Chapter Seventeen.
Vortex
“Vortex, you’ve got a meeting this afternoon with Stefan Marker. He said only two people. I’ll send the location.”
Leila cut the line and texted me an address. It was an old warehouse outside of town. Set back from the road and far from prying eyes, it offered privacy. The damn thing was also wide open, with no cover and perfect for an ambush. Shit, I didn’t like this.
“Take Tracker, Bow, Sabre, and Hercules,” Inglorious ordered when I approached him. He wasn’t too happy about this, but we don’t want a mob boss breathing down our necks.
“Hope your fuckin’ ex has left town or I’ll be handing her over,” Hercules threatened. He was grumpy as fuck and on edge; we all were. Bow and Tracker were leaving now, getting into a position where they couldn’t be seen. If that meant inside the warehouse, so be it.
The rest of us cooled our heels until it was time to leave. Amy kept sending me worried glances, but Nanci was distracting her with ordering the period clothing. I bent, kissed her goodbye, and left. Amy was uncomfortable not knowing what was happening, but Nanci would explain club law.
The ride out was easy, and when we arrived, two black SUVs were waiting.
“Fuckin’ knew it,” Sabre muttered.
“Set up,” Hercules agreed.
“Stay alert,” I warned.
We dismounted from our bikes, walked a couple of steps, and refused to go any further.
The driver’s door of the one on the left opened, and a suited man exited.
He wasn’t tall, around five-ten, maybe, but he was stocky.
Nobody would ever claim Marker was a looker, but there was an aura of power that women like Kyleah would find attractive.
“Where’s my money?” Marker demanded.
“Don’t have it and never had it,” I replied.
“That’s a shame. I believed we might resolve this issue peacefully.” Marker stated. The car doors opened, and further men appeared.
“Any of them pull a weapon, and you die first,” I declared.
A red bead suddenly moved on Marker’s chest, and he looked down and laughed.
“Well played. Thought you were a fool for coming here alone. How many out there?” Marker asked, amused.
“Enough. Kyleah lied. I’ve no clue who has the money, but it’s not me. The Unwanted Bastards know nothing about you or it,” I replied. “Kyleah tried to use the kid to force me to give her dough; that backfired.”
“Half a million dollars,” Marker drawled, “is not an insignificant sum. Nobody would turn that down.”
“Nope. But looking at us won’t get you it. Plus, you already know I don’t have it. You’d have done your research. So why are we here?”
Marker stared and released a chuckle. “Very true, Vortex.”
“Why are we playing this charade?”
Marker tilted his chin. One of the thugs moved to the second car, and resignation swept over me as Kyleah was dragged out.
She was thrown to the ground, where she kept her head down, but she was sobbing.
“What should I do with a thief who spent my money? What would you give me for Kyleah?” Marker demanded.
Fuck. This was something I’d not seen coming. Despite what Kyleah had done, as much as I hated her, I didn’t want her dead. Hercules and I swapped glances. This was going to turn into a bargaining session over Kyleah’s pathetic life.
“Not half a million dollars. Dude, I dated Kyleah for three months, if that. We weren’t close, certainly not in love, and were just fuck buddies. Don’t know what Kyleah told you, but it’s lies. Shit, she even tried to pass your kid off as mine. But I don’t want her dead, twenty-five k.”
Marker smiled. “Kyleah, Vortex thinks you’re worth twenty-five k. That’s five per cent of what you stole from me.”
Kyleah’s sobs grew, but she glanced up with hope in her eyes.
“Fifty and no more. This isn’t my club’s debt, but we don’t kill women indiscriminately,” I growled out. My gut screamed how this was going to go, but I’d fight for Kyleah’s life.
“Now you’re worth fifty thou, ten per cent. Any higher?” Marker pulled his gun and aimed it at Kyleah’s head. “No? Then you won’t care if I blow this thieving bitch’s brains out?”
“Rather you not, Kyleah’s got your kid, and while she’s a greedy, lying cunt, she doesn’t deserve to die. Marker, work with me and come to an arrangement. I don’t like needless deaths,” I replied.
Marker sneered. “Greedy isn’t wrong. She attempted to blackmail me, saying she’d tell my wife about the brat if I didn’t look after her.
The bitch was ready to blow my happy family life out of the water.
That wasn’t allowed. When I informed Kyleah exactly what would happen, she stole my money and ran. ”
“Still doesn’t deserve a bullet,” I argued. “If Kyleah spent everything, make her work for you, until it’s paid.” I knew any employment would mean Kyleah spending time on her back, but that would keep her alive.
Marker bit out a laugh. There was no humour in it. “Your world and mine are very different.” A gunshot boomed, and Kyleah collapsed in a heap. Two of his guards grabbed her body and shoved it in the trunk of a car.
“No need to leave evidence,” Marker stated coldly as his men poured bleach on the ground.
“Marker, that was unnecessary!” I yelled, stepping forward.
Guns snapped in my direction as Sabre and Hercules pulled their own. We moved back to our bikes. They would provide some cover. Marker calmly returned to his vehicle.
“Our business is done, Vortex. Stay out of my way,” he announced and climbed inside. His men followed suit, and the engines started. A thug got out of the second SUV, picked something up and placed it on the ground.
“Mr Marker says thanks for taking out the trash. He also said, the birth certificate was put into your name, so do what you want,” he stated and returned to the SUV. The moment he was inside, the SUVs drove off.
Angrily, I stared after them, wanting to pull my own weapon, but I wouldn’t risk my brothers.
“Vortex, got an issue,” Hercules called. Resigned, I straightened and headed for him. Sabre carefully picked up the bundle and handed it over.
“What the fuck?” a baby peered up at me. Blue eyes blinked, and a little rosebud mouth opened and closed. Considering his father was an ugly brute, the kid must have taken after Kyleah.
“What the hell happened?” Tracker demanded, jogging towards me. “How did that go so badly?”
“Don’t know. I think Marker planned this so he could dump the baby on Vortex.
Kyleah was dead the moment she took the cash.
Marker’s reputation just surged, the mother of his bastard son stole from him, and he put a bullet in her head.
Asshole was providing a lesson for his own people.
If he could do that to Kyleah, what would Marker do to them if they betrayed him? ” Sabre said.
“Don’t disagree, but why leave the kid?” Bow demanded.
“Because he’s a bastard and Marker has legitimate sons with his wife,” I replied.
“What’s the plan, Veep?” Bow asked.
Honestly, I’d no damn idea. We were standing here with a baby that didn’t belong to us. What a clusterfuck.
“I’ve got the birth certificate,” Tracker muttered as he crouched by a bag that had also been dropped. “Names you as father.”
“Fuck!” I yelled and ran my hands through my hair.
“Kyleah cleared the way for you to claim the kid,” Bow said.
“It ain’t mine. What’s stopping that asshole from returning for it?” I demanded.
“The club,” Tracker stated. “Veep, we’ve got two options. Let Bow call the cops, and the kid goes into care. But we’ve no body and blood evidence, so we’re suspects in kidnapping. Or claim him and say Kyleah deserted him.”
“Fuck my life. This was an unwelcome complication. Amy and I are just starting out, and she wants to adopt Declan. How the fuck do I ask Amy to take on my ex’s bastard?”
“By opening your mouth and asking. If she says no, call child services and say the kids been found abandoned. We’ll burn the certificate, and nobody will be any wiser,” Hercules said.
I nodded. That was a plan. “We need to get out of here. How am I carrying this baby back to town?” I demanded.
Between us, using belts, we rigged up a carryall, and my brothers surrounded me. We’d be going at a snail’s pace, but that wasn’t a worry. Throughout it, the kid stared at me as if he knew his future was in my hands. And I couldn’t give him an answer until I spoke to Amy.
Amy
I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t Vortex to walk back in with a baby in his arms. I gaped in total surprise. Nanci’s jaw also dropped open as I shook my head and rechecked what I was seeing.
“Babe, we need to talk,” Vortex announced.
“My room?” I muttered, and he nodded.
Hercules and Bow moved to speak to Inglorious, who was watching us closely.
I followed Vortex up the stairs and to the room I was using. Stunned, I sat on the bed as the baby let out a soft cry, and then the cries got worse.
“Give me the bag,” I said. I found a bottle of milk and took the baby from Vortex. “Start talking,” I ordered as I began feeding it.
Vortex didn’t hold back and told me everything.
Kyleah’s death horrified me. However, men like Marker would have an alibi no matter what happened.
I wasn’t na?ve enough to believe any differently.
When he explained how Marker had placed his own son in the dirt and driven away, I couldn’t believe it.
Who the hell treated an innocent baby so callously?
Even worse, if Vortex hadn’t taken him, the poor thing would have died out there.
“What are your options?” I asked. Vortex would have thought this through. He wouldn’t have just sprung this on me.
“We have two. Call child services and claim he’s abandoned. Second, Kyleah, for whatever reason, put my surname on his birth certificate. I can legally take custody of him, and we can raise him.”
“What if Marker comes back?”
“The entire club will defend him. But Marker won’t return. He’s got legit sons, and Kyleah threatened that. Knowing men like Marker, I bet half his wealth is in his wife’s name. That’s why he wouldn’t have wanted Kyleah causing trouble.”