17. Nero
Chapter 17
Nero
I stare at the black walls in Silas Macias’s office. We all had street names, so Silas was Ghost to me for the longest time, just as Cassiel is Leatherface to me. The man sitting in front of me with a red designer suit and Louboutin loafers had been the Vice President of the club before Leatherface pissed him off. Or in Leatherface’s version, he made Silas step down. Either way, out of respect to the other brothers, Silas kept his original promise to help the club grow and advance. We used his real estate company to help us clean any money we made, and he would even encourage us to invest it into second streams of income. A large amount of my cuts were either put into savings or spent on private investigators. Chasing circles and never actually finding where Tala was. The thought would often appear that she didn’t want to be found, but I couldn’t help worrying about her. Where life took her. Was she married? Was she safe?
“Why are you here, Nero? Between you and Jasper, I am starting to get the impression that the two of you are obsessed with me. And in case you didn’t notice, I’m happily married.” He holds up his left hand, where there’s a band around the tattooed digit.
Even after all these months since we migrated to Houston, adjusting to this version of Silas was hard. The roles he played now fit him- businessman, husband, father. I look around the office and see his wife’s feminine touch on the walls, family photos, and some weird goth décor.
“What are we going to do about Cassiel?” I ask outright.
The club has been walking on eggshells since the shooting. War was still fresh on the minds of both the Italians and the Russians, and it was only a matter of time before it came to that. Until then, we changed up our routes for the gun trade and took extra precautions during the night rides.
“Jasper was in here last week with the same fucking question and it’s still the same fucking answer. I don’t give a fuck about Cassiel. I don’t give a shit if he chokes on his own blood in that hospital, or anywhere else for that matter.” He says with a pointed look. He means what he says. The years of comodratory between them died the day Cassiel used Lucia to get to Genesis.
I didn’t agree with his methods, but I also didn’t want him to die. We were already weakened in his absence. I don’t know what secrets we took with him to the gates of hell. Silas rocks back in his chair. He takes a sip of the mezcal and leans back.
“You know he’s not right when it comes to her.” I protest.
It was true, and I knew Silas could relate. He had faked his death and came back to kidnap his wife. It was the pot calling the kettle black and fuck I was both of them when it came to Ari. I could feel it in my bones. It made no sense why I needed her, but I needed her. Like a fish needed water. Like smoke needed fire. I needed her and couldn’t hold it against Leatherface for the same impulsiveness. Not when his possessiveness had more time to develop into full-blown obsession. Silas lights a cigar, contemplating my words before typing something into his computer.
“Pues si lo entiendo. Sometimes, we meet someone, and they pull out the good, the bad, and the ugly from us. But este cabrón, he crossed the fucking line fucking with my family.” Silas points his cigar at me, his face void of any emotions.
“What I still haven’t figured out is where you fall into all of this, Nero?” he continues, his head tilting to the side. I narrow my eyes on him.
“Cassiel’s my brother. He was yours too.”
“I’m not talking about that man. I’m wondering why you are still at the hotel if I don’t need you spying on my wife anymore?” I don’t like the accusatory tone in his voice. I snarl at him.
“Fuck you,” I say standing to my full height.
“No fuck you motherfucker. I’ve helped you with your investments, and I know money’s not an issue. Why are you working for pennies to be Ariella Reyes’s bodyguard?”
The way her name falls from his lips makes me want to punch him until the smug smile on his face disappears.
“It’s none of your fucking business.”
Silas is still studying me, but my face remains stoic. It was none of his fucking business. It was his and Cassiel’s fault I had been put there to spy on the Consuelo family. It was Cassiel’s fault I had to play his accomplice in kidnapping Ariella. Why did I feel guilty every time she slipped into the confines of her brain? It plagued me to think I played a role in resurfacing her childhood trauma. That’s why I was there. Axel’s information led me nowhere; Genesis was a closed book, but I still felt like I owed it to Ari to protect her after putting her in danger.
It made no sense to those on the outside looking in but the motherfucker in front of me, rocking back and forth in his fucking chair didn’t deserve a response. A knock comes to the door before Jasper lets himself in. He worked as Silas’s assistant, primarily cause Thalia would kill a secretary around her husband, and Jasper was the only one Silas trusted.
“I just looked at the hospital security. Nero, you need to get there as soon as possible.”
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I was out of the office and on the highway before Silas could make any more assumptions about my relationship with Ariella. “The Problem,” as Jasper had called her, is pacing outside Leatherface’s private room.
“Let me in motherfuckers!” Genesis yells at Louie and Chunks, who are blocking the entrance. Salvi looks up from his seat and shakes his head.
“She’s been here all morning, demanding we let her in. Took a swing to Louie and pulled a knife out on Chunks.” He nods his head toward them, and I notice the bruise around Louie’s eye and shake my head.
“Did she say why she wanted in to see him?” I ask.
I still remember the day Cassiel joined the motorcycle club. His dad had begged Hueso, the president at the time, to let him join. I knew Cassiel before he got to where he is now. Before that hideous scar was on his face, they started calling him Leatherface. I knew who gave him that scar, and I didn’t put it past her to smother him to death with a pillow.
Genesis huffs in surrenderance before she turns to meet my glare. She’s wearing cargo pants and a baggy acid wash band tee. She had lighter hair like Ariella’s, but hers was more natural. It was the only thing they had in common as far as I was concerned. Ari was pink and perfection. She smelt like carnations and cupcakes. Her laugh was richer than any sound to my ears, and her cries made me want to reign destruction on everyone. No, this woman walking towards me just looked cold.
“Let me in there!” she shouts.
Salvi takes a step back when she moves in closer. Growing up with an abusive mother, I learned quickly how to spot ill intentions. Genesis was mad, but I can also see the hurt on her face. The circles under her red eyes and the breaking of her voice. You can’t fake those emotions. I nod and walk past her. She follows me as we walk down the corridor to Cassiel’s room.
Louie and Chunks look at us nervously. Correction- they look at little miss try and kill everyone, nervously, they look at me confused.
“I’ll watch her,” I say, and they move out of the way.
I punch in the security code for the private room. We had Cass on complete lockdown, pulling from our funds to keep his condition quiet so the Italians wouldn’t finish what they started.
Opening the door, the bright lights stream from the large windows. Tubes run from his mouth to the machines, keeping him alive. I look at Genesis, who stands frozen before the closed door. Her face is pale as she stares down at him. I turn and close the blinds, giving her space. She moves to his bedside and looks up at me with tears rimming her eyes.
“Can you give us a moment?” She asks.
I laugh despite it being insensitive because this bitch really has lost her god damn mind. I wouldn’t leave him with her even if she were a nun and this was a place of worship. Would she murder him? No. But I didn’t know what kind of witchcraft she would try.
My laughter sets her off, she snaps her head up to me her eyes darkening. You see what I mean? She’s already trying to cast a spell in my direction, thankfully you can’t curse the soulless. She stares at Cassiel for a moment before her angry eyes flash back to mine.
“Does Ari know it was you who took her back to the hotel?” Her eyes narrow. I cross my arms and let out a sigh. This was her bargaining chip. What the fuck is it with people testing my patience today?
“What do you want, Genesis?”
“Give me five minutes alone with him, and I won’t tell Ariella about what happened.” She says, her eyes challenging.
I look around the room, taking in her proposition. Salvi had taken her knife, and the machines would alert us if we did something funny.
“You have five minutes,” I say and turn to walk out.
The men stare at me like I’ve lost my mind, but I can’t think about anything but how Genesis knew it was me. Both their faces were covered with hoods. I didn’t put it past Leatherface to run his big fucking mouth. If he was willing to throw me under the bus to get whatever he wanted from Genesis, then I had no problem risking his life with her for five minutes.
I didn’t want her to unplug him, but I would walk around the building twice before checking on him. Genesis emerges from the room before the sound of my timer goes off. When she passes by Louie, he flinches, and Chunk’s eyes widen. She’s staring down at her phone, her eyes bloodshot, but she keeps walking until only a small space separates her from me.
She holds her phone up to me with a video of me lifting Ari into my arms the night of Vicente Consuelo’s party.
“I don’t know what you’re doing around my friend but let me find out you’re using her and I won’t hesitate to slit your wrist and make it look like an accident.” She walks past me, down the corridor, and into the elevator. However, the man who exits the elevator is none other than Ariella’s father, Aurelio Reyes.