Chapter 20 – Gabe
GABE
Vincenzo follows me to my office and makes himself comfortable on the couch against the wall while I sit behind my desk. He sits relaxed, with his arm over the back of the couch and his leg crossed over his knee, like he owns the place.
“I must say, Gabriel. When I got the call from Sadie that you needed my help, I wasn’t expecting it to be for something so mundane.”
“So, Sadie called you. What exactly did she say I needed your help with?” I swear if that girl has gone and dragged this club into another one of her crazy-ass schemes, I’ll lock her in the basement for a fucking month.
Hawk can visit her to paddle her ass daily and nothing more.
Of course, she’d probably just find a way to override the fucking system again and escape, the little shit.
“Don’t worry. My men and your prospect, Mason, have taken everything and stowed it away in the basement.
We used the same hidden tunnel Kayce used the last time we were here.
You remember?” He smirks, the smug bastard.
My hand reaches under the desk, finding my gun holstered there as I toy with the safety and the idea of taking Vincenzo out.
It would only take one shot, and his watchdogs aren’t here to stop me.
That’s weird. “Where is Matteo?” I ask, knowing Vincenzo never goes anywhere without his right hand. We’ve had more than one standoff with both of them in the clubhouse.
“He’s home with Shea. She’s not ready to be around anyone in a leather vest just yet, as I’m sure you can understand,” he explains.
“Yeah.” I scrub my beard with my hand. “I guess I can understand that.” Shea was taken as a means of leverage when her traitorous father screwed over the Devil’s Order.
We don’t know all the details of what happened to her, but she was in rough shape when we found her.
When we went in to rescue her and bring her home to be with Hawk and get her help, she refused to move.
Any time someone in a cut spoke to her, she shrank back into herself and whimpered.
It wasn’t until Matteo and his crazy-ass cousin Enzo showed up that she finally perked up.
My guys watched on in wonder as Matteo sat his big ass down on the concrete cross-legged and spoke very softly to her.
He didn’t reach for her or grab her in any way.
He just sat, waiting for her to make a decision.
I still have no clue what the conversation exchanged between them was, but whatever he said, Shea agreed to leave with Matteo and allowed him to take her to his penthouse.
Vincenzo’s woman, Mili, is a doctor who is very familiar with working with battered and traumatized women.
They stayed at Matteo’s place for several days, making sure Shae got the best care.
They even told us about a therapist who has been seeing Shae once a week to help her process through her trauma.
“How’s Hawk doing with it? Not seeing his sister, I mean. Knowing what she went through?” Vincenzo asks, seemingly genuine.
“He doesn’t talk to me much about it. Outside of the details Matteo gave about her care and the therapist, he’s kept his mouth shut.
I’m sure if he talks about that shit, it’s with Sadie.
But to be honest, he’s been so focused on taking care of his woman and making sure she’s good after everything she went through, I don’t know that he’s put too much thought into Shea.
” I shrug. “I’m not even sure if he registers that she’s his sister since they never knew about each other before all the shit with Nate and Cusenza went down.
He might be in denial. Not my place to work his shit out for him. ”
“Hmm. Well, so long as he doesn’t interfere with whatever Matteo is doing, then we won’t have a problem.”
“How is our friend Cusenza, anyway?” I ask, hoping to finally hear he’s six feet under or swimming with the fishes.
“Alive, but barely,” Vincenzo says grimly. “Once he serves his final purpose, he’ll meet his day in hell. You have my word. You’ll be the first to know when the deed is done.”
I nod. I wanted to kill the fucker myself for the danger he put my daughter in and the role he played in Maggie’s death, but Cusenza has the connections we need to take down an even bigger fucking problem than himself. One that’s been looking to settle a score.
“You said Sadie told you I needed your help. What exactly did I need help with?” Wanting to get this meeting over with and get back to my woman, I cut to the chase.
“To save Christmas, of course.” Vincenzo smiles. “Sadie called and said you needed me to be Santa Claus.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
“You have children here who are anticipating Santa Claus coming tonight and leaving them gifts under the tree. Yet, you have nothing here to give them, right?” Vincenzo starts.
“Sadie told me where to find all the presents needed for the kids, and I sent my men to collect them all and bring them here to be carefully placed under the tree after the children all go to sleep.”
“Wait. Wait. Wait.” My head’s spinning. “The fuck do you mean, you collected everything? Where the hell did you find all that shit? Everything around here’s closed.”
“I didn’t buy them, if that’s what you’re asking,” Vincenzo states, smiling. “I collected them.” I wait for him to explain the rest. The asshole leans forward with his elbows on his knees and whispers, “I took them from your people’s houses.”
“You broke into their homes? How? Do they know?” I’m up on my feet now. “I find it hard to believe any of my men would trust any of yours to just go through their homes without them being there.”
“Gabriel.” Vincenzo shakes his head. “As I understand it, you gave permission for Sadie to just handle things. So, she did.”
“How Goddamnit?” I shout. Mason comes through the door with his gun drawn. “The fuck you doing, Prospect?”
“Sorry, Pres.” Mason says, tucking his gun away. “I heard you shouting. No one’s on the door, but I knew who you were in here with,” he says sheepishly. “You two have a history of arguing and guns being drawn and shit. I was coming in as backup.”
“Fucking hell,” I grumble.
“Gabriel. I often wonder about your men,” Vincenzo says smoothly, pulling a cigarette from his coat and lighting it.
He takes a long drag and then fills my office with smoke.
“I can’t decide if they are all truly brave or impressively stupid.
” He looks to Mason. “You would’ve lost your life if I didn’t like your President.
But we’ve become friends of sorts, and you still owe me your end of our deal for the favor I’ve done for you, so I’m willing to overlook your ignorance this one time. ”
“What deal?” I glance between the two of them.
Having had enough, I pull my gun from under the desk and aim it back and forth between the two of them.
“Someone better fucking start explaining what the hell you two are on about or I’m going to put a bullet in both of your asses.
Then your doctor friend can spend Christmas playing nurse to the both of you. ”
“Easy, Pres,” Mason says, with his arms up in a placating manner. “You told me to get the kids handled. To get anyone I needed to help. So, I asked Sadie to call in a favor.”
“You what?” I bark. “And what do you owe him for this favor?”
“He will owe me a favor.” Vincenzo shrugs, standing up with his hand now in his pocket. The other holding his cigarette.
“Because of course, you couldn’t do something out of the goodness of your heart. For children. Fucking asshole.”
Vincenzo narrows his eyes at me. “I did the favor for the children for nothing. I would never hold a debt over a child. The favor your prospect owes is for all the B and E my men had to do to get the shit here. And the cost of using my helicopter. I had to have it brought up here from Baron’s Edge,” he says it like it’s the most obvious fucking explanation.
“Jesus Christ.” I turn back to Mason. “You had Sadie hack into all the security systems, didn’t you?”
“He had to get into their houses, and you know as well as I do, none of the guys would trust him to go into their space.” Mason at least has the decency to look scared.
“And you think they won’t have your ass, or that patch, for what you’ve done?” I growl.
Mason shrugs. His shoulders sag and his face falls.
“I’ll take whatever they dish out. Kaylie deserves to have a nice Christmas.
And Everly deserves her own Christmas miracle.
That woman works her ass off to take care of that kid, and she never does anything for herself.
Not even taking a break.” He goes on. “Carter and Lilah deserve to have a good Christmas too. If the guys wanna beat my ass for it, then fine. But I’m betting the women will all be grateful not to have disappointed children tomorrow morning. ”
“You’re banking on the women saving your ass.
” I smile. That’s actually pretty damn smart, and probably accurate.
There’s no way Skyler or Violet will let Ethan and Declan beat Mason’s ass after making their kids happy.
“I don’t know if you’re insane or a genius.
I guess we’ll both find out tomorrow after the kids get their shit. ”
“So, are we good then?” Mason asks.
“For now,” I tell him honestly. “But I can’t promise Hawk will be as forgiving. You used his woman to fuck with his system—again. That girl will be lucky if she’s able to sit for a week when he finds out. You may not be so lucky.”
Mason scrubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, I know, but Sadie assured me she would handle Hawk.”
Oh, she did? Did she? Hmm.
“Gabriel,” Vincenzo interrupts. “We didn’t bring just the gifts for the children. My men brought everything.”
“Everything? What do you mean? How? Your helicopter can’t carry everybody’s stuff. Carter’s getting a new bike. Where the hell did you put it in that thing?” I ask, knowing damn well he didn’t get everything. He couldn’t have.
Mason smiles. “It’s true, Pres. There’s a rig with a plow attached to the front of it parked at the back entrance of the farm. We unloaded everything and put it in the basement. We used the tunnels, you know, from …”
“Yeah, yeah.” I wave him off. “The hidden tunnels no one was supposed to know about. Yet, someone apparently discovered thanks to Kayce and his team of military rejects.” I grumble. “I still think I should shoot both your asses and leave you to Mili to take care of.”
Vincenzo smiles. “She’s quite good at her job and has the bedside manner of a saint.
But Gabriel.” His face turns serious, and his voice stern.
The deadly, unforgiving mobster we all know him to be is glaring back at me now.
“I will only warn you once. Never offer my woman’s services to another man.
I don’t share what’s mine. Ever. I would hate to end our friendship over a woman.
” He stands with one hand in his pocket, the other holding his cigarette.
“But for Mili, I will burn down everything you own, kill everyone you love, all without question. Are we clear?”