BOUNTY: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Giustini Family Mafia)

by Sophia Gray

  “I don’t need any information,” he scoffed. “You think you’d know something I don’t?” He plopped down in the rocking chair and tossed one booted foot up onto the coffee table. “Sit down. Take a load off.” He pointed to the loveseat a few feet to her right.

  “Let Cherry go.” Josephine didn’t look at Cherry but nodded in her direction.

  “So she can go ratting me out to Cutter? Or Lucas? Fuck, no. The bitch stays with us. And if she so much as opens her mouth to sneeze, I’m gonna knock her out.”

  “You have a lot of hate for a girl you don’t even know.” Josephine suddenly remembered them talking at the mall. He did know Cherry, so why was he so pissed at her right then?

  He laughed and looked over to where Cherry was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest. “You didn’t tell her? Of course not. I bet you never told Cutter either. He wouldn’t have stuck his dick in you if he’d known mine was there way before his.”

  “Fuck you, Clay.” Cherry looked away from him but didn’t quite meet Josephine’s eyes. “I’m not with him. I haven’t been with him for a long time.”

  “An ex.” Josephine shrugged. “So what?” She aimed her question at Clay. “Again, what do you fucking want? I’m hungry and want my pizza.” Cherry hadn’t ordered it yet, but he didn’t really know that, nor did it really matter.

  “Lucas’s going to be busy with that meeting for a while. I want you to sit the fuck down, just for a few minutes. Our ride should be here soon.” He grinned again.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.” Josephine tried to laugh but moved over to the loveseat and sat down, thankful to get off her feet.

  “We’ll see.” He nodded and reached behind his back. When his hand came forward, a pistol was cradled there. He didn’t aim it at her or Cherry. He just rested it on his leg, like a security blanket. “We’ll see.”

  Josephine put the bottle of juice on the end table and tried to think about what to do. If she ran out the back door, Cherry would still be stuck with the lunatic. That’s if she made it out. He could very well shoot her for her trouble. The front door was out. She’d have to pass him, and it was locked, so that would take up valuable time. Besides, he most likely had at least one more guy out there.

  Clay relaxed back in the chair, keeping his sneer focused on Josephine. Cherry just rested her head on her knees, breathing deep.

  Car lights flooded the room from the driveway out front. Two doors slammed shut and the deep voices of two men talking were heard through the windows as they past. Josephine looked at the door when the knocks came.

  Clay grinned wider and hopped up from his chair. “Time for a little reunion.”

  Josephine’s breath caught in her chest. He couldn’t mean what she thought. No way he knew. She hadn’t even known.

  Clay flicked the bolt out of place and pulled the door open. Two men slapped his back and walked into the house. “So, what’s the big prize? What’d you drag my ass out of the bar for?” An older man said looking at Cherry on the floor. “Hey, Cherry Pie. I thought we were done with you. Heard you took up with those Fury Rider assholes.”

  Cherry looked up briefly, then quickly, over to Josephine before ducking her head back down.

  “Reaper, not her. Fuck her. The other one.” Clay gave the man a little shove.

  When he stepped closer, the kitchen light shone on his features, and she sucked in her breath. He was older, much older, than the pictures she’d seen, but it was him—her father, standing in the living room, squinting at her. Maybe he didn’t recognize her.

  “What the fuck?” He finally whispered and took another step closer. “Josephine?” He turned quick as a flash to face Clay. “What the fuck is going on, Clay?”

  “I thought you’d want to see her. I know your old lady bailed on you. Aren’t you happy I found her? Well, Cherry girl helped. A little.”

  Josephine wanted to look to Cherry for answers, but she was still staring up at her father. His beard was graying, almost completely void of the dark hair she remembered from her childhood. His eyebrows were bushier, and his hair, completely gray, was short and neat. Wrinkles—worry lines from a hard life lived—covered his face but didn’t take away from his muscular build. He was in his fifties, yes, but built like a man much younger.

  His eyes softened as he looked back at her. Pain flashed there for a moment before the hard look returned, cold and heartless. “You shouldn’t be here. Why are you here?”

  “I live here. Why are you here?” she demanded with a shaky voice.

  “Here? With that fuck, Lucas?” He turned back around and glared at Clay. “What the fuck?”

  “She’s knocked up, too, Reap. Got his bastard in her belly.” Clay seemed to be enjoying the anger he was building up in her father’s expression.

  “I—I don’t understand. Why are you here? Why are all of you here?” She looked past her father, trying to forget for a moment a lifetime of rejection and pain, at the other two men in the room.

  “Your man wasn’t able to get the job done, so we are going to have to go another route. You see, your little club is getting in our way for a big job, and it’s just…well, annoying. So, we’re going to have to take what we want.” Clay spoke as though she knew what they were talking about. It seemed to be almost funny to him.

  The look on her father’s face darkened, and he stepped closer to her before he turned to speak to Clay. “What are you talking about? We had this discussion; no war with the Riders was worth it. They didn’t want the deal. We’ll just skate around them.”

  “Yeah, we talked about it, but you don’t get it. Taking their route, taking that line, would blow up our profit. And we could expand right into town.”

  “There are other ways.” Her father’s fists clenched at his sides.

  “Yeah, I know.” Clay nodded and pointed at Josephine. “This way. You’re gonna take your daughter there and hold on to her while I go meet up with Lucas. Once I get what I want, you can let her go or whatever. But you keep her close.”

  “And if he doesn’t give in? You’re talking about a club that only deals with the marijuana shit because it’s medicinal. They have a fundraiser for the fucking high school every year for fuck’s sake, Clay. They aren’t a club that’s going to roll over and let your train of shit drive through.”

  “You see, I keep hearing how the Reaper is losing his spark, lost his taste for the life. Is that true? Am I hearing right?”

  “I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.”

  “No, but you’re saying it like it should matter to me, like we should bow down to those fucks. Not gonna happen!” Clay’s eyes narrowed, and he took a menacing step toward his enforcer. “Now, I’m being nice, letting you be the one to hold on to her, but if you can’t do it—”

  “I’ll take her,” Reaper said, nearly growling his answer. “Cherry Pie, too. Having Cutter and Lucas twisted in knots will only help you.”

  “Fine. Take her, too. Don’t much give a shit about her. Cutter won’t think twice to toss her aside once he finds out she was balls deep in our club first.”

  Josephine did look at Cherry then. Tears puddled in her eyes, but her lips were pursed and her hands fisted.

  “Take the car. Logan’s coming with me.” Clay flashed another smile at Josephine. “You be a good girl for your daddy, you hear? If you misbehave, I’ll have to give you a spanking’” He laughed, then snapped his fingers. “Oh, wait. No. Shit. Sorry.” He gave a fake apologetic look, then looked over at Cherry. “That’s Cutter’s thing, not Lucas’s. I wonder how many times he’s had your mouthy ass over his knee.”

  “Better over his knee than anywhere with you, you asshole,” Cherry snapped but remained on the floor.

  Clay laughed. “Well, after he hears all about us and tosses your ass to the curb, we’ll see about that. And we’ll see if my belt is as sharp as his.” He winked and turned on his heel, nodding to the third man—the silent follower—and walked out of the ho
use, taking with him only some of the tension in the room.

  Josephine stood up from the loveseat, moving around her father, unsure of what to do or what to say. After twenty some years, there he was, in the flesh, standing in front of her. He had aged but was there. She could almost smell the leather on his kutte, he was so close to her.

  He watched her as she scooted backward and went to Cherry, urging her to her feet. He didn’t stop her when she walked around the rocking chair Clay had occupied but called out to her when she looked over her shoulder at the front door. “Don’t.” It was a devilish tone, hard and low. It made her tense and look back at him. “You both are staying with me.”

  “Reaper, he’s crazed. You know that, right?” Cherry finally spoke up, pulling away from Josephine. “He’s nuts. If Lucas and Cutter can’t get the club to do what he wants, and they won’t, he’s going to make you kill her. You get that, right? You’re going to have to kill your own fucking daughter!” Cherry pointed a hand behind her, straight at Josephine.

  “You knew,” Josephine whispered, keeping her focus on Cherry. Too many emotions, too many thoughts floated around her mind. She needed to keep only one in the center, hang on to one detail at a time. “You knew he was my father.”

  Cherry dropped her hand and looked back at her. “You look just like him, Josephine, and he talked about his kid a few times when he was drunker than hell, a girl—Josephine.” Cherry’s shoulders slumped.

  “You…I mean…with him?” Josephine couldn’t even look at him. Now a whole new image popped in her head. It was too much.

  “No. I mean, yeah, but no. We never—”

  “Cherry Pie, I don’t think you’re helping. Go take a seat.” Her father jerked a thumb at the couch.

  “Reaper—”

  “Just sit. I think you’ve made a big enough mess, don’t you?”

  “This isn’t my fault.” Cherry moved over to the couch and plopped down, looking every bit the pissed off little girl. “I didn’t tell him to go get you. He asked. He saw her, saw the resemblance and he cornered me.”

  “At the mall.” Josephine kept her eyes on the carpeting. “I saw you, but I forgot after Clay grabbed me.”

  “He touched you?” Reaper nearly yelled.

  “He grabbed my arm.” Josephine qualified with a shake of my head. “What do you care? Cherry’s right. When the club won’t let your drugs into town, Clay is going to want me dead.” Once she put her mind to it, she pieced everything together. Clay was after her town, and the Fury Riders—they were a biker club, not guardian angels, but they wouldn’t let that shit into town if they could stop it.

  He ran his hand over his cropped hair, looking at Cherry sitting on the couch. “Did he threaten you? Hurt you?”

  Cherry frowned. “No. He just asked me about Josephine. He wanted to be sure she was who he thought she was.”

  Reaper blew out his breath, his lips flapping from the force. “He’s out of his fucking mind.” He turned a concerned eye on Josephine. “Are you okay? I mean, do you need anything?” He motioned toward her belly.

  “I need Lucas. Can you get him for me?” she asked with her chin thrust in the air.

  “No. That I can’t do.”

  Chapter 17

  Lucas stood with his brothers at the warehouse tucked neatly off the highway. This part of town was deserted. Factories closed up and moved out of state or the country, all except the two small warehouses they used to hold their product or the few dozens of cars they kept for either sale or as loaners for their garage business. It depended on who was looking in the warehouse.

  “It’s nearly nine. Where the fuck are they?” Cutter bit out, looking toward the road. “They’re not gonna show. They just want us standing out here holding our dicks, waiting.”

  “They’ll be here. Clay’s not the only player here. He has to answer to his club just like I do. He’ll be here with his VP and captains. No one wants a war over a little pot.” Joe sat on the steps of the main office.

  Lucas looked at his phone for the fourth time that hour. He’d sent Josephine a text checking on her and Cherry but hadn’t heard back. He tried to tell himself they were just watching a movie or talking or just didn’t have the phone nearby to hear the notification, but he couldn’t help the nagging feeling in his stomach.

  Clay was already twenty minutes late. Something was wrong.

  “Hey, Joe.” He put one foot up on a step and leaned closer. “You remember Reaper? One of Clay’s enforcers?”

  Joe eyed him silently for a long moment and nodded. “Yeah, Reaper. What about him?”

  “He still running with them?”

  “As far as I know, why?”

  Lucas shook his head. It could mean nothing; it could not impact them at all. But he needed to put all the information he had out on the table, just in case. Better to have his club have his back should it mean something then to have to go out on his own. “Josephine. She found out today that Reaper’s her dad. She didn’t know him growing up. He took off on her and her mom. She didn’t know he was with the Iron Rebels until this afternoon. As far as Josephine knew, he was long gone.”

  “Reaper’s daughter?” Joe’s expression twisted. “Fuck, man. Does he know?”

  “Reaper? No, I don’t think so. Josephine said she hadn’t seen her dad since she was a kid, real little. Her mom only told her today.”

  “What’s this?” Cutter entered the conversation.

  Joe recapped the information. “This could mean nothing. I mean, if he doesn’t know that his daughter has shacked up with one of us. But if he does know, it could bring a new shitstorm down on us.”

  Lucas rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t want him near her until she has a chance to decide if she wants that or not. The only way he would know is if he saw her, and he’s not usually part of all the club shit, right? He’s like their hired gun?”

  “From what I remember, and it’s been years since I’ve done any dealings with him, he didn’t get into club politics. He put in his vote, paid his dues, and took the jobs as they came. Sort of a recluse among the club.” Joe scratched his chin. “But he didn’t walk out on his old lady; she tossed him out. Wouldn’t let him near his kid, so if he finds her, he’s not going to stand by and let you ride off into the sunset with her.”

  “Isn’t Josephine’s mom real sick?” Cutter lit a cigarette.

  “Yeah. Cancer. We’ve been paying the hospital bills. She’s going in for surgery, I think tomorrow or the next day.” Lucas pulled his phone out again and dialed the house. He kept a landline for emergencies. She’d hear that phone ring, no matter where she was in the house.

  It rang. And rang. Nothing. When the automated voicemail picked up, he cursed and clicked off. “Something’s wrong.”

  Four bikes roared down the road and pulled into the lot, aiming their headlights on the three of them sitting on the steps. Joe pulled himself up to his feet with a groan and stepped down, leading his captains.

  Clay cut his bike, and the others followed suit. Once they all dismounted, they exchanged greetings, head nods and grunts for the most part. None of them wanted to be in the same place at the same time.

  “You’re late.” Cutter took a long drag of his smoke.

  Clay smiled, a knowing grin, like he knew something no one else there did. Lucas’s stomach became even more unsettled. “Was held up, but we’re here now.”

  Lucas took the time to look over the faces of the men he brought with them. The VP wasn’t among them, and he’d never seen those three before either. Hell, they looked young enough to be barely patched.

  “Let’s get to the meat of it,” Joe started. “You want in our town, and we don’t want it. You can peddle your shit on the outskirts, go around us but not through us. We don’t want that shit in our schools or on our streets. We won’t stop you outside of this place, but I don’t want your dealers, your product, or you anywhere in our town. As far as the medical line, it’s ours, but cutting you out of town hu
rts your profits. I get that. So, in exchange for you staying out, we’ll cut you five percent of the medical line. Your guys take one run a month, and the five percent for whole month is your cut.”

  Lucas watched Clay’s expression while Joe laid out their offer. Nothing changed. He looked as solid in his resolve as when he pulled up on his bike. He wasn’t going to take that deal or any other. He wanted it all, and he had something stacked in his deck, something he was holding that gave him the overconfident smirk he was sporting.

  “I’m not sure you understand.” Clay tucked his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “I wasn’t asking for permission to enter your precious fucking town. I was just letting you know we were going to be expanding our operations. You can either be smart and earn or you can be a bunch of fucking pussies and get cut out altogether. I’m talking, disband your fucking club or move it somewhere else. Because I’m not going to be competing with your bullshit. That’s your decision to make. Either join up or get the fuck out.”