Chapter 36
We pull up outside of a moody-looking bar in downtown Ravens Hollow with a well-lit sign of a raven hanging above the door. “Where are we?” I ask Ricky. I had been imagining we would be going to their club or the casino.
“One of the Strykers’ bars, The Raven’s Nest. It’s owned by the youngest Stryker sibling. Geovani thought it would be useful if we checked it out tonight.”
“Oh.” He’s sent them here because of what happened to Pia, I just know it. Geovani said she was linked to the Strykers.
He takes my hand, kissing my knuckles before we get out of his car. “You look so beautiful tonight, baby doll. Sad but beautiful. Are you okay?”
“Thank you.” I smile at him, feeling a warmth spread through my hand as our fingers intertwine. I want to say so much but know I can’t. I knew he would be the hardest to hide my emotions from, he picks up on everything. “Ricky, no matter what happens, you know you’re the most incredible guy and any girl would be lucky to have you in their life, right.”
He raises a brow. “You want to have a deep and meaningful right now, babe?”
“No.” I laugh. “It’s just deep down, you boys know all I want is the best for you. And we all know how terrible the last few months have been. I hope all your dreams come true and things really do change.”
He runs his eyes over me, a flash of concern clouding his pretty-boy features. “What have you done?”
I laugh lightheartedly. “I haven’t done anything.” Yet . “I just wish things were different, don’t you?”
“Every day. But they’re not, so we just have to make the best of what we got. And lucky for us, we have you.”
My heart sinks knowing that won’t be true for much longer. I force a smile back onto my face and gaze up at him, wishing I could see it all so simply.
He opens his door and comes around my side to help me out. Pressing my body into the car, his lips come to mine. Kissing me deeply, he makes me really feel how much he loves me, and I kiss him back just the same. I love him so much it hurts, and I wish I could say it.
As our kiss deepens, he picks me up and presses my body into his Jeep, and I wrap my legs around his waist. Oh, fuck this man. He turns me to a puddle on the floor every time. Our serious conversation from the car vanishes in an instant, and all I want is his body on mine.
Someone clears their throat from behind us, and we snap back to reality. We look up to find Alessandro and Maddox approaching in their expensive suits.
Ricky helps me down to standing, and I smirk up at him. “Fun police have arrived,” I sass.
He adjusts his crotch, and I know he’s thinking the exact same thing. “To be continued later.” A playful grin spreads across his lips.
Alessandro’s eyes come to mine with way too much heat in them. He looks mighty fine tonight after shaving off his beard. “Sorry, boss.” I throw him a wink just to rile him up. I need to act as normal as possible, after all. “Got a little carried away.”
“Try to control yourself, princess, we have some business to attend to before the fun can begin.” He drapes an arm over my bare shoulder, and the four of us walk through swinging double doors of the front entry of The Raven’s Nest together.
On the inside the bar is stunning, all black with silver trim and velvet-looking booth seats around the feature bar that stands pride of place in the center of the room. Not what I was expecting at all. A server who looks to be in her thirties approaches us instantly. “Mr. Moretti, a table?” she asks, looking between us all. “Your papa often frequents our bar, but I haven’t seen you boys in a long time. Since you opened up the Flamingo Hotel, I think.”
Alessandro smiles at her like they’re old friends. “Needed a change of scenery tonight. Do me a favor and make sure Sloane knows we’re here.”
“Sure thing, sir.” She beams back at him like he’s a fucking celebrity or something, and I can’t help but roll my eyes so Maddox can see.
His lips twitch into a smile.
I can see the boys are scoping out the place, and I wonder who or what it is they’re looking for. “Out of interest, has Enzo booked a table for tonight?” Alessandro asks.
“Not that I know of.” She looks over her shoulder. “I can check with Sloane?”
“That won’t be necessary.” He laces his hand with mine. “What are you having to drink, princess?”
“Margarita sounds good.”
“Virgin margarita and three Macallans, thanks, Sally.”
I give him the stink-eye. Is he fucking kidding? He’s still playing at this bullshit I’m-pregnant thing.
She nods and wanders off in the direction of the bar.
Alessandro takes my legs and places them over his lap. He’s all touchy-feely tonight, but I know this is a show more than him wanting to be close to me. Outside of the house he’s always acting. I move closer into his side. “You know Enzo’s not around to see me enjoying a drink, we can drop the act.”
“We don’t know who is reporting directly back to him. All we know is he has connections to this place. Sorry, princess, but tonight you’re knocked up, and you better act that way.”
I glance at the other guys, looking for help, but all I get is a blank stare from Maddox that tells me he can’t help me and a shrug from Ricky. Ahh! So much for celebrating, going out with a bang, and all that stuff. Now I have to be sad and sober.
We share a couple of drinks, and I begin to wonder why we’re even here. No one is just going to come out and tell us what we want to hear. And that waitress said so herself, Enzo doesn’t have a table booked here tonight. As much as I’m enjoying the banter, it feels like a waste of time.
“I’m going to use the restroom,” I tell them, moving my legs off Alessandro’s lap. Standing, I pat my belly. “You know, pregnancy bladder and all that.” I walk off before they can follow me and find the bathrooms off to the side of the booth we’re seated at.
I push open the door and do my business, but before I have time to flush, I hear voices enter the main part of the bathroom. I freeze and listen.
Someone is sobbing, sounds like a girl.
“Stop crying and tell me what the fuck is going on,” another female says, a no-shit tone to her voice.
She sniffs. “I’m scared for her.”
“So am I, but you need to get your shit together. I can’t have you out on the floor crying. The Moretti brothers are here tonight and that in itself is sus.”
“Have you heard anything?” she whimpers.
“I have tried her cell a million times, it just rings out. I went around her place today. Nothing has been touched, and no one has seen her since early last night.”
“If I find out Enzo has anything to do with this. I’ll start a fucking war. That old motherfucker has been allowed too much power for far too long,” one of the girls says, I think the one who is crying. I hear someone take some paper towel and then blow their nose.
“Why would you say that?”
“Sloane, I know you and Pia are like sisters, but she’s been hiding shit from you. I wouldn’t break her trust normally, but I’m freaking out and I have to tell someone.”
Oh God, I feel sick for them, the two virgin margaritas dangerously close to coming back up. Pia must be their friend, and so far, they haven’t worked out she’s dead. I cover my mouth so I don’t make a sound.
“What do you know?” Sloane demands, her voice filled with fury.
“She’s been seeing him behind Mrs. Moretti’s back,” the first girl whispers.
“I’m going to fucking kill her myself.” It sounds like the trash can is kicked across the room and paper towel flies everywhere, including under my stall door. “Wash your face and stop the fucking waterworks. Or go home. Got it?” Sloane demands before slamming the bathroom door in a fit of anger.
The other girl sniffs a few times, and then I hear the water running from the tap, followed by the door closing.
Oh my God. What are the fucking chances of me being in here while that conversation was had. I wait a while before I leave, not wanting either of them to see me, and when I come out, Maddox is standing by the door waiting for me. “Thought you might have tried to run again, temptress.” He smirks cheekily.
“Ha. Not this time, big guy.” I pat him on the chest as I glance over my shoulder and see the two girls behind the bar. “Who are they?” I lean in close to him and ask in a whisper.
He subtly looks in their direction. “The blonde is Sloane Stryker; she owns this joint. The other I don’t know. Probably just one of her staff. Why?”
I give him a quick once-over, trying to decide what I should say. Geovani sent us down here tonight, so any information could be valuable, and I want Enzo stopped before he has the chance to hurt anyone else. “They’re mega pissed, one of their friends is missing and they think Enzo might have something to do with it. Pia.”
“Good work, little spy, you could be one of us after all.”
His choice of words sends an icy chill over me. I don’t want to be anyone’s little spy. That’s what my mother was for Enzo and look where that got her. I fake a half smile, but the sick feeling inside my stomach tells me I’m not one of them.
When we make it back to our table, the boys look like they’re ready to leave. “What took you so long?” Ricky asks.
“I’ll tell you in the car.” I glance over toward Sloane again, fascinated by her. By the way she talked to her staff member, by the hate she obviously has for Enzo. Maybe I’m not the only one who wants that man dead. That’s not so surprising, but this girl is something else. She oozes power and struts around the place like a dude, even though she looks like the epitome of feminine perfection.
“Why do you keep looking at her?” Ricky asks me on our way out.
“I’m not sure, she’s just so pretty. She doesn’t look like one of the biker chicks I was expecting her to be.”
“Sure, Sloane’s beautiful to look at, but she’s fucking deadly as well. On the inside she’s every bit as badass as her four brothers. Their family is ruthless and violent, it’s why from time to time we work with them to achieve a common goal. Men don’t cross her because they know they won’t survive it.”
I look at the three of them, realizing I still know so little about this world. It’s all so interconnected and clicky, and I’m so new. “Are you friends with her?”
“Everyone in Ravens Hollow knows her, just like they know us. We don’t have friends, more people we know who might be useful.”
We all pile into Ricky’s Jeep. He and Maddox in the front and me and Alessandro in the back. And he takes off up the road.
I can feel Alessandro’s eyes on me. “So, what happened in the bathroom?”
I glance over to him; his arms are crossed over his chest, and I realize he doesn’t want a friendly chat. He’s demanding details. I wonder how much I should say. Geovani didn’t tell me that he filled the boys in on what we saw, but Maddox didn’t look at all surprised when I told him the story of what happened in the bathroom, and just the fact Geovani’s sent them down here to investigate means they know something.
“I overheard a conversation between that girl you know, Sloane, and another girl. Enzo certainly knows how to make enemies. Their friend is missing, and they think he has something to do with it because she was having an affair with him.” I keep staring back at him, waiting for his reaction. I’ve just told him his pa is a cheating asshole and all I get is a nod. And I know all of that wasn’t any new information to him. Piled on top of what I told them all yesterday, he should be raging about this. His papa is a fucking serial unaliver who preys on young girls, getting them to do his dirty work before ending their short lives. He needs to be more outraged about this.
Ricky glances back at us. “I knew it wouldn’t take long for the truth to start circulating. Once the Strykers hear about this, Enzo is in real trouble.”
I raise a brow. “What exactly do you know about what happened to Pia?”
Alessandro’s hand comes to my leg. “What do you know, princess? This new information doesn’t surprise you.”
“Nothing Enzo can do will surprise me anymore. The man is pure evil.”
“That didn’t answer my question, princess.”
“He killed that poor girl because she failed to destroy me. From what I could tell he was manipulating her with sexual favors and she, for whatever reason, fell for his shit and was doing everything she could to sabotage my life. She was the one who told him where we were the night that truck came through the wall at The Precinct, and she was the one who sent those men to attack us after the fight.”
He nods along, and I know he was already aware of it all. And I hear nothing from the front. They all knew.
“Enzo hates me, he wants to destroy me, and now he’s even more pissed that I’m having your baby. That girl died because of me.”
“She died because she got involved with the wrong person. Not because of you.” He huffs.
My scared eyes rise to meet his. Why isn’t he freaking out about this like I am? “He’s going to stop at nothing, you all understand that, right? He’s going to take you all away from me, and then when he’s done, he’s going to kill me too, just like he did my ma.” I can’t hold back and keep it inside. I need to let all of this out. “He slit her throat, for God’s sake. It was disgusting and brutal. He has to be stopped.”
“He will be,” Alessandro growls, giving my thigh a reassuring squeeze that does nothing to actually reassure me.
“How long am I supposed to hear you say it before someone actually stops him? Why can’t we go around there tonight and take care of him? He’s not the don anymore. You are. Can’t you order him dead, and it just happens?”
I see the pity in his eyes, and I hate it. “You need to play the game, princess, and trust us to take care of you. We don’t act out of fear but come from a place of strength.”
I glare back at him. That line sounds like some bullshit he’s learned from Enzo. He’s a product of his papa, they all are. And that thought has never terrified me more than it does now. I need to see them acting on impulse and they’re all just sitting around having a drink and calling it work.
“Enzo is earning himself more enemies by the day. If we play our cards right, he will implode all by himself,” Ricky adds from the front.
I stare back at them. Are they telling me they’re willing to let someone else take care of Enzo? Is that what they’re actually saying when I tell them what he plans to do to me, to them? I want to scream at them, what the hell are you waiting for? But what’s the point, they wouldn’t listen to me anyway. I’m just an insignificant girl in this world and my say means nothing. Feeling helpless, I pull away from him, disappointed and too exhausted to keep having this same conversation. I lean my head into the headrest and close my eyes, feeling less guilty about my decision to leave by the second.
When I wake up we’re driving into the casino parking lot. “What are we doing here?” I ask groggily and a little panicked. I don’t want to have a run-in with Enzo again. Not tonight.
“You will see.” Alessandro takes my hand and helps me from the car.
I feel anxious. I don’t like this place. Something about it gives me the creeps, and I’m not sure if it’s because Enzo has been in charge of it for so long or what, but I don’t want to be here. Alessandro’s hand runs down my side, and he places a kiss to my cheek. “Relax, gorgeous, this will be fun.”
His words don’t make me feel any better. We walk through the main entry then take an elevator up to the mezzanine level. We all walk out onto the balcony that looks out over the casino and into a private office of sorts. From here you have a bird’s-eye view of the whole place. I find Enzo immediately, strutting around the floor in his expensive suit, Valentina by his side in a glittering gown.
Alessandro wraps his arms around me as we watch them. “Tradition is ingrained in our society. The way we operate goes back through the generations. His men have lost respect for him because of the way he handled his business. If I want to keep their respect so I can make some change in the future, I need to do things differently. I have plans Harley, big plans, but they take time.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, staring down at the people gambling below and Enzo animatedly chatting with various groups of patrons like he’s king shit. It’s hopeless. There is literally nothing I can do. “Okay,” I utter, not sure what else he wants from me. He’s drawn his line in the sand, and I get it. This is his dream. All of their dreams. They have worked hard to get here and achieve the kind of fame and adoration their people will give them now. But they have to understand when I tell them it’s over, why I couldn’t sit back and watch this shitshow go down. Maybe Geovani was right all along. I am stronger than this, and that’s why I can’t sit by and idly watch Enzo continue on with his reign of terror. I have to be the one to stop him.
Alessandro looks pleased that I understand. And for once, I pity him, because he will be a man with it all. Money, power, notoriety. All except for me. My lips turn up at the sides, and I slide into the fake happiness I so easily seem to manage these days. “I thought you said this was going to be fun.”
“We thought you might like to check out the penthouse. Maybe even have a couple of drinks behind closed doors.” He grins, a twinkle in his eyes. I let him take my hand and lead me back to the elevator with the other boys. I know one thing for sure after everything that’s already happened tonight. This will be our last night together. And I intend to make the most of it.