CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Noah

"Noah?" Maverick blurts out, grabbing my shoulders and yanking me back.

My feet stumble slightly, the gun dropping to the floor between Rocco and me.

Maverick spins me. "Prospect, you hurt?"

Glancing down, I pull my bloodied, shaking hands from my stomach and shake my head, glancing over my shoulder at Rocco's pale face. He coughs out a line of blood before he stumbles back against the wet bar, collapsing, taking more glass down with him as he falls to the carpet in a heap. His head bobs to the side, and finally, his eyes close when he lets out a final breath.

My shoulders slump while Maverick pulls me to him, checking my body one more time. "Fuck, brother. I was sure he shot you." He stops for a moment before saying, "How the hell are we gonna clean this shit up?"

Pushing Maverick off me, I begin pacing the apartment floor, anguish and frustration racing through me as I swipe my bloodied hands through my hair. "He threatened my mom. That asshole threatened Rhyan!"

Maverick steps up beside me. "I know, Prospect. But fucking hell. We're in a city on the other side of the US and with no fucking help to clean up a damn dead body."

Suddenly, the door opens, and the girls walk in, oblivious to the carnage they're about to enter. Goddammit! Now, on Rhyan's birthday, I have made her an accessory to murder.

Her father will kill me.

Rhyan's eyes meet mine. Sadie gasps, quickly closing the door behind them. Rhyan looks me up and down, spotting the blood, and rushes toward me, but I raise my hands to stop her. "Wait! You need to leave now. You can't be here. I won't allow you to be an accessory to this fucked-up shit."

Rhyan continues to make her way to me no matter what I say. "Are you hurt? Or is that whoever-this-guy-is blood on you?" she asks, not even a hint of fear in her tone as Sadie approaches Maverick.

"I have a nick on my side. I'm fine. But Rhyan, you need to—"

"Noah, I'm not going anywhere. I grew up in the club, remember? I have seen far worse than this."

Groaning, I slump my shoulders. "Dammit! This is not how I wanted your birthday to play out, Rhy."

She snorts out a laugh while shaking her head. "Pfft, whatever. It's just like being back home. And for the record, my birthday is not over yet . This is a blip. But for now…" She walks over and grabs the cloth on the wet bar, then leans down, wiping the gun down for prints. She places it on the counter and starts directing, "Maverick, I need you to go to the store. I'm going to give you a list of supplies. You have to get the exact things on my list. Nothing else. Do you understand?"

Maverick and I stare at her.

"Rhy, what are you—"

" This is exactly what I'm training for. Cleaning up crime scenes. This is a crime scene. I don't care what happened or why. Whatever happened here happened for a reason. So I'm gonna clean the scene for you, but I can't do it alone. I need supplies, and I need muscle. Now, pull yourselves together and help me. Noah… are you with me?"

Letting out a stuttered breath, I nod. "Write down what you need. Mav will go get it, and I'll help you with whatever needs to be done here in the meantime."

She pulls a piece of paper from her bag and starts writing frantically. "Sadie, I need you to keep an eye on the hall and watch for anyone coming. Be our eyes and ears."

"Got it!" she states, moving for the door.

Rhyan hands the list to Maverick. "Be as quick as you can. We don't want the blood to settle into the carpet. But change your shirt first. You have blood on it."

Maverick dips his chin, then rushes to his room to change. As Rhyan moves about the living room, she assesses what she needs to do.

On his way out, Maverick gives Sadie a quick kiss. "Call me if you need me. I'll be as fast as I can," he says, then bolts out the door.

"You wanna tell me who this guy is?" Rhyan asks, moving to the kitchen to grab some cling film from the cupboard. Furrowing my brows, I watch her while she reaches for a cutting board and wraps the film over it.

I have no clue what she's doing, but I follow her lead. "Rocco. He was sent here by Atlas as a warning."

She raises her brow before she squats beside the dead Rocco. "Anyone gonna come looking for him?"

"No fucking idea," I reply.

Rhyan nods, reaching up for another washcloth. She wraps it around her hand, then proceeds to slide her hand into Rocco's pocket. She draws out the picture of my mom, places it on the floor, then dives back in and pulls out his cell.

"Bingo! Okay, Rocco, tell me you're stupid without telling me you're stupid," she replies, bringing his face in line with his cell. It unlocks instantly, and she lets out a small chuckle. "Knew you were stupid. A number code is harder for people to crack if someone has you hostage or if, like our friend Rocco here, you're dead and we need access. Your face or your fingerprint is easily accessible."

"You're kinda sexy right now," I tell her.

She glances up at me, her lips turning up slightly. "Really? Right now, Noah?" she quips, returning to Rocco's cell and digging around. I'm unsure what she's looking for, but she quickly finds it. "Here," she says, and I squat down beside her leaning closer, she shows me the screen to a message thread with Atlas' name on top. "Atlas last said that Rocco doesn't need to check in again until Tuesday. We will return to the clubhouse by then, so no alarm bells will be raised. That's helpful. We can dispose of Rocco and his cell, and when Atlas comes searching, we will be long gone."

My eyes meet Rhyan's, and I shake my head. "You don't have to be a part of this."

Rhyan leans a little closer, a mischievous glint in her eye. "I've never been allowed to be part of danger before, Noah. My dad always keeps me away from it. It's another part of why I went into forensic cleaning, so I could be in the thick of it, helping. I've grown up around this shit. I'm used to it, so let me step into it and help for once instead of being locked in the safety room, hiding."

I let out a long breath. I get it. The women are always locked away when there's a fight at the clubhouse. When the fact is, they want to help just as much as we do. Swallowing heavily, I nod. "I hate that I've put you in this position. Dragging you into a mess I created. I never want to put you in harm's way, Rhy. Not. Fucking. Ever. But… I could really use your help right now."

She smiles wide, leans in, and quickly kisses my lips. "I got this covered, babe. We need something with a heat source, preferably an open flame."

"We're not burning down the apartment… are we?"

She chuckles. "No, but we are burning something. Go!"

Standing, I make my way into the kitchen, searching through the drawers, and eventually, I find a utility gas lighter. Then, I return to Rhyan and Rocco, squatting beside them. She moves his hands on top of the cling film-wrapped cutting board and then turns them palm-side up. "Okay, this is gonna smell funky," she states, taking the lighter from my hand.

Rhyan clicks on the lighter, the flame illuminating, and then she presses the open flame to Rocco's fingertips.

"Somehow, I don't think this is part of your job description, Rhy."

She snorts out a laugh. "No, but I learned how criminals do this and how the police hate when victims have their fingerprints burned off. It makes it harder for them to ID the body. We'll also need something to remove his teeth, so could you go hunt for something to help with that."

Letting out a small laugh, I watch Rhyan take charge of the situation. She looks up at me, smoke billowing from the lighter as she continues to burn into Rocco's fingertips.

A sense of unwavering pride rolls through me. "You're fucking amazing," I tell her, then take off, trying to find something to remove Rocco's teeth.

Finding a small tool kit under the sink in the main bathroom, I grab a pair of pliers and head back out into the living room. Rhyan's still working, so I kneel beside her as she finishes the final pinky finger. "Okay, the fingers are done. We need to put some cling film in a bowl and work on his teeth next.

"Yes, ma'am."

Rhyan gets the bowl ready and then places the bowl beneath Rocoo's chin. "Okay, let's go."

Opening his jaw, I slide the pliers into his mouth, first working on his front tooth. It doesn't take long to remove them all. Once we're done, we sit back just as Maverick steps inside with all the purchased items.

Rhyan smiles. "Were you able to get everything on the list?"

"I got everything, including a few cautious looks. The huge rug is still downstairs in the car. Couldn't get that up here by myself. It was hard enough getting it into the car," Maverick replies.

Rhyan chuckles. "Excellent. I added some odd things on the list to throw them off the scent."

Maverick groans, throwing his hands in the air. "So that's why the guy laughed when he put through the lube and the garden cucumber?"

I burst out laughing while Rhyan fights back a smile. "When you purchase the items you were purchasing, if you don't take their mind off the combination of products, then you can get in trouble. Distraction is key when shopping for shit like that, and anything sexual is always going to have the appropriate distraction needed."

Maverick groans. "Jesus, Rhyan, you coulda warned me."

"Now, where's the fun in that?" she asks.

Maverick glares and I shrug as he brings all the bags over, Rhyan moving to help Maverick unpack. "Okay, this preparation is going to be specific and very thorough. I need you guys to do exactly as I say, no deviation from the plan. Do you understand?"

This bossy side of Rhyan is a turn-on.

"I hear you. Just tell us where to start," I reply.

"First, get rid of the body. That's what the rug is for. Roll him up, carry him downstairs, put him in the car, and take him somewhere he won't be found. While you and Maverick are out, Sadie and I will deep clean the apartment to remove all blood and traces of Rocco ever being here. I'll also give you some chemicals to use when you dump him to ensure there's no traces of you left on him."

Inhaling deeply, I step up to her, pulling her to me, my lips slamming against hers. She lets out a small whimper when my arms wrap around her waist, holding her to me, and she chuckles against my lips. My tongue slides into her mouth, and I let this woman know exactly how much I appreciate her. She kisses me back, the overwhelming emotions surging through me as we kiss in the middle of a murder scene. I don't give a shit about anything right now other than the fact that Rhyan is stepping up to save my ass.

Feeling an overwhelming sense of calm, I slowly pull back, looking into her eyes. She smiles, biting her bottom lip. "It's going to be fine, Noah. We got this."

Holding her tightly, I continue to stare into her eyes. "I am going to make tonight the highlight of your birthday. I don't know what we're going to do yet, but I promise to make it unforgettable."

She leans in, gently pressing her lips to mine once more. "You have nothing to make up for. Like I said, I have been waiting to step out of the safety room. You've made my birthday so fucking exciting, Noah. Thank you."

Letting out a small laugh, I shake my head. "You keep on surprising me."

Her hand gently caresses my cheek. "You need to change and then get moving. The quicker I can get this blood from the carpet, the better the results."

I briefly kiss her again, then head for the bedroom with Maverick following me. "You have any idea where we're gonna dump this body?"

"No fucking clue. But we'll figure it out," I say, pulling off my shirt to get changed.

We head to the car to grab the rug and haul it back into the elevator. People give us strange looks, but no one says a word. When we finally reach our floor and the elevator doors open, Matteo stands, waiting to get in.

We widen our eyes as Matteo takes in the rug and then lets out a small chuckle. "Have some issues with Rocco?" he asks.

I shake my head. "No. What makes you think that?"

"The old hide the body in the rug trick, huh?" Matteo states. "Civilians won't know what you're doing, but I come from your world, Noah. It's obvious… or should I say about to be doing."

Maverick tenses behind me, and I roll my shoulders. "This gonna be a problem?"

Matteo bursts out laughing. "With me and the other guys? Fuck no. Rocco was a pain in our asses. You did us a massive favor. When he left without taking his earnings, we knew shit was going down. Technically, Maverick, you were the last owner of Rocco's prize pot. If he's… indisposed , that prize pot defers to the previous owner."

I glance over my shoulder at Maverick, and he furrows his brows. "And what do we owe you in return?"

"You paid your fee. The earnings are yours. Unless, of course, you need help with another… situation? We know great places to… hide things you don't want to be found."

I keep my eyes on Maverick, and he exhales. "How much will that cost us?"

Matteo chuckles, shaking his head. "We help you find a place for Rocco to have a nice long vacation, then we take the earnings and call it square. I say that's a win-win. Don't you?"

"Yeah, I call that a huge fucking win. Appreciate the save, Matteo," Maverick states.

He chuckles, slapping my shoulder. "As I said, Rocco's been a pain in our asses for a while. When we saw him tailing you, we knew we had to get you guys into the poker game to see how this would play out. When I saw the two of you, I had my suspicions. You're in my world, aren't you?"

Maverick rolls his shoulders. "We're from Defiance MC in Los Angeles, just here on a weekend vacation. We weren't looking for trouble, but it found us anyway."

Matteo raises his brow, like he wasn't expecting that. "That's the thing about the underworld. It doesn't matter where you go, trouble always finds you. I'm not from New York either. I live in Tampa with my famiglia. I come here every three months to meet with the other suits you saw today, but our main business is back in Tampa. I'm from the DeLuca Mafia, and I know your brother chapter Tampa Defiance quite well. It's a small fucking world."

I let out a laugh as Maverick grins. "You're Tony DeLuca's second-in-charge, aren't you?"

Matteo's lips turn up in a sly smirk. "Exactly why I'm capable of helping you with your little problem right now. Go get Rocco, and meet us in the parking lot. We will have a van ready. Much better protection than your convertible."

I snort out a laugh. "Does everyone here know everything about us?"

Matteo snorts. "You guys haven't exactly been inconspicuous. You pull into a known mafia apartment building and flash yourselves around. People take notice. You're lucky I like you, and I'm taking you under my wing. Being Defiance definitely helps too. My associates run this part of town, and while you guys are in New York, you're safe under my watch. You have my word. That's your payment for doing me a solid with Rocco."

Maverick lets out a long exhale, shoving me in the back. "You booked us into a gangster apartment building?"

Chuckling, I shrug. "Didn't know that at the time. Alpha gave me the details. Said it would be a safe place for us to stay."

Matteo steps inside the elevator, straightening out his suit with a smirk. "Meet you downstairs."

Turning back to face him, I raise my brow. "Matteo?" He places his hand out, stopping the doors from shutting. "We appreciate this, thanks, but I have one more favor to ask. We can discuss it in the van."

He dips his chin and then lets the doors close.

Maverick and I begin the walk back to our apartment. "Who would've thought, huh? Teaming up with the mafia after everything we've been through with Rico Rojas and the cartel."

Maverick groans. "Let's not tell Alpha about this until we return to LA."

Snorting out a laugh, I nod emphatically because Alpha will undoubtedly lose his shit. "Agreed."