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Chapter 7

Seven

MAXIMILLIAN

“Fucking bitch!” My rumbling yell meets a shield of silence as she’s already escaped. That fucking hurt. Just like when we were kids.

Jumping in my Barracuda, I head toward the manor with the headlights off the whole way. Once we arrive at the gates, Derichs stirs in the seat next to me and eyes the gatekeeper, who’s strapped with a rifle. Leaning into the driver’s window, John’s eyes dart around the area before landing on me. He’s on high alert, as he should be, given that I just killed several of Strauss’s men.

“Hey, John. Any trouble?”

John shakes his head and waves me inside, shutting the gates behind us.

“I should get home,” Derichs says with a strained voice, trying to sit up.

“Nonsense. You’re staying here for a while. That girl of yours, would she want to stay with us, too?”

His body slumps back into the leather seat, an arm splayed across the ridge of the window. “N-no. She’s from out of town. I don’t want her here.”

It’s completely understandable. Moving to Gnarled Pines is a death wish. One I was willing to make when I came back, but I certainly don’t wish it on Arianna, which is why I plan to keep her locked in the house with Jakob until I can get our properties back. And kill Strauss.

Markus and Jakob come out of the front door when I turn off the engine. Jakob’s huge body lumbers at a speed I wouldn’t think possible, his bald head gleaming in the moonlight.

“What did you do?” Markus looks as if he hasn’t slept in days, and he probably hasn’t. He rubs his hands through his white hair, then stuffs one in his pants, attempting to tuck in his flannel shirt underneath his pooch.

Jakob, ever the stoic soldier, calmly pulls Derichs from the car with an arm under his good shoulder. As he nears the front door, he spots me and nods once before heading inside with his man.

“What had to be done. It was us or them, Markus.” Adrenaline still pumps through my veins. There’s no way I could sleep now. I should clean our guns and reload, prepare for the next fight, which may be sooner than I anticipate. My muscles start to feel every tear in their fibers from the evening’s activities now that I’m on my home territory. From experience, I know it won’t be long before I’ll crash. Markus follows me inside, a few paces behind.

Mrs. Kroft bustles out of her bedroom down the first-floor hall, a flowery robe flowing behind her with spongy pink curlers all over her grayed head of hair. “Mr. Freidenberg, I heated up dinner for you, but it’s gone cold now. There’s warm milk and cookies set out by your bed. But if you want cold cuts, I can place them on the buffet in the dining room.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Kroft. I think the cookies will be fine.”

Trailing me close behind, Markus clears his throat, waiting until we enter the study until he says what he’s obviously desperate to unleash on me.

“Well?” he asks as I empty my pockets onto the desk, then pull out my gun cleaning kit from the bottom drawer. The leather seat creaks loudly as I relax into it, scooting it close to the forest green suede pad laid across the surface.

“Well, what? Things went south. I had to shoot, or… explode our way out. We’re alive.”

Jakob enters the room with a serious expression. But he never has anything different. “Derichs will be fine,” he says in a deep bass. His habitus is such that I’d hate to meet him as an opponent in the ring. The tattoos weaving up his neck to the sides of his head make him even more foreboding than his large shoulders. All the hair on top of his head has migrated to his thick, black eyebrows, which furrow with some concern. “We lost Holland, though. He was a good man.”

“I’m sorry about Holland. We barely made it out, but Von Dovish’s healer helped us. Where was ours, Markus?”

Markus sighs and falls into the faded striped fabric club chair across from me. “She’s new. She hadn’t arrived from out of town in time and got lost on the way.”

Clenching my jaw, I release the irritation with a deep breath through my nose. “Well, she could have cost us a tank.” I eye Jakob. “She could have cost us a cousin.”

Markus leans forward. “I’ll make sure she’s trained up properly. But Max… how do you ever expect to get a meeting with Strauss now?”

Avoiding any skin pinches, I take apart my gun, setting the pieces on the desk pad. Grabbing a cloth, my fingers polish the guide rod mindlessly. “I have to think.”

“There’s not much time to think. We all need to get paid. The workers here will stop or burn the house down if they don’t get their money. Strauss will be looking to slaughter us all after tonight, and we don’t have the weapons to fight back.” Markus shakes his head and pulls off his glasses to clean them. “It wasn’t smart.”

“Oh? Wasn’t smart to keep us alive? What would you have had me do, Markus? Die?”

“No, I just...” Almost stabbing his eye with the arm of his glasses, he swiftly replaces them on his nose and squints his eyes behind me at the picture of my grandfather and father. Papa is holding a baby me in his arms. Our foreboding manor is in the background. In the dimness of the light in the room, Markus’s eyes glisten. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m just worried.”

Deciding to broach the topic that I know will cause a controversy, I clear my throat, then assume my role as master of the manor. “Livia Von Dovish had a proposition.”

“Livia? When did she⁠—”

“It’s no matter. She can get me a meeting with Strauss.”

“Even after tonight?”

I raise my eyebrows. “She says she can.”

“And you believe her.”

Gripping the little nylon tool, I plunge inside the barrel with a little twist at the end. “Yes.”

“You know those Von Dovish are foxes, right? She could be playing you.” Markus pauses, preparing me for an insult. “Are you just thinking with your dick?”

“No. And what other option do I have now?”

Markus stands and paces in the back of the room while Jakob’s dark brown eyes study his movements, his neck twisting the ink there into distorted images. “I don’t like it… But you’re right. I think you need her,” Markus says.

“I don’t need her. I can use her.” And my dick agrees, picturing plunging into her as the wire brush thrusts into the little hole I hold in my hands. And, if I’m being honest, I kind of like having her nearby. Keep your enemies close and all that.

Jakob moves from the wall near the door and sits down in the other club chair, his massive quads spread out as he puts his elbows on his legs. “What does she want in return?” he asks.

I swallow, preparing for an argument. “A third.”

Markus whips around. “A third? Max, come on. Think. A third of the guns to the Von Dovish clan could get nasty. Next, you’ll give a third to Donovan!”

Looking down at my gun pieces, I respond, “I have a suspicion that I can work with Livia. Get her to lessen her percentage.”

Jakob smirks, then nods in understanding. One black eyebrow raises with amusement.

“So, you’re going to give her your massive cock and get her to fall in love with you?” Markus sits down and shakes his head. “You arrogant boy. She’s too independent for that. She’d probably lop it off before she fucked it.”

“I think he can do it,” Jakob says.

“I know I can,” I tell them. Getting Livia to catch feelings wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Markus sighs heavily before asking, “How are you going to contact her?”

“I’m going to visit an old friend.” I smile.

Markus and Jakob eye each other in confusion.

“Welp,” I say, putting my clean Glock back together and sliding in a loaded magazine. “I’m heading to bed. Make sure that new healer stays with Derichs. Kid’s my new favorite. He did good tonight. You trained him well.” On my way out the door, I pat Jakob on the shoulder, and he grins. “Goodnight.”

The next morning, after a hot shower, I stop in on Derichs in the guest wing.

“Hey, man. I’m feeling better.” Derichs wakes from his nap as the new mousy looking healer rises from the chaise lounge in the corner, a thick book sliding off her lap, hitting the floor. Large brown eyes widen as she takes me in. She looks terrified of me.

“No, no. Don’t try to sit up for me,” I tell Derichs when I step inside. “I just wanted to make sure you have everything you need.”

“Max, I feel like I can get up today. I can go with you. Whatever you’re planning, I’m ready.” His arm attempts to hold his body up and scoot toward the edge of the mattress.

A grin spreads across my face. I like that he’s eager to protect me, eager to help our family. “Today’s task is a solo event. It’ll be better if I go alone. And I highly doubt I’ll be in danger, unless Strauss sends out some followers.”

With a dazed smile and glassy eyes, he rests back against his pillows. “Alright. But if you need me, just come get me.”

“No, I want you to rest up. We’ll get a meeting with Strauss soon, and I’ll want you there.”

He nods. “Of course.”

Turning to the healer, I ask, “Your name is Maggie?”

She nods. “Yes, Mr. Freidenberg. I apologize for last night⁠—”

“Just don’t let it happen again. Make sure my boy here is one hundred percent by the end of the week.”

“Yes, sir.” She looks at the ground, her long, brown ponytail falling forward over her tiny shoulder.

The upper hallways have been cleaned, but the wood floors are still warped as the carpenters continue to work on them. When I reach the dining room downstairs, breakfast has been laid on the tall, gilded sideboard. Arianna, Jakob, and Markus sit at the table, already eating. After preparing myself a plate of fresh hen eggs and thick bacon, I take my seat at the head of the table. Everyone is quiet with a tensity in the room coming from some unknown source. Studying the faces surrounding me, I quickly find out where the issue lies.

“Maxi, I’m planning to go out today.” Arianna places her fork on her plate with a loud scrape.

Taking a big bite of my breakfast, I dismissively say, “No, you’re not.”

“Yes, I am. I can’t just stay here all day and night. I’ve got cabin fever.” She sniffs dramatically. “I need the outdoors.”

“You can walk the grounds,” I say, eyeing Jakob, who nods at me as if he’s already told her this.

From the look on her face, I know she isn’t done trying to convince me yet. “I thought I would get Dad’s old motorcycle fixed up.”

My mouth hangs open, a bit of bacon falling to my plate. “What? Since when do you like motorcycles?”

Looking at her plate and, as casually as she can muster, she shrugs. “I’ve been riding since I was sixteen.”

“Huh.” There were years I had been away from her. Times I didn’t know her well because she was in boarding school while I was fighting, working for various organizations, and doing stupid shit to make ends. Maybe I didn’t know my little sister as well as I thought. “You ever own one?”

She shakes her head, her espresso hair shining in the morning light streaming through the windows. “No, but I know how to ride.”

Turning to Jakob, his eyebrows raise, mimicking the surprised look on my face.

“Who taught you?” As far as I know, Arianna is a virgin. She’d never had a boyfriend, and I intend to keep it that way. Was there a boy in her life who showed her how to ride? Is there some guy I don’t know about hanging around her? As if claws are just underneath their surface, my fingers tingle with anticipation of a good fight.

“A friend from school had an older brother who rode. He taught us both.”

“Which friend? Which brother?”

Her eyes roll. “Her name was Scarlett, my roommate from second year. Her brother’s name was TJ. He was much older than us.”

“What’s their last name?” My spies can easily look them up and check into TJ, making sure he didn’t put his much older penis anywhere near my sister.

“Max! Come on!”

Markus pipes in, “Our old motorcycle shop is still standing. We can take your father’s bike there. Jakob and I will go with her, Max. I believe there’re a couple of boys who do repairs in the garage for cash. They aren’t affiliated with any family. We could tell them we’ll be starting it back up, check into if their talents are worth keeping or if we need to run them off.”

Arianna perks up so much that I want to please her. I sigh and ask, “It’s on the east side?”

“Deep into our side of town, yes,” Markus assures me.

“Alright. You can go. Is there an extra tank you can take?” I ask Jakob.

“Yes, sir. I’ve replaced Holland already.”

“Sounds good.”

“So I can go?” Arianna smiles and her entire face lights up as bright as the candelabras in the room.

“Yes, you can go.” Shoving her heavy chair back, she stands quickly and hugs me. “Don’t do anything stupid and obey our men.”

“I will! I will!”

“And Ari? When you get a motorcycle, I expect you to wear a helmet. And you won’t be riding anywhere but around our grounds until things settle down. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, yes. I hear you.” She sits back in her seat with a broad smile still in place. “Thank you, Max.”

“Understand that I will kill any motherfucker who touches you.”

Ignoring me, she picks up a piece of toast and wiggles in her seat in a happy little dance.

Tossing the cloth napkin on my finished plate, the chair legs give some resistance against the thickly tufted rug as I push back from the table and announce my departure. “I gotta go see a man about a meeting.”

Markus speaks up. “You want backup?”

“Nope. I need to do this alone.”

After sliding into my Barracuda, I head directly west across town. Once I hit the technology district, I ease off the gas. Pulling up to an old computer store, I get out, glancing up and down the street. I know eyes are already on me, but my spies should be here as well. The Glock in my holster brings me some comfort.

When I push it open, the door’s electronic chime rings out into the empty store, rows of dusty laptops sitting on metal shelves, waiting for purchase from people who have no money. I haven’t been here since I was a kid, but it hasn’t changed much. Before I can take a step all the way in, a familiar figure greets me from behind the counter.

“Max…” Calum’s face hasn’t changed. His brow still looks eternally worried, the small freckles on his nose reflecting those of his twin’s as it crinkles with his beaming smile. Waves of mousy brown hair pile like a wafted mess on top of his head, and the buzzing fluorescent lights catch a gleam in his green eyes holding back specks of tears. Unlike his sister, he missed me.

Rushing over, he grabs me in a tight embrace, and I hug him back with just as much regard, relaxing in his hold. I didn’t realize I needed it. Maybe I was unsure how I would be greeted by the enemy clan’s leader, but I should have known that Cal would want peace; he always has, trying to settle every fight Ace and I had when we were kids. He’s shorter than me by only a few inches now, his muscles taut and lean, whereas I’m bulky like a bear.

Pushing me back to study my face with his grin, he says, “Brother, it’s good to see you. I wish you’d come earlier, but I’ll take now. Come to my office with me.” Turning, he heads toward the back of the store. He called me brother. Warm childhood memories fill my mind, and I swallow a lump in my throat.

“It’s good to see you, man,” I manage to say once I can.

“I would ask how you’ve been, but given everything, I figure it’s better not to.”

Behind a black curtain is a large open warehouse filled with tall metal shelves. We enter a small cinderblock office with a wall of computer monitors in an alcove off the main floor. Cal sits in a dilapidated desk chair, and I take place on a cushy couch along the wall. Leaning forward, I fill him in a bit on my life.

“Well, after Strauss killed my parents, I started fighting. MMA mainly. Got arrested for deadly assault a couple times until I had to go to prison for twenty-four months. Was working for a small-time mobster in another town, trying to get the funds to get back here.”

Cal nods and sighs. “And Arianna?”

“She’s always been at boarding school. You know my parents were too worried about her being in danger, about Strauss’s men finding her, so they sent her away. After she graduated, she went to a finishing school for a while, but once our parents… She ran away from there to live with me. Worked as an assistant until, well, I had to get her out of there, back to our home.” He doesn’t need to know about her old boss touching her once, then me putting a bullet in his head when she finally confessed what happened. That was the day we packed up for Gnarled Pine Hollow.

“I’m glad you’re home, Max.” The long strands of his hair fall across his creased forehead as he looks down at his lap. When he peers at me again, his bright green eyes glimmer. “But you being back here may cause issues. I know it has already. Last night⁠—”

“Last night was Strauss’s doing. He’s out to end my lineage. You know this.” And I know that despite trying to annihilate my parents for their disobedience and secret meetings, he’ll pretend to be the perfect consort in front of the people by giving me those licenses. Just to try to get me under his control. It won’t work, though.

Quietly, carefully, Cal speaks with narrowed eyes. “How sure are you that it was Strauss who killed your parents?”

A small gasp leaves my mouth. “What do you mean? Who else would it have been? Your father? Donovan?”

Cal shakes his head. “There’re other players than our three families vying for his power, Max.”

“What are you talking about?”

His expression grows wild, as if he’s been sampling the product line he peddles. The irises in his eyes are large, like holes leading to an unknown universe. “Who controls Strauss?”

I scratch my head, then rub a hand over my stubble. Had Cal lost it since I’d been gone? He was always soft. Now he’s talking like some conspiracy theorist. “I-I guess I never thought about that.”

A sudden change comes over him as he settles back in his seat. Maybe the look on my face let him know how crazy I thought he was, but the change in his demeanor into this King of the West is strange. “What brings you over today? I’m glad you’re here, but after last night’s action, I would have thought you’d be in hiding?”

“I can’t afford to hibernate any longer. I need a meeting with Strauss himself. Not one of his lackies. I need to get my businesses back… And my guns.”

Cal’s mouth flattens into a line. “I was afraid you were going to say that. You know I don’t condone weapons usage. I think if we each stay on our sides, he’ll leave us alone.”

“Cal, come on! You know that’s not true! He found my fucking parents, man! He had them killed! People are dying out there. They need protection!”

His eyes soften as he responds, “As I said, I’m not convinced Strauss did it. And I think spreading the guns around will only lead to more death.”

“Be reasonable. He’s the one who has them all now. He can pick us off any time he chooses. We won’t be able to protect the people from him. We won’t be able to protect our families.”

Cal bends over in front of a mini-fridge and digs out a bottle of water. Holding one up, he offers it to me, and I take it from his grasp. Grabbing one for himself, he cracks it open, gulping a large swig. The action gives me pause to lower my temper.

Gently, he pleads with me. “I want you back here, Max. I do. I want you to get your businesses back and to give jobs to these starving people. They need the work. Your family always had a great thing going with the motor industries. But I can’t help you get a meeting to get weapons. I just can’t, Max. I’m sorry.”

This was exactly what I expected he would say. But I wasn’t here to convince Cal to get me a meeting with Strauss. I was here to ask Cal for a meeting with Strauss, knowing he would refuse… The rest of the ruse was already set into place just by me being here. Foxes are easy to snare once you set the right trap.

“I understand. Thanks for hearing me out.”

“Will you come over for dinner sometime? You and Arianna?”

“Yes, definitely. And we’ll have you two, um, both, over once our household is up and running.”

A corner of his lip twitches into a smirk. “She’s not changed much, has she?”

Did I dare tell him his sister’s body has definitely changed? That I want to fuck her whenever I was around her? No. I’d kill him if he said that about Ari. “Her kicks feel the same, I can assure you.”

The laugh that escapes his chest reminds me of all the times we played tag out on the lawn. “Can you hang out?”

“No, I’ve got a lot to do.”

Cal smiles and nods. “Let me walk you out.” Clapping a hand on my back, he leads me to the front of the store. I chug the water, the bottle perspiring in my hand, which I wipe off on my jeans. When it’s emptied, he takes it from me. “Don’t be a stranger. I’m serious.”

“You ever speak with Ace?”

Cal’s face falls. “No. He’s busy with, well, being Ace now.”

I nod. “Surprised he hasn’t lost everything in some gamble.”

“Not yet, anyway.” Cal walks backward from where we came from. “See ya, Max.”

“See ya.”

Inside the car, I gun the engine, heading back toward East Side. Just as I start to wonder how long it will be before my brilliant plan takes hold, a blacked-out Aston Martin Victor pulls up close behind me. There’s my girl. A sexy car for a sexy gal.

Livia weaves her front end around the sides of my car as I pretend not to notice. We race along the road, cars honking and flipping us off as she tries to gain on me by pulling into the opposite lane. Of course, her car is more powerful, but she has to swerve around the other drivers. Eventually, we make it onto a deserted side route, and I gun it to ninety miles per hour, the muscle in my car rumbling loudly. She follows close behind, then overtakes me and slides her beauty sideways as I slam on my brakes to avoid a collision.

The firecracker pops out of her car, wearing black jeans so tight they could be painted on. A low-cut tank top hugs her breasts snugly, the nipple bars poking through. Shit kicker boots ride her feet. She sure knows how to make my dick hard.

Climbing out of my seat slowly, I close the door and lean against my window. “Hello, foxy. Nice whip.”

Livia doesn’t stop and storms straight to me, huge tits bouncing with each step. I really hope she doesn’t wallop my legs again. Maybe I should have worn shin guards. Shoving a finger in my face, she yells, “What the fuck, Max? What the fuck are you doing talking to Cal? You don’t talk with him. You don’t talk to anyone in my family, except for me.”

Showing off my white veneers, I cross my arms. “You seem upset.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Only if you’re there watching me.”

She huffs and stands back, speechless, thrusting her hands on her hips. Her lips scrunch up into a cute pucker before she explodes. “Explain yourself!”

Dropping my arms to my sides, I shrug. “I was just asking Cal, you know, the head of the Von Dovish clan, for a meeting with Strauss.” God, I almost laugh at the fury my words cause.

Nostrils flaring wide, she steams with rage. “I. Told. You. I can get you a meeting with Strauss. My brother wants nothing to do with it.”

“You said you changed your mind and didn’t want to work with me.”

“Well, I just changed it back. I’m allowed.” She lowers her hands from her hips. “Only if I’m still given the thirty-three percent I’m owed.”

“I want some other things in there, too.”

Her golden eyes narrow as she considers me with a toss of her mohawk tail behind her shoulder. “Like what?”

“I want you to write down your contacts for me… And I want to kiss you.”

Her jaw drops open. “What? No. To both.”

A car passes and honks the entire way, frustrated with us taking up the road. All my mind can think about is that time in the alley when I saved her… Been wanting that fucking kiss ever since.

Opening my palms, I tell her, “That’s my requirements. The contacts. And a kiss.”

“I will go with you if I give you the contacts.” She eyes me suspiciously, her top lip raised in a snarl before her gaze drops to my mouth. “And absolutely no kiss.”

“You let that random fucker at the club kiss you, but you won’t let me?”

“You’re special,” she says mockingly.

Before she can react, my hands snag her little waist and tug her into my body so we’re both leaning against the hot metal of my car. Closing in toward her face, her breath catches. My lips rest just a hair away from hers. “I can take it if I want.”

She turns her head slightly. “No,” she whispers. My balls tingle, worried she may try to knee me again, but I take a chance.

Slowly, I lick my bottom lip, wishing it was hers. My tongue almost grazes the pink of her mouth as her body trembles in my arms. She’s so delicate when she’s like this. “Little fox… Please, let me kiss you.” When I speak, some of my saliva mixes into her open mouth.

“No, Max.”

Frustrated, I release her until she stumbles back a step. “It’s back to ‘Max’ now, is it? What happened to ‘lion’?”

She chuckles. “I thought you didn’t like ‘lion’?”

“Maybe I do.” Running a hand through my black hair, I will my dick to calm down. “Okay, Livia. If we need the other guys, you go with me. You can have your third.” Just as she relaxes, I warn her, “And I’ll keep asking for that fucking kiss.”

She tamps down her victorious smile. Huh. I’ve never seen her look so happy. “Okay,” she says like she’s suddenly a shy girl, dancing on her tiptoes.

Sticking her hand out to shake mine, I grab it, then lace our fingers together and pull her in, so her body is pressed against mine. Nuzzling my mouth over her exposed ear, I say, “But pretty soon… I’m going to stop asking for it.”

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