Chapter Fourteen
River
I don’t know how to feel when I’m told that Bella got into a man’s car in front of her workplace, but what I do is track down the car to see what the fuck this Mark is doing snooping around my woman. I wouldn’t peg Bella for a cheater, or a person with weak character, but you never know these days. Did she get sick of my shit and go back with her ex?
I know I need to let her in more, but it’s been really hard for me. Fuck.
Bella calls me but I’ll have to call her back, as I’m a little bit busy stalking her ex. The first red flag is when he stops at the police station. The second is when the cops greet him like they know him.
Motherfucker.
Is he a cop?
No, I don’t get those vibes from him. I send Jag a text with all the information I have on this Mark and ask him to do a background check. Fifteen minutes pass before I get a reply.
Jag: Not a cop, he’s a fed.
I have so many questions, and only one beautiful, potentially devious woman is going to be able to answer them.
Does she know he’s a fed? Is she working with them?
This would be just my fucking luck.
My phone buzzes with a text message from the devil herself.
Bella: I need to talk to you and Romeo.
River: You okay?
Bella: I’m fine, at home. But something happened.
River: Coming to you. Now.
Bella: With Romeo?
River: Yes.
Okay, depending on how this goes, my heart is either going to be broken or she’s about to tell me the truth of why the fuck she got into the car of her fed ex-boyfriend.
Yeah, good luck explaining that one to Romeo.
When I call him, he must be balls-deep in his wife because he sounds pissed. “What? This better be important.”
“I need you to come with me to Bella’s—she’s requested you there. No idea what’s going on, but I just found out her ex-boyfriend is a fed.”
I wince at all the cursing and end the call.
The rumbles of our motorcycles pull up to her place twenty minutes later, and the stomping of our large biker boots walking to her front door.
“This better be good,” Romeo mutters.
I agree.
I want some answers, and I want them now.
“Hey.” Bella smiles nervously as she opens the door wide for us to enter. She looks beautiful, still in her fancy businesswear. And I want nothing more than to tear that blouse off her. “Come in. Do you mind coming out to see my garden outside?”
Romeo looks at me with confusion, but we both follow her outside, Hades doing the same.
We take a seat on the outdoor bench and decline her offer of a drink. We just want to get straight to the point.
“What’s going on?” Romeo asks, tapping his fingers on his leg with impatience.
She winces. “Okay, so after work today, my ex-boyfriend Mark was there waiting in his car for me.” Her gray eyes are pinned on me. “You know, the one who showed up to my house recently? Yeah, him.”
Romeo looks like he wants to throttle us both.
Bella continues, “Apparently he’s an FBI agent and was only dating me to get information and dirt on my family and the MC.” She looks at Romeo, reading the room. “I didn’t know,” she stammers. “I never knew. I thought he was some stupid accountant. He was so boring and I almost wish I knew because maybe the real him would’ve kept me interested—”
“Bella...” I say sternly. I do not need to hear this shit about her being turned on by an authoritative federal agent.
She looks at me with wide eyes. “Shit, yes, sorry. I didn’t mean that. I’m still processing. I just meant—”
“Bella, tell me what he said and why I’m here,” Romeo says in his president voice. It’s one he usually only uses with the men.
She looks at him, a bit of fear in her gaze. “Right, sorry. Okay, well, recently, we were closing on this property. The Lansdale property.”
Romeo nods. “I saw the report. It was something Paulie wanted, and we finally were able to buy it at the right price. What does that have to do with this?”
“Let her fucking finish,” I say, warning him to not bite her head off.
“Yeah. Okay. Um...well, so there was a very strict deadline on closing and the paperwork didn’t get finalized correctly—”
“Why is that?” Romeo tries to ask nicely but it’s coming out as annoyance.
“That was the same day I walked in on you in the garage...so I was distracted. I, uh, wasn’t focused at work and when I left for the day I forgot to sign the documents. Sally, our new assistant, called all the Callistos since any one of us could sign it and, well, she got Rosalind...”
Romeo groans. Rosalind has been a touchy subject because Romeo used to sleep with her before he met Julianna, who happens to be her sister. I thought they patched things up, but family gatherings are definitely awkward as hell. Although now that I know what I know about my mother and Andrew, I guess awkward relationships run in the family.
Bella continues, “Rosalind signed my name. I don’t know why. When I confronted her, she told me to thank her for saving my ass.”
Romeo rubs his face with his hands. “Fuck me. Okay, so you’re saying you closed on the Lansdale property with forged documents.”
Bella nods. I personally don’t see what the big deal is here. It’s not like she embezzled money. It was a fucking clerical error. What the fuck do the feds think they could do with that? “And he says that he can prosecute me for forgery and open an entire investigation and audit of the Angels real estate dealings because of it.”
“Unless...?” Romeo says, knowing what is coming next.
Bella sighs. “Unless I give them information on what happened to Victor.”
And there it is. They’re going to use a false signature to get us for murder.
“But you don’t know anything about Victor,” I say, because it’s not like we talk about that shit post-sex.
She bites her lip and refuses to look at me. “Julianna told you, didn’t she?” Romeo says.
Oh fuck. She knows? She knows what I’m capable of? And she’s still with me? There are too many thoughts going through my head right now.
Romeo and I share a look.
“What exactly do you know?” Romeo asks.
She still refuses to look at me. “I don’t know much. Just that you let River...do it.” She manages to get it out and then finally looks me in the eye.
“First of all, thank you for telling us this, Bella. I appreciate it, and it makes our job much easier trying to fix it,” Romeo says.
I couldn’t agree more. I’m so proud that she came right to us and didn’t drag this out or make it worse by not telling us the truth.
“Second, is that why you brought us outside? In case Mark’s bugged your house?”
She nods. That’s my girl. Always thinking.
“Tell us more about this forgery situation,” I ask.
“There isn’t anything more. It’s never happened before. But I saw the signature. It looks nothing like mine and if anyone were to look closer, they’d see it.”
“You said any Callisto could’ve signed that paperwork. Why did Rosalind sign your name?” I ask, feeling like I’m missing a piece of the puzzle here.
She shrugs. “Why does Rosalind do anything? Because she can.”
“Does he have any evidence?” I ask, jaw tight as ever.
“The paperwork is public record. If it comes out the Angels will be audited, and while we run a clean business, you know not every business is a hundred percent clean, especially when there is an MC behind it. And besides that, it can jeopardize not only the Lansdale deal but all our pending transactions, like the property you wanted me to offer on for the new clubhouse. Agents in town will not want to work with us if we have a history of forgery,” she says, and I realize the full scope of this. This puts everything the Angels have built in jeopardy. “I’m so sorry that I’ve brought these problems to our doors. I honestly had no clue that he was a fed. And I know how stupid that makes me look.”
“Look, it’s not your fault. You had no control over the situation,” I quickly say, frowning. “And this Mark, he has bigger problems than finding Victor now. And I don’t want you alone here. Can’t you work from home? You can stay at the clubhouse.”
“Yeah, I suppose I can. I don’t think Julianna would care. Oh, Julianna!” She looks at Romeo. “I have to tell her, don’t I?”
Romeo nods. “Yeah, I can’t keep this from her. Not only is it club business, but it’s you. It’s Rosalind. She needs to know.”
“She’s going to be so disappointed in me.” She hangs her head.
“No, you did nothing wr—” I’m about to finish my sentence when Romeo gives me a glare, telling me to stop talking. He does blame her. I stand up and offer her my hand. “Come on, pack a bag. I’m taking you and Hades back with me.”
Hades tilts his head to the side, then gets up from his outdoor bed, as if agreeing with me.
The ride back to the clubhouse is quiet, except for Hades’s heavy breathing, and I think we both feel an impending sense of doom. I feel bad for ever questioning her. My initial gut feeling was right, she is a good woman. And I’m never going to question that again.
I make sure she’s comfortable and then head off with Romeo.
We have a fed to deal with.
I’ve never wanted to beat the shit out of someone more in my life.
“That’s him there,” I say, later that day, nodding to the man leaving the police station and getting into his silver car. “And that’s the car I’ve seen following me recently.”
“Shit,” Romeo mutters, pushing his sunglasses up on his nose. “I just want to know why they suddenly want to find out what happened to Victor. What’s it to them?”
“They are not going to find him,” I reply in a dry tone.
“Exactly, no evidence can be tied back to us. That’s why they need Bella to do their dirty work for them,” he says. As Mark drives off, we follow behind him at a safe distance. “She’s never done anything criminal before, I don’t know if his threats are even valid, but we don’t want to risk it either. There is a lot at stake if they decide to make this forged signature a big deal.”
“Agreed. I think we should find something on him in return, or just teach him a lesson,” I say, cracking my knuckles to emphasize my point. “He’s fucked with the wrong person.”
No one messes with my Bella.
No one.
“Just don’t do anything until we come up with a plan,” Romeo states, knowing my impulsive nature. “We need to play it smart because the last thing we want is more feds on our ass. And that includes not touching him.”
“I know.” But to be honest, I probably needed the reminder.
“This could be his house,” Romeo comments as we watch Mark enter a suburban property. We park across the road and wait for any movement.
After an hour, he comes out in a fresh change of clothes, so we guess this is indeed his residence. We keep following up, until Jag and Jeremiah come and swap with us so we can head back to the clubhouse. We are going to keep eyes on him until we find something out that we can use to our advantage.
When I get back, Bella is in the kitchen with Julianna. The two must’ve discussed what happened. Things must be okay because I spot the two of them cooking and singing along to old-school tracks by the likes of Whitney Houston and the Spice Girls. I watch Bella for a moment, swaying to the beat as she stirs whatever she has on the stove, before I let my presence be known.
“You’re back,” she says, spinning around. Hades is at her feet. I couldn’t bring her here without also bringing her sidekick. “We’re making a large pot of pasta for everyone.”
“I can see that—it smells good,” I say, giving her a kiss.
“Where’s Romeo?” Julianna asks.
“He’s out front. I think he’s on a phone call,” I say, and Julianna leaves to find him. “Things seem...good between you two. Did you talk?” I ask Bella. She’s not my Bella yet. She’s fidgety and on edge. Even her kisses feel off.
She nods. “We did. She was upset with me for not coming to her, for not focusing on work.”
“That’s unfair, you couldn’t have known—”
Bella holds her hand up to me. “Don’t do that. I don’t need you sugarcoating what I did or telling me it wasn’t a big deal. It was a major fuckup and I dropped the ball. Twice. First by missing the deadline and not signing the paperwork and second after learning of the issue and not doing anything to rectify it. I put a lot of people at risk here and while it might not be a big deal to you, please do not justify anything I did.”
“But Rosalind...” I start, trying to wrap my arms around her.
She moves away and turns to me. “River, do you not see that this was my fault? Sure, Rosalind screwed me by signing my name, but if it wasn’t for me, she never would’ve been needed. I dropped the ball. I was too preoccupied with what I saw in the garage and wondering if you and I were right for each other...”
What. The. Fuck.
“Whether we’re right for each other?” I say, my hackles rising.
She sighs. “River, you don’t talk to me. You tell me nothing about anything. We don’t know each other’s parents, we don’t do anything other than hang out and fuck. You keep me at arm’s length. Christ, I found out about Victor from Julianna! And that day I walked in the garage, I saw you beating a man to a pulp. I knew. And looking back, I don’t think I really cared. Not about the blood or what you were doing in there. I cared more about the fact that you were hiding it from me. That you were hiding yourself from me.”
I don’t know what to say. I’ve been a fool. Maybe she’s right. We’ve been living in this bubble where we are tiptoeing around the real conversations that need to be had. Everyone has been warning me about this, but fuck. I didn’t realize Bella felt the same.
She caresses my face. “The fact that you are trying to convince me this is not my fault makes me love you, but that’s not the support I need. I need someone who will let me hold myself accountable. Who will not sugarcoat things. I need you to not blame anyone but me.”
I grunt. “I do blame Mark. And I can fucking blame Rosalind, too.”
She nods with a smile. “Sure, they’re both complicit. But I need you to show me how you feel about what I did.”
My eyes widen. “To be honest, I really don’t think what you did was that big of a deal. I’ve done worse shit,” I say with honesty.
She laughs. “Okay. Fair. I appreciate that. But don’t let me talk myself out of my own guilt. Don’t do that. I don’t need a savior or a knight in shining armor, River. I need a partner. One who will help me up when I fall.”
I kiss her, and this time she allows me to. “Do you honestly think we’re not good for one another?”
She bites her lip and then nods. “I don’t know who you are. You won’t let me.”
As much as I want to tell her she’s wrong, I know she is right. “So what do we have to do to see if we’re right for one another?” I ask.
“This is a great first start,” she says.
Romeo and Julianna come in and things are a bit awkward. Julianna’s youngest sister, Veronica, joins us all for dinner. The two of them have been working on their relationship after not being very close. In fact, Veronica used to sleep with Victor while he was betrothed to Julianna, and Julianna didn’t even know. But you can imagine the drama.
I notice that Bella isn’t too close with Veronica either, even though she is also her cousin, and obviously feels more comfortable with Julianna, openly engaging with her. Bella and Corey get along so well, which is important for me. Whoever loves me has to love my sister. Everyone just assumes I’m overprotective because she’s beautiful, and I don’t want any men near her. And while that is all true, I’m protective of her because I’ve looked after her for her whole life. She’s been with me through everything, and I always made sure she was kept safe from Robert. I never liked leaving her alone with him. And now apparently I don’t like leaving her alone with any other man either.
After dinner we all help clean up and the women go to watch a movie together in the theater room while Romeo and I speak to Jag and Jeremiah, who have let us know that Mark has retired for the night. So now we know where he lives, but not much else. Bringing down the MC has obviously been a long-term investment for him, but asking Bella to get him information seems like a desperate attempt, so I don’t think he has anything other than Bella’s fake signature.
And I’m betting he doesn’t want Bella to go to prison. He’s just using whatever he can to manipulate her, not thinking that she’d tell anyone about it.
I’m so proud of her for trusting me and messaging me right away about it. That’s why I didn’t want to lose my shit on her stupid ex-boyfriend, because she needs to be able to come to me at all times.
I’ve just gotten out of the shower when Bella steps into the room, and I don’t miss her eyes trailing down my bare chest and to where my towel is sitting on my hips.
“Like something you see?” I ask in a husky tone.
She smiles widely and locks the door behind her. “I can’t help it that you look so good.” She steps closer and runs her fingers down my abs, tracing each muscle. “You are seriously so sexy.”
“Pretty sure that’s my line.” I grin, grabbing her by her waist and bringing her up against me. “You are so beautiful,” I say, kissing her. “Gorgeous.” Another kiss. “Sexy.” A deeper, lingering kiss this time. “And mine,” I finally say against her sweet lips. “All fucking mine.”
My towel drops, and so does her gaze.
I help her take off her clothes, and then hook a finger in her black panties, using them to lead her to the bed.
And then she loses those, too.
She crawls onto the bed playfully, giving me a nice show as she bends over. I get on the bed to chase after her, pinning her down and rolling her over, and kissing her, pouring emotion into it.
“I love you,” she says.
“I love you, too.”
I’m fucking obsessed with her.
And I mean that in the very best way.
I kiss down her body, gently spread her thighs and make her come with my mouth. I love the taste of her, her scent and the little noises she makes. There’s not one thing I don’t like about her.
And when I slide into her sweet pussy, it’s like coming home. She wraps her legs around me and lifts her hips up to every thrust, the already satisfied expression on her face making me even harder.
“River,” she moans, kissing my neck and gently biting down on my skin. I pin her arms back above her head and lower my face to her breasts, kissing and licking her nipples until she’s moaning in pleasure.
Only when she’s come once more do I let myself finish.
And then she straddles me and just lies there on top of me with my arms wrapped around her tightly. “Tell me something no one else knows,” she says as she catches her breath.
I’m silent for a while thinking about what I could tell her. “I sometimes wish Victor had killed me instead of Matthew.”
She sits up to look at me. Really look at me.
“I’m glad he didn’t,” she says before kissing me.
“Matthew was so good, so full of life. He had so much promise. He should still be alive. I’d gladly take his place if I could.”
She lets me talk about Matthew, something I haven’t done in a while with anyone. And then we fall asleep entwined together.
I don’t know what I did to deserve such a good life, but I’m going to do everything in my power to keep it.