7. Xander
Xander
It took everything I had not to grin like a schoolgirl.
The feel of the engine humming under me, the wind on my face, and the men moving with me, almost as if we were one, was an experience I’d never forget.
We were flying down the empty stretch of road, well above the posted speed limit without a care in the world.
Vik was next to me, his expression mirroring mine. We’d been riding for hours. I wasn’t even sure where we were any longer, but I didn’t care. He’d been right, I’d been cooped up way too long. I was a man of action, and while this wasn’t exactly exciting, it was fucking fun.
Grimm, who was in front, abruptly pulled off the blacktop and onto a path that led into a patch of trees.
We all followed, slowing our bikes as he led us deeper into the woods.
I looked around, uncertain as the path narrowed into what could only generously be called a trail.
Maybe I was about to perform a blood oath or participate in some sort of hazing after all.
We finally stopped under a particularly large oak, all of us cutting our engines and getting off our bikes.
Walking a few feet, Grimm leaned down and pulled up a door in the ground covered in grass and debris.
A darkened set of steps appeared, and Charge led the way, while the rest of us followed.
The uneven steps were hard to traverse in the dim light, made worse when Grimm shut the trap door above us, but a few seconds later, I saw the glow of man-made light up ahead.
“Can someone tell me why all of our meeting places seem to be underground?” Charge grumbled.
“Still afraid of the dark?” Savage teased from behind me. “Seriously, bro, you need to get over it. No heat signatures, listening devices, or bitches with big ears and loose lips can reach this far down. Not with the way we have it shielded.”
“You know what else is this far down? Rats,” Charge said with disgust.
“As if Raptor would allow that,” Shade called out from somewhere in the back of the line.
We stepped into a room bathed in white light.
It was a complete contrast to the dark, damp dirt tunnel we’d just been in.
The entire room appeared to be sealed concrete.
There was a single table pushed against one wall, with two metal chairs facing each other in the middle of the room.
Sitting on one of the chairs was a man I’d met once before.
Before I could begin assessing options—all of which started with reaching for my guns—Matteo smiled and gestured to the remaining chair.
The men fanned out behind me, and I felt Vik stand at my back.
“No need to worry. We just need to get to know you better. I promise, we’ll keep the rubber hoses stashed away. Someone break out the beer.”
Several hours later, I felt like I’d been worked over without a single broken bone or bruise to show for it. Sure, the inquisition was under the guise of male bonding, but I was under no illusion about what it was—an interrogation.
Knowing that no matter how much they joked, I was under a microscope and my entire new existence would depend on their acceptance of me, I answered everything as truthfully as possible, keeping details vague unless pushed.
Which they did—a lot. For someone who just wanted to bury their past with the supposed body my family had buried, talking about it was as much fun as a root canal without Novocain, but not as bad as a battery-acid enema my mother had once had me watch her give a man who’d tried to kill her.
One thing was for certain, if the men who were my new brothers-in-arms hadn’t known who I was and what I’d come from, they did now.
For some reason, the idea didn’t bother me nearly as much as it would have before I’d met them.
We might still be feeling each other out and trying to figure out how I would fit in, but I was starting to trust these men—and not just because Vik and Lessia did.
Finally, Matteo leaned back in his seat. “I’d say sorry for all of this, but even after those months in transition and a few members vouching for you, we had to get a read on you ourselves. This is home, you understand.”
I nodded, relaxing into mine. I’d taken the remaining seat, figuring it was the least I was owed, being the center of the interrogation. The rest of the men sat on the floor or leaned against the walls. “I can’t help but wonder why you didn’t break out a polygraph machine and do things right?”
The men broke out in chuckles. “If you can’t beat one of those, you’re in the wrong MC. Hell, there’s not an Iron Wraith—operative or not—who blinks an eye at being hooked up to one.”
I shrugged, acknowledging the skill.
“Besides, we’re all better than a poly,” Whisp, the man who always seemed to be in the shadows, said.
“And you can bet we know more about you than anyone, save your boy there,” Shade pointed a thumb at Vik, who shot him the bird.
“Hey, man, I know you’re a little pissed,” Shade told him, “but we don’t know him like you do. And, honestly, after almost ten years, you don’t know him like you used to either.”
“Blood or not, he’s my brother, you asshole. What would you do if someone questioned your fucking family?” Vik grumbled.
“Punch them in the face,” Savage answered cheerfully. It was then I noticed the faint bruise Shade had along his jaw.
I raised an eyebrow at Vik in question, but he avoided my gaze.
“Well,” Matteo said, taking another swig of beer and rising. “I’ve got to get home. But before I do, I have one more question.”
I waited, sensing the shoe was about to drop.
“Why would your father come here and risk being arrested solely so he could question your sister about whether or not she received something from you?”
I froze. “What?” I’d seen Kassie at the bar the night before but didn’t have the opportunity to approach her—Andrie was my only focus. However, I’d noticed the way she’d cuddled up to one of the Accardi clan. I fully intended on getting an entire run-down from Lessia at the first opportunity.
Matteo crossed his arms. “All the information you’ve passed to us has always been about the Bratva’s trafficking ring, except for the abduction attempt on Lessia.
Why would you risk stealing anything from Senior right when you were about to get everything you ever wanted?
You have to know the timing alone would make him more suspicious.
Hell, that’s why we had to scramble with your exit strategy last minute and make it a lot more convoluted. ”
Staring at him in surprise, I asked, “Why would I? I mean, as an international arms dealer, the information would be valuable. But as you said, it isn’t exactly my target area and would only bring heat on me.”
“You’re saying someone else took something from him? Who? And why?” He didn’t appear convinced, but at least he looked like he was considering my words.
“I think the why’s self-evident. You said it yourself, his client list is like the who’s-who of the top of the bunch when it comes to scumbags,” Shade pointed out.
“Even we would have liked a peek under the man’s skirt, and that’s not even our area of expertise.
Not directly, anyway. And it’s not like we have the market cornered when it comes to spies, operatives, or stealing intel from others. ”
“And the timing?” Matteo asked.
Vik shuffled his feet. “I hate to say coincidence, but …” he trailed off.
I rubbed a hand over my beard, thinking back.
“Senior was distracted the last few days before I left. Suspicious and paranoid, even. I started to get the feeling he didn’t trust me as much as I’d thought.
We’d always believed he was under the impression I was some lapdog of him and my mother.
But the way he was looking at me … That’s why I put in the call for extract.
But when I came home and found my apartment had been searched and there was a hired gun waiting for me, I knew it was time to go.
I stayed long enough after I’d killed him to lay a false trail, then bolted.
I figured Senior had a leak in his camp, and I was the easy target.
After all, it’s not like he wasn’t fully aware I’d have killed my mother a long time ago, and while he certainly had affection for me, it wasn’t reciprocated. ”
“Any idea who?” Grimm asked from his place near the door.
I shook my head. “I might have been trusted in my father’s home and done his bidding when it came to making public appearances, but he was under no illusions of having me take over his business, even if he played that part at times to buyers.
I don’t know the ins and outs of his operation.
I was always expected to follow in my mother’s path. ”
Vik snorted. “Hell of a way to keep you on the straight and narrow. Do what we want you to or else. Want proof? Let’s kidnap your fucking girlfriend from your bed and sell her into the skin trade.
And if you give us any grief over it, we’ll just slit your throat and be done with it.
After all, think of the statement it’ll make—killing your only son just because he didn’t want to be involved in all your illegal activities. ”
Even I cracked a smile at Vik’s tone. “Yeah, family dinners were always full of warm, fuzzy feelings,” I quipped.
“How did they get together anyway?” Savage asked. “Your parents?”
“Scratching an itch,” I explained with a shrug. “Back when he was still rising to the top, he supplied to her father and ended up sleeping with her a few times during business dealings. I was the result.”
“And your grandfather didn’t skin him alive for touching his daughter?” Shade asked.
“You’ve obviously never met his mother. Or grandfather.
” Vik rolled his beer bottle between his palms. “She’s a stone-cold bitch who takes what she wants, when she wants, how she wants.
I’m not saying her father put up a fight, mind you, but if Demetri Melnikoff was what she wanted, she’d slit her own fathers’ throat if he got in the way.
And he’s one of the most feared people in all of Russia.
The power the two of them wield is absolute. ”
“Tell me about it,” Matteo mumbled. “That’s by far the hardest extraction we’ve ever had. Not to mention the hoops we had to go through to make you … you.”
“There’s a reason it took so many years to get him out.” Grimm looked at his watch. “And speaking of time, we’ve got to get going. We’ve been here long enough, and I’m sure your woman will be wondering where you are if you aren’t home soon.”
Matteo smiled, took a final sip of beer, and rose. “True enough.” He looked over at Savage. “Tristan, you coming to dinner tonight? We’re having roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and cornbread.”
“Hell, yeah. Anytime G is offering up a home-cooked meal for a poor, single guy, I’m game.” Savage, apparently serious about his food, turned, motioning Grimm to get the door.
“By the way,” I asked as we traversed the dark tunnel again. “What is this place?”
“We—the Iron Wraiths—use it when we need to interrogate someone and don’t want a connection back to the club. It’s remote, easy to clean, and soundproof. When it comes to the shadier MC things, it’s handy to have something ready to go where we can … let loose.”
As we walked out into the soft daylight, I slowed, watching the men get back on their bikes, ribbing each other good-naturedly as they did so.
Shade said something to Vik, who only nodded before giving the man a friendly shove and turning to his own bike.
How many years would it take for them to accept me into their group? How long had it taken Vik?
A hand came to rest on my shoulders. “Come on,” Grimm said, squeezing reassuringly before walking around me. “We’ve got another hour before we’ve got to split. Let’s show you more of your new home.”
The pang of loneliness left almost as soon as it had appeared. I had a new home, new friendships, and a whole new me. With any luck, after leading me on a merry chase, I’d have my woman to go along with it.