One Last Fight - Part Two (The One Last Fight Series Book 2)

by Ashley, Ava

  “We’re brothers for life, man,” Vlad says, “And I will never forget that. You have been there for me through incredibly critical times and I will be there for you. Ha, man, it’s lucky that you live on a poverty budget when you earn an Escalade salary, or I would have been really fucked back then. But you’ve always been a smart guy, and a good guy who doesn’t ask much, so I’m here for you when you do need something. What do you need me to do?”

  “Savannah, Nate and I are going to talk with some people today. If I don’t make contact with you within the next forty-eight hours, express mail this. It’s already addressed, postage paid, and everything. All I am going to need you to do is bring it to the military mail office on the west side. Keep it safe until then and make sure no one sees you.”

  “It’s done, man,” Vlad says, pounding me on the back. “Don’t even worry about it. But be safe. I want to see you again, soon, and I want to see you with your pretty-boy face still intact, you hear? I know you’ll be fighting again come the weekend. You’ve got this. Failure is not an option.”

  I nod. “Thanks, man.” Vlad never stops coaching, and it is just what I need. This I know how to work with. And results are what I know how to produce.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Savannah

  Vlad and Cooper come out from the separate section of the shed a few minutes later.

  Vlad walks straight over to me. “It is a pleasure to meet you, young lady,” he says, shaking my hand. “You clearly mean a lot to my good friend here and it’s nice to see the old ‘Veni Vidi Vici’ all locked down with a nice girl. You stay safe and let Cooper take care of you, you hear? He is a good man. You’ll be well cared for with him. Don’t worry about it too much. You have other things to focus on now. I hope to have you over for dinner with Bettina sometime. She makes a mean chicken pot pie.”

  I smile. “That sounds wonderful. I hope to do that, too.” It’s nice to be able to talk about a pleasant, normal future. Maybe it will really happen. “And I know Cooper is a good man. I am lucky to have him.”

  Vlad laughs. “He is a lucky man to have you.” Then he turns to Nate. “I’ll be seeing you and Cooper in the ring soon. I want to see another fight happen between you guys, so train hard and make sure neither of you breaks anything important while you’re doing whatever you’re doing later today. You got it?”

  “Yes, sir,” Nate nods. “Thanks for helping us out, sir.”

  “Cooper is a real friend,” Vlad says, with a nod. “Well, then. I expect you guys need to be getting on your way soon.” He looks around him, gesturing at the dirty, dusty shed. “I know this place is so tempting to stay in, but don’t let me hold you up.”

  “Let’s go, guys,” Cooper says. “Bye, Vlad.”

  They do one of those manly half-hugs that always amuse me so much and I enjoy a little smile, despite the seriousness of the situation.

  “I’ll leave in a bit,” Vlad says. “It will be more inconspicuous that way, and I will take a different route out. I could use a long run today, anyway. A little roundabout exit never hurt anyone. Good luck.”

  “Thanks,” I say. I am glad Cooper has a true friend like this, and had one like this to help him through all that he has been through. He is a good man and it seems like Vlad is, too. I really hope that we’ll make it through this. Maybe I can be friends with Vlad’s wife and we can have dinners together, hang out as couples and go on double dates. Maybe even have wonderful lives with love and friends. It would be everything I have always wanted.

  But first, we have to survive the next two days. When we get back to the car, I lean over to Cooper. “Cooper, can we make a quick stop before we go to see the motorcycle clubs? I need to see Tamryn. I never got to say goodbye and I want to say it now. You know, just in case.”

  Cooper’s face looks a little pained when I say the last sentence, but he nods. “Sure. But we can’t stay long. Every extra minute is more risk. They are expecting us today. I had Nate get in touch with them to set up a peace meeting. We do not want them getting antsy and deciding to change the terms of the meeting to more hostile ones before we even arrive.”

  “I know,” I say. “I don’t need long, I really only need a few minutes. I need to do it right this time. I can’t just leave without a goodbye now that...I mean, if this is my last chance...well, I just won’t feel right if I don’t say bye. I owe Tamryn that much. She’s is one of the only friends I’ve ever had.”

  “Of course,” Cooper says, ignoring Nate’s groan of frustration. “Where do you need me to go?”

  “Can we swing by The Ink Joint? Tamryn should be working today,” I say. I hope her schedule has not already changed, or that she’s traded shifts with someone. I just really want to say bye.

  Cooper nods and drives a little faster. He isn’t flooring it, probably to avoid attracting unwanted attention more than anything else, but he is also definitely a little over the speed limit. We get to The Ink Joint in record time and I am relieved to see Tamryn’s beat-up Chevy in the parking lot.

  “I will be right back,” I say, leaning over to give him a kiss. Then I open the passenger door and let myself out. The bell chimes as I walk into the now-familiar tattoo parlor. Seeing my chair and workstation, now covered in someone else’s tools and knickknacks, hurts more than I expected. But I am not here to mourn a career. I am here to say bye, and thanks, to the friend who brightened my days in this parlor not too long ago.

  I walk straight up to the front desk, where Tamryn is busy flipping through what looks to be the new issue of Inked Magazine and clear my throat.

  “Hey, Tamryn,” I say. She looks up and her face goes from confusion to disbelief to anger to relief in less than five seconds.

  “Girl!” she cries, jumping up out of her swiveling office chair and running around the desk. “Girl, I have missed you! Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick! And Lucy made me walk Maxie everyday, because she said you were my recommendation and she’s in a tight spot now. Well, you know what else is tight? Those preggers jeans. The girl has turned into a walking, talking beach ball.” Tamryn is talking a mile a minute, like she has to catch up on all the words that she hasn’t been able to say since I left. “But first things first—girl, where have you been? I was worried sick when you just didn’t show up to work, day after day after day! You should have said something!”

  “I’m sorry,” I say, hugging her back. “I am really sorry. I didn’t have much of a choice. But I’m fine.”

  “I’m glad to hear it!” Tamryn exclaims. “Now we have had a sub working your station, but he has nothing on you. I will help you come up with a good excuse and I’m sure we can get Roxie to take you back. People have been asking for you pretty much every day since you left! You have a ton of clients already on the books—you’ll be on probation, no fuck-ups for a while, but you can totally do this. I am so happy you’re back!”

  I shake my head sadly. “That’s the thing,” I say. “I’m not actually back. I am...moving. It’s a, um, family emergency. I just wanted to say bye. And thanks for being my friend. You made me feel right at home here.”

  “No!” Tamryn looks crushed. “Is there anything we can do to get you to stay? Is there anything I can do? Having a friend in here was great. I was actually looking forward to work for a while there. Don’t leave me!”

  “I’m sorry, Tamryn,” I say. “I have to. I don’t have a choice.”

  Tamryn nods and sighs. “Well, thanks for saying bye,” she says, dejected. “I hope you’ll consider coming back here if you ever can. We—I—would love to have you.”

  “I will,” I say, nodding. “If I ever can, I will be back.” We give each other one more long hug goodbye, and then I turn around and walk back out the doors of The Ink Joint. I hope it isn’t my last time here. I hope I’ll be able to come back and take my station back, but I really don’t know.

  It’s game time. I get into the car and pull the door shut behind me. Cooper leans over and takes my face in his hands, g
iving me a long kiss goodbye. When he starts the car, I turn away, looking out the window. The silent tears—tears of loss, of love, and of fear—stream down my face.

  We are headed for the war zone.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Savannah

  “Wait!” I yell. Cooper slams the brakes.

  “Fuck, Savannah, you scared the shit out of me! What’s wrong?” he asks.

  “I recognize that car,” I say, pointing at a blue Ferrari.

  “Big whoop,” Nate grumbles from the back. “What are you trying to do, make me lose my lunch because you like a fancy car?

  “I don’t just like it,” I say, squinting to make out the license plate. “I recognize it. I was right! It’s Wolf’s!”

  “What?” Nate sits up straight so fast he bangs his head against the back seat roof light.

  “It’s Wolf’s,” I repeat, turning to Cooper to explain. “Wolf is my big brother. Why is he down here?”

  “Are you sure it’s his car?” Nate asks. “That makes no sense. It could just be the car of some other guy who really likes blue Ferraris.” Even Nate looks confused.

  “Right,” I say, not quite able to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. “In this neighborhood. Because people with money just love slumming it in the rundown part of town.”

  “Well...” Nate still looks skeptical.

  “I checked the license plate,” I say. “It’s Wolf’s car. Something is up. I’m going in.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Cooper says. He cuts me off before I can protest. “He may be your big brother, but he is also one of them. And who knows if he is alone. He could just as well be there with a group of thugs. I’m not letting you go in there by yourself.

  “Fine,” I say. Secretly, I am a little glad that he is insisting on coming in with me. I haven’t been close with Wolf since before Mom died and I don’t know if his loyalty lies more with the motorcycle club or with me. Unfortunately, I suspect it is with them. I’m just his little sister, and one he hasn’t bothered to say more than a sentence or two at a time to me in years. They are his life.

  “I’m coming, too,” says Nate, jumping out of the car after us. Wolf’s car is pulled up between Bennie’s Pizza and its neighbor, and since Bennie’s Pizza is next to a struggling cupcake shop, and I can’t for the life of me imagine my big brother eating a girly little cupcake in a pink store decorated with cutesy cats with oversized eyes, we head into Bennie’s pizza. I do a quick scan of the restaurant and see the top of his spiky, black-haired, overly gelled head poking out above the back of the seats in the booth closest to the rear wall.

  I point and we walk over quietly and quickly, even our steps making barely a sound. We slide into the booth behind theirs and listen He is talking to someone.

  “How’s the tadpole?” my brother’s voice asks. But there is something weird about his voice. It isn’t the tough, cold, clipped voice that I am used to. There’s something warm, loving about it. Is he here with a girl? Wolf has a girlfriend?

  I almost slide out of my chair when I hear the voice that answers him. “Doing well,” Lily says.

  Nate’s eyes bug out of his head when he recognizes his little sister’s voice.

  “The morning sickness is normal?” Wolf sounds concerned. I can’t believe my ears. Morning sickness? Lily is pregnant.

  Before I can stop him, Nate jumps up from his chair and runs around.

  “What the fuck did you do to my sister?” Nate roars, grabbing Wolf by the front of his shirt.

  Cooper and I are up in a flash. The Wolf I know doesn’t take any disrespect sitting down and this could end badly for either of them. Wolf fought MMA for a bit before deciding to focus on his duties as the future motorcycle club head and did pretty well. Then again, Nate is an active MMA fighter with all the latest in training, so it’s a toss-up as to which of them would win in a fight.

  I would rather not take my chances.

  Wolf and Lily look shocked to see us, but Wolf quickly recovers. He puts up his hands, surprisingly choosing peace. So it is true. My big brother knocked up Nate’s little sister.

  “We are in love.” Those are the first words out of Wolf’s mouth. Could this day get any more bizarre? “We are in love and we have been for years.

  “It started slow,” Lily chimes in. “You and Wolf were hanging out a lot and becoming good friends. Wolf was always around. We would hang out when you were late coming back from the gym and Wolf was waiting to go on a run with you, or hit up the clubs, or whatever it is you guys did. And then it just happened. We fell in love.”

  “You knocked up my sister!” Nate roars. He is clearly still seeing red, but we are attracting way too much attention, so I elbow him in the side and take a pointed look at the neighboring booths. He gets the hint and sits down, sliding into the booth next to Lily and glaring across the table from Wolf. Cooper and I sit down, as well. Nate lowers his voice. “So you called yourself my friend while you were busy knocking up my little sister, so you can leave her an untouchable single mom? Ha, some friend you are.”

  “That’s our problem.” Wolf looks really upset. “I want to marry her. I love your sister and I want to be with her. She isn’t some kind of pump and dump, Nate. She is the one for me. I love her.” He gives Nate a serious look. “I love her, like you love Nikki. I want to marry her, but I can’t, because you are marrying my sister. You know the rules, man. So it’s not real incest, but there are no double marriages between motorcycle clubs within the same leading families. It just isn’t done.” Wolf almost looks like he is going to cry. I have never seen him like this, not even when he was a kid. He is serious.

  “We aren’t getting married,” Nate says slowly, looking at me. We are thinking the same thing.

  The families need to be joined to stop the war. Nate and I aren’t going to get married. Lily needs to get married, to save herself embarrassment. There needs to be some agreement made with the Morenos, so they don’t humiliate the Santoses for my premarital loss of my virginity.

  “This just might work,” I say.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Savannah

  We jump into the rental car and off we go, as the strangest troupe of allies in known history. At least, known to me.

  Lily and Wolf pile into the back of the car with Nate while Cooper drives, and I sit in the front passenger seat next to him. The trip is one of the longest in my life and I spend the whole time in a state of concealed panic. What if they don’t hold to the agreement? What if they gun us down the moment we enter? What if they won’t listen to us? What if they kill Cooper and make me watch? What if everything goes wrong?

  We pull up to the Harley Davidson warehouse that my father owns, where we are meeting my father and Salvador. The board will probably be present, too, but waiting in a different room in case they are needed for consultation on a decision. It looks like they will be.

  When we pull into the mostly empty parking lot of the warehouse, with just about thirty bikes parked near the front of the lot, there are already five burly thugs decked out in all black leather biking gear standing by the entrance. I recognize two of the guys as Santos motorcycle club members, multiple, decade-long employees of my dad’s, but the other three are either new recruits or, more likely, working for the Morenos. I see several loaded holsters, their handgun grips gleaming in the afternoon sunlight. Cooper sees them, too, and reaches over to squeeze my hand.

  “We will be okay, babe,” he says. “I love you. And I am not going to let them hurt you.” He kisses me, telling me everything I need to know in the way that he lovingly holds me.

  “Don’t worry,” I say, when we pull apart. “I’m fine. And I love you. More than anything.” We walk, hand in hand, to the entrance of the warehouse. Wolf and Lily follow closely behind, his arm wrapped protectively around her small shoulders, and Nate walks along next to them. We are going into a hostile area, vastly outnumbered in both body count and fire force, but I feel surprisingly calm. I think Wolf, Lily, and
Cooper feel the same way. That is the power of being side by side and arm in arm with the love of your life.

  The thugs just nod to us as we approach the door, their hands immediately going to their pockets. All except one, that is, who is picking at his grubby nails with a seven inch dagger with a curved blade that hooks at the end. I don’t even want to think about what that hook is for. So instead, I think about how warm my hand feels in Cooper’s and how wonderful he smells. I can’t quite block out the fact that I’m walking into an incredibly dangerous situation, not to mention that I am about to make my only living parent incredibly disappointed in me, probably so much that he disowns me. A little distraction is better than nothing, however, and I know that stressing out will not help me. The most that it can do for me is hurt me. From a lifetime of living in the middle of the motorcycle clubs, I know that showing weakness is the best way to lose their respect and get knifed in the abdomen faster than you would have if you toughened up or at least pretended to have a little cojones.

  We walk into a large, high-roofed room with nothing in it but a long couch and two oversized arm chairs at the far end. The couch is empty and Flint and Salvador are sitting in their respective armchairs. Flint is leaning back in his chair, as calm as ever, with his fingers steepled and eyes laser-focused on us. He could be an ace poker player, if that wasn’t a significant pay cut from being a motorcycle club king, because his face never betrays his thoughts or emotions if he doesn’t want it to. He can look the same whether he is thinking about the parmesan on his meatballs or about ordering a hit on an enemy. Salvador is his physical antithesis, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, which are spread wide apart, feet planted firmly on the floor, like he is ready to jump up out of his chair and give us all a good beating on a moment’s notice.