Protection (Death Knights MC Series Book 1)

by Michelle Betham

  He looks at me, and he isn’t scared, there isn’t a trace of fear in his eyes. “It’s gonna be OK, Piper.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “Just trust me, all right?”

  “You see, people keep telling me to do that, and then shit happens.”

  “We need to keep riding.”

  “Where to?”

  “Away from here.”

  “Yeah, I kind of got that.”

  The sound of someone banging on the front door manages to startle even him, briefly, and I feel another wave of fear rise up as I stare at Logan.

  “You really think they’d knock first, Piper?”

  That doesn’t make me feel any calmer, any less scared, it doesn’t ease the fear.

  “Logan? Are you there?”

  “Jesus… that’s Reba…”

  He runs down the hall to the front door and I sit back, drawing my knees to my chest, closing my eyes as I try to breathe, try to feel anything other than terrified. I can hear voices out in the hall, muffled talking, and I squeeze my eyes even tighter shut – in the hope that I’ll wake up and find out this has been nothing but some crazy nightmare?

  It’s only when I hear something – a noise, like someone, something clattering around outside, it’s only when I hear that coming from the back of the house that my eyes snap wide open and I jump off the couch, my stomach churning as I look toward the French doors, I can barely process what’s happening here. Once again it’s as if I’ve suddenly become detached from the terrifying reality in front of me; like I’m watching this play out from the sidelines, as though I’m not really a part of it. But I am, this is real, and I’m frantically trying to get my head together here but I’m struggling. And then I see him, there on the terrace; see him slowly slide open the French doors, walk inside, and I can’t move. I’m frozen, consumed by an icy fear that’s rooted me to the spot because he’s standing right in front of me now, cold, calm and collected, he doesn’t look like he’s been involved in any kind of shoot-out; doesn’t look like he’s just clambered up onto Vanni’s terrace to get to me, he’s not even broken a sweat, Jesus! And I still can’t get my head around any of this, and I need to. I need to get it together fast, or I’m gone. I’m finished.

  “Still as beautiful as ever, Piper.”

  Just hearing his voice, that guttural drawl, it makes me sick to my stomach.

  “Get the fuck away from me.”

  “I’m sure I remember your daddy telling you not to speak to me like that.”

  He’s alone, why is he alone? And I can still hear Logan talking out in the hall, should I scream? Make some kind of noise? But before I can even think about doing any of that Marco’s hand clamps tightly over my mouth as he pulls me back against him, the feel of cold metal pressing hard against the small of my back.

  “It wouldn’t be wise, princess. To do anything stupid. ‘Cause your man out there, he’s being distracted nicely by my wife. It’s just you and me in here. We’re all alone.” He laughs, a deep, humorless laugh and that sickness in the pit of my stomach intensifies. “Just like old times, huh?”

  They got to Reba. She can’t escape now. And I can? I can only pray that Logan gets back in here, that he sees through whatever shit Reba’s been instructed to carry out, I can only pray…

  “You’ve wasted a lot of our time, Piper, and I’m really not happy ‘bout that ‘cause there are way more important things to be getting on with than tracking you down. But your daddy, he wants this job finished, you hearing me? He wants this finished. So let’s not waste any more time.”

  He digs the gun harder against my back and that’s when I snap; when a red mist of anger and hatred and pure adrenaline kicks in and I bite down on his hand, an action that shocks him just long enough for me to spring away from him. But I have to be quick, and I reach around and pull out the tiny pistol Logan had slid down the front of my jeans as we’d ran from the clubhouse. I didn’t know what it was at the time, I’d just felt him shove something at me, and it’s only just registered with me now that it’s there; that Marco didn’t feel it when he pulled me back against him, Jesus, he must be slipping. But I grab it, and I raise it, and he stares at me, a slow grin taking over his hard, worn face.

  “Seriously, Piper, you really think this is how it’s going to go down?”

  He raises his own gun and pulls back on the trigger, and I don’t even think anymore, I just fire, and that first shot misses him, it doesn’t even graze him, my hands are shaking too much. And my mistake gives him time to return fire, but Logan racing into the room distracts him, and the bullet hits my upper arm, the pain ripping through me but I don’t have time to feel it. I’m only aware of Logan raining punches down on Marco, of Reba’s screaming, of the gun Marco had aimed at me skidding across the floor as Logan grabs his wrist and twists it around, a sickening sound of bone snapping filling the air. And that feeling of detachment, it’s back, it’s taking me over, shutting me down little by little and I aim my pistol down at the floor where Marco lies, battered and broken, ‘cause Logan isn’t stopping. But I need him to. I need this to end. So I fire, over and over again until I’ve used up every round, even though I’m almost sure that first bullet through his skull probably killed him. And maybe that was too peaceful an end for him. Maybe I should’ve let Logan carry on, make his last few minutes on this earth as painful and disturbing as possible, but I was tired. I’m still tired, and as I sink to my knees and drop my head I keep the pistol in my hand, my eyes closing, I’m letting that darkness descend, I’m inviting it in…

  Sixteen

  Piper

  I open my eyes and try to sit up, even though the pain that rips through me causes my breath to catch, it takes a second before I can breathe properly.

  I look down at my left upper arm, which is now covered by a thick bandage, but traces of blood are still seeping through, turning parts of it deep red. And for a second or two I have no idea where I am, the room I’m in is dark, blackout curtains cover the window so I have no clue as to what time of day, or night, it is. But as I look around me, let my eyes adjust to the darkness, I recognize the room as the one Vanni and me had stayed in at the clubhouse. I’m back at the clubhouse, and I don’t know how that happened, the last thing I remember was watching Logan kick the shit out of Marco; of me aiming at that asshole’s head, and firing… Did I kill him? I must’ve killed him, everything’s a little blurry, a little disconnected.

  The door opens and my head shoots around to see who’s coming in, but I can’t make them out, I just know it’s a man. But as he comes closer I recognize his smell, the cigarettes and bike oil, the faint odor of marijuana, and my stomach takes a dive. I draw my knees to my chest and close my eyes as I hear him draw the curtains, allowing light to flood into the room but I keep my eyes closed, even when I feel him sit down on the bed beside me.

  “Look at me, baby girl.”

  I don’t want to open my eyes, I don’t want to face what might be happening now. I’m still scared and confused, I just want to keep my eyes closed and let sleep take over again.

  “Look at me, Piper.”

  I want to let sleep take over, but I can’t, not yet, so I open my eyes and I look at him. My husband. And I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what to do, because he doesn’t look angry. He looks calm, his eyes aren’t dark and cold they’re warm, and that throws me a little, but it doesn’t make me feel any less terrified.

  “That wasn’t your daddy’s men who tore our clubhouse apart last night, Piper.”

  I frown, hugging my knees tighter against my chest. I’m confused.

  “It was the Devil Hounds. Our rivals, they got real cocky, thought that coming at us full-on like that – they thought that was gonna work, but it didn’t. We lost a couple of brothers, and I’m not happy about that, but they lost more. ‘Cause we won.”

  I take a couple of seconds to let what he’s telling me sink in. It wasn’t my father’s men… “I… I heard police sirens
, when I… when we…”

  “When you ran?”

  I keep my eyes fixed on his, and I still don’t know how I should be feeling here. I’m so confused, nothing feels real.

  “You know I got friends, Piper. Law enforcement friends, people who make our shit go away, ‘cause that’s what I pay them to do. And last night, that was one hell of a mess, but it wasn’t your daddy’s men who caused it.”

  “But… Marco, he…”

  “He was working alone. Crazy-assed bastard got some ego, I gotta give him that. And, yeah, he was on his way here, he was coming for you, but I guess he saw the shit already going down. Didn’t want to join in with a fight that wasn’t his.”

  “I still… I still don’t understand… Reba, she… How did he get to Reba?”

  “She ran, too. During all the commotion she took a chance and she ran. I guess he got to her before she could get too far. All worked out pretty well for him on that score. ‘Til he got to you.”

  I drop my head and briefly close my eyes again as I try to take all of this in.

  “He knew everything, Piper. Where our clubhouse was, my place at the beach… stood to reason he’d try there.”

  I drag my hands back through my hair, wincing slightly as another wave of pain shoots up and down my arm.

  “You’re lucky that’s the only war wound you got, baby girl.”

  I raise my gaze, confusion sweeping over me again as he throws me a small smile.

  “Where’s… where’s Reba now?”

  “She’s safe. Everyone’s safe. Even you.”

  I feel my gut twist up into a tight knot, the contraction so strong it causes me to draw my knees up even further against myself.

  “He’s dead, right? Marco? He’s dead?”

  Vanni nods, his eyes never leaving mine, and I’m still confused. But then another wave of fear washes over me, and I feel sick to my stomach, feel the nausea rise so quickly it’s all I can do to hold it down.

  “Where’s Logan?”

  He raises an eyebrow, and that nausea shifts again, rising right up into my throat.

  “Logan’s safe, too.”

  “Where is he?”

  “He’s helping everyone else try and put this place back together. It’s a big call, it’s all hands on deck.”

  “Vanni…”

  “Shit like this, it focuses the mind, Piper.”

  “I don’t… I don’t understand…”

  “Makes you realize all kinds of stuff. What really matters, who really matters. So, I’m not gonna hurt him. Don’t get me wrong, he touched my wife and that don’t usually go unpunished in my club. That level of disloyalty, that kind of betrayal, it shouldn’t go unpunished. And it won’t. But I’m gonna spare him, Piper. He can keep his sorry life, ‘cause he won’t be living it here. He’ll leave, I’ll make sure of that. He won’t have any other option. He’ll leave, go someplace far away, with his girl, with Reba, and he won’t touch you again. That’s his punishment. That’s your punishment.”

  “Vanni, I’m…”

  “No, Piper…” He shakes his head and I stop talking. “Don’t say you’re sorry. I don’t want to hear shit, I just need you to know that… I love you.”

  His words only confuse me more. And I close my eyes again, and I remember everything Logan and me had said to each other, those promises we’d been about to make; our unspoken plans to run… I can’t run anymore. I know that now. I can’t. I’m too tired.

  I open my eyes and look at Vanni. And I still don’t understand why he’s being this way, because reasonable and rational isn’t something he’s known for, but that’s exactly what he’s being right now. And it’s confusing, and yeah, he’s basically giving me an ultimatum, or he’s telling me in his own way that my choices are limited now. I stay with him, or I’m on my own, that make-believe future I thought I’d wanted with Logan, that’s gone. It’s over before it even got off the ground. This is my reality now. This is my future. This man. He’s all I have left.

  “What about my father?”

  It’s Vanni’s turn to drop his gaze, and then he stands up and walks over to the door, he leaves the room without saying another word, and all I feel is a knot of nerves filling my insides, winding its way around everything, and I’m still confused. None of this makes any sense.

  I fling back the sheet and get out of bed, ignoring the pain, which seems to spread far wider than just my arm now. I must’ve been hurt elsewhere, I don’t remember. I don’t even know how I got back here, from Venice, I can only assume Reba had a car; that her and Logan brought me back here.

  Going over to the window I peer outside. The sun’s shining and the sky’s a clear blue, but that doesn’t disguise the devastation littering the compound. From here I can make out broken glass, upturned trash cans; smashed windows and mangled Harleys, it’s not pretty. I can only imagine what the mess is like inside.

  “Piper?”

  His voice makes my blood run cold, and I don’t turn around, I can’t. Because this isn’t happening, I really am just dreaming, I have to be.

  “You did well, last night.”

  I take a deep breath and slowly turn to face him. My father. Frankie Cabbetto. Tall, dark, and ridiculously handsome, he’s a man my mother fell for in a heartbeat, and then regretted it for the rest of her life. And I don’t understand why Vanni’s let him in here, this man wanted me dead, didn’t he? Sent Marco Vierra all the way to California to kill me.

  “Have you come to finish the job?” I don’t want to look at him, but my eyes are strangely drawn to his, and another wave of confusion swamps me as he shakes his head, stepping further into the room.

  “I’d called Marco off, a few days ago.”

  “Called him off?” I frown, crossing my arms against myself to form that barrier between us that I need.

  “I didn’t want you dead, Piper. Not anymore.”

  “You changed your mind? Just like that?”

  “The situation changed.”

  “How?”

  “What you heard, what you assumed we were going to do…”

  “You gonna tell me I heard wrong? That you weren’t gonna open fire on a police rally, shoot innocent officers dead, in cold blood, for what? Revenge? Because one of your asshole army got sent down for something he absolutely did do?”

  “And it never happened. We didn’t go through with our plan, because the situation changed, Piper. And that’s all you need to know.”

  “So, that makes me safe, huh? Everything can just go back to normal.”

  “You’re safe, yes.”

  “You looking for gratitude?”

  He doesn’t reply, but he keeps his eyes firmly locked on mine, his expression barely wavering. I look a lot like him, I realize that now, as I look at him. Probably the first time I’ve looked at him this closely for a long time. I might have my mother’s blonde hair but everything else is my father’s.

  “Did you know? What your lieutenant did to me? Did you know?”

  He nods, and I break the stare, throw back my head and I laugh, but it’s a cold, humorless laugh, he knows that.

  “Did Mom? Did she know?”

  “No, Piper, she didn’t. I sent her and your aunts away, to the island in the Caribbean, away from everything that was going on…”

  “Well weren’t they the lucky ones.” I drop my head forward and hold his gaze. “I guess everything you taught me, when we were kids – some of it must’ve sunk in, huh? Enough for me to make use of it. Enough for me to end that bastard’s life.”

  Again, he stays silent. And I still don’t know what’s happening here, but I know he’s here for a reason. Frankie Cabbetto doesn’t do anything without a reason.

  “Were you here all the time? In California?”

  “It became apparent that Marco had his own agenda, Piper, even after I’d instructed him to stand down. I had to make sure he did as he was told.”

  “Your timing was a little way out.”

  “But yo
u came good.”

  “There but for the grace of God. He had time to kill me, he was just a touch too slow, which is so unlike him. You been letting standards slip?”

  “We were right behind him, Piper. We were there to pick up the pieces and clear up the mess.”

  “You brought me back here?”

  He nods, and I lean back against the window ledge and drop my head, sighing quietly. I don’t know what to feel now, what to think. This still doesn’t make any sense.

  “What really happened? To make you backtrack, ‘cause you don’t do that. It makes you look weak, doesn’t it? That’s what you always used to say.”

  “When I heard what your husband was planning, Piper… I looked into him. Vanni Colletti. Looked into the kind of man he is, his background, his family, his business interests. And I can understand why you needed to find a man like him, to keep you safe. He isn’t a stupid man, he’s one hell of a businessman. He’s a lot like me, in some respects.”

  I want to tell him that Vanni is nothing like him, but I’d be lying. I even thought it myself, how like each other they both were. And that thought still makes me feel uncomfortable.

  “What are you really doing here, Dad?”

  “Oh, I really did come to make sure Marco left you alone, Piper, that’s the truth. But it wasn’t the only reason. I wanted to talk to your husband.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I think we could work well together.”

  I narrow my eyes again, this is all getting way too crazy now. “How? I mean…?”

  “The biker gang that trashed this place last night. The Devil Hounds.”

  “What about them?”

  “Their founder, Holt Murphy, he’s someone I’ve had a lot of dealings with. But he also has links to the Romano family…”

  “The Romano family? But they’re…”

  “Enemies of mine? Yes, they are, have been for a long time, ever since my great-grandfather was in charge of our family. But they’ve been quiet for a while now, which hasn’t surprised me. It’s common knowledge that Gino Romano’s been very ill, that, for a time, he relocated back to Sicily. It’s also common knowledge that a lot of his family followed him over there, which in turn means a great deal of their business has taken place in Europe for a while now. He left Tony Ginelli in charge of things here at home, but there wasn’t that much going on. Gino made sure anything important, any business he needed to be a part of, he made sure that took place close to where he happened to be, the fucker may have been ill but not ill enough to let shit pass him by. Ginelli was nothing more than a front, something to show others that the Romano empire wasn’t totally dead on US soil. It was just taking a break. But now Gino’s back. His family are back, and they’re moving in a different direction now. He’s working very closely with Holt Murphy, setting up biker gangs in various towns and cities across the country, trying to gain territory by making their mark, and they’re succeeding, in some places. It’s quite easy, for a man like Gino Romano who has law enforcement right where he wants it. The men in his pockets are both influential and easily bought, which makes what he’s doing dangerous. But, although he’s succeeded in some areas, in others it’s proving a little more difficult.”