Page 9 of Brandishing Balance (Devil’s Psychos MC #3)

Marcos

I was working on my laptop in Elaine’s dining room, going over bills and bank statements for the clubhouse, when Elaine walked in from the living room carrying a piece of paper. I eyed her warily, wondering what she was up to.

Elaine had been cordial enough in the last five days that we had invaded her house.

She’d said she didn’t mind the company, was grateful for it with Maya gone, but she was still curt with us at times.

Neither Jason nor I were much for small talk, but we had to be there for Luke.

We wanted to keep him comfortable and in his own home.

Despite the occasional awkwardness of being in Elaine's house, we tried to be supportive and understanding of her inability to drive due to a spinal injury from a car accident last autumn. I had club prospects driving her to doctor appointments and grocery shopping for us. Nickle’s old lady had dropped off a couple cooked meals, so there was always something to eat.

I did my best to treat her with respect, even if she was a cranky old broad sometimes. “Whatchu got there?” I asked, nodding at the paper in her hands.

Elaine looked up at me and gave me a pensive look. “I went through Maya’s sock drawer,” she admitted, shuffling the paper in her hands. “Tomorrow will be a week, and I don’t know if she’s still coming back or not, but I think you should have this.”

“Elaine, we have everyone in the county working on it. We’ll get her back. I promise,” I said, frowning.

Elaine forced a smile on her aging face and shrugged a shoulder. “Either way,” she spoke softly. “I think you should have this.” She handed over the folded paper she’d been holding.

I took the paper, frowning. Slowly opening it, my eyes widen in shock at what I read on the document.

Official Cook County Birth Certificate. I scanned the paper in disbelief.

There in black and white it spelled out, Lucas Nicolai Candella , with his birthdate for November 11 th , almost ten years prior.

And under the father’s name? Marcos Candella.

“Holy shit,” I let out a heavy breath, rubbing a hand over my head. “Did she just do this?”

“No, she’s always had your name on his birth certificate. It’s been my biggest argument for telling you sooner. Why keep it from you if she was going to name you as his parent?”

“Why indeed,” I muttered.

“I thought you should have that in case anything happens at the school. She listed you as his father on his registration papers too, if anything were to come up.”

I looked up and met her gaze with my own watery stare. “Thank you, Elaine.”

She patted my hand and nodded her head. “I’m sorry I’m difficult most of the time, but I saw the way you treated her back then. How the three of you cherished her. I would see you all around town sometimes and Jenna kept me updated. Maya was happy with you.”

I cleared my throat and blinked away the tears that gathered in my eyes. I hadn’t expected this from Maya’s stoic mother. “Thank you.” I nodded.

Marcos

“Have you heard anything from your brother?” I didn’t wait for preamble as I walked into Kara’s house later that night.

It was a Friday evening, and instead of heading to the clubhouse, I was taking Luke to meet Nico at the boxing gym.

But first we had to stop by Kara’s so Luke could see his aunt for a bit.

It was the perfect excuse for me to check in with Kevin. Once again, I found the black-haired man washing bottles at the kitchen sink. “Nothing good,” Kevin sighed. “He’s struggling to find Hillcrest, meaning Hillcrest has some high-tech firewalls, or someone in the government covering for him.”

“The government?” I snapped. “Like the damn mayor?”

“No, like the fucking FBI,” Kevin elaborated. “Someone who is able to erase and hide information. Jack hasn’t tried hacking them yet, but he will if he has to.”

“Fucking hack them already! Find my fucking woman!” I growled.

Kevin nodded. “Yeah, man. He’ll get on it.”

I stalked passed Kevin, grumbling to myself about not beating the fuck out of the guy because it would upset my sister, when I turned the corner and ran smack into a wall of muscles.

Johnny “Mayhem” Taylor had been walking toward the living room when I ran right into him.

“Easy,” Johnny muttered, gripping my shoulder.

Wrenching my shoulders out of Johnny’s grip, not in the mood to deal with the temperamental biker, I tried to push past him and search for my sister.

Only Johnny wasn’t having it. “You’re not going to come into this house and bring your shitty attitude around my woman and my kid, you hear me, brother ? ” Johnny growled, getting in my face.

All fight drained out of me at the reminder that the two of us had unfinished business.

I had forgotten all about the fact that I shared a father with Johnny.

It was something we’d learned last year.

It hadn’t seemed all that important in the grand scheme of things, though.

It had explained some of the backstory regarding my mother’s history and the history between Vince Carmichael and Mac Taylor.

It also explained why Carmichael had it out for Mac Taylor.

Johnny had given me our father’s journal, but I had only glanced it over. I never had a burning need to know who my father was or track him down growing up. I had been raised by a very strong woman, and while she had made some mistakes when she was younger, I didn’t fault her. Not one bit.

“Yeah, brother,” I conceded. I didn’t need to be starting shit with Mayhem. Not when things had finally settled down between the two clubs, and especially not when my sister was practically married to the guy.

Johnny’s metaphorical hackles lowered and he patted me on the shoulder. “We’re here to help man. We’ll get her back. I promise you, I know how it feels.”

I hissed and turned away. Even that little reminder to when my sister had been kidnapped was not something I needed at the moment. “Yeah, but my sister was held as collateral. Hillcrest has been obsessed with Maya for the last ten years.”

“We’ll get her back, man,” Johnny said again, his tone brokering no argument.

I could only nod. “Hey, uh, I’m sure Adams already told you, but I thought you should hear it from me too. The Seratelli’s are working heavily with us on this. Nico made peace with his family.”

Johnny rubbed at his bearded jaw with his knuckles and nodded slowly. “I appreciate the transparency. Any word on a sit down?”

“I’ll press Leonardo myself for it after Maya’s found.”

“Understood.”

“The bratva giving you a hard time?” I asked.

Johnny shook his head. “Not yet. They’re icing us out currently, which isn’t great either. But Tarasov said he wouldn’t talk to us unless we cut ties with the Italians. So I’m not expecting anything until afterwards.”

I sighed and rubbed a hand over my head. “Yeah.”

Marcos

Luke’s first lesson at the boxing gym was a thing of beauty, and a learning experience for me too.

Nico was an amazing fighter and had the patience of a saint. He walked Luke through each move step by step. Teaching him how to land his hit on the bag as to not break his own knuckles or wrist.

Seeing Nico in his element, teaching and boxing, had shown me how much being stuck at the clubhouse working on cars was draining him. It was like life was being poured back into Nico. Despite our current worries, Nico was happy teaching Luke how to box.

Luke had taken to boxing like a fish to water. Once his hands were in gloves, that Nico had pulled out of his duffle bag, he had immediately tried swinging on the bag, only to realize how fucking hard it actually was. Filled with sand and covered in layers of leather, it was not an easy hit.

I stepped away while Nico taught, letting both Luke and Nico get lost in the lesson. I hung back for a while watching, before he headed over to the weight machines and started lifting. I could at least burn off some energy of my own while they worked.

I was on my back, doing bench presses when a shadow loomed over me.

Turning my head to the side, I saw none other than Leonardo Seratelli standing before me in a black three-piece suit that was clearly tailored and perfectly coifed hair.

I would think he was a pansy if not for how ruthless the motherfucker was known to be. “Seratelli.”

“Candella.” Leo nodded his head in greeting.

I racked the bar and sat up. Facing Seratelli, I rested my elbows on my knees. “Find anything?”

“One of the mothers in The Edges came forward. She said she saw a young woman being shot before she was thrown over a shoulder of a guy with a jagged scar across his face and tossed into a trunk of a late model white Buick Sabre.”

“We knew most of that already.” I didn’t need to hear the gruesome details on how my woman was hurt and kidnapped. I already knew she was. I needed to know where she was.

“Yeah. It’s about all we got though. People are talking at least.”

I could only nod. I was drowning in misery and didn’t know how to track down Maya anymore.

“I’ve got a tech guy on it,” Seratelli continued, before I could say anything. “He’s searching for any cameras in the area and hoping to trail after the Buick. The Edges aren’t known for the security cameras though.”

“Only two ways out of The Edges, though,” Marcos said.

“Exactly. My guy is good. He’ll find the car, eventually.”

“I’ve got a tech guy working on it too. Looking into a possible FBI connection. Looks like Hillcrest is highly protected from someone high in the government.”

“Who’s your guy?” Seratelli asked.

“Who’s yours?” I countered, meeting his gaze.

Seratelli’s lips twitched slightly. “My brother, Stefano.”

I didn’t know if I was surprised or not by Seratelli’s confession, but I met him on the transparency front. “My sister is dating the Ravager Knights’ vice president, Kevin Adams. He reached out to his brother, Jack. He’s some big tech guy in Chicago.”

Seratelli let out a surprised bark of laughter. “Jack Adams is looking for Dax Hillcrest? I’m surprised he hasn’t found him yet.”

“Like I said, Hillcrest is being protected by someone in the FBI—according to Kevin—but he’s going to hack the FBI and see what he can find. I guess it’s why it’s taking so long.”

Seratelli shook his head, falling serious again. “How does a fucking gangbanger get so powerful?”

“No idea. He’d been working with our dead president for the last decade or so. Pushing Maya away, framing Nico, killing Mac Taylor. Whatever deal Buckley and Hillcrest had, it earned Hillcrest a lot of money.”

“Big money and big protection,” Seratelli surmised, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Yep.”

A lull fell between us and Seratelli looked over at his cousin teaching Luke how to box. “He’s yours?”

I turned to watch the pair as well, nodding. “Yeah. He’s nine.”

“Nico looks good teaching. Relaxed.”

“Yeah.” I huffed out a breath. “He’s been miserable the last ten years. I just hadn’t realized how miserable.”

“Hopefully when Maya is returned, he finds happiness again.”

“Yeah, hopefully.”