“Tell me what happened,” Allison said.
“That’s a problem, since I don’t really remember. I was fighting with Titan. I got in some good shots and he went down. When I turned, I found Hank threatening Dude with a knife. I got between them, trying to defuse the situation, but Hank was rabid. He wanted to kill us both, actually, but he stabbed Dude and I pretty much lost my shit. I remember throwing him to the ground, but after that nothing.”
“Dude was your friend? You were close to him?” Allison asked.
“Yeah.”
“And this Hank guy threatened to kill you?”
“Yeah.”
“Did he have the means and opportunity? Was your life in imminent danger?”
Xander shrugged, lifting his bandaged arm as evidence of Hank’s determination. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Well, I’m not a defense attorney, but a good one could probably get you off on self-defense or temporary insanity, or both,” Allison said.
Dalton grinned. “See? Not so bad.”
Xander groaned. Sometimes his father was so callous. It made him sick. However, Allison’s confidence eased some of his fear.
“You should probably lay low for a while. The cops are going to be all over this,” Hunter said. “We’ll get you an attorney and he can deal with the police until they need to talk to you. In the meantime, you might want to stay away from home.”
Xander was less worried about the cops than he was the rest of the Ravagers, even if the Huntsmen had lost more and had better reason to be looking for vengeance. Besides, there were bound to be memorial services, and there was no way in hell he’d miss those.
“You could stay here with Hunter,” Dalton suggested.
“That’s hardly laying low,” Xander said.
“How about one of your other brothers?” Allison asked.
“Not really low profile,” Xander said. “Colton’s here in Houston, but practically lives at the gym. Jaxon’s always on the road, but he has a condo here in town. Again, not low profile. Same for Damian. Bishop’s the only one not in Houston, and he lives in a puny-ass cabin in the woods—when he’s not actually living in the woods.”
“So you’re off to the woods?” Hunter asked. Xander didn’t miss the teasing in his voice.
“No thanks. I’ll pass. Hire the lawyer. I’ll take my chances here in town. Besides, I have to meet someone tomorrow.”
“Oh?” Hunter asked.
“Yeah.”
“Who is she?”
“Why do you automatically assume it’s a woman?”
“Is it?”
“None of your business.”
“So it is. Hot damn, Xander’s in love.”
Xander ran his hands through his hair. The last thing he needed after witnessing his best friend murdered and killing Hank was his brother razzing him about being in love. Which, he admitted, he probably was if the roiling worry in his stomach was any indication. It took every scrap of willpower he could summon not to go searching for her to be sure she was safe. Had she tried to call him? Was she worried she couldn’t reach him? Had she left town to find a safe place to squirrel Lily away? Had she gone back to the Ravagers’ clubhouse? What had Prez done when he learned Hank was dead and Titan was injured?
He wanted to wrap Gracie in his arms and forget the rest of the shit storm swirling around them.
“Yeah, well, whatever,” he said.
“So who is she?”
“The sister-in-law of the guy I killed.”
Hunter just stared at him for a beat, then laughed. “Jesus, you sure know how to fuck things up, don’t you?”
“Tell me about it.”
“Was she there in Galveston?” Allison asked.
“Yeah, but she disappeared and I have no idea what happened to her.”
“So call her,” Hunter said.
“I don’t have her number.”
Allison gave him a look that made it clear what an idiot he was.
“Okay, I have her sister’s number. In my phone. Which I lost.”
“It’s probably for the best,” Dalton said. “Maybe this whole fiasco will finally make it clear to you what a mistake this biker life is. The last thing you need is to hook up with some biker whore looking for a sugar daddy.”
The room fell silent. Xander glared at Dalton, his fingers curling into fists. He fought the urge to launch himself across the coffee table and strangle his father.
“Probably not a good idea to antagonize him, Dad,” Hunter said. “He did kill someone today.”
Dalton waved a dismissive hand. “He’ll get over it.”
Xander stood and through a clenched jaw he said, “It’s none of your damn business how I choose to live my life, and don’t you ever refer to Gracie that way again.”
He headed for the door before he lost it and hit his father.
“Where are you going?” Dalton asked.
“To the clubhouse. I need to check on everyone. Be sure they’re safe.” What he wanted was the camaraderie of the brotherhood, and to mourn their losses. Hunter and Allison could offer their sympathies, and Dalton could offer money and advice, but none of them really understood. He needed to be among his crew.
He took one of Hunter’s cars and headed to the Outpost. The parking lot was full of bikes, so it looked like everyone had gathered there, after all.
He parked and went inside. When he entered, all eyes turned to him, and then a cheer went up, filling the room with a roar of male voices.
He couldn’t help but smile. These were his people.
He found his way to the bar, and Daisy handed him a bottle of Kosmos. “Glad to see you, Killer,” she said.
“You disappeared, man. You didn’t answer your phone, we didn’t know what happened to you,” Tater said.
“Where’s Chico?” Xander asked.
Itch shrugged. “Haven’t seen him, either.”
“You tried calling him?”
“Yeah, but no answer. We thought maybe both of you went to see Dude in the hospital,” Pyro said.
“What?” Xander’s heart stuttered. “Dude’s not dead?”
“Shit, man,” Wrench said. “Takes more than a couple stab wounds to kill that fucker.”
“Thank God for small favors,” Xander said. He grinned as a measure of weight lifted from his shoulders.
“Yeah, we still lost Mel, though,” Tater said.
“That motherfucker Prez killed him,” Itch said.
Daisy poured a shot then climbed up on the bar and held her glass up. The room fell silent. “To Mel,” she said. “One tough bastard. May he rest in peace.”
Another cheer went up as everyone toasted and drank to Mel.
Itch guzzled his drink then slammed the bottle on the bar. “We need to go take that motherfucker down.”
“Prez?” Xander asked.
“Yeah. An eye for an eye and all that shit.”
Xander put a restraining hand on Itch’s shoulder. “Hold it there, big guy. You’re drunk, and there’s been enough violence today. Mel wouldn’t want us hauling ass to the Ravagers’ clubhouse and adding more violence to the damage already done.”
Although Xander’s instinct was to go visit the Ravagers, too, it was for entirely different reasons. He had a bad feeling about Chico, and he needed to be sure Gracie was safe. He didn’t think she’d have gone there, but he wanted to be sure. Since he didn’t know where in Houston she was staying, he had no other place to start looking for her but the Ravagers’ clubhouse.
“Fuck that,” Itch said. “Avenge Mel!” he yelled. An angry rumble moved through the crowd, and Itch took advantage. He started chanting, “Avenge Mel. Avenge Mel. Avenge Mel…”
The rest of the club, without any focus for their anger, took up the chant until the entire room rang with it.
Next thing they’d all climb on their bikes and head to the Ravagers’ to start a war. Xander had to stop that before it started.
He climbed on the bar where Daisy had just
given her toast and held up his hands. He yelled, “Quiet,” above the noise of the mob, and they fell silent in an instant. “You will not start a war with the Ravagers. You won’t go confront them, and you won’t seek revenge for Mel. He’d be pissed as hell if you did. Those aren’t the principles this club was founded on.”
“So we just let it go?” a voice yelled from the middle of the room.
“Hey, Killer,” Daisy said. “Phone for you.”
She held the receiver of the landline up for him.
“Can’t it wait? I’m in the middle of something here.”
“You’re going to want to take this,” she said.
He squatted down and took the receiver from her. “Yeah?”
“I’ve got a deal for you,” the voice on the other end said.
“Prez. You’ve got a lot of nerve calling here.”
The room fell silent when he spoke Prez’s name. All eyes and ears were on him.
“You killed Bug, and Titan’s in the ICU with a head injury.”
“You killed Mel.”
“And that Mexican,” Prez said.
“You killed Chico? You son of a bitch.”
“And, I have Grace. I’ll trade her life for yours.”
“This isn’t the fucking wild west, Prez. You can’t just trade lives. Besides, you’re not going to do anything to Grace. She’s your daughter.”
“She’s a traitor.”
Prez was just crazy enough that Xander couldn’t be sure of Gracie’s safety.
“Fine. We’ll trade. When?”
“Two hours. Come alone.”
As if. No way in hell he’d walk into the Ravagers’ clubhouse alone. And no way he’d show up at Prez’s appointed time.
“I’ll be there.”
He handed the phone back to Daisy.
“We gonna rumble, Killer?” Pyro asked.
“That was Prez. He wants to make a trade. His daughter Gracie, for me.”
“Why?” Tater asked.
Xander scratched the scruff on his jaw. It wasn’t an easy thing to admit, but his crew deserved the truth. “Because I fell for her, and it pissed Prez off. Now he wants to punish us both for it.”
“If she’s your woman, she’s a Huntsman,” Itch said. “We go rescue her.”
“Wait a minute,” a guy named Roadrunner said. “She’s a Ravager before she’s Killer’s woman. Why should we care about her?”
Some of the guys grumbled agreement.
“If Killer says she’s his, she’s his,” Itch said. “Besides, if she needs our help, Mel would want us to help her. Especially if she needed to get away from the Ravagers.’
A chorus of approval sounded from the rest of the men.
Although it warmed his heart that the rest of the crew would accept Gracie so easily just because she belonged to him, Xander said, “No. We’ll deal with it, but not with more violence. Some of us are already facing consequences from today. We don’t need more.”
“So what do we do? Just sit on our thumbs and let it go?” This from Roadrunner.
“I’ll go.”
“Not alone,” Tater said.
“I’ll take a couple of my brothers with me.”
“Why not a couple of us?” Itch asked. His chin jutted like he dared Xander to tell him none of the Huntsmen were worthy seconds.
“Because tempers are high and the Ravagers won’t hesitate to start a fight with Huntsmen. And you guys want revenge, so you’ll give them a fight, then we’ll end up with more dead and no resolution. My brothers aren’t Huntsmen, so the Ravagers will have to behave.”
He let his words sink in. Some of them glared at him, a lot of them protested, but he just waited. Yelling or pleading would only have turned into bickering and argument, so Xander stood up tall and put on a take-no-shit expression. For just a moment the whole thing could have crumbled into angry chaos, but when the grumbling started it sounded like resignation and grudging acceptance.
Now he just had to hope enough brothers were in town, and he could convince them to come with him.
Prez dumped Gracie in an unceremonious heap in his office, then shut the door on her. She got up immediately and went to the door, only to find Dallas and a guy named Gimp standing guard.
She tried to muscle past them, but they made her stay.
“Sorry, Gracie,” Dallas said. “I wish things were different. You sure you don’t want to consider being part of the Ravager family? It’s a good place to be. I’d be happy to keep you safe.”
His hopeful puppy-dog eyes were sweet, but had never done anything for her. Neither did the Ravagers.
“I’m good, thanks,” she said, and slammed the door behind her. She slumped into the chair at Prez’s desk.
Not long after leaving her, Prez returned with a triumphant grin. “Your boyfriend’s going to be here in a couple of hours.”
Her blood ran cold. “Why?”
“He’s coming to rescue his sweetheart.” Prez said this in a mocking voice. “Isn’t that adorable?”
“What are you going to do to him?” she asked, ignoring his ridicule.
“I haven’t decided yet, but he owes us something big for killing Bug and injuring Titan.”
“You killed two—maybe three—of his people. I’d say you’re even.”
Prez pointed an imperious finger at her. “We’re not even until I say we’re even.”
She crossed her arms and considered him. In for a penny in for a pound. “This isn’t about the brawl, is it? This is about the feud between the Huntsmen and the Ravagers.”
Prez’s lips peeled back from his teeth in a snarl. “That’s none of your business.”
He spun and left the room, slamming the door behind him.
She spent the next hour at the desk stewing about everything—her father, Hank, Lily, the stupid Ravagers. But especially she worried about what Chico had said. You’re nothing but trouble. Get lost…
Xander must really hate her. She couldn’t blame him. The more she thought about what Chico and Prez had said, the more she had to admit they were right. If not for her involvement, maybe Mel would be alive. And Chico. And Xander’s friend. And Hank. She didn’t care so much about Hank as a person, but he didn’t—necessarily—deserve to be dead.
She didn’t want to think she’d ruined her chances of exploring a relationship with Xander, but if Chico was right, those chances were gone. He’d only been a part of her life a short time, but losing Xander left a cold, empty hole in her heart.
That didn’t stop her from worrying about him, though. She wondered where he was. She wished he’d burst in and rescue her, but she also wanted him to stay away and stay safe.
When the door finally opened again, Gracie’s nerves had got the best of her, and dozens of scenarios and plans swirled in her head. What would Prez do? What would Xander do? How could they get out alive and uninjured? No matter what she came up with, nothing seemed plausible.
“He’s here,” Dallas said.
Gracie’s heart skipped a beat, then took off racing. She came out of her chair and shoved past Dallas into the main room.
Just inside the warehouse door, she saw Xander. He looked like a god—tall and in charge. He radiated confidence and power, as if he knew nobody else in the room could ever best him. His expression could have been chiseled from granite, it was that hard and determined.
Everything female inside her fluttered that he belonged to her. Now that he was there, her doubts disappeared. Everything would be fine.
“You were supposed to come alone,” Prez said. “And you’re early.”
Only then did Gracie notice the other two men with Xander. They were clearly his brothers. Despite being vastly different men—one was taller and wore an expensive suit, the other was a couple inches shorter, but broader in the shoulders and chest. They all had the same blond hair, even if worn in three different styles, and similar enough features that they had to be related.
“You don’t think I’m stupid eno
ugh to face all the Ravagers alone?” Xander said.
“Deal’s off, then,” Prez said.
With the exit so close, and nobody watching her—their attention was on Prez and their visitors—she marched right up to them and said, “You’re right, deal’s off. There’s no deal-making at all. Xander and…” She gestured to his brothers, no knowing their names.
The taller one smirked, and the shorter one straight-up grinned. “Hunter and Colton,” Xander said. The warmth in his eyes bolstered her. Chico had been wrong. Xander did want her.
“…Xander, Hunter, Colton, and I are leaving now, and you’ll let us,” Gracie finished.
She crowded Xander, trying to get him to turn and leave, but the Ravagers had closed rank around them, and Xander held his ground.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Prez said.
“Or what?” Hunter asked. His voice was cool and assured, like he was used to people doing whatever he told them to.
“Who are these guys?” Prez asked.
“This is my brother, Hunter,” Xander said, pointing at the guy in the suit. “He’s the CEO of Caine Development. And this is my brother Colton. He’s a cage fighter.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” Hunter said. “What are you going to do to keep us from leaving?”
Prez didn’t answer. He just fumed. They’d called his bluff and cornered him, so he didn’t really have any choice. He either delivered on his threat, or lost face with his men.
“Listen, Prez,” Xander said. “I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement. I know you want to get your hands around my throat, but you don’t have any beef with my brothers, and you wouldn’t hurt your own daughter. Let her go, and we’ll talk.”
“She’s not my daughter.” The words hissed through his clenched teeth, and slammed into Gracie.
“What?” she said.
“Mel fathered her on my wife. I raised her as mine to remind him every day that what was mine was mine and what was his was mine.”
“Well, that explains the feud,” Xander said.
The news didn’t seem to faze him a bit, but dizziness washed over Gracie. The room spun. Prez wasn’t her biological father. She’d just been a prop in a long-running game of hate between two rivals.
XANDER (The Caine Brothers Book 2) Page 10