserted, just the way we like it. A quick way to get caught when you’re doing illegal shit is to do it at night. We avoid that completely by meeting at one of the many properties that Reed owns off the beaten path. I highly doubt that even if we did get caught that we’d go to jail. The FBI needs us anyways.

  “Well shit, look at your fat ass,” Logan chuckles, rounding the blacked-out van we’ll use to haul the weapons back to the club.

  “You always were the nasty one,” I retort, slapping him hard on the back.

  “No, Jordan’s the nasty one. Christian’s the dick, and I’m the smart one.”

  “Smart my ass.”

  We stand there, chuckling, throwing retorts back to one another for a good twenty minutes while the guns are taken from his van and put into ours. Dmitri rolls up in the second van, ready to take the rest to the club. You may wonder why we use vans instead of tractor trailers, the key in our business is to blend it. The more you blend in, the less conspicuous you are. So, Butch created compartments within the vans to hide all this lovely ammunition that Logan is supplying the club with.

  “What’s new with you? Jordan told me you’ve got a girl,” I tell Logan, he shakes his head and smirks, not denying me at all.

  “I’ve got a feisty little blonde”. He flashes that playboy smile, the one that dubs him the most eligible bachelor in Atlanta.

  “Feisty little blonde, huh?”

/>   “Oh yeah, she’s fucking fantastic. I’ve only known her a couple of weeks, and damn, coming up here to do business is killing me.”

  “Fuck, you’re in deep water, brother,” I chuckle, remembering when I realized I was in deep with Daisy.

  “I’ll drown for her,” Logan mutters, seriousness evident in his tone. “She’s nothing like anything I’ve ever experienced. She’s unique, self-made, driven. She doesn’t take no for an answer and goes after whatever she wants. She’s fearless, resilient, beautiful.”

  “Fuck, you sound like you’re in love with her.”

  “I might be.”

  “How’d you meet her?” I ask, my curiosity getting the best of me.

  Logan laughs before he speaks. “I officially met her at a bar.”

  “And, unofficially?”

  “I was at Christian’s club, saw the beautiful little creature dancing below us, and knew I had to have her. Reggie dug up some intel, and I found her in that bar.”

  “Bullshit. You didn’t just ‘find’ her in that bar. You were hunting.”

  “I was hunting, and I got my prize.” He flashes me an evil grin. This girl has no idea what she’s gotten herself into.

  “Where does she think you are right now?” I ask, knowing that Logan hasn’t told her about his business. He didn’t tell his ex-wife, Tara, about his business until six months before they were divorced. And they didn’t get divorced because of his business; they divorced because she’s a sadistic bitch.

  “China, on business.”

  “Ni Hao” (Hello) I say in Traditional Chinese.

  “You know, you aren’t as dumb as everyone thinks you are,” Logan laughs. I join in until it’s time for us both to leave and return to the women we both may or may not love.

  Chapter 16

  Seamus

  “Who’re we buying from again?” I ask Reed, wanting to hear him utter the name of the man who we should not be doing a lick of business with. He’s dangerous. It’s not like the people that we deal with aren’t dangerous, but this one – he has the resources to burn us all to the ground.

  “Kolosov. Sergei Kolosov.” I lean against the van. Reed didn’t waste any time in the last two weeks getting everything prepped for the women. We’re having a lot of changes being made. The women arrive today, and the Vipers are starting to move up here next week.

  “Sergei Kolosov,” I mutter slowly, wanting to slap Reed across the face for being so stupid. We’d be safer doing business with the Chinese, and even that’s a fucking joke.

  Sergei Kolosov is the most notorious arms dealer in the world. We buy our arms from the Steeles, the largest gunrunners in North America – and now, Reed wants to establish a relationship with an arms dealer to only purchase women. He’s stupid. This isn’t going to end up well for any of us. One day, Sergei will demand that we start purchasing more from him, I can imagine it now, to further our “business relationship”.

  “I don’t have to ask for your approval,” Reed states, his gaze catching onto mine.

  “Never asked for it.”

  “You didn’t have to,” Reed grumbles. We’re standing outside the van, waiting on our instructions to retrieve the women. We took Dmitri, Jenna, Enzo, and Maria with us all. Reed and I agreed that taking the girls would probably help soothe them, to help them understand that they weren’t in any danger – that they would be in a safe place. Dmitri is here simply because he is good with a gun, and he speaks Russian. It’s kinda funny, imagining a boy who was raised in Texas speaking perfect Russian, but I’ve seen it happen.

  A black escalade pulls into the lot where our vehicles are parked. It slows and comes to a stop directly in front of Reed. I put my hand on my gun, having the anticipation to fire at whomever is behind that tinted black glass. When the window lowers, I’m prepared – but it’s not what I expect.

  “Prez, da?” A woman with a thick accent speaks. She’s Russian, and she’s fucking gorgeous. She opens the door to the escalade, strutting out on four-inch heels, wearing a dark emerald green dress that hugs every curve of her body. Her hair flows in long black curls down to her ass, and the diamonds hanging from her neck could feed everyone in Africa for years.

  “Yes. I’m assuming you’re the courier.” She nods at Reed’s assessment, sticks her manicured hand into her bra, and pulls out a note.

  “Your instructions are here. You are to follow the instructions. If you do not follow the instructions, Sergei will be very displeased. He will watch and see, and if you do not listen to Master, he will ruin you. Understand, da?” Reed takes the note from her hand gently, opens it, and nods to the woman.

  “Crystal clear.”

  “Good, good. Enjoy your purchase. Master has given you a present, Prez. He hopes you approve.” She turns on her heels back to her car.

  “What kind of present?” Reed asks, and she glances back to him.

  “Ah, but what is the fun if I tell you?” She flashes a sinful smirk at Reed, licking her licks seductively. “Dumayu podarok dlya tebya, Dmitri.” I don’t know what the fuck she just said, but I sure as hell want to know. I understood one word.

  Dmitri.

  We all look to Dmitri who is staring intently at the girl before him. “ty menya ne uznayesh?”

  She smiles, takes a few steps towards him, and stands firm. “Dmitri Petrov, sold as a child to the highest bidder, heir to the Petrov line. The only son of Viktor and Mikahla Petrov, sisters to Ksenia and Katya. I wonder, how does it feel to know after your protector died, that your mother was the one who sold you to your fate? The one who started the long chain of events which left you in the care of Jimmy, the abusive MC leader. She ripped you away from them, thought that by selling you, it would keep her safe. She was wrong. Very, very wrong. You have so much power, and yet don’t recognize it at all. You’re wasting away in this MC, you could be running Russia, taking back what is rightfully yours, and yet you are here, being an errand boy, buying women, for what I wonder…” She taps her chin, smirking at Dmitri.

  “Ah. You don’t want the power. You want to escape from it. Well, let me bring you this reality check. You cannot escape being a Petrov. There is no running, only embracing it. One day, your past will catch up with you dear brat.”

  “Maybe it already has.” She winks at him before turning on her heels back to the escalade. She steps up into the car and looks to Dmitri.

  “Katya.” She smiles at his mention of what I assume, is her name.

  “Brat. Take care of the weak little dove.” And just like that, she’s gone, peeling out of the parking lot so fast that I wonder if this was a figment of my imagination.

  “What the fuck was that?” I ask, glaring at Dmitri. Reed’s glancing at the note, reading over the instructions.

  “We’ve got to be there in two hours. In the cars, NOW!” Reed snaps. We all get into our cars and signal for Jenna and Maria to follow us in theirs.

  I don’t know what the fuck just happened. I just know it isn’t good.

  ***

  We had to race to make it to the docks in time. Reed didn’t disclose every instruction that Sergei had for him. This pick up was very different than what we had with the Cartel, and I should’ve anticipated this. I should’ve brought more men, more gunpower.

  We met Katya in South Carolina and drove two hours east until we arrived in the heart of Charleston. Reed gave me directions, and I followed them diligently until we arrived at our location; the docks.

  I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. I did not expect them to be in a shipping container.

  Reed exits the van while the girls and Dmitri park their cars and followed us further into the shipping yard. Reed glances at the paper and walks further down the lot until he comes to a dead stop. “They should be around here somewhere. Container E498.”

  Jenna and Maria split up, going down the lines of containers until we hear a sharp whistle. It’s Jenna, and she’s not too far away from us.

  “Open the da
mn door!” she yells, glaring at us like we’re standing around doing nothing.

  Dmitri grabs a cinderblock from next to the container and busts the lock off, tearing it from the metal, and throwing it onto the ground. He opens the container doors wide, and what’s inside shocks all of us. Sergei didn’t just put these girls in a shipping container, he put them in a transformed shipping container. Inside of it are plush leather couches, a few queen-sized beds, what must be a small kitchenette and bathroom. The girls inside look at us with acceptance, not just fear.

  It’s like they’ve understood their fates.

  Enzo walks in the container and looks over the girls. “English?” he asks, a few of them shake their heads, and the rest just stare at him blankly. He walks further in until he makes a dead stop. “Fuck!”

  He scoops a girl into his arms, her snow-white hair is falling from around her, her body so small and delicate. “What is she on?” he asks the girls around them, but none of them answer.

  “otvet!” Dmitri shouts at them. I want to tell him to shut up, but it gets the job done, because one of the girls tells him what’s happened.

  “The Master and Mistress drugged her. I do not know with what, it makes her sleepy, she gets very sleepy…” The girl is riddled with fear. Maria swoops in and wraps her arms around her, telling her it will be okay. The girl can’t be older than sixteen; how the fuck is Sergei getting these women?

  “Take it out of her arm, now,” Reed orders. Dmitri goes over and takes the IV from her arm. She will be okay soon, I’m sure of it.

  “She f-fights. She is not one of us. She is … different.” She’s terrified, and why, I’m not sure. No one can touch these girls now, but no one will know that, none of them will know that until they begin to trust us all.

  “It’s alright, none of you will have to fight now,” Jenna tells them. She looks at every single one of them. “You are safe now. I promise.”

  Chapter 17

  Daisy