Chelsea (The Club Girl Diaries Book 2) (26 page)

“I guess the puzzle is slowly beginning to make sense,” Blizzard observed, reclining in my office chair.

“Yeah, it’s all coming together but it ain’t making a fucking pretty picture,” Leo grumbled as he paced the room. Blizzard, Leo, Wrench and I had come together to try and come up with a plan, or at least try to understand what the fuck was going on.

“Let’s get this all straight,” I told my boys, leaning with my palms flat on the table in front of me. I couldn’t sit down, my body was too anxious. Leo had talked to Kit’s father, Oz and he’d been able to shed some light on a few things, including the significance of the dates and places that had been changed on Leo and Wrench’s records. Oz had been around for almost as long as our national president—a hard ass name Huntsman—and had gained just as much respect. If there was someone big within the crime world taken down, they knew about it. They had to because, with one more name out of the game, it meant there was money to be made.

“Romano DePalma was locked up in 1997. It’s not often a mob boss gets caught with his hand on the evidence, but apparently there were suspicions of a rat inside the family,” Leo explained, recalling what he had heard from Oz. “They scrambled for a while, Marco, the oldest brother had no idea what he was doing. During the mess, the Brothers by Blood ended up picking up some of their buyers—guns and ice I think.”

“So how did Anthony come to be in charge?” Wrench asked, finally taking a break from scanning his computer.

“When Romano saw that his eldest son couldn’t sort his shit out, he took back the reins and ran the family businesses from inside his prison cell. Not an easy task but not the first time it’s been done.” Leo stopped pacing and leaned against the door to my office, scrubbing his hand through his now short hair, a look I was still getting used to. “2005 is where this starts to get fucked up.”

Blizzard nodded. “So Romano finally decides to hand the family business over, but surprise, surprise, he gives it to his second eldest Anthony instead of Marco.”

“Ouch,” Wrench screwed up his face. “Bet that hurt the ego.”

“No shit. You’re ready to run one of the most powerful criminal rings in the USA and Daddy tells you
no
?” I shook my head. “Marco would’ve been pissed.”

“Right. So a couple months later—bam, Romano is killed in a small riot inside the prison.” Blizzard shakes his head. “Just around the time our boys here are apparently inside.”

I frowned. “So what the fuck does that mean? Someone is trying to set us up, say that it was the club that took him out?”

Leo snorted. “Seems that way. And they went through some trouble to provide that kind of proof.”

“This can’t be the DEA,” I said, picking up the falsified papers and scanning over them. “It would be far too easy for us to prove that you weren’t in prison at that time. The government may be stupid, but they ain’t that stupid.”

“So what was Target’s motive?” Wrench asked, closing the lid to his laptop.

“Someone in the family wanted Romano dead and I think they used us as the scapegoat.” I slammed the papers down on the table. This shit was getting dirty. Not only were they after my woman, but now we find out they were trying to pin some shit on us that we hadn’t even done.

Blizz tapped his fingers on my desk. “What was it that Harmony said that day? Target was the Trojan horse. He was sent in to destroy us from the inside out.”

“This shit happened ten fucking years ago. Target was barely around for half of that. Why did they wait?” Leo mused, but I knew the answer. Everything was coming together now, the pieces finally clear and slotting into place.

“He was too young. Marco didn’t have any kids and Target was Anthony’s eldest son. He came to us when he turned eighteen. They just bided their time until he was old enough to prospect,” I growled. “This shit is fucked up on so many God damn levels.”

“But wait, there’s more,” Blizzard said jokingly, but his face told a totally different story as his eyes connected with mine. “I found a newspaper article online about Romano’s arrest in 1997. Why don’t you read it and share with the class who was in charge of the operation that brought him down?” He handed it to me and I had to force my eyes to look down to read it.

I knew this wasn’t going to be good, I could tell just by the look on his face. I scanned the article. “Fuck me.” I looked up at Blizzard. “This is a fucking joke right?”

He slumped back in his chair. “Wish it fucking was.”

“Who is it?” Leo asked curiously, pushing off the door and standing straight.

“David Blackwell, DEA,” I groaned.

“Chelsea’s dad?” Wrench said in complete awe. “Well, this just went from a tad fucked up to being plowed straight in the ass.”

“Optimus!”

I jumped as I heard someone scream my name. We all looked at each other for a minute before Leo threw the door open and took off running, the three of us following suit.

“Optimus!”
I made it to the main room just as Neil screamed my name again as he ran out from the club girls hall, obviously in search of me. He was breathing hard but managed to push out the words that I desperately did not want to hear. “Chelsea...Rose had a gun...forced her into a car.” I jabbed his finger toward the front gates and I didn’t even bother to stick around and ask any more questions.

I heard a revving engine as a black Mercedes took off full speed down the usually quiet street. By now more of my brothers had gathered, including a couple Old Ladies and Sugar holding a wide-eyed, Harlyn.

“Blizzard, Camo, Wrench, get your bikes, try catch up with them,” I yelled as I ran toward the front gates. Kev dragged them open, holding his rifle in one hand.

“What the fuck happened?” I roared.

A chorus of bikes started behind me and Kev waited until they shot out the gates, tires screeching, before he spoke, “Fuck man. She was just there.” He pointed at a tree that shaded the pavement less than fifty feet away. “Rose was sitting under the tree, Chelsea crouched down in front of her. I couldn’t see the gun until it was too late and there was a car coming.
Fuck.
I should have just shot the double crossing bitch.” The fact that they had let her walk out the gate at all wasn’t my biggest concern right now. And I knew until I found Chelsea, Kev would beat himself up enough for the both of us. He’d get his for being so fucking stupid but right now, all I wanted was to find my woman.

I stormed back to the clubhouse, my brothers—my family—just staring in awe of what just happened.

“Daddy!” I watched and Harlyn squirmed out of her mother’s arms and ran full force at me, launching her little body into my arms. I caught her, holding her tightly in my grasp and burying my face in her hair. My anger slowly dissipated and suddenly I was overcome with emotion. I felt Harlyn’s small hand patting my back like she knew exactly how I was feeling and what I needed.

“It’s okay, Daddy,” she whispered softly. “It’s okay.”

I nearly broke down. I wanted to scream and yell, break something or someone. But I didn’t. The little girl in my arms gave me strength.

“Yeah, baby girl,” I said closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”

She stared straight into my eyes and held up her hand, her pinkie finger sticking out. “Pinkie promise?”

I forced a smile, the innocence of this girl. “I pinkie promise,” my voice broke. I felt a soft hand on my arm and after a moment I finally withdrew my face from the comfort of Harlyn’s embrace. Sugar looked up at me, a sad smile crossed her face.

“Come on Harlyn,” she said softly, holding her arms out. “Daddy needs to work now.”

Harlyn nodded and I passed her over to Sugar, who hefted our girl onto her hip. They headed inside followed by the handful of old ladies and club girls who had come out during the commotion. I looked around at my brothers, their faces all telling me the same thing.

They were ready to stand up and fight.

They weren’t going to lay down and let this shit happen.

Chelsea was one of us.

She was fucking family, and no one fucks with our family and gets away with it.

No fucking way.

My men wanted blood, and that’s exactly what they were going to get.

It wasn’t long before we heard the rumble of bikes come back down the road and pull into the compound. I knew it was a long stretch, sending my men after the speeding car, but if I didn’t try, I didn’t know. They pulled up in front of us and Blizzard was the first to cut his engine and climb off. I could tell my brother was struggling to hold it together. Rose had just shown us her true colors and the reality of this was hitting him hard.

Blizzard struggled with trust. He had his reasons and I had no doubt that this had just reaffirmed them for him. He’d given a shit about this girl and she had just turned around and given him and all of us a big
fuck you.

“They had too much of a head start,” he growled.

I nodded. “Church.
Now!
” I threw the doors open and my brothers all followed me inside. Those who weren’t there had already been called and would be on their way in. I slammed my gavel on the table as my men took their seats. I felt like an army sergeant ready to lead my men into battle. I would fight to get Chelsea back and these men, my brothers, my soldiers were ready to follow me. There were no apprehensive looks, no one was running scared or stood to question me. We were a family. That was the bottom line and family sticks together no matter fucking what.

“I fucked up when I thought that I could protect Chelsea by pushing her away,” I told them, my eyes scanning the room. “Chelsea may have come to us as a club girl. But for me she was always Old Lady material, I was just too fucking stubborn to admit it.”

My brothers sat silently as I bared myself to them. These men saw me for who I was. When my father was killed they voted for me to stand in his place, their belief in me completely astounding. They believed in me and I wasn’t about to let them down.

“She’s it for me, boys,” I told them, standing and placing both my palms on the table. My head hung. “I spent this whole time pushing her away and trying to keep her out of danger when I could’ve been spending that time with her.”

“She’s coming back, Op,” Leo said, standing and slamming his hands down on the wooden surface. “We’ll get her back.”

I heard a chorus of agreement around the room as each of my brothers stood to their feet.

This was family.

My club had my back at all times. They would ride to hell with me and I would do the same for them. The brotherhood we had was something that was hard to explain to outsiders. Some saw us as gangs or delinquents on a power trip. But we were more than that. We were a family—a stronger family than you would even get through blood relatives.

It was our loyalty to each other that made us so strong. These men didn’t have to follow me, they didn’t have to take my orders or put their lives at risk because I told them to.

They chose to back me—that was their choice.

And every day I was thankful for the trust and respect that they held for me.

We may be outlaws—criminals, we may beat the shit out of each other from time to time, we may fight and argue, and at some point we may break. But I knew that when it mattered when push came to shove and one of us was in crisis—We stood together.

We stood as one.

We were strong—fucking unbreakable.

“Then let’s get her back.”

Since Anthony’s visit to the club, I’d made sure that we had some sort of eyes on him. Better to be on the offensive than the defensive. He was staying in Huntsville, a city not far from Athens. He had himself up in a swank hotel, but according to Wrench his people would come and go, but he himself had not left much.

It made me curious. He had come that day, making subtle threats to the club because of his missing son, but he had been here for going on two weeks and had yet to make a move.

“Maybe he does actually believe his son is
missing,
” Slider suggested after he came in and caught up on what was going on.

“He can’t be that stupid,” Camo said rolling his eyes.

“He’s not stupid, he’s being smart,” Kev said, speaking up for the first time. “He doesn’t want to start a war. He knows that once he makes a move it could bring a complete shit storm down on him. The Brothers by Blood isn’t just some small club that he can push around. We have a solid amount of backing behind us, not just from our brothers but from other clubs that will stand beside us. He’s being smart, getting the facts first. Finding out who we are, what we have behind us.”

“Then why all the attacks on our people? Why blow up Chelsea’s car and kill an innocent girl just because she works for us,” Blizzard countered.

Kev nodded in agreement. “That’s the part that doesn’t make sense. That’s not him, it’s not who he is.”

“Only one way to find out what’s really going on,” I said, pushing to my feet once again. “I think it’s time we made a visit of our own.”

The faces around me were stoney and serious, but we all knew what needed to be done. I took a handful of brothers with me to Huntsville, the rest hung behind, waiting for further orders. I didn’t know where they’d taken Chelsea, and if she was still in Athens, I wanted a group of my men close by just in case. It spread us a little thinner than I would have liked, but this was more than just a show of power. We were running out of time and if she were still in the area they would be able to get there a lot faster.

I almost laughed at the lack of security that Anthony DePalma had. There were no men stationed in the lobby of the hotel and we were able to walk straight in without causing a fuss. He was either incredibly cocky and didn’t think we would walk right into his den, or he was letting us in and we were in for a fight that could cost us our lives.

I slammed my hands on the sparkling marble counter, the young girl behind it nearly jumping out of her skin. “Anthony DePalma’s room, what's the number?” I growled. Her eyes looked around frantically and I knew I needed to get this done because I had no doubt that someone had already called the police.

“I...uh...I can’t...”

Slider slipped around the side of the desk and flashed the woman his trademark smile. “Hi there, darling. I’m just gonna shuffle you to the side here for a minute.” He pulled on her chair and it slowly rolled away from the desk. She didn’t even fight it, her mouth just hung open as she watch Slider tap on the computer keys.

He scoffed and pushed the stunned girl back into her place behind the computer. “Penthouse, of course. Where else would he stay?”

I didn’t even pause, heading straight for the elevator. Blizzard, Wrench, Slider, Ham and Leo all climbed in beside me. It was a tight squeeze, almost fucking comical.

“Going up,” Slider announced, his smile wide but I could see the tension in my brother’s face. We were preparing ourselves for a fight. The elevator dinged and the doors opened, Leo pulled his gun from its holster inside his cut and leaned out the door.

“Two guards at the end of the hallway outside double doors. They’re lounging.” I nodded and my brothers all pulled out their pieces. Leo held up three fingers, then two, and one, and we all stepped out of the elevator together, a wall of force. It took a second for the two men to look up at us, both of them jumping back in surprise and their hands moving for the weapons that I could see tucked into their waistbands.

“Don’t fucking touch it,” Leo growled, he stepped forward in front of us. This was his job, he was the man who made sure situations were safe, that we were covered. I let him take the lead, knowing that his experience with this outweighed mine, and having complete faith that he’d know what the right approach was. The two men looked at each other before slowly raising their hands in the air.

“Open the doors,” I snapped as I got closer, my gun still raised and aimed directly at one of their heads. There was no wounding, there was only shoot to kill. These guys were ruthless, trained to do the exact same.

One reached into his pocket slowly and pulled a keycard. He swiped it through the door lock and when it beeped he also entered a code into the panel beside it. Obviously Anthony wasn’t as stupid as I thought when it came to security measures. I watched the numbers he placed in, burning them into the back of my mind for future reference.

The doors were pushed open and I motioned with my gun for them to walk through ahead of us. The large suite we walked into was open plan. There were several people in the space and it didn’t take me long to clock Anthony DePalma sitting at the sparkling dining table, a newspaper in his hands and reading glasses propped up on his nose.

“Honey, we’re home,” Slider yelled, the noise echoing in the vast open space.

There was suddenly a flurry of movement. Men yelling, the safety being clicked off guns. I watched Anthony’s face go from relaxed to infuriated in less than two seconds. He pushed his chair back and slowly rose to his feet. I wasn’t intimidated even as more of his men flooded the space. I would do anything to get Chelsea back and that included staring death in the eye and screaming fuck you. Which seemed now to be exactly what I was doing.

We stood inside the room at a complete standoff. Anthony and I glared at each other, waiting for the other to speak or make a move. Guns were drawn, the threat of violence filling the space quickly.

“I want her back,
now
,” I ordered, taking a step forward and drawing more than one gun to me as I moved closer to their boss.

“You do not come into my home and begin making orders,” Anthony said firmly.

I almost screamed. “But you can come to
my
home and take
my
woman?!”

I saw the anger on his face waiver and turn to confusion. “I have done no such thing.”

“Bullshit,” I snapped, ripping my gun from the holster at my side and pointing it straight at him. “You’re the only asshole ballsy enough to drive up to my front gates for some little pow-wow and then drive off. Nobody else is stupid as fuck like you.”

He took a step forward. “Watch your mouth.”

“Oh wait, you couldn’t even come and do it yourself. You had to be backhanded and sneaky and send in a young girl to do your dirty work,” I ground out slowly, trying to keep my anger at bay.

“If you’d done your research properly you’d find I have one daughter, and I know exactly where she is and what she’s doing right now,” he sneered, walking closer but choosing to take a seat in an expensive looking armchair in the small living room area. It was meant to be an insult, telling me I wasn’t even worth standing to greet which I wasn’t polite. “So before you come in here, making accusations—”

“Then who the fuck is Rose?” Blizzard demanded, coming to stand next to me.

I caught the surprise on his face before he masked it. But it wasn’t just him. I recognized two of the other men in the room, they were his sons and their eyes were fixed on their father, full of curiosity and questions.

“Rosalie?” One of them asked, taking a step closer to their father.

“And who is Rosalie?” I growled, imitating the posh way his son had said her name.

He hit me with a sharp glare before finding his composure again.

“Rosalie is my niece.”