by Nicole Fox
“Here.” Asphalt handed Xavier a pair of binoculars.
As he peered through them, he could see most of the parking lot near the warehouse that had just been damaged. It was quickly filling with sleek black luxury vehicles. Men in suits and sunglasses piled out, each of them armed as they dashed around the building and looked for the perpetrators. But these weren’t cops, not yet. The sirens had started in the distance, but the officials hadn’t arrived yet. “I don’t understand.”
“That warehouse belongs to Labriola,” Asphalt explained, his black beard splitting into a grin. “From what we gather, it was chock full of illegal weapons that they had just gotten in. The guys knew how eager you were to get one in on the mob, so they planned a little show for you. That’s why I told you all that about us being your family. They didn’t do this because I asked them to or because they knew it could help out the club. They did it to show that they stand with you, and that Labriola has to be stopped.”
Xavier couldn’t help but smile. It wasn’t going to change his problems, but it did feel good to see Labriola get at least a little bit of what he deserved. Once again, the other Reapers stood behind him. “I’ll have to be sure to thank them.” He looked through the binoculars again and noticed something interesting. “It looks like he’s sent most of his men to check this out. You’d think they have better things to do.”
Asphalt shrugged. “From what I can tell, they spend most of their time driving around and pretending to be badasses. They each think they can show up here and catch the asshole who did this to them, but they don’t understand just how good Throttle is with explosives and remote detonators.”
Impressed, Xavier nodded and put the binoculars down so he could enjoy the whole scene. He had known Throttle had skills, but he’d never seen him use them before. “We should use him more often.”
“We really should,” the president laughed.
As much as he appreciated the light show, Xavier’s mind was churning rapidly. “Labriola owns quite a bit of property, doesn’t he?”
“Oh, yeah. He’s got several warehouses, a dry cleaner’s, a Chinese restaurant, several slums, you name it.”
“And they’re spread out all over town, as opposed to all being in the same spot, right?” The gears were turning in his head, examining all the possibilities and outcomes.
Asphalt nodded.
“Good. Then I think I know just how we can get them. Chrome has been working on surveillance, and we know Throttle has a big part to play. I just need to gather everyone together and solidify things. I’ll be taking Matteo down before the week is out.”
The dark-haired man grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. “Sounds good to me.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kenzie
Something was happening, that much was for sure. Kenzie could hear the commotion going on over her head, but all the voices were muffled. She hoped it was Xavier coming to rescue her, but she highly doubted it. He didn’t know where she was. He might have given up on her. Either way, she didn’t want to get her hopes up.
But it was hard not to, since he had already come for her twice. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy to just give up on something, and he wasn’t scared of Matteo like most people were. He’d had the balls not only to sneak in but to brazenly stroll in the front door and ask for her. Kenzie wondered just what had happened when he had come the other day after she had already been moved to the basement. She hated being so cut off from the events in the house. He had gotten away, and that was what really mattered.
Xavier had told her she wouldn’t get to make a decision about the baby without him. That made it sound to her like he wanted to keep the child, and she was slowly warming to the idea. Kenzie didn’t want anyone making decisions for her anymore, not like her father had been doing for the last ten years, but this was different. Xavier wasn’t ordering her to do anything, but simply asking her to let him be a part of it. She could do that much, at least.
Her mind ran away with her as she fantasized about the redheaded biker and what their lives would be like if they could be together. They would have to move to some other city, maybe even some other state or out of the country to get away from Matteo. But that would be worth it if they could live peaceful lives together. She could finish her degree and get a job with the police force just like she had always wanted to do. Whatever activities Xavier was used to performing for the MC might need to change, but he could find a way to make a living. Their son or daughter would have his fiery hair and her stubborn temper, but the three of them would be happy and peaceful together.
He had been willing to do so much for her already, with no guarantee of a relationship or a child. That said a lot about him. He had risked her father’s wrath, and she doubted there were many men who would have been willing to do so. Maybe she meant more to him than just a woman in trouble. Maybe he wanted to save her not just because she needed it but because he wanted her.
No, that was a ridiculous way to think. Xavier was hot. He was good in bed, and he was brave. Those things she couldn’t deny. But he’d never said he wanted to be with her. This wasn’t the time to play with fantasies and pretend that real life could ever be that good. It never had been before, not for her. There was no reason for it to start now.
She sat up and went to the door of her room, her stomach growling. She didn’t bother trying the knob again, knowing it was locked. Instead, she pounded her fist against the steel. “Hey, who’s out there today?” Kenzie hadn’t seen any of her father’s men since first thing in the morning, when one of them had brought her a bowl of oatmeal and a bottle of water.
There was no response.
“Angelo? I know you don’t like me, but my father will kill you if you let me starve!” That would get him. Kenzie knew Matteo didn’t care about her, but it would rile Angelo into answering.
Still no answer.
“The doctor said I need to eat!” she called through the door.
But it was clear by now that nobody was there to hear her. Heavy footsteps pounded overhead as someone ran through the house, but they weren’t paying attention to the pregnant woman in the basement.
“What the hell is going on up there?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Xavier
“Have you slept?” Throttle peered at Xavier, his thick eyebrows drawn together in concern. “You don’t look so hot.”
Xavier thought about lying. He didn’t need the entire club to know that this plan of attack was completely consuming him. There were so many things to think about, to plan, to make sure they went right. What if Matteo had more men than they thought he did? What if there was a problem with Throttle’s bombs? Worse of all, what if they didn’t get Kenzie out of this alive? Matteo could kill her as soon as he realized what was going on, or maybe his own men would kill her accidentally. It was more than he could handle. The bar had been a constant riot of planning and scheming, with the members coming and going at all hours as they each performed their tasks. Some of them sat at tables with computers, others with guns, and then there was Throttle in the corner, with his wires and switches. Everyone was organized and eager.
But he hadn’t slept, not really. Every time he tried, he just woke up with another worry on his mind. A few naps here and there didn’t add up to much, and he lifted his coffee mug once more. “Nope.”
“We’ve got this under control. I have all the switches wired up, so we just need to have Crocodile’s group get them into the buildings. He’s a slick little fucker, and I’m not worried about that. Chrome has really stepped up the surveillance, so we know a lot more than we did last week. It’s in the bag.”
Xavier nodded, wishing he could really believe Throttle. The man had done the work that was asked of him, and there was no doubt that he was good at it. But that didn’t guarantee perfection when they executed their plan. “Yeah. I’m sure you’re right.”
Chrome pulled up a chair. “I’ve gone back over everything we’v
e seen, and I don’t have any proof that Kenzie ever left the mansion.”
“You said yourself that you can’t see into the vehicles,” Xavier argued. “She could have been smuggled out easily and you wouldn’t have known.”
“That’s true, except for the cars that we followed,” the other man replied with a grin. “We might not see who gets in the car while it’s in the garage at Matteo’s house, but we usually see who gets out when they reach their destination. We’ve accounted for plenty of thugs, but no pretty women.”
“And this cousin in Sacramento?” Xavier raised an eyebrow, concerned that something had been missed.
“Exists,” Chrome confirmed, “but there’s no evidence that Matteo or anyone else related to him has been there for quite some time. I’ve got a buddy at the transportation office that let me have access to the traffic cameras. No Labriola vehicles have gone that way in over a month.”
Xavier nodded. That, at least, was the most solid information he had. Kenzie was still somewhere in the city, and it was likely that she had never left the mansion. But then where was Matteo holding her?
“I know what you’re thinking.” Asphalt stood over them, and his eyes were hard as he looked at Xavier. “But we’re not going to wait around any longer. We said we would get revenge on Labriola, and that’s what’s going to happen. The men are ready, the plan is ready, and there’s no point in holding off.”
“I’m not sure you understand—”
“I understand completely.” Asphalt leaned down so that the entire room wouldn’t hear him speak. “I understand that this is a rescue mission now and not pure revenge. I get it. But the longer we wait, the less of a chance we have of finding her and pulling this off without a hitch. If Matteo gets word of it, he’ll come after us first, and I don’t need to tell you how disastrous that could be.”
“Yeah. I know. It’ll be fine.” But Xavier wasn’t so convinced that it would be fine. He had never worried about anything so much in his life, and he knew exactly what that meant. He didn’t like it. “I’m going for a ride.”
“Be safe.”
He headed out the door and kicked his engine to life, eager to get out on the road and away from all the planning for a while. He drove away from the downtown area where The Scythe was located and headed into the suburbs, winding around the neighborhoods. Eventually, he pulled up across the street from the house he had lived in as a child.
It didn’t look like much. It was just a small bungalow in a neighborhood full of similar houses. It wasn’t very big, but it hadn’t needed to be. It was always just Xavier and his father, and his father was gone half the time with the club anyway. Still, it was strange to see how far he had come since those days. Jack Flynn hadn’t cared about having a nice house or keeping a big balance in his bank account. If he was getting by, then he was doing fine. Xavier had been happy enough to roll along with it.
But Jack had been taken away from him so suddenly, and then everything had changed. Xavier had drifted through the next few months of his life without any real direction. His grades had slumped, his friends had left to hang out with other kids who weren’t so depressing, and the aunt he had been forced to live with hadn’t been any help. She had issues of her own and didn’t need Xavier’s issues on top of them.
Eventually, Xavier realized that he wanted to be just like his father, only better. He got a job after school, and he saved every dollar he could for the day he would eventually buy his first motorcycle. He would be a Reaper, and he would be a damn good one.
He couldn’t avoid it when thoughts of his past turned to Kenzie. She was in every part of his mind now, and he wondered if the man he had always wanted to be would be good enough for her once he had her safe in his arms again. Damn him if he wasn’t developing feelings for her, and especially after everything she had put him through! But it was all that time he had invested in her already that made his heart constantly tug toward her. She wasn’t just using him; she needed him. Kenzie trusted him with her life, and that had to mean he was more than just a random guy to her.
As he took off and sped away from his childhood home, he imagined a son that looked just like him. Maybe he would have those dark eyes of Kenzie’s instead, but it wouldn’t matter. He just wanted to hold his child in his arms. Asphalt had been indirect about the issue, but he hadn’t been wrong when he’d said Xavier needed a family. He had one kind of family in the Reapers, and he was hopefully about to gain a whole new one.
But Kenzie’s words came back and haunted him once again. She didn’t want the baby. She had made that very clear when she had come to him for help. He had refused to help her in that way, at least for the moment, but he was fooling himself if he thought he could make her do anything she didn’t want to. She had Matteo for that, and who was Xavier to think he had the right to do the same? But maybe—just maybe—he could convince her to go through with the pregnancy. If she didn’t want the baby, then fine. He would keep it. His father had raised him, and there was no reason he couldn’t do the same. He could be a good dad. A good husband? Maybe not. But he knew he could pull off the dad thing. At the very least, he had a whole crew of men who had his back.
That one night with Kenzie had completely changed his life. It was only a matter of time to see just how much it was changing.
Xavier headed back for The Scythe. It was almost time to ride out and begin their plan. His men were waiting for him, counting on him. He held a small, silent hope that everything would go well.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Xavier
Asphalt stood by the bar, waiting for the crowd to settle down. The Reapers hadn’t been drinking yet, but they didn’t need to be in order to feel the excitement and tension that filled the room. They had tuned their bikes, cleaned their guns, and gathered any weapons they wanted to use. The plans had been distributed, and the clan had been divided into different parties, each with their separate purpose. The bikers punched each other in the arm and exchanged dirty jokes, everyone waiting for the final call to ride out.
The president called for silence. “Men, I know what this means to all of you. I hope you’ll come to know what it means to me. When I left the army, I thought I would never again get the chance to lead a brave group of men into battle. You’ve shown me otherwise.”
Shouts and cheers rose up from the tables, and he waited patiently until they died down.
“What we’re about to do today is a mission of extreme importance. We all know that the Reapers are a far better thing for this town than the Labriolas. Sure, we do our fair share of illicit trading, but when was the last time you heard about a Reaper raping a woman or kidnapping a child? Never, because it doesn’t happen. We do our thing, but we’re respectful to the citizens. That’s a lot more than anyone can say for the crime family.”
“Over the years, they’ve taken more and more business from us. It didn’t matter that we’ve been here longer. We’ve gone and taken some of that business back, and how do they repay us? By trying to blackmail us into giving them what we’ve worked so hard for. They’re nothing but a bunch of pussies, and we’re not going to stand for it!”
The rallying cries were thunderous now. Xavier had known this was going to be big. He knew the men were enthusiastic. But this was amazing. Planning the attack had been nerve-wracking, but now he couldn’t wait to get started. The enthusiasm of his brethren was an echo of his own.
“You each have specific jobs you’re supposed to do. I expect you to follow the plans as they’re laid out, but be ready to think on your feet if need be. The primary objective of our club as a whole is a dual one: to destroy as much Labriola property as possible, and to save Kenzie Labriola from the clutches of her evil father. I want you to get out there and show the world just who the Reaper’s Hearts are!” He threw his fist in the air for emphasis.
The men followed suit, screaming their fervor as they charged out of the bar and jumped on their bikes. The sound in the parking lot was deafening as their e
ngines roared as one. They split off in packs to different parts of the city, spreading out to claim what had rightfully been theirs in the first place.
Xavier felt alive with the vibration of his iron horse underneath him and the wind rippling in his hair. They rode fast and recklessly, and it felt damn good. He led his pack to the same bar where he had first seen Kenzie. He glanced at his watch as he dismounted, seeing that the timing should be working out perfectly. Throttle’s group would have already destroyed the dry cleaner’s, his bomb sending the half the town’s button-down shirts up in flames. Matteo’s men would head there, but by the time they arrived, Throttle and his men would be gone.
It would be a perfect distraction for the mafiosos while Xavier and his men tore the bar down piece by piece. They had decided not to go with a bomb for this place, since there were still patrons inside. They didn’t want to risk hurting anyone who wasn’t part of the Labriola family, and it would be impossible to separate them out. He ripped the ax from the back of his bike and marched up to the porch of the bar, swinging it hard and smashing out the window in the door.