Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
XANDER
When I pushed through the doors of Alpha Omega, the majority of the overhead lights were off. Only a few had been flipped on to light the way.
It was after ten thirty at night. This shit needed to get done, and I needed to get back to Sage.
She’d been at my cabin for two days, and most of that time she was sleeping because the pain meds kept her knocked out cold. She hadn’t moved from my bed in that time, and with her back, Bear hadn’t moved from her side except to eat and go to the bathroom.
I’d never given any thought to the dog sleeping in my bed before, mainly because he’d just never done it.
But with Sage there, things had changed. Bear had claimed her, and with that done, he’d become a permanent inside dog who slept in a big soft bed. His wanderer spirit had been tamed.
And I didn’t blame him one damn bit. Hell, if I didn’t have to be here, I’d be right there with him. But this meeting had to happen. That was the only reason I’d left Sage’s side.
Moving through the reception area, I turned down the hall and made my way to the conference room, taking in the faces of everyone sitting around the table. Linc, Marco, Cord, Hunter, West, Dalton, Trent, Bryce, Judge, Scooter, Fletch, Banks, Roxanne, and fucking Cannon.
That son of a bitch had gone out of his way since arriving in town to be in Sage’s space as often as possible, always telling stories of their past relationship that made her smile or laugh fondly. Never in my life had I been jealous of another guy, but I couldn’t stand fucking Cannon Banks.
“Everything good?” Judge asked when I hit the room and headed for the last empty chair at the table.
“All good,” I answered. “Sage is sleepin’ and Danno’s currently camped out in front of my television so he can be close until I get back. Which needs to be soon, so we need to get this shit done.”
With that, Lincoln got the ball rolling. “As everyone at this table knows, we haven’t been able to get a lock on Davenport. Surprising as it is to all of us, the bastard’s smarter than we thought, ’specially considering he was fuckin’ dumb enough to leave his DNA all over the goddamn crime scene.”
“Fucker probably thought she’d keep quiet,” Fletch clipped.
Lincoln pushed on, ignoring the mood in the room. “Yeah, well, because he’s proven himself slippery, instead of usin’ all our resources to hunt Davenport, we shifted the focus to Lorelei Winthrop, since she’s the one he wants.”
I felt a sudden wave of energy roll off Judge and slam into everyone. “You got intel on Lorelei?”
That was the question I knew was coming, but still dreaded all the same.
I let Linc handle the first half of the answer, explaining, “We did a deep dig, and were able to find out she’d been nailin’ Davenport for a while before Sage found out, then for an even longer while.
She was workin’ a long con in order to rip him off, and we were able to uncover what it was she took that he’s so desperate to get back. ”
“And that is?” Banks asked, leaning forward to rest his forearms on the table.
“Five hundred grand he’s been launderin’ through his investment firm for the loan shark he’s currently in so deep with his only choices were to clean the dirty money, or say goodbye to his testicles.”
“Goddamn, you gotta be fuckin’ shittin’ me,” Scooter grunted. “That stupid bitch jacked a loan shark’s cash?”
“That she did. And we uncovered somethin’ else while we were digging into her that proves that’s not even close to the worst she’s done.”
“What the fuck else is she doin’?” Cannon spit out, “Sellin’ newborn babies on the black market?”
Linc looked to me, giving me a jerk of his chin in silent order to proceed since I’d been the one to personally uncover that woman’s level of devious, evil bitch.
Blowing out a breath, I looked to Judge and warned, “You gotta keep your shit in check with what I’m about to tell you, ’cause goin’ off isn’t gonna do shit for you or your girl except fuck everything to hell.”
He stared at me for a beat, taking my warning, then gritted, “Consider me braced. Spit it out.”
So I did just that. “Sage told us what went down with your arrest and conviction. Attempted murder of an asshole who’d attacked and attempted to sexually assault your wife outside a bar, and walked away scot-free, no charges ever brought on him.”
“That’s right.”
“Found out that was ’cause your ex-bitch planned the whole thing and set you up to take the fall.
The attack was staged. She was bangin’ the fucker you beat to get him to go along with her plan.
Her statement to the police was that he hadn’t laid a finger on her.
You came out of the bar, saw her talkin’ to him, and flipped.
Attacked unprovoked. You didn’t hear any of this—one, because your attorney was a fuckin’ incompetent prick, but you couldn’t have known that at the time, and two, because you pled guilty in order to get a reduced sentence—so she didn’t have to get up on the stand during a trial and lie through her teeth. ”
“Fuckin’ cunt,” Banks seethed, punching his fist into the table. He and the rest of his crew all looked like they were seconds away from committing murder. But Judge looked like he was going to be sick.
“Eleven years,” he said in a voice so low and broken it was painful to hear.
“Eleven fuckin’ years of my life taken from me.
My baby girl, taken from me, and you’re tellin’ me it was all ’cause of a lie?
That the goddamn woman who’s finger I’d put my ring on and put my baby in, the woman I’d chosen to build a future and family with, set me up to go down for attempted murder?
” he finished on a roar, shooting to his feet so fast the chair he’d been in crashed into the wall behind him, leaving a dent in the drywall.
“Feel that burn,” I ordered, repeating the words he’d given me more than a week ago that had helped me through. “Feel it, let it roll through you, then push it out.”
“Fuck that! That bitch stole everything from me!”
“And we’re gonna return the favor.”
His rage tempered at that. Roxanne put her hand on his arm and gently guided him back into his seat while his boys turned to me, Fletch asking, “What’s that mean?”
“It means I’m really fuckin’ good at my job, and there isn’t a computer I can’t hack,” I responded.
“I found the evidence you’ll need to prove she set you up.
And to do you one better, I found that prick who was in on the whole thing with her, and Hunter was able to persuade him to make a statement to the police on your behalf.
And just in case he decides to get cold feet, we got him locked down. ”
Cannon met my gaze and asked, “You really think scarin’ him’ll be enough to get him to talk?”
“Probably not. But the kiddie porn I dug off his computer, including videos he posted to several underground sites and emailed to his sick-fuck buddies is. He’ll talk ’cause the deal is, he makes a statement, that shit goes away, and his position as a state senator stays safe until the next election.
As soon as that statement’s made, a new deal goes into effect, one he isn’t aware of, and everything I have gets sent to the Feds by an anonymous concerned citizen. ”
The tension in the room finally began to lessen, so I gave the last bit of good news I had.
“Also, if it makes you feel better, I got a lock on Sage’s mom earlier today, and as soon as this meet’s over, Dalt and West are movin’ out to bring her in.
We’ll get what we need for you, then we’ll use her as bait to pull out Davenport. ”
“And what happens to Davenport once we get him?” Scooter inquired.
“He gets delivered to the police, gift wrapped in a pretty bow,” Linc answered. “After he pays slowly and painfully for what he did to Sage.”
Judge’s men all smiled.
Banks leaned forward, looked right at me, and asked, “What can we do to help?”
Sage
I woke when I heard a soft thud, then a second, followed quickly by the sound of clothes rustling.
Blinking to adjust my eyes to the darkness, I came fully out of my sleep and twisted to the big shadowed form near the foot of the bed.
“Xander?”
“Shh, baby,” he said softly. “Didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep.”
“What time is it?”
“Just after midnight.” At his answer, the bed shifted, his large warm body pressed into my back, and his strong arm looped gently across my waist, making every one of my muscles lock tight.
During the month we’d been together, he’d slept with me pulled against him in some way every single night, making it so I was still in sleep for the first time in my life. I’d missed having his strength and security wrapped around me terribly.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
This was my third night at the cabin, and while he’d spent almost every hour of those three days by my side, taking care of me and being so sweet and gentle and tender I was constantly fighting the need to cry, Xander hadn’t once slept in the bed with me, choosing instead to stay out on the couch.
I wasn’t so delusional that I’d attempted to convince myself I didn’t want him in that big soft bed with me, but I hadn’t acted on that want, and instead decided to let things be and accept that Bear was the big body I got to snuggle into each night, instead of the one I really wanted.
“Fuckin’ beat, baby. Danno’s crashed on the couch.”
My face scrunched in confusion. “When the heck did Danno get here, and why’s he crashed on your couch?”