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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

HENDRIX

T he days turned into weeks, and spring turned into a scorching hot summer. Jobs came in and were completed, including the extraction of a diplomat in the Middle East. Colt brought us in to help him foil a Russian cyber-attack by exposing a spy ring in Washington as part of his FBI work, and we also helped with taking down a kid who was planning to shoot up his school.

Changes were taking place, the main one being Fender and his kids arriving at the club.

Honestly, I was shocked at the change in my brother.

Back when I was VP in Wyoming, Fender was easygoing, quick to smile and joke, and was what I’d have called a more laid-back and eager-to-please member of the crew.

The changes in him were drastic, to say the least, not just emotionally but physically, too.

He’d been sinewy and clean of ink before Ashley’s death. Now, he was covered in tattoos and had gained a good fifty pounds of muscle. His smile was non-existent, and his face seemed constantly shadowed with a mix of torment and rage. He only spoke when he was spoken to or when he had to sort his kids, which in itself was weird, seeing as they seemed to be looking after themselves more than anything.

His girl, Addison, was quiet, sweet, and obviously loved her dad and brothers, but she’d been starved of female attention. It seemed natural that she’d turn to the women of the club and was constantly attached to Anna, Carina or Gigi, and some days, even Cece.

Fender’s boys, Elliot and Cooper, were all about the rough and tumble and loved being around the men. They earned a fortune washing bikes and trucks and could usually be found in our new auto shop, fetching and carrying for the team of brothers who were in the process of setting it up.

Fender was in charge of the garage. He was a talented mechanic and had even helped Bowie custom design bikes on occasion. There wasn’t a motorcycle he couldn’t build or a vehicle he couldn’t fix, so in that way, he was an asset to the club. I just wished he’d open up to someone because his withdrawal from life and lack of emotional attachments—even to his kids—worried me.

Still, he was in the best place, and I knew one day something or someone would break through. He seemed good with the whole keep on keeping on thing. We just had to give him time and space to get himself and the kids to a place where they could smile easy again.

Anna was doing well, and she was blooming with her pregnancy.

Her tiredness and aches disappeared as she hit the six-month mark, along with the air of exhaustion that had plagued her. We were getting along great, but I knew she was holding herself back from fully committing to me. As much as I tried to get to the bottom of why, she wasn’t talking.

Still, I felt we were building something again, and I loved having her back in my life. She’d always made me feel as if I could achieve anything. Her quick smile and banter made me laugh daily, and the brothers radiated toward her warmth like moths to a flame.

The three years without her had been my darkest days, and considering I’d been close to death in the jungles of Borneo, that said a lot. Anna brought something to my life I’d never had before. Maybe it was her femininity because her very presence relaxed me and helped me soften and not take myself too seriously. I still had an edge, and I always would; it was who I was, but Anna and the baby brought out a tenderness in me that I never knew I possessed. She was smart and helped me talk through problems, and she had a moral compass I’d always admired. She cared about people and showed them through soft smiles and touches. Much like Carina, she wanted to see people looked after, maybe because the baby growing inside her belly brought out her maternal instincts.

She was the perfect ol’ lady to the president of a motorcycle club, and every day, I viewed her as a partner more and more, even though we hadn’t made anything official. That wasn’t to say I didn’t get bogged down with the responsibility now and again, but I handled it by talking to Dad or Blade instead of running for the hills.

The only threat rearing its ugly head went by the name of Adrian Lis.

He called Colt constantly, asking after Anna and insisting they speak. The funerals of Antoni and the other men had passed without a hitch, and we were clear and free.

Anna had signed the house over to the Lis family under the guise that she’d left him and didn’t feel entitled to any of it. In truth, when she discovered the proceeds were from drugs, she wasn’t comfortable living large from it, though Adrian insisted she took the money from the sale of the house for the baby, which eventually, she did under duress.

As much as Colt tried to put Lis off, he wasn’t going away. It was becoming a bone of contention because Anna had started to hint she should speak to him to see what he wanted, and I wasn’t down with that whatso-fucking-ever.

It was the reason we were holed up in Church.

Adrian Lis had called Colt again that morning and demanded to speak to Anna. It was becoming a problem, one that I wanted to take care of permanently, but Colt disagreed.

My tech man’s voice cut through my thoughts.

“Hannigan wants to see how it plays out. You may have a license to kill, Prez, but it don’t mean you gotta shoot every fucker who darkens your path.”

“What would you do if it was Freya?” I demanded. “Listen to Hannigan, or deal?”

“I’m an FBI agent, Hendrix,” he stated. “But my loyalties lie with you. If you gotta bad feeling, we’ll go in and burn his house down, but we have to do it quiet ‘cause you’ll be prime suspect number one, even if we fix the scene of the crime. The problem with working with the Feds is that they know how we do things and are familiar with our tricks of the trade. My advice is to leave it alone for now and see how it plays out. With any luck, it’ll settle down; if it doesn’t, we move in, but only as a last resort.”

My shoulders tensed.

I wanted Anna free and clear of the Lis family, but Colt had a point. The issue we had was that the Feds knew we wanted to go and eliminate Adrian Lis. It stood to reason we’d be prime suspects if anything happened to him.

My brothers would stand at my side; I knew it without question, but if I ordered them to do this, I may as well have been ordering them straight to jail, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars.

We had men like Bones and Colt who had careers outside the club. Compromising them wouldn’t be fair. If anything had to happen, it would be me who’d go in alone.

“Still think Adrian Lis is bad news, Prez?” Diablo muttered.

“Goes without sayin’,” Blade interjected. “But Colt speaks sense. We’d be fools not to listen. Not saying we can’t plan our course of attack, but maybe we should hold off implementing it until we have no choice.”

Colt nodded. “Lis controls all the narcotics across three states. He’d sell his mother down the river if it meant saving his own skin. I’m not sure he cares about what happened to Leon and Antoni. He’s probably glad it was them and not him who got dead, but if he suspects any wrongdoing on Anna’s part, he would’ve asked around about us, and no doubt put safeguards in place to protect himself.” He turned to Diablo. “Any of your informants talkin’?”

“Nah,” the SAA replied. “Got a guy who’s got a guy on the streets of Philly. The place is buzzing with how the Lis brothers got taken out, but nobody suspects it was us, seein’ as we’re unknown entities there. Some are even sayin’ that Adrian ordered the hit on those fuckers himself ‘cause they were stupid and fucking with the business. It was no secret that Leon was a coke head, and as we all know, a coke head dealing coke isn’t a good career move. Adrian’s got a reputation for not putting up with bullshit, so it would’ve only taken one wrong move on Leon’s part before his boss went searching for retribution, even if they were related.”

“I’m not mad at that narrative,” I muttered.

“Neither am I,” Diablo agreed. “But Colt does have a point. We’ve got away with this one so far, even though it was a high-risk operation. If we go after Adrian, it’ll only be a matter of time before we get the spotlight shone our way, especially now we’ve got Anna with us. And if Lis has put safeguards in place in case he has any”—he lifted his fingers and bent them into speech marks—“unexpected accidents, we’ve gotta be clean as a whistle to not get any fingers pointed at us.”

“They’re right, Son. Who’ll protect Anna and the boy if we’re all in the clink?” Dad asked.

“Don’t forget Freya, Carrie, and Gigi, too,” Blade added.

The men murmured their agreement.

I sat back in my chair, the men’s concerns pinging through my brain.

The club wasn’t a democracy. It wasn’t the way I ran things, purely because too many people fighting for their ideas would result in anarchy. However, I did take everybody’s thoughts on board and decided the best way forward according to what was right for the club.

My men were right on ths one; taking Adrian Lis out would be too risky and ultimately would put Anna and the other women in more danger. They were safer with us by their sides than in fucking prison.

“But how do we get Lis to back off?” I demanded. “He’s making her more stressed with every call. I’ve stopped telling her about them ‘cause I see her get more worried, and it’s bad for the baby.”

“I’ve got an idea, but you won’t like it,” Colt murmured.

I raised my hand to rub at the tension in my neck because I reckoned I knew what he was about to say.

“Let her talk to him, Prez,” he suggested. “Anna’s smart. We can gauge Lis’s intentions and find out what the fuck he wants with her. Knowledge is power, and we can plan for a favorable outcome if we have something concrete to go on.”

My elbows hit the table, and I held my head in my hands.

Colt was right in what he said about Anna, except for one thing. My woman wore her heart on her sleeve. She wasn’t a cloak-and-dagger type of girl. The problem was, I couldn’t think of any way around it.

My eyes lifted onto Blade. “What do you think?”

He ran a hand across his beard. “We could put it to a vote.”

Slowly, I nodded, resigned to what was about to come next. “Those in favor of Colt’s suggestion, raise your hands.”

All hands went up except for Dad’s and Diablo’s.

No surprise there.

My eyes drifted to Pop. “Say your piece.”

Dad’s elbows hit the table, and he rubbed at his temples. “Don’t want Anna stressed. It’s bad for the baby. She’s not trained, she’s not sneaky, and she’s not duplicitous.”

“Noted,” I replied, my stare sliding toward Diablo. “Your turn.”

“I like Anna,” he began. “But it’s against the bylaws for ol’ ladies to get involved in club business. Not fair on her if it goes ass-up.”

My eyes turned to Colt. “Well?”

He cocked a brow in challenge. “We get Freya involved in our shit all the time. Hell, Ciara knows what’s goin’ on before half the brothers do.” He turned to our SAA. “Remember the time Ace gave you that GSW? You didn’t mind my ol’ lady gettin’ involved in club business when she had you down on that operating table saving your ass. I get we’ve got bylaws, and we need to stick to them, but I trust my ol’ lady as much as—and in some cases even more than—my brothers. If Anna’s eventually gonna take on Prez, she needs to learn how it works around here. We just need to do our jobs and brief her properly. She’s smart, she’s resourceful, and she knows her strengths and her weaknesses. She won’t fuck up.”

Diablo thought for a moment, then jerked a nod. “I’ll change my vote to aye.”

My eyes shifted to Dad again. “I get your concerns about the baby; I feel it too, but a few weeks ago, I had a convo with Anna and she chewed me out for not bein’ honest. The things I kept from her had an impact, Pop, and it broke her trust in me. In the name of doin’ right by her, I reckon we should pull Anna in and ask her what she wants to do. If she’s not up to the job, we cook up another plan. If she’s willing, we brief her, then put her in a room with Freya and Bones there as her doctors and let her make the call.”

He nodded. “Okay, Son, but if it goes sideways, I don’t want her blamed in any way. What we’re asking of her is on us, not her.”

“Goes without sayin',” I agreed, looking around the room. “I’ll ask again. Those in favor, say aye.”

Every man raised a hand and barked, “ Aye .”

My heart gave a nervous thud, but I breathed through it, glancing at Blade. “Looks like you better go get Anna.”

—————

“You sure you wanna do this?” I murmured, tucking the sheet tightly around Anna’s hips.

She laid her hand on my arm and squeezed. “I’ll be fine. I’ve got Bones and Freya with me, and you’ll be watching with Colt. You’ve gone over everything thirty-seven times, and then Blade went through it another fifty-four times. I’m good.”

I glanced up at my club’s doctor and Freya, catching them throwing each other knowing looks. “You sure her blood pressure’s okay for this?”

Bones’ lips twitched. “Anna’s blood pressure was slightly elevated for about ten minutes once, three weeks ago. She’s fine.”

“You can’t be too careful,” I grumbled.

“Says who?” Freya threw back.

Anna shook her head at me in exasperation, but she did it with a smile.

I stroked her hair back from her forehead and dropped a kiss on it. “Remember, if things get uncomfortable, Bones will deal. All you need to do is play along.”

“I’ll be fine,” she insisted gently. “I’ll do what you’ve all advised and stick to the truth as much as I can. That way, I won’t slip up on the small details.”

“That’s my girl,” I murmured, watching Anna’s eyes go soft.

“Are we done?” she sassed in an attempt to cover her emotions.

I leaned forward, rested my forehead on hers, and whispered, “Never.”

She inhaled a sharp breath, and her eyes melted.

“The call’s about to come in,” Colt said, his attention on his cell phone. “Let’s go.”

With one last kiss on her forehead, I stood and followed Colt to the door and turned in the direction of my office. “We’re not fucking up here, are we?” I asked.

“We don’t gotta choice,” he answered. “And you gotta let some of that control go, Drix. We’ve all proved ourselves to you tenfold. Now it’s time to give Anna the same chance.”

I let us into my office, holding the door for Colt to precede me. “I’m not a control freak.”

“Not now,” he concurred. “But it took a while to get you there. Though to be fair, I can’t blame you for being antsy after what went on with Ace.”

My chest jerked at the unexpected mention of my old friend and new adversary’s name, and then it jerked again when Colt’s cell phone began to ring loudly.

He dropped into the chair at my desk, his eyes lifting to meet mine. “Ready?”

I inclined my head sharply.

He clicked on his cell phone and studied the screen. “I’m Agent Van der Cleeve. Good to meet you, Mr. Lis.”

“Agent,” a deep voice greeted. “I hoped Ania would answer.”

“She’s expecting your call but had a bad morning, so she’s with her doctors,” Colt advised. “You okay to hang fire while I check she’s okay to talk?”

“I’ll hold,” Lis muttered with an air of impatience.

Colt fiddled with his cell, then grabbed his iPad from my desk, his fingers flying across the screen. Propping it onto a holder, an image appeared on the screen of Anna, Bones, and Freya in the medical room I’d just left her in.

Her phone rang, and I watched her answer. “Hi.”

“Ready?” Colt asked.

“I’m ready,” she answered.

Colt clicked on his phone again and placed it on the desk as the iPad screen split into two, and a dark-haired dude dressed in a dark grey, well-cut suit appeared alongside Anna’s face.

I was a straight dude, but even I could see how good-looking he was. His skin was olive, and his hair jet-black. He looked more Italian than Polish and certainly had that slick Mediterranean vibe about him.

“Adrian,” Anna murmured.

“I’ve been worried about you, Ania,” he clipped out. “The family expected you to come to Antoni’s funeral.”

“Didn’t Agent Van Der Cleeve relay the circumstances?” she asked.

He sucked air in through his nose, obviously not happy at the thought of what those circumstances were. “Yes, and I’m sorry that happened. If I had known at the time, I would’ve intervened. I don’t sanction that type of behavior. Rest assured, I would’ve protected you and the child.”

Tears filled her eyes, and my heart tugged for her. “Thank you. I wish I’d have known you better.” She gave him a soft smile. “Can I be candid with you?”

He jerked a nod. “Please do.”

“I know you were Antoni’s family, and he respected you, but we’ve never been close, so I wonder why you’ve been so determined to contact me. I left my marriage behind when Toni...” She cleared her throat. “My marriage was over before Toni was murdered, so what do you need to discuss with me?”

He stared at Anna briefly before his expression softened. “It’s not as simple as that, Ania,” he declared. “You and Antoni were legally still married when his life was taken, and you carry his heir. You carry a Lis . That means something to me.”

Her eyes widened.

“Antoni and Leon hid a lot from me, but after an internal investigation, I’m satisfied you knew nothing of any wrongdoing. I want to extend the hand of friendship and invite you back to Philadelphia to reside with me during your pregnancy and after the birth of the boy if you wish. You will be safe and cared for. You have my personal guarantee that no harm will come to you under my protection.”

A low growl left my throat.

“Easy,” Colt muttered, his hand hitting my shoulder.

Anna’s forehead furrowed. “Thank you, Adrian, but I’m happy and cared for here.”

“You live in a hotel with bikers,” he argued.

“I live in a luxury hotel suite in an exclusive resort with some of the most talented ex-military personnel in the country,” Anna corrected.

“With ex-lieutenant Jameson Quinn, who you were once involved with.” Lis held his hands up. “I’m not judging, Ania. Agent Van Der Cleeve already explained you were frightened and needed a safe haven when Antoni beat you, and I understand your state of mind at the time, but I also have private security at my disposal. I can extend that to you.”

“I appreciate your offer,” she replied softly. “But I also have security.”

He paused, his shoulders slumping. “I cannot persuade you?”

“No, Adrian. I’m grateful and even touched that you’re looking out for me, especially in the circumstances. But I need to move on with my life, and I can’t do that if I’m living with my ex-husband’s family.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “I see your point, even agree to an extent, but there’s still the matter of the boy. He needs to know his family and eventually take his place with us.”

A muscle ticked in my jaw.

“I won’t allow my son to get involved in anything illegal,” she declared emphatically. “I left Antoni because I discovered his... activities didn’t align with my morals. He lied about his work and where his money came from. That life isn’t for me, Adrian, and I’ll raise my son to do the right thing. He’ll learn to work hard for everything he wants, the same way I did.”

“I understand you’re biased because of your experiences with my cousin, Ania,” Lis stated. “But I assure you, my enterprises are above board and legal. I worked hard to make them that way. Even so, the fact remains that the boy is a Lis, and he needs to know his history and his culture. I expect you to comply for his sake.”

A snarl rumbled through my throat.

Anna’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Is that a threat?”

“No,” he assured her. “But you should be aware that I take my family responsibilities seriously. You know my wife passed away before we were blessed with children?”

She nodded sharply.

“I have no intention of remarrying,” he went on. “My sister is confined to a wheelchair, and my cousins are are now dead. Your son may be the only one who can carry on my family name.”

“I’m giving him my name,” she argued.

Lis waved a casual hand. “Regardless, he will have my blood.”

My gaze sliced to Colt. “End it.”

He dipped his chin and tapped his phone, before ordering, “Get Anna off the call, Princess.”

Freya's voice immediately filled the room. “I need to take your blood pressure, Anna.”

Anna gave Lis a tight-lipped smile. “I have to go.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Before you do, tell me, are you well? Do you need anything? Money? Help? Transport? I can send my own doctors to care for you.”

“I have everything I need, Adrian. Thank you,” she replied.

“Then I’ll let you go,” he agreed. “You have my number. Can we arrange a weekly call so I can check on your progress? I’d very much like to continue this conversation and offer you reassurance that my intentions are good. The child is loved already by his Polish family, and we want him in our lives, Ania, regardless of his future role within the family business.”

Anna’s eyes searched his briefly. She must’ve been satisfied with what she saw behind them because she gave him a reassuring smile. “Let’s start with a call, say every two weeks? When my son’s born, we can decide what’s best going forward. What happens in the future depends on a lot of things. I make no promises, Adrian, but I’m open to you having contact as long as you respect my wishes.”

“That’s acceptable.” Lis suddenly smiled, flashing his white teeth at Anna, charm oozing from every pore. “Thank you for your time, and I’m happy we’ve opened the doors of communication.” He gave her a friendly nod, muttering, “Farewell, Ania,” before the screen went black.

I slumped back in my chair, running a hand across the top of my head as I watched Colt tap on his cell and then the iPad. He glanced at me. “She did good.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But I dunno what to make of Lis. My gut tells me he knows more than he’s letting on, but I don’t think he had bad intentions toward Anna—none that I can pick up on anyway. If anything, he’s being over-friendly.”

Colt nodded his agreement. “His interest seems to be all about Anna’s son.”

“Looks that way.” I sat forward, elbows to knees, and leveled my stare on Colt. “What’s his story?”

“His wife was murdered on the day of their wedding on the steps of the fuckin’ church. Think Godfather on steroids. It was a bloodbath by all accounts. Turned out she was also pregnant.”

My blood curdled with disgust. “Rival faction?” I asked.

“Nah,” Colt drawled. “His brother wanted to take over. He opened fire on Adrian but missed and hit the bride along with the sister, who was the maid of honor. The wife was only nineteen. She was killed instantly, and the sister was hit in the back. Now she’s in a wheelchair.”

“Jesus,” I breathed. “No wonder he won’t remarry.”

“Word on the street is that Lis was obsessed with his bride. Never looked at another woman once he met her, which we both know is rare in the mob. Apparently, the brother suffered for about a year before he was put out of his misery. The torture he went through killed him over and over again, but Lis had a doctor on hand to keep bringing him back to life just so he could let him heal enough to start again. It’s Philly folklore.”

“I like his style,” I said begrudgingly. “Still, the thought of Lis finding out we were the ones who murdered his family doesn’t fill me with the warm and fuzzies—” I paused “—except, did you get the impression he doesn’t care they’re dead?”

“For sure,” Colt concurred. “But if Leon, Antoni, and Filip were double-crossing Adrian like he said, or at least doing shit he wasn’t down with, maybe we did him a favor. If Lis is telling the truth about not knowing the cousins were involved with drugs, we may have solved his problem for him.”

“Seems that way,” I mused. “I don’t think he’s an immediate threat. He seemed okay with Anna living her life. But he may be a problem in the future when it comes to Anna’s boy.”

“So, we monitor their calls and keep tabs on his movements. The instant he makes a move, we deploy.”

I inclined my head. “Agreed.”

He jerked his thumb toward the door. “You wanna call Church? Brief the officers?”

Pulling my cell out of my pocket, I scrolled through my recent call list. “Yeah. Just gonna call Anna first to make sure she’s good. Ten minutes?”

“You got it.” He grinned. “Your woman did good today. She’s gonna make a fine First Lady. The boys love her, she’s kind, she’s sweet, and she’s got—” he clicked his fingers, searching for the word “—gumption.” He turned for the door as I sat there with my phone in my hand and my chest full of warmth.

“Colt,” I called out as he reached the exit.

His steps faltered, and he craned his neck.

“Thanks.” I grinned.

His grin widened. “You any closer to getting in there yet?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Gotta build the trust again. I hurt her; she hasn’t forgotten, and I haven’t done enough to make her see I’ve changed.”

“Don’t give up,” he said gently. “Today must have gone a long way in showing her you’ve changed. You’d have never let her do this a couple of years ago. Just keep proving you’ve grown as a person. Trust me, it’s worth every sliver of self-doubt, every feelin’ of unworthiness, and every stab of guilt.”

“Whenever I waver, I just think back to when she was mine, brother,” I admitted. “There was nothin’ more beautiful than the light she shone on me. It’s why I couldn’t let her go. Once you’ve had that warming you up, nothin’ else comes close.”

He nodded slowly. “You’ll get there, Hendrix, just keep on keeping on. You survived oceans, deserts, and jungles. You can survive one tiny redhead.”

I chuckled, marveling at how much quicker I was to laugh these days. “Brother. Believe me, my ol’ lady has a temper to match that red hair, and I wouldn’t have her any other way.”