Chapter 18

Iwatch as the love of my life walks away and I curse my damn siblings. This shit better be important if they’ve used our emergency alert. I check my phone and Dayz’s message says to meet them at DRMC, in the Rev Room. Hopefully, she’s busted the fuck out of this case. The quicker we can get this shit dealt with, the quicker I can get back to my wife. I unlock my SUV, pull myself in and start her up, cranking my radio loud to drown out the voices in my head telling me I’ve lost Ana for good. Speeding out of the garage, I head directly for the compound. It’s only a short drive, but it’s long enough for me to worry not only about my relationship but about the safety of my wife. There’s a bad feeling in my gut. It eases somewhat as I pass Savage and Dex heading the opposite direction, both of them giving me a finger wave on their way past.

Pulling into the MC compound, I frown at the Tombs vehicles, including Pops’ badly parked pickup truck in the carpark. Bypassing the clubhouse and common room, I head directly to where Dayz wanted me. Stepping into the surprisingly cheery torture chamber, the scent of fresh linen assaults me.

“Ugh, shit, why does it smell like a laundromat in here?”

“Dayz has upgraded the space with an infuser to make the place smell less like piss,” Jules blandly informs me.

“Isn’t it like a thousand times better? This place is really becoming quite homey.” Dayz says as she swans around in her coveralls, although I notice she’s sans goggles at the moment. Swinging my gaze toward the center of the room, I do a double take when I notice a man sitting there, although it’s easy to not notice him at all. Everything about him is beige. Beige suit, beige tie, beige skin.

“Um, who the fuck is this and where the fuck did you get him from?” I step closer, trying to think where I’ve seen him before.

“This, my large, grumpy brother, is Tony Manero.” My head whips back toward the man who already has a dark patch on the front of his pants where he’s pissed himself even though he isn’t really looking all that worse for wear. Yet.

“Pops and Debs happened upon him earlier today,” My head spins towards the pair, who are sitting on a couch along the wall. Dayz really has gone to town in this space. Pops smirks at me while Debs waves.

“Explain to me how you two ‘happened upon him’?” My eyebrow raises of its own accord. I need answers. Ana and I have both been stalked by this guy, but never close enough to take him down. And if I’m being honest, we’ve had bigger things to worry about than some creep watching us. I won’t say he’s harmless, but he hasn’t tried anything yet, so I was going to wait and see how it all played out.

“Well, me and Pops were going to drop off some baking at the office, and Pops pointed out that you and Ana have had a stalker for a while now. It wasn’t hard to figure out it was this guy.” She shrugs like that explains it all.

“Pops? Anything to add?” He rolls his eyes at me, sassy old coot.

“Yeah, yeah. We saw him, Debs worked her magic on him, asking if he could help her fix her tyre, acting all foreign and dumb like. He gets out of his car, goes to help and WHAM! I throw a sheepskin seat cover over his head, spin him until he’s super disoriented and then me and Debs throw him in the trunk, et Voila! Tony Manero.” I should be surprised, shocked even, that these two pulled this off. But I’m not.

“Wait, what’s up with the sheepskin seat cover?” Tav asks, perplexed.

“That’s all I had. What do you think I drive about with damn pillowcases in my car? Use your goddamn melon kid. Fucksakes!” I watch as Debs runs her hand through Pops’ hair and pets him like a cat, the grumpy old fucker calming down immediately. She catches me watching them and she gifts me with a wink and smile. Shaking my head, I turn back to Tony Manero, who has been crying quietly during this entire exchange.

“Please, what do you want from me? I’ll give you anything, please!” Tony snivels out. I turn to my family, noticing Marx and Wire have also arrived, rounding out our little party.

“Yeah, he’s been like this the whole time. I don’t know where Hammer is getting these guys from but this guy is fucking soft,” Pops spits out in disgust. I mean, he’s not wrong. For a guy who’s been causing headaches for us and snooping where he shouldn’t be, I thought he’d be a little tougher than this. Dayz hasn’t even done anything to him yet, instead letting me question him.

“What do we want?” I echo his question. “We want to know why the fuck you’ve been following us all over the state. Who sent you?” I grab a seat from the corner of the room, dragging it closer to where he’s tied to the bright yellow metal chair over the grate in the floor. I place my chair across from him, close enough so that when I sit down, my knees touch his, causing him to flinch.

“Wh-who sent me?” He sputters out, fear etched on his face. The dark patch growing larger by the second.

“Are you deaf? Who do you work for? The Nomad MC, the Bratva, somebody else?” I lean back in my chair, watching him closely as Dayz hums in the background, the sound of tools being arranged on her rolling work table. Tony’s eyes are enormous as he watches her go about her business. I kick him in the shin to get it back on track, causing him to jump and then cry.

“NO! No, no, I-I contract for the government,”

“Which government? US or Russia?” Marx barks out.

“W-What?” His head swings towards Marx before abruptly twisting back to look at me as Dayz leans over and slaps him, causing him to sob.

“Which. Government?” Even I can hear the impatient growl in my voice.

“US! I-I work for immigration!” Wait, what?! I also am pretty certain I hear Ana’s mum whisper “Whoopsy”

“I’m an investigator. They sent me out to watch you, make sure this marriage is real.”

“Why wouldn’t it be? He loves her. He’s loved her since he met her. He’s just stuffy sometimes, and I bet he hasn’t told her to her face yet, but he’s definitely planning on doing that,” Dayz helpfully info dumps.

“Wait, you haven’t told her you loved her yet? What the hell, kid? No wonder she’s been ignoring your big ass. Jesus, have I taught you nothing?” My head very, very slowly turns until I’m glaring at Pops. Not that he gives a shit, he gives it straight back.

“For fuck’s sake. What the hell are you lot - “ Marx growls, waving his finger around, pointing at anyone with the Tombs surname, including Debs, who just smiles and waves at him. “Gonna do about this fuck up? Sort it out and get him off my property.” He storms through the door and I’m wondering if I have any antacids I could lend him. God knows he probably needs them. Looking back at our hostage, I can’t quite help but ask what’s been getting to me since we first got a fix on this guy.

“Is Tony Manero your real name?” He sighs deeply, in between snivels.

“Yeah. My mom saw the movie when she was a teen, loved it. When she got pregnant with me, she thought Tony was a good name.” He shrugs, “Anyone who’s ever seen the movie gives me shit about it.”

“Yeah, I bet that sucks,” Tav agrees with him, like they’re old buddies, whilst untying the poor fucker from the chair.

“Ok dude, what’ll it take to get you to forget allllll about this and give Gus and Ana an excellent report? Got any debt we could cancel for you?” Dayz asks, gesturing to Wire and herself. Tony blinks up at them, eyes so fucking wide I’m amazed they’re still in his head.

“Y-you can do that?” He asks in amazement, looking back and forth between the two of them, rubbing his free hands down his thighs, wincing when he feels the wet patch, his cheeks growing pink before Dayz draws his attention again.

“Of course we can do that. We’re like Liam Neeson. We have a particular set of skills.” She blows on her nails and rubs them on her chest. I turn to look back at our poor victim and I can’t believe that he looks as if he’s really fucking taking this into consideration.

“Um, i-if you could, I guess that’d be great. I have a massive student loan. If you could get rid of that, it’d make things so much easier. I’ll be able to save up to get out of my mom’s basement.” We all cringe a little at this.

“Sure thing, dude. We’ll cancel the debt. I’ll even bank over that hefty refund the IRS owes you.” He nods with wild eyes before confusion crosses his face.

“Wait, the IRS doesn’t owe me a refund.”

“Sure they do,” Wire says with a wink. Tony’s mouth opens in an “o” shape before he snaps it shut and nods.

Dayz taps away at her laptop that she’s balanced on the stainless steel table. Wire is on the other side of her with his laptop working away as well. Both laptops surrounded by gnarly looking metal tools and some dentistry equipment.

“It’s all done buddy. Debt wiped and refund put through to your primary account. I’ve taken the liberty to bank a portion of that over to your baby mama to sort that pesky child support back pay you owe her. I’m sure it’ll be enough for her to let you visit again.”

“Wait, how do you know I’m not allowed to visit?” Dayz gives him a terrifying smile, wandering to stand beside us before she leans in really close to whisper in his ear.

“I know everything.”

Tony Manero’s eyes grow wide and he lets out a little “meep”.

“Will that be enough to not mention this to anyone, or do we need to visit you again?”

“Lady, and um, you, big computer guy, thank you very much for what you just did for me. And I mean no offense, but I never want to see any of you people ever again.”

“Fair enough. Consider it done.” She slaps him on the back and Tav helps the poor man to his feet.

“Come on, I’ll drive you back to your car.” He looks down at Tony’s trousers. “Dayz, better grab me a small tarp for my seat,” Tony turns bright red, but follows Tav out of the room as best he can.

“Right, babe, you wanna drop me home?” Dayz asks Rhodie, who smiles indulgently at her “Of course, baby.”

“Gus, you good with clean up?” As if she even has to ask. I’m always on cleanup duty, although this one will be easy. Bit of bleach to get rid of Tony’s DNA and a tidy up and it’ll be back to rights. I nod and watch as the others all leave to get drinks at the MC bar. I could use the solitude for a moment.

I’m still pissed at Gus after that bullshit ambush at counseling, but there’s nothing I can do apart from put it out of my mind and concentrate on the job at hand. Get to the warehouse, check the shipment is all there, and hand it over to Savage and Dex.

I pull up next to our warehouse and note that there doesn’t seem to be a guard near the entrance door. I’m not overly worried and just shrug it off, figuring they’re on their rounds. We always have two guards on duty, one in front, one in back, and every 15 minutes they do a quick perimeter walk.

Instead of wasting time waiting for them, I let myself in using the passcode. Another thing that alerts me to the fact that whoever is messing with us has inside knowledge. The only way into the warehouse is with a code, one that updates every 27 hours, just to be tricky. You try to get in any other way and security gets flagged immediately. Not just the two on duty, but pretty much any Bratva in a 20-mile radius.

Letting myself in, I come to a stop when I hear voices. Now shit’s getting really fucking weird. The shipment should have been dropped directly into the warehouse by the delivery truck, then locked up tight. I’m meant to be the next person to come into contact with it, not whoever the hell is talking.

Sneaking further into the building and thanking my lucky stars that I changed into my flat boots for this, I soundlessly move to crouch behind a stack of boxes, trying to recognize whoever is talking. The voice is gently accented, although whoever they are talking to must be a native English speaker, otherwise they’d be talking in Russian.

“Da, we want these three boxes loaded up. Leave the guns, we’re after the drugs. The girls will transport them the rest of the way.”

Girls? What girls? Rustling and banging comes from the direction of the voices and I know that I’m severely unprepared for this. In my tizzy after counseling, I’ve left my gun in the car, although it’s not like I’d be keen to get into any sort of altercation with these guys alone. I’m going to need backup. Doing a quick mental check, I go through who the hell to call.

Savage and Dex are meeting me, but I got here ahead of them so I could check everything first. Meaning they could be anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes away. I could call Roman, but he’s in interrogation at the moment, and I know for a fact he doesn’t answer his phone when he’s in the zone. The Tombs fam called Gus in, so obviously they have some shit going on. Scrolling through my contacts, I pull up Ivan. He has never let me down. Anytime I’ve needed him, he’s been there, at my back.

Ana: Warehouse. Two unknowns moving out three boxes of goods. Need backup ASAP.

Ivan: 2 minutes little underboss.

I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding and edge closer still to see if I recognize either man. One of them looks vaguely familiar, yet again a newer, junior member. The man he’s working with is wearing a leather vest much like the MC members wear, so there’s no doubt in my mind that he must be another of Hammer’s men. How many men has Hammer recruited? We cut a swathe through a number of them the other night, more men than DRMC has. Hammer must have been on a massive recruitment drive.

I’m distracted by a gentle buzz in my pocket, but before I can check it, I hear a gun go off. Taking a breath, I peek around the boxes I’m hidden behind and see the young Bratva kid on the ground, gunshot to his chest. I don’t feel upset at a fallen comrade or anything, not with him being some type of traitor, but it makes my stomach drop looking at how young he is. He had a life ahead of him and he made the wrong choice. I would say a long life ahead of him, but men who join the Bratva know the risks.

I shuffle back a little and hit something that I know wasn’t behind me 2 minutes ago. Sucking in a breath, I freeze in place when a large hand lands on my shoulder, and then another wraps around my mouth from behind.

“It’s me, little underboss,” is whispered in my ear, and I let the fear and tension ease out of my body.

“We have to get going. I got the rat, but the other guy escaped. Possibly for backup. We need to move.” I nod up at my friend. His dark brows pulled down low, his eyes darting around to find the best means to slip out undetected.

He reaches his hand out and I slip my hand in his, letting him pull me behind him toward the big roller doors rather than the front door or even the side.

“Are you sure about this? We’ll have to hit the roller doors and that’ll give us away,” I hiss at his giant back as I’m dragged in his wake. Ivan is over a foot taller than I am, so I trot to keep up with his steps. I peek around his large body and see that in a moment we will step out from behind the rows and rows of shipment boxes, into an empty space at the center of the warehouse, a space where we will be in the open, with nowhere to hide.

Ivan frowns down at me, his jaw ticking before giving me a nod, and we make a move. We step into the space and a slow clap echoes through the warehouse. Standing in the middle of the warehouse is Roman. When the hell did he get here?

“Ivan, a surprise to see you here, drook.”

Ivan drops my hand, instead moving to rest his large hand on the back of my neck, much like Gus does, but where Gus does it affectionately, Ivan doing it feels wrong.

“Did you think I’d never find out, brat? Did you think all those young street urchins you recruited would keep your secrets?” Roman is unmoving, his dead eyes staring at Ivan, unblinking. I have no idea what he’s talking about, but surely he can’t think that Ivan had something to do with what’s going on? I frown at Roman, who hasn’t even looked my way, too busy with this stare down. Tipping my head sideways, I flinch slightly when Ivan’s grip tightens. From the corner of my eye, I can see Ivan’s cheeks pushed up, a smile on his face.

“Well done, Pakhan. You finally figured something out, huh? Who was it that gave the game away?”

If I didn’t know Roman so well, I would think that he was unbothered by Ivan’s goading. But I do know him well, and I can see the tension in his jaw as he gives a shrug.

“You may have thought that I had no idea what was happening in my house, Ivan, but I’ve always known we’ve had a rat. I just didn’t know it was such a big rat,” Roman smirks, then reaches his hand forward toward me,

“Come Ana,” Ivan’s hand tightens around my neck almost uncomfortably before he pushes me forward. I stumble to catch my footing before turning to look at the man who I thought was my protector, my friend.

“Ivan? What the hell? Tell me Roman has it wrong, it’s not you. It can’t be!” I stare into Ivan’s dark eyes, flicking my eyes between both of his, and seeing nothing. No remorse, no guilt. “You’re my friend!”

Ivan’s rich laugh that I always liked fills the warehouse, before he snaps his gaze to mine, a bitter smile on his face.

“I thought you’d be used to this by now. People moving on without you. Leaving, betraying, ditching you. That’s what happens to you, isn’t it? People use little Ana to fill a need - friend, employee, daughter, wife. And then they move on with their lives to find something better, or die.”

I stand there in the middle of the warehouse, unable to move, blinking my eyes to keep the tears at bay, my heart thudding so hard in my chest that I can hear it. I feel sick and betrayed and angry and so very hurt that it takes my breath away. He’s right though, isn’t he?

I feel a large hand wrap around mine and looking down; I recognize Roman’s pinky ring as he tugs me back toward him, my feet moving without me telling them to. I have no control over anything other than my spiraling thoughts.

“Ivan?” Turning to the voice, I see Savage and Dex standing side by side. I don’t even remember hearing their bikes or seeing them arrive. The noise in my head clears enough for me to notice the similarities between Dex and Ivan now they’re standing only a few feet from each other.

“Ah, little brother! How is my father and your whore mother?” Ivan grits out, seeming to take glee in the murderous look on Dex’s face. “I wondered when I’d see you again. I had thought it would be sooner than this. At your funeral, perhaps? But yebat, you Death Riders are a lot harder to kill than you look.”

Dex turns an unnatural shade of red. He takes a step forward but freezes in his tracks once Roman bursts into laughter, then halts.

“I remember when you first arrived on the Bratva’s doorstep. Crying to my father about your sad life. How daddy didn’t want you now he had a son with his new wife. But it wasn’t your father that refused to let you visit him, it was your whore mother. A woman who opened her legs for all the Bratva men. So my father took you in, and you pledged your loyalty.”

“My mother did what she did to survive after his mother took her place!” Ivan yells, spittle flying. “And I may have pledged my loyalty, but that was to your father. Not the soft faggot who took his place. A man too fucking dumb to see what’s in front of him.”

“I don’t know about that brat. I did put a stop to Kovalev’s business both here and in the motherland,” Roman replies, in an almost bored tone.

“Did you, though?” A sick smile grows on Ivan’s face until I can see his pointy incisors.

What the actual fuck? This is not the man I know. This is not my friend, this is some imposter. I still can’t make sense of anything that is going on.

“What was your plan? Work alongside Hammer, making big money doing despicable things? Try to get rid of your brother because you’re pissed you never got to see your dad? What the hell Ivan?” My voice is high pitched by the time I finish my sentence, I’m not sure if it’s panic or hysteria.

“My plan is to destroy you all. And you, in your naivety and ‘friendship’, helped me more than you’ll ever know.” He says so simply, and I just can’t anymore. I turn my back on him and catch Roman’s eye. His brows furrow when he sees my face, his lips thin before he tips his chin, indicating I get out of here. When I don’t move, his gaze lifts to Savage, standing a little way behind me, gun trained on Ivan.

“Savage, get your man to take Ana to her car, please.” A simple nod and Dex steps forward, not before spitting at Ivan on the way past, Ivan wiping his little brother’s saliva off his face with his sleeve, laughing like this is all a joke. Dex gently wraps a hand around my bicep and leads me out to my car.

“Hey, you all good to drive? Do you need me to follow you?” I shake my head, then look at the man. Knowing what I know now, I can see why he was so familiar to me. He’s a leaner, darker version of Ivan. “Ok. Well, um, you get on now and don’t listen to what he said. He’s always had a fucking nasty way with words.” He huffs and shrugs his shoulders, suddenly looking like a little boy.

“Um, are you ok? I mean, it’s not everyday you find out your brother is working to kill you.”

He gives me a sad smile. “It’s not the first time he’s tried.” The shock must show on my face because he gives me a sympathetic smile before taking my key fob from me, unlocking my door and giving me a gentle push to get in. “Are you sure you don’t want me to follow you home?”

“No, I’ll be good. Thanks, Dex.” I give him a weak smile, shut my door, take a deep breath and start the engine. He bangs twice on the car roof, making me jump before he gives me a finger salute, and I drive away from the warehouse, and my friend. Even thinking about Ivan makes the tears prickle my eyes, my throat getting thick. I grip the steering wheel tight to stop my hands from shaking, but my chest is pounding with pain as I think about his words. His words, that I should be used to this. My entire life has been people moving on. People leaving me. People using me and then finding a better kid, or a better shag, or a better girlfriend. My breathing is coming in pants as I pull into Gus’s driveway and I need to get the fuck out of here. I need to get away, just head up into the woods and take stock of everything. Yes, I know I could go to Gus or Mum, but I need to be alone right now. I just need to go.

I rush inside, not even bothering to turn on all the lights. I run straight to the garage to grab some of my outdoor gear, taking it out to my car and shoving it in the trunk before heading back inside to mine and Gus’s room to pack some clothes. I stand in the doorway, breathing in the scent of Gus, before I shake it off, take my bag out of the walk-in-wardrobe and throw in the clothes I’ll need before taking one last look at our room, closing the door behind me. Walking into the kitchen, I contemplate leaving Gus a note. But what the hell would I say? Thinking better of it, I take my bag and step out onto the porch.

“What are you doing?”

Tuesday’s voice makes me jump, my hand coming to my chest as my heart thunders. I do a quick mental check of my panties to make sure I didn’t wet or shit them.

“Jesus Dayz! What the fuck!? You almost scared me to death! What the hell are you doing?” I squint at her in the low light.

“I’m just asking what you’re doing,” she shrugs at me.

“Just packing for a trip is all,” I answer her, trying to dodge her gaze, which is unusually laser focussed on me.

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” I drop my head and let out a breath before looking at my sister-in-law.

“What makes you think that?”

She lets out a sigh before flopping down on the porch steps, shaking her head side to side. “Ana, a lot of people underestimate me. Don’t be one of them.”

Frowning at her, I cough to clear the thickness in my throat. “What do you mean?”

“You think I can’t see what’s going on? You’ve enjoyed my family, but you’ve always kept a little bit of distance from everyone. Especially from Gus. I thought that was just a quirk of yours, but it’s not. It’s you not wanting to be friends or family with anyone. Not really. Why?”

She stares at me with her unnerving gaze before it flits off to something over my shoulder.

I move toward where she’s sitting and take a seat on the steps with her, but down a step and right up in the corner. I know she’s not much a fan of touching people other than her family and Rhodie.

“You know I grew up in care, yeah?” she nods and then motions for me to continue.

“When you never know where you’re going to be from one night to the next, it makes it hard to make friends. Will they be there tomorrow? Will my foster parents? I guess it’s just easier to not get attached. And if you do, you leave before they can leave you.”

“That makes sense. Leave and hurt them first rather than let them hurt you.” She nods and goes to stand.

“Wait! That’s not what I’m doing!”

“Sure it is.” She gives another emphatic nod.

I clear my throat, looking at the dimming sky. “Tonight I found out who betrayed the Bratva. I-it was Ivan. My friend. Except he wasn’t my friend. And that hurt Dayz. I don’t want to be hurt anymore. By anyone. I’m leaving to stop myself from being hurt.”

“And hurting Gus and the rest of us at the same time.”

“No! That’s not what I’m-”

“Yeah it is. It’s ok. I get it. But I have a question.”

My shoulders slump. I never thought about hurting anyone. I look up at Tuesday, her wide whiskey eyes staring down at me.

“Why, if you have a chance at having love and a family, would you run away from it?”

I swallow loudly, open my mouth and no words come out. I don’t know what to say. When she puts it that way, it doesn’t make any sense.

Tuesday lets out an impatient sigh before sitting down again. “When I was a kid, no one liked me.”

“I’m sure that’s not-”

“It’s true. For show and tell, I’d do full presentations about the Bermuda Triangle. Anyway, I share my birthday with Gus. Every year we would have a party and I would get sick of Gus’s friends always taking up all the seats. One year, I asked my mom if I could have my party on a different day, so I could invite kids from my class. She kept putting me off but, in the end, she relented. My birthday came, and no one came to my party. My mom made a big thing out of maybe putting the wrong date on the invites, but I knew it was because I had no friends. I thought a party would help me make them, but it didn’t. So, when I ended up at the MC and they liked me, I had a real chance at making friends, and there was nothing that was going to stop me from grabbing that opportunity with both hands. I now have two best friends AND an ol man. If I had gone back to hanging out by myself and doing what I always did, I wouldn’t have everything that I have now.”

I look at Tuesday as she stares into my eyes, as if she needs to communicate her message without words, even though her words hit the bullseye. She raises her eyebrows before her gaze flits away again.

“Thank you, Tuesday.” I stand and walk to my car, removing some things I had packed.

“Shit, I didn’t think that was going to work.” Tuesday’s comment pulls a chuckle from me. “So, you’re staying then?” I turn to look at the quirky, loving woman on my steps.

“I’m not leaving. But I do need to spend a weekend in nature to think and center myself again.”

I can see her thinking about this before she nods abruptly. “Yes. Nature is your version of my closet. I will make sure Gus is ok while you’re away. I’ll tell him it’s only for a short time and you will be back.”

She stands and strides toward her cabin with purpose before tripping and then spinning back to me.

“I would miss you if you left. So, maybe don’t do that.”

“Thank you, Dayz.” She tilts her head at me, a slight pinch between her brows, before shrugging, then turns to head into her cabin, gently closing the bright yellow door behind her.

I know I should head home, and I will, just not right now. I need to figure out a way to fix things with Ana, and I have nothing. What I do have is a beer in front of me, sitting on the bartop of the DRMC clubhouse, dripping in condensation and I havent taken one sip. Instead I have picked the bulk of the label off and left it in little pieces on the bartop.

“Ok. I get why the fuck your brothers are still here. Jules is with Fox and Nitro, doing whatever debauched shit they get up to. Tav is, well, I actually never know why Tav is here.” Marx looks thoughtful for a moment.

“I just put it down to being the youngest. He doesn’t do well alone. And I think he enjoys spending time with guys who don’t rag on him like me and Jules do.” I shrug.

“I thought Chewy’s the youngest?”

“She is. I mean, I love my baby sister, more than anything, but we all know she doesn’t fit into the usual birth order psychology.”

“Or any other psychology, for that matter,” I hear Marx mumble out. I snort under my breath. He may grumble about Dayz, but I know for a fact he loves her like a little sister.

“Anyway, that still doesn’t answer my question. Why the hell is your big ass sitting at my bar looking like someone kicked your puppy?” Marx rasps out. I let out a sigh, running my hand over my face.

“Ana -”

“Ah, say no more. She’s skittish, that one.” Marx taps twice on the bar and a beer magically appears.

“How did you know?” He takes a pull of his beer, raising his thick dark eyebrow at me like I’m an idiot, before swallowing and thumping his beer down on the bar.

“You can smell it on her. Yeah, she comes across as in control, efficient, take no shit. But, if you look past that, there’s a little girl always waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“And that, Marx, is the problem. How do I convince her that short of dying, I’ll always be with her? I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

He looks thoughtful for a moment, then the front door bangs open and both of us swivel to see Roman standing in the doorway, fixing his cufflinks, oddly flanked by Savage and Dex. He looks up at us with a bored look on his face before stepping into the room.

“Ah, just the gentlemen I needed to see.”

“Ah, fuck. If this prick has turned up, we got bigger problems than I thought.” Marx grumbles out before hefting his bulk off his bar stool and tipping his head toward church, instead of his office, although given the size of Marx, myself, Roman, Savage and Dex, his office may have been a little closer than we all would have liked. I mean, I get along well with these guys, but I don’t want to share a leather couch pressed up against any of them.

“Take a seat and tell me what new shit storm is about to hit.” Marx gestures at us as he flops down into the Pres chair at the head of the table.

I watch Roman look around at us all before his eyes land on me for a beat too long before he turns back to Marx.

“As we all know, Hammer has been quite the thorn in our sides, what with trying to kill you all.” Roman waves his hand toward us all and I see Marx’s jaw clench beneath his impressive beard. “And fucking with my shipments, which until this evening was a minor annoyance that I could handle.”

“What happened this evening? Wait, where the fuck is Ana? She was meant to meet you two there,” I point at Savage and Dex.

“Ana is safe, Gus. I sent her home before anything big went down,” Roman says, holding my eye contact. He’s a scary bastard and I’m never too sure whether you can truly trust him, but I know he loves Ana and if he says she’s safe, then I know I can take his word for it. I give him a nod to continue. “This evening it was brought to my attention that two greedy motherfuckers struck up a friendship of sorts to destroy us all.” He rests his hands on the table, fingers spread, the knuckles crusted over with blood.

“So you found your rat then?” I ask him, knowing that Ana will be relieved.

“I did. It was a big fucking rat with no loyalty and a hatred for my marriage.” Roman is a cold-hearted bastard. I know this. He’s the type of man that you don’t want to meet in a dark alley. Whoever the rat is, hurt him. Not physically, but I’m guessing they’re close, trusted. And whatever was said about Roman’s marriage to Sasha has hit a sore point with him. Fuck. I don’t really want to know, but if it’s someone high up, Ana will be devastated.

“Who?” I lean forward and notice that my breath has hitched, waiting for Roman to answer. Surprisingly, it’s Dex that breaks the silence.

“Ivan,” My heads whips to look at him, fuck. This is bad.

“Ivan? Ana’s friend? That big, dark-haired bastard? He always struck me as pretty solid. Why the fuck would he buddy up with Hammer?” Marx asks the room, as confused as I am.

Savage and Dex share a look that doesn’t go unnoticed by Marx, who leans forward, glaring at the pair.

Dex clears his throat. “Ivan is my estranged brother. He’s 10 years older than me. We share the same father, different mothers. He’s hated me my whole life. Tried killing me on a couple of occasions when I was a kid, and then about 20 years ago he just up and left. Haven’t seen or heard from him since. Until tonight.”

“Well, fuck,”

Roman nods in agreement. “Exactly what I thought.”

“So, what? Hammer and Ivan form an alliance. Hammer gets rid of the Death Riders, taking out DRMC in the process. Then Ivan pays him in drugs and weapons from your stocks?” Marx asks, leaning back in his chair. “Doesn’t sound like it’s worth the trouble on Hammer’s end. Especially with the number of nomads we’ve gotten rid of.”

“That alone isn’t. But when I clipped Kovalev’s wings, and we shut down his skin trade, it would seem that Hammer and Ivan stepped in to take over the gap in the market.”

“That’s not all,” Savage speaks up, his fists clenching and unclenching. “The girls they’re selling, they’re making them smuggle Roman’s drugs inside their bodies.”

I expect a big show of anger from Marx. Usually, he’d yell or throw something. Instead, he drops his chin to his chest, rubbing his hands over his face a couple of times while cursing under his breath.

“How do we put a stop to this?” He looks at the men around the table, waiting for someone, anyone, to have a plan.

“Ivan has been dispatched already. We only need to deal with Hammer and his MC.” Roman says, his face as stoic as ever, not giving away the fact that this evening he killed one of his most trusted men.

Dex clears his throat. “I’d also like to try to find as many of those girls as we can. I know it’ll be a fucking impossible task, but I have to undo the shit my brother has done to them.”

Marx nods his head in agreement. “Fuck yes. Goes without saying. You’ll have Wire, Chewy and Remy at your disposal.”

“You have Tombs Security as well. Whatever you need that may help, let us know.” I let all the men know, because shit, this isn’t something any of us can let slide.

Roman stands as he claps his hands together. “I will clean my house of Ivan’s filth, and my scientists will track all traces of my drugs. Perhaps we’ll be able to get a lock on where some of these girls may be. Thank you men, I knew this would be a beneficial meeting.” Without a word or even a look back, he exits church, whistling as if he doesn’t have a care in the world.

“I really hate that guy,” Marx says to no one in particular, causing us to chuckle.

“Ok, there’s not a lot we can do right at this minute. Savage, you and your men head home to your families. I’ll let Wire and Chewy know what we’re looking for. Let’s agree to both work on finding that Hammer motherfucker. I’m looking forward to handing his ass over to Chewy, if I’m being honest.”

“She’s a scary woman,” Savage says, before darting his eyes at me “No offense man,”

“None taken. You haven’t even seen her at her worst. Or best. Although there’s not much in it either way.” Savage lets out a snort before he and Dex stand to leave, fist bumping me and Marx on their way out. Marx waits until both men are out of earshot before speaking again.

“We got a lot more shit coming our way,”

“Yup.”

“I know you offered your help, but if you wanna cut out on this one, you can. This time might not be like last time with Kraykowski and the rest. This time, we may have to do some nasty shit.” Marx’s dark eyes hold mine. I know he’s giving me an out.

The shit that we went through together last time was a necessity. It involved my sister. This time … this isn’t something I’m going to walk away from. Those girls? Those are other people’s sisters, daughters, wives and mothers.

“Listen man, I get it. But you need to get that earlier on in the week we were out there shooting nomads with the rest of you. Not to mention I’ve spent the last few years cleaning up my sisters ‘messes’. I think the time to get out has long since passed.”

A grin stretches across Marx’s face. “Yeah, I guess you got a point there, man. I can’t interest you in a patch, can I?”

I huff out a laugh. “Nah. Not for me. Ask Tav maybe, he’s always liked wearing matching outfits,” I throw back my head and laugh while Marx gives me the finger and tells me to “Fuck off”.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going. I’ve got a woman to check on. She’s going to be devastated over Ivan.”

He nods “Let her know we all got her back.”

“Will do. Thanks, Marx.”

I head out to my SUV and on the drive home think of all the things I can do to help Ana. I could call Debs, but from Pops’ text to “Leave them the fuck alone” I know that it’ll be less painful to just try to nut this one out myself. At the last minute, I pull into the grocery store to pick up ice cream. Once me and my 6 flavors of ice cream are loaded up, I drive home and prepare myself for a grovel.

Pulling into my drive, I see Dayz and Rhodie sitting on my porch swing, Rhodie’s long legs swaying it back and forth while Dayz’s legs are swinging in the air, too short to reach the floor.

“Ah, hey guys. You know I love you both, but can you clear off my porch?”

“Nope. We are here to comfort you.” Dayz says, not even looking at me.

“Um, ok. Thanks for that. I need you to comfort me. Why?”

“Oh, because Ana left. She’s gone.” Dayz says, shrugging her shoulders, like it’s an everyday occurrence. I blink once, then twice, trying to take in what the fuck is happening.

“Dayz, I know this isn’t in your wheelhouse, but can you please back up a little and tell me again what the fuck is going on?” I take a couple of deep breaths to center myself.

“Ana was upset when she came home earlier. I caught her packing up all her stuff. We had a very good chat. About feelings. Then she left.”

“Not sure where she went, Gus, but maybe Roman will know. They’re close.” Rhodie says, and thank fuck for him because love her as I do, Dayz is goddamn useless at times.

“Yeah, good thinking. Thanks man, I’ll call him now.”

“Oh yeah, by. The. Way…” Dayz words start slowing and slurring a little as Rhodie drops kisses on her bare shoulder “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you later,” It’s nice they love each other but I’m not in the mood to watch them make out when my Wife is off somewhere else. I squint at Rhodie and then tip my head for them to go home.

Dialling Roman’s number as I watch Rhodie pull my sister up off the porch swing, slapping his big hand on my shoulder, squeezing it before leading Dayz back to her place.

“Ah August, I wondered when I was going to hear from you,” Roman’s accented voice croons down the line.

“Where is she Roman?”

“Where is who?”

Taking a deep breath, I try not to unload a barrage of curse words down the line at him, knowing full well if I did, he’d be an asshole and not tell me what I need to know.

“Where is my wife Roman? I need to make sure she’s OK.” I hold my breath and I’m sure I can hear Sasha in the background.

“Fine. She’s staying in the small forest block I own. It’s a 2 hour drive from here,”

Of course, he owns a fucking forest. Checking my watch, if I get on the road now, I’ll be able to be with her before midnight.

“Thank you, Roman! I owe you o-”

“Gus? It’s a 6 hour hike from the road. You’d be better off packing up tonight and walking in tomorrow when it’s light. Oh, and take a tent. Knowing her, she would have taken her one-man tent. I’ll send you the coordinates. Have fun, drook.” I’m sure I hear the fucker snort before he hangs up on me. I look at the phone in my hand for a moment before letting out a breath and doing exactly what Roman told me to do. I ready all the shit I took camping last time, get into bed, and set the alarm for first light. Buckle up baby, I’m coming for you, and when I find you I’m going to put you over my knee and pinken that fine ass because you fucking hiked 6 hours in the dark to god knows where.