Chapter Sixteen

Vladmir

Aksana was pissed at me again.

Not that I cared.

I understood her apprehension, but no matter how many times I told her that everything would be alright, she flat-out refused to listen to me. I quickly realized that there was no talking to her when she got upset. The best thing I could do was stay quiet and do whatever she told me.

The woman was more stubborn and hardheaded than a true-blooded Russian gypsy. Since I could not fix the problem at the moment, I got the wonderful pleasure of enduring her wrath while Maxim and my brothers all laughed at me.

“You realize that sex is supposed to make her more amiable, right?” Maxim joked as we passed through the small, quaint tourist town of Rosewood, Virginia.

Narrowing my eyes at the fucker, I sneered, “Remind me again how long it took you to get Illyria to forgive you for your misgivings?”

“That was different. I did it to protect her, not seal her to me for all time.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I huffed. “I’m not talking about this with you.”

“Holy shit,” Dmitry gasped. “You did it on purpose.”

Maxim roared with laughter. “I never thought I’d see the day. The great Vladmir Ivenok has finally fallen.”

“You know, I think I liked you better when you were a moody bastard. Illyria has ruined you.”

“I’ll be sure to tell my wife you said that.” Maxim smiled.

“You do and I will slit your throat.”

“Face it, Vladmir.” Maxim grinned, shaking his head. “You’ve met your match. Only you could have a woman screaming all night and still find a way to fuck it up before the morning.”

“Why are you even here?” I asked, changing the subject. “Aleksandr and I are more than capable of watching Aksana and Katiya while we investigate this brother in the Sons of Hell.”

Flicking some imaginary lint off his perfectly tailored pants, my boss replied, “Because Illyria has been hounding me about taking more time off. She thinks I work too hard. When Aleksandr told me about this place, I thought it would be a nice vacation for us.”

Growling at the lying bastard, I clipped, “No, you wanted to watch and see if I could dig myself out of this hole.”

“Well.” Maxim smirked. “That may be a distinct possibility.”

“Can we at least act like this visit is important?” I snarked.

“Fine,” Maxim groaned. “So, what do you know about this King?”

“His name is Callum Montclair. The oldest son of Charlie ‘Steele’ Montclair and Regina Montclair. King is a former captain in the United States Marine Corps, who served with distinction before he resigned his commission after his father died. He has two legal brothers: Cord and Chase Montclair, both of whom are married. King is married to Avonleigh Rose Bailey, the famous tattoo artist named Venom. She goes by Bailey or Venom. She owns Venoms Ink in town, and they just recently had a daughter, Rose.”

“And what is the connection to the Golden Skulls?”

“William Doherty, the former president of the Golden Skulls, kidnapped Cassandra, the sister of the Montclair brothers, when she was seventeen. Toxic, the former president of the Florida Chapter of the Golden Skulls, held Cassie, as she was called, captive until he killed her in a fit of rage. Raped by William Doherty, Cassandra gave birth to her only child, Jessica, who is currently married to Savage.”

“That would make Jessica Reaper’s half-sister, if I’m correct.”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“I remember Jessica. Savage has his hands full with that one.” Maxim grinned. “And the one who resembles Aleksandr, the one they call Banks?”

“Well.” I sighed. “Him we’re not sure of.”

“Why is that?”

Looking at Dmitry, he spoke up, “Because I can’t verify anything. All I know is that Banks is the treasurer of the club and he’s thirty-five.”

Maxim frowned. “So, what’s the problem?”

“The problem is his backstory is fake. Made up. According to the records I found, Banks dropped out of college when the FEDs learned he hacked several banks and syphoned money. On the run, he found his way to the Sons of Hell and has been hiding out ever since.”

“And you don’t believe that?”

Dmitry shook his head. “No, boss. When I dug deeper, I found this.”

Handing Maxim a file, I said nothing when the boss opened the file and frowned. “Has Aleksandr seen this?”

“No, boss,” Dmitry confirmed, shaking his head as he looked at me.

Closing the file, Maxim firmly said, “Let me tell him. Until then, I want everything you can find on this man. Leave nothing out, Dmitry.”

“Yes, boss.”

The vehicles slowed, turning onto a dirt road as I looked up to see a large two-story log cabin off in the distance. The place was massive, with many smaller cabins surrounding the enormous structure. The Sons of Hell compound was impressive and blended beautifully within the surrounding Shenandoah Mountains as if it had always been there.

Parking in front of the clubhouse, I got out and looked around as the other vehicles waited for the all clear.

Stepping out next, Dmitry stood off to the other side while Maxim slid out and stood to his full height. I would have thought King would be here to greet us when we all heard.

“God damn it, Cupcake! What the fuck did you do to Banks?”

“Nothing he didn’t deserve!” a beautiful, dark-haired, angry woman shouted back when she stormed out of the clubhouse, totally ignoring us like we weren’t even there. Turning on her little booted foot, she pointed her finger at King, who glared at her as she shouted, “And you tell that asshole, he better fix this shit fast before I get really mad, because what I just did was only a taste of what I’m really capable of!”

“Bailey!” King shouted. “You can’t leave. You have to help me greet our guests!”

“I didn’t invite them!” the woman yelled back. “As far as I’m concerned, they can have the fucking moron, right after he fixes my new bestie!”

With that, the volatile woman headed over to an idling black SUV, jumped in, and peeled out of the compound.

Leaning toward Maxim, I whispered, “That would be Venom.”

“I see how she got the name.”

“You the Russian asshats who are here to take my boy away? Well, you can’t have him. So get lost.”

Turning, I spotted a young boy with blond hair and blue eyes glaring up at us, his arms crossed over his little chest.

“Jesus fuck,” King groaned, rushing over to snag the kid by the back of his shirt. “Get your ass inside now and finish your damn homework.”

“Already did,” the young boy snarked back, not one ounce of fear marring his face as he looked up at King. “Told you, that shit’s too easy.”

“FRANK!” King roared and moments later, a massive guy ambled out of the clubhouse with a baby attached to his back and two little babies strapped to his chest, eating an ice-cream cone.

“Yeah, King?”

“Take Cameron somewhere and drown him.”

“Can’t do that, Prez. Cam’s my buddy.”

King growled, glaring at the big guy.

Frank sighed. “Come on, little buddy, I think Sugar made fresh chocolate chip cookies. Bet they would taste good with some ice-cream.”

“Sweet!” The little boy smiled, running to the clubhouse.

King groaned, raking his hands down his face before he turned to face us, and said, “Welcome to the Sons of Hell Motorcycle Club.”

The cabins that King provided for us were small but held all the amenities. However, when King told Aksana that she and I would be sharing a cabin, she stormed off, slamming the bedroom door behind her.

Standing there with Katiya in my arms, I sighed.

“Women, huh?”

Looking at King’s brother, Gunner, who smiled as he took a bite of the sandwich in his hands, I wondered if Aleksandr knew what he was doing. The last time I was here, I didn’t remember this much drama. Then again, a lot could change in two years.

“So, you the one related to Banks?”

“No,” I muttered, not knowing what to do next, when something occurred to me. Looking at King’s brother, I asked, “Why are we sharing cabins? I counted twelve of them.”

“Oh, you guys aren’t the only ones showing up.”

“Who else is coming?”

“King brought in reinforcements. With your woman’s problems and Banks’ crap, as well as the probability of shit going sideways fast, he’s not taking any chances. He called in the big guns.”

Stiffening, I narrowed my eyes and growled.

“Who did he call?”

Gunner smiled and said, “The Golden Skulls.”

“AKSANA!” I shouted, storming toward the bedroom as she flung open the door.

“What? What do you want now?”

“Don’t unpack. We’re leaving.”

“Why?” she stubbornly asked, standing her ground as the front door of the cabin swung open and there she was.

Smiling from ear to ear, stood my daughter, Remi.