Dix: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Reckless Souls MC Book 7), page 12
I laugh because I agree with Banger. It is cold as fuck. It’s early morning, before the fucking sun is even thinking about making an entrance for the day. It’s practically the middle of the goddamn night, and we’re at the port waiting on the next shipment from Colombia. But, duty calls and I volunteered to wait it out with Banger in order to make amends.
“Arturo needs to show that he has the upper hand. That’s all this shit is.” There’s no point bitching about it since we’re already here, at least until the shipment arrives. “How’s Willow?”
Banger shakes his head before taking a break from warming up his hands. “She’s better. I mean, she’s tougher than she looks, but the nightmares are something she can’t control. Spends a lot of time at For Goodness Cakes with Maven. She helps oversee the remodel and pitches in when she can to prep for the grand re-opening.” He shrugs. “She says it’s helping, but I ain’t so sure.”
I remind him that, “Willow is new to this life. She might have dreamed about it, but I doubt she ever imagined having to kill someone herself, never mind at close range.”
Banger nods his agreement.
“It’s rough,” I say, “that first kill. And unless you’re a complete fucking sociopath, it doesn’t get easier.”
Banger’s eyes go sad on me. “Fuck man,” he says, shaking his head. “It’s some heavy shit to deal with, and when she wakes up with tears in those pretty blue eyes, I feel like a limp dick piece of shit. All I can do is hold her and let her know I’m here for her.”
I clap Banger on the back in sympathy. He’s still young and learning, but this is a lesson every man has to figure out for himself. “That’s exactly what she needs from you right now. You can’t fix this for her. You can only be there to support her through it.”
He nods and stamps out a cigarette. “I guess. I just wish I could go back in time and make it so I was the one pulling the trigger instead of her.”
Together, we let out an exhale, recognizing the shitty side of life. I can tell how much it’s eating him up inside, and though he doesn’t want to hear it, the burden he carries now is a good thing. It’ll make him a better brother and a better man moving forward. Then he changes the subject.
“What about you and that Colombian cutie?”
I shrug because what the fuck can I say about Valentina? “She’s unexpected.” In every possible fucking way. As much as I planned for my life after prison, settling down with a good woman and making a few babies, I hadn’t made any effort to put the plan into action.
“I couldn’t have chosen a worse woman, that’s for fucking sure.”
“I don’t know,” Banger grins. “She’s hot as hell. Don’t tell Willow,” he adds quickly. “She must be something for you to take the risk.”
I nod. “She is, but the thing is, this wasn’t ever supposed to be all that serious.”
Banger gives me a woebegone smile. “It never starts out that way, does it? I mean Willow, in all her beauty and grace, went and fell for a fucking gang banger. Love is as fucked in the head as the rest of us, so we can either go with it or fight it, man. Which one are you gonna do?”
I nod in the distance. “That’s the million-dollar question, ain’t it?” I notice the crane raising the next container off the boat. “We have about an hour before they load that container onto a truck.”
Banger nods and lights another cigarette. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re doing the MC dirty where Valentina is concerned. I think this all just caught you off guard.”
“Thanks.” His trust in me means a lot considering I’m a big part of the reason he’s a member of the MC.
“Of course. But you should know that I’m in the minority thinking that. A talk with all the brothers wouldn’t be out of line.”
I know he’s right, but it still pisses me off. “I agree,” I tell him, “but it’s bullshit. I’ve been around longer than half these assholes. Who are they to question my loyalty? I bleed for this MC and always will, dammit.”
His mouth curls into a wise but grim expression. “I know, but she’s a cartel princess, man. Of the cartel that killed our brothers. You gotta see both sides of the story. Once you do, just use your charm to ease everybody’s minds. Yeah?”
I nod. “I guess.” I still don’t like it, but as the VP, it’s my responsibility to keep the men calm and faithful to the MC leadership.
I’m so fucking happy when we get the nod that the dock workers have finally loaded the container onto a truck. Now we can get it over to Morgan’s place. This talk about Valentina needs to stop.
Instead of just directing the work of the prospects unloading Arturo’s shipment, I get in there and do my fair share of heavy lifting until we’ve unloaded all of the wooden crates and stacked them against the wall in the warehouse. “That’s a lot of goddamn crates,” I growl and wipe my forearm across my forehead.
“Fuck yeah. That was a goddamn workout,” Banger says, but he grins with satisfaction as we walk toward our bikes.
A shot rings out, echoing throughout the port. Instinctively, I drop to the ground and pull out my gun. “What the fuck was that?” I ask and roll under a truck, coming up on the other side.
Behind me, Banger risks a look, but he slides back behind the truck when we hear more shots coming at us. “No fucking clue. Can’t see a damn thing.”
“Anyone else see shit?” I call out.
Tank, in the warehouse behind the roll-up, answers. “I saw two muzzle flashes.”
“All right,” I nod. “Stay back! I’m gonna fire again. I need you to see where the shots are coming from. Got me?”
Banger nods and I turn, firing high into the distance. Almost instantly, shots fire back, and I see at least three different muzzle flashes before I seek shelter behind a crate. “Three. At least. Up high and slightly to the right.”
Banger nods and gets into position, crouching low and aiming high to cover my back. “Ready when you are, brother.”
I nod and give myself a moment before I turn and open fire on whatever assholes are stupid enough to shoot us on our own fucking turf. I hit one, and he tumbles off a container in the distance before landing hard on the concrete.
Banger unloads his clip at the intruders. “Got another one!” he calls out. “Who are these motherfuckers?”
Tank’s voice sounds behind me. “Ah, fuck! I’m hit.” He groans in pain but it’s too fucking chaotic to turn and check on him.
“Shit man! Where ya hit?”
“Shoulder,” he bites out. “Hurts like a motherfucker, but it went straight through. A few stitches and some titties on my face, and I’ll be good.”
I smile as my gaze scans for more shooters. Only Tank would be thinking about titties while someone’s trying to shoot his ass.
Eventually, the gunshots stop completely, and I assume we scared off the assholes. But we relax behind the crates just in case. “Anyone get a good look at those fuckers?”
No one had because we were all busy loading up the shipment. “Sorry, man, I couldn’t make out any details.” Banger shrugs and goes to Tank to help him up.
“Get him to Nova. I need to talk to Ace and let him know there’s another threat looming in the fucking distance.”
“Dix,” Banger calls out. He levels his dark gaze at me when I turn back to him. “What if this isn’t another threat,” he says. “What if it’s LTC playing games?”
“Then we’ll have to deal with them. Either way, we need to know for sure who it is. Wild Man or Gia should be able to tell us exactly that. Help me put those bodies into the warehouse.”
“On it, man.”
The only silver lining in this clusterfuck of a shootout is that, for the first time in weeks, something other than Valentina occupies my mind.
Ace will definitely have something to say about my relationship with her now. Once again, I’ll have to explain to my own fucking MC that I’m not two-timing them.
And I need to do it quickly because I’m desperate to see her again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Valentina
“Fuck it,” I say to myself and stop pacing my room.
I check outside my door to ensure I’m alone before I reach under the mattress for my Dix phone. My heart picks up speed at the thought of hearing his voice again, but the phone rings and rings before the automated voicemail starts.
“Dix, it’s me. I need you to know that Emiliano is still trying to kill—”
The message is cut short when someone rips the phone from my hands. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Who are you calling?”
I turn and glare into the angry eyes of Emiliano. “None of your business.”
“This?” He’s smiling but his eyes are wild and crazed. “This is your fuck phone? The one you use to call him?”
I fold my arms across my chest and roll my eyes. “Not your business. Now give me my phone and leave me alone.”
“Ah, see, that’s where you’re wrong. It is my business. I don’t give a damn what Papa says. You can’t fuck that gringo. I won’t allow it.”
I bark out a laugh and step forward to grab my phone from his hand. “Allow? You don’t get a say in what I do, Emil. How many times do I have to tell you that? My. Life. Is. Not. Your. Business.”
He pushes at my chest and slams the phone to the ground. But it doesn’t have the intended effect because Emiliano has always been more dramatic than smart. It just spins against a chair, undamaged.
“Fuck!” he shouts, his anger turning his face red. Then he stomps the phone until the screen cracks and shards of glass fly all around the room. “Now try to call your lover.”
“Get the fuck out of my room, Emiliano.”
He shakes his head, eyes even wider as he gets in my face. “I don’t think so, hermana. You will pay for your betrayal.”
I snort a laugh at him, but the deranged look in his eyes worries me.
“I haven’t betrayed anyone. You’re confusing me with yourself. You’re still going against Papa’s wishes. In fact, you’re the one risking tens of millions of dollars because you can’t accept that your sister likes to fuck.” I put emphasis on the word simply because I can, and let my lips spread into a taunting smile.
“You will obey me,” he shouts, grabbing my hair and pulling my head back.
I take a step to regain balance, then swiftly launch my foot into his groin. “Don’t touch me,” I spit out.
His lips curl into a sinister smile, but it’s not amusement or joy. It’s more like a grimace, a crazy twisted smile that sends a shiver down my spine. He grits his teeth and speaks, each word coming out in gasps of pain.
“Or what?”
My eyes dart around the room in search of the green clutch I wore earlier when I left the hotel. It’s on the nightstand on the other side of the bed, and I stomp on Emiliano’s foot hard enough that he releases me before I leap across the bed.
My pepper spray is in there, and if I can get to it, I can disable him just long enough to escape. I reach my arm out, grabbing the purse with my fingertips. I slip my hand in and finger the contents, but before I find the spray, a hand wraps around my ankle and yanks me back.
“Hold her,” I hear my brother say just as a pair of extra-large hands yank me to my feet. I can’t tell who it is but it’s probably one of my brother’s loser henchmen hooking his arms through my elbows to hold me at a disadvantage. “Now what, sister? Nothing to say?”
“You’re a dead man, brother.”
Emiliano shrugs. “Maybe, maybe not. But you will not lay down with that fucking biker ever again.”
My eyes go wide when he produces a syringe of clear liquid. “You know Papa will not stand for this, Emiliano. You will pay dearly for this.”
He shrugs again, those wild eyes not processing my words in the slightest. “Don’t worry about me, Valentina. Just obey me,” he whispers as he stabs the needle into my arm.
I squirm away from him even as I feel the cold liquid seep into my body. Suddenly, my limbs grow heavy. “I hate you, and I hope your death is slow and painful.”
His mouth splits into a grin, and then it starts to melt, and I realize that whatever he’s shot me with is affecting more than my limbs. He speaks again, but it sounds like I’m underwater and falling slowly before everything goes black.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Dix
“Dix, it’s me. I need you to know that Emiliano is still trying to kill—” Valentina’s voice is quiet, almost a whisper, but I can hear the panic in her voice before it cuts off.
“That’s it. That’s the whole fucking message,” I growl at Ace, my gaze bouncing around the room at the rest of my brothers. “I’m sure this is her fucking brother, and I can’t get her on the phone. He’s done something to her. I just know it.”
“You expect us to believe you now?” Shades glares at me with a fierce intensity, arms folded across his chest and glasses perched on his head.
I snap back, right in his face. “You know me better than that, Shades. I’ve never given you a reason not to trust me or doubt my loyalty to this MC.” Still, I feel my anger rising that a brother would doubt me.
“Really?” he says with a scoff. “So you haven’t been lying to us about screwing the cartel princess?”
A surge of rage boils to the surface. Who does Shades think he is after the shit he’s done? I bark back, “You mean the way you lied to us about fucking Letty? Remember when hundreds of thousands of dollars of club money went missing, and not one of us thought you were behind it? Wasn’t even an option.”
“Letty would never betray us,” Shades growls, and I know I’ve got him.
“Neither would I, goddammit! And if you can believe her, you sure as fuck can believe me,” I shout, feeling the tension building between us. “I already told you I was seeing her. What more do you want?”
Then Ace shouts over us, “Calm the fuck down!” He places a hand on both of our shoulders, but his gaze lingers on me. “This isn’t the same, Dix.”
“Isn’t it?” I shoot back. “Letty was in charge of our money, and when it went missing, we believed her without question. Gia was forced to work for Hector, and we still believed her. But because Valentina is a cartel princess, suddenly, I can’t be trusted?” I know Ace isn’t my main target, but I don’t let up.
Coop takes a long sip of his beer and sighs. “Cartels are a different kind of animal, man. How do we know she’s not playing you?”
“She’s not,” I grit out between clenched teeth. “I kept my relationship with her a secret for this exact reason. Arturo is just like Hector or Nogales. He may be more ruthless, but he’s no different.”
Then Shades comes after me again, still accusing me. “You met her under false pretenses.”
“I did,” I admit. “But right now, Valentina is in trouble, you know what? I’m fucking in love with her. There. I said it.” I blow out a breath and continue. “I wasn’t pumping her for information. I was fucking her. We just wanted to spend time together. No secrets, no cartel and no MC thinking I’m a traitor!
“And she was pumping you for information?” Coop adds.
“Jesus Christ! I told you, she wasn’t,” I shout. “We didn’t even talk about anything that has to do with the business until she told me Emiliano hired someone to kill me and that he still wants Willow dead.”
“What?” Banger jumps to his feet, glaring at me like I betrayed him. “Why didn’t you say anything, bro!”
“I told him not to,” Ace growls. “We’re playing the long game here, boys. We don’t need a war with LTC. There are extra men on Willow to keep her safe. Always.”
“We knew this was going to happen,” I point out, looking at Shades and Banger. “That you guys and her father would think we were playing against each other. And we’re not. That’s why we kept it a secret. We’re not going against anyone. We just want to be together.”
“Fuck, man.” Preacher lays a hand on my shoulder, giving me a nod of support. “Relationships are a bitch.”
I nod, grateful for his support. “They are, but Valentina is in trouble, and I need your help. So don’t stand in my way.”
“Guys?” Gia interrupts us, her lips in a slightly amused smile. “I assume since the door is open, this isn’t officially Church?”
Ace also notices a lessening of the tension in the room and looks at her. “What is it, Gia?”
“You have company. Arturo and Benedicto Rojas. They look pissed.”
“They’re here?” Ace’s frown deepens, glaring at the door before he stands.
“Yeah,” Gia says. “I saw them pull up on surveillance, looking all broody and shit. Anyway, they’re here.” She nods at Preacher and saunters off.
Ace stops a few feet in front of the older man inside the clubhouse, the rest of the MC behind him in a show of support. “Arturo, we don’t have a meeting scheduled today.”
The old man crosses his arms over his chest and steps forward, an angry scowl on his face. “This isn’t a business call. It’s personal.”
“Personal? Do tell.”
Arturo points a finger at Ace. “Where is my daughter? I know you have her, and if you hand her over now, I will pretend this never happened.”
I lunge toward the old fucker, ready to wring his fucking neck. Preacher and Banger grab my arms to keep me from actually strangling him. “Hey fuckwad, we don’t have her.”
“And why should we believe you?” the older son, Benedicto, asks with raised brows.
“You don’t have to believe me.” I shrug out of my brothers’ hold and raise my hands to let everyone know I won’t kill him. Yet. “Valentina and I have been spending time together.”
“And that was all part of your revenge plot, wasn’t it?”
I scoff at the old man. “What would I need to get revenge for? This lucrative deal we have together?”
I arch a brow because the old man just gave us the confirmation we weren’t even asking for. I slide a quick glance to Ace and then back to Arturo. “Look, I care about Valentina. But she’s not here.”
