Chapter Fifteen

Ares's cell phone rang early the next morning. He groaned and groped for it, eventually finding it.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

"I need you guys to come over as soon as you can," Lincoln said.

Ares sat up. "Is this about the folder I brought to you?"

"Yes. You're gonna want to bring your girl."

"All right," Ares said. "We'll be there in an hour."

He disconnected the call and looked at the woman nestled between him and Hunter. They had ended up fucking one more time before they fell asleep. He moved some hair off her cheek, studying her angelic face. The first moment he had seen her, he knew she was special. At first, he figured it was just going to be a bit of fun as he and Hunter taught her about sex and her own sexuality, but it was quickly morphing into more, something deeper, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"Who was that?" Hunter asked with his eyes still closed.

"Lincoln. I took him a folder that Adira had given me. I think she thought it was her employment papers. He said he needs us to come over."

"Okay. The cold light of day has come upon us."

"Sometimes you are such a drama queen."

Hunter chuckled as he rose and headed into the bathroom.

An hour later, they headed out of the clubhouse. The remnants of the party lingered, much like last time. And just like the last time, two young boys were cleaning up.

Hunter led the way to Lincoln's apartment, with Adira at his back. Ares brought up the rear. It didn't take long to reach the apartment complex Lincoln shared with Vivi. He took her hand and led her up the stairs to the second floor. As soon as Hunter knocked on the door, it flew open and Vivi greeted them.

"Hello!" she cried, enthused. She clapped her hands while giving a little hop. "I haven't seen you guys in months. Years."

Ares tapped her nose. "You saw us the other day, Shrimp."

She glared at him. "That nickname is getting a little old."

"Yeah, but you're not getting any taller."

Vivi gasped. "Rude. I'm going to have to get revenge on Ghost who started calling me Shrimp. I'm thinking a laxative in his beer. Oh! I know! I'll sign him up for a gay cowboy dating site so he can get emails and calls from men interested in him."

"You're evil," Ares said.

"Evil genius you mean," she cackled.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far, but I'm never eating or drinking anything you hand me," Hunter said as he gently pushed her into the apartment so they could all enter.

She stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to Adira. "Hi again! Would you like a scone? I baked them."

"Make sure you give her something to dunk them in," Lincoln reminded her. "We don't want her breaking a tooth."

"Okay," she replied, then turned back to Adira. "I just know we're going to be BFFs. I mean, I have my sister but she's all wrapped up ruling with her mafia king. Oops, probably shouldn't have said that. And of course, Leia, Chase, and Sidonie. Hm, well, that's a lot of BFFs. Isn't this great? We're like an adopted sisterhood!"

Adira scrunched her forehead. "Is what great?"

"Us. Them. I thought it was only going to be me and Zay forever, but here we are."

"I'm confused."

"I get that a lot," she said sagely. "But now you're part of the family."

Tears welled up in Adira's eyes, but she smiled. "Thank you. I've kind of lost my previous one."

"That's the great part of being with the Death Riders. We protect our own." She patted Adira's hand. "We should have girls' night. Maybe a spa day or maybe one of those painting and drinking things. Or roller skating. I know! A cooking class. They're so much fun and I've learned a lot."

"I think you wasted your money," Hunter muttered.

Vivi went to punch his arm, but Lincoln caught it and spun her to the kitchen. "Scones, woman."

With a huff, she stomped away.

Lincoln smiled as he lovingly watched her. "Isn't she great?"

"If you call a hydrogen bomb great, then sure," Ares muttered.

Lincoln gestured to the dining room table and sat down. When the others followed, he opened the folder.

"Wait, isn't that one I took from my father's safe?" Adira asked.

"Yes," Ares replied. "You gave it to me the other day. I think you thought it was your employee papers."

"Oh."

"I asked Lincoln to take a look since I didn't fully understand what I was looking at."

"So, it didn't take me long to figure out what these papers are about," Lincoln said. He typed a few things into his laptop and then turned it around. "They're all dummy corporations in Adira's name."

"Dummy corporations?" she asked, frowning. "What does that mean?"

"For years money has been funneled out of the church's accounts into them, and the increments have been so low, they haven't grabbed the attention of the bank or anyone else. There have been checks written to fictious construction companies and there's also been a distribution of funds through a credit line."

"Wait, you're talking about…" Adria's voice trailed off. "What are you talking about?"

"Embezzlement," Ares said.

Adira blinked at him, as if it took a moment for the word to sink in.

"No. It can't be that." Her tone, however, held doubt. "You're saying my father took money from the church?"

"He did," Lincoln confirmed. "And he put it all in your name."

"But why?"

"Why'd he embezzle, or why your name?"

She opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked at Hunter and Ares, who stared back at her. Then she covered her face with her hands.

"Oh my God," she sobbed. "What did he do?"

"The spreadsheet is a list of routing numbers and passwords," Lincoln finished. "Adira, all of this was designed to put the blame on your shoulders if his schemes ever came to light. He'd have plausible deniability while you went to prison."

She cried into her hands until Ares rose from his seat to kneel beside hers. He pulled her hands away.

"It's going to be okay," he murmured, using his thumbs to dry her cheeks.

"If you'd have asked me a couple of weeks ago, I would've told you there was no way he could do something like this." She shook her head and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "He's someone I don't know. A monster."

"How can we protect her?" Hunter asked Lincoln.

"Legally, this is a type of financial institution fraud that falls under FBI jurisdiction," Lincoln answered. He flicked an apologetic glance at Adira. "I'm sorry."

"Luckily, we don't talk to Feds," Ares said.

She sat there, head bowed. "How could I not know how awful my father was?"

Ares kissed her cheek. "We're with you, okay?"

She didn't bother acknowledging. Vivi sailed from the kitchen with a plate of scones and several mugs. Once she placed them on the table, she came out with a coffeepot and filled the cups. Then she sat down next to Lincoln.

"We won't let her take the fall that her father clearly intended for her," Hunter said.

"I figured," Lincoln said. He punched a few more things and turned his laptop. "I started to remove her name from these bogus corporations, funneling the money into a separate untraceable account."

"How much?" Adira asked.

"He's been doing this for years."

"How much?" she asked again.

"Almost half a million."

Her eyes bugged out and her mouth fell open.

"Fuck," Ares muttered.

"He's going to want that money," Hunter said.

"It's got to go back." Adira's voice trembled and her hand shook as she pulled the mug of coffee closer, wrapping her hands around it as if to warm up. "I've got to go back an d— "

"No fucking way," Ares snapped. "You go nowhere near him."

"That money has to go back where it came from," she insisted. "To the people he swindled."

"I can do that," Lincoln told her. "That's easy. And I can also let the Feds know in an anonymous report what dear old Pop has been up to. But I just want to make sure you don't want to keep it?"

She shook her head. "Vincent Dobias needs to be held accountable."

"Then I'll set it up," Lincoln assured. "I'll let you know when it's done. You don't have to think about the money or him ever again."