New Title 6 (26 page)

 “Sit
her up,” David ordered. He sat back on the desk, eyeing me. It was starting to
get a little hard to see; my face was already swelling. I felt the urge to
vomit. The taste of blood and the pain churned in my stomach.

 “So,
we have a daughter.”

 I
couldn’t help but laugh. Now, he wanted to talk.

 “Oof,”
I breathed, as David punched me in the stomach. I tried to calm my breathing,
but ended up in a coughing fit. I spat blood onto the floor.

 “Do
not laugh at me.” He opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a wet wipe,
wiping away my blood from his hands. He pulled out a knife, stalked back
around, and in one move, he stabbed it into my leg.

 I
bit my lip, trying to stop my scream, but it still escaped.

 He
pulled it out slowly and ordered, “Rest her up a bit. I need to make some
calls, and then we’ll talk again.”

 I
was pulled from the chair just before I passed out.

“
W
hat the fuck is going on here?” Rocko yelled and stood from his
desk. I stormed into his office in the nightclub he owned around midmorning.
Griz, Deanna, Violet, and three other brothers were following close behind.
Blue had called, informing me that he and Warden were at the hospital with
Mattie and Julian. They weren’t allowed in Pick’s room, under doctor’s orders.
But he reassured me, as soon as no one saw, he’d be in there.

 With
a lift of my hand, the three brothers slipped outta the room and closed the
door, keeping an eye open for trouble that could come our way.

 “What
do you know asshole?” Deanna snapped. She stood next to Vi, both holding their
hands on their hips.

 “Sorry,
sweetheart; I don’t know what you’re talking about."

 I
pulled a gun from under my Hawks vest and pointed it at his head.

 He
stood with his hands up in front of him. I followed his movements.

 “Where
are my boys?” he asked.

 Violet
scoffed. “You need new brothers, Rocko; they’re all a bunch of pussies and
incapacitated.”

 “Talon,
what’s the meaning of this? You want war? Is that it?”

 “Two
of your men have taken my woman and kids to hand her over to her ex who beat
and raped her. You tell me; do you want fuckin’ war?”

 “I
know nothing about this; they have obviously gone out on their own. Who are
they?”

 “The
guys that were with you last night,” Deanna said.

 Rocko
smiled.

 “What
the fuck are you smiling at?” I roared.

 Waving
his hands he said, “Sorry, shit. I know it ain’t a smiling matter. But your
woman…” He smiled again.

 “What?”
Griz growled.

 “She
warned me last night that I needed to find new friends. Goddamn, she was right,
and after just one glance, she picked it. Fuck. I should’ve never let them in.
I was taking a risk on them; other brothers had warned me, but I didn’t
listen.We needed new recruits. The Monty’s motorcycle club from Melbourne wants
our territory. Crap, I was only with them last night to see how they ran, and I
didn’t like what I saw. I was gonna cut them.”

 “How’d
they learn about my woman and her ex?”

 “I
was the one who told Rocko. Fuck,” Griz swore. “I’d asked him to keep his ear
to the ground, see if he heard anything new. Shit, I didn’t think.”

 “Jesus
Christ,” I yelled. “Jesus Christ.” I turned and put a hole in the wall the size
of my fist.

 “I’m
sorry, brother,” Griz said.

 “Fuck,
man, but it ain’t your fault. You weren’t to know,” I answered, leaning one
hand up against the wall.

 I
couldn’t lose her. Cody and Maya…

 It
would kill me to lose all three of them together.

 I’d
wasted so much time stuffin’ around and waiting, trying not to scare her off.
But I didn’t know she’d been watchin’ me the whole time as well. I saw the
looks she gave me, the secret smiles that drove me fuckin’ nuts.

 I
thought the dicks in the brotherhood were crazy when they’d let their old lady
run their life. Blinded by stupid love. I swore I’d never let myself fall
again…

never.

 Until
Zara. Until I fuckin’ walked down that hallway to see a hot piece of ass
standing there, glaring at me in a pink kitten nightie and combat fuckin’
boots.

 I
was a goner.

 From
that day on, I knew I’d let Zara do anything.

 She
could talk, bitch, and complain about shit and it wouldn't faze me. She could
harp about me swearin’ around the kids, and still it wouldn’t bother me.

 Nothin'
would, as long as she was at my side to do all that.

 I
had to find her. Them.

 Jesus
. The kids. I’d already missed out
on enough of Cody’s life. I wasn’t missin’ out on any more. And sweet Maya.
There was so much more I wanted to learn about them both, so much I wanted to
teach them.

 I
needed them all back.

 They are my family.

 And I fuckin’ love them.

 “Do
you know where they have taken my family?” I asked Rocko.

 “No.
But I’ll look into it. Maybe one of the brothers knows something.” Rocko sat
back down at the desk.

 “You
know I’ll kill them.”

 “So
be it. They are no longer ‘Vicious’.”

 My
mobile rang; I answered, “What?”

 “Nothing.
I’ve got nothing,” Blue said.

 “Is
Pick talkin’?”

 “Yeah,
he’s talking, telling me lots of shit; none of it is any use to find them,
brother. Cops have been; they want a statement on what went on in the house.”

 “Fuck.
Has Mattie or anyone said anything?”

 “Nothing,
I told them to wait to hear from you. But you know the cops, brother.They won’t
wait long.”

 “Tell
them to say it was self-defense. I had Mattie and Julian stayin’ at my house.
Pick called in; he found Vic holding them, ready to kill them. Vic was a hater
of gays. Didn’t like the way I was running things. No one says shit about my
woman and the kids. We deal with this in-house. I’ll be doing the cleanup.”

 “But
the cops could help.”

 “No.
They’ll only hold me back.”

 “Right.
On it. Then what?”

 “Tell
Matthew and Julian to head back to the compound—”

 “Already
have. They won’t leave.” Blue laughed. “They don’t trust me and Warden around
Pick. He saved them, brother; they’re saving him back.”

 “Christ.
All right, leave them there, and Warden. You get to the compound and see what
they’ve found; talk to Travis and see what’s he’s got. I’m heading to Vi’s
work.”

 “Right.
Done,” he said, then hung up.

 I
turned to Rocko. “Keep me in the know,” I said with a chin lift. In other
words, ‘if you don’t, I’ll fuck you over’; he nodded his understanding.

 “I
hope you find ‘em, Talon. She’s a rare beauty.”

 “I
know. I fuckin’ know. So are the kids. Let’s move.”

 “Wait,”
Violet called, before I opened the door.

 “What?”
Rocko asked her; she was staring down at him.

 “Do
you know what they drive? Licence plate numbers, where they live? Maybe they’re
stupid enough to either use their own cars or take them to their place?”

 “Great
thinkin', sugar.” He got up from his chair and went to a file cabinet to the
right of his desk. “I had to shift my paperwork here while the office at our
compound was getting detailed. Fuckin’ lucky I did,” he explained, as he searched
through the drawers.

 Hell.
How long did it take to find the information?

 Let’s
hope these fuckers were just that dumb enough. And thank fuck my sister was
here using her brain.

 “Here.”
He thrust the files toward Deanna, the closest to him. “All the info I have on
Jefferson and Zane. And while you're searching through it, I’ll still keep
looking here.”

 “’Preciate
it.”

 We
got outside; I sent my other brothers out searchin’ the streets while Griz,
Hell Mouth, Vi, and I got back into my Camaro to drive to Vi’s station.

 With
the information we had, I felt a little lighter. The fist around my heart
wasn’t squeezing as tight.

 I
just hoped it was going to lead us somewhere where my family was.

 Payback
was needing to happen, and I was looking forward to it.

 There
was no way I was gonna be some pansy-ass and pray…even if I wanted to.

 Shit.

 Fuck.

 Why
the hell not? Anything was worth it for them.

 Yeah, um, God...

We
stormed into Violet’s work; funny enough, it was the first time I’d ever set
foot in there. Things had to change. A lot of things. Violet booted up her
computers while Deanna and Griz were talkin’ quietly in a hushed tone; but I
knew what it would be about. He was trying to reassure her, and I knew she
wouldn’t want that from him. Deanna was one hard chick to crack. Griz would
have his work cut out for him when he got his act together. I should hurry him
the fuck up—‘cause you never know what could happen.

 “Anything?”
I asked.

 “Talon,
I’m not that frigging fast, give me a minute.” Violet groaned.

 I
paced in front of one of her desks while she worked the computer, her fingers
flying across the keyboard. I wondered where Zara sat while she worked. She
hadn’t been here long, but I knew she’d already brought some of herself into
the business. The yellow sunflowers that sat on the windowsill. The scenery
picture of the woods with a ray of sunshine shining through that was hung on
the wall. The colourful rug that sat in the middle of the floor. She'd always
brightened up a place.

 “I’ll
send Chuck to their houses, but I doubt they’re there. They would have taken
them to David straight way so they could be paid.” She picked up the phone and
rang her employee.