Page 13 of Property of Brute & Axl
The pizza arrived before we could sweep Finleigh up to our bed. I’d been pissed until her stomach began grumbling, reminding us that she’s eating for two. A baby is still a foreign concept to me. I’m not particularly fond of kids, let alone infants, with their constant screaming.
My eyes don’t leave Finleigh as she eats quietly and watches everyone around us. Easy keeps shooting her flirtatious winks from across the room; she blushes with each one, and I’m ready to put a bullet in his fucking head. Axl hangs on by a thread as well. I notice it in the way he’s ready to toss the table over and attack like a wild animal.
We’ve never had a problem before with guys flirting with the girls we’ve brought around. Hell, some of them have even had a turn once we’d finished with them, but Finleigh is different. And not just because she’s carrying our baby, either.
We both felt it all those months ago. Yes, we could have found her back then; we had her name, but too many reasons stacked up against bringing her into our lives. One of which was the club being at war with the traffickers who had tried to kill Axl. We couldn’t put her at risk then.
Turns out, that shit didn’t matter because she got fucked up anyway.
Acutely attuned to every move or sound she makes, I don’t miss her tense and groan in pain next to me, sweat beading along her hairline.
“She needs her meds,” I tell Axl. His gaze swiftly shifts to her before he gets to his feet and grabs the bag of prescriptions the prospects picked up from my office, and brings it to our table.
Dumping out the bag’s contents, we find prenatal vitamins, sleep aids, painkillers, and muscle relaxers. After reading the instructions on the pain meds, I shake out a couple and offer them to Fin while Axl hands her the glass of juice she’d asked for but hadn’t touched.
Grimacing as she swallows them, she slumps against me, counting her breaths as she attempts to relax. “You want to go to bed?” I ask. She shakes her head before changing her mind and agreeing.
Scooping her into my arms, she utters a cry before burying her head in my throat. Axl grabs the medication and follows us upstairs. Entering our room, I gently place her on the bed, intending to undress her and check the wounds under the bandages that appear to need changing. Finleigh, however, rolls onto her side and curls into herself, doing what she can to stem the agony flowing through her body.
After grabbing a bottle of water from the mini fridge in the living room, Axl joins me in watching Fin try to sleep. The bags under her eyes grow heavier by the minute, while tension in her shoulders tightens with every passing second as she waits for the drugs to take effect. Clasping a foot, I slip the Crocs off her feet and drop them at the end of the bed before covering her with the blanket.
“You need anything, just holler,” I tell her as we get ready to leave. She makes a sound of agreement but says nothing else.
Storming downstairs, my eyes lock on Easy as he exits the communal office, folder in hand. He follows me and Axl into mine and closes the door for privacy.
“Get to it,” I bark. My tone is filled with frustration and the need for vengeance.
“It’s not her dad. Not directly.”
If he doesn’t get to the fucking point, he’ll be leaving this office in a horribly painful way.
“Care to elaborate?” Axl leans against a wall beside my desk.
Pulling out the papers he’s printed off, Easy hands them to me. Glancing things over, they include everything he could find on Finleigh’s life and who she was before her attack. There’s nothing about what she was doing in Bay Springs, leaving that a gaping hole, but we have her education, address, the few friends she has, and details about her family life. This answers a lot of questions she’s probably agonizing over.
As I flip to the third page, I read the contract Larry laid out for Shawn Reynolds and see red. Larry has offered up Finleigh, with conditions that are only beneficial for the two of them.
For every child they have, Larry pays Shawn a hundred grand to his personal account. For every year they’re married, Shawn invests fifty grand into the CollinSphere Fund. And the worst term is that Larry has granted the man permission to take whatever he wants from Finleigh in the bedroom, whether she agrees or not. There’s also a section on punishment if she defies her husband.
“So, the threat, it comes from where?” I ask, not seeing it directly.
“Chuck Bines.” The name is familiar and not for a good reason.
“The state trooper arrested for coercion?” Axl’s incredulous question lingers.
“The one and only,” Easy growls. “Turns out one of the girls he coerced was related to Shawn, a cousin or something. Killed herself before trial, but his career was ruined. When the engagement rumors started to fly, he decided to hit back by attacking Finleigh with some guys I’m still discovering the names of.”
“Got a location on him?” I’d like to kill the man sooner rather than later.
“Not yet.” He flinches across from me, knowing I won’t like that answer. “I’m working on some leads, most are reliable, some are questionable.”
“Give everyone this fuck’s name and picture. I want him in The Grove.”
Easy nods and sends a mass text to all the club members.
The Grove is an old shack we use for doling out punishment to our enemies. To prolong their suffering, and these men will meet their fate there as soon as they’re found.
“How many were there?” Axl asks quietly, his gaze on the ground.