“Yeah. Yeah, it was good to meet you, too.”
And I turn and leave. Back to that world she’s both a part of, and kept hidden from. For a reason I may never find out. Or I could keep digging. I’m just not sure how safe it is to keep on taking that route. I should be done with Piper Colletti, she isn’t mine to worry about. And yet, I know I’m not gonna be able to stop thinking about her, no matter how much I might want to…
Piper
He leaves me alone and heads back into the kitchen, and I feel a weird kind of emptiness fill my gut, I don’t know why. Logan Sandero is a stranger, he means nothing to me, and yet, the more I spoke to him, the more interested I became. He’s hiding something, too, I just don’t think it’s anything dangerous. I think he’s been hurt. I think someone damaged him emotionally, that’s why he’s become this cocky, slightly arrogant man. And I don’t know why I care, I shouldn’t. I have everything I need, right here, in this house. I don’t need any more complications. I have money and safety and a man who loves me so much I know he’d do anything to protect me. He’s my soldier, and I love him. But Logan, he’s almost accusing Vanni of keeping me prisoner here. And maybe he is, but he’s doing it for a reason, it’s all starting to make sense now. Why else would Vanni tell me to stay put, never leave this gated compound? He wouldn’t do that, unless he knew the threat to me was very real. Very dangerous.
I sit back down and drop my head into my hands, I don’t know what to do anymore. I never felt trapped before, but I do now. Before Logan showed up and started questioning everything, shit he has no business getting involved in – before he showed up I was fine. Or was I just masking my real feelings? My real concerns? My real fears?
“You OK, baby girl?”
My head shoots up because Vanni’s in the room now, and he’s looking at me, but I can’t read his expression. And that scares me slightly. “Do you know, Vanni?”
He leans back against the fireplace and lights up a cigarette, drawing deep, his eyes still fixed on mine, he doesn’t break that stare. “Know what, darlin’? ‘Cause, there ain’t a lotta shit I don’t know.”
“About me. You know about me, right?”
He takes another draw on his cigarette, and he drops his head briefly as he blows a stream of smoke at the floor. “Yeah. I know.” He raises his gaze and his eyes lock on mine and I feel a wave of fear wash over me, I can’t breathe, I’m so scared.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, because again I can’t read his expression. “Vanni, I never meant to lie to you…”
“You didn’t lie to me, darlin’. I never asked any questions.” He shrugs, but that fear’s still there, still gripping my gut with a fisted hand.
“I was scared.”
“I know.”
“How long? Have you known?”
“The whole time. The second I saw you, I wanted you, but I don’t bring strangers home, not without knowing who they are first. And I usually ask, y’know? ‘Cause people, they don’t lie to me. But I knew you were scared, knew you were running from something, so I did my own digging. And by the time you came here, to this house, this compound, I knew who you were. What you were running from. I knew you needed me to keep you safe, and I also knew you hadn’t come looking for me specifically. You had no idea who I was, right? When you turned up in my bar that night?”
“This isn’t my world, Vanni.”
“Oh, I know that, darlin’. I know it’s not your world. But the world you’re running from, it’s not so different to this one, is it? Not really. You put one foot wrong, step outta line just once; overhear the kinda shit that could bring your entire family down, and it all becomes a dangerous mess.”
“You know what I heard?”
“Let’s just say I know enough. But I know what your daddy did; know that he put you under the care of a man who, I’m guessing, took you without asking. A man who overstepped the boundaries of your daddy’s instructions and yet, he isn’t the one they want dead. You’re not your daddy’s princess anymore, huh?”
“I’m so sorry, Vanni…”
“Come here.”
I stand up and he slides an arm around my waist, pulling me against him, kissing my forehead in a strangely comforting way, he’s never done that before.
“I fell in love with you the second I saw you, Piper,” he murmurs, his mouth so close to my ear I feel his breath on my skin. “And believe me, baby, I’m not gonna let anything hurt you. No crazy-assed mob boss is gonna get near you, I promise you that, you have my fucking word.”
I close my eyes as his hand rests against my neck, his lips brushing that space just below my ear.
“You got nothing to be scared of, y’hear?”
He angles my head so I’m looking straight at him, his eyes are burning into mine, my stomach’s in knots. “I should’ve told you, Vanni.”
“You fell in love with me, baby. You love me, you’re not just with me ‘cause you need some kinda fucked up bodyguard. Maybe you did, in the beginning. Maybe you saw me as just that – a man who could protect you, in the beginning.”
I hold his gaze, and I’m grateful that he doesn’t push that, doesn’t wait for me to elaborate because he probably knows that, in the beginning, yes, all I was looking for was protection. And I guessed he could provide that, I just didn’t know, until a few days later, just how much protection he could really give me.
“And when I found out just what your own daddy had ordered – that he wanted his princess dead – I was always gonna be your soldier, Piper. Always. And I will bring them down, anyone who threatens you, I will end them. And you know I can do that. So you don’t feel bad that you didn’t tell me. If that was something that’d concerned me then you wouldn’t be here now. You never lied to me, baby. You just didn’t talk to me.”
He presses his hand against my cheek and he kisses me, and I grasp hold of his cut and I cling onto him; my husband. My protector. My soldier.
“You love me, Piper. Someone as beautiful and strong as you, you love me. So, killing for you? In a fucking heartbeat, baby girl. In a fucking heartbeat. And it’ll be the last one any of those mafia motherfuckers will ever experience.”
Six
Logan
“So what the fuck do we do now?”
“Just give me a fucking minute, Logan, OK?”
“Vanni’s gonna go apeshit if we tell him they torched one of our warehouses…”
“You think he won’t find out? He’ll already know, he’s got eyes everywhere.”
“None of this shit is going down any place else. I mean, the other chapters, they really managed to shut down those branches of the Devil Hounds? It’s that fucking easy?”
“Vanni told us it was California they were really gunning for. And no-one’s shut any chapters down, they’ve just silenced them, driven them away, for now. But those chapters, they aren’t like the one we have to deal with. Their Mother Chapter is here, which is why they’re targeting us. We’re the biggest MC in this area, and they want to take over that title, they want our territory, and they ain’t scared to go for it.”
Bullet sits down at the head of the table here in the chapel. We’ve just finished church, and after the day we’ve had, nobody’s in the fucking mood for the shit we’re facing right now.
“That warehouse had over a month’s worth of cocaine and crystal in there, Bullet.”
“You think I don’t know that? That was fucking money up in smoke, and we are screwed if we don’t sort this shit, soon.”
“So, what’s the plan?”
“We call in more men, from other chapters. Some back-up won’t hurt. I’ve already contacted Herb in Texas and Jonjo’s sending some men over from San Francisco. They should be here tomorrow. Herb’s men are on their way but it’s gonna take a while longer to get here from Texas. In the meantime, we use those weapons Vanni gave us, and we keep at ‘em. We show them we’re not backing down, we use every piece of shit we have to stop those fuckers. And we make sure we lose no-one. We ain’t the weak o
nes here. They gotta be taken down.”
I lean forward and rest my forearm against the window as I look out over the compound. It’s a beautiful California day, the sun’s shining, there isn’t a cloud in the sky, and I’m back doing what I joined this club to do – keep territory safe, whatever it takes. Keep my brothers safe. They’re my family, and right now my family is being threatened, and I’m not taking that. “Do you want me and a few of the guys to go out? Take a ride, go see what those motherfuckers are doing?”
“They see you, they’re gonna retaliate. Not sure we should be provoking them.”
“And torching our warehouse wasn’t provoking us?” I turn around and look at Bullet. “Or, we could just send Della round.”
“You’re stepping over the line now, brother.” But he’s laughing, and that seems to have lightened an otherwise heavy mood hanging over our clubhouse. “She’d probably do the job, though, huh? Scares the shit outta me on a regular basis.”
I rake a hand over my hair and look back outside. It’s business as usual, for now. Until the Devil Hounds make another move. Bikes are being cleaned, club girls are flirting with those brothers who are unattached, which includes me, but I’m not in the market for any of that shit. I fuck when I need to, I get my kicks when it’s necessary.
“You OK, Logan?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Dunno. You just been kinda distracted, since you got back from Nevada.”
“I’m fine.”
“You see much of Vanni’s old lady, after we all left?”
I saw all of her, but I’m not telling Bullet that. “Not really. You know Vanni. Wants her kept well away from assholes like me.”
“Can’t say I blame him.”
I turn back around as Bullet gets up from the table and kicks his chair back under it.
“I’m gonna go call in a few more favors, see if we can get a few more brothers over here. Arizona owes us a favor. We’ll set up a make-shift second clubhouse in that garage we got just outside of Glendale. I’ll be in the office, if you need me.”
I lean back against the window ledge and cross my arms, dropping my gaze, my eyes focused on the dusty chapel floor. It's been a couple of weeks since I got back from Nevada, and I should have put her to the back of my mind by now, but I can’t do it. She won’t leave, even though I want her to, I need her, to leave. So I’m gonna go ride anyway, I’m gonna see what those deadbeat Devil Hounds are doing today, see if I can keep one step ahead. I need the distraction. I need something, ‘cause if I can’t get her outta my head I am screwed. And I’m not going there again, I made that promise, I told myself I’m not doing that shit no more, and I meant it.
She isn’t mine to think about.
She never will be.
The only thing she’s ever gonna give me is a fucked up head and an almost certain death- sentence, she has baggage I can’t even begin to imagine.
She’s Vanni’s problem.
She’s Vanni’s wife.
She’s Vanni’s…
Piper
“Pack a bag, baby girl. We’re getting outta here.”
I look at him, and I’m confused. I don’t leave this compound, I don’t go outside, I never have been, outside. He doesn’t let me. He says I’m not safe out there, in here I’m protected. “Where are we going?”
“California. They’re not doing what I need them to do over there. Letting those Devil Hounds piss all over them, and that’s my reputation they’re fucking killing. I need to go kick some freakin’ ass, get them in line. I’m taking some of my club brothers with me, strengthen the numbers. Bullet’s also calling in some favors, so I’ve been told.”
“Do they know you’re coming?”
“What? And spoil the element of surprise?” He pulls me in for a kiss, his smile widening the second my body touches his. “Now why would I do that, huh?”
I smile, too, but I’m still confused. “You said I needed to stay here, Van. I’m not safe outside, that’s what you…”
“Yeah, well, I’m not leaving you. I don’t know how long I’m gonna be needed over there, and I want you with me. The men I’m leaving in Nevada, they need to be focused on club business, I can’t leave any here with you. So you’re coming with me. You’ll be safe, don’t worry. I’ll make sure of it.”
“OK.” I look at him, right into his eyes, and I trust him. I have to. “OK. I’ll go pack.”
“Piper?” He grabs my hand and pulls me back into his arms, cupping my cheek, his eyes burning into mine. “I love you, and you have to trust me here, all right?”
I nod, and he smiles, and he kisses me quickly.
“I got people out there, keeping any eye on your daddy’s men, and I’ll know, if anything needs to be done. I’ll know. So you don’t be scared now, baby, OK?”
I haven’t been outside the confines of this estate, of Vanni’s private compound since I got here, over six months ago. Six months, that’s all the time I’ve known this man, a man who’s now my husband. A man I’ve trusted with my life, and yet, in some ways, he’s just as unpredictable, just as dangerous as my father and his men. One wrong move and Vanni could want me out of the picture just as much as my father now does.
“Does he have any idea where I am, Vanni? Do you know, if he has any idea that I’m with you?”
“If he did they would’ve been here by now.”
“I’m so scared.”
I’ve gotten too used to being here, to the safety Vanni’s given me; gotten too used to this compound, this house, and all of a sudden I’m terrified to leave it.
“I told you, baby, you got nothing to be scared of. OK? You just gotta trust me.”
I trust him, I do, but I know what my family are capable of. And I know that blood doesn’t always count for anything. I threatened to go to the police, I threatened to talk, I made that mistake. And now I’m paying for it.
“You gonna trust me, Piper?”
I nod, and he smiles, and he lets me go.
“Good girl. Now go pack a bag, we’re leaving as soon as Gunner and Vulture’ve finished loading the truck.”
I run upstairs and throw some clothes into a holdall, pull my hair back into a messy ponytail, grab my jacket from the back of the door and head downstairs.
Vanni’s in the kitchen, talking to Vulture and Chase, his V.P., so I stay back, he won’t want interrupting. Instead I go outside, by the pool, and I stare down into the clear blue water, and for a fleeting second I wonder if I was too quick, to stop running. Too quick, to throw myself into this life because I really am trapped now. I can’t leave. And I love Vanni, I do, but sometimes it scares me how much like my father and those men who surround him he is. Have I really just run from one dangerous man straight to another one? And I really do love him, it’s just…
“Piper?”
I swing around, he’s startled me slightly, and I feel my heart beating hard against my ribs as he walks toward me.
“We’re leaving now.”
“OK.”
He stops in front of me and reaches out, resting a hand against the side of my neck, tilting my head back slightly as he kisses me slowly.
“You got every right to be anxious, baby girl. But you gotta know that anyone tries to hurt you, and I’ll make sure they never fucking breathe again. I’m your soldier, remember?”
He looks at me, and I smile, he needs to see that I’m OK with this. He doesn’t need the princess, he needs the woman he made me.
“Get your things, come on. We gotta get going.”
He lets go of me and heads back inside, and I wait a few seconds before I follow him. Is this my future now? Scared to leave the grounds of this estate, reliant on a dangerous, unstable man for everything? And I don’t know why I’m suddenly feeling all this shit now, I was OK before, I was good. Wasn’t I? I was good. Before…
Logan
“Vanni’s here?”
“Arrived last night. Staying at his place in Venice. Got himself a pretty n
ice beach-front condo in Marina del Rey.”
“Jesus… he’s got a place on the beach?”
“He’s got places everywhere, for exactly this reason – so he can drop in any time and rain shit down on the rest of us.”
“How much money’s that fucker got? To look at him you wouldn’t think he had two cents to rub together.” I lean back against my bike and push my sunglasses down over my eyes as I glance around the compound. I want to know if he’s come alone – Vanni. He’ll have brought men with him, that isn’t what I mean. I want to know if she’s with him. Has she come to California, too, because, surely, he wouldn’t’ve left her alone in Nevada?
“Hey, Logan, get it together, man.”
“Huh?” I look at Bullet. “What?”
“You’re distracted. Whatever it is, shut it down, OK? ‘Cause the second Vanni gets here we’re gonna need to be on our game.”
There’s a part of me that hopes he’s left her in Vegas, and a part of me that wants her here, but that part, man, that’s dangerous. I shouldn’t even be going there. And I still don’t know why the hell I’m feeling this shit for her, I don’t feel that for anyone anymore. And even if I wanted to go there again, she isn’t worth the risk.
“We got company, Logan.”
I look up as Bullet nudges my shoulder, yanking me out of that death wish of a fantasy, and I follow his gaze.
A black Ford Mustang, followed by three Harley Roadsters, are pulling into the compound. And it doesn’t take a genius to guess who’s paying us a visit.
“Vanni making another of those subtle entrances, huh?” I flip a cigarette between my teeth and light up, drawing deep, my eyes on the car as it pulls up outside the clubhouse.
“Quit with the attitude, Logan, OK? Vanni’s already pissed, we don’t need you giving him more reasons to keep on our asses. What the fuck’s up with you anyway? You’ve been all moody since you got back from Nevada.”
I look at Bullet. “Moody? What the fuck…? Seriously?”
Protection (Death Knights MC Series Book 1) Page 7
