by Nicole Fox
She ran to her room and slammed the door, holding her stomach in an effort to keep the contents down. There had to be some way out of this. She needed money to get out of the city and get her own place. It would take even more to get illegal identification and pretend to be someone else while the Labriola men looked for her. But her father had a strict eye on her bank accounts. He would see what she had spent and where she had spent it, and he would track her down in an instant. Kenzie glanced at her closet, full of designer clothes, and realized she might have more freedom on her hands than she had thought.
Grabbing a shopping bag from under her bed, she stashed all the most expensive dresses in it. “I can sell these,” she whispered to herself, hoping that hearing the words could inject more hope into them. “They’re worth a decent amount of money, and I can keep it all as cash. Once I’ve saved enough, I can get the hell out of here. I only hope I can do it before he tries to make me to go to court.” She shivered at the thought of testifying against Xavier. Matteo was right, and any courtroom would believe her over the biker. Once the dresses were gone, she could go through her jewelry box and her stash of shoes and purses. Most of it should be easy to get out of the house as long as she only took a little bit at a time.
Glancing out the window and seeing a motorcycle ride by on a distant street, she gave a thought to Xavier. He wasn’t a completely innocent man. If Matteo was interested in him, then he had probably broken a few laws himself. But when it came to the bogus rape charge, she knew he hadn’t done anything wrong. He hadn’t done anything she hadn’t wanted, and he had given her a night of ecstasy she wouldn’t soon forget. Kenzie wanted justice to prevail more than anything.
His face flashed before her eyes. With those gorgeous eyes that glowed like jade, that strong jaw, and those muscled arms, he was just too gorgeous to be a bad guy. She knew she shouldn’t think about him like that. He had done plenty to make the situation worse, but he was still attractive as hell. “It’s a shame you had to waste your life being a reckless biker, Xavier Flynn.”
Chapter Fourteen
Xavier
The Scythe didn’t look like much on the outside, with its ancient brick exterior and heavily tinted windows. There was only the smallest sign to advertise its name, and the public seemed automatically to know that it wasn’t welcome. Only those who were official members of the Reaper’s Hearts had seen the battered wooden beams of the ceiling or the dark walls. They weren’t privileged enough to examine the numerous badges under the glass top of the bar or see the retired vests that hung from the ceiling.
It didn’t take long for the rest of the Reapers to assemble once they got the emergency call from Xavier, and they piled into the private bar with concerned looks on their faces. “I don’t think we can put up with any more drama for a while,” Crocodile advised as he watched a few more riders come in the door. “Losing Spider and Slime was enough.”
“Just have a seat. And a beer. You’re going to need them both.” Xavier waited until everyone was there before he spoke. He didn’t want to have to say any of this twice.
Asphalt was the last to arrive, walking in the door fresh from a visit to a bike club in Nevada. That was his right, as the president of the Reapers, but it made Xavier’s heart jump. He didn’t want to risk losing his position as VP just because he had been foolish enough to sleep with the wrong girl. He might have messed up his entire career in one night. The president slapped him on the arm, his dark eyes meeting his. “I’ve had a long ride on the road, and I’m ready to go to bed for about a week straight. But I have a feeling you’re about to tell me that’s not possible.”
Xavier pressed his lips together. “Maybe not.”
For the next half an hour, the members sat in respectful silence while Xavier filled them in on all the details. Well, he left out the parts about the amazing sex and what a hot body Kenzie had. Those things only mattered to him, and the club needed to know about the threats against them. “At the moment, Matteo is only threatening me personally. I don’t think it’s going to stay that way, though. The Labriolas are pissed about us taking their business away from them, and I don’t think Matteo is the kind of man who will stop at just one biker behind bars.”
Throttle slammed his fist down on the table. “That’s a bunch of shit. You did the right thing, Xavier. There’s no way we should have to pay him.”
The other members clapped and cheered, supporting the statement.
“All right, all right.” Asphalt stood up and came to the front to stand next to Xavier. His long, black beard moved as he spoke. “Let’s settle down for a moment so we can get this taken care of. I think we can all agree that Xavier handled the situation as best he could on his own, but it’s clear that this needs to be taken to the club level. If Matteo were to get one of us in jail, he would probably enjoy it so much that he would just keep on doing it.”
“We need a plan of attack,” Crocodile volunteered. “Hit ’em right where it hurts.” He punched his fist in the air to emphasize his point.
“First, we’ve got to spend the time to do some hardcore surveillance, just like they probably had their guys do on you. That way we know what their movements are like, when and where to find Matteo, and how many thugs we need to take down in order to get to him.” This came from Chrome, who was eager to get back into the world now that he was on the right side of the jail bars.
“I agree, and I know that with all of our different specialties we can make this work.” Some of the Reapers were former military and a few had been mercenaries. All of them were good with guns, and their connections to the black market meant they could get any weapons or monitoring equipment they wanted. Combined with the intuitive street skills that were ripe in most of them, they could be just as good as Labriola’s hired men. “I know I’m asking a lot of you guys, but there’s one more favor: I want Kenzie Labriola unharmed.”
Chrome leered over his beer. “Sounds like someone’s going to get himself a trophy out of this.”
“You’re damn right,” Xavier agreed.
“She got a sister?” came a shout from the back.
The rest of the men shouted and thundered, working out different parts of the plan even in the uproar. As Xavier looked on, he had never been prouder to call himself a member of the Reaper’s Hearts. These men were his brothers, and his problem was their problem. He couldn’t stand alone against Matteo, and he didn’t have to.
An arm slid around his shoulders as Asphalt pulled him aside. Xavier was ready to get chewed out for this, but he saw a surprising amount of pride in the president’s eyes. “You know, when you first came to me with the idea of stealing some business away from the Labriolas, I thought you were crazy. I mean, more money for the club is always a good thing, but those guys are pretty serious. We’ve lost a couple of good men, but I have to say we’ve made money hand over fist on the deals that we got. A few of the dealers said they prefer working with us, so we know we’ll continue to get their business. And I have to say I can see that our guys have really come together under your leadership. I know that when I retire someday, I’ll have a good man behind me to step into my boots.”
Xavier shook his head, embarrassed at the praise. “Don’t make my head swell too much. I think you know just as well as I do that my motives weren’t entirely selfless.”
“Maybe not, but I think it’s working out well. We outnumber the Labriolas, and I think we’re braver than they are. We can do this.”
“You guys might be able to, but I expect the police to come knocking down my door at any moment. Matteo released that fake information already, and I’m sure they’ll act quickly.”
Asphalt ran his fingers through his beard. “I’ve got a few connections, better ones than I did when Chrome got himself in trouble. I think I can at least buy us some time.”
Xavier nodded, thinking. “That would be good. I think Chrome is right about doing some surveillance. We don’t know enough about the Labriolas to do this successfully,
and we can’t just storm his mansion like a bunch of wild animals. They’ll be ready for that.”
“You’re thinking like a president already. We don’t need to rush into anything. Now go get yourself a beer and help these guys organize themselves. They’re all thirsty for blood right now, but I think Chrome was right. We need to bide our time and formulate a good plan, so we’ll have the best chance of succeeding.” Asphalt moved off to talk to Throttle, who was eager to take stock of their current weaponry.
Stepping over to the bar, Xavier thought about their conversation and the true meaning behind all of it that neither of them would say out loud. He had been avoiding thinking about it, and he had tried to imagine that his ideas about stealing the crime family’s business were purely about money. Though it had been almost fifteen years since his father’s death, Xavier understood that he was still motivated by those events from when he was just a teenager. He still remembered what it felt like to know his father had been killed, and he knew the heat in his blood was fired by his need for revenge on the man who had done it. Matteo Labriola hadn’t been the mob boss who had killed Jack Flynn in cold blood, but it had been a mob boss just like him. Sure, taking business from the Labriolas lined the Reapers’ pockets, but it was also his own form of revenge. It had gotten out of hand, but it would all come to a head soon enough.
That was only part of what worried him, though. He had seen the wild fear in Kenzie’s eyes when she had come to his house and held him at gunpoint. She was sexy when she was playing the badass, but there had never been a point when he thought she would actually shoot him. Between that encounter and the last one he’d had with her at the Labriola mansion, Xavier had a nagging feeling that none of this had been her idea. She was a pawn in her father’s grand scheme. What choice did a girl like that have with such a powerful man for a father? He had to admit that he wouldn’t mind sleeping with her again once he extracted her from that situation, but neither did he want an innocent woman to die.
Shaking off his reflections, he decided it was time to get to work. The other men were already working out their plans, eager to get started. Nothing would happen right away, but at least they were headed in the right direction.
Chapter Fifteen
Kenzie
Things had been surprisingly quiet since Matteo had released the documents about Xavier. Kenzie had expected to be interviewed by the police at any moment, but she’d heard her father shouting behind his office door about some legal holdup from an attorney. She had to smile at that. Someday, she would the attorney creating a holdup for men like her father.
But even though she had been left alone for a few weeks, she quickly realized just how difficult it was going to be to get away from Matteo. Kenzie was able to sneak a few items out of the house once or twice a week to sell them, but the women who worked at the consignment shops were starting to raise their eyebrows at her. They thought she was a thief, and she couldn’t blame them. Most girls didn’t have such a large stash of high-end clothes and shoes. Besides, if Kenzie left the house with a whole suitcase full of things to sell, it would quickly call attention to what she was doing. Still, it had been a good start.
She tried to work a little harder for her tips at the bar, smiling more and wearing tops with slightly lower necklines. But it was draining her energy to put on such a show, and by the end of the night she was so exhausted that she didn’t even care what kind of money she made as long as she could just get through her shift.
“You sure you’re all right?” Candy asked as Kenzie sank down on a rickety chair behind the bar one night. “You look a little pale. Maybe you’re getting sick.”
“I’m not sick,” Kenzie insisted for the tenth time. She’d wondered that herself, but she hadn’t had a fever or any other symptoms. She was just so damn tired. Her black eye had healed to a pale yellow, but there were still dark rings under her eyes no matter how much she slept. “I think I’ve just been overworking myself.”
“Then take a break. If your daddy owns the bar, he can’t really deny you any sick time. I can just get one of the other waitresses to cover your shift,” Candy insisted.
“No.” Kenzie pushed herself to her feet, felt the bar spin around her, and sat down again. If she didn’t work, she wouldn’t get any money, and she needed it desperately. She’d started only turning in part of her tips and stashing the rest in her bra, adding it to the money she’d made from selling clothes. “I can do it. I’m fine.” She heaved herself upright and forced her way through the rest of the night.
When she woke up the next morning, she wished desperately to go back to asleep. She wanted to escape not just her life, but her body. Kenzie had always been young and healthy, but her body was suddenly betraying her. Her stomach churned incessantly, and her limbs didn’t seem strong enough to hold her up. She staggered to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face, but her limbs were so weak she only ended up leaning on the counter. She fell to her knees as her stomach churned and emptied her guts into the toilet.
Kenzie closed her eyes to hold back the tears. She couldn’t be sick. She didn’t have time for it. But she threw up again, and with the vomit came the startling realization that she had felt nauseous at about the same time every day. It went away after breakfast, but then it was only replaced by complete exhaustion. “No,” she whispered desperately as she vomited up what little her stomach still held. “This can’t be happening.”
But the pregnancy test she smuggled home in the bottom of her purse after class confirmed it. Kenzie stared at the little pink lines with horror. She couldn’t be having a baby. Not with Xavier. He was just some rebellious biker. How had she been so careless? But it had been a night of passion, not one of thinking about the future. She couldn’t even protect herself from her father, so how could she take care of a baby? How would she manage to go to school or put herself through the police academy. More tears threatened to leak from her eyes.
“That’s fine,” she said to herself as she pulled in a deep breath and tried to calm her shaking hands as she picked up the phone. “I don’t have to do this.”
It was easy enough to make an appointment, and the kind-voiced woman on the other end didn’t ask too many questions. But she did explain to Kenzie how much the procedure cost, and she paused. Kenzie thought about the cash she had stashed in the bottom of her jewelry box. It wasn’t going to be enough, and she couldn’t sell the rest of her clothes fast enough to come up with the difference. “I’ll call you back.”
Kenzie paced her room, trying to figure this all out. Her father would be furious with her, and that was a kind of rage she wasn’t interested in dealing with. It was all his fault anyway, but he wouldn’t see it like that. If she had to take care of a child, she would be stuck under his thumb until the day Matteo died.
With a sudden realization, Kenzie grabbed her purse and headed downstairs.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” her father asked as he came through the living room.
Kenzie plastered a bright smile on her face. “I’m heading out to the mall to meet a few of my friends from law school.”
His eyebrows twitched, but he smiled back. “All right. Have fun.”
She shot out the door, got into her car, and took off.
Chapter Sixteen
Xavier
The insistent knocking on Xavier’s front door pulled him out of a deep sleep. He rolled over to look at the clock. It was the middle of the afternoon, but he’d had a long night. The Reapers had pulled off yet another successful exchange with an arms dealer who had once worked exclusively with the Labriolas. The bikers had stayed out late celebrating.
Yanking on a pair of pants and stomping down the stairs, he hoped that whoever had roused him had done it for a good reason. He wasn’t pleased to find Kenzie on his doorstep, and he leaned against the doorframe without offering to let her in. He was glad to see that her eye had healed, but that was about the extent of it. “What do you want this time?”
&
nbsp; “I just need to talk to you.” Her voice and her eyes were serious.
“I’m pretty sure we got all that done the last couple of times we saw each other,” he reminded her. “You want money and goods from my club, and we’re not going to give it to you. Your father made it very clear how this whole thing works.”
“This is something different. Something more important.” Her brow creased, sending a look of desperation across her face that he hadn’t seen before. He had seen Kenzie look strong and angry, and the only other emotion she’d shown him was passion. This was different, indeed.
Xavier questioned himself once again on her role in this, but he couldn’t believe that she was completely innocent. At the very least, she had gone ahead with the scheme. He didn’t want his men to harm her, and he wouldn’t mind having her in his bed again, but Xavier wasn’t going to be gullible enough to trust her. “What? Now I’ve raped someone else?”
“Just shut up and listen to me, please.” Kenzie choked on the last word.
It startled him, making his muscles tense. He took a deep breath and puffed his cheeks out as he let it go. “You can come in, but just for a minute. I don’t have time to deal with any more blackmail.” Xavier stepped aside and watched her carefully as she stepped over the threshold, wondering if she had any weapons hidden on her.
