Chapter 10

My phone rang as Marnie and I walked out of the salon after her shift. While she locked up, I glanced at the screen and saw that it was my prez calling, so I answered immediately.

"Fox," I greeted. "I'm with Marnie." I let him know in case he was calling about club business and I needed to get my angel in the car before we talked.

"Something's come up. We think it involves Franks."

Hearing that name, my grip on my cell tightened as I ground my teeth together. "Tell me."

"Better if you come here so we can show you and talk. It involves Marnie, but it"s up to you whether she knows or not."

I wasn't gonna drag her into this unless I had to. "Gonna take her home before I meet you. Send a prospect out to watch the house, would you?"

"Done." He hung up, and I dropped my phone back into the inner pocket of my cut and threaded my fingers through Marnie's before leading her over to my SUV.

When I'd met my angel, I hadn't needed any transportation other than my hog. But now, I not only had Marnie to think about, but we'd soon be toting around our little ones if I had my way. So a few days after we met, I had one of the safest SUVs on the market delivered to the compound. It had taken a little time to get it because I'd ordered one that was bullet proof and had other security measures to keep my family from harm.

"Fox needs to meet with me," I explained once we were both in our seats and buckled in.

"I gathered that. Is it club business?"

I wanted to lie and say that it was so she wouldn't ask any more questions. As if my angel wasn't perfect enough, she'd come to me after hanging with the old ladies one day and told me they'd given her a rundown of life with an MC man. She'd said she was fine with not knowing club business as long as I was honest with her about everything else.

So I was gonna keep my word. I mulled over my answer as I started the car, then said, "Probably not, but I can't be sure that it won't go in that direction. You'll just have to trust me to tell you if you need to be involved, okay?"

"I do trust you," she affirmed.

Warmth spread through me at her declaration, and I took her hand, lacing my fingers through hers and resting them on my thigh.

I expected her to go on, but she was quiet for so long that I glanced at her, worried she was upset and trying to hide it. But she watched me with a thoughtful expression, her brow lowered and her teeth nibbling on her lower lip. I forced my attention back to the road, so I kept my mouth shut and waited for her to speak.

Finally, she murmured, "Just promise me that you won't let your overprotective streak drive a wedge between us. You can tell me anything. It won't scare me away. I'm stronger than I look."

I brought our joined hands up to my mouth and brushed a kiss over the back of hers. "I promise."

We'd reached our house, so I waited until I pulled into our driveway and parked before saying anything else. I unbuckled both of us, then grabbed her waist and hauled her into my lap so she straddled me.

I tunneled my fingers into her thick, silky hair and held her head steady so she was forced to look straight into my eyes. "If I didn't think you could handle being my woman, I would have walked away from you the day we met. No matter how much I wanted you in my bed. But I knew, angel. Knew you were perfect for me. Strong enough, and stubborn enough, to deal with the bad shit along with the good." I grinned and winked at her. "Knew that underneath all your sweetness was a wild streak that would make you a firecracker in bed."

Marnie's cheeks turned pink, and I laughed before planting a kiss on her soft, supple lips. "Somehow, you manage to be cute and sexy as hell at the same time. Don't know how you do it, but it's a lethal combination. Makes me want to cuddle you and fuck you hard and fast all at once."

The blush staining her skin deepened, but fire sparked in her green depths, and she moved restlessly on top of me.

I groaned when her pussy rubbed my swollen cock. "Need to get you in the house before I take you right here."

Marnie's voice was breathless when she quipped, "You say that as though it's a bad thing."

Shaking my head, I picked her up and gently set her back in her seat. "First, if anyone saw you while I was fucking you, I'd end up in jail for murder. Second, I don't have time." I grabbed her chin and smirked when our eyes met. "But the minute I get home, you'll be screaming in ecstasy until you pass out."

"I guess you'd better hurry then, shouldn't you?" she sassed before opening her door and stepping down onto the runners I"d put on so my tiny angel wouldn't get hurt jumping down from the car.

Her hips had an extra sway in them as she sashayed to the front door, and I growled in frustration. And pain, since I was hard as fuck and the zipper in my leather pants scraped my dick. I really needed to start wearing underwear before I ended up with permanent marks from the metal teeth on my cock. Just thinking about my angel had my dick ready to fuck.

When Marnie reached the front door, she unlocked it, then pivoted, making sure her curtain of hair swung around and landed on her tits. Then she twirled her fingers in the soft curls that I was so obsessed with and blinked up at me with false innocence. "Don't be too long, or I just might have to start without you."

Another growl rumbled in my chest as I leaned around her and twisted the knob, then used my hand on her stomach to push her inside.

Once the door was shut, I fisted my hands in her hair on both sides of her head and lowered my head until our faces were millimeters apart. "You're dangerously close to earning a spanking, angel. That's my pussy, and nobody but me touches it. Not even you."

Marnie gasped, but I didn't give her a chance to say anything. I kissed her hard and turned back to open the front door. "Set the alarm when I'm gone, angel."

I stepped outside and turned back to pull the door closed behind me, but I paused and met her heated gaze. "Remember, you touch my pussy and your ass will be cherry red. You won't be able to sit down tomorrow without remembering who owns it."

Marnie's green orbs darkened to nearly black, and I gritted my teeth when I realized that the idea of being spanked was turning her on. I slammed the door shut before I gave in to my urge to fuck her against the wall.

This had better be fucking worth it, I thought as I stomped back to the car.

I was still in a foul mood when I entered Fox's office fifteen minutes later. Maverick leaned against the wall behind Fox's desk, the two of them in deep discussion.

"Am I gonna get to kill that fucker?" I snarled as I stalked over to the couch and dropped onto it.

Mav turned his head and peered over at me. "Maybe."

I perked up at his answer, having expected the opposite response.

"Unlikely," Fox grunted, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest.

Glaring at Mav, I grumbled, "Don't give me false hope when this asshole just pulled me away from my woman and our bed."

My attention was diverted when a couple more enforcers walked into the room. Deviant was our resident tech genius, and Stone had been a lawyer before joining the Iron Rogues. He quit seeing other clients once he patched, choosing to only use those skills for the club.

Stone stalked over to the sitting area and plopped down into a chair across from me. His expression was grim as he leaned forward and tossed a stack of papers in front of me.

I picked it up and frowned as I scanned the document, confused as to why I was looking at an insurance policy.

"Why am—" I stopped when I got to the name of the insured. "What the fuck?"

"This can't be real."

"It's legit," Stone muttered. "Marnie took out an insurance policy on you."

"Bullshit," I spat.

Stone held up his hand and shook his head. "I said that wrong. I meant that someone pretending to be Marnie took out an insurance policy on you. But I gotta say, it's a damn good forgery. I'm not sure we can even prove it wasn't her."

"Better find a fucking way," I growled. Snatching up the papers, I scanned the first page. "You think Franks did this?"

"He wants that property, and apparently, he's figured out that it will only happen over your dead body," Deviant piped up from the loveseat pushed up against my right.

"Look on page seven," Stone urged.

I flipped through the stack until I found it. A cursory glance told me why Stone had directed me to that page. "You have to be fucking kidding me."

"Nope. Everything goes to her unless your death is declared a homicide and the beneficiary is a suspect. Then all of your assets will go into a trust. If she's convicted, or anything else happens to her, then the trustee will control everything."

"Not seeing how this all fits together," I muttered, shuffling through the rest of the documents.

"Take a look at the name of the trustee," Deviant suggested.

"Sam Frankel?"

Deviant had opened a laptop he'd brought with him and after a few clicks, he set it on the low coffee table in front of me. "It took some digging, but I eventually connected the dots and got my hands on the legal paperwork for the name change."

"Keith Franks used to be Sam Frankel?"

Deviant nodded. "He legally changed it when he was eighteen, but he still uses his old surname as an alias. I hate to admit this about that motherfucker, but he was smart and kept the two names completely unrelated to each other." Then he shrugged, and his lips lifted cockily at the corners. "I'm just smarter."

"Okay. So it's clear that Franks intends to get rid of me," I conceded. "But Marnie would still be in control of my assets."

Fox sighed, drawing my focus over to his desk. "He either intends to frame her or…"

"I'll kill him!" I roared, shooting to my feet. Knowing someone wanted my angel dead built a fury inside me that had my vision going red, my blood boiling, and my hands itching for a weapon. I wasn't just going to kill that motherfucker. First, I was gonna make him bleed and scream for mercy.

"Sit the fuck down," Fox ordered, cutting through the fog of rage surrounding me.

I was tempted to ignore his directive, but I respected my prez and had agreed to follow him when I patched, so I lowered myself to the couch again. My hands rested on my knees, clenching and unclenching as I tried to remain calm.

"I sent Whiskey, Viper, and Wrecker to watch over her when I asked you to come here," Fox assured me. Though it didn't make me feel much better. I wanted Marnie in my eyesight at all times.

"Wasn't sure how much you wanted her to know and figured it would be best if you made the decision before you saw her again."

"Been looking for a loophole in the paperwork since we found it," Stone interjected. "Haven"t found one yet, but nobody is perfect. He'll have made a mistake somewhere."

"I'm working on connecting his aliases," Deviant said as he reached out for his computer and set it on his lap. "Sam Frankel technically no longer exists, so Stone's working on those angles, too."

"Basically, you're telling me to sit and wait," I concluded, my body practically vibrating with the need to expend some of the energy building from the anger inside me.

"Nah," Maverick said with a smirk. "Here's where the possible killing comes in."

I raised an eyebrow, but held back from saying anything, not wanting to delay his explanation.

"Mav," Fox sighed.

The VP looked at him with a hard expression. "If it were Dahlia?"

Fox's whole body tensed, and something lethal sparked in his eyes. "Point taken. Still say it's a bad idea, but I won't stand in your way." Then he smirked at Mav and drawled, "But you're making the call."

Maverick sighed, then nodded before turning his gaze back to me. "Give Stone and Deviant a day to come up with something. If they do, we'll make sure Franks pays for his shit once he's in a cell."

Not my first choice, but certainly the one with the least risk of being taken away from my angel. "And if they don't find a solution?"

"Rumor is that Franks took money from the Mafia to start his business and is behind on his payments."

"The DeLucas?" I asked, finding that hard to believe.

Nic DeLuca was the head of the New York Mafia, and though he mostly didn't interfere in their business, he still held a lot of power over pretty much every "family" in the United States. He'd also been friends with Fox for decades and a client of ours since Fox became our prez.

Other than being a criminal and ruthless killer, he had honor and integrity—something he had in common with the Iron Rogues. So I couldn't see him getting into bed with scum like Franks.

"It's just a rumor," Mav clarified. "But most people think it's true. So I doubt even the cops would be surprised if—"

"You want to make it look like a mob hit," I deduced.

Mav nodded, an evil grin splitting his face. "Long as DeLuca's on board."

My brow shot up, suddenly understanding Fox's comment about Mav making the call.

"Making a deal with Nic DeLuca?" Deviant commented with a whistle. "You got some balls, man."

"What makes you think he'll agree to do this for you?" I asked. "Prez, sure. But if he isn't willing to get involved…"

"Anna," Mav said simply, referring to Nic's wife.

Suddenly, I understood his confidence. Just like Fox caved when Maverick brought up his old lady, Nic would understand my need to protect my woman.

"And we'll owe him a favor," Maverick added.

I could see how that would be appealing to the Mafia boss.

There was something I didn't understand, though. "Why the elaborate scheme? Why not just make him disappear?" We'd certainly done it before.

"Franks is more high profile and is always in the media. Even though he's an asshole and I doubt anyone will miss him, it's asking a lot of our police to look the other way on this one. We'll need 'em in the future, and I don't want them getting skittish."

I nodded in understanding. We had a good portion of the police force in our small town on the payroll, as well as the mayor, but they still answered to higher authorities. While they were often willing to overlook our activities, they wouldn't break the law for us. Something we respected.

"So my options are owing a powerful crime family a favor in order to put Franks six feet under or sit back and wait, leaving Marnie vulnerable while Stone and Deviant look for a less messy solution."

"That about sums it up," Fox agreed.

For me, there was nothing to consider. I was gonna choose whatever kept Marnie the safest, which meant taking out Franks.

I scrubbed my hands over my face and exhaled heavily. "Looks like we're making a call to the DeLucas," I murmured.

Maverick nodded and pulled his phone from his pocket, pausing when I shook my head.

I stood and held out my hand. "I appreciate you being willing, but if anyone is gonna owe Nic DeLuca for this, it's gonna be me."

Maverick looked at Fox, who was considering me thoughtfully.

"Your woman, your decision," Prez told me. "You can use my office."