Chapter Eight #3
Drifter took a few steps back and the rest of us cleared the area around Mason.
None of us wanted that acid anywhere near our skin and clothes.
Phantom flung the liquid at Mason, aiming for the bits dangling between his legs.
The asshole screamed as the acid hit his cock and balls. Phantom eyed the empty container.
“You know, I think I like this stuff,” he said.
Cinder snorted. “You would.”
I cocked my head and watched the fight slowly drain from Mason. The acid had been a nice touch. Painful. Brutal, in all honesty. And he hadn’t died from it, even though I had no doubt he wanted to. “I think we can arrange to keep some of that on hand. Soon as I research how to store it properly.”
“You’re both fucking crazy,” Cinder muttered.
“Did you forget how you earned your name, old man?” I asked. If anyone in this club was crazy, it was Cinder. And definitely Havoc and his woman, Jordan. Those two were a match made in hell.
Drifter rubbed his hands together before going back to the kit and selecting another weapon.
As much as I wanted to say our club would handle it, the guy had just found out he was a father and grandfather, and Mason had hurt Charisma and the boys.
No fucking way I’d not let the man have his revenge.
If our roles were reversed, I’d want to make the bastard suffer, I’d need to see the light die in his eyes as I claimed his life.
Drifter was like a kid at Christmas. The gleeful look on his face with every shout of pain would have scared most people.
But every man in this barn knew exactly how he felt.
We’d all been in that position at one time or another.
Blood coated our hands and would never wash off.
But sometimes, you had to do something horribly wrong, to make something incredibly right.
Like giving Mason Reynolds IV a gruesome death to avenge all the children he’d raped, and the torture he’d heaped on Charisma when she’d tried to intervene.
Mason breathed his last only ten minutes later. I pointed to two prospects standing near the barn doors. “You two. Clean this shit up. Drifter, use the bathroom at the clubhouse. Clean up before you see your daughter and grandkids. You look like you starred in a slasher film.”
“Not the first blood my cut has worn. Doubt it will be the last.” He wasn’t the only one. My own cut had its share of blood stains. Even if you couldn’t see them, I knew they were there.
“We sure no one else is coming here?” Phantom asked. “No more like this fucker, or anyone searching for him when he goes missing?”
“Already arranged for it to look like Mason found what he wanted and left the country. Wire is on it. He was happy to help. As to the other thing we discussed before… we found some of the boys, and a little extra.” Shade scrolled through something on his phone before showing Phantom.
He blinked and seemed confused. “One of Mason’s friends seems to like both girls and boys, as long as they don’t hit puberty.
The little girl you see in the photo is four years old.
He’d recently purchased her so he could groom her. ”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Drifter muttered.
“Me too.” Phantom looked at the picture again. “She needs a home.”
“Exactly!” Shade grinned like a damn lunatic. I knew he was excited to tell Phantom the news, but damn. The look on his face made me want to take a step back. I couldn’t tell if he looked like an evil clown, or a maniacal villain. “Think Nova will share her room while we work on your attic space?”
“She’s mine?” Phantom asked, looking dumbstruck.
How the fucker hadn’t seen that coming, I didn’t know.
The only thing he’d ever wanted was a family.
If there was ever a man meant to be a father, it was Phantom.
And now he had three children with a fourth arriving anytime.
“I don’t understand. Did someone already rescue her? ”
“She was closer to the Broken Bastards. Someone is on their way here with her. The others we rescued are pretty damaged, not just physically. Mentally. I’m not sure they’ll ever live normal lives.
” Darkness entered Shade’s eyes a moment.
“The man who had them has been punished and sent straight to hell. Although the devil may not claim him either. The other kids are going to a special place where they can get the care they need.”
“It’s not just Shade searching now,” I said.
This particular subject wasn’t just close to Phantom’s heart.
We all fucking hated child predators and would do anything to take them down.
“Wire, Lavender, Wizard, and Outlaw are all doing their part. We’ll find as many of the kids as we can.
For now, that little princess needs your love and attention.
I heard Nova wanted a sister. It seems the man upstairs was listening. ”
We finished up while Phantom went to share his good news with his family.
I felt twitchy as hell, being away from the compound, and knowing not many men had been left behind with Dakota and the other old ladies.
If anyone had been waiting and watching, now was the time for them to strike.
Heaven help anyone who hurt my wife and unborn child.
I’d make Mason’s death look like child’s play.
I wouldn’t end them the same day I caught them.
No. Those motherfuckers would suffer for days, if not weeks.
I’d draw it out as long as possible before finally snuffing out their lives.
“If anyone needs me, call or text. I have something I need to do.”
I went outside and got on my bike, heading straight back to the compound. When I approached the gates and saw they were wide open, my heart slammed against my ribs. Where the fuck was the other prospect? I’d left one behind to guard the gate, and now the fucker was gone.
A feeling of dread pooled inside me as I rushed home. I barely got the bike turned off and the stand down before I was rushing into the house, gun drawn, only to draw up short. My wife sat at the table with a man I’d thought I’d never see again. One I’d called my friend a long time ago.
“Anatoly,” I said.
His eyebrows lifted. “Do you always greet your friends with your weapon trained on them?”
I tucked the gun into my waistband at the small of my back. “Why are you here and where’s my Prospect?”
“The guy from the gate? He’s fine. We forced him to show us the way to your house, but he’ll be returned to his post now that you’re here.” He snapped his fingers and one of his men stepped forward. “Lev, see that he’s returned to the gates. Unharmed.”
The man nodded and left by way of the front door. Where the hell had they put Carlos? I’d left him behind because I trusted him the most. And look where that had gotten me. I needed more manpower, clearly.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? My long-lost friend is not dead as I’d thought. I wanted to come say hello and meet your pretty bride.”
I fisted my hands. “Leave Dakota out of this. You hurt her and…”
He lifted a hand. “I would never. She’s your wife, which makes her Bratva. Just. Like. You.”
I shook my head. “Nyet. I’m no longer part of that world, Anatoly. I died for a reason, so I could walk away and start my life over. I never wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps.”
“And yet you’re here, with your hands every bit as dirty as they were before.” He smirked. “I’ve been looking into you and your club.”
“We don’t hurt women. We might own a strip club, but those women work there of their own free will and they aren’t prostituted. How many brothels does the US-based Bratva own now? How many are in Los Angeles?”
“We provide a service,” he said. “Sometimes loose ends must be dealt with. At least we make a profit from it.”
Dakota covered her mouth with her hand, looking slightly green.
“When my wife throws up on you, just remember you brought it on yourself,” I said. “Anyone in this room, whether it’s you or your men, harms one hair on her head, and I will end every last one of you. Understood?”
Anatoly nodded. “It seems you’re different from your father, after all. You actually care for your woman. Enough to kill for her. I like it.”
He smiled and I wanted to bash in his perfectly white teeth. The fucker knew how to get under my skin. After all these years, he could push my buttons like no one else. Bastard.
“I only came to talk, Charming. That’s how you’re called now, isn’t it?
As in Prince Charming?” I nodded. My wife snorted and I narrowed my eyes at her.
Anatoly laughed, a loud, booming sound that made Dakota flinch.
“It seems your wife doesn’t agree with your name.
Tell me, Mrs. Strayer. Why is it you don’t like the name Charming?
Did he charm the pants off too many ladies? ”
“I don’t care what he did before we met,” she murmured.
“Then what is it? He doesn’t seem like the sort to cheat, so I don’t think that’s why you made that rather indelicate sound,” Anatoly said.
“He’s more of a caveman than a prince. That’s all. First time we met, he slammed a guy’s face into a table.” Dakota smiled at me. “That was his version of saving me. The guy had been grabbing me, asking for blow jobs, and being rude in general. Charming stepped in and corrected his behavior.”
“He’s always talked better with his fists,” Anatoly said, fingering the bump on the bridge of his nose. I’d put it there by smashing my fist into his face when we were teenagers.
“Again, why are you here?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest.
Anatoly looked to his men. “Leave us. Wait in the car.”
They walked out and once the front door shut, Anatoly relaxed. He loosened his tie, unbuttoned the top of his shirt, and even slouched a little in his seat.
“Christ. It’s exhausting sometimes.” He smiled. “Good to see you, Romeo. Fucking missed you.”
Dakota blinked and looked between the two of us. “Um, I’m really confused.”