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Chapter Thirty-Six

Archer

I can’t even explain how I am feeling right now. On top of the pain I feel over not having her here, I now feel like a failure—we all failed her. While we were all playing hero and trying to take down the Saints as fast as possible, she was playing the long game. She saw through our flaws and concocted a plan of her own. She beat us all at a game we had no idea she was playing.

“The four of you own Lividica .” My jaw unhinges.

“The sex club?” I blurt.

“I think what you mean to say is, your million dollar hotel that is currently being expanded to four other locations. Vivian has gifted you all financial freedom, she has set you all up for the rest of your lives,” Nova says in wonder.

“How did she fund the build?” Hayze mumbles.

Nova continues to read over the stack of papers and we all sit here watching her facial features change from pride to mirth and then pure smugness. “She took a leaf out of their book. She embezzled the money from the Saints. She had the money run through an offshore account that is owned by a shell company then paid Ezy A for a service so the hotel build was funded by…” She lifts her head and looks between the four of us. “All of you. She found a way to funnel all the money from the Saints so they would never be able to rebuild and gave it all to you guys. The way she has done this makes it so nothing will track back to any of you guys. The FBI and anyone else that tries to come for the money won’t be able to find it without these documents. Vivian was the trojan horse they never saw coming.” The pride in which she speaks is clear as day, Nova is in awe of Vivi. Which makes me feel like shit. I never once gave a thought to my girl as I was wearing that mask and off doing things I shouldn’t have been doing because I wanted to be free of the noose around my neck.

“Wait a second.” We all turn to Ez, who scoots forward and drapes his forearms over his thighs while looking at his sister. “She bankrupted the Saints?” Nova nods, then Ezekiel smiles so fucking wide, displaying all of his teeth. The fucker could pose for a Colgate commercial.

“Why the fuck are you grinning like an idiot?” Hayze asks.

“Because my sister just destroyed not only the Saints but every fucker in The Brotherhood.” Vox is puffing out his chest like he just won the championship game.

“And…?” I push, getting pissed off that Hayze and I seem to be the only ones not grasping what the fuck is going on.

“The Saints can never rebuild because they don’t have the funding. All the members are now broke… every single one of them. On top of their names being blasted in the press, none of them will be able to afford a lawyer. They will be represented by public defenders and will be buried by the prosecution. They are all going to jail because Vivian was brave enough to do what she did. She saved us all,” Nova says wistfully. I hang my head in shame, she should never have had to sacrifice herself for us.

“Those papers don’t happen to mention where she is, do they?” Hayze asks with hope in his voice. Nova shoots him a sad look and shakes her head.

“No. I wish they did,” she says quietly.

“Where the fuck is she?” Vox questions aloud. “I would know if something happened to her, I’d feel it or I would just know or something! She’s fucking alive!” he roars. Nova abandons the papers and rushes to him, straddles his lap and cups his face between her hands, forcing him to meet her eyes.

“She’s out there, we just need to find her. She is way too fucking smart to die. Thomas is missing as well. So are a few other high ranking members of the Saints.” Vox grips her waist. Nova stills and that’s when we know she is hiding something. Her eyes keep darting between us as if she has just realized she’s said too much.

“How do you know that?” Vox’s voice is thick with accusation but there’s also heat.

“I-I mean…”

“What the fuck do you know, sister?” Ez snaps. Vox peers around his girl and shoots Ezekiel a scowl which he ignores. Nova twists on Vox’s lap and looks at her brother.

“I hired Vance, Terry and Phil to help us. I know they are just lawyers but given that they will have access to the upcoming cases, I thought they would be able to help. Plus, Alexander is bringing in more people to help us look for her.” At the mention of her and Alexander being on speaking terms, Vox’s face turns a shade of red. His eyes are spitting fire and promise punishment, Nova is going to get her ass spanked for that revelation. Vox ignores all our protests for more information when he grips her waist and turns her so she is facing him.

He may be a sinister motherfucker and can kill a man with his bare hands, but Nova is his kryptonite. To hurt her would be to hurt himself, which is why Ez will never try to keep his best friend away from his sister, we all know Vox will die for Nova without batting an eye. He showed us how much she means to him when he went after her and left us to go after Vivian.

“Witch.” He purrs her name but everyone knows he is using the allure of sex to get her to talk. “You’ve been keeping secrets from me and talking to guys behind my back, you know how I feel about that shit, don’t you?” The fact he is remaining calm and not fucking the answers out of her shows me he has matured and is finally learning how to use his words. I will admit though, the raw sexual tension wafting off them like a perfume has me wishing my girl was here and sitting on my lap like that.

“Vox…”

“Shhh, witch, unless you plan to share your secrets with the rest of the class, your mouth will be used for something else.” The innuendo is clear.

“I’ll fucking knock your ass out, Hatchett,” Ezekiel seethes but the couple just ignore his threat.

Nova squirms in his lap and it’s obvious she is close to breaking, Vox just needs to push a bit harder. We’re all waiting with bated breath for her to give us something, just a fucking crumb of information.

I need hope.

I never thought I would be the guy that chases a girl but Vivian isn’t just any girl, she’s the one . She is my ending, she’s my cure to an addiction I didn’t know I had.

“Alex thinks he knows where she is,” she blurts out. Unlike the movies, no one begins shouting or demanding answers, we all remain still and silent waiting for her to continue. “Halo hacked into the Pentagon and I also asked Dawson if he could get his aunt Katie to help hack the FBI and CIA database to see if there was any record of her.”

“And what did they find?” Vox’s tone betrays his calm exterior, he’s hanging onto his patience by a thread like the three of us.

“They think she is being held at a black sight but the problem is, there is no location for any of the black sights, so Halo and Katie are running a tracking program to sift through the agencies.”

“What will that do, Nova?” Hayze asks.

“We're hoping one of them will lead us to Vivian,” she answers.

“So, the feds have her?” I breathe out, feeling an intense sensation wash over me. I’ve seen enough movies to know that those black sites don’t operate within the law. They could be doing anything to her and there is not a fucking thing we can do about it.

We’re useless to her.

“We don’t know that for sure. There is no arrest record for her, Thomas or any of the other members that have gone missing,” she says with a hint of guilt in her tone.

“What about Tate?” Ez asks. “She was with Vivi, we all saw her in the photo.”

Nova purses her lips and thinks for a second before shaking her head. “I don’t know, I’ll ask Halo to look into it.”

“You and that fucker buddies now, huh?” Vox grits out.

“Halo is nice, it isn’t like that, dick bag. Him and his boss are trying to help me find my best friend. I won’t lose someone else I care about, Vox, I can’t.” Vox wraps his arms around her and pulls her flush against him.

“We have to tell my mom, witch. She has been going through hell trying to find my sister.” Nova melts at his words and nods.

“I didn’t want to say anything and give you all false hope. I’m sorry.” A whoosh of air escapes me at her declaration. I get her reasoning, I do, but it doesn’t make it any easier to swallow the bitter fucking pill.

“I want in on the search,” I announce.

“Me too,” Hayze says.

“We’re all going to help The Butcher and his crew. That’s our girl and I’ll be damned if I sit back and wait for someone else to fucking find her,” Ez declares.

“We’ll all help,” Vox states. “Call him, witch.”