Chapter 19

Nineteen

MAXIMILLIAN

“So it’s official, then?” Markus struts to the fireplace in my office, hands behind his back like he’s won some victory.

“Yeah. We signed the certificate at the courthouse just now.” I place my parents’ wills back in their file and kick my feet up. Livia was right. The added section discussed their secret plans to overthrow Strauss by combining our families. Donovan, Freidenberg, and Von Dovish joining to dethrone him from power with a three-vote majority in the senate. Our families, despite their ingrained generational hatred, had become weary allies, then friends. Their secret meetings disguised as having us play together were part of their strategy for peace.

“Congratulations. I think the pairing is a good one. Arianna⁠—”

“Is not going to marry Ace. I won’t let that happen. He’d just torture her or some shit.” Brushing a hand through my hair, I consider what would be most likely. “Maybe give her syphilis.”

Widening his palms with a question, he shakes his head. “Max… if she doesn’t, who will she marry? Strauss?”

“No! She can remain single until⁠—”

“I’m an adult, and I will choose who I want to be with, Max,” Arianna says as she strolls into my office unannounced. When she stops, she perches a hip on the front of the cherry wood desk, her little pink dress riding up, too short for my liking.

It’s not even worth arguing about. She will marry someone, and it won’t be some mechanic with a bad attitude. “That’s not how things work around here, Ari, and you know that,” I murmur, trying to pretend to busy myself with paperwork on the desk.

Jakob peeks his head inside the door my sister left open. “Sir, a Miss Hannah Smith is at the gate, asking for you.” His face is slightly less grim from the dark grief he held there for the last few weeks.

“Hannah? Oh! Hannah. Derichs’s girl.” Oh no. Dread fills my heart as I have to face the person I least want to after losing my true friend. But it’s necessary, and I invited her to come.

“Yes, sir. Should I⁠—”

“Let her in. I’ll meet her in the parlor. Where’s my wife?” Scanning my crew’s blank faces, no one answers me.

“I’m right here, lion.” Livia enters from the basement door. Her little hand slides across my back, and I wrap an arm around her, kissing the top of her head. Her skin and hair are damp.

“You’ve been dancing?” She nods, then lifts onto her toes to suction her lips to mine.

“Good.” We set up a studio area just for her practice. It’s not finished yet, but it’ll get there. Sometimes I sit in the corner and watch in awe at the way her body moves. But, of course, that doesn’t last long before I take her against the barre.

“I’ll meet her with you. Let me just clean up real quick. Ari, can I borrow your face wash?” She grabs my sister by the hand and leads her out of the office. I know she’s using that as an excuse to gossip about strategy to get me to change my mind about that prick, Wyatt, and it’s not going to work. I’ll make sure of that. She’s still very young and has plenty of time to marry someone appropriate.

Before I give that too much thought, I prepare myself for the pain of meeting Hannah. A small family room adjoins the study, which is more of a library with a large TV and games table. A second entrance from the foyer makes it a convenient place to meet guests. As I pour myself a scotch from the small wooden bar along the back wall, I try not to get emotional thinking about my toast with Derichs. Mrs. Kroft scuttles in and places a tray of cut sandwiches with a bowl of sliced fruit on the coffee table, then slips out of the door she entered from without a fuss.

“Miss Hannah Smith, sir.” Fritz stands aside and allows a small blonde woman to enter. Her eyes are wide as she takes in the room filled with rich, tobacco-colored bookcases that line the walls. The furniture is soft red leather, tufted, and well-worn, sitting on rugs that have been restored, but still show their ancient age. I remember playing board games with my parents here. Listening to jazz on the record player while Papa poured a gentle glass for himself, and Mama would dance with me. It’s my favorite room in the manor.

Does she know I caused his death being such a shit leader? Will she be disgusted with me? And who could blame her if she is?

“Welcome, Hannah. Can I pour you a drink?” I ask from the raised platform circling the back of the room. It leads to a small conservatory filled with plants, where Fritz spends most of his days.

“N-no, thank you, Mr. Freidenberg.” She twists her fingers together, then fiddles with her purse. Her frame is petite, fragile. I can picture her and my cousin together well, and that makes my heart hurt even more.

“Oh, no. Call me Max. Derichs was more than a soldier. He was my friend.” Motioning to the loveseat with a wave of my hand, she sits. “Food? Water? Anything.”

Blonde curls vibrate as she shakes her head rapidly. “No, thank you. Beautiful place. He said it was.”

Reclining back into the sofa, I consider my words carefully. I’m never one to shirk my responsibilities, and it’s time I got this over with. “I’m sure you’re angry with me⁠—”

“What? No, not at all.” Pink lips part on an audible gasp as she answers.

“But… I’m the one responsible⁠—”

Hannah places a small hand on my knee. Her blue eyes are wet as she peers at me from across the space between us. “No, Mister… Max. You helped Adal so much. Before he met you, he was lost. His legacy was to serve the Freidenbergs. It’s all he ever wanted. He loved you. He loved his home, his people. He wanted to help. Adal knew the risks. It’s why he refused to let me move here. I came here to meet you, his friend. I know how much he admired and respected you.”

Now I am the one with tears in my eyes. Livia slips in through the office doors, and I clear my throat, then shirk away a tear with the pad of my thumb.

“Hannah, it’s so good to meet you.” Livia walks to her and sticks out her hand, but Hannah stands and the two briefly embrace.

“I’m hugging a lot more people nowadays. It’s important,” Hannah says. The two women sit together on the loveseat.

“Adal meant a lot to me. He was a good friend,” Livia says.

She smiles. “Yeah, he mentioned your adventures. He was so excited the night he got to order room service.” Her hand moves to her stomach, and my eyes follow.

An uneasiness sets in my core at the motion, and I feel nauseated, but I have to know. “Um, forgive me. Are you, uh…”

Her smile broadens. “Yes. I’m carrying his child. He knew. He was so happy, but I told him not to tell anyone until I made it to the second trimester.”

My chest tightens. He had a child on the way… Fuck. The pain becomes unbearable once again. Livia’s tears spill over her cheeks.

“Um…” I pause, trying to maintain some composure, but breathing is difficult. “I’m taking care of you and the baby. For the rest of your lives. Whatever Adal would make is yours.”

“Oh, no, Max. That’s not why I came⁠—”

“I know it’s not. But, please. I need to do this. For him. For his child and his legacy. You will always have a home here, as will your child. Whatever you need, you come to me first, okay?”

Her mouth tightens into a line as she nods slowly. “Thank you. That was unexpected and… Thank you.”

“Do you have anyone to help?” Livia squeezes Hannah’s hand in her lap.

“Oh, yes. My family is in Drussville with me. I moved back in with my parents. My younger sister is excited for her niece or nephew to arrive.”

As if the walls are invisible, I spread out my hand to showcase the lands. “Well, as I said, if you want, we have plenty of cottages here on the grounds. I’ll be happy to settle you into your own home anytime.”

She shakes her head. “Thank you, but Adal wouldn’t have wanted me here. I feel bad even visiting, but I did want to meet you. Both.” Livia puts her arm around her shoulders.

After chatting about some of our favorite memories with Derichs, I have Markus arrange to get her set up with a special account we can deposit funds into. When we bid her farewell, Livia stands with me in the foyer and wraps an arm around my waist.

“I love you, Max. You’re a good man.”

“Sometimes.” Leaning down, I capture my wife’s lips in a warm kiss. Hopefully, the construction of our new main bedroom is finished by the evening. We’ve been staying in my childhood bedroom for the last two weeks since we had our ceremony. It started off with a bunch of naughty teenage fantasies, but now it’s kind of weird. We need a room that’s just us. And Livia got over the cowboys on the walls days ago.

“Cal wants to meet for dinner to discuss the rebuilding plans.”

A shiny plastic bandage peeks out of the deep arm of my wife’s loose tank top. “What is that?” Grasping her shirt, I pull it up as she tries to stop me.

“Max! Stop!” She grabs my hand, then tugs me toward the hall bathroom. “Come here.” Pressing my lower body into her, I gather the fabric and lift up to reveal her bare chest.

On her ribcage, where once was a lone fox, is now a bear tattoo, the two animals combined. She’s truly mine. The sadness from the last few weeks seems to dissipate the longer I stare at it.

“You got a bear.”

She nods with a slow smile creeping onto her face. “Yeah. To go with my fox.”

Seeing that ink, those lines and marks on her skin… it means she’s made a choice. She trusts me enough to become a Freidenberg. To be part of my people. The west and the east are combining forces. It had been just me trying to take back what’s mine, and now I have two-thirds of this city behind me to take over from Strauss. We can win.

“I love you, my foxy bear.” Seizing her pert ass cheeks in my hands, I lift her onto the sink counter, pressing my body into hers, needing to touch her all over. Tilting her head to the side, I nibble down the column of her neck as she shivers.

“I love you, Max, but we need to go,” she whispers.

“Nah… Cal can wait. And we didn’t get our honeymoon yet.”

“We should go…” The words she says don’t match her fingers, which are unzipping my jeans and sliding them down my legs, along with my boxers. She hops off the counter and spins around. Her own pants drop while I chuckle a breath in her ear at her hurry. Her hands dance behind her and find my hard cock. As she lines herself up, I grab one of her soft breasts in each of my hands. “Oh, god!” she yells as I enter her.

“Fuck! Your cunt feels so good.” Watching my wife in the mirror above the sink, her face flushes red as her pussy engulfs me. Without wasting any time, she starts springing off me, her ass bouncing against my abs, jiggling as if it’s calling to me. I swat it, leaving a red handprint. “Are you using my dick, foxy? Using me like a toy?”

“Y-yes,” she moans. “I told you I’d fuck you.”

With each backstroke, her pussy clutches onto me like it won’t let me leave. Standing still so she can grasp her pleasure, I reach a couple of fingers around her smooth hip to stroke her clit. My lips meet the crook of her neck and suck it in, her familiar amber scent filling my nose. She trembles in my arms and her legs shake, so I hold her tighter, taking over the work with a deep, steady rhythm. Just how she likes it.

Raising my mouth to her ear, I whisper, “Come for me, my little fox. Come for your lion, your husband. I want to watch you unravel in the mirror.” Shifting my eyes to the glass, I see her face screw up as she howls at the peak of her orgasm. Giving her one long, hard thrust, I let her tense around me.

“Now, be a good girl and let me fuck that tight ass.”

Livia’s mouth opens as she inhales quickly, the sensation tightening on my dick. Reaching over her to the medicine cabinet, I find some baby oil and drizzle it on her backside. Taking first one finger and rubbing around the area, I add a second and push inside her as she jolts forward.

“Max…”

“You trust me?”

Livia bites her lip and nods. Fucking her ass with two fingers, I continue to slide in and out of her pussy. She moans and pushes back against me until I can add a third finger. Her back arches as she takes it.

“Baby, I love you… Let me show you how much by filling your ass. Claiming all your body with mine.” Grabbing her hips, I slide out and then press the head of my cock against her tightly puckered hole. She groans as I thrust my hips forward, slowly entering her.

“Wait… wait.” Pants come from her mouth as I continue to edge inside. It’s hotter here than anywhere in her body. She fits my dick like a glove.

“My cock is meant to be inside you.”

Curving her ass back into me, I’m able to fit all the way in. Her head drops forward with a whimper as I control her body. Rapidly shifting my hips, I fuck her while pulling her toward me so I can fit all the way in with every stroke.

“Damn, foxy. Your ass is something else. I’m gonna fill it with my cum. You ready?”

“Max… Not inside.”

“Shit. Shit, Livia…” It’s too late. My cock spurts cum inside her ass, pulsating waves of my pleasure deep inside her. As I try to pull back, her tight ring only forces more inside her until everything oozes out between her cheeks. “Fuck, baby, I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop.”

In the mirror, I see her lips raise into a smile. “It’s fine, it just… feels weird.”

Our lips find each other’s in a tender caress. Panting breaths into her mouth, I tell her, “Fuck, I love being married to you.” She reaches a hand to stroke my face and the scruff that’s accumulated there along my jaw.

“I love being married to you.”

Pulling up her panties and jeans, I help her get dressed. “The thought of you eating dinner with my cum up your ass is making me hard again, you dirty slut.” She gasps, and I spank her ass hard. “Let’s go before I fuck you again.”

Over the last few days, we’ve made love so much, I barely have any supply left. A quickie was necessary, though. Better than spending an awkward dinner at her brother’s with a painfully full erection. Now, I’m only about half-mast.

When we arrive at the Von Dovish estate, I’m greeted like a king now, instead of something the cat dragged in. Giles quietly resents me instead of overtly trying to annoy the shit out of me. My place is apparently near the head of the table, as he waves a suited arm toward the chair near Cal.

Before I can make a move, Cal grabs me in a giant hug. “Brothers. We’re truly brothers now.”

Involuntarily, my mouth curls into a smile. “Yeah, we are. Sit down, you sap. I’m starving.”

He laughs, then calls for dinner. Livia sits next to me, and I pull her hand into my lap. There’s not a moment I can live without touching her.

“How’re the finances there on East Side?” Cal asks me.

“We’re… okay. But we may need some help with the motorcycle shop rebuild.”

“No question. I got you covered.” He swipes on his phone and texts someone, his thumbs blazing over the keyboard on his screen. “It’s done. I’ll have the money wired to you in the morning when the banks open. Do you need workers?” The butler brings him a bottle of champagne, and he approves it with a nod. Giles pours us all a toasting flute.

“Uh, no. I think it would be best if the people of East Side rebuild it.”

Cal nods. “That makes sense. This will be a weird transition for everyone in the west and east. We’re family now.” He clears his throat as we each raise a glass. “To my sister, Livia, and my new brother, Max. I wish you a long and happy marriage.” Tapping glasses, we all take a sip.

His offers are generous, expected even, but I worry about owing him things. “I have to pay you back. Let me give you some guns⁠—”

“No, absolutely not.” Cal shakes his head.

“Cal, come on. Be reasonable,” my wife interrupts, and I squeeze her hand resting on my thigh.

“I am being reasonable. I want to keep West Side as far away from the weapons and war as we can.”

“Pretty soon, we may not have a choice,” I tell him.

Cal takes a spoonful of his soup. Quietly, almost disturbingly, he says, “I’m focused on other things.”

“Oh? Like what?” Livia snaps at him.

“I would like to celebrate my sister’s marriage. Let’s just enjoy a meal.”

We all stare at our bowls for a moment. He’s right. I don’t think Cal will budge on this. But I’m not going to stop West Side from buying our weapons. The more armed the citizenry, the better our chances against Strauss if he decides to hold an anniversary of the Raging Bull. If Cal doesn’t want to be involved, then he doesn’t need to know.

Livia looks on the verge of an argument, but I thread my fingers through hers and give her a look. I’ll back her play, but it’s our brother. Peace and his alliance are more important than anything.

“Is it lonely here without me?” Livia changes the subject with a strained grimace.

Cal’s face brightens a bit. “Well, you were never home anyway. But, yeah...” Grabbing a roll from the basket, he breaks it in half. “Feel free to use the dance studio whenever.”

Livia’s eyes crinkle as she smiles at me. “Max put one in for me at the manor… but I’ll be back to visit. I can’t stay away from my big brother.”

“And we expect you anytime, Cal. Our home is yours,” I say. Cal nods, but his thoughts seem faraway.

“Thanks. Appreciate it. I’ve been pretty busy with work lately, but yeah. We should make family dinners weekly or so.”

The rest of the dinner is peaceful, focused on the meal and cake that the Von Dovish chef made for us. We relax in the living room together to watch a movie before Livia and I decide to head home. Hanging out, doing something so perfectly peaceful, under a blanket, no less, made my cock grow to its full capacity. Being that close to my wife, her head resting on my shoulder, leg thrown over my own, it was enough to just about make me fuck her in front of her brother. But alas, I restrained myself.

As we say goodbye to Cal, Livia slips her arm around my waist while I throw one over her shoulders. She leans into me as we stroll to the Barracuda together. “I’ll convince him. He has to get on board, or we’re all dead now that he doesn’t have gates… or guards,” she says with a careful look my way.

“Foxy, let’s just leave it for now. He’s our brother. If Wyatt and his club sells over here, I’m not going to stop them. Cal hasn’t said anything about that so far. Hopefully, he won’t.”

Heading across town, I notice a Mercedes tailing a few cars back. I don’t want to worry Livia, so I grab my phone and dial Skipper, my hacker.

“Hey. You got eyes right now?”

My wife sits up straight in her seat and glances behind us.

Skipper’s melodic voice rings out, “Yes. Not sure who it is, though. They have a block on my feed, which means it’s probably Strauss. I can guide you. Let me turn some of those lights green for you.”

Immediately, the light I’m sitting at changes, and I press the gas pedal all the way down. “Get me to the highway. I can take them there.”

“Left.”

Tossing my phone at Livia, she catches it with one hand and puts it on speaker, grabbing onto the handle of the door as I spin the wheel. We make a sharp turn, but the Mercedes catches up easily.

“Two streets up and take a right.”

Focusing on Skipper’s steady voice, I will myself to calm down. He’s not fazed by anything. Meanwhile, my heart rate climbs steadily as sweat pours from my forehead. Gripping the steering wheel tighter, I follow his instructions.

“They’re still there,” I say through gritted teeth.

“Quick right as soon as you can, then straight for three and a left.”

“In this alley?” I almost panic yell.

“Yes. Go now.”

Squeezing the front of the car between buildings, I gun the engine, pushing my girl as fast as she’ll go. Flying through gears, my breath catches when I have to slam on the brakes at the end of the alley. Another Mercedes blocks the exit. Two men stand beside it with guns pointed at us. The other black car pulls in behind us, its bright headlights bathing the interior of the Barracuda in blinding white. Livia grips onto everything she can in the car with strained fingers.

“Max! We’re trapped.” Her voice is breathless, the sound of her fear tightening my chest.

“I’m getting Aries in position, Max. Hang on.” Skipper comes through the phone as I swallow deeply, my constricted throat almost causing me to choke. The guy in front of us motions with his hand to raise ours, but I think about my gun sitting in my hip holster. How fast can I reach and shoot?

“I don’t have time for that, Skip.” Instead of waiting, I take off. Shots ring through the glass, fracturing it into a billion spectrums of light. The guys jump out of the way as I crash into the side of the Mercedes at the end of the alley. It moves sideways, but not enough for us to get through. Backing up, I ram into the one behind us, but when I turn to look at where I’m going, Livia slouches, clutching her arm.

“D-did you get hit?” My voice is fully panicked now. I can’t lose her.

Her wet eyes meet mine, and everything in my world shatters. “Max… Keep going.”

“No! Foxy! Keep your fucking eyes on me, baby.” Tears blind my vision, and I blink rapidly to clear it. “Don’t close your eyes. Do not close your eyes. You look at me.” I snatch her face between my hands and force her attention on my face. Her tears spill over onto her cheeks.

“Lion…”

Another two bullets graze through the glass in the back and one in the front. The front of the Barracuda is smoking, smashed in. The tire is bent, I can feel it. My wife. My wife… My world.

Throwing my body across the seat, I shield her. “You’re going to be okay, baby. Stay with me.” Heat rises in my back as a sharp pain infiltrates my coat. “Fuck! I got hit!”

Before I can react, my door is thrown open and someone yanks me out by my ankles. My hands grasp at Livia, but the men toss me to the ground. One of my arms is useless, and I’m unable to protect my face as I hit the pavement. Livia slumps in her seat, utter shock and terror covering her face like a mask.

“I love you, Livia!” I yell before they drag me away. Each man has hold of an arm, the pain ripping through my torso in pulsating waves of agony. My gun is snatched from my holster and my knife ripped from my belt.

They aren’t going after my wife. Our eyes never part from each other’s, holding the tie that binds us together. I’m never letting go. Just before I’m pitched into the back of the damaged Mercedes like a sack of flour, her lids close slowly. “I-I can’t see! Livia! I can’t see!” I scream. The overwhelming terror that she’s broken our bond by dying feels worse than any shot I could take. “Please, Livia! I can’t see your eyes! I can’t see!”

The two men in the car behind her advance toward the Barracuda, but I watch as each of their heads snaps backward, racked with a hole in the middle. Aries, my spy…

“Shit, move,” one of my captors says to the other. I’m chucked inside the back seat, groaning in torment as my shoulder hits the other door. The bullet isn’t too far in, if at all, but the hit burns. Doors slam and we jet off down the rain covered roads of Gnarled Pine.

If Livia lives… I’ll be okay.

If she dies, I’ll stay alive long enough to burn down this whole fucking city.

Lifting my arm makes the pain shoot down my nerves like fire, but I’m determined to throw myself from the moving car. Wherever these guys are taking me can’t be good.

“He’s moving back there,” the driver says to the passenger. Before I can snag the door handle and pull, the gaunt man, who has two deep scars slashed across his face, reaches around, and punches me. His red tattooed hand pulls back enough times that I memorize it… a bull. Two more hits to the temple and the sear in my shoulder, the throbbing in my head fades away. The devastating agony of losing my wife is all that remains as I drift from consciousness.

“Where are the weapons, Mr. Freidenberg?”

Pain is all I know as I become aware of my own existence. Sheer, utter anguish lives everywhere. Have I been set on fire? There’s a loud rumbling, some humming in my ears that’s almost deafening.

“The weapons. Where are they?”

A momentary release from the burning allows me to wake up more, but the reverberating groans lull on… It’s me. I’m making those sounds. Like a living, breathing entity embedded deep inside of me, the pain returns with a surging force. All I want to do is move into a more comfortable position, as if there is such a thing, but I’m bound.

“Mr. Freidenberg. You disappoint me.” Sharp stabs lash my back. Blinking, I take in my surroundings. Stone walls, weeping with moisture. My head and arms are locked within a black wooden stockade. Straps cross my feet, holding me to the base. Involuntarily, my naked body shivers with cold and the shock of pain.

“What?” My voice halts its moans to edge out the question.

“What? I told you not to bind yourself to another family, and you went and did it anyway. I told you to keep your businesses clean. And yet, they’re distributing weapons. And then you go and wreck those iron gates… I liked them. Oh, and my men, of course, too, I suppose. I’m disappointed in you for disobeying your master.”

Strauss. I recognize the way he makes his ‘t’ sounds like those of his old country.

“You’re not my master,” I say.

The rip in my skin that comes after takes my breath away. There’s no air for me to cry out, so my mouth opens in soundless suffering.

“I’m everyone’s master. Didn’t you know?” I can’t see him, but his voice resounds from behind me. Obviously, he’s using a whip, perhaps with something attached, as I feel my back being shredded, muscles and sinew exposed without any protection.

“You killed Derichs. You will die,” I somehow manage to grit out.

His laugh is as terrifying as the prospect of the next zing of the whip. When it hits, my knees buckle, and my bladder releases itself down my legs. The stings cause my stomach to lurch with nausea. Is it even possible to live with this much pain?

“It’s either you or her.” Strauss shows himself in front of me, grabbing me by the hair to lift my head in a tight grip. Leaning over, his gaunt cheeks poke sharply from his face as his lips lift into a broad smile. “You or Miss Von Dovish must die. That’s my payment. I mean, she will return to a Von Dovish if you’re gone. I’ll make sure of it. And that there are no remnant cubs within her womb.”

“Me. Take me.” Gathering up what’s in the back of my throat, I launch blood into his face. His eyes crinkle into a smile as his tongue laps up some of my saliva that landed on his mouth.

“Unless…” He’s so close I can see the twitch in the muscles of his face as his grin falters. “Unless Arianna will agree to marry me.”

“Kill me.” As soon as I let the words fly, I regret them. Because if I’m gone, who will protect my wife and sister? Jakob? Calum? Markus? No. There’s no one. I have to get out of here.

But how?