Chapter 2
“So, he’s just gonna let her stay here?” Maddy turns down the bed while I finish texting Nyx the address of the lender he asked her to find, earlier.
“It looks that way.” I kick off my sneakers and step out my jeans so I can join my girl under the covers.
“Well, it’s gonna be tough, there”s so much tension between those two, and I don’t know about you but I’ve noticed a change in Prez the past few weeks. He’s?—”
“I know what ya mean,” I cut her off because as much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree. Prez has been acting strange, and I’m as sure as I can be that he’s keeping something from us.
“I don’t think this could have happened at a worse time.” Maddy sighs as she rests her head back on the pillow.
“You need to stop worryin’ about other people”s problems, darlin’.” I slide my hand around her waist and drag her closer.
“Sorry, it’s in my nature.” She turns her head and smiles at me. “And don’t try telling me you”re not worrying about your sister. You can see how fond she’s becoming of that little boy.” She gives me that look, that reminds me I can’t keep a damn thing from her.
Of course, she’s right about that too, and I ain’t the only one who’s concerned. Troj has been talking to me about it, and he’s equally as worried that Shaniya’s getting too attached to the kid whose Mom abandoned him in the library a few weeks ago.
“I suggested the other day that Grace talk to the boy about what happened and that maybe Shaniya should talk to her too,” I admit.
“And how did that go down?” Maddy looks back at me awkwardly.
“Better than I thought, she wasn’t offended, but she still swears that she’s fully prepared for the boy”s mom to come back for him. She’s just adamant that we don’t call child services, and I’ll stand by her on that. Ain’t no argument in the fact that the kid bein’ here with her is what’s best for him. I just don’t know if it’s what’s best for Shaniya.” I kiss Maddy’s head and take in the scent of her hair, it always does something to soothe me.
“I’ve tried finding out who his mom is but I’ve got nothing to go on. The kid still hasn’t spoken a word.” Maddy looks helpless and I know how much she hates that.
“These things take time.” I smile at her and stroke her cheek with my thumb.
“It seems like all things take time.” She raises her eyebrows and her smile quickly turns into a sad one.
“C’mon, Maddy, we ain’t been tryin’ at getting pregnant for no time at all. It’s gonna happen.”
“And what if it doesn’t? What if we have the same problem as Troj and Shaniya?” she whispers, and when her eyes start to well up I quickly shake my head.
“Hey, hey… you’ve been off the pill less than four months, and for most of that time, I’ve hardly been around. You just gotta have a little patience.” I kiss her forehead.
“You still want this, right?” She frowns at me like she’s uncertain.
“What?” I laugh at her because I have no idea how she could even doubt it.
“There’s just so much going on right now. The whole Cliff and Long Beach thing is messy. What if Prez wants you to leave here and fix that charter? Isn’t that how your dad ended up in Utah?”
“My dad chose to go to Utah because that was where me and my mom were.” I put her straight. “Prez would never make me go anywhere I didn’t want to, and he has his plans for Long Beach. They don’t involve me.”
“And what if those plans fall through?” She looks at me anxiously. She knows as well as I do that Prez still hasn’t got a straight answer outta Raze about becoming the charter’s new president.
“They won’t, and we sure as fuck ain’t movin’ to Long Beach. This is our home,” I promise her.
“And you still wanna?—”
“Do I still wanna make a baby with ya?” I finish the sentence for her, dragging her onto my body and kissing her lips. It don’t matter how many nights I’ve held her in this bed, I still feel like the luckiest man breathing. Maddy even considering having a kid with me feels like a blessing I don’t deserve.
“Maddy Donavon, there is nothin’ I want more in the world,” I tell her, moving her hips to roll against mine, and when my cock starts to stiffen, feeling the way she soaks through her panties against it drives me fuckin’ insane.
“I love you. Jessie,” she whispers as my finger hooks those panties aside to give me access. When I slide up inside her, the hum of satisfaction she makes has me gripping onto her hair a little too tight. I use it to pull back her head so I can look inside her crystal blue eyes and when I do, I feel something that outweighs love. Something that feels wholesome and yet hurts at the same time. It’s an obsession and a burden, but I never wanna be without it.
“I love you too.” I watch those perfect eyes sparkle as she moves her body and takes pleasure from me. I mean every fuckin’ word. I love the way she smiles when she’s close to coming for me. I love the way she still gets a panicked little look in her eyes because she knows how intense it’ll be, but most of all, I love the way she looks at me like I’m the start and the end of her world when she comes apart. I let her finish and catch her breath before I flip her onto her back and grip the headboard behind her head. Slowly taking my time, I thrust back inside her, pinning her hip to the mattress with my other hand while I kiss her mouth and throat.
“You ready, darlin’?” I ask when I’m getting close. I want her to come with me.
“I’m ready.” Her hand slides up to frame my bristly jaw, and I press my forehead into hers and let it all go. My cock releases while her pussy pulses tight around me. I grip at her skin to ground myself as her body turns rigid and she moans her own pleasure into my ear. There’s a long silence while we both hold each other and when I pull my head back and see the tears in her eyes, I don’t wipe ‘em away because they look real pretty.
“You okay?” I check.
“Fine.” Maddy nods. “I just…”
“We ain’t movin’ to Long Beach, we’re gonna stay right here and we’re gonna raise a beautiful family together.” I dash away any doubts she’s got before kissing her tears and burying my head into her neck.
“What are you doing?” she asks when I start moving slowly inside her again.
“I’m workin’ on makin’ sure that family gets started real soon, darlin’.”
* * *
“Does anyone around here know how to knock on a door?” I shake my head when Alex lets herself into our cabin the next morning.
“It seems not.” She smiles unapologetically, before dropping a brown file onto the table in front of Maddy’s cereal bowl.
“I found it.” Alex folds her arms, looking mighty proud of herself.
“Found what exactly?” I look cluelessly between the two of ‘em.
“Just some stuff Prez had us look into.” Maddy brushes it off as irrelevant as she reads over all the highlighted sections on the information in front of her.
“Alex, this is great. You must have been up all night.”
“It’s amazing what caffeine can do.” Alex shrugs as she heads over to the coffee dispenser to help herself. “My body clock is still in teething mode, anyway.” She flaps her arms like it’s no big deal while Maddy continues to read.
“What, exactly, has Prez had you lookin’ into?” I snatch one of the papers from under Maddy’s nose, feelin’ a little pissed that this is the first I’ve heard about this.
“Just some of the local gangs who Cliff might have been working with in L.A.,” she explains.
“Prez never said anythin’ about it.” I glance over the words that are highlighted on the page.
“He’s probably just covering all bases, Jessie. These people are gonna be pissed off when, whatever they had set up with Cliff, gets taken away. Whoever takes over Long Beach is going to have to deal with that.” What she says makes sense, but it doesn’t change the fact he’s kept it from us.
“So, what exactly did ya find?” I try to make sense of what I’m reading.
“Well, these street boys, who Cliff is allowing to trade on the territory that you’re supposed to be protecting for Burlusconi, are working for the Lambroni brothers,” Alex informs me.
“No, they ain’t,” I laugh at what I’m hearing. “Not even a high school kid would be that stupid.” The Lambroni and Burlusconi families have been rivals for decades, no one wants to get caught up in that crossfire.
“Look for yourself, that boy they found dead in the hotel two blocks away from the Long Beach clubhouse had six bullets in his chest, all of them came from an MP40,” Alex explains.
“And…?” I shake my head, waiting for her to explain how that”s relevant.
“Well, we know the Russians supply to pretty much all of the criminal organizations in California, because we run their weapons, and they don’t supply MP40s. The only people they refuse to sell to are the Lambronis.”
“That don’t mean a thing.” I shake my head again.
“It does when Phillip Lambroni made a purchase from the triads for a case full of them.” My girl smiles at me cleverly.
“And how do you know that? We don’t work with the triads anymore?” I fold my arms and study them both hard.
“Because Maddy busted into the ATF’s system and managed to gain access to the case file they have on them. She went through the evidence from the last bust they made. And would you look at that…” Alex points her finger to the cell number that’s typed out on the page.
“I’m just seeing a number, Alex,” I admit.
“But when paired up with this…” Maddy fills in the blanks when she places a new piece of paper over the one I”m holding, this one containing a map with a red circle marking a location. “This is where the signal to that phone was coming from.”
“The Lambroni estate.” Alex holds out her fist for Maddy to pump.
“You guys are scary.” I shake my head and toss the papers on the table.
“Not as scary as the fact that these small-time gangs, who we don’t think are a problem, are mixed up with big-time organizations like the Lambronis. Cliff’s take-down may not be as easy as Prez thinks it will be.” Maddy brings us back to reality as she gathers everything back together in the file. “I better take this to him, you wanna come?” She looks up at me.
“No, and don’t tell him I know about it, either. I’ll wait till he tells me.” I feel a slight sting in my chest as I shake my head.
“Jessie, I don’t think this is supposed to be a secret, I just?—”
“I know it ain’t a secret, Maddy. Me and Prez don’t have secrets, not anymore,” I remind her, trying real hard to convince myself that”s true at the same time.
* * *
It’s mid-morning before we all get called into church, and as the meeting goes on, I start to wonder if Prez is gonna bring up the information he got from the girls this morning. Nothing gets said. In fact, nothing about Cliff and the Long Beach charter gets mentioned at all, which makes me wonder what the hell’s goin’ on in Prez’s mind. He gives us all our instructions for how we’re gonna handle our latest run to Nevada and when he slams the gavel, I can’t help but notice the glimpse of guilt that”s in his eyes as he watches everyone disperse. Something’s off, and I hang back while everyone else makes their way out so I can find out what it is.
“What’s on your mind, Jess?” He stands up and pours us a drink from the cabinet in the corner.
“I was gonna ask you the same question.” I accept the drink he puts in front of me and knock it back. “What ya keepin’ from me?” I ask with a bitter taste in my mouth that the whiskey doesn’t take away.
“Don’t do that,” Jimmer warns, retaking his seat and staring across the table at me. “Don’t put me in a position where I have to lie to you when I promised you I never would never do it again. I just need ya to trust me.”
“I don’t like this.” I feel my teeth clench.
“Neither do I.” He swallows the last of his drink and gets up from the table, marching out and leaving me sitting by myself, really starting to worry about our leader and the future of our club.