by K. J. Dahlen
“What happened then?” Georgio asked.
“When the truth began to come out, his family and the club pressed charges on him,” Gator admitted. “That was just before you came calling the first time. We had no idea he was involved with you guys. As soon as Reva came out of her coma we found what money and drugs were there but we had no idea about the diamonds.” He looked over at his woman. “All these years, she’s never told me about them. There were times when the fear inside her mind would try to take her but I was always there to take her back. I never knew the secrets she held back from everyone.”
Reva hung her head. Tears rolled down her cheeks and finally, she raised her head to face him. “I couldn’t tell you before. Don’t you see that? Don’t you understand?”
“Yeah, I understand,” Gator told her as he framed her face with his hands. “You’re the one who never understood how much I loved you. I would die for you and I would kill for you.”
“I know,” Reva whispered. “But I never wanted that. Bulldog wasn’t worth your life. Not to me.”
“Tell me something,” Georgio asked, “Does your husband still have the divorce papers you asked him to sign?”
Reva turned her head. “I don’t know. I think so but I don’t know for sure.” By then they had gotten to the spot they needed to be. She looked over at Georgio and motioned into the woods. “My place is through here.”
Georgio motioned for her to lead the way.
~* * * *~
A few minutes later, they were in Reva’s secret place. The waterfalls Gator had built for her years ago when they first came here. With the fading daylight of the evening coming on, Reva stepped forward and unplugged the generator that moved the water from the pond to the falls. When the water stopped flowing, she knelt beside the pond and reached into the water. She pulled out one stone then another. Getting to her feet, she took the stones over to the bench and sat down. Turning the first stone over, she opened the hidden door and pulled out a medium size bag. The bag was one of those plush velvet bags that bottles of Crown Royal comes in. Then she turned the second stone over and retrieved a second Crown Royal bag from inside it. Finally, she stood and handed both bags to Georgio.
Georgio looked at her for a moment then opened one of the bags. He could see the sparkle of the diamonds from within the bag. He closed the bag and nodded. He was satisfied the debt had been returned.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t turn them over to you years ago,” Reva whispered. “I’m ashamed of the fear that ruled my life for so long.”
Georgio slipped the bags in his pocket and reached for her hands. He forced her to look at him. “My dear little one, you have no reason to be afraid. Not of me, I would never hurt an innocent and that’s what you are. An innocent. This betrayal is not yours to bear. This is on Bulldog and he will pay for what he has done. He set you up to take his own blame and that is the mark of a coward. You did the right thing today. You satisfied a debt no one else knew about. You overcame the fears deep within you and brought the truth to light. That is the mark of real courage.” He paused then asked, “You had the stones all this time, did you ever think about spending them?”
Reva shivered. “God no, they had blood on them. My blood and the blood of my child. I wanted nothing to do with them. I could barely stand to touch them.” She turned to stare at the pond. “I put them in the pond years ago and I’ve never touched them since that day.”
Georgio nodded then looked over at Gator. He’d heard the other man growl under his breath when he took Reva’s hands and now he could see the anger in his eyes. Georgio let go of her hands and stepped away from his woman.
No one said a word as they made their way back to the clubhouse.
Everyone turned to watch them as they walked inside.
Georgio walked over to Deke and reached out his hand. When Deke grasped it, he turned to Sam and shook his hand. “Our business is finally finished. The debt is satisfied.”
“Thank god,” Sam murmured.
“What now?’ Deke asked.
Georgio sat down and crossed his legs. His suit looking smooth and crisp just as it had when he first arrived. “Now, we wait for Bulldog to arrive. I understand he’s on his way.” He glanced up at Deke his eyes like cold obsidian and said ever so softly, “I’d like a word with that man.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
A few minutes later, Sam sat down at the table with Georgio. He had a question that needed an answer. “I understand you’ve come from Saratoga Springs.”
Georgio stared at him for a moment then asked, “Why do you ask?”
“I have a fourteen year old daughter who lives there with her mother. Her mother called me the other day and asked that I come and get my daughter. She told me things were not good there and I needed to protect my kid. I didn’t know what the trouble was but my daughter told me that the man her mother was living with was a member of the Blue Devils. She told me the Devils were going to war with another MC from another city because they couldn’t work out a compromise about a deal with the cartel.” Sam raised his hands. “I don’t need nor do I want to butt my nose into cartel business. All I want to know is if my daughter’s mother is ok. My daughter also told me the dirtbag her mom was living with had them both under his roof by force and that her mother didn’t want to be there but the dirtbag had threatened to hurt my daughter, if they didn’t cooperate with him. She also told me he was working on a deal to sell her to a man in the Red Cajuns for a part in the cartel deal.”
Georgio nodded. “That was the situation I came to deal with. Number one, I do not condone selling children for sexual pursuits.” His eyes darkened with what could have been rage. “I never would have accepted that part of it. When I got there, I put the deal down and there was one Blue Devil that didn’t approve of my action. He pulled a gun and my bodyguards had to put him down. I believe his name was Radar.”
“That’s the dirtbag.” Sam nodded. “Did you happen to notice if there was a woman with him, a woman named Stacy?”
Georgio’s eyes softened and he looked genuinely saddened. “There was a woman named Stacy involved but by the time I arrived she was already gone. Radar murdered her when she told him the girl was safe and away from his deal. Apparently, he didn’t like the fact she screwed up his deal with the Cajuns.”
“Damn him to hell.” Sam whispered. “She was a good woman who didn’t deserve that.”
“The man who was willing to trade your daughter for a part of a deal with our cartel is no longer alive to make good on his deal with anyone else,” Georgio explained in that quiet tone of his. “Your daughter is safe.”
“Thank you for that.” Sam nodded. “She’ll be heartbroken to hear about her mother though. They were all the other one had. I wasn’t in her life until now. Her mother wanted it that way.”
“But she’s with you now.” Georgio pointed out.
“I’m afraid that’s not going to make much of a difference now.” Sam groaned.
“How many children do you have?” Georgio asked. “Maybe they can help her adjust.”
“I have four children now,” Sam admitted. “You know Deke of course,” he nodded at his oldest son. “I also have another daughter just a few years younger than him. Her name is Quinn, then there’s Adriana, she’s fourteen and my woman just gave birth to my youngest son, T-Bone.”
Georgio stared at him for a moment then laughed. “You my friend are full of surprises. Most men have their children closer together than you do.”
Sam flushed. “Yeah, well I love my kids. Do you have any children?”
Georgio nodded. “Yes, I have four children as well but my children range in age from 28-18. My youngest child just entered University a few weeks ago.”
Sam sat back in his chair. “Yeah, at my age it ought to be interesting have a new baby in the house.”
Georgio’s eyes narrowed when he saw one of his men listening to his earpiece.
The guard glanced at him and nodded.
> Georgio sat up and announced. “My men tell me Bulldog is near.”
Reva felt the cup she was holding slip through her fingers. It broke when it hit the floor and splashed her legs with hot coffee. She didn’t even feel the liquid burn her skin as her eyes were dragged to the main door.
Gator wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
Iceman, Raine, Mountain, Deke and Sam came over to stand beside them.
Georgio sat at the table and couldn’t help but admire the loyalty this woman inspired.
A shot rang out and the men surrounded Reva to protect her. Georgio’s men spread out and one came to stand beside him. All the men in the room except Georgio drew their weapons.
“Reva!” Bulldog screamed out her name. “I know you’re in there, bitch. It’s time to face me.”
Reva began to shake.
Gator’s arms tightened around her. He whispered in her ear.
“Reva, come on bitch. You betrayed me and now, I’m here to collect,” he shouted just before a window near the door shattered. Three more bullets were shot into the room. “Reva,” Bulldog shouted her name again.
Mountain stomped over to the window. “She isn’t coming out, you bastard!” He yelled out the window. “Why don’t you come in and get her?”
“Is that you Gator?” Bulldog yelled back. “You ain’t nothing but a wife stealin horn dog.”
“Yeah, I stole your wife, you fucking coward,” Gator called out. “But she never once tried to run away from me. She always ran to me.”
Three more shots rang out, then they heard another shot and a shout of pain. A few minutes later, the door opened and Bulldog was thrown into the room. A bigger man followed with a gun pointed at Bulldog.
Another one of Georgio’s guards grabbed the wounded man and shoved him into a chair.
Bulldog raised his head and glared at the men standing around Reva, then he turned his head and noticed Georgio sitting there. Bulldog then paled and sank back in his chair. “Mr. Canton what are you d-doing h-here?” he asked brokenly.
“I came here at your wife’s request to collect a debt long past due,” Georgio told him.
“What debt?’ he asked. “You collected everything seventeen years ago.”
“Not everything,” Georgio replied softly with narrowed eyes. “There was a considerable amount still outstanding.”
Bulldog turned his head slowly to where Reva stood and he glared at her. Then he turned back to Georgio. “I was told you got everything seventeen years ago.”
Georgio nodded. “That’s what we were told as well, but it seems that was just another lie.”
“What did she tell you?” Bulldog asked.
“She gave us the diamonds you told her to hide.”
Bulldog paled. “I never told her to hide any diamonds. She’s lying to you to make a fool out of me.”
“I don’t think so,” Georgio rebutted as he reached inside his pocket and pulled out the two Crown Royal bags. They slid on the table as the diamonds inside spilled out.
Bulldog paled. He knew those bags as well as Georgio. In fact, Georgio himself had given him those bags after they shared the Crown Royal. He looked up at Georgio and knew he knew the truth.
“The truth always come out in the end, my friend.” Georgio explained smoothly. “And this truth is seventeen years in coming. It wasn’t your wife who betrayed us…it was you. You who betrayed everything and everyone. You set up the woman you should have protected to take the fall in case your plan failed. You set up your MC. Do you know or care that they didn’t know what was going on when we came to collect your debt? We nearly went to war with them and they had no clue why we were there. You betrayed your family who I understand has a very high moral code. I’ve spoken to your father and he is an honorable man. He tells me he tried to teach his sons that honor but you never learned it.”
With each word Georgio spoke, Bulldog lost more color. “If my wife is so good and innocent why did she keep the diamonds until now?” He tried yet again to place the blame on Reva.
Turning his head toward her, she saw his eyes full of hate. Her old fear flared and she shrank against Gator.
Gator pushed her behind him in a protective manner.
“My wife was never really loyal to me,” he claimed. “She betrayed me soon after I went to jail. Hell, for all I know she was sleeping with this guy before I went to jail. I know she’s been sleeping with him since then. Speaks a lot to her honor, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t you dare impugn her honor, your bastard!” Gator growled. “We weren’t together until after you went to the joint. She wouldn’t sleep with me until after she asked you for a divorce. When you refused to give her one, she thought to hell with you. It was only then we became lovers. She never betrayed you before that time because you would have beaten the hell out of her. You never loved her, you only ordered her around like a fuckin slave.”
“Why did you never give her the divorce?” Georgio wanted to know.
“Because it was what she wanted,” Bulldog admitted. “She sent me to prison, why should I give her anything?”
“But I never did anything to you,” Reva protested.
“You pressed charges against me, bitch!” Bulldog screamed at her.
“No she didn’t.” Gator glared at him.
“What the fuck would you know?” Bulldog sneered.
“Because it was your family and your MC that pressed the charges against you,” Sam spoke up now.
Bulldog snapped his head around to stare at the other man. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Sam nodded. “Your parents and the MC both pressed the charges. Reva had nothing to do with it at all.”
“My parents never would have done that, not to me.” Bulldog insisted. “Dad wouldn’t have wanted the Moore name dragged through the mud. He told me that when I got out, but it can’t be true!”
“But they did.” Raine insisted. “It is true brother. They didn’t want to, but they felt it was the only way to get through to you.” He paused then added, “You were out of control back then. Nothing anyone did made you stop and look at what you were doing, to yourself and to others. You’re still denying even yet today.”
“The MC pressed charges because of what you did to Reva. You told us she stole money from the club but when we didn’t find any money missing, we knew you lied to us. Then the cartel came around for their money and we knew you lied to us all along.” Sam sneered. “If you could lie about that we had to wonder what else you lied about. When everything came to light, we had no choice but to protect ourselves.”
“So it wasn’t Reva but everyone else.” Bulldog sat back in his chair. “Well, that makes everything all better then, doesn’t it?” he sneered. “Well, I’ve paid my debt to society and I’ve lost my family and my MC. Is everyone happy now? Can I get on with what’s left of my life now that I have nothing left?”
“You can give your wife the divorce she wants,” Georgio advised.
“Why would I do that?” he asked.
“Because if you don’t, then I’ll have no choice but to make her a widow.” Georgio shrugged. “I think the woman has suffered enough at your hands. She deserves a better life than the one she got with you.”
“You’re going to kill me anyway,” Bulldog countered. “I think I’ll just make her wait for her freedom.”
“If that’s really what you want…” Georgio nodded to the man behind Bulldog. “She won’t have to wait that long.
The man behind Bulldog pressed his gun against Bulldog’s head and cocked the trigger. The echo of the sound seemed very loud in the silence that followed.
“Wait a minute!” Bulldog swallowed hard. “The papers are in my bag. It’s on the back of my bike. I’ll sign them.”
Georgio nodded to the man holding the gun.
The bodyguard reluctantly lowered the weapon. He then left the room and when he came back, he was carrying a small duffle bag.
Bulldog grabbed the ba
g and pulled it to him. Reaching inside, he fumbled through the items and pulled out the envelope with the divorce papers. He removed them from the envelope and looked around for a pen.
Georgio himself handed him one from his own breast pocket, his smile cold as ice.
Bulldog grabbed it quickly and signed the papers where it was indicated. When he finished, he pushed them aside and glared at Reva. “There, you got your damn freedom. I hope you fucking choke on it!” He growled.
Gator grabbed the papers off the table and handed them to Reva.
Georgio got to his feet. He turned to Reva and took her hand. Raising it to his lips, he kissed her fingertips. “Thank you dear lady for having the courage to right a wrong.” At her nod, he turned with a graceful flair, gathered up the diamonds and swept them back into the bag. Then he put the bag back into his pocket. He motioned for Bulldog to get to his feet. “Come along, you and I are going on a little trip.”
“But I signed the papers.” Bulldog protested.
“Yes, you did one right thing in seventeen years. Bully for you.” Georgio sneered. “But you still have to answer for skimming money and hiding it all this time.”
“You got the diamonds back, what more do you want?” he protested.
“Interest. You had the diamonds for seventeen years.” Georgio informed him in a flat tone. “You owe us seventeen years’ worth of interest.”
Then the man standing behind Bulldog grabbed him by his shirt collar and hauled him to his feet. Twisting one arm behind him, he hauled the protesting man to the door.
Georgio smirked as he followed them outside.
A moment later, they all heard a car start and drive away.
Reva sat down hard in a chair and began to shake uncontrollably.
Gator knelt beside her and held her tight in his arms. “It’s over baby, you’re finally free.” His lips crushed hers. “Do you know what that means?” he asked as he kissed her jaw.
