Bones is on his way with a small crew from the Sinister Skulls, but I don’t really give a fuck if he shows or not, I’m more concerned with the crew in front of me.
“What the fuck?” I hiss.
Everyone just kind of looks at their feet, not wanting to get in my way, or on my bad side. Which honest to fuck wouldn’t be hard to do right about now.
“We didn’t fuckin’ know. It’s not like we test the product on the regular,” Taz announces.
I nod, licking my lips. “Did it come from Kade tainted?” I ask.
Mountain clears his throat. “We don’t know. It ain’t pure now, that’s for damn fucking sure.”
“Now you know that I have to call Santoro and talk to him about this, after everything that’s just happened. I don’t even think he’s even halfway home yet and I have to put my goddamn tail between my legs and tell him his shit could be bad. Shit that I fucking provided and he’s goddamn already paid for,” I roar.
“Pres, you can’t get pissed at us,” Mamba murmurs.
My head snaps over to him. “The fuck I can’t. This isn’t some pissant operation we’re running here. Santoro is paying for a product and he deserves the best fucking quality his money can buy. Get me Kade. I want him here, immediately.”
I know that Kade hasn’t gone far from the meeting that we had, I would be surprised if he’s even halfway through New Mexico.
Bones struts into the building, his gaze cutting to me and I lift my chin as Mountain holds the phone to his ear. Silver has his phone to his ear as well. One of them is calling Kade, the other Santoro. I lift my chin toward him as he makes his way over to me.
“Have you checked your supply?” I ask.
His head jerks and he looks from me to Mountain, then back to me. “Why?” he asks, sounding almost wary.
Frowning, I don’t follow his gaze, instead I keep my focus completely on him and only him. “Mine was tainted, just trying to figure out how in the fuck that happened,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest and planting my feet wide.
“You don’t think I had anything to do with it?” he asks, sounding offended. I could give a fuck if I offend him or anybody else.
“Kade will be here in thirty,” Mountain announces.
Silver clears his throat before adding. “Santoro in an hour.”
“I don’t know who the fuck did it. Kade, you, someone from my own fucking club,” I grunt. “All I know is that I want everyone who has their hands on the supply all tofuckingether. This shit will come to a head and it will happen before anybody leaves here today.”
There are collective groans around the room, but nobody says a goddamn word to me, because they know not only am I right, I’m also their fucking president.
Walking over to the bar, I lift my hand signaling for a beer. The music volume slowly rises and although this isn’t a party, the atmosphere lightens slightly as we begin to drink, all of us staying in one room—together.
Thirty minutes later, on the fucking dot, Kade strolls into the room as if he hasn’t a care in the world. Leaning my elbows on the bar, my bottle dangling in my fingers, I tilt my head to the side and focus my gaze on his.
Kade must see something in my eyes because his feet falter and he stumbles slightly before he makes his way over to me.
“You beckoned?” he asks, tilting his head to the side.
I inhale a deep breath, then let out a long exhale before I lift my chin. “We’ll talk about it when Santoro arrives.”
He frowns, his brows knitting together. “Santoro? Didn’t you finish that shit already?” he asks.
Lifting my chin, I bring the bottle to my lips and take a long pull of beer before I decide to grace his ass with an answer.
“We did. This is something else and it involves you, him, us and the Sinister Skulls. We’ll all discuss it together.”
Kade’s eyes narrow and I can tell that he doesn’t like that response. He wants to know what this is about, but if he’s tainting shit, I need to see his initial reaction to the question with Santoro at my side.
I am not about to go down for this shit, not if I can help it. And whoever has done it, even if they are part of my operation, I don’t want Santoro thinking I knew a goddamn thing about it.
“Relax, have a beer,” I offer.
His eyes narrow, as if he doesn’t quite trust me, he shouldn’t. I’ll throw him under the bus to save myself and I assume he’d do the same. I watch as he skirts past me and bellies up to the bar a few seats down from where I’m standing. The prospect hands him a beer, but the room fills with a sense of doom. Something, someone, is going to go down, I’m just not sure who or what it is at this point.
Taking another pull from the beer in my hand, I drain it, lifting my fingers for another. It appears next to me and I set the empty one down before curling my fingers around the new one. The bottle is removed from beside me and I keep my gaze focused on the door waiting for Santoro to appear, again.
I can practically feel the restlessness in the room grow with each passing minute while we wait for Santoro and his crew. I try to imagine Bellarosa at home, with Kora, both of them attempting to cook.
For some reason, an image of Bella in my kitchen causes my lips to twitch. I think about the fact that she’s probably barefooted and most likely pregnant. That makes my lips turn up into a real smile.
I don’t know why I need her to be pregnant, but it’s a need at this point. I need her to have my baby. I need us to be connected by more than just a contract and a brand. I need her to be mine, to stay.
Santoro walks through the door and the entire atmosphere changes, immediately. His blue eyes cut to me and he lifts his chin. Deciding to come out to him first, alone, I push off of the bar and close the distance between us.
“My office,” I grunt.
“Can’t change your mind, she’s yours, Ricci famiglia is mine,” he announces.
I almost laugh in his face that he thinks I want any part of that bullshit back east. Shaking my head once, I dip my chin, clearing my throat and keeping my voice low.
“Not what I need to talk to you about. In fact, it has nothing to do with Bellarosa,” I murmur.
He nods, taking a step toward the hall and I notice that only one of his men comes with us. I don’t allow my brothers to join. Honest to fuck, right now I’m not sure who I can and cannot trust.
This part of business always makes me feel sick. I should be able to trust every man who wears a Savage Beast MC patch, but the fucker of it is that I can’t, not fully. That shit makes me absolutely sick. In this world, in this life, you cannot trust a single fucking person other than yourself.
Once we’re in my office, the door closed behind us, just me, Santoro, and his man sit in the chair across from my desk. I don’t bother walking around to my own chair, instead I lean my ass against the front of my desk and grab ahold of the edges, my fingers gripping it tightly.
“My men informed me today that my product was tainted,” I explain. “I need to know if you’ve had issues. I need to narrow down if it came from Kade, was tainted here or what the fuck is going on. I pride myself on my product arriving safely to its destination, but I also don’t want to give you fucked up shit,” I calmly state.
Santoro looks to his man, then back to me. “Let me make a call,” he growls, fishing his phone out of his suit jacket pocket.
I watch as he stands and walks over to the window, talking in a low hum, too low for me to hear. “We haven’t had any complaints, but if what you say is true, fuck,” his man hisses.
“Agreed. Fuck, is right…” I let my sentence hang, because I don’t know this guy’s name.
“Arlo,” he introduces himself.
I nod, lifting my hand to the back of my neck and squeezing.
“Bella is good?” he asks, changing the subject.
“You saw her,” I point out.
He nods, his gaze cutting to Santoro then back to me. “She wasn’t in a great place when she left
. Carmella was docked wages indefinitely to make an example, she’s lucky she’s not dead. I just, Bella’s a good kid. Dealt a shit hand, but good nonetheless.” He shrugs.
“She is a queen here. My queen. She has her freedom, except when it comes to me. She’ll never be free of me. I’ll make sure she never wants to be, either,” I say, giving him way more than I have to.
Arlo nods his head once. “Good,” he grunts, his eyes focusing on my own. “She deserves to be queen. The deal that was made for her was a shit one. Nobody agreed, except Rossi, and that was to prove a point. He loved doing that, which is what ended his life in the long run,” he explains.
I don’t ask him what kind of point, taking and selling Bella’s virginity, was. It doesn’t matter, not to me, not anymore. She is the person that she is because of her past. She is the woman for me because of that.
If she were just some regular nineteen-year-old girl she wouldn’t hold the lifetime appeal that she does. She’d be good for a night, but nothing more.
Gavino turns around, his phone call ended as he shoves it into his pocket. “One batch of coke was tainted. My man tested a little from each batch while I was on the phone. The question is, who the fuck tainted it, and how did you know?”
BELLAROSA
Presley laughs as she attempts to help me stir a pot of spaghetti. Apparently, this is one of the easiest meals on earth, why is it then that I hate everything about it. The sauce pops and it lands on my arm causing me to hiss out in pain again.
“It just takes practice,” she says, keeping her voice even and calm.
I don’t know how she has stayed so patient with me today. I feel like I’m completely helpless. I don’t know anything. The woman had to teach me how to shred cheese. Something that I’m sure a child could do.
“I’m never going to be able to get the hang of any of this,” I sigh.
Presley’s hand wraps around my forearm and her fingers gently squeeze. “You will, Bella. It just takes time. You’re young and you haven’t been on your own long,” she points out.
Licking my lips, I nod, my eyes drifting down to the pot of sauce, again. Stirring, I try not to think about anything at all, especially not what Dragon has been doing down at that place all day long. I wonder if that Pinkie woman is there, or maybe the pretty blonde that I noticed he watched more than once.
“There isn’t anything to worry about. It will come, you’ll get the hang of it all,” she says, smiling kindly at me.
Presley is so nice. She’s spent the entire afternoon trying to help me. It hasn’t worked and I have a feeling both Kora and Drago will be immensely disappointed in my skills. I bite the corner of my lip, looking from the sauce to Presley.
“I think I’m hopeless,” I whisper, trying not to cry, or think any more about where, or what Drago is doing.
Presley hums. “You aren’t. And Silver is down there too. He texted me and said it was going to be a while, they’re working on something important and time sensitive,” she explains.
I frown, thinking about the fact that she has had communication with her man, yet, I haven’t heard anything from Drago, not a single word. Lifting my gaze to the night sky, my frown deepens when I realize that the sun has already set.
“We made enough for all of us and leftovers for Dragon whenever he makes his way back here. Do you mind if we stay and enjoy your beautiful meal?” she asks, breaking me away from my thought about the time.
“Not at all,” I lie.
Well, perhaps it isn’t a lie. I don’t mind if she and Buster stay, but I honestly wish that Drago were here like he promised. Shoving those thoughts in the back of my mind, I go about gathering dishes and silverware while Presley plates the food.
Setting the table, I call out for the children only to be met with a frowning Buster. “Dragon’s staying at the clubhouse like my dad?” he asks, looking from me to the living room where Kora is watching television.
“He said he’d be home tonight.” I shrug, unsure of how I am having this conversation with a child.
Honestly, I’ve come to discover throughout the day that talking to him is like speaking to an adult. He knows more about life, about the way of the world, than even I do.
Buster snorts. “He won’t. They never do.” He shrugs. “It’s why they brand Old Ladies like you and Presley. So that someone is always home to take care of stuff here,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Buster,” Presley hisses.
Turning my head, I look over my shoulder and smile back at her. “Don’t be mad at him,” I call out.
Shifting my gaze back toward Buster, I take a step forward and wrap my hand around his shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze.
“I know. Drago didn’t pretend to be anything other than what he is. He made it clear what my duties would be.”
I don’t tell him that his words and the reminder hurts, because it wouldn’t matter. Drago made himself clear and although I feel like our relationship is more than he ever intended it to be, it doesn’t mean that it will be magically different.
I am still the stable woman he wants at home for his children and for himself. He is still the man that will come and go as he pleases and expect life to be easy as soon as he walks through the front door.
As sad as it probably seems, for a girl like me with the life that I’ve had, it’s actually more than I’ve ever hoped for.
I should be so happy that I’m bursting.
How come I’m not?
How come I feel almost sick that Drago isn’t here, at my side? How come I’m terrified that he will grow tired of me and dispose of me?
Why am I falling in love with him?
Chapter Twenty-Three
DRAGON
I curse as I glance down at my watch. It’s late, really fucking late. I send Presley a text asking her if she can pick up Kora for school in the morning and she sends me a short one letter response in return of, K. Frowning, I think of asking Silver if she’s pissed, but decide against it. I don’t give a fuck if she’s pissed at me or not.
With a sigh, I look at the tainted cocaine that sits in front of me. Fifteen bundles. Too fucking much. Kade still hasn’t been brought into the circle. Thankfully, for whatever reason, Arlo knew how to test the products for fillers.
“Who knew it was fucked with?” Gavino asks after we test the last bundle.
“My VP brought it to me, but I didn’t get far enough into the situation to ask any further questions. I wanted to get you guys in on the ground floor,” I state.
Gavino lifts his chin at the same time Arlo nods. “How would you like to proceed?” he asks, letting me run this show. It makes me wonder if he wants to watch me work, or if he actually trusts me. Hopefully it’s a mixture of both.
“Let’s call in Mountain, find out how he figured the product was cut with something,” I suggest.
Gavino dips his chin and stands from the chair that he’d been sitting in. Tugging my phone out of my pocket, I scroll through my contacts and text Mountain.
COME INTO THE WAREHOUSE.
Mountain: BE THERE IN A SEC.
Lifting my hand, I wrap my fingers around the back of my neck and squeeze. This shit cannot seriously be happening right now. I can’t even believe that I have to go through this. What I really want to do is just start aiming my gun and forcing people to talk, but I also know that all it will do is limit my sources of information.
Mountain walks into the warehouse a few minutes later and his eyes survey the room, focusing on the bags of coke sitting out on the table, all opened in front of us.
“Who told you this shit was bad?” I demand.
He looks to the side, to the ground, then back to me. “Pinkie’s sick as fuck. She’s been on a downward spiral for a few weeks. Figured she’d pull herself out like she always does. But Christ, it’s bad. I’m about to take her to a hospital. Eagle said he’d seen it before, knew what it was, said it was the coke.”
“Well, what the fuc
k is it? What’s wrong with her?” I demand.
I notice that both Gavino and Arlo are silent during this, but I can’t think about that. My heart is racing at the thought of Pinkie being contaminated and wondering how many others have been as well.
“Levamisole?” Gavino guesses, speaking up.
Mountain nods once, his eyes closing tightly and then he shakes his head before he reopens them. “It’s bad, brother.”
“She’ll have lesions, possible fever, she needs medical attention,” Arlo states, standing tall.
“How in the fuck did it get cut into the product, Kade?” I demand.
Mountain shrugs. “Maybe. It could be his source straight from over the border, too.”
“But why?” I ask, mostly to myself.
Gavino snorts. “Why do people do anything at all? Who the fuck knows,” he mutters, almost as if he’s speaking to himself.
“Fuck,” I growl. “Fucking, fuck. What the hell do we do now?” I ask, turning toward Gavino and Arlo.
They look from one another, then to me and I watch as their lips turn up into a creepy as fuck smile. It’s Arlo who speaks first. “Kade has sweat long enough. We need to get to him, then get to his source. It’s coming from them, most likely.”
The way he says most likely, I wonder if it could actually be happening here, right under my nose. We’re no closer to the truth. All we know for certain is that the coke is laced with something that causes lesions, fevers, and sickness.
I just want to know what the fucking purpose of it all is. Why would you lace your shit with something that could potentially kill your customer base? I just don’t fucking get it.
Mountain lifts his chin and jogs off to get Kade and get Pinkie some much needed medical attention. I don’t bother calling the doc, I honestly don’t think he could really help her with this one, she needs a hospital.
A few moments later, I turn at a noise and watch as Kade breezes through the door. His eyes scan the cocaine on the table and his body visibly jerks before his gaze narrows.
UNCHAIN ME: SAVAGE BEAST MC 3 Page 18
