by SE Chardou
I paused before I continued, “I don’t think Angelo thought I would come out with a sound mind and body. I believe he thought I’d break and be this . . . fragile, suicidal thing he would be able to rescue and take care of. Unfortunately, my strength works for and against me.”
Vincent moved to the sofa and sat down again. “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
I looked into my brother’s eyes—the same blue eyes our father possessed—and said, “I don’t believe Angelo is sending us to Vegas for just this job. I truly believe he plans to murder either you or me. It’s the last nail in the coffin against our family. There are two of us—both Reynolds—and that’s one too many as far as he’s concerned.”
“Well then, that means we will have to be extra vigilant and careful in Vegas, now won’t we? I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know, and Max feels the same way—”
“I’m sure he does but you don’t understand what it’s been like for me. Knowing you were out there, and not being able to do a damn thing. When we were in Miami I wanted to tell you but I knew you wouldn’t believe me, or you’d think I was stretching the truth. You know what kind of man our uncle is now but I’ve had to live with that knowledge my whole entire life. Believe me, it hasn’t been easy,” Vincent explained softly.
“You should have told me in Miami. You had no reason to lie. I would have much rather heard it from you than Rose.”
“Don’t fool yourself by Rose’s act of being the ice maiden and merely Angelo’s wife. She’s a lot stronger than she looks, and had it not been for her, my childhood would have been a lot harder in that house than it was. In many ways, she protected me from Angelo’s wrath. She knew the truth about my parentage and why she told you that lie about me being his son . . . it’s beyond my comprehension at this point. It must have been the only way she thought she could slip in the truth about why our mother left this place.”
I stood as did Vincent and he closed the space between us, and embraced me. “You know what we have to do, don’t you?” I clung to him, my hands caressing the back of his head.
He buried his face into my neck and I felt the moistness of tears from his eyes. “Yeah, I do.”
We pulled away from one another reluctantly. “We do this job in Las Vegas and if—no, when—we get back here alive, Angelo has to go down. I don’t know how or what we should do yet but you understand just as much as I do that neither of us will ever be able to live with ourselves if we don’t avenge our parents’ senseless and brutal murders.”
His blue eyes shown hard with determination as he said, “All we have to worry about is a plan where we don’t get caught, and it can’t ever be traced back to us.”
“Just remember, this is for Sophia and Justin Reynolds. Our parents who died much too soon. Don’t you let that monster get under your skin, Vincent. He’s cost us our lives and so much more. The time has come for him to pay.”
“Agreed.”
Shortly after a comfortable silence, he left the office and I walked upstairs to the suite I shared with my fiancé. I was completely drained, emotionally and physically. All I wanted to do was sink into bed and close my eyes. Perhaps the weight on my shoulders wouldn’t feel so fucking palpable.
I took off my clothes and left them in a puddle on the floor before I slid into bed naked. Max had changed the sheets, and the crisp silk soothed my skin. He rolled over and pulled me into his embrace from behind. I loved the feel of his hard body against my own as we spooned. It was easy to allow the comfort of being in his arms in our home slowly lull me to sleep.
That night, I dreamed but it was pleasant and beautiful.
Perhaps there was hope for people like Max and me but we would have to work our asses off to find the peace of mind we so desperately craved.
Part Three
The Job
Chapter Twelve
Max
The following days after Christmas passed quickly like they always did and before Max and Mags had a time to relish in their sexual bliss, the day had come for them to leave for Las Vegas.
Angelo had gathered Max, Vincent and Mags in his office the day before they left and told them in exact detail what he wanted.
“That little snot-nosed prick has security up the ass, which is why I had to hire out to the MC. Dizzy knows I wouldn’t put his men in any danger but at the same time, that doesn’t give you an excuse to get sloppy and think you can just lean on the club for protection. I owe that bastard enough favors—the last thing I need is one of his guys winding up injured or worse, dead.”
“It certainly wouldn’t be in our best interest to take anything about this assignment lightly,” Mags said in a cool, calculating tone of voice. “However, the more information you give us, the better off we are. If we get caught in an ambush then people could wind up injured or worse. Have you told us everything we need to know about this job, Uncle?”
He stared at Max in an accusatory manner before his bright eyes made it back to his niece. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that was a veiled threat, Magnolia.”
She shook her head nonchalantly. “No threat, Uncle.” Mags’ smile was genuine though her gray-green eyes shone colder than an Eskimo’s dick. “I just want us all to be prepared so we can strike a blow right into the heart of the Bassi Empire.”
“I don’t know about all of that, sweetheart,” Angelo began as he picked up a Cuban cigar, inhaled the fragrance before he cut off the tip and lit the end with an elegant gold lighter. “Bassi and I—we’ve never been close but there has always been mutual respect. However, when you break a cherished code of honor, and do business with a snake like Koslakov then all bets are off. The man is a loose canon, for Christ’s sake. Let us not forget all of the atrocities he’s been involved in, including the death of your parents—my precious Sophia. I would give anything in the world to have her back again.”
Max looked over at his wife whose face had paled underneath her healthy complexion. “I’m sorry—I’m going to be sick.” She fled the room and slammed the door behind her.
Angelo spoke Italian to Vincent before he turned his lethal gaze on Max. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes. Mags has been dealing with nausea lately but the doctor assured us it’s perfectly normal.”
“She’s pregnant with a daughter. A little girl.” Angelo brightened once again as he set down his cigar in a crystal ashtray, stood up, walked over to Max and held him by his shoulders. “This is good news. I couldn’t be happier.”
Max looked at the man he’d come to despise in the short time he’d known him. So what if he strutted around in suits that cost five figures and bore the sophisticated look of a gentleman, he wasn’t any different than Dimitri. A criminal, and a thug despite how much he paid for his wardrobe, homes and cars. Mags had been right all along. It was much better to be part of an organization that didn’t try to hide their outlaw ways as opposed to one that wanted to appear decent and enterprising when in fact they were all cold-blooded killers.
It was much better to be apart of his father’s motorcycle club than to be just another cog in the wheel of the Abandonato Crime Family. Not only did the older gentleman disrespect him on a regular basis, but he also made no qualms about him murdering Max if anything ever happened to Mags.
“How are you so sure the baby is a girl?” Max stared into Angelo’s eyes while his face remained passively neutral.
“Sophia was sick as a dog when she was pregnant with Magnolia. It got to the point the doctors thought they would have to put her on bed rest but she recovered around the fourth month.” Angelo walked back to his desk and took a seat again. “If she isn’t feeling up to it, I don’t want her to be part of it. Just make sure she’s protected and never left alone. I’m counting on you two to keep her safe.”
“We will,” Vincent replied without the hint of a smile.
“Good. Now all the info you will need is in this manila envelope. Where that little c
ocksucker is staying, in what hotel on the Strip, on what floor, and the suite number. He will have bodyguards on the outside of his suite but I highly doubt he will allow them in the room, especially if he is with a lady friend—”
“We’ve got that covered,” Max interrupted. “He never knew what happened to Karina. She’s playing the role of bait, and will accompany him up to his suite on the pretext that they will be having sex. She will then communicate to us about how many bodyguards he has protecting his room, and whether there are any in his suite.”
Angelo whistled. “I’m impressed. Can you read minds, Max? I was about to suggest we use that little nympho sister of yours for the job. She seems to like fucking, at least this time it will be for a good cause. Well, gentlemen, it seems like you are all much more prepared for this job than I’ve given you credit for. I want a call—I don’t care who from—the moment that little bastard is dead, you got it? And I want proof. Photos so I can send them to his father and watch him squirm. It’ll be the last time he’ll think of stepping out of line again.”
Max nodded and grabbed the envelope as Vincent followed behind him. “And gentlemen?”
They both turned toward Angelo at the same time.
“Make sure you shoot him in the face. I don’t care if it happens after he’s dead. Just make it impossible for that piece of shit to have an open casket at his Catholic funeral.”
Max merely nodded and walked out of the office.
The moment Vincent closed the door, Max turned on him. “This is the last hit I’m doing for that pompous motherfucker in there. I gotta get out—Mags and I both do. There’s no way I want that bastard to ever touch my child. Ever.”
“It’s not that easy, bro.” Vincent’s blue eyes searched his. “I know Mags has told you about our plan, and until we go through with it, we aren’t safe. It might take a little time—after Mags has the baby—but believe me, we are going to kill Angelo Abandonato. It won’t be fun and there’ll be a lot of blowback. He and Raymond grew up together. We have to make sure when the time comes, we have alibis and we have to arrange it so it looks like someone else did it.”
“Koslakov, perhaps? He’s taking the fall for everything else—why not Angelo’s untimely death?”
“You’re assuming Dimitri won’t be dead by then.”
Max laughed out loud. “That’s because he won’t be. The man lived on the streets of Russia. You know what that’s like? Hiding in plain sight is what he does best, and the States is a big country. He won’t be caught. Not by the end of this year or next year—hell, maybe not even by the end of this decade. He didn’t maim and murder his way to building an empire by being careless or stupid.”
“Well, I agree with you there.” Vincent watched along with Max as Mags left the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She didn’t look well though she tried her best to hide it.
“Let’s get you home, all right?” Max wrapped an arm protectively around her waist and guided her to his vehicle after they left her uncle’s home.
“I can’t believe that son of a bitch had the nerve to mention my mother’s death like he was so sorry when he helped cause it in the first place. I am really, really starting to detest my uncle as a man, and a human being,” Mags finally said after he’d driven a little over ten minutes without either of them saying a word.
“Listen, I know you want justice for what he did to your family but right now isn’t the time. You’re pregnant and you need to keep your stress levels down to a minimum. Let’s just get through these next days and then decide what our next move should be, all right?”
He could feel her eyes on him before she wrapped an arm around his neck and caressed his head. “What would I do without you? All this time, he’s despised you for the supposed role you played in my abduction while he’s the person who helped cause the situation in the first place.” She sighed out loud. “Promise me something. If anything happens to me, you’ll take our child and go straight to the Saints? I know it’s not exactly ideal but I will be damned if my uncle will ever have anything to do with my flesh and blood.”
“Will you promise me the same then? If anything happens to me, you’ll go to the Saints? That’s my father’s grandchild and Edward’s blood. Chantal and Miranda both adore you, and they will keep you safe. You don’t have to run anymore. You have another family. You know that, right?”
She nodded as he parked in the garage and cut off the engine before activating the garage door to close. “Listen to me, I will do anything for you. I will protect you. As a matter of fact, your uncle insists if you don’t feel well, you shouldn’t risk yourself by going on the job—”
“Bullshit, Max. I’m going. There is no way in hell I am staying here!” Mags exclaimed as she stepped out of the Range Rover and slammed the door behind her.
Max stepped out of the vehicle, slammed the door and quickly caught up with her as she walked down the hallway. He grabbed her left arm and whipped her around to face him. “I didn’t say anything about you not going but I have to keep you safe. I would never ask you to stay here but if I don’t think Angelo is going to play fair, and he’s going to try to have one of us knocked off along with our intended target, I don’t want you to be anywhere in the vicinity. He can’t kill us all.”
Mags stared at him and he felt her will slowly drain from her body as she embraced him. “I know. I’m just so scared that this whole plan will be shot to hell and he’ll never pay for what he’s done. The good guys don’t always win and karma doesn’t always work.” She breathed deeply as she pulled away from him and slipped her hands into his own. “I wish it were so easy to leave everything to fate and God but this one has to be taken care of by us. I don’t give a shit about him suffering in the afterlife. I need to see him in agony over what he has done to my family and I won’t wait much longer after we get back from Vegas. That’s a promise.”
Max let go of her hands and cupped her face. “What you mean is you won’t wait much longer until after you’ve had the baby. Don’t risk our child’s life for that scum. Your parents live on through you and they will live on through this new life we’ve created. I don’t want my daughter to die before she’s ever given a chance to live.”
She looked away and ground her teeth together, her jaw muscle flexing in the process. “Fine. I have waited this long to exact revenge. I suppose another seven or eight months isn’t going to make a difference. I should give myself the space to have the baby and heal properly before I embark on something that will change our lives forever.”
He breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“What for? You’re right and I’m wrong. Sometimes my impulsiveness gets the better of me, and I forget how easily it is to make mistakes. The execution has to be flawless and that is going to take some time and a lot of planning. We’ll need months to go over every detail. Your solution is the only viable one. I acknowledge that.”
Max stared at her and although she’d paid the necessary lip service, he could see a look of defeat embedded in her gorgeous eyes. She despised being wrong and he knew that. Instead of rubbing salt in her wounds, he picked her up as if she weighed nothing and took her upstairs to their suite.
“What are you doing?” she asked in a calm voice.
“You’re tired and hormonal. Our plane leaves early in the morning, and you, my dear, should get some rest.”
“It’s not even six o’clock in the evening, Max. I don’t want to sleep right now.”
“Then we can do other activities that can require a bed and don’t involve sleeping of any kind until you’re exhausted.”
“Now that seems more like it.” Mags placed her arms around his neck and brought him in for a slow, tortuous kiss.
The next morning came far too soon though they were both ready for what was to come next. Max dressed in black jeans that were loose enough that he’d never be mistaken for a rock star, a midnight gray cashmere sweater and a pair of steel-toed shitkickers. The contrast of the so
ft sweater with the boots was one of toughness with style but he managed to make it work.
Mags dressed similarly in indigo boot-cut jeans though hers were much more slimming and complimented her beautiful body, a black vicuña sweater and black Doc Martens. Though hers won’t steel-toed, she could still do a lot of damage. She wore her long, wavy hair in a ponytail and slipped on a pair of blacker than black Ray-Bans.
A chauffeur, courtesy of Angelo, drove them to Reno-Tahoe International Airport and delivered them right in front of Southwest Airlines in the Terminal. The flight was less than an hour and a half.
Vincent and Karina had left the night before to establish themselves in the hotel and check out the layout while Edward and Cricket met them at the gate where their flight was taking off. They both wore jeans, cuts and zip-up sweatshirts to cover their cuts. Ironically, they were Sons of Anarchy sweatshirts, which was lost upon most people but not on Max and Mags.
“So, let me get this straight, you’re advertising a fictional one percent MC to cover up your cuts for your real MC?” Mags greeted in a sarcastic tone. “Pretty genius if I must say so.”
“Hey, we don’t know who else is on this flight and if there are any MC members from rival clubs, last thing we need is trouble once we get to Vegas. This job is about as much as I can handle at the moment,” Edward replied before he winked at her.
Max ignored his twin brother’s not so subtle innuendo, and said, “We don’t need to stand out anymore than we already do. You know how I feel about this job so let’s just do what we need to do and get the hell out.”
“At least we’ll be ringin’ in 2015 in style,” Cricket added with a smirk.
“How’s that? Have you heard the reports? They are shutting down the Strip from West Tropicana to West Sahara Avenue. No vehicles allowed. If we get into a tight spot, we’re fucked because we’ll have to get out of there by foot and the amount of people expected is insane. Plus, they are predicting snow,” Mags informed in a low voice.