Chapter Thirteen
Max
“Spike, I’m five seconds away from shooting the fucker in the head,” I say.
Spike sighs and collapses into his chair like the world’s weight landed on him.
“What did he do this time?”
“The guy’s an idiot,”
I snap.
“Why the hell has Tank left him in charge so long?”
“Because he’s loyal,”
Tank says quietly from beside me.
“He’s an asshole, but he’s a damn good brother.”
“He’s throwing pussy parties at the chapter house,”
I spit.
“That’s not how we operate. How the hell are we supposed to keep a low profile while Los Fantasmas is breathing down our necks on one side and the police on the other if a quarter of our club is doing everything possible to draw attention?”
“He’s got a point,”
Tank says, leaning forward.
“Never had issues with Cushion before, but he’s not the brightest bulb in the bunch. How about I send him down with Runner? Let him play VP in the Arizona chapter? We’ll just need someone to replace him in Palm Springs East.”
“That won’t be hard,”
Spike replies.
“Plenty of brothers begging for it. Max, you pick who runs East.”
I nod once, already knowing. I pull out my phone and fire off a quick message to the first name that comes to mind. With that handled, I settle back in my chair and wait. If we’re in the war room outside of our normal meeting time, it means shit’s gone sideways.
“Cortez is getting closer,”
Spike says grimly.
“Three more people vanished. All young women, all living alone with no family to notice right away. One passerby saw the second abduction, but she was too afraid to report it.”
“Typical,”
Knuckles mutters.
“If the witness was a woman, even more so.”
“She was,”
Spike confirms.
“The first victim was reported missing by her boss. The third, by her parole officer when she skipped a mandatory check-in.”
“So, three nobodies,”
I say flatly.
“No families, no pressure on the city to find them.”
“Exactly.”
Spike rubs his face.
“I’m at a loss. This is bigger than us. We don’t have the manpower or the resources to go toe-to-toe with Cortez.”
“But we can’t leave it,”
Skip cuts in.
“If we turn our backs, they’ll eat this city alive. Our club right along with it.”
Spike exhales hard.
“Which is why we’re going to need outside help.”
“Why not do what we did when we were looking for Max?”
Foster asks, glancing my way.
“Get someone on the inside to feed us intel. Then we package it up and hand it over to the feds. Fantasmas has been on their radar for years.”
“I already have someone in mind,”
I say. Every head turns toward me. I don’t flinch. I belong at this table. I’m a Shadow. Not a traitor.
“Then why the fuck haven’t you said something sooner?”
Skip demands.
“Because it’s a long shot,”
I admit.
“Kid was terrified of me, hell, terrified of everyone. He didn’t belong in that world, but there he was. Not sure if he even made it after Muerte went down.”
“Can you find out?”
Bones asks.
“Is reaching out worth the risk?”
“I don’t have a way to contact him,”
I say, turning toward Foster.
“But if I give you a name, could you track him?”
Foster smirks.
“And everything else there is to know about him.”
“Russell Jones,” I say.
Skip snorts.
“Really? Russell Jones? Doesn’t exactly scream cartel.”
“He’s American,”
I explain.
“Young. No clue how he got tied up with them, but he sure as hell didn’t belong.”
Foster’s fingers fly across his phone screen.
“There are fifty-seven Russell Jones in the U.S. Only one matches…nineteen years old, living in Mexicali. Aged out of the system last year. No parents. No family. Went south looking for work, never came back.”
“Got a picture?” I ask.
Foster flips his phone toward us. One glance is all I need.
“That’s him. Looks healthier here than when I saw him last.”
“Taken when he was seventeen,”
Foster says.
“Nothing new online.”
“Can we reach him?”
Spike asks.
“I’m sure we can,”
Foster says confidently.
“Give me a bit to dig.”
He moves to his corner nest of laptops, and the wall of security monitors lights up with his work. I watch the code pour across the screens faster than my eyes can follow. I’ll never be smart enough to know what the hell he’s doing. But if anyone can find that kid, it’s Foster.
“While Foster digs, there’s nothing more we can do but wait,”
Spike says.
“We’ve got eyes on the ground and Border Patrol keeping a lookout for Cortez, but so far, no sign of him.”
“Just because people are disappearing doesn’t mean he’s crossed our border,”
I say.
“He could have someone here working for him.”
“Foster, see if you can find any link between Cortez and Los Fantasmas here in Palm Springs,”
Spike calls.
“Even if it’s a cousin of a friend of someone in the cartel. I want names, addresses…anything.”
“On it,”
Foster replies without looking up, fingers already moving.
“Moving on,”
Spike says, flipping through his notes.
“Max, how’s Mike doing with the tattoo shop?”
“Business is good,”
I answer.
“Mike hired a new artist and plans to get a piercing license next month.”
“Tank, the new chapter?”
Spike asks, moving on with no questions.
“The foundation’s in place and Runner’s choosing officers this week,”
Tank replies.
“I floated Cushion as VP just now.”
“Any groups over there we should worry about?”
Spike presses.
“Runner says there’s a small gang, but he’s not concerned,”
Tank says.
“Good. Keep me updated.”
Spike rubs his jaw.
“We’ve got a break on runs for a few weeks, but there’s a shipment of guns already cleaned that needs moving out of our territory. Knuckles, Crusher, you two run that op. Three buyers are lined up. Give the lot to the one least likely to use it against innocents. I don’t care if they pay less. They have until Saturday to pick it up; after that, the price doubles.”
The men nod, and Spike shifts to the next order of business.
“Abigail’s shop opens soon,”
he says with a heavy sigh.
“She says she’s ready, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying she’s pushing too hard. I want someone watching her at all times.”
“No prospects,”
Tank cuts in.
“She needs someone who knows what the fuck they’re doing, not some kid looking to earn a patch.”
“Security’s already up and running,”
Foster calls from his corner without looking away from his screens.
“Inside, outside. Every angle’s covered. Only blind spots are the dressing rooms and the bathroom, for obvious reasons.”
“Bones, I want you to assign her guards,”
Spike orders.
“Only men you’d trust with the lives of our women.”
Bones gives a single nod, stoic as ever, but says nothing.
“Speaking of the women…”
Maverick leans back, one brow arched.
“Arrested for assault?”
Skip bursts out laughing, the sound filling the war room. I lower my head, hiding my smirk.
“And they’re still not talking to you,”
Skip says once he gets control of himself.
“Any of you. Me, though? I’ve earned my way back into their good graces. You know…because I’m not a bag of dicks.”
“Fuck you, Skip,”
Bones growls, frustration bleeding through. Sunny’s silence is cutting him deeper than he’ll admit.
“Yeah,”
Tank mutters, glaring at Skip.
“We really fucked that one up.”
“Hey, don’t put this on me.”
Skip throws his hands up.
“I went against you all from the start. Cody came to us begging for help for his friend, and we turned him down. Left her to deal with that asshole boss on her own. And what happened?”
He jerks his chin toward the door.
“Our women turned into ball-kicking vigilantes while we sat on our asses.”
His smirk sharpens.
“Now Lila’s Max’s woman. A Shadow. So, tell me…what’s your plan now?”
“She’s family,”
Spike says, his voice hard enough to nail the words into the table. The room goes quiet because everyone knows what he means. Lila isn’t just Cody’s friend anymore. She’s under the Shadows’ protection. And by the way they’ve all clocked the shift in my mood this past week; they know she’s mine, too.
Taking her to lunch every day has been the only part of my life lately that feels clean. Real. Worth holding on to.
Spike leans back, gaze sweeping the table.
“We were already going to reach out and offer our help, if she’ll accept it. Nothing changes in that department. But, now that she’s family, she’s a top priority. We’ll do whatever it takes to keep her and those kids safe.”
“I can have someone scare the life out of her boss,”
Maverick offers.
“I know a guy.”
“It’s already handled,”
Foster says before I can open my mouth.
“Max and I have been on Gumphrey’s ass since the day Lila came in.”
“That’s on me, Spike,”
I cut in before he can rip Foster apart.
“I know the consensus was to stay out of it, but I just couldn’t do that. I knew she was something special to me the moment I met her a week before she came here. I promise nothing I do will bring heat back on the club.”
“Nothing we do,”
Foster corrects, shooting me a glare from across the table.
“Foster’s right,”
Spike says, voice heavy with frustration.
“We’ve been so worried about the feds busting down our door that we’d rather let some asshole abuse a woman than risk attention. And now my wife won’t even speak to me. Can’t say I blame her.”
“I still think it’s a stupid idea,”
Knuckles mutters.
“No one gives a fuck what you think,”
Skip fires back, eyes sharp.
“What’s your problem, man? You’ve been nothing but a sour bastard for weeks.”
Knuckles sighs and drags a hand down his face.
“Got shit going on, that’s all,”
he mutters.
“I know I’ve been an ass. I’m sorry. I just want to protect this club. I didn’t realize she meant something to you, brother.”
“It shouldn’t matter,”
I say, my voice low but firm.
“We claim Palm Springs as ours. That means we keep the streets as safe as we can and we protect its people. Someone comes to us for help? That should never have been in question, and I’m ashamed that I didn’t speak up in that moment.”
“Yeah, we all are,”
Spike says, his voice rough.
“I’m sorry, Max. I know it doesn’t change anything that I didn’t realize she was your person, but I am sorry we failed her…and failed what we promised this city. So… what’s the plan?”
“Well, the girls already scared his balls off,”
Skip says with a sharp laugh.
“It goes beyond that,”
Foster cuts in, his tone flat.
“We dug deeper. Lila isn’t the first. One woman claims he raped her, but she never went to the police.”
“There’ve been complaints over the years, too,”
I add, remembering the stack of buried reports Foster handed me.
“All shoved under the rug. Add to that two arrests for beating his ex-wife, and a third for breaking and entering.”
Tank’s growl rumbles across the table.
“How the fuck is this man not behind bars?”
“Because he’s filthy rich,”
Skip mutters.
“Money buys silence. Buys freedom.”
I lean forward, my voice cold.
“His money doesn’t make him untouchable. No matter what the fuck he thinks.”
Foster pushes away from his screens and speaks in the same calm voice he uses when he’s already calculated the odds.
“We can’t just drag him out,”
he says.
“Not now. The girls already left prints on this. If it looks like payback, it explodes. But we don’t need guns to remove his power. We take his anchor…his money and reputation…and we make the system do our work for us. His ex-wife is the one who leaked that security footage. I’ve already made contact with her to see if she’s willing to help. I’ll bet there are others out there with similar accusations like Lila’s.”
He lays it out clean: financial pressure, forensic audits via contacts who can prod banks and regulators, credible witnesses prepped and protected, and airtight documentation for reporters who’ll run the story. Make it look like the courts and the city did their job while Foster makes sure nothing points back to the club or, more importantly, our women.
Skip snorts, the only sound that breaks the gravity.
“Fine. But if his restaurant gets shut down, I’m personally boycotting every restaurant in Palm Springs.”
A few men shake their heads at his antics.
“This is for Lila. And for anyone else who comes to us expecting protection,”
Spike says.
“We don’t fail them again.”
We all nod. The plan isn’t pretty, but it’s final. Removal without spectacle. Outside the war room, the city hums unaware; inside, we begin to pull a predator apart with scalpel strokes instead of sledgehammers.
***Lila***
“Why are we at the compound?”
I ask as Max hops off his bike.
“I thought we were going to a party?”
“We are,”
he says with a grin.
“Max, the compound is ten minutes from my apartment,”
I laugh as he helps me wrestle off the bulky helmet.
“We’ve been riding around for half an hour.”
Not that I mind. There’s nothing like being on his bike. It’s freedom and flight all rolled into one. The wind in my face, the rumble beneath me, and the steady strength of him in front of me. Leaning against his back, feeling the raw power in every move he makes…it’s intoxicating.
“I just wanted to feel you pressed against my back for as long as possible,”
he murmurs, brushing a strand of hair from my cheek.
“Now, let’s go inside.”
“What kind of party is this?”
I ask, suddenly unsure as my eyes sweep over the dozens of bikes lined up along the path.
“I wasn’t lying when I said I’m not a party girl,” I admit.
“Relax.”
He tugs me into his chest; his arms fold around me, solid and sure. The world narrows down to his heat and the steady rise and fall of him, and for a second, I can’t remember what I was worried about.
“This is a party for Abby,”
he says, voice warm with pride.
“Her opening-day celebration.”
“Max,”
I gasp, pulling back a little.
“You should have told me. I would’ve brought her a gift.”
“We did.”
He shrugs with that easy, infuriating smile.
“We got her some of those rolls of fabric she uses. She’ll flip. Come on. I want to introduce you to everyone properly this time. They’re still pissed at themselves for not helping you when you first asked.”
“And you’re not?”
I ask, genuinely curious.
He stops and turns to face me.
“I didn’t speak up,”
he says quietly.
“And for that I’m sorry. But I didn’t just sit back, Lila. I was making plans to deal with that fucker in a way that wouldn’t drag the Shadows into it. Then that video leaked, and the girls acted first.”
“I wish they hadn’t,”
I sigh.
“They could’ve been seriously hurt.”
“Agreed.”
He nods.
“But I’m proud as hell they did it. I want to be just like them when I grow up.” He grins.
I laugh, shake my head, and let him guide me into the compound.
“Lila!”
Abby cheers the second we walk through the door.
“I’m so glad you came. I told Bubby I wanted the whole family here.”
“Honestly, I didn’t even know about it until just now,”
I admit, hugging her tight.
“Max just said we were going to a party. I’m really glad it’s this kind of party. And I’m so excited for you.”
“Thank you.”
Her smile lights up her whole face.
“And don’t worry, my brother wouldn’t dare throw a typical biker party. His wife would kill him. Anyway, I have a question. And please, no pressure, you can totally say no. But… I want you to work for me. I’ve already got a ton of online orders piling up, and I need someone to manage the shop while I focus on creating. It would honestly be a huge help. And I can pay you decently. What do you say?”
“I don’t know the first thing about running a boutique,”
I confess.
“I’ve never managed anything like that.”
“Neither have I,”
she laughs.
“But that’s why we’ve got Max and Spike. They both have degrees in business management. I do, too, but then that stuff happened, and I’m not ready to do that on my own. My brothers will help us. Please?”
I blink, then glance at the silent man at my side.
“You have a degree in business management?”
“I have a bachelor’s in Business Management,”
Max says, smiling faintly.
“And another in Civil Engineering.”
My brows shoot up.
“Why do you seem so surprised?”
he asks, amusement tugging at his mouth.
“You can build skyscrapers and run a business?”
I ask, half-teasing, half-incredulous.
“There are a lot of things I can do, baby,”
Max says, his tone dropping suggestively. A slow grin curves his mouth.
“And I don’t need a bachelor’s degree for most of them.”
“Oh my,”
Abby says, fanning herself dramatically.
“Anyway, what do you say?”
I shake my head, dragging my eyes off Max before I melt right there in front of her. Smiling at my friend…and apparently my new boss…I nod.
“Yes. And thank you.”
“No, thank you,”
she breathes out in relief.
“You have no idea how much pressure that takes off me. How are you with money management?”
“That depends,”
I say, cutting a sly look at Max.
“How are you at money management?”
He smirks, leaning just close enough for his voice to graze over my skin.
“Better than I am at resisting you, baby.”
“Goodness,”
Abby groans, throwing her hands in the air.
“If you two start making eyes at each other in my shop, I’m charging for views.”
Laughing, I hug Abby close, only to yelp when Riley and Sunny tackle us into a group squeeze.
“This is going to be so much fun,”
Sunny says, practically bouncing.
“Wait, are you guys working there too?”
I ask, confused.
“No, but we’ll definitely be hanging around,”
Riley grins.
“And since you’re with Max, that means we’ll get to see you all the time.”
“Oh,”
I murmur, glancing over their shoulders to see Max shaking his head, a grin tugging at his mouth.
“And Cody.”
“YES!”
Riley exclaims.
“Definitely, Cody. He gives my husband headaches, and that works for me.”
“MAMA!”
“Bree?”
My heart leaps.
“What are you doing here?”
“I told you I wanted all of my family,”
Abby says shyly.
“Come on, Mama!”
Bree beams.
“Uncle Micah is playing Uncle Foster at chess. AND HE’S LOSING!”
My chest tightens.
“My brother’s here? Someone took him out of the house?”
Panic spikes.
“Who brought my kids here? Max? That can’t happen. Micah has to be moved with special equipment. What if… What if he gets too much saliva in his mouth?”
“Relax, baby.”
Max’s voice cuts through the spiral. He tilts my chin, directing my gaze across the room.
There’s Micah settled comfortably beside Foster, both locked in concentration over their screens. Cody’s perched at Micah’s side, laughing at every move, while his nurse hovers nearby, steady and watchful.
The knot in my chest loosens. I exhale, guilt rising like a tide.
“I’m sorry. I thought he was moved without someone knowing how to take care of him.”
“Never, Lila.”
Max’s voice is firm, his eyes burning into mine.
“I told you I wanted the whole package. I’m forty-two years old. When I want something, I don’t play games. That includes making damn sure Bree and Micah are safe. Cody and the nurse had it handled. We didn’t tell you because you’d try to take control.”
His palm warms my cheek.
“Just for today, let us take care of them. You relax and enjoy your new family.”
“AGAIN!”
Bree shrieks, and my heart nearly stops as Tank launches her through the air to another man several feet away, who catches her effortlessly before tossing her back.
“They’d never drop her,”
Max whispers into my hair, steady and sure.
“This is all so much,”
I admit, my voice trembling.
Max turns me, his hand cradling the back of my neck, and claims my mouth in a kiss that obliterates the noise and fear. It’s fire. It’s grounding. It’s everything.
When he finally pulls back, his lips still brush mine as he whispers, smiling.
“As cheesy as it sounds, baby… You taste like happiness.”
“That does sound cheesy,”
I whisper back.
“But I get it. I totally get it.”
“Sissy. Foster cheated.”
Micah’s tablet blurts it out, perfectly timed.
I laugh and move to his side. Sometimes it feels as if the robotic voice in his tablet carries the same mix of mischief and bluntness Micah wears in real life.
“I don’t think he cheated,”
I tell him as I crouch.
“I think you finally met your match.”
“Lost.”
I swear I can see Micah’s eyes widen, and that makes me laugh harder.
“I’m Foster,”
the man says, holding out his hand when I stand back up.
“I remember you from before,”
I answer, accepting it.
“Micah says you’re going to help him upgrade his software?”
“If that’s alright with you,”
Foster says, stepping back respectfully.
“It’s already loaded with the most up-to-date software they have,”
I explain.
“There probably isn’t much more to improve, but as long as you don’t break his equipment or change how he communicates, I’m okay with it.”
Foster nods and settles back beside Micah.
“Rematch!”
my brother demands without hesitation.
Foster laughs and takes his seat. Their new game begins.
“Brother.”
I look up as Spike walks over and greets Max with a manly shake and a hug.
“Hello, Lila,”
Spike says, stopping at my side.
“I wanted to apologize for what happened before.”
“It’s no big deal,”
I say, shrugging.
“I only wish the girls hadn’t felt they had to get involved.”
“Yeah, I wish that too.”
He runs a hand over his face.
“But they weren’t the ones in the wrong. We’ve had a rough year with the feds breathing down our necks, and sometimes that fear makes us do the wrong thing. That’s no excuse for leaving someone to fend for herself. We’re sorry, and you won’t have to worry about that man again.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about-”
“It’s done,”
he says, smiling easily.
“Welcome to the family, little Lila. Max here is a keeper. But if he ever pisses you off, come to me and I’ll kick his ass.”
“Please, as if you could,”
Max says, no heat in his voice…only a lazy challenge.
“Lila, come with us,”
Sunny says, already tugging on my sleeve.
“Abby wants us to model some of her new designs. I hope you love color as much as I do.”
“I do love the color of your cut,”
I admit.
“I’ve never seen one that pink before. Only the black ones.”
“I have one in every color,”
she blushes.
“Come on. I’ll show you.”
I look up at Max. Joy lights his face in a way that stops my breath. Do I really make him that happy? As happy as he makes me? Is this possible when we’ve only just met?
“It’s definitely possible,”
he chuckles.
“I can’t explain it, and I don’t care to. I just know you’re quickly becoming my everything.”
“Did I say that out loud?”
I ask, mortified.
“You did,”
Sunny laughs.
“Happens to me all the time. Same thing happened with me and Bones, by the way. Instant connection. When you know, you know. Don’t fight it.”
“Go on, babe,”
Max says.
“Have fun. I’m going to go rescue our girl before Maverick recruits her into his strange and secretive world.”
I glance over. Sure enough, Maverick and Bree are deep in conversation. Bree’s little brow is furrowed in concentration, nodding at whatever he’s saying. But I don’t feel anxious that my daughter is talking to a strange man I’ve only just met…only oddly reassured. Maverick’s eyes on my daughter are full of something like both sorrow and joy. He seems careful, and that steadies me.
Wonder what his story is?
“Our girl?”
I ask, looking back at Max.
“Damn right, Lila,”
he growls.
“Ours. Bree and Micah are ours.”
“Yeah, I like the sound of that.”
“Me too, baby,”
Max rumbles.
“Dang it,”
I groan, covering my face.
“Did I do it again? Sunny, take me away from this man before I start telling him how much I think I…”
“I don’t think I pulled you away fast enough,”
Sunny pants as we practically sprint across the compound, Max’s laughter echoing behind us.
“Great. Just great. I can never see him again after that one,”
I groan.
“It’s over before it started because I’m a freaking sap.”
“I don’t think Max would let you walk away just because you almost said you loved him,”
Sunny teases.
“You dragged me off before I could finish,”
I remind her as we head toward a house with a light purple door.
“Why are three of the house doors so colorful?”
“Because this place was dull when we first arrived,”
Sunny says, smiling.
“We plan to have every door a different color eventually.”
“Bet the guys love that,” I giggle.
“They hate every second of it, but they tolerate it because they love us.”
“What color is your door?”
“Mostly yellow,”
she laughs.
“That seems like the complete opposite of a Bones color.”
“Every color is the opposite of a Bones color,”
Riley calls as we close the door behind us.
“Anyway, Abby’s a nervous wreck about showing her designs to everyone. Come on, let’s go help a sister out.”
So, we do. We rally around her, hyping her up the best way we know how…by strutting down a makeshift runway in the driveway, showing her family… my newfound family… just how talented she is. Turns out Abby’s not just opening this boutique for the fun of it. She’s damn good at what she does.