by Eve R. Hart
“Dude,” Mouse said as he walked up to me. “Nice.” There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone as he pointed to my neck. I cringed having a good idea of what was there. “You know, for all those that didn’t hear you guys last night.”
“Shut up,” I said as I playfully punched him in the shoulder.
His response was to laugh and shake his head at me as he walked away.
I looked over at where Bridget was sitting, chatting with the girls and the brothers like she’d known them a long time. I could tell that introductions were made and now she knew most of the women. Too bad Gwen wasn’t here.
But, hold up.
Why?
Why should it matter?
Even as I asked those questions silently, I had a good idea why. Only, I couldn’t let those answers in because soon she would be gone.
I made up our plates, not even hesitating to fill them both up. We exerted a lot of energy last night and we sure as hell needed to refuel. You know, in case it happened again or something.
After I set the plates on the table, I went back and grabbed a couple glasses of orange juice, then poured two cups of coffee, adding a splash of cream to hers. Her smile was warm when she looked at me as I took the seat next to her.
All I could think about was kissing her right now.
The kind of soft, sweet kiss that said something more.
B-ry leaned over and whispered something into Laurel’s ear and as her eyes shifted to my neck she choked on the sip of water she’d just taken.
“What am I missing?” Abigail asked wide-eyed.
I shot them both a death glare as I tried to move the neck of my shirt to cover the hickey that was there.
“Oh,” Abigail said and her cheeks went a little pink.
“You’re lucky you didn’t hear them,” B-ry said with a roll of his eyes.
“Bryan,” Laurel said as she pinned him with a look that told him he needed to shut his mouth.
And things just got really awkward.
I had a feeling Abigail might have had a tiny crush on me. She was nice and easy to talk to but that was as far as it went for me. Even if there was something there, I wasn’t dumb enough to mess with one of my brother’s sisters. That was pretty much an unsaid rule. I was pretty sure I’d never done anything to lead her on, at least not intentionally. But that didn’t mean that I was a complete asshole and sure, I felt a little bad right now. It wasn’t my intention to rub it in anyone’s face.
I felt Bridget stiffen beside me no doubt catching onto all the unsaid things floating around.
“Shit,” she said under her breath looking up at me with a hint of regret in her eyes. Yes, regret. I could read it clear as day. “You know what, I need to get moving. There’s a couple of things I need to get done… like now.”
“Bridge,” I said but she was already up and bolting out of the room.
“Go,” Abigail said.
“Abigail,” I said looking at her softly. I never meant for any of this to happen.
“It’s my issue to deal with. Now, move your ass and go after her.”
I flashed her a half smile before I shot out of my seat.
“Bridge,” I called out once I burst through the front door to the clubhouse and found her halfway across the lot already.
She halted but didn’t turn to face me.
“I don’t want that,” she said as I came up behind her. “I am not that kind of person. I don’t want to get in the middle of anything.”
“You’re not,” I assured her. “I don’t have something going on with Abigail.”
“But you could. And I just got in the middle of it. I like her, Lake. She’s a good person. I was a bitch to her that night I met her and she forgave me like it was nothing. She’s been nothing but nice to me.”
“Hey, look at me,” I said softly.
She turned slowly and while she wasn’t crying, I could tell that she was upset.
“It’s not like I’m going to be here that long, Lake. I am not that kind of person that comes in and annihilates everything like a tornado and leaves a trail of wreckage behind.”
“I know.” I pulled her into me and though she didn’t move to put her arms around me, she didn’t push me away either.
The first thought that ran through my mind was to get her to understand. But understand what? That was the thing that was tearing up my head. Something that maybe I hadn’t quite grasped myself.
I opened my mouth to say something but the front door pushed open with a force that captured our attention immediately.
“Lake,” B-ry said as he came crashing out of the clubhouse.
He didn’t need to say more for me to get it.
Bridget stepped away from me as she caught onto the intensity in his tone. Her nod was all I needed to know that she understood.
“I’ll find you later,” I said looking into her eyes. I was hoping that she could read everything that I wasn’t saying in my gaze. Though, I wasn’t really sure what that was.
With a quick kiss to her temple, I jogged off in the direction of B-ry.
“Church,” he said stiffly as he turned and walked back inside.
I followed him to the back and up the stairs. The table was already half full and it wasn’t long before everyone else came rushing in.
“I got a call from the Russians,” Iron said, his eyes sliding over to look at B-ry for a split second. “They requested a meeting, told me I had an hour.”
Shit.
A meeting out of the blue wasn’t good. What the hell was going on? There was no way they were pissed off about the guns, we’d done right by them and the Irish. Keeping the peace was what we all wanted. And I couldn’t come up with anything else that could be wrong.
I looked around the room and no one gave anything away. Maybe they were as clueless as I was.
“We all ride. I’m not taking any chances. He wants to meet at the restaurant, top floor.”
That was a relaxed enough place to meet but also, very strange.
That restaurant in question was Bella Vita, an Italian restaurant owned by the Russians, with an Italian woman that ran the kitchen. Long story, from what I’d gathered. Something that happened before our time and left a little bad blood between the Italians and the Russians for like a decade or something. For the most part, Pyotr didn’t do a lot of business there, choosing to keep the place as clean as could be.
So maybe this wasn’t going to be as intense as we were thinking. It could have been one of those friendly sit-downs, keep each other updated kind of things. Right? But then why did it seem like it was a hurried request. I was using the request part lightly. We didn’t have a choice, I could tell in Prez’s tone.
“You have any idea what this is about?” Knight asked.
Iron’s head bounced with a slow nod.
“Got an idea but I don’t want to walk in there thinking something. I don’t want us to get caught off guard.”
Made sense.
But I was still lost as fuck.
“You think it’s time?” B-ry asked, looking like he was about to slip right out of his chair he was sitting so close to the edge.
“I think we need to prepare ourselves for anything that might come our way and how we might handle it calmly.”
This was some shit.
There was a stare-off between Iron and B-ry. With a tiny nod, Iron turned his attention back to all of us.
“Back when Laurel was missing, Russians got wind of it and offered some help. We took it, but I kept that part wrapped up. While it wasn’t said outright that there would be a favor owed, I’m also not dumb.” Iron looked down and shook his head. “They just happened to get lucky in finding her.”
“And you think they are calling that favor in now?” Mouse asked though it clearly wasn’t a question.
“Why wait this long?” I asked because it had been months since we got Laurel back.
“Not sure,” Iron replied. “We go in, calm and collected. I talk, I
handle it. You are back up. Understood?”
Every single one of us nodded in agreement. We were to stand there, keep our mouths zipped, and be on guard for anything that might happen.
Cable brought up the blueprints of the restaurant as well as any pictures he could find of the place, just to make sure nothing had been changed around. All exits were pointed out and taken in by each of us. As well as any areas that could be blind spots.
The upstairs was a big open room. One that they had set up for large groups or things like wedding receptions.
After we had a plan in place if shit went sideways, we rode out.
Strange as it was, I didn’t get that prickly feeling on the back of my neck. I tried my hardest not to listen to it and let my guard down. It’d be a cold day in hell when I let my brothers down like that.
Head in the game, we pulled around and walked our bikes back, leaving them in a nice row out front of the building. It was early enough in the day they weren’t open yet seeing as they only served dinner. That was good, at least there wouldn’t be any people to worry about getting caught in the crossfire. But fuck, I hoped there wouldn’t be any crossfire to begin with.
The door opened as we approached, Iron leading the pack. One of Pyotr’s men held the door open for us. I waited for the pat down, but oddly, it never came. Of course, all of us were carrying, we weren’t dumb. But we’d also not hesitate to give them up to keep the peace.
Something about that trust caused a calmness to settle inside of me.
Upstairs, Pyotr was already seated at a table in the middle, drinking glass half full in front of him with a bottle of vodka sitting next to it.
Andrei was standing right at his back and a few other big Russians were scattered around the room. The guy that had brought Laurel to us was in the back corner. I never could remember his name, but I’d seen him around a few times.
Pyotr rose, held out his hand, then sat back down after Iron gave him a firm shake.
“Thank you for coming.” His accent was thick and his voice was low. “I know I called this meeting fast, but I figured it best to make you aware as soon as possible.”
Come on, get to the point.
“We’re here,” Iron said bluntly. “Now let’s get to the why.”
Pyotr chuckled and took a healthy gulp of his drink.
“Vodka?” he asked tipping his glass in the direction of Iron.
I could feel Iron trying to contain his irritation from across the room.
With a jerk of his head, he accepted the offer knowing it was best not to offend Pyotr.
There was another glass brought forward. Pyotr took his time filling the two glasses before sliding one across the table to Iron.
“To our women,” Pyotr said as he held up his glass.
“Our women,” Iron said doing the same.
I had a feeling he wasn’t using his native tongue to make a point. I was glad Iron filled us in on the things we didn’t know.
Sure, I was a little irritated that he hadn’t told the table about it, but at the same time, I had trust in my Prez. And I knew things were crazy at the time. Though, I doubted he’d forgotten about it. I guess he was in the mindset that he wouldn’t worry us with it until it came to light— if it came to light. After all, it sounded like it hadn’t been stated as an I owe you type of thing.
“Think we have a good thing going here, no?” Pyotr asked with a raised brow.
“I’m not one for conversation. Not to be rude, but can we get to it. If there is a problem, I want it fixed as fast as possible.”
Pyotr chuckled and gave a nod.
“We brought your woman back. Now we want something. I have a fighter that comes in from south, brings in a lot of money. Problem is, he needs new blood to fight against,” Pyotr said with a shrug as his eyes flicked over to look at B-ry.
Iron said nothing.
“They call him The Monster.” Pyotr waved two fingers in the air and one of his men brought over a tablet, already lit up and ready to go. Once it was placed in front of Iron, we all leaned in to get a better look.
Shit.
No fucking thank you.
B-ry was a beast but this guy looked twice his size. And that scowl on his face was downright terrifying.
Iron’s jaw clenched.
“No,” Iron said calmly. “No-go. You want to use my man for this when in reality it was just luck that you happened to find Laurel first. Just so happened that your boy was fucking with the blinds open right next door. I appreciate that you got to her when you did, but this doesn’t seem like an even trade-off.”
“You asked for help. We helped.”
“Help was offered up.”
“You still took it.”
Iron grunted like there wasn’t really anything he could say to that.
“It seems your man has talent. Talent I could use only he hasn’t shown interest in my fights. The Monster brings a big crowd and there are people that follow him around. I like big crowds, I like money. Yuri says your man has skills. We will help him. Yuri and Andrei will train with him.”
Iron opened his mouth but B-ry stepped up and put a hand on his shoulder.
“I’ll do it.”
Pyotr looked at Iron waiting for him to say the word.
“Fine. One fight. Then we’re even.”
“One fight,” Pyotr responded with a nod. “Don’t let me down. I’m putting my money on you.”
And there was a flicker of surprise in B-ry’s eyes for a split second before he wiped his face clean.
I knew the Russians ran an underground fighting ring though I’d never been to any of them. It was really no secret even though it was illegal as hell, and I’d wondered how shady it was, you know, other than the fact that they were illegal fights and all. But it seemed Pyotr ran it as fair as one could. I was half waiting for him to drop the other shoe and tell B-ry that he had to throw the fight and lose.
“You have three weeks.”
Damn, that didn’t seem like a whole lot of time.
“I’ll be ready,” B-ry said with confidence.
With a nod, we were dismissed.
Andrei followed us out and once we were breathing in fresh air, he turned to B-ry.
“See you tomorrow morning. Be there early. Need to work on those chicken legs of yours.”
B-ry playfully scoffed.
“I do not have chicken legs.”
“They are as worthless as chicken legs. All punch, no kick.”
“I can bring a man down with just my punch, good enough for me,” B-ry said and if Andrei weren’t so stiff, I imagined them tussling around like two brothers.
“Early,” Andrei said, his look turning serious.
“I’ll be there.”
Then Andrei was gone.
“You sure about this?” Iron asked B-ry.
“Got to be done.”
Yeah, it sucked but it was true. We needed to keep the peace and I hoped to hell that B-ry wouldn’t be taken down too badly. It wasn’t that I didn’t have faith in my brother, and I would go and cheer him on with everything I had in me, but that guy looked like he could knock a man flat with a flick of his finger.
“Nice knowin’ ya,” Mouse said with a laugh.
“I’m hungry. Get your asses to the diner.”
With that, we all mounted our bikes and rode off. I was ready to get back and talk to Bridget, but I had a feeling this was more of an order than a request. Maybe Iron needed some bonding time after all that shit.
It could have been worse. I was half expecting for the Russians to ask for more crates or a percentage off the low rate they already had. That would have been the smart business thing to do but then again, maybe Pyotr was more about keeping the peace we already had. Which worked for me because we already had enough shit going on. This almost seemed like the easiest way to put this I owe you to bed.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Bridget
Why the hell couldn’t I get a hold of Art?
<
br /> This wasn’t like him and I tried my hardest not to think the worst. But the fact that my calls had gone unanswered all day really grated my nerves and maybe had me freaking out a tiny bit.
It didn’t help that I was stuck over six hundred miles away and had no way to get back home at the moment.
There had been a strange tension in the air ever since Lake took off earlier. I hadn’t seen him all afternoon and when I wandered around to find something to eat, the clubhouse seemed to be pretty empty. I hadn’t been here long and all, but it always seemed like there were a bunch of people just hanging out. The fact that I found a couple of guys in the lounge area and the women in the kitchen, well, that was a big clue that something was amiss. But then again, it was in the middle of the day and I imagined that most of them worked, so maybe I was letting my mind drift in a darker direction for no reason.
Maybe it was that I still struggled to see beyond the whole MC thing. By the way the dick detective talked, these guys weren’t exactly on the right side of the law. And let’s be honest, you hear motorcycle club, you see the cuts and the hard looks on the faces of the men that consider one another a brother and you can’t help but think they are a bit dangerous and bad.
I tried my best to push all of that away. I didn’t want to get involved in anything I didn’t have to and I was going to keep my nose as clean as possible until I was done here.
Still, there was something poking at the back of my brain that told me these were good people. It could have been the fact that I didn’t feel threatened by any of them. Or that they had taken me in right away, even before they had a chance to check me out. Or that they stepped in to help me before I had a chance to figure shit out myself. So, okay, they were good in my book. At least until I saw otherwise— which I prayed I never did.
“Hey,” I said as I stepped into the kitchen. Abigail was seated with Cami, Laurel, and someone I didn’t think I’d seen yet. She was blond and had a little toughness to her. Something that said she knew the life well even though she wasn’t that old. I would have guessed she was somewhere around my age.
