by Harley Wylde
“This isn’t over,” our dad said. “She’s my kid and I don’t agree to her being with a fucking Devil.”
Tank shrugged. “Don’t care. It’s never been up to you what any of us did.”
He stepped back, pulled me with him, and slammed the door in our dad’s face. Then he twisted the lock into place.
“Any of us?” I asked. “Do you know something?”
“Yeah. There are others, but they aren’t very pleasant. Dad had a total of twelve kids. Nine of us are still alive. And out of those nine, you and me are the most well-adjusted of the group. We have a brother in Devil’s Fury, two other brothers in clubs out west, two more brothers in prison, and our sisters are part of the world’s oldest profession.”
My eyes went wide. “How do you know all that?”
“Had Wire do some digging a while back. When I found out about you, made me wonder who else might be out there. What I found out about them made me take a step back. I didn’t want any of those little shits coming to your doorstep.”
“I’ve asked several times and made comments about Dad having more kids. You should have told me,” I said.
“Now you know,” Tank said.
We moved to the living room and looked out the front window. Dad was standing by his bike, phone to his ear, and casting hateful looks at the house. I had a feeling that things were going to get really bad. I looked over at Jackal and he seemed just as concerned, our daughter held tight against his chest.
“Maybe you should call your brothers?” I asked. “I don’t know what he’s planning, but it can’t be good.”
“I’ll talk to Torch. We may have to ask Ryker to bring in some Hades Abyss too,” Tank said. “I’m not taking any chances with you, Allegra, or the other women and children here. Dad can be a mean bastard, and he’s cold as ice. Won’t hesitate to kill a woman or kid.”
“How do you know that?” I asked. “You’ve always said you didn’t have much contact with him.”
“Dad did some time. Rape and attempted murder. His lawyer eventually got him an appeal and he got out on a technicality. There’s a reason I’ve kept the two of you apart. He came here about five years ago, but that was the last I’d seen of him. For a while, he stopped by once a year. Then nothing for two years until that last visit. I’d forgotten that he was given the okay to be inside the compound or I’d have revoked that right when you moved in with me,” Tank said. “I’ll take care of that now.”
Tank hesitated, then kissed my cheek and brushed his fingers through Allegra’s hair.
“I’ll keep them safe,” Jackal said.
“I know you will,” Tank said. “And so will everyone else inside the compound. Hopefully, we’ll have reinforcements by nightfall.”
Jackal handed our daughter to me and pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call in some brothers now. I know that Cinder will give the okay. Josie and Allegra will be the first old lady and kid to live with the Devils, and he will give everything he can to keep them safe.”
Tank nodded, then headed out of the room. Jackal gave me a kiss, then left as well. Allegra and I watched as my dad got on his bike and left, then we settled down to watch her favorite cartoon. She didn’t seem upset by what had happened, and I was grateful she was too small to really understand. All she’d likely picked up was the anger in everyone’s voices.
I tried to keep Allegra occupied while Tank and Jackal worked on keeping us safe. Something was bothering me, though. Why did our dad show up now, after all this time? Had he wanted something in particular, or had he just been passing through and it was rotten luck that he’d seen Jackal and my daughter? Something told me there was more going on than we realized, and that scared the shit out of me.
I dug my phone out of my pocket and stared at it. Did I dare make the call that could save us? Or would it only destroy us? Tank didn’t know about the friends I’d made while I was living with Mom or during my year of college. Well, friends was using a bit too broad of a term. I’d dated a few guys and had kept in touch with them until Allegra was born. Not because I had feelings for them, but because I’d thought they might be able to help me at some point. I’d kept Tank in the dark on purpose, knowing it wouldn’t go over well. But if there was ever a time to call in a favor, it was now, right?
I looked up the one number I knew would piss my brother the fuck off, and likely the rest of the club too.
“Agent Becker,” said a deep voice.
“Drey, I need help,” I said.
There was a pause. “Josie?”
“Yeah. I know I stopped returning your calls and texts, but I’m in trouble. And so is my daughter,” I said.
“Daughter? So you’re married now?” he asked.
“Um, engaged. There’s more. It’s… my fiancé is part of Devil’s Boneyard, and my brother is a Dixie Reaper. It’s part of why I kept things casual with us.”
He cursed. “Josie, what the hell do you want? I can’t step foot inside that compound and you know it.”
“Look, Drey, my dad showed up. The one I’d never met? Well, he’s part of Demonic Reign MC. I think I’m in some serious trouble. He got really pissed when he saw Jackal and found out we’re together.”
“What’s your dad’s name?” Drey asked.
“Abraxas.”
The silence on the line scared me more than anything else had this morning.
“Josie, you’re in more shit than you realize. Talk to your club. I need permission for me and Logan to come by. You know we’ll always have your back.”
“Thanks, Drey.”
I hung up and gathered my courage, then went to find Tank. My brother was staring out the kitchen window, his shoulders tense and his back stiff.
“Tank, I need to talk to Torch,” I said.
Allegra squirmed and I set her down. She toddled over to Tank and pulled on his leg. He smiled down at her and picked her up before facing me.
“Why do you need Torch?” he asked.
“Because I called in my own reinforcements. And they need permission to enter the compound.” I swallowed hard. Knowing what his next question would be, I tried to brace myself for his reaction.
“Who did you call?” he asked.
“Agent Drey Becker. He wants to come here, with Agent Logan Pierce.”
I could feel the temperature dropping in the room.
“You want to bring two DEA agents inside the compound?” he asked, his voice deceptively calm. “How do you even know them?”
“We dated for a short time when I was in college. It only lasted a few weeks, and nothing happened between us, but we stayed friends. Until I got pregnant with Allegra. I cut off contact at that point.”
Tank kissed Allegra’s cheek but kept staring at me.
“I’ll talk to Torch. If you think those men can keep you and Allegra safe, then have them come to the gates in two hours. We’ll talk to them and decide if we’re letting them inside. But, Josie, we’re going to talk later. You shouldn’t have kept that from me.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. They’re part of my past, Tank. Once I moved in here with you, I made sure I never said or did anything that would harm the club. You know I love all the Reapers. I’d never do anything to bring trouble to your door. Not on purpose anyway.”
He nodded, then handed Allegra back to me. “You need to tell Jackal.”
I sighed, knowing that wasn’t going to go over well. “I’ll tell him.”
“Call your friends back. Two hours, Josie. If they’re a minute late, then they won’t be coming inside. And they will be patted down, relieved of all weapons, and searched for wires.”
“Fine,” I said.
I went back to the living room with Allegra, then called and relayed the information to Drey. Then I sat and waited, hoping my entire world wasn’t about to implode. I had no idea how Jackal was going to handle this, but hopefully he would listen and not lose his shit. Dating DEA agents was a big no-no in the world Jackal and my brother lived in.
I’d never live it down once they found out I’d dated the guys at the same time.
I just hoped Drey and Logan had learned to keep their mouths shut over the years, but I doubted it. No doubt fists were going to fly.
Chapter Eight
Jackal
I stood next to Tank, my arms folded and my feet braced a shoulder’s-width apart, as we stared at the two DEA agents that my fiancée had brought into our midst. I still couldn’t believe she’d dated these fucksticks, or that she was still in touch with them. Obviously, we had some talking to do. This was the kind of shit I needed to know about her past. Yeah, she’d been a virgin when I’d taken her that first time, but I’d known she’d been out on dates. Just hadn’t expected this.
At least they had ditched their suits and had shown up looking like bikers, complete with Harley Davidsons. It seemed Josie had a type even before she’d met me. One of them had a tattoo on his bicep. A fucking SEAL. Jesus. She’d gone from clean-cut American heroes to climbing into bed with me?
“Where’s Josie?” the one on the right asked.
“At home with our kid,” I said.
That got their attention. Both of them scanned me head to toe, and I knew they found me lacking from the matching sneers they wore. Too fucking bad. I was Josie’s choice, and I wasn’t letting her go. But if they could help me keep her safe, then I’d listen to what the jackasses had to say. Couldn’t promise more than that, though. What I really wanted to do was beat the shit out of them, just on principle.
“You search them?” Torch asked the two Prospects guarding the gate.
“Yeah, Torch. They’re clean,” one of them said.
“Good. Come on, then. We’ll go talk about this like civilized men. Can’t guarantee your safety after the talking’s done, though,” Torch told the agents.
I heard footsteps behind us and glanced over my shoulder to see Josie and Allegra heading our way. I cursed and went to her, hoping to stop her before she got any closer.
“What the fuck? I told you to stay home,” I said.
“What am I? Your dog? Move out of the way, Jackal.”
I narrowed my eyes but stepped aside. She walked right up to the two dickhead agents and gave each a one-armed hug, then introduced our daughter to them. Both men softened as they met Allegra, but the steely-eyed glares were back when they looked at me again.
On the plus side, none of the Reapers looked too happy that Josie had associated with the DEA agents. At least it wasn’t just me. I knew they’d been together before she’d even met me, but it still pissed me the fuck off. I didn’t want to analyze too closely why that was exactly. But I also wasn’t stupid. The way they carried themselves, their jobs, their good looks -- yeah, I had to admit they weren’t ugly -- I was sure that women fell at their feet. Made me hate them even more since my woman had been one of them.
“It’s good to see you both,” Josie said. “Thank you for coming.”
“You know we’ve always got your back, Josie,” one of them said. “Even if you did pick a fucking Devil over us.”
“Be nice, Logan,” she said. “I told you guys before that we could only be friends. Sorry, but there just wasn’t a spark.”
The second one gave a chin nudge in my direction. “But you found a spark there?”
She sighed. “Yes, Drey. I mean it, you two. Play nice. Don’t make me regret asking for your help. If I’d thought you would come in and try to pee on me, I would have rethought that call.”
Logan snickered, and Drey smiled a little at Josie.
“We’ll be good,” Drey said.
“Park your bikes in front of the clubhouse, then come inside and we’ll figure out what the fuck is going on,” Torch said. “Devil’s Boneyard is sending more men. They should be here soon. Hades Abyss is sending some help too, but it will take them longer to arrive.”
Drey focused on Torch. “The three clubs are working together?”
Torch stared, and Drey lifted his hands, backing down. “Got it. Not my business.”
“Just remember you’re here for Josie, not for a bust,” Torch said. “The second I think you can’t be trusted, you’re out on your asses. Inside these gates, your badge don’t mean shit. Not without a warrant.”
Drey and Logan both lifted their shirts, showing they didn’t have badges clipped to their belts. I watched Josie, seeing whether or not she noticed the ripped bodies the two men were showing off, but she wasn’t paying them any attention. Her gaze was locked on me and she came to stand next to me. Allegra reached for me and I pulled her into my arms.
“You should have stayed home, Josie,” I said.
“They’re here to help me, Jackal. I’m not romantically interested in them. I haven’t even spoken to them in about two years, but I didn’t know what else to do. I’m scared, okay?”
Her eyes filled with tears and I felt like an asshole. I shifted Allegra so that I could pull Josie against my side. She burrowed into me and sniffled as she fought not to cry. The thought of her with the agents made me a little crazy, but if she said she wasn’t interested in them, I would believe her. As far as I knew, she’d never lied to me. While she’d kept my daughter a secret, she’d done it for what she believed were the right reasons. Josie didn’t seem to have a mean bone in her body, and I didn’t think she’d do anything to intentionally hurt me. Unless she was pissed, then I wouldn’t put it past her to throw shit at my head.
“I need to go with them,” I said. “Why don’t you come sit in the clubhouse with Allegra? I’m sure someone’s running the bar and will get you a cold drink.”
“All right,” she agreed.
I kept my arm around her waist as we walked to the clubhouse and stepped inside. I got her and Allegra settled at a table not too far from the bar, then followed the Reapers into Church. It was a little strange to be in a room filled with Reapers, but if they could help Josie, I was more than happy to hear what they had to say. Even the DEA agents, who looked a little too comfortable.
“What do you have for us?” Torch asked the agents.
Drey didn’t shift position or expression. “The man Josie says is her father, Abraxas, has been on the government’s list for a while. He’s not only dealing massive amounts of drugs, but he’s headed up some arms deals, and we believe he’s in charge of a sex-trafficking ring. Any evidence we’ve been able to gather against Demonic Reign seems to always unravel before we can arrest anyone, or things just disappear completely.”
“He’s also a known rapist, even though no one has been able to get the charges to stick, not permanently,” Logan said. “Anytime we get one of them behind bars, they find a loophole and they’re out in no time. Demonic Reign has a tendency to make people disappear. If Josie’s dad says that he won’t allow her to be with Jackal, then I’d take him seriously and expect the unexpected. Asshole is crazy enough to come in guns blazing and try to take her by force.”
“Tank?” Torch called out. “He’s your father too. Thoughts?”
“The man is bad news, there’s no doubt about that. I’m not sure how far he’ll go to get Josie. He’s never had any interest in her before now, which makes me wonder why he’d show up out of the blue like this. There has to be something in it for him, or for his club. If we can figure out what that is, then maybe we can find a way to stop him,” Tank said.
“And if we stop Abraxas, then we’d be taking out a key player for Demonic Reign,” Drey said. “It would hit the club hard, maybe even hard enough for them to falter. Even if they don’t fall, it might at least spook them enough that they slip up and don’t cover their tracks as well.”
“Or we can try to get Abraxas to roll on them, but that’s doubtful. He hasn’t cracked when he’s been picked up before,” Logan said.
“So how do we find out what they want?” I asked. “Josie said she’d never met her dad before today, but it seemed like he’d come specifically to see her. I don’t want anyone to take this the wrong way because I’m crazy about that woman, b
ut what’s so special about Josie that he’d come for her? He’s never shown interest before. Why now?”
“Wire, were you able to gather any information before this meeting?” Torch asked. “I know we didn’t give you much time.”
The clicking at the end of the table drew my attention and I saw Wire with a laptop in front of him.
“Still working on it,” Wire said. “But what I can tell you is that Demonic Reign doesn’t have children, not officially. We know Abraxas has fathered quite a few children, but they’re all…”
“Complete and total fuck-ups,” Tank said. “You won’t hurt my feelings if you speak the truth. The only one who might not be too bad is my brother in Devil’s Fury. He did a short stint in the state pen, but that was a while back.”
“So maybe he wants Josie because she isn’t a fuck-up?” Logan asked. “Does he have other daughters or is she the only one?”
“She’s not the only one, but the others are whores,” Tank said, putting it bluntly. “And I mean that literally.”
“You think he needs Josie to complete some sort of deal?” I asked. “Since he’s now seen Allegra, he has to know she’s not a virgin. Whatever he needs for her, apparently that isn’t important. Unless he plans to take our daughter too.”
The Reapers all started cursing and a few banged fists on the table. Whether I liked the Reapers or not, I had to admit they cared about my little girl and about my woman. And I likely would have gotten along with them just fine, if I hadn’t knocked up Josie and taken off. Of course, I’d like to think that if I’d known she was pregnant that I would have come back for her. As scared as I’d been of being a father, there were no guarantees, though.
“What are your intentions with Josie?” Drey asked. “Is that ring on her finger the real deal, or are you just jerking her around?”
“What the fuck do you care?” I asked, getting pissed that he felt like he had a right to know. He might have been a part of her past, and he might be here to help, but I didn’t like the guy. The only thing that had kept me from putting my fist through his face was the knowledge that I’d been Josie’s first.