Yankovich funded the rebirth of the Boston charter of the Corrupt Bastards, a motorcycle club that was distributing both Yankovich and the G-Man’s product; that product being heroin. Johnny started sniffing around, and before they caught wind and whacked him, he found out that Yankovich was using the Corrupt Bastards as the decoy.
He set it up so the Satan’s Knights would be crippled and unable to assist me, leaving both the motorcycle club and the prominent mob family of New York vulnerable and at his mercy. If we were too distracted by the bomb, then he’d be able to control the waterfront, and the global distribution of drugs he was planning would easily move through New York’s harbor.
The problem was he wasn’t planning on moving drugs.
That was peanuts to a man like Yankovich.
He would move women through those containers.
Innocent women he planned on selling overseas as if they weren’t living, breathing beings.
Johnny’s life was compromised but not the docks, and those women, they’re still here somewhere. They haven’t been sold to the highest bidder and forced to live a life of shame. I can still save them.
The docks are still mine and it’ll be a cold day in fucking hell before I let that bastard move anything through my territory.
Not drugs.
And you can bet your dick, not a woman.
So, Jack calling me and telling me to meet him at the Ramada Inn off of Victory Boulevard couldn’t have happened at a better time. Yankovich has plans to move cargo through the harbor soon, whether that cargo is drugs or women is yet to be determined, so is the date and time of his move. But having Jack and his club on my side will surely aide in shutting down his operation. We just need to find out when he plans to strike and then we’ll be waiting to intercept the Russian prick.
My uncle used to fight with Jack to keep his streets clean of drugs. Now, I’m fighting to keep our waterfront clear and women alive. Jack Parrish is going to help me do that. He’s going to because I won’t take no for a fucking answer.
Pulling into the parking lot I spot the biker leaning against his Harley, staring up at the motel with a look of disdain painted across his face.
“Parrish,” I call, demanding his attention as I unbutton my suit jacket and shove my hand into my tailored pants. This fucking get up is getting old real fucking fast. Whoever said the suit makes the man never wore basketball shorts and a t-shit.
His dark eyes dart toward me and assess me from head to toe.
“Spinelli,” he sneers, shaking his head.
Ignoring the look on his face, I cross the gravel parking lot and stand in front of him.
“I’m surprised you called,” I admit truthfully. “But I’m happy you finally came around.”
Leaving no time for small talk, I glance around the deserted parking lot figuring it’s safe enough to cut straight to the chase. Parrish is a finicky bastard; his mind can snap at any second so time is of the essence.
“I didn’t call you to break bread,” he says, tipping his head toward the motel. “One of my brothers found something that belongs to you.”
Narrowing my eyes suspiciously I begin to doubt the reason of his call. Before biker boy broke my sister’s heart and ran like a little bitch, he ordered me to tell Parrish everything I knew about Yankovich—not an easy task when the Bulldog doesn’t answer my calls. Then out of the clear blue sky Parrish called and requested a meeting. I figured Stryker must’ve reached out to his president, knowing Parrish is as thick headed as they come. A parting gift from biker boy before he hightailed it to God only knows where. He must’ve cared about Gina if he reached out to Parrish, knowing that as long as Yankovich is a threat to me then my sister isn’t safe.
She’s all I have in this world.
The only way anyone can hurt me is by hurting her.
I peel my eyes off the motel and turn back to Jack. Regretfully, I ask the question I already know the answer to.
“What could one of your men have that belongs to me?”
My eyes move to his lips and I watch in horror as he says the two words I never wanted to hear.
“Your sister,” he says, before turning around and heading toward the motel.
The air deflates from my lungs as a million scenarios run through my head. I hang onto the fact he said she’s here and not in a ditch somewhere dead. I hang onto that because knowing she’s alive is the courage I need to follow Jack toward the door he’s pounding his fist against.
Stryker pulls open the door, crossing his arms against his chest and barricades the door as he looks past Jack and directly into my eyes.
There is nothing comforting about the expression on his face.
“Where is she?” I demand.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Stryker sneers, pulling his gaze to the man who gives him his orders. A guttural shriek sounds from behind Stryker, vibrating through my entire body as I realize the anguished sound belongs to my sister.
Shoving Parrish out of the way, I grab Stryker’s leather jacket and push him out of my way, charging into the room in search for my sister.
Pausing at the side of the bed, I stare in shock at the girl lying in the bed, twisting between the sheets in agony.
This woman can’t be my sister.
The blood.
The bruises.
The cries no one will ever be able to silence.
Her clothes are ripped to shreds with nothing but a thin sheet covering her scarred body.
None of this is real.
This isn’t my sister.
My sister is somewhere safe with Richie watching over her. She’s laughing at some bullshit television show or online shopping to her hearts content.
My sister isn’t lying in this bed a victim of violence.
Violence my choice cost her.
“Get off of me.” I hear Stryker shout and my reality is affirmed.
This is real.
This is hell.
“That woman wrestling her demons in your bed is Rocco’s sister,” Jack sneers, trying to rein in Stryker.
But there is no reining any of us in.
The truth explodes around us.
Backing away from the bed, tears sting my eyes as I realize every bruise on my sister’s body, every drop of blood and all the shame she’s left with is my fault. It’s my truth and my undoing, a burden I will carry for the rest of my life.
Reaching into my suit jacket I pull out the nine millimeter and aim it directly at Jack Parrish’s head.
“You wouldn’t listen to me,” I growl. “You just fucking wouldn’t listen to me.” Clenching my teeth I pull back the safety on my gun.
“Put the gun down, pretty boy,” Stryker orders, reaching behind him to pull his own out and aims it at me. “This is all you,” he sneers. “You were supposed to keep her fucking safe,” he shouts.
My eyes meet his as the words sink in.
Words I know are true.
Words I don’t want to hear.
Words that will be my damnation.
This is all you.
All me.
-Thirty-three-
Stryker
Keeping my hand steady and my gun aimed at Rocco, I shrug Jack’s hands off my shoulders and step further into my motel room.
“Drop the gun, pretty boy,” I seethe. Out of the corner of my eye I see Jack pull out his own piece and aim it at Rocco. I’ve got no business blaming him for what’s happened but shouldering the blame onto someone else for the mistake I made is the only thing keeping me from losing my mind.
I left her.
I vowed to keep her safe and then I fucking left her.
I let PTSD control my life and Gina nearly lost hers as a result.
I keep telling myself she’s alive and I need to be grateful for that, but the moment I scraped the broken pieces of her off the ground and took her into my arms, I knew she was dead inside. My pretty girl had no will to live left. Her spunk was ripped from her and not only was her
body violated but her spirit as well.
I don’t know how long we lay in that alley waiting for Cobra and Deuce, but every second that passed, she shed another tear and broke my heart a little bit more. I didn’t know what to do, where to touch her, so I just kept my arms loosely around her and waited for my brothers to show up.
Both of them were respectful upon finding us, looking everywhere but directly at her. Cobra stripped his jacket from his body and handed it to me. I removed the dirty coat from her body and replaced it with Cobra’s jacket.
When it came time to move her, she screamed, and at first I thought she was in pain because of the way I moved her; hearing her scream no, I knew she was reliving her attack.
Torment.
It won’t escape her.
It’ll rule her for the rest of her life. She’ll try to bury it but it will dredge to the surface, and like a cancer it will viciously gnaw at her.
I kept repeating the only words I could think of that might comfort her.
I’ve got you.
But words are just words and they won’t heal her.
She moans, pulling me away from my thoughts and the silent standoff her brother and I are having. I turn my attention toward the bed and instantly lower my gun as I move for her at the same time as Rocco does. I glare at him, hold out my hand to prevent him from taking another step closer.
It’s over.
From this point forward, Gina is my responsibility and no one else’s. Going forward all her pain, all her grief, and every fucking nightmare she has is as much mine as it is hers. And when she smiles, when she laughs and traces of the woman she was before tonight surfaces, that’ll all be mine too. She will smile. She will laugh again. She’ll be that girl she was because I’ll spend the rest of my life bringing that woman back to life, shutting down the torment that lives inside of her.
I’ll die trying.
“Shh,” I whisper, leaning over the bed. “I’ve got you, pretty girl. Nobody will ever hurt you again,” I vow, reaching out to touch her hand.
Cobra left to get medical help and until he comes back, I don’t want to touch her. She’s fragile and I’m not sure what her limits are. So far she’s allowed me to hold her hand but anything more—if I go to touch her face, she cries out, slaps my hand away and flinches.
So I take her hand.
“I’ve got you,” I repeat, my thumb stroking her palm, and she grips my hand.
Her body is a shell, housing the spirit of a woman who is stronger than she knows. That strength is alive, and it’s alive in the way she squeezes my hand. I stare at her face, wishing she could open her eyes. I need those eyes.
I need them bad.
But it’s not about me and my needs.
It’s about finding out what she needs and being the one who gives it to her. Not because I’m looking to save her. I didn’t save her, a stranger saved her. A faceless stranger who I’ll be forever grateful for. No it’s not about saving her or being the hero.
That ship has sailed.
It’s about being there for her. It’s about holding her tight and never letting go.
It’s about realizing Gina is everything to me. She’s the reason I didn’t pull the trigger, the reason I wake up every day and fight my own demons. She’s my reason, my purpose…my heart.
Heart.
My brothers are always preaching it, they’ve all got it.
Now I’ve got it too.
It’s Gina.
I almost lost her for good tonight.
One scare is enough.
I’m never letting go.
She stops twisting and turning, finally finding a shred of peace as she sleeps. I glance over my shoulder at the two men in the room. Rocco looks lost as he leans back against the wall holding his gun against his chest like a child holds their favorite toy. Jack’s eyes are trained on me but his facial expression is unreadable. He’s probably plotting my death considering I’ve been lying to him and the club for months.
A knock sounds at the door and I watch as Jack glances over his shoulder before bringing his eyes back to me.
“We expecting anyone else?”
“Cobra went to get a doctor. That should be him,” I tell him, nodding for him to open the door.
“A doctor? You don’t think we should take her to the hospital?” Rocco questions from behind me.
“You take that girl to the hospital and the cops will be all over this, all over her. They will violate what’s left of her,” Jack comments, before he struts toward the door. He pauses and glances back at both of us, “And do you really want a bunch of city paid officials with no attachment to your sister to be the people who give her justice?”
He pulls open the door and as I expect it’s Cobra. However, I didn’t expect Gina’s cousin to be the medical personnel he brought here. Celeste steps into the room and her eyes immediately find Rocco’s.
The mobster stares back at her for a moment before covering his face with his hands.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers, pulling his hands away as Celeste continues to stare at his red-rimmed eyes.
Cobra presses his hand against Celeste’s back and ushers her into the room, closing the door behind him. Slowly, her eyes dart from Rocco to the bed and she gasps, bringing her hand to cover her mouth as she cries.
“Jesus Christ,” Jack mutters.
She turns back to Cobra and shrugs out of his reach.
“You didn’t tell me it was my cousin,” she accuses, furiously wiping away her tears. “Go get my bag,” she instructs, before glancing around the room at all of us. “Get out. All of you get out.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I tell her. “I promised her I wouldn’t leave her.”
“Little late for that, right?” Celeste clips.
Gina squeezes my hand, tearing my attention away from her protective cousin who not only handed me the truth, but my ass as well.
“It’s okay,” I murmur as a sob rips through her throat. Slowly, she forces one eye, the less swollen one, open and that green color I’ve been craving greets me.
“Stryker,” she whispers faintly.
Hearing my name never affected me as much as it did that moment.
“I’m here, pretty girl,” I whisper, dropping on the edge of the bed beside her. She crushes my hand as I lift hers to my lips and I watch as a tear trickles from the corner of her eye.
“You’re really here,” she whispers.
“I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. Your cousin is here and she’s going to help get you cleaned up, okay?”
“Celeste?”
“Right here,” she says, coming up behind me. I don’t have to look at her to know she’s rigid and fighting back her own slew of emotions as she stares back at her cousin. “How about we start with a shower?”
Gina glances between us and nods as more tears fall from her eyes. She doesn’t let go of my hand, she squeezes it even tighter. I lean over her, bring my free hand up to her face and watch as she fights not to flinch as my fingers touch her bruised cheek.
“I’ll be right outside and when you’re done Celeste will come and get me. I won’t leave your side, pretty girl. I won’t.”
“Okay,” she whispers hoarsely.
“Okay,” I repeat, dropping my hand from her cheek and lifting our joined ones to my lips, brushing my lips across her knuckles before releasing my hold on her.
I turn my gaze back to her cousin.
“I’ll be right outside,” I say, demanding her attention. “You call me when you’re done.”
She doesn’t answer but I stand anyway, allowing her room to get to the girl we both care about. Cobra places the black duffel bag on the foot of the bed as Jack pulls open the door. Rocco is the first to step out of the room, followed by Cobra and finally I meet Jack’s gaze as he holds the door for me. Turning around, I watch Gina cling to her cousin as they both cry before I shove my hands into my pockets and leave the girl I love to face her demons in the mirror.
<
br /> The moment Jack closes the door, I charge at Rocco, grabbing him by the lapels of his suit jacket and throw him up against the brick wall of the motel.
“You son of a bitch,” I growl.
“Jesus,” Jack hisses. “Get him off him, Cobra.”
Cobra does as he’s told and tears me off Rocco before Jack steps between us.
“One of you better start fucking talking or so help me Jesus Christ,” he snarls. “Let’s start by telling me how the fuck you knew Rocco had a sister.”
“I met her the night I came home,” I reveal, stepping away from Rocco. “I didn’t know she was his sister at first.”
“Gee, that makes this fucking mess so much better,” Jack bites back sarcastically, scowling at Rocco.
“You knew your sister was hanging around one of my brothers.”
“I did, and he offered to help me protect her when you wouldn’t fucking give me the time of day,” Rocco sneers.
“Well, a fine job of protecting you all did,” Jack seethes, pointing to the door.
“It’s over,” I declare, lifting my gaze to Jack. “From this point forward Gina isn’t Rocco’s sister. She’s my girl, and my girl has been attacked which makes this a club issue and no longer any of this prick’s business. However…” I point a finger toward Rocco, “…you will tell him everything you fucking know about Yankovich—”
“Wait a minute,” Cobra interrupts. “Are we sure this was Yankovich? I mean anyone could’ve done this, a complete stranger with no ties to either organization could’ve attacked Gina.”
“I’ve been trying to intercept a leasing agreement Yankovich made with Triton Containers,” Rocco admits. “If everything went through he no longer would have the capabilities to transport his shipment to Russia, which he’s planning on doing soon. He’s a smart man, with an army of soldiers behind him, someone in his organization must’ve got wind of my plans and before I could sabotage his trade operation he decided to teach me a lesson and he used my sister to do so.”
The Nomad Series-Collectors Edition Page 25