5. Dante
five
Dante
"They hit the shop," Havoc explains, his jaw grit tight. "Don't have a clue where they think we'd stuff her. In the trunk of one of our client's cars?" He curses, clearly agitated at his business being swarmed.
"Docks were raided," Casper adds, letting out a sigh. "Thank God we had those scrubbed."
Ace and Smoke explain that the mayor has put people in our casino, too. They're doing less searching, and more listening.
I knew this would be annoying as hell. On my way over here, I was stopped by the sheriff, and he tried not to make it so obvious that he was asking about my whereabouts lately. He'd looked at my missing beard with suspicion, pressing about that bit, too.
Asshole can't grow one himself, so that didn't help much.
Tank hands his phone over to Crow, and our road captain sighs.
"Tank says he caught two different cruisers stationed around us. You think they're going to hit us today?"
"No." Scratching at my face, I consider all the movement. "Right now, they're giving Azrael hell at his clubhouse. Once the Saints are run clear, they'll go after the Sinner's. Axel's been crossing enough lines that I'm sure he'll be next."
Making sure no one is sniffing around our housing, I'm relieved when everyone confirms they haven't seen any cops hanging around yet.
It's the safest place for those women to be.
After all, the timing is perfect. The housing isn't used only by the club's members.
Like other parts of our territory, this is another way for us to make money.
Renting out to the people who support the very man I'm trying to destroy, I don't see Mayor Ashford risking losing votes by acting recklessly by storming every unit.
Even if they do, by the time they find the right room, I'll have them out and in my backup place.
I won't let them have her back. Neither of them.
Going through the steps of what we'll do when they hit, I'm calling the meeting over once everyone is on the same page.
While the others start filing out, I notice Hex is still in her seat, settled next to Trouble.
She's wearing the same expression she had when I first arrived, like she's sitting on some juicy information.
Standing, I look over to her. "What is it?"
Hex leans back, trying not to squirm under my gaze. "I know you said to focus on the mayor, but... my pride wouldn't let me. I had to look into her."
It's normally easy to keep a straight face even in the most stressful times, but the mention of Margot has me working overtime not to look too interested. "You found something?"
She nods and moves to her feet. "It would be easier to show you."
Nodding to her request, I follow both of them out of this room and toward her tech cave.
Noticing the way she wraps her hand around Trouble's arm and smiles at him tears at my chest. Not because it's her being affectionate with her boyfriend, but because she's smiling up at his ruined face like he's perfect.
I can't get Margot's expression out of my head, no matter how hard I try. I'd been expecting it, but it still clawed at me in a way I thought I'd long gotten over. Shaking my head at the memory, I remind myself that there are more important things to worry about than how that woman perceives me.
She turns on the lights and sinks down in her chair. Automatically clicking around, I can't help but notice the frown on her lips. "I just want to make it clear that I didn't know of her existence for a good reason, not because of some kind of skill issue."
Trouble snorts as he settles against the wall. "She spent all night digging until she could figure out why."
Leaning over her chair, I look at her monitors, trying to pick out what involves Margot and what Hex's side projects are.
"I couldn't find Margot Ashford, because that person doesn't exist." She points toward her monitor with a prideful smile, and my eyes lock onto the document. "Or—should I say, she's not supposed to be here."
The last thing I expected to see is a death certificate with Margot's name on it, dated over a decade ago.
"Clearly, she's not dead. So—" Hex makes quick work of dragging more tabs onto her other screens. "—I think there is more to uncover about this whole thing, but I was able to dig up a little more, and it was hard. Dante, someone tried really hard to get rid of anything with Margot's name."
While she rambles on about someone hiring someone to make things disappear, I stare at one of the articles that talks about Madalyn and Margot going missing.
Around this time, their father wasn't so high up the chain in the office.
I wouldn't be surprised if he only had a few connections at the time.
She had mentioned it before, hadn't she?
"I think the story is, they got kidnapped, and Madalyn was the only survivor.
" Hex lets out a sigh, tapping her fingers against her chin.
"I couldn't find out who kidnapped them, or what punishment was given.
Just finding the certificate was hell. Whoever covered this up is good; I'll give them that.
I guess if we want to know what happened, we could just ask her?
That, or you have to give me more time to dig and ask around. "
She makes it sound easy, but I can't see it going anywhere but downhill.
"He's only put out a word for Madalyn, even after all this time passing?"
She nods. "What's the chance of him believing she's dead, too? That would be crazy."
"Slim to none." Already knowing he was hiding her, he had to have been; there's a reason he needs her to remain hidden. Why does she need to be dead? "I'll talk to her. In the meantime, try to dig a little more on the kidnappers. If we can find them, we can ask them questions, too."
Telling myself that this is an excuse to add onto my list of crimes we've already dug up, I press her to find more. In the meantime, I'll try to aid her by finding out what I can from a direct source as soon as I can get Margot to reveal such information.
Where we stand right now, I doubt she'd freely tell me everything I need to know.
Thanking her, I excuse myself to keep things moving. With another section of my mind filled with more problems needing to be solved, I'm distracted enough that I nearly miss my sister trying to get my attention. Despite standing in my path, I almost run her over completely.
"Woah, there." Flattening her hands out, she presses against my cut before I can finish the job. "Earth to Dante?"
Grunting, I barely get out an apology before she's shifting her hands to her hips.
"Did I miss anything important?" She looks over at the other members as if she expects to see a new face.
"Same as the last one." Looking to the side, I notice Killer strolling in. The two of them must've just gotten back. "That thing I asked for, did you run into any issues?"
Already back to talking business, it's no surprise she scoffs at me. "Hard to buy out a wardrobe while being followed, you know? It's a miracle we didn't get stopped."
She complains, but we both know she loved going on a shopping spree on my dime to prepare for Madalyn's stay.
"But you got the clothes?"
She nods, rolling her eyes. "I got the clothes. Snagged some extra toiletries, too. You're welcome. You'll have to grab them from our unit."
Thanking her again, she lets out another huff when I circle around her. "Wait, you're going now? Wouldn't it be better if you stayed away? Plus, how often do we have almost everyone together? Dante. Can't you try to relax for a few minutes?"
She's got a good point, but I don't think I could stay away if I tried hard enough.
"Still have things that need to be done." I try to give her a reassuring smile, but we both know it looks strange. "I'll relax at home."
Excusing myself, I make my way swiftly to my bike. On the way to the complex, I purposely make stops at any club-owned business to make it look less suspicious, but I still feel the need to go back home.
With the sensation clawing at my chest, there's no denying the demand or pretending it isn't there.
I can tell myself that I'm worried those two have somehow found their way out of the unit, but I have enough cameras installed to ease the worry if I really want to check. However, if I see Margot on one of those feeds, I don't think I'll be able to stall like this.
Nothing good will come from getting a speeding ticket to get back to her.
The car that's tagging along behind me would surely love the excuse to pull me over. Eyeing them in my mirror, I find it takes strength not to get them off my tail. Instead, I spend the next hour wasting gas before I pull into the complex's lot.
As my tail slowly coasts by, I happily send them off with a middle finger.
Stopping at Cassia and Killer's unit first, I find far too many bags waiting for me. Wondering if they'll be good enough, a small part of me hopes they won't be.
I'd only gotten a quick glimpse this morning, but I know my shirts fit her. Would that be enough? Could I let her pick through my closet and take however many shirts she wants?
Fuck, would she want to wear them to begin with?
Shaking my head, I curse myself for growing soft and head toward the elevator. Riding all the way to the top, the moment I step off, I feel something is off.
Always quiet enough to hear a pin drop, today is different. Despite the soundproofing of the walls, there's a muffled sound escaping the cracks of my front door.
Tapping away the pin to let myself in, the muffled sound turns into a crashing wave of music that hits me all at once. Heavy metal fills my home, a mixture of drums and squealing guitars paired with vocals that sound like they're nearing death. Fucking hell.
At the sudden click and swing of the door, Margot snaps upright on the couch. Her head whips around toward the entryway, her chest heaving with a quick, startled breath—clearly bracing herself for someone who is not myself.
I don’t know who she was expecting, but I don’t have the time to think about it.