Renny (The Henchmen MC #6)

by Jessica Gadziala

The bastard.

  TWO

  Renny

  I was wearing her down.

  Alright, that was bullshit.

  But it was a nice thought to entertain.

  I didn't buy into a lot of the romantic bullshit. I watched men, much better men than me, slowly fall for women over the past several years. All the while I'd sit there believing the shit was just a trick of the brain, a heady concoction of sex hormones and oxytocin bound to burn out eventually.

  Then that fucking woman walked into the back door of the compound and interrupted a fight between me and Duke- sexy as fuck voice telling us she thought are scrapping was "interesting" and I turned and saw her and fuck if I wasn't half goddamn in love with her right then.

  Only half, mind you.

  And most of that love was my dick doing the thinking.

  I wasn't a fucking sap.

  She was possibly the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen though. She was tall and leggy, with definite but understated curves to her hips, breasts, and ass. But it was the face, man, that was what brought a man to his knees.

  I had always been a sucker for exotic, especially the kind that hinted at a mixed ancestry that was hard to put your finger on. And Mina's round face and hazel eyes and long shiny brown hair hinted as something European and something Asian.

  Dutch and Japanese as it turned out.

  Then of course there was the fact that she was in Hailstorm garb- utility pants in a khaki color and a white tank that in no way hid how fucking perfectly formed she was.

  See, in the past, I thought I liked soft. I'd had a lot of hard and cold in my life, when I aged up and started chasing skirts, I wanted sweet, I wanted gentle. For the most part, that was what I had too.

  I had a lot of respect for hardass women like Lo, Janie, and Maze. I knew what it took for a man in the world to get respect and I knew that, for women, it was about three times as hard and the job was never-ending. You never had to stop fighting for it.

  But while I loved and respected them as colleagues and the old ladies of my brothers, they just weren't what I wanted. I liked cups of tea. They were shots of whiskey.

  Then there was Mina.

  And Mina worked at Hailstorm.

  And Mina was hard.

  You didn't notice it at first. It was a sneaky kind of hard. She wasn't in your face aggressive and her niche skills weren't of the bomb-making or ass-kicking variety. She wasn't physically hard. She was emotionally hard.

  Maybe that was what made the difference for me. See, when people had guards, when they obsessively kept their life in order, when they made actual effort to come off cool and detached, it usually went to follow that all of that was a mask. Underneath, there was chaos, not order. Underneath, they were warm and cared too much, not cold and withholding.

  It could have been as simple as me being obsessive, being a bit too into seeing how the goddamn clock ticked, so I liked pulling it apart and seeing the insides. I could have just been interested in seeing her warm and gushy, in seeing why she was so afraid to let that show.

  But there was a part of me, as the weeks passed, that thought maybe it was a bit more than that.

  I was also impressed by her insane amount of self-discipline. See, I wasn't overly cocky, but I knew I was goddamn charming when I wanted to be. And I pulled my A-game on her. Constantly. And she kept shooting it down. I wasn't exactly a glutton for punishment, but I couldn't help it with her. I wasn't willing to give up.

  It was something the guys found hilarious when they weren't stressing out about threats.

  So that was why I was pushing off the wall and snatching the keys out of the air as Reign tossed them to me.

  "I'm driving," Mina said, walking toward me, tucking her phone into one of the bulky leg pockets of her sage-colored utility pants. They shouldn't have been sexy. They were meant for practicality, not sexuality. But regardless of the designer's intentions, they looked hot as shit on her shapely, long legs. The black wifebeater she had on wasn't exactly hiding her somewhat small, but perfect tits either.

  "Angel face, whatever blows up your skirt," I said, jiggling the keyring on my finger. Her eyes flashed, knowing I was fucking with her because I knew she knew that I knew she didn't like being touched. Or, maybe more accurately, she didn't like me touching her. And no matter how carefully she pulled that keyring off, she would have to touch me a little.

  "Don't call me angel face," she said, her tone empty, as it always was when she told someone not to call her an endearment. It was knee-jerk. She told men to not do it all the time. Why, I wasn't sure. But it was just one of the many things I wanted to figure out about her.

  She surprised me by reaching out, ripping the keyring off, and turning away. It happened so fast that I barely felt her touching me. Apparently she was a 'rip the bandaid off' kind of woman.

  I liked that.

  "Are you coming?" she asked, not looking over at me as she rounded toward the door to the new garage where we kept the bullet-resistant SUV parked, so we wouldn't have to walk out into the open and risk getting shot before we got inside the safe car.

  "Sweets, I would follow you into an apiary slathered in honey," I agreed, falling into step behind her. "I know, I know," I said when she was silent as she walked toward the driver's side, "you're struck silent by the mental image of me shirtless and covered in sweet, sticky..."

  "Renny," she cut me off, turning to face me in the passenger seat.

  "Yeah?" I asked when she didn't say anything.

  She paused for a second like she'd lost her train of thought. And I knew she either must have or didn't want to admit whatever she was thinking because she clumsily tripped out, "Don't call me sweets," before clicking her buckle, turning over the car, and hitting the button for the garage door.

  "I can do that," I admitted. I was running out of names for her. Every time she shot one down, I agreed to not call her it. And I didn't again. She liked her boundaries. And if I was going to get to know her in a more carnal way, I had to respect them. Even if my end game was to finally get to know her well enough to rip out the boundary markers and throw them away. "So," I said as we drove through town in complete and utter silence, "what kind of music do you like?"

  "Just give up, Renny," she said, tone almost a little sad.

  "If you were looking for some lily-livered beta, Mina, coming into an MC compound was likely not your smartest move."

  "I wasn't looking for any kind of man," she said, slanting those fucking hypnotic hazel eyes at me for the barest of seconds. "I was doing a job. I am trying to do a job. You are just trying to..."

  "Get you hot and sweaty and naked underneath me?"

  She actually snorted a bit at that, likely not expecting it, and I got to see her rare smile light up her profile. "I was going to say mix business and pleasure."

  "That's what I said too. But with a better visual," I said, smiling too as we pulled down the path toward the marina where Famiglia was situated- a dark blue building sitting on stilts out of the water with a giant deck I had yet to sit on and have a meal or a drink. Lived in the town for years and still barely saw the sights.

  Out of all of the guys at the compound, I probably knew the Grassi family the least. I knew of them. I knew how their business operated. But I had maybe only exchanged a handful of words with them over the many years I had been around. We just didn't brush elbows much.

  There was a hierarchy of criminals just like any type of society. Drug dealers, gangs, pimps, all that shit was at the very bottom. Then, somewhere around the middle, you had your arms dealers and cartels and the underground gambling and whatnot. Higher up, you had your established syndicates: the mob in all its varieties- Italian, Russian, Irish, etc.

  So the Grassi family with their docks and their old school Italian mob values, were a couple rungs above us arms-dealing bikers. They dressed, acted, and socialized as such. You didn't exactly run across Luca or Matteo at Chaz's on a Friday night.

  Hell, as we clim
bed out of the car and I looked around, I actually felt no small ping of discomfort going into Famiglia in my jeans, boots, white tee, and leather cut. Mina, fucking knockout she was, looked similarly uncomfortable as we walked toward the doors. It was the kind of place you wore a suit or at least dress shirt or a little black dress.

  But we weren't dining. And the restaurant wasn't even open yet.

  "Henchmen?" the doorman asked, brows drawing together.

  "Renny," I nodded. "And this is Mina, from Hailstorm. We need to talk to Antony and Luca."

  "You know," Mina said when he nodded and moved inside to find his bosses, "I think that guy used to be a big shot in Notre Dame."

  "Big college football fan?" I asked, surprised.

  "Do I look like a big college football fan?" she shot back with a smirk. "No. I'm not much for sports, but I live in a place full of men. I can't go anywhere without overhearing some kind of sport conversation. But I'm telling you, that guy was a Fighting Irish."

  "Go on in," the door guy said as he moved back outside to his post.

  I reached for the door and held it open for her. She moved to step inside then stopped and turned to the guy. "Did you blow out your knee or were you kicked for performance drugs?"

  The guy's brow rose slowly, a smile pulling at his lips. "Knee. Ruined my chances at pro. Woulda went all the way too."

  Mina looked at me, brow lifted in a very 'told you so' way before she went inside.

  "Thanks a lot, man," I said, chuckling. "Like she needed a bigger ego than she's already got."

  "Nah, she's a marshmallow inside," he surprised me by saying. "Get past the tough outer layer and it's all sickening sweet. Antony doesn't like being kept waiting, man," he reminded me and I nodded and moved inside.

  "Renny!" Antony called as I walked up to where Mina was already standing with the two men. Antony, either thanks to owning a restaurant and therefore needing to be hospitality friendly or because he was just like that naturally, greeted most people like they were old friends. Apparently that included me. "How is everyone holding up?" he asked, eyes grave, understanding a loss as big as ours.

  "We're ready for it to stop," I said and he nodded. "Luca," I greeted, inclining my chin to him.

  It didn't exactly escape me that Mina's eyes lingered on him for a long minute either. If she had a type, and most people did, apparently Luca with his tall, dark, and handsome was hers.

  "So what brings you here today?" Antony went on, gesturing toward the table we were all standing near and pulling out a chair for Mina himself. If there was one thing the Grassi family had, aside from shittons of money, a great reputation in the community despite their illegal endeavors, and good looks, it was impeccable manners.

  "You heard about Penny, the girl who got beat up and dropped at our compound. What started this all..."

  "Yes," Luca said, wincing a little.

  "Well, she got a good look at her attackers before she was knocked out. And this morning we were taking her out and she saw them. Freaked the fuck out." I paused, looking between them for any reaction. Seeing none, I went on. "At first, we thought it was you."

  "Us?" Antony scoffed, mouth agape, clearly offended.

  "You can't be serious, Renny," Luca added, shaking his head. "When have we ever had a reputation for hurting innocents?"

  "Never," Mina piped in. "Which is why we are here. When I showed her your pictures, she said it wasn't you guys who she saw. So, we figure it was whoever you were having brunch with today. And we're going to need those names," she added as the two shared a long, hard look.

  "We're not trying to step on anyone's toes here," I added. "But those fuckers beat up an innocent woman, nearly killed our road captain, and decimated the rest of our numbers. I don't care who the fuck you are in bed with, even you guys know they need to pay for that."

  Luca nodded to his father and Antony sighed. "We were trying to make peace with them. They've been a thorn in our side for years now, trying to move in. I guess they realized they couldn't get the docks after all and set their sights on you. Maybe they thought they could take over the arms trade in the area and that our families would need to get along since we import..."

  "Families?" Mina cut in at the exact same moment I was going to ask the same question.

  "As in... family?" I put in for good measure.

  We didn't fuck with the mob. We had scuffled with a bunch of the smaller organizations over the years, but we never had to deal with the truly organized side of organized crime.

  Luca nodded. "They have slowly been trying to get off the Island and moving this way. The Abruzzo family."

  Mina's entire body stiffened at that name, her eyes going active for a long second before she stood suddenly, the chair scratching hard against the floor.

  "We have to go," she said, looking down at me, tone serious. Then she turned and walked away.

  I stood up more slowly, unsure what the fuck just happened, but figuring the Abruzzos must be bad news to make her react that strongly. "I guess that's my cue, guys," I said, shrugging. "Thank you for the name. I think."

  "If there's any more information you need," Antony said, waving a hand and I was impressed with how carefully he worded that. Not- if there's anything you need, but if there's any more information you need. Smart on his part to not pick sides when a war was waging, knowing he would benefit from either side's win.

  "We appreciate it. Reign will be in touch," I added as I turned away and walked toward the door.

  Mina was already gone, situated in the running car.

  "Something got her spooked. She ran out here yelling into her phone. Saying they needed to warn the Mallicks."

  "The Mallicks?" I asked, brows drawing together, knowing I was missing a big part of the picture and not liking that one bit. "Sucks about the knee man, but the Grassis will take care of you," I said, clamping a hand on his shoulder before moving toward the stairs.

  "You'll wear her down," he called to me as I made my way toward the car, seeing Mina talking rapidly on her cell.

  Even freaked, she was goddamn perfect.

  I was going to wear her down alright.

  But not before I figured out who the fuck the Abruzzo family was, what the fuck they wanted from us, and what the fuck that had to do with the fucking Mallick family.

  Priorities, in this case, meant to make sure my ass was still breathing long enough to get her pretty ass in my bed.

  THREE

  Mina

  The Abruzzos?

  In what freaking universe was that who was stepping to The Henchmen?

  "I'm putting a call into Charlie Mallick now," Lo said, sounding calm though I know she was likely as freaked as I was. "He needs to warn Eli."

  "Isn't Eli still..."

  "Not as of this morning," she cut me off. "Are you heading back now?"

  "Yeah, Renny just got in the car. We will be there in five."

  "I'll be there in twenty. Janie is at the hospital, but I don't want to involve her in this. I'll call Alex instead. We need all hands on deck if we are going to figure out how the fuck some nobodies from Long freaking Island are taking down one of the longest-standing organizations in Navesink Bank."

  She ended the call and I tossed my phone toward Renny as I threw the car into reverse and peeled out of the marina. "So are you going to let me..."

  "I only want to tell it once and it's a short drive. You'll just have to wait."

  I knew he wanted to say something to that; I could feel the air in the car getting thicker, more oppressive and I knew that fun-loving Renny was taking a short vacation and dark Renny was making an appearance. But, really, there was no time to coddle him.

  We pulled into the garage and flew out of the car in unison, both getting to the door at the same time, but Renny held it open for me despite his mood.

  Everyone was in the common room, kids included.

  Reign's head jerked up when the door closed. He looked at me for a long minute before turning to Su
mmer and giving her a look that managed to communicate that the kids needed to disappear.

  "Come on guys, let's go see the glass room!" Summer declared cheerfully, but I could hear the tension there. She was stressing out. And given that she was pregnant, things needed to calm down so she and Maze, who was also expecting, could finish out their pregnancies with as little stress and worry as possible.

  The kids jumped up, excited, knowing they weren't usually allowed to go up there and it was novel to be able to. Even though Ferryn was old enough to give everyone a look that suggested she knew she was being shooed away so the adults could talk and that she didn't care for that one bit.

  She was going to be a handful when she was a teenager. I hoped Reign and Summer were aware of that.

  "Alright," Reign said when it was just the men left, Penny going with the women and kids because she was the only one who could climb the ladder with them. "What'd they say?"

  I swallowed a little hard, not particularly liking being the one bringing the information to them. Again, it was messy. I never had to be the one to deal with the outrage and the questioning and everything like that. I was hoping Lo was hauling ass so I only had to deal with it for a few minutes.

  "The Abruzzo family."

  "You've got to be fucking kidding me," Reign seethed, standing suddenly to pace a few feet, raking a hand through his hair.

  "Who the fuck is the Abruzzo family?" Duke asked, looking at his brothers.

  "Remember that time Wolf got locked up?" Reign asked the group at large.

  "Which time?" Duke snorted. Wolf's uncontrollable temper was not exactly a secret to anyone.

  "The time he ripped mother fucking Lex Keith to shreds," Reign said, stopping pacing suddenly and standing almost freakishly still.

  "Know Lex Keith was a rapist scumbag..." Duke offered, shaking his head.

  "Yeah, he was. And once upon a time a long fucking time ago, he got ahold of Janie. Way before Wolf and she shacked up, but when she told him, he flipped his shit and got locked up for it. But, along the way, Janie kind of lost her shit around here..."