Mikial

by K. J. Dahlen

  “He was indeed,” Sazon agreed. “But I don’t think he would have remained hidden for long.”

  “You’re right about that,” Barshan explained. “With his family ties he was waiting until he had enough power then he was going to rub it in their faces. Black sheep makes good.”

  “But he would have made his money from drugs and guns and prostitution. Nothing he would have been able to brag about,” Mikial added. “He would have been nothing more than a pimp, while the rest of his family made their millions in legitimate businesses. He still would have failed.”

  Pepper scoffed. “Yeah well, the rest of his family is crazier than he was. The ones I’ve met anyway wouldn’t win any prizes.”

  “Tell us what happened?” Yuri asked.

  “McKenna Knight blamed me for the fact that her husband found himself a girlfriend,” she explained. “She told me I had no right to be alive.”

  “That’s crazy!” Sazon exclaimed. “You didn’t ask to be born.”

  “I tried to tell her that but she wouldn’t listen. I doubt she ever will. She won’t stop until I’m dead.”

  “Then we stop her before she can strike again.” Yuri looked at the men around the room.

  “What does that mean?’ Pepper asked.

  “I’ve been asking around town,” Raven began. “McKenna Knight is not very well liked by too many people. Word is out that she’s a snob of the worst kind and if you slight her or she thinks you have she’ll ruin you.” Raven shook her head. “I really hate that sort of person, don’t you?”

  Pepper grinned. “What do you have in mind?”

  “I’ve been doing some checking this afternoon. She’s been moving her family money around, so it’s not linked with Leon’s wealth. All of his money is frozen at the moment. The FBI and Homeland Security are looking into his legal affairs and have found some interesting things. Leon has been a very naughty boy considering he wanted to run for attorney general.”

  Raven rolled her eyes. “She never even bailed his ass out of jail this afternoon. She was on her way to do just that but she never got there.”

  “Yeah, she stopped by the warehouse and found me and changed her mind about that,” Pepper admitted.

  “After she left the warehouse, my people followed her to the courthouse. Apparently, she saw her husband and they had a terrible fight. She was almost arrested before police got her out the door. Then she went back to the warehouse. When she left the second time, she went to a bar and started drinking. God only knows what she’s going to do now.”

  Pepper shivered and Mikial hauled her into his lap. Wrapping his arms around her, she laid her head on his chest. “I can’t go back to living in fear,” she whispered. “I just can’t.”

  “You don’t have to,” Mikial assured her. “We’ll stop her.”

  Pepper shook her head. “You can’t stop crazy and that’s what she is. This has put her over the edge and she won’t stop until I’m dead.”

  Mikial growled and tightened his hold on her. Looking up, he caught Yuri’s eyes.

  Yuri read the rage deep in the other man’s eyes and he knew what that rage was like. “We won’t allow that to happen. She’s going down.”

  The next morning when Mikial and Pepper joined Yuri and Raven for breakfast, Raven smiled. “Phase one has begun.”

  “Excuse me?” Pepper frowned.

  “McKenna is going to learn a hard lesson today.”

  “What kind of lesson?”

  “She’s going to lose all her money when the bank opens this morning, then the schools are going to start calling about unpaid tuition. From what I’ve heard, she’ll be badly hung over too.” Raven grinned.

  “How is this possible?”

  “Well rumor has it certain papers from the warehouse linked McKenna to Timothy Flynn’s illegal business practices. That alone with the police finding his body along with several of his men called in gathering up the rest of his little gang. All the rest of his men are being questioned about the murders. Again, certain papers were found that showed Flynn was cheating his men and no one likes a cheater. Homeland and the FBI have frozen everything connected with Flynn and McKenna until they can sort it all out.”

  “That’s too bad.” Pepper chuckled. “She won’t be able to go to lunch at the club today. Poor darling.”

  Pepper’s phone rang and when she answered the call, it was Paul Windjue. “Hey Dad, what’s up?”

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine why?”

  “Because the police were called to McKenna Knight’s home early this morning. The FBI found paperwork in a warehouse that linked this woman with a lowlife named Timothy Flynn. In the middle of the interview, she received a call from someone the police have linked to a series of murders. She acted like there was nothing wrong in setting up a murder in front of the police. Needless to say, they arrested her on the spot.” Paul hesitated then asked, “What connection do you have to McKenna or Leon Knight?”

  “I just found out Leon Knight is the man who fathered me. And my mother is Jessie Carter.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “No Daddy, you don’t see,” Pepper whispered. “You and Marie are my family. You and Marie took me in when I had nobody or nothing. Leon murdered my mother when she told him she wanted to get married. At the time she asked, he was already married with two kids. He never told her.” Her voice broke for a moment. “I saw him strangle her and he would have killed me too, except I escaped. You found me days later.”

  “Have you had anything to do with what’s been happening to them the last few days?” Paul asked.

  “No, but Timothy Flynn kidnapped me the other day. That’s when McKenna Knight found out I was her husband’s bastard child. She wasn’t happy about it.”

  “Are the Russians involved in any way?”

  “No. I got away on my own. Some men burst into the warehouse and while Flynn was busy I got the hell out of there,” Pepper lied as she met and kept her eyes on Yuri.

  “Did you see who broke in?”

  “No I didn’t. I wasn’t really looking to get shot at. I just escaped out the window. I didn’t look back.”

  “Okay baby. Those two are going down and the minor children have other family to take care of them. Can you come in a few days and give us a statement?”

  “Sure, I can do that.”

  “Okay honey, I guess I’ll talk to you later. Take care.”

  “I will.” Pepper ended the call.

  “Why did you lie to him?” Mikial asked.

  Pepper gazed at him. “You and your brothers took a risk to get me back. This is a lie I can live with easily. Plus, I’ve never lied to him before. They taught me to always tell the truth.” She looked at everyone and chuckled. “McKenna was so out of it she took a call from a contract killer in front of the FBI. Needless to say, she’ll be going to jail for her part. Paul told me the family will take the children in and care for them so everyone is okay.”

  “Everyone but you,” Mikial reminded her. “You still can’t prove who you really are.”

  Pepper turned to him and placed both her hands on either side of her face. Searching his eyes for a moment, she asked him, “Do you love me?”

  Mikial nodded. “I do.”

  “I love you too. Does any of the rest of it matter?” she asked. “The money is only paper, and I have a great name already, given to me when I was four years old. Paul and Marie shared so much with me, they were the ones there for me when I had nightmares in the middle of the night. Marie was the one who was at my side when I was sick. They are the ones who encouraged me to go find my dreams. I’m okay with them as my parents, if you are.”

  Mikial smiled. “I like that idea. Of course, we’ll have to find some kind of birth certificate that you can use.”

  “Why is that?” Pepper asked.

  “You can’t marry me without one,” he whispered in her ear.

  Pepper smiled as her heart warmed. “So maybe we�
�ll just live in sin instead.”

  “Nope, I want the whole world to know you belong to me and the only way to do that is to marry you.”

  “I guess I can live with that,” she whispered as he crushed her lips under his.

  The End

  The Bratva Blood Brothers

  Book Three

  BARSHAN

  When Barshan takes the deed to a jewelry store in the place of a debt—he finds he’s been ripped off. The real owner, the beautiful Talli Janick, can prove the sale was fraudulent but even more problems await Barshan. He wasn’t the only one who was cheated. When someone representing the Ukrainian mob comes to claim the jewelry store as their own, Barshan stands beside Talli.

  Talli’s own stepfather, Russel Jerome sold the jewelry store twice to two separate men, both with ties to different mobs in the city. Then he comes back to steal her inventory. Now everyone is hunting him and Russel takes Talli hostage to get out of trouble.

  Can Barshan find her before Russel gets out of town leaving her to pay the price for his crimes?

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  SATAN’S SPAWN MC SERIES

  VOLUME ONE

  Spawn & Spitfire

  K.J. Dahlen

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places, businesses and incidents are from the author’s imagination, or they are used fictitiously and are definitely fictionalized. Any trademarks or pictures herein are not authorized by the trademark owners and do not in any way mean the work is sponsored by or associated with the trademark owners. Any trademarks or pictures used are specifically in a descriptive capacity.

  Spawn & Spitfire, Volume 1, Sin’s Bastards Volume 2 & 3, Satan’s Spawn MC Series

  Copyright © K.J. Dahlen © Butterfly Publishing, 2017, 2018

  Proofer: Barbara Harvey

  Editor: Leanore Elliott

  Book Design & Formatting: Wicked Muse

  Cover Art Provided By: Pop Kitty Design

  Published by Butterfly Publishings

  SPAWN & SPITFIRE

  Satan’s Spawn MC Series

  #1

  When Cassie comes to Troy, New York, looking for her best friend Peaches, she meets Deke Tory and her world is never going to be the same. He is formidable, magnetic and not like anyone she has ever met. Deke is president of the Satan’s Spawn MC and while he lives by a certain set of rules, Cassie grew up differently. She grew up on the streets from the age of ten and the only rule there…was the rule of survival.

  Deke finds himself drawn to the Spitfire girl who appeared out of nowhere. Can he break down the walls she has built up to protect herself? When Cassie and Peaches are reunited, their past comes back to haunt them. Someone from their past wants them dead to hide a terrible secret.

  Can Deke protect her—can he even hold on to her?

  They have to find a way to survive and Cassie has to find a way to keep a promise she made to her friend, Peaches when they were ten. She has to find Peaches’ family and reunite them. Will they both survive long enough or will their past swallow them and keep its secret for a little while longer?

  Spawn & Spitfire

  Satan’s Spawn MC Series

  #1

  DEDICATION

  I would like to dedicate this book to all those women and children who have been caught up in desperate situations. I may not know your pain but I hope you are able to find a place like Redemption House to rebuild your lives. You have the strength deep down inside you to take that first step. I pray that you can find it within yourself to take that step and better your life.

  CHAPTER ONE

  When she walked into the Dirty Dancing club, Cassie didn’t really know what she would find. The place was clean at least. As she looked around, she could see the bar and tables. She could also see the stage and the runway area. All she knew for sure was she needed to find her.

  Smoke filled the room with its hazy scent and she wrinkled her nose a bit. Making her way through the tables to the bar, Cassie sat down and ordered a drink. When the bartender placed the glass in front of her, she turned slightly and watched the dancers for a moment. She grabbed the glass, brought it to her lips and asked, “Do you have a dancer here named Peaches?”

  The bartender, a big man with tattoos up and down his arms narrowed his eyes at her question, then shrugged. “I’m here to serve drinks, not to answers dumb questions.”

  Cassie narrowed her own eyes then taking her drink, she began to wander around the club. She watched everything without seeming to notice anything. Slowly making her way toward the back hall, she saw one of the dancers enter the Ladies room. Placing her glass on the table, she headed that way herself. Pushing open the door, she saw the dancer checking her makeup. “Hi.” She nodded at the dancer.

  “Hey.” The dancer nodded back.

  “I was wondering if you could help me.”

  The dancer stopped what she was doing and stared at her through the mirror. “Whatcha looking for?”

  Cassie held up her hands. “I just need some information on one of your dancers.”

  The woman frowned. “Sorry no can do, sister. We don’t give out info on each other. We protect ourselves and the club.”

  “I can relate to that. I’m not asking for anything but if you have a dancer here named Peaches. I really need to find her. To make sure she’s okay. I’m not here to hurt anyone, but I do need to find her.”

  “Sorry honey can’t help you, club rules.” The dancer moved toward the door.

  Cassie moved aside to let her pass. “She’s my friend and I need to know she’s all right,” she whispered. “I swear, that’s all I want to know.”

  The woman paused. “If Deke finds out I told you anything, I’ll be in so much trouble.”

  Cassie shook her head. “He won’t find out from me. If you see her, tell her to call me at the Star Bright motel, room 104. Just get the message to her. Nobody has to know we even spoke. Please?”

  The dancer nodded then left and the door closed slowly behind her.

  For the first time since this nightmare began, Cassie let a deep hopeful breath.

  A few minutes later, she walked out of the rest room and to the main door of the dance hall.

  ~* * * *~

  She didn’t see the three men that followed her to the parking lot and watched as she got into her jeep and drove away.

  One of the men lit a cigarette and as the smoke cleared he said, “Deke might want to know about this.” He turned and walked back into the club. As he made his way to the back room where the offices were, he nodded to the bartender.

  At the big oak door of Deke’s office, the man paused briefly and knocked. When Deke called out, he opened the door and came inside. The office was neat and tidy. The large oak desk in front of him was littered with papers and a laptop but he paid them no mind. As his eyes met the man’s behind the desk, Wiley swallowed hard.

  Deke was a big man, six foot six inches, and at least three hundred fifty pounds of raw muscle. His short black hair was brushed back away from his face and his eyes were the color of ice. His hands were just as big as the rest of him and could easily break a man in half. “What’s up, Wiley?”

  “We have someone sniffing around, asking questions about one of the dancers.”

  Deke sat back in his chair. His fingers steepled while his steely gaze met his Sergeant at Arms. “Now who would be foolish enough to do that?”

  Wiley shrugged. “It was a young woman. She first asked Hal about her but when Hal wouldn’t give her any answers, she went into the ladies room after Candy. I don’t think Candy would talk, but you never know what chicks are gonna say.”

  “Bring Candy in here,” Deke ordered as he got up and moved from behind his desk.

  A few minutes later, Wiley escorte
d Candy into the office.

  She took one look at the big man’s face and began to tremble.

  “I understand we had someone asking about Peaches.”

  Candy groaned. “She asked but I didn’t answer.”

  “What did she want to know?”

  “She said she was a friend and just wanted to know if Peaches was okay,” Candy answered truthfully. “She told me to have Peaches call her.”

  “Call her where?”

  “She’s at the Star Bright, room 104. I swear boss that’s all she said.”

  Deke stared at the woman for a moment then nodded. “It’s okay, you aren’t in trouble, but the next time someone asks anything, you better be the one to bring it to my attention, not Hal or Wiley. I run a good place here and give you girls the protection you need to feel safe. I need you to look out for each other as well.”

  Candy almost wilted in relief. “I understand boss. I’m sorry I didn’t come to you first thing.”

  Deke watched as she turned and left. Then he looked over at Wiley. “Maybe you and a couple of the boys should go find this woman and bring her to me. I need to know what she wants with Peaches.”

  “Sure thing Prez.” Wiley grinned as he turned to leave.

  “Don’t hurt her man,” Deke called out, “Just bring her in.”

  Wiley nodded at two other men and they all made their way to the parking lot. Mounting their bikes, they roared off.

  A few minutes later, they parked near the Star Bright Motel, just down a few spots from the Jeep he’d seen the woman drive away in. Wiley glanced around the parking lot. No one else was around and he didn’t want trouble.

  Dismounting their rides, they all made their way to the door of room 104. He knocked and waited for an answer. When it didn’t come right away, he pounded on the door.