Dix: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Reckless Souls MC Book 7), page 17
Gia responds as expected. “What do you do for the cartel?”
“Nothing at the moment,” I snort and shake my head as I recall the past couple of years. “I met a man, Jake, in Costa Rica while I was on my first mission for my papa. I failed and he forced me to marry a man he thought would be good for me.”
“Seriously? That fucking sucks.”
I nod. “Yes. Alejandro, the man your baker killed.”
Gia nods. “And you’re here to get your revenge on Willow,” she says and nods. I turn toward the blonde keeping her distance even though she’s been watching me the entire time.
I smile and shake my head. “No. I didn’t love Alejandro, and he didn’t love me. It is sad that he is dead, but really, she did me a favor. If not for her, I wouldn’t have been free to be with Dix.”
“Bullshit,” she spits out and smacks the table with one hand and summons more drinks with the other.
I shrug. “Believe what you will, but Dix believes me, and that’s all I care about.” I know I’ll be fine with his love and protection, but life would be better if I could find an ally among these women.
Gia nods, her eyes staring as her mind whirls, probably with more questions. “I don’t trust you, and I don’t trust your father.”
“I don’t trust him either,” I shoot back honestly. “But I love him as any girl loves her father.”
“Even when her papa murders our innocent prospects? An innocent girl and one of our friends?”
I shrug. “I did not know about any of that until recently. But it isn’t the first time. I doubt it will be the last. It is the nature of this business, as I’m sure you are all well aware.” I let my gaze bounce around the growing group of women to drive the point home.
“Yeah, that’s all true,” Gia begins. "And we all cope with it in our own way.” Then she pushes out of her chair, a fire in her eyes I hadn’t seen until now. “We’ll be nice to you because we’re supposed to make you feel welcome for some reason,” she rolls her eyes. “But if I get one fucking whiff that you’re up to no good, that you’re still working for papa,” she says mockingly. “I will make it my mission to fucking end you.”
The room is silent, but it’s not tense, just quiet as if everyone is waiting for…something. “Shot glasses and gold tequila,” the woman wearing black says as she sets a dozen glasses on a tray down on the table with a bottle.
“Thanks, Trudy,” Gia says and turns over two shot glasses and fills them to the brim, then shoves one in my direction. “Rumor has it you’re gonna be sticking around for a while.”
There’s a question in Gia’s eyes but the hatred is gone.
“Looks that way,” I admit.
Letty pours a shot for herself and turns to me with a smile. “Cool,” she says. “Glad that’s over.”
She then sips the shimmering golden liquid from the shot glass in her hand. “I’m with Shades, the secretary of the club,” she begins to explain. “Gia, on the other hand, is hooked up with Wilder, the club’s tech captain.”
Letty then proceeds to identify the other women present in the room, offering brief introductions and detailing their connections to various club members. “The other women are Club Whores, but I don’t like to call them that. It’s demeaning.”
Gia snorts, making me uneasy. “Even if they’d sleep with your man in a heartbeat? Don’t be fooled,” she warns me. “They’re cool chicks and all, but make no mistake, they want to be us. They want to be one of these guys’ old ladies.”
Letty nods in agreement. “Yes, that’s true. But they’re nice, and they always show up for the guys, so they’re family too.” I’m surprised by her admonishing tone, which seems to put Gia in her place.
“The guys over there,” she points to a trio playing pool, “are prospects, which means they will, at some point in time, become patched.”
“Or not,” Gia adds, her snarkiness returning. “It’s not guaranteed. But you’ll get used to those guys being here and at the shop. They’re tasked with all the bullshit no one else wants to do. If some messed-up cartel psychopath doesn't murder them first.” She turns to me and narrows her eyes.
I raise my hands in surrender. “I get it. I’m not here to hurt anyone. This,” I gesture around the room, “is more than I expected.” I admit I’m feeling a mixture of discomfort and surprise. “But you don’t have to be nice to me,” I assure them. “I know this is all weird as hell, and I’m not really sure how to do this either.”
“You just do it,” Letty says seriously. “Just be yourself. If you are Dix’s ol’ lady, then we’re sisters.” She turns to Gia, “Whether we want to be or not.”
“Thank you,” I assure Letty. “I do love Dix, and I won’t do anything to jeopardize his life or his well-being, or those he holds dear.”
“He holds dear,” Gia mimics. “You’re hella proper. Did you take classes to learn English?”
“Yes, I did. Here in America and in Columbia.”
“Where’d you get those fancy-ass shoes?”
I kick one leg out to give her a better look. “Beverly Hills. Why do you ask?”
“Wow. They’re beautiful,” she says. “I could never afford anything like that, ya know? I mean Preacher would get them for me if I asked, but it’s not the same as buying them for myself.”
I shrug. “I don’t know, actually. I’ve never wanted for anything. I’m not sure how my financial situation will be now that Dix and I are getting married.”
“You’ll figure it out just like we did.” Two blonde girls drop down in the last two empty seats. “Kelsey and I are rich girls—we’re actually sisters—and we both chose bikers. So you’ll figure out where you fit just like we did.”
I blink at all the information coming at me. “Rich girls?”
Kelsey laughs. “Yep. Like proper trust fund babies. Letty too. Angel Harbor is a wealthy neighborhood.”
“Hold on a second, rich girl. I live in Angel Harbor and I’m broke as fuck,” Gia says. “Although none of us are really broke now that Valentina’s daddy is paying us.” She smiles at me mockingly.
“Wow.” I assumed, incorrectly, that these women were all of a certain type. Poor or middle class with daddy issues or broken homes. It didn’t occur to me that these women would be from all walks of life.
“Thank you, all of you, for trying to make me feel welcome here. Dix and I are getting married which, I guess, makes all of you my sisters.”
“Scary, huh?” Gia laughs and finishes off another shot.
“Kind of. I’ve always wanted sisters.”
Kenna rolls her eyes. “Careful what you wish for. We’re all cool and shit, but lockdown can be a bitch after a few weeks.”
“Don’t jinx us, Kenna,” her sister admonishes.
“Trudy, more tequila, please. Any of you bitches don’t have a shot and we’ll know you’re knocked up.”
“Count me out, then.” Kenna holds both hands up, a beautiful smile lighting up her face. “I’m just a few months along, so we haven’t told anyone yet, but I’m going to be a mom!”
All the women surround Kenna and hug her close, pulling apart just as a bottle of tequila and shot glasses arrive at the table. Gia pops the cork and lifts the bottle high in the air.
“Kenna is out, which means we’ll have to drink for her, Valentina, while you figure out who’s going to be your bridesmaids,” Gia says, grinning.
I blink. “Bridesmaids?”
“Hell yeah,” Gia replies. “If you’re getting married, Dix will have at least Ace and Shades standing up with him, if not all the guys. I can help plan the bachelorette party, but maybe the rich chicks can help with the fancy wedding shit. And no fucking cartel. ”
“Gia, be nice,” one of the other girls chimes in.
“I am,” Gia insists. “I just mean Willow will be there, and I don’t want her getting shot cause some psychopathic cartel dude’s daughter is fucking the VP!”
“Gia!” the girls shout out in unison. The tension in the room is palpable, and for the first time since I sat down, I’m not sure I can do this.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Dix
We arrive at Aria Morgan’s house with a big show of force. Lucky managed to call us when the trouble started, but he hasn’t answered his phone since.
“It’s been twenty minutes. I hope he’s not dead.” Banger’s words echo in the silence all around. The deaths of Devon and Jordi are fresh in our minds because they happened at the hands of the same assholes.
I look over my shoulder at my men. “Spread out and cover every possible exit, even windows. Stay in teams when possible. Got it?”
They all nod and crouch down, weapons at the ready as we approach the Morgan mansion. I point to my ear, and Banger nods to indicate he hears it too. “That fucker is going crazy.”
I enter the front door first and shake my head, grateful this asshole is an amateur. “It would be so easy,” I whisper to Banger.
He nods. “Double tap to the back of his fucking head and my girl would be safe.”
We both know its wishful thinking. Ace has already made his feelings clear on this. We can’t kill Emiliano.
We advance toward the sound of his voice, past all the destruction he’s left in his wake. The house is a mess, with broken vases, tipped over tables and chairs, even a few paintings hang crooked on the walls.
“Just tell me where the bitch is and I might let you live.” I approach the living room, and see the fucker has Aria and Lucky tied up and his gun is trained on Lucky. “Well?” Emiliano continues, and from the way he’s acting, I’m not surprised he slurs his words.
“I don’t know where Willow is.” Lucky’s voice cracks. He sounds exhausted, and I can tell he’s been saying the same thing over and over. “I’m telling you, I’ve been protecting Aria for weeks.”
“Bullshit,” he spits out at Lucky. Something makes him look around the room and I see his wild, red eyes. Then he spots me. Thankfully, this takes his attention and his gun off Lucky.
“You!” he screams at me. “You motherfucker. Get in here. Now!”
I spot Shades and Preacher just behind Emiliano’s shoulder and do what the prick says, entering the room slowly with my gun aimed at the floor. “I’m right here, Emiliano. What is it you want to say to me?”
“I want Morgan to know what kind of people you dirty bikers are. Aria, call your father and tell him about them.”
His gun wavers in his drunken hand as I step closer, and I know this dude is totally fucking unhinged.
“You defiled my sister,” he shouts and points his gun in my direction. “You are the reason Papa is pissed off and talking about putting me in the warehouse. I won’t do that. I won’t!”
“The warehouse is respectable work,” I say reasonably. “Without it, none of us get paid.”
He laughs bitterly. “Bullshit. I’m going to be El Jefe,” he shouts and grips the gun tighter in his hands.
“Not if you’re getting’ high on your own supply,” I tell him because it’s clear as fucking day that this guy is high as a fucking kite.
“I will be in charge soon enough,” he says, his fucked-up brain oozing confidence. “I have a secret weapon.”
I want to keep the asshole talking to find out what he thinks he has so we can figure out how to fight back. So, I say, “Yeah? Why don’t you tell me about this weapon?”
Emiliano laughs a seriously wicked sounding laugh. “Why would I do that?”
I smile. “Because you want to brag. You want to tell us what you’ve done so we can tell your Papa and let him know how fucking smart you are. Right?”
Because he’s high, he thinks about it and scratches his head. “Yeah, well, I’m not that fucking stupid. But I’ll tell you that I have powerful allies, and they owe me favors.”
“Favors ain’t free, kid.”
He shoves the gun in my direction, angry at my retort. He grounds a palm against his eye and shakes his head. His erratic movements confirm he’s definitely on something.
“Good thing I have something I know they want.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?” He has my curiosity now.
Emiliano flashes a dark smile. “A name. You might know it. Viper.”
Fuck. I know that name. We all do. It’s Bangers gangster name from the gang he deserted. The Bloodthirsty Devils. Meanest motherfuckers up in LA. “Oh, Jesus, Emiliano. That was stupid. Those fucking gangbangers have no loyalty to anyone but themselves.”
“Maybe. But once they found out I knew where their former traitor named Viper was hiding out, they were happy to knock that blonde bitch off for me.”
Banger turns red in the face and starts breathing heavily. “If they lay one fucking hand on my woman, I’ll kill you with my bare hands!” he shouts.
“Hold on, Banger. Calm the fuck down. Nothing is going to happen to your woman.” I do not need my guy killing Rojas on my watch. Not tonight.
Emiliano just laughs at Banger and says, “You should see your face right now.” A small part of me wants to let Banger pump a few bullets into him, but that would make me an irresponsible VP.
“Don’t worry. You won’t live much longer than your bitch.”
Right before my eyes, Banger’s body relaxes. He’s so fucking calm it’s almost scary. When a slow smile crosses his face, I tense and wait for the shit to hit the fan.
“You know,” he says with an evil grin, “she told me all about your boy Alejandro and how his brains went everywhere. We had to wash it out of her hair, and I watched parts of him just circle down the drain, same as that big shit I took this morning.”
“Just wait,” Emiliano growls dangerously. He swivels back and forth as if he can’t decide who he wants to kill first, me or Banger. “Speaking of shit, the shit that’s going to rain down on your MC will be legendary and it will be because of me. El Jefe!”
“You’d really do that to family?” I ask, returning a confident smile.
“Family,” he spits and shakes his head. “You’re nothing to me.”
“Wrong. I am the man set to marry your sister. Valentina is going to be my wife. Arturo approved it while you were off sucking gangbanger cock.”
Emiliano lunges at me, leading with his gun. I can see it in his eyes, he’s determined to end my life. But his forward momentum slows.
The glass window just behind Lucky and Aria shatters under the force of a bullet rushing through it, and he notices it too late to stop completely. But he slows just long enough for the first bullet to slice through his stomach and the second a through and through on his right thigh. Emiliano falls to the ground, wailing in pain.
“Oh my God, shut him up,” Aria shouts with tears streaming down her face.
The rest of the MC converges on the once-fancy sitting room, each of them leading with their firearms. They sweep the room for any other threats. I rush to Lucky and ask, “You all right?”
He nods.
“I’m fine,” Aria shouts. “Thanks for asking.”
I roll my eyes and pull out my blade to cut them both free of their plastic ties. “The words you’re looking for are thank you, sweetheart.”
“Thank you,” she hisses at me before turning to Lucky. “Are you okay, Lucky? Where’s Coco?”
Fuck. The Dog.
Ace and Arturo walk into the chaos, wearing matching frowns. “You guys started the party without us,” Ace deadpans.
I turn to him and rake a hand through my damp hair. “It couldn’t be helped. Lucky and Aria were tied up, and he had a gun aimed at them. He’s alive, just in a bit of pain.”
“You are dead, motherfucker,” Emiliano shouts through tense breaths. “Papa, they shot me. Kill them. Kill them now.” Emiliano laughs maniacally. “You’re all dead now.”
“Emil, hijo,” Arturo says, stepping forward with a pained expression on his face.
I glance at Ace with a question in my eyes. Is this shit about to go extra sideways? Because Valentina might not mind if I kill her brother, but killing her father might be the one obstacle we can’t overcome.
“Papa, they shot me.”
“Good thing you’re high.” Arturo’s voice is gentler than I’ve ever heard it, and the rest of the room is tense as fuck. We’re all quiet and barely moving, too fucking anxious to see how the next thirty seconds will play out. “You probably don’t feel much.”
“I feel enough, Papa.” His breaths are harsh and shallow, his blood pooling out all around him, and too quickly at that.
“It will go away soon, hijo.” Arturo bends down and presses a soft kiss to his son’s forehead, taking his time to push himself back to his feet.
And then, lightning quick, Arturo snatches Lucky’s gun from his back holster and aims it at Emiliano, squeezing the trigger three times. Two in the chest and one in the head, the classic assassin’s trio.
Arturo crosses himself and hands the gun back to Lucky as if he didn’t just kills his own flesh and blood. He casts one final look at his son’s lifeless face and shrugs before turning to Ace. “I pray you have men that can make this mess go away.” He motions to Emiliano.
Ace nods, and Lucky, Shades, and Preacher get to work. “Done.”
“That’s another mess he made that won’t clean up as easily,” I inform them as my gaze connects with Banger.
Ace’s nostrils flare, and he squares his shoulders, preparing for another wave of bad fucking news. “What?”
“Emiliano connected with Banger’s old gang. Gave him up in exchange for them taking out Willow. She may be safe since he’s off the board, but I doubt they’ll let him go so easily.”
“Fuck,” Ace spits out, shaking his head as if that act alone will make the problem go away. “Banger, take Nova and get back to the clubhouse and make sure the women are safe. We’ll take care of this.”
I nod and look at the lifeless form with blood pooling around it in a growing reddish black circle, wondering how in the hell I’m gonna tell my woman that her father murdered her brother in cold blood.
“A minute, Dix?” Ace nods, and I follow him out front of the Morgan mansion. He waits until Banger and Nova are on their bikes before turning back to me. “What the fuck was that?” Ace demands, his voice low and dangerous.
