Chapter 52
Aiden
I’ll admit that watching Mia take control is fucking incredible. She stands between me and her brother, eyes blazing. Ready to fight him, fight me—whoever needs a beating. Not a hint of fear in her eyes.
But there’s no reason for her to fight. I’m confident that once Mason calms the fuck down, we’ll be able to have a reasonable conversation.
He just needs to get over the initial shock that I’m fucking his sister.
Not that it’s any of his business, but I can imagine that if I had a sister, I’d feel the same.
Mason growls, “And what? You’re working here? Dad would fucking roll over in his—”
“Don’t you fucking bring Dad into this. This place has paid my tuition in less than two months. In case you’ve forgotten, Mom and Dad didn’t exactly have a college fund for me.”
“So, you’re taking your clothes off for money? Real fucking classy, Mia.”
This time, I move to knock the fucker out, but I don’t have to. Mia backhands him, hard.
“Fuck,” Mason says, clearly pissed at himself for saying that. “Sorry, I deserved that,” he grunts out.
I run my hand through my hair, fold my arms over my chest, and step back, chuckling as my girl takes full control.
“I’m a server here, and even if I did want to take my clothes off for money, that would be my decision, not yours. You seem to have no problem coming to places like this, yet you’d criticize me for working here? Fuck that!” she snarls.
I chuckle some more.
“Shut the fuck up!” Mason seethes at me through clenched teeth.
We lock eyes, staring each other down. Each of us knows what the other is capable of, and that it wouldn’t end well for either of us.
I grasp Mia’s arm, keeping my eyes on Mason. “We’re going to have a fucking conversation about this like adults. Aren’t we?”
Mason’s chest heaves. His arm hangs at his side, still holding his gun.
“So we’re clear, Mia isn’t some fling for me.”
Mason doesn’t relax, but his eyes go from DEFCON 1 to slightly less enraged.
“He’s helping me, okay, Mase?” Mia says. “I didn’t tell you this, but the day Nic died…when we were shopping, she saw someone outside of the Yard. I thought originally that it was Aiden, so I came here to work to find out…”
“You went undercover? Alone?” Mason scoffs. “You’re out of your fucking mind!”
He’s not fucking wrong.
“Let me finish!” she yells.
Roz comes around the corner, freezes in place, and raises an eyebrow at me. I shake my head no. She shrugs her shoulders, then turns around and leaves as fast as she came.
“I wanted to bring you and the club proof,” Mia says. “But…I have no idea why…Aiden and I, we just…fit.”
“I’m gonna fucking puke.” Mason makes a gagging sound, acting like a fucking baby, quite frankly.
“Man the fuck up,” I tell him, leaning on the bar. “She’s a fucking grown woman. Just listen to what she’s saying.”
Mason pauses, looking between Mia and me. “All right.” He nods to her. “Start talking.”
Mia takes a breath. “Nic insisted that there was someone else there when she was raped. A third man. Aiden says Dagger was always around the Yard. Plus, Mase…he had Nic’s knife.”
That gets Mason’s attention. His free hand flexes as he thinks.
“He gave it to me as a gift,” I tell him. “He’s a prick, but he isn’t stupid.”
“Setting you up?” Mason suggests.
“Maybe, or just planting it for a rainy day.” I shrug. “That’s what we have to find out.”
“I think Nic was scared of Dagger,” Mia continues. “I think he was there. And within the first week of working here, he started coming on to me. Who knows what he would’ve done if Aiden hadn’t stopped him!”
Mason knows, just like everyone else, what Dagger is made of.
“So, this isn’t real?” he asks, pointing between us, confused.
“It’s very much real,” I tell him firmly, itching for a smoke, but I’ll save it for after we beat the fuck out of each other. “Dagger has been my contact for distribution up north for the last two years. He wants us to get in bed with the mob.”
“That would be plain fucking stupid, wouldn’t it?” Mason asks, scrubbing his face with his hand, calmer now.
“Yep,” I say. “It would. But it would be easier to do, or so he thinks, if I wasn’t here. What better way to get rid of me than to have my ol’ lady’s brother come into my club half cocked and shoot me in the fucking head?”
“Ol’ lady? Yeah, I’m not ready for that,” Mason asserts.
“Well, get ready,” Mia chimes in. Fucking little firecracker. I am so going to reward her for this tonight.
“Point is, you have to be smarter than this. He’s trying to use you to do his dirty work.
I had an interesting meeting with Arlo Frank today up at Henderson, about Nicola’s assault.
He was a buddy of Gator’s before my time.
” I assess Mason to make sure he’s calm.
“I think you and I should have a chat. Settle this. If you don’t like what I have to say, then you can try to shoot me,” I offer.
“No one will be shooting anyone!” Mia pipes up. “And I want to hear about this meeting too.”
“Your brother and I are gonna talk first,” I tell her. “This is how it’s done. Club business always comes before personal.” She’s just going to have to accept that.
Mason considers for a minute. He knows I’m telling him the truth, but I can see in his eyes that he still wants to kill me.
“Yep, let’s have that chat,” he says through gritted teeth.
Mia doesn’t argue this time. I kiss her lips and hear Mason mutter “This motherfucker” under his breath. I don’t give a fuck if he likes it or not. He’s going to have to handle this new reality, because Emilia is mine.
“Lock the front door while we’re gone,” I tell her as I lead Mason down the hall to my office.
“Wait!” she calls out, walking toward us slowly. Her eyes are on fire as she looks at us. “You’re gonna play fucking nice.” She moves her hands in a come-hither motion. “Guns.”
I chuckle and look at Mason. “You heard the lady.”
He nods, and we hand our weapons to Mia.
“You can have them back when you both come back in one piece,” she orders, but as we walk, I can still feel the rage rolling off Mason.
“You’re gonna give me my five minutes,” he snarls when Mia is out of earshot.
I chuckle. “I’ll give you ten. No weapons,” I add, taking my rings off and stuffing them into my pockets.
He looks over at me and nods. “Deal.”
I grin. It’s been a while since I’ve had a good fistfight.
This should be fun.
* * *
“Fuck,” I grunt as Mason’s fist slams into my face again.
I swing back, landing a strong uppercut to his jaw.
His head flies back, and he spits blood while I slam him against the wall, gripping his shirt collar.
“You about fucking done?” I ask, tasting blood in my own mouth.
“Not even fucking close. Why Mia? She’s a good girl. She has a good future.”
“I didn’t have a fucking choice,” I admit. “Mia will never be unhappy or in danger with me, but she’s not going anywhere. You’re just gonna have to fucking accept it,” I add, pushing him back as I release him. I run a hand through my hair.
“Until you find another employee to fuck,” Mason bites out.
“Christ. Do you know your sister at all? Do you think saying no to her was an option?”
“Spare me the fucking details,” he mutters, wiping his chin with the back of his hand.
Several minutes of this back-and-forth, and he looks a little more ready to talk.
“We done?” I ask, making my way to my desk and sitting behind it, pulling a smoke out of my pack.
He gives me a two-finger gesture to pass him one.
I do, then light mine and toss him my lighter.
“Start fucking talking,” he says as he lights up.
“I don’t know how I didn’t put two and two together before.
Dagger is Gator’s cousin. They were always hanging around.
He has a penchant for young, unsuspecting girls.
It doesn’t surprise me that he helped Gator get to Nicola, but when Marco died, we aimed to weed out the trash, and my men questioned him and his men.
He said he was in Vegas that night. I assume now that was a lie. ”
Mason sets his jaw.
“I’m fucking sorry, man,” I tell him truthfully.
He nods in thanks. “We never thought there was anyone else. Just Gator and Marco. Nic never mentioned a third guy.”
“Apparently, when Nicola pointed him out that day, Mia thought she was pointing at me, more so than Dagger. When she realized I was Marco’s brother, it made the most sense to her. But just so we’re clear, I’d put a fucking bullet in my own head before I’d ever even look at an underage girl.”
Mason starts to grimace, but with his lip split, it’s easier to take a drag of his smoke instead. “And Mia thought what? She’d come in and take you out by herself?” He chuckles as he exhales.
“You fucking laugh, bro, but she’s a little fucking assassin.” I lift my chin so he can see the cut on my throat that’s still healing. “She’s strong as hell.”
“Fuck yeah, she is,” he agrees. “I think she cracked my tooth when she backhanded me earlier.” Mason chuckles and shakes his head. “All right, so what do you need from me?” he asks, right back to business.
“I met with an old member at Henderson today. He won’t admit this to the rest of my club, afraid he’ll get taken out on the inside, but Dagger confessed to him. He never got his… shit”—I hate to say it—“his chance with Nicola. Thank fuck. But he was there.”
Mason winces.
I take another drag of my smoke, my jaw throbbing from where this fucker clipped me.
“There’s a risk my club might not back me up when I kill Dagger for this.
Our deal with his club is lucrative, and I’m not waiting to prove he’s trying to fuck me over with the Mafia.
I know he is. I won’t let this piece of shit breathe another day.
So, as I’m sure you can understand, I can’t do it alone.
” I take another drag. “Could use your help, if you’re willing. ”
Mason eyes me up, flicking my lighter open and closed. “Unlikely fucking pair we are.”
“Indeed,” I say honestly. “But my word is my bond. If yours is too, we take it to our graves.”
Mason takes one last long drag and nods, tossing me back the lighter. Oddly, even though I shouldn’t, I know I can trust him. “You got a plan?” he asks.
“Yep, but I don’t know how much you’re gonna like it.”
“Why?”
I breathe out a sigh. “Because we’re gonna need Mia’s help.”