Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
ANDER
“Y ou’re going to get me in trouble with my daughter,” Rory said with amusement as I sat opposite her at Wet Dreams later in the afternoon, her eyes sliding distrustfully to Dante as he sat beside me. “You’ve got big balls, Lavaro. I’ll give you that.”
“Dante Ricci,” Dante said as he leaned forward to shake her hand, knowing manners and respect got you further than brute force in this world. “I apologize for my family bringing trouble to your door.”
She eyed him for a moment before taking his hand to shake it, trying to get a read on him. She wouldn’t, Dante could camouflage himself in any situation. He was brilliant at blending in.
“Rory Donovan,” she finally said as she leaned back. “I take it you want something since you’re both risking me murdering you. Especially you, Lavaro. I told you not to fuck with Raven.”
I sighed, knowing no amount of explanation would be good enough for her. I’d lied, end of story.
“I’m here because of Raven. I need help with something.”
“Spit it out, I don’t have all day.”
“Rent me a house.”
She huffed out a humorous laugh, crossing her arms. “Why? So your daddy can burn it down? Those houses are for those less fortunate, not mafia princes who dug a big hole and need a handout.”
“Not for me. I’ll pay for it, but it’s for Raven and the guys. Even if it’s a one bedroom. They need somewhere safe, and Ashburn Valley is the safest they can get. I won’t even go near the place if you don’t want me to, I just have to know they’re okay,” I stated, watching as she silently thought about it.
My phone rang, and I glanced down to see Raven’s name on the screen for the millionth time today. No doubt she’d heard about my house burning down and was worried, but I’d been busy handling shit with Dante all day and hadn’t had time to talk to her.
I put it back in my pocket and tried hard to ignore the next call, but I quickly sent her a text when she tried again, knowing she was likely freaking out.
Ander: I’m in a meeting trying to organize something. I’ll call you when I’m done here, promise.
I should’ve been happy to know she didn’t want me dead, but all I felt was guilt as I put my phone away again.
Rory tapped her fingers on the table in thought before nodding slowly. “I don’t want you knowing where it is,” she finally said, relief filling me.
“I don’t have to know. I’ll pay you cash.”
She waved it off, looking a little offended. “I don’t need your money. Raven’s like one of my kids, so I’ve got her. Nice to know you give a shit though.”
“Of course I give a shit.”
“From what I heard yesterday, it’s surprising.” She turned her attention to Dante, her voice dropping. “It's really hard not to kill you right now. If I had my way, I’d remove you from the board entirely.”
“That’s not recommended,” Dante answered, eyeing her as he leaned forward on the table. “Killing the heir to the Italian mafia throne would only bring vengeance to you and your family.”
“Maybe. It’s not like Stefano doesn’t have a backup prince,” she deadpanned.
“Trust me, he doesn’t want me anywhere near his empire,” I muttered, my eyes scanning the dim room as I spoke. “Stefano likes power and control. I destroyed his perfectly laid out plans when he found out I existed.”
“How about this? You explain everything from start to finish from your perspective, and I don’t kill you for hurting Raven,” Rory offered with a sweet smile, lacing her fingers together in front of her.
I wasn’t surprised to know she was aware of the situation. Raven and the guys would’ve told her, and the crews had probably been having meetings about it already.
At least she was letting me tell my side of things so I knew she had the truth.
I gave her the rundown on my childhood, hating to give her such vulnerable information about myself, but if it meant she’d trust me, I’d do it.
Dante stayed quiet, knowing everything I’d been through since he’d been the only person to check on me after the multiple corrections that Stefano had given me. He was tense, not liking someone he saw as the enemy knowing so much about me.
Information in our world was currency, but it was also a weakness.
“What I don’t understand is why you lied in the first place,” she said when I was done. “If you had no ulterior motives, why weren’t you honest?”
“Because in the beginning I did have ulterior motives.”
“You’re so lucky that I don’t kill you for sucking Riley in like that,” she said sharply. “Let alone for spying on us.”
“I’ll admit what I did was wrong, and the guilt started eating at me when your damn daughter became a good friend to me and things changed. Stefano doesn’t know anything of importance about your family or crews. He wasn’t trying to go after you, he just wanted to know about all the players on the board, as you’d say,” I answered, motioning to Dante. “Dante is a key player in our fight against Stefano. He’s part of the inner circle, and Stefano trusts him. He’s our best way in.”
“Or this little display of trauma you’re throwing at me is an act and you’re doing Daddy’s work in getting us to trust you,” she said flatly, crossing her arms.
“If you thought I was full of shit, you’d have killed me by now. I know you well enough to know I’m only still walking because you’ve allowed it. I’m not so arrogant that I think I can take on the Psychos and the Devils,” I chuckled, tilting my head. “And I know you usually shoot first and ask questions later, so you’ve obviously been told not to kill me.”
Her jaw clenched but she didn’t pull her gun on me or anything.
“Don’t push your luck. You’re right, you’re only alive because it’s in our best interests to keep you around. Piss me off though, and I’ll just figure out another way to dispose of you, if you even breathe wrong in our direction.”
A hand came down firmly on my shoulder, and I had to put my hand out to warn Dante not to do anything when Diesel spoke. “We need to talk.”
“You’re going to let them push you around like this?” Dante hissed, his body tense and ready for a fight.
“Even if I wanted to fight, we’re in a Reaper’s establishment, having a meeting with the Psychos, and I know for a fact that there were Devils at the bar when we arrived. Besides, I have a feeling Mr. Maverick here has other matters to discuss,” I said dryly, glancing over my shoulder. “Right, Diesel? This is a fatherly conversation about Raven?”
His fingers dug into my shoulder more for a second before letting me go with a scowl, giving me my answer. He was pissed that I’d lied to Raven, and he needed to threaten me again to make sure she didn’t get hurt.
I respected that as always.
I got to my feet and slid from the booth, giving Dante a pointed look. “Don’t fight with Rory, answer her questions, and behave.”
He kept the emotions off his face and nodded, but I knew he was fuming inside.
I followed Diesel out the back through the long corridors of drunk men and half-naked women, ignoring the girls that tried to stop me to talk. I’d spent some time here in the past, but I hadn’t indulged in the women’s services in a while.
A familiar face appeared from one of the rooms, and I smiled. “Peaches.”
She smiled back, seeing that I was with Diesel and knew I was busy. “Hey, Ander. Good to see you’re not dead.”
“Yet,” Diesel said clearly over his shoulder as he kept walking ahead.
“Are you sticking around after?” she asked with amusement, giving my bicep a gentle squeeze, but she let go when I pulled back a little, her eyes softening. “Just business today then?”
“Yeah, I won’t be hanging around once I’m done. I have a girlfriend. Well, I think I do,” I mumbled with a frown, and she took a step back. Peaches was good at her job, but I liked her because she could read the room easily and was never pushy. I’d hired her for a few hours in the past and usually just let her nap in one of the private rooms. The girl worked too much, but I’d slept with her a few times too.
The last thing I needed was Raven thinking I’d been in here fucking one of the girls from the whorehouse.
I pulled a grand worth of hundred dollar bills from my wallet and handed it to her, her eyes widening. “What’s this for?”
“You and the girls. Keep it for yourself or split it, I don’t care. You look tired. Take a day off or something,” I said firmly, noticing that Diesel had stopped to watch us. “I need to go. Look after yourself.”
“I will, and thank you. Don’t get killed,” she teased as she clutched the bills with appreciation, telling me how badly she’d needed it.
Archer and Lexi paid all their girls really well, but they couldn’t control the tips. Slow nights for the club meant low pay for the girls. Some of them worked at Devil’s Dungeon as entertainment and bar staff for the Devils sometimes too when they needed extra cash, so if my bills made a difference, I’d help.
Diesel eyed me as I joined him by the back entrance, security letting us out into the back alley.
“That was nice of you,” he said once we were alone, and I shrugged as I lit a cigarette.
“She’s a nice girl and she works her ass off. I don’t think she takes a day off.”
“Odd of you to give a fuck about hookers and strippers.”
“Odd of you not to,” I threw back unfazed, leaning against the wall. “I thought you were the nice one?”
“What idiot told you that?” he smirked, crossing his arms. “Of course I care about the girls. Most of them are our employees too, and a lot of them are the same age as my kids. I’m just surprised that you care about their well-being. Indulge in them often? Is she your favorite?”
He was taunting me, trying to get me to react or lie. He knew I’d spent time here before, I hadn’t kept it a secret.
Besides, Riley was usually the one with me, so he would’ve been very aware that I’d been hanging out in the strip club.
“Are you judging me? You know Riley’s fucked more of the girls here than I have,” I chuckled, blowing smoke away from him. “Peaches has always been good to me in here, and she respects people with girlfriends. I drank here when I was with Blake, and Peaches never disrespected that. I like her, and she works hard. She deserves a little helping hand.”
“Would Raven like you being in here?”
“Raven knows?—”
“Raven’s only just learning what relationships, love, and trust are like,” he cut in, not angrily, just bluntly. “I’d bet money on her being insecure about herself because she’s always been one of the boys. You tell her you’ve been here so she doesn’t think you were hiding it, and you make sure she never has to worry about comparing herself to other girls around you.”
I blinked at him, not expecting that response. “You think that?”
“I haven’t had many girlfriends in my life, only two,” he said, surprising me even more. “Sasha was a tornado who was afraid of nothing until crew life destroyed her, and Rory’s like mother nature herself. You never know what you’re getting with her. Both girls though? They never needed to doubt me. I will always love Sasha, Rory knows that, and every year on Sasha’s birthday, Rory sits with me by her grave and we talk about her.”
“Sasha must have been a kid. You’ve been with Rory forever,” I stated, making him snort.
“I’m eight years older than Rory. It felt like I’d lived a whole other life before being with her. Rory was a traumatized seventeen-year-old when she first stumbled into our lives. She didn’t trust easily, and it took a lot to earn that trust. Me and her formed a friendship fast, and she always knew she could turn to me. Did I fuck things up a few times? Absolutely. Humans make mistakes. Cheating isn’t a mistake though, it’s a choice,” he said sharply, a smirk tugging at my mouth as I smoked.
“You think I need to hire pussy when I’m lonely? C’mon, Diesel. I’d rather go without than do that to anyone. Never cheated on Blake, and I sure as fuck wouldn’t cheat on Raven. Is there a lesson in your story or are you wanting to have a deep and meaningful psychology session with me?”
“The moral of the story is that if you treat Raven right, you’ll watch her grow into a fierce, loyal woman like how I got to experience with Rory. Be her strength, her home, and for the love of God, don’t fucking lie to her again. The last thing that girl needs is a mafia prince in her life,” he replied, his voice softening. “But I have a feeling you’re not exactly happy to be a mafia prince, and you don’t want that life for her either. I need you to be selfless here, Ander. If you can’t get out, I want you to leave her behind.”
“I’m not leaving Raven behind,” I scoffed, flicking what was left of my cigarette away.
“I was a kid when I lost Sasha,” he said quietly, sorrow in his eyes. “I should’ve left her behind to keep her safe, but I was selfish.”
“What happened to her?”
“The same thing that happens to a lot of women in our world, and when they can’t live with the memories anymore, they make it stop. Me and the guys changed the dynamic of what crew life really means when Slash took over as leader. We don’t use women to send messages or punishments, we protect them and the children that slipped between the cracks or had no one to be their voice. With us, surrounding crews changed too. If you and Dante really think you can change the fucking mafia, I won’t call you stupid for it. We wanted change, so we forced it. You can force it too.”
“So, you didn’t bring me out here to beat me up?” I joked, his facial features relaxing as he fought amusement.
“I considered it. You want my respect? Keep her safe, even if that means breaking her heart and leaving. I’d rather her be sad than dead, and I think you would too.”
The thought of leaving her made my chest ache, but I nodded. “If the only way to make all of this stop is by me leaving, I’ll do it.”
“Good. Do you think my girl’s scared Dante yet?”
“Nah. Rory likes to think she’s the biggest monster in the room, but Dante grew up with Stefano’s iron fist. Nothing is scarier than that,” I said with a sigh, knocking on the door to be let back in. “I really am glad that Raven has you to worry about her. Even if it means you threaten me every damn day.”
“You ever marry her, you’d better ask me first.”
“If you think Raven would like me asking permission like she’s an object, you don’t know her very well.”
“Touché,” he chuckled, letting me step inside first when the door opened.
I didn’t get far before Peaches plowed into me, her makeup streaked down her cheeks as she sobbed into my shirt. She wasn’t the type of girl to cry about someone being mean to her, she had a backbone and would’ve just told security to escort them out.
Something was wrong.
“She’s dead!” Peaches managed to get out, Diesel going rigid beside me.
“Who?” I demanded, hearing someone scream further along the hallway. I half-dragged Peaches with me as I followed the sound, stopping in front of a room to find blood everywhere. There was a girl in the bed, most likely naked under the blanket, her glassy eyes open and makeup all over her face from crying.
If I hadn’t known where Raven was, I would’ve freaked out more when I saw the blue hair.
Fabric was shoved into her mouth, and I shielded Peaches slightly to stop her looking when I realized the girl hadn’t just been killed, she’d been tortured.
There were some tools on the floor close by, a few of the girl’s fingernails on the floor with them.
“Is Archer here? I don’t think he’d want Lexi dealing with this,” I said to Diesel as Peaches joined some of the other girls in the hallway to hug them tightly.
“Milky is. Don’t let anyone else in. I’ll get security to keep everyone inside and I’ll get Milky,” Diesel replied, leaving me alone and pulling the door shut a little with the toe of his shoe to go and find Archer’s second in charge.
I moved towards the body, wincing when I pulled the blanket back to see what damage had been done. She had burns and cuts all over her, but the worst part was the blood all over her thighs and the bed.
It would make sense that she’d been raped too, the murderer probably posed as a client to get her alone, but I paused when I saw the knife on the mattress. I didn’t want to ruin the crime scene, but the chance of the cops investigating was slim.
Reapers did their own digging usually.
I pushed her legs open, and if I hadn’t become numb to shit like this, I definitely would’ve thrown up.
Her pussy and ass was unrecognizable, just a gory mess that would’ve been agonizing at the time.
“Didn’t take you to be the type to be into dead girls, Lavaro,” Milky muttered as he walked in and saw me looking, but he tensed when he saw what I was looking at. “What the fuck?”
“This wasn’t some kind of playtime gone wrong. This was thought out and deliberate,” I replied, glancing over at him. “Your cameras work, right?”
“I appreciate you waiting with her, but?—”
“If there’s a psycho murderer in town, other than those who were already here, I want to know about it,” I said dryly.
Milky scowled, looking around until his eyes landed on the bedside table. He grabbed something, turning to face me after a second and holding a piece of paper out.
“I think it’s best if you stay after all. I think this is for you.”
I took it, frowning as I read the note.
Bastard blood was always your downfall. There is no loyalty in half-family, only snakes and liars. The worst thing about rotten fruit is it spreads to the rest of the bowl. Time to throw out the rotten ones.
- Dante
“This isn’t Dante. You won’t believe me, but this isn’t his handwriting,” I insisted, looking up at Milky to see him studying me. “He’s sitting with Rory right now too.”
“Dante bailed not long after you left the table,” Rory said coldly as she appeared, snatching the note to read it herself. “Still trust your brother?”
“Yes,” I bit out. “This is what Stefano does. He tears people apart from the inside. Dante wouldn’t do this then leave me here, even if it was him. I need you to believe me.”
“Your brother took off. There’s a tortured dead hooker in front of us with a handwritten note signed by Dante. What do you think I’ll believe?”
“Rory, I swear?—”
“The word of a liar means nothing to me, Ander. I think it’s best if you leave,” she snapped, but Milky put his hand out to silence us.
“No one leaves. Donovan, you and Lex wrangle the women into the office for their own safety. Lex can do a headcount. I need Diesel and Marco to stick by the doors with security. I’d like everyone to have someone watching their backs in case this prick is still here. Arch is on the way, so he’ll tell us what he wants soon. Ander,” he said as he nodded at me. “You try and get hold of Dante.”
I wasted no time pulling my phone out and dialing his number, cursing when he didn’t answer. I tried again, sending a text to tell him to call me back ASAP.
Whatever Stefano was trying to do, it was fucking working, but the fact that Dante had vanished was what worried me the most.
If Stefano was trying to frame Dante, it meant he knew he was here.
What had Stefano fucking done to him?