CHAPTER TWELVE
CAPONE
My eyes spring open at the sound of the phone ringing, but I can barely move seeing as there is a five-foot three furnace sprawled across me. In all my twenty-seven years I have never once fallen asleep with my arms wrapped around a girl.
I didn’t realize what I was missing.
I could stay like this forever and that thought alone should have me throwing her off my body, but instead, I smooth my hand down Tara’s back. The heat radiating her from her body has me lifting my other hand to her forehead, and I start to get alarmed.
The girl feels like she is on fire.
“Tara, babe, you gotta wake up.”
She murmurs something I can’t quite make out, and the phone starts to ring again. This time I maneuver her to my side to grab it, and my eyes nearly pop out of my head when I see it’s ten o’clock.
“Fuck,” I hiss, scrambling to sit up. Swiping my thumb across the screen, I accept the call, knowing I’m about to get chewed out by Maverick. “Hey?—”
“Where the fuck are you?”
My brows pinch in confusion at the sound of Hawk’s voice, and I pull the phone away from my ear to glance at the screen.
“Hawk? Why are you calling me from Maverick’s phone?”
“I’m not dickface, and you should be grateful for that. He’s ready to kill you.”
Maybe I’m still half asleep but nothing is making sense.
“It literally says Maverick on my phone.”
“I don’t care if it says Jesus Christ. Mav called church an hour ago, and everyone’s been waiting on your ass. Then Holly shows up twenty minutes ago, saying she can’t get in touch with Tara, and all hell broke loose. Shady is on his way to your apartment.”
“Fuck.” I glance back at Tara, who has barely moved since I slid her off my chest. Her cheeks are flushed and she’s out cold. Getting her up and out of here before Shady arrives is not happening. I scrub my hand over my face. “The kids knocked us out. We dozed off.”
“I don’t really give a fuck, but I’m telling you now, you better come up with a different story.”
“But that’s the truth.” I grip the phone tighter. “I think she’s sick.”
“What?”
“Tara…man, she’s burning up.”
“Maybe you’re not hearing me. You’re a dead man. Give the girl the girl some Tylenol and get your ass over here.”
Right. Tylenol would be helpful if I had some.
He disconnects the call without another word, and I toss the phone onto the floor. Turning to Tara, I give her shoulder a gentle shove. “Tara, you really need to get up. Your uncle is on his way over here.”
She stirs only slightly. I reach for my phone again and quickly pull up Shady’s contact info. He answers on the second ring.
“You better have a good fucking excuse as to why you’re not answering anyone’s calls.”
“I’m sorry. We fell asleep.”
“You fell asleep,” he parrots. As soon as he repeats my words, I realize as innocent as the truth is, it don’t sound all that good, especially not to the overprotective uncle.
“Yeah, man. I swear. Look, Hawk told me you’re on your way over here. There’s no reason for that. I’ll get her to the clubhouse, just buy me some time.”
“I’m sorry are you asking me to cover for you.”
Yeah, that didn’t sound too good either.
“No, I’m asking you to trust me. I think I earned that much from you. Tara is safe, but she’s sick, and your efforts would be better suited if you told her mother that news, that way she can take care of her when I bring her to the clubhouse and Maverick can get on with church.”
“Maverick is going to kill you.”
“I’ll deal with Maverick. You deal with Holly, and while you’re at it, make sure we have some Tylenol on hand.”
Before he can say anything else, I end the call.
“Tara, you gotta wake up.” I brush the hair away from her face, and stare at her for a beat. Her eyes flutter open, and it takes a moment for them to focus. “Hey,” I whisper. “You don’t feel good, do you?”
She shakes her head. “I just want to sleep.”
“I know, but I gotta get you back to the clubhouse.” My thumb caresses her cheek. If it were up to me, I’d carry her straight to my bed, and let her sleep off whatever bug she seems to have caught, but my poor parents would have a body to bury if I did that. “You think you can stand, or do you want me to carry you?”
“I can walk.”
Thank fucking God.
“You look awful!” Holly exclaims, rushing straight for her daughter. She presses her palm to her forehead, and her eyes swing to me. “For fuck’s sake, Capone, she’s burning up.”
“Mom, stop. It’s not his fault I’m sick,” Tara says, swatting Holly’s hand away from her forehead. “If anything, he took great care of me.”
I don’t know about that. I didn’t do anything but stop on the way over here to get her a Gatorade and some Tylenol. I figured since I was already dead meat, there wasn’t really a reason to wait until we got here to get her the meds she needed.
“Capone,” Maverick booms. “I need a fucking word.”
I guess that’s code for come here so I can kill you .
“Dad, before you go off on Capone, you should know it’s my fault we fell asleep. After his sisters picked up the kids, I got really tired. I fell asleep on the floor, and I guess he did too. Neither of us heard our phones.”
“Tara, baby, this isn’t your concern,” Maverick grinds out, his fists curling at his sides as he glares at me.
“It is though,” she argues. “You asked Capone to watch out for me, and he’s been doing that. You think he wants to spend his days hanging out with a me? Cut him some slack.” Her gaze cuts to me and she offers me a weak smile. “I’m sorry I flaked out on you, but I really did have a good time with the kids today. Can we do it again next week?”
Sure, princess. We can play babysitter club whenever you want so long as your daddy doesn’t bury me in the woods somewhere.
“I’m taking you home,” Holly says. “Let’s go.”
“I’m not going anywhere until dad promises not to give Capone the riot act.”
“Tara, baby, you gotta mind your business. This has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the club.” Maverick turns to me. “Chapel. Now.”
I give him a curt nod, before turning to Tara.
“I’ll be fine.”
“You better be,” she says, giving her father a pointed look.
Just like I’ve never fallen asleep with anyone in my arms, I’ve never had a girl go to bat for me either. Tara’s breaking down all my defenses, and it’s taking every ounce of self-control not to fucking kiss her. Right here. Right now. In front of everyone.
Her father.
Her mother.
All my brothers.
I want to feel those lips on mine more than I want my next breath.
Her gaze cuts back to me and I wink at her.
“Go get some rest. I’ll stop by tomorrow with pizza.”
Her eyes light up. “Homemade?”
“Homemade.”
She looks back at her dad. “If you kill him, I’ll never forgive you.”
Her words are meant to be a joke, I think, but they hit me deep in the chest. Holly goes to lead her toward the door, but Mav stops them, calling on one of the prospects to follow them home, and stand guard until he can get there himself. When they finally leave, I start for the chapel but am quickly halted by Mav as he presses a firm hand to my chest.
“From this point forward, you are no longer running interference between Tara and Mark.”
“Come on, Mav?—”
“I’m not finished,” he growls. “I no longer give a fuck if that little prick sniffs around her. He’s irrelevant. We have bigger problems, and Tara’s safety is high on the list of priorities. You stick to her like glue. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”
Wait. So I’m not in trouble?
“Yes, sir.”
“If it’s her life or yours, you choose hers.”
Jesus Christ. He’s not playing around.
“Say it,” he roars. “I need to hear you say it.”
I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but I hear him loud and clear, and the words I speak next come freely and with conviction.
“I choose Tara. Whatever the circumstances. However great the threat. I choose her.”
He stares at me for a moment, his fingers curling around my shirt, as he searches my eyes. I don’t know what he’s looking for, maybe it’s sincerity—but whatever he finds seems to satisfy him because he releases his hold on me and pats me on the back.
“Good. That’s real good. Now, get your fucking ass inside that chapel.”
“I know everyone here has been on edge, talking shit and wondering what the fuck is going on, but I couldn’t bring anything to this table without having all the facts,” Mav says, pausing to light his cigar. He takes a few puffs before continuing, “The night Tara caught Mark cheating on her, Shady had gotten a call from Parrish up in New York.”
Still reeling from the conversation we had before we entered the chapel, I swipe a hand over my face. I don’t like where this is head. Nothing ever good comes out of that guy Parrish’s mouth. It’s how this whole mess started.
A while back the former president of the Satan’s Knights New York charter paid Maverick a visit. His club already had beef with the Sinoloa cartel, and their current president, Wolf, was struggling. In an attempt to keep their charter legit, Wolf depleted their gun supply.
If they wanted a fighting chance of staying alive, they needed guns, and they needed them quick. All our weapons were tied up in a deal we had in place with the Corrupt Bastards MC, but that didn’t stop Maverick from helping out our brothers in New York.
He shit on the deal with the Bastards, but we’re the ones that went up the creek without the paddle when we discovered our former VP, King, was working with both the cartel, and the Corrupt Bastards to pin us against New York.
It’s been an uphill battle ever since.
Revenge is funny that way.
“He’s got intel that would suggest allies of the Corrupt Bastards are headed here to meet with the cartel,” Shady reveals.
Rolling my neck, I try to make sense of what that could mean for us, but before I can, Ghost chimes in.
“Maverick isn’t buying it.”
Setting his cigar in the ashtray, Maverick leans back in his chair at the head of the table. “We took out some major hitters when we retaliated on them for high jacking our guns and killing Colt. A whole fucking hit squad to be exact, and we obliterated the Boston chapter of the Corrupt Bastards. I think whatever they’re planning is bigger than anything we could anticipate. This business about an ally club…it’s a cover for something. They want us to focus our attention on that so we don’t see them coming.”
“If that’s true, this could be the demise of both our charters,” Shady interjects.
“We knew this was coming,” Ghost adds.
He’s right. We knew they’d eventually come for us; we just didn’t know when. We’ve been biding our time, slowly building our stockpile of guns careful not to catch any heat from the local sheriff who has been watching us since King disappeared. But even with a warehouse full of AK47s, we’re no match for a fucking cartel as big as the one that’s gunning for us.
“Wolf finally got eyes on the club he was concerned about and they’re currently in Virginia hunkering down at another charter’s clubhouse, which buys us a couple of days,” Maverick reveals.
“Do we got a name on this club?” Leftie asks.
“Highway Renegades,” Shady returns.
“Never heard of them,” Leftie says.
“None of us have, but Wolf has it on good authority that they’re looking to make a name for themselves, and what better way to do that then by getting in bed with the Cartel.”
“I get it,” Leftie starts, pausing to scrub a hand over his weathered face. “But why come all the way down here to do it? There are hit squads up north. We might be getting ahead of ourselves for no reason.”
I think we’d all like to believe that, but the man is stuck in a period of time that doesn’t exist no more, one where the good in the world outweighs all the bad. Where peace trumps war and a man’s conscience is held in high regard.
“I’m leaning more to where Maverick’s head is at,” Wiz says.
“If I’m wrong, and this isn’t a distraction, then the Highway Renegades are going to go after our pockets. Which means they’re coming for our guns. If they become the main supplier out here, we’re done. I’m not willing to take that chance and neither is the president of the New York charter. Valeria started this shit, and now I’m done playing by her rules.”
“So this really has jack shit to do with this other club,” Ink says. “You’re ready to move on Valeria’s whole operation.”
“The truth is we should’ve finished this bitch when we took down her hit squad, but we didn’t have the ammunition to do it. Now we can sit wait for her to strike again, or we can cut her off at the knees. I vote for the latter, and so does New York. Wolf, Parrish, and a few others are gonna be headed down here and they’re not leaving until we make our move.”
“When are they due to arrive?” Torque asks.
“While New York is only about an eight-hour drive from here, they need to make arrangements. War doesn’t discriminate and it’s usually the ones we love that become casualties of our mistakes.”
Suddenly Maverick’s words from earlier make sense. The man didn’t lose his shit because we fell asleep in my apartment, and neither of us answered our phones. He was terrified his sins caught up to his only daughter.
“They’re getting their people situated and putting their charter on a soft lockdown until we make our move. They should be here no later than Sunday—the earliest tomorrow, which means we need to get this place in order. Holly has already been working on making sure we’re fully stocked and after she and Birdie are finished working at H it’s written all over his face. But the kid is right we need another option other than the crematory and us owning the land in Poplar Creek means law enforcement can’t act without a warrant.”
“We can relocate Booker & Mann when this over if we have to,” I add.
Bearing we’re all still alive.
Maverick goes silent for a moment, then his eyes lock with mine. “Leftie will cut you a blank check, securing a legit transaction between our LLC and Capizzone’s Landscaping. Take it to your old man and set up the rental.”
I wasn’t expecting him to be so agreeable. I guess that just leaves one thing.
“What about Tara?”
He narrows his eyes.
“We spoke about Tara already. Come Sunday, Tara will be here with everyone else. Until then, you balance things out. Get this shit squared away with your old man while she’s at school tomorrow.” He pauses. “If she still isn’t feeling well, and doesn’t wind up going, I’ll make sure Holly brings her here. That will give you even more time to deal with things.”
While I’m grateful for the direction, I was more concerned about the plan in place for when all hell breaks loose. I can’t be in two places at once, and I won’t go against my vow to protect her. I don’t share any of those thoughts with him though. The man looks like he’s had enough.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do in the next forty-eight hours,” Mav continues before his gaze lands on Ink. “Some of us have important decisions to make too. Tomorrow night I want you to stop whatever the fuck you’re doing. I don’t care if you’re wiring surveillance cameras or loading weapons into crates. You drop whatever it is, and you go be with the people you most want to spend time with because I can’t guarantee you’ll get any time at all with them after tomorrow. In fact, I can almost guarantee you won’t .”