Chapter Six

I was patting Santana’s soft head when a bike pulled up the driveway.

Growl immediately positioned himself in front of me and shouted at the lanky teen to get a shotgun. My pulse quickened from fear but then changed to excitement when I recognized Maddox. My heart beat so fast I felt almost dizzy. I’d sworn myself not to let my emotions run the show if I ever saw him again, but I realized I wouldn’t be able to keep my promise.

Maddox looked horrible with bruises and cuts all over his face and arms. He seemed frozen as he watched me. My excitement quickly morphed to fury. Maybe he looked so surprised because he never meant to see me again and didn’t expect me here. Growl held my arm when I was about to step forward and charge at him.

“Stay back. I don’t trust him.”

What was Maddox doing here of all places? If he’d really run off, his arrival at Growl’s shelter didn’t make the slightest sense. Our eyes met and his face pulled into a smile. My anger skyrocketed and my self-control slipped away. I shook Growl off and ran toward Maddox, glad I’d chosen sneakers for the trip. His smile quickly morphed to a look of confusion.

Part of me wanted to fling myself into Maddox’s arms. Luckily my anger kept my silly heart at bay. But with every word from Maddox’s mouth, my anger slipped away, at least toward Maddox, and my longing for him took its place. But I didn’t give in, not yet. I needed to know the truth about everything before I could allow my feelings to lead the show.

Growl dropped me off at home but waited in the car in front of the house to give me a ride to the Sphere later. My conversation with Amo hopefully wouldn’t take long and afterward I could head to the meeting between Dad and Maddox, and tell the latter that my brother hadn’t been involved. His biker buddies had to be behind the information leak.

I found Amo in our basement gym where he was doing push-ups as I walked in. I never saw the appeal in working out underground. I preferred to see daylight while working out but he was always in a sort of zone that probably had him blank out his surroundings completely.

Like now, as he did push-ups with a pissed off look as if the floor had personally insulted him. I leaned in the doorway, amused and impressed by his focus equally. I loved my brother like I loved Mom and Dad and Valerio. I didn’t want to believe that he wanted to kill the man who was slowing carving out another place in my heart. When he’d pulled up in the driveway of the shelter today, the furious throbbing of my heart had left no doubt about my feelings.

“It’s kind of strange to admire your brother working out.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yuck, Amo. You’re not my type.” I walked into the room, wrinkling my nose at the heavy odor. “I’m impressed you noticed me, considering your staring contest with the floor.”

“I’m a Made Man, it’s essential that I notice people sneaking up on me, in case they want to ram a knife into my back.”

“Speaking of knife in the back,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “I talked to Maddox.”

“Lover boy’s back, I heard,” Amo muttered, not even trying to hide his disapproval. He pushed up on his feet and rubbed his hair with a towel.

“He’s back, yes.”

“And did you give him the ball-kicking you promised or did you wag your tail?”

“Maddox knows I’m furious, don’t worry, but the details of my conversation with him are between him and me. I won’t discuss my relationship with you.”

“Relationship?” Amo scoffed. “You really want to be with someone who disappears without a word for days at a time?”

“Maddox had his reasons.” Reasons that didn’t fully convince me but Amo didn’t need to know that. “He told me someone leaked the information about him killing his uncle.”

“His fan club isn’t really big,” Amo said, dropping the towel unceremoniously on the bench before looking me straight in the eye. His expression was neutral, not giving anything away. He hadn’t been a good liar, at least to me, before my kidnapping, but now I couldn’t look through this newly hardened mask he’d adopted ever since.

“I’m more concerned about his list of mortal enemies within our family.”

Amo still only stared at me.

It drove me crazy that I couldn’t read him. “Maddox’s biker buddies told him you ratted him out.”

“Ratting him out would require that he and I were on the same team, but we’re not.”

“Stop beating around the bush, Amo. You owe me the truth. Did you spread the news about Maddox killing his uncle?”

“I did,” he said simply. No regret, no apology, just the cold hard truth.

I shook my head, trying to find my words and not lose myself in my fury and disappointment. “You hoped that the other bikers would kill him if they found out.”

He smirked. “That was my hope, yes, but as usual the fucking bikers do nothing but disappoint.”

“Don’t you dare smile!” I seethed. “You promised me not to kill Maddox.”

“I didn’t promise you anything and technically I wouldn’t have killed him if his biker buds ended him. That would have been on them.”

“Because you—”

“…told them the truth,” Amo said with a shrug. “White should own up to his achievements.”

I slapped Amo’s shoulder hard but he only looked surprised.

“Does Dad know you went behind his back?” I asked.

Amo tilted his head. “Why? Do you plan on ratting on me?”

“No. But you should tell him. If you don’t, he might put the blame on someone else and they could get killed for it. You obviously won’t.”

Something in his expression set an alarm off in my head. “Don’t tell me Dad knew?”

Amo reached for the bottle on the bench and took a long gulp, obviously buying time. That was all the answer I needed.

“I can’t believe it!” I raged. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this furious. “Who else? Matteo no doubt. Romero? Growl? Maybe everyone except the helpless stupid Vitiello princess?”

“Spoiled princess,” Amo corrected in a miserable attempt at humor.

I turned my back on him or I would have punched him. I wanted to scream in anger, but at the same time, I felt like crying, because yet again things had been kept from me and decisions had been made without consulting with me. “You won’t ever try to have Maddox killed again, understood?” My voice was ice cold, laced with fury and not as shaky as I felt inside.

I slanted Amo a warning look. He regarded me for a long time then he shook his head with a deep sigh. “Listen to me for once and drop White before he ruins everything you worked all your life for, or before he breaks our family.”

“You aren’t someone I’d go to for relationship advice on any day of the year, but definitely not today. And you can believe me when I say that nothing can destroy our family, except for ourselves, if we start lying to each other and losing our unwavering trust in each other. Because I did trust you absolutely Amo, until today.”

Amo looked seriously taken aback by my words. “You can trust me absolutely, Marci. I’d die for you. When I walked into the biker’s den, I was ready to die to save you from these bastards.”

Unwanted tears pressed against my eyeballs. I had seen the truth of these words in Amo’s eyes that day. “And Maddox was ready to die for me as well.”

“That’s his only redeeming quality.”

I shook my head. “Please, try to overcome your hatred for him, for me.”

I didn’t wait for his reply, and instead turned on my heel and headed upstairs toward Growl’s car. I plopped down in the passenger seat. “Let’s go to the Sphere.”

Before Growl could pull away from the curb, Amo appeared on the sidewalk, still only in gym shorts and a new shirt. He knocked at the back door and Growl unlocked it so my brother could slip in. “I’m coming with you. We should figure this out as a family.”

“Will Mom and Valerio be there as well?” I asked sarcastically.

“Mom didn’t know, so don’t be mad at her.”

Of course, she didn’t. Dad often kept things from Mom to protect her so she wouldn’t get upset. Most of the time, Mom figured things out anyway but kept Dad in the belief that she was as clueless as he wanted her to be, but I didn’t want to play that game. I didn’t need protection from any truth. I could handle anything and today I’d finally make Dad realize it. Dad saw me as another version of Mom, another fragile female to protect, and while I loved Mom and was glad for the traits I’d inherited from her, many aspects of my personality were Dad. He didn’t want to see it, but he needed to if I really wanted to have a chance living an autonomous life and becoming part of the business… and to be with Maddox, especially be with Maddox.

I parked in the back alley beside the Sphere and got off my bike. I wasn’t sure what Luca’s orders were but I felt a hint of wariness as I approached the bouncer at the entrance. His stance became alert the moment he spotted me.

I hoped Marcella’s confrontation with her brother wouldn’t take too long. For one, I wanted to see her again, and I really wasn’t looking forward to a one-on-one with Luca Vitiello. Even if I hadn’t mentioned anything to Marcella, I had my suspicions about her old man’s involvement. He wanted me dead and was looking for ways to have me killed without pulling the trigger himself.

The bouncer said something in the direction of an earpiece at his ear, then nodded. “The boss is expecting you in his office.”

“I’m good. I’ll have a smoke while I wait for Marcella and Growl.”

The man’s face darkened. “The boss wants you now, so in you go.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “You can try to drag me inside but I should tell you, I’m going to kick your ass.”

Taken aback, the guy gaped at me. Then he actually lunged at me. I side-stepped him and kicked his ass like I’d promised. He stumbled against the wall of the other building, whirled around and prepared to attack again. This time with a pulled knife. I dropped my cigarette and stomped it with my boot.

“As nice as this is to watch, Luca’s expecting you, so you better move your ass inside, Maddox,” Matteo drawled where he leaned in the doorway with crossed arms.

Our eyes met and the cold calculation in them told me he wasn’t too happy about my appearance. I shrugged and grinned challengingly at the bouncer. My body was grateful for the avoided fight. I really needed to get my ribs checked for possible fractures, but I needed my money for a new bike—the old Harley I’d bought recently was giving me too much trouble—and a place to live so I couldn’t waste any on medical treatment.

“There was a scratch on my bike,” Matteo muttered.

“Not from me, I know how to treat a motorcycle.”

“Not a woman, obviously,” Matteo said, motioning me inside.

I gritted my teeth. “I had business to attend to as you might have heard.”

Matteo simply smirked. “Luca’s waiting.”

“Marcella and Growl were supposed to arrive soon as well,” I said then laughed darkly. “But I suppose Growl will make sure Marcella stays home on Luca’s orders.”

Matteo gave me a shark-grin. “He gave clear orders that you weren’t supposed to see Marcella without supervision. You should have come to him before talking to her.”

“I won’t ask Luca for permission every time I want to see Marcella. I’m not his soldier and she isn’t a child.”

“You better learn to play by our rules quickly, White, or you should run off to find your escaped biker buddies.”

“I won’t do you the favor of me running off. Marcella is mine.”

“You ran off.”

“Sure. And I don’t suppose you and your brother had a hand in the reason for my longer disappearance.”

We arrived in the office where Luca waited with crossed arms beside the desk.

“So you’re back,” Luca said, sounding surprised but definitely not pleased.

“I’m back and I’ll stay as long as Marcella wants me.”

“We’ll see,” Matteo said, plopping down on the sofa with fake relaxation. I really wanted to put a bullet in his arrogant head.

I glanced at Luca with a hard smile. “I didn’t mean to be gone so long, but I needed to settle a few things after rumor about me killing Earl made the rounds. It’s made my life a whole lot more difficult. Many people want to see me dead. Present company included, I assume.”

Luca’s face remained blank, not giving anything away. “A few of my men followed you and saw you searching for something in old Tartarus drug hiding places.”

“I thought I noticed a few assholes on my trail,” I said with a shrug. “I was looking for Tartarus money if you must know. I don’t want to have to rely on your money. I now have enough to find a place and get a new bike, so I can start working with your Enforcers, or have you changed your mind about that?”

Luca narrowed his eyes. “If you have hints to possible hiding places of escaped Tartarus bikers then that’s still an option.”

“Not all Tartarus members are a danger. Many were against Earl’s plan, and some even became lone wolves to avoid involvement. These men could be useful assets. There’s no sense in going on unnecessary killing sprees when they can become allies instead.” I paused. “But first we need to discuss who leaked the information about Earl’s murder. Either you gave the order to spread the news or your control over your men is slipping.”

Luca looked ready to choke me, but Marcella stalked in, followed by a pissed looking Amo. The Luca-look-alike only sent me a brief scowl before he exchanged a look with his father that I couldn’t read.

Growl’s face was apologetic. “She insisted I bring her.”

“You can go,” Luca said. Growl closed the door. The second he was gone, Marcella turned on her father.

“I can’t believe you’re still treating me like a stupid child. I’m not a child. But you keep deciding things behind my back and even keep lying to my face!”

“Marcella,” Luca said in a low, imploring voice. “I want to protect you.”

“Is that why you tried to have Maddox killed by his old biker friends by leaking the information about Earl’s death?”

So I was right. Vitiello had played dirty. I wasn’t really surprised.

“Did he tell you that?”

Marcella’s face turned red, her eyes growing big. She stalked closer to her father. “You promised! I thought I could trust you.” Her voice shook, not just with anger, and for the first time in my life, I saw a hint of a softer emotion on Vitiello’s face but it was gone too quickly.

“This is a conversation between the two of us,” Luca said before turning to the rest of us. “Outside now.”

I raised my eyebrows at his order then turned to Marcella. “Do you want me to stay?”

Marcella actually considered it for a moment before she shook her head. Luca looked about ready to choke me to death for the mere question. I sent him a tight smile before I followed Matteo and Amo out of the room. Marcella could handle her old man like no one else. If someone could make him stop trying to kill me, it was her. But it definitely didn’t sit well with me that I couldn’t just retaliate like I would have in the past.

But for Marcella, I was willing to try, no matter how suicidal it was.

“I didn’t think you’d bother to come back,” Matteo said once we were upstairs in the still empty bar. “Didn’t like the taste of freedom?”

“I liked it, but I like Marcella even more.”

Amo scoffed. “For now. You don’t know the first thing about our lifestyle. We’re bound by rules you’ll never understand.”

Returning to New York and working with the Famiglia meant being bound in ways I wasn’t used to, he was right. My heart had always called for freedom but now it longed for Marcella with every furious pump. Still, riding my bike and the freedom that came with it ran in my blood. I already missed the feeling of riding side by side with others. “Is that why you wanted to have me killed, to give me back my freedom? A cowardly move to use others to do the dirty deed.”

Amo got in my face with a harsh expression. “I would kill you myself, right now, and I’d enjoy it, if I hadn’t given Marcella a promise.”

“You have a strange understanding of keeping a promise. I thought only bitches stab someone in the back.”

“Fuck you, White. You are and will always be a dirty biker and our fucking enemy. No matter what you tell Marcella and what she wants to believe, you’ll eventually lose interest in my sister and return to your biker whores.”

I stepped closer to him until the toes of our shoes bumped against each other. Though the kid was only fifteen or sixteen, he was my height, and I was already a tall fucker. “Your sister’s not a woman anyone could ever lose interest in. I’ll always thank the fucking Lord that she chose me.”

“You call kidnapping a choice?”

I tilted my head. “She didn’t choose the way we met but she sure as fuck chose to be with me.”

“And once she’s back among civilized people, she’ll realize her mistake and drop your ass.”

I smiled harshly. “You’re awfully interested in your sister’s choice in men. If there’s something like an Oedipus complex between siblings, you probably have it. You might want to get that checked.”

Matteo chuckled appreciatively, obviously enjoying the fight between Amo and me. The latter, however, lost his shit and lunged at me, his hands closing around my throat in an all too familiar way.

I gripped his fingers, trying to pry them off, but only succeeding marginally. “Trying to be like your old man, kid? Nobody ever told you that there can only be one OG, and it’s not you.”

“Fuck you, White,” Amo growled.

I grinned and head banged him. Pain pierced my skull but at least Amo’s hold loosened.

“You’re dead, White!”