Twenty-Six
Twenty-Six
GUNNER
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My body vibrates while with my brothers, Victor and his men board the Petrov jet. The fury at the situation and at Bellamy doesn’t allow for me to appreciate the luxury that surrounds me. My focus isn’t on finding one daughter, but both. I’m pissed at Bellamy for what she did, but if it wasn’t for her, we would still be chasing our tails and a step behind.
Two hours earlier
“Gunner”
I turn at the sound of Savvy”s voice. She and Taz are standing at the entrance of the hole. Taz looks as if he is ready to commit mass murder, and I can’t really decipher the look on Savvy’s face. It isn’t one I’ve seen before, which has my hackles rising, but also has my feet moving. I pull Savvy into me–I don’t know if it”s to comfort her or prepare myself for what they are here to say, because whatever it is, it won’t be good. Savvy’s body vibrates in my arms, which has me tightening my hold on her. My eyes find my VP, who”s holding a sheet of paper, glaring down at it as if it has offended him. With a shake of his head, he lets out an angry breath. He explains nothing to me before he starts to read.
Mom,
I know you believe the club and Pop should be the ones to handle this, with them being big bad bikers and all, but this is our fight–and I believe differently. I heard you and uncle Semian. I know what I need to do. It can only be me, not dad, not the club and not dedushka–me. She wants me anyway, might as well give the bitch what she wants. You didn’t raise a weak bitch or a wilting flower. I know what I’m doing, and am well prepared for whatever comes my way until you come. I will keep them busy and I’ll be waiting for my heroes to rescue me.
That’s what you and Pops are to me. You are my heroes. I know you will do what needs to be done to get all of us out of this and back to our lives. I have faith in that.
Tell Pop that even though I didn’t know about what happened after the whole Beverly trying to sell her own kid off shit, this is not that. It is not the same and you both know this. This is not some petty mafia versus biker feud. What these people are… they could end lives with a few colorfully crafted words. And as much faith as we all have in dedushka mamma, there is no way he can prepare Pop and the club for what”s ahead. I told you I was raised for this. So let me do it. You know I can.
Pop, don’t be pissed. I’m hard headed. So whatever chauvinistic shit you had to deal with because the little ladies helped you and the club out. I’m sorry. People, especially manly men, are assholes, but this is different. I can’t. I won’t lose you, Taz, my brothers, cousins or my pain in the ass sister because you went in unprepared. Remember, I am a badass assassin. No witchy bitch is going to sacrifice me for some silly shit It’s not gonna happen.
Sorry, momma, you know I’m nosy and you and uncle Semian always talk about the good stuff. Me knowing what I know, I’d rather stay upright raising my babies and loving on that deliciously handsome bald man that loves me and all my crazy. I had to do what was best for my family.
Taz, my love. Calm your ass down. I know what I’m doing because this has to end. Our bliss is not over. We have many moons before we even get close to the last chapter of our story. So your big ass better not go hulk smashing shit. Kiss our babies for me and Thank Cookie. I’m smarter than all the club girls combined, so she didn’t know my wanting to take a shower meant I was going to do what I did.
I know you all. You will come for me and I’m counting on it, so I left you a gift.
987-9034-8795Z12
Give this code to Blaze, cause he knows what happened with the last tracker. Also, tell him he better keep shit cute, or I’ll peel his nails off and he won’t be able to type for weeks with the bloody nubs I’ll leave him with. With this he will pinpoint my location, so you ALL can come and fuck shit up and take out the idiots who think some old’ bitches” bones can save their witchy asses. Yeah, dedushka, I know about that too.
Bellamy out.
Taz rumples the paper in his hands. Curses ring out in the room in both English and Russian. I don’t ask my woman or her father for an explanation. Right now, we don’t have time for it. Priority is getting our shit together and getting to our daughters before it’s too damn late. I pull her with me, barking orders to the men that will accompany me on this mission to get my daughters back to where they belong.
Victor stops me to inform me he will have his jet ready to take off in two hours and that he has room for me and ten of my men. He will also have several of the organization teams meet us at the location once we have it.
In my room, I’m fuming as I shove my tactical gear into the bag. Savvy and Bell got me for father’s day. So practical–the two of them. Savvy has already switched out my bandage and is packing a bag of her own.
“I had no plans of getting involved. I know you needed this. I…” Savvy says, her voice soft laced with concern.
That has me stopping after zipping my bag, which I pick up and throw toward our suite door. I turn to my woman and see the unsureness in her eyes and it pisses me off. I am so far from upset with her for the stupid ass decision our hard-headed ass daughter made. Savvy is a woman of her word. I know that more than anyone. Walking over to her, pulling her hands from her bag, I turn her towards me. And look into her worried and weary eyes.
“Savvy, my love, my heart. I know that. I’m not upset or pissed at you for a damn thing, you hear me? Not a single fucking thing. You can’t control people, no matter how much you want to. You can’t.” Releasing a breath as I stare down at my woman whose eyes watch mine with concern and a hint of disbelief. “I know you know some of the shit that has been going on with other clubs, but that is not your fault. Those misogynistic pricks can say what the fuck they want. If they want to call me a pussy for letting my bad ass woman and daughter fight my battles, then so be it. I’d rather have that than anyone knowing who and what you are. You trusted me with your secrets, you trusted me with you. A few smart-ass remarks or challenges to my power will not make me betray your trust or our love. I can handle the bullshit. I didn’t become who I am by letting motherfuckers see me sweat. What’s happening now is so far out of my depth, I’m happy to have you with me, beside me. You are a motherfucking assassin, after all.” We both chuckle at the use of our daughter”s words.
“So baby, don’t fret. Motherfuckers will learn when the time is right that I’m not a man to be fucked with. As far as me wanting to do this shit on my own, that was my anger getting the better of me earlier. And yeah, a little misogyny mixed in with it. Cooler heads prevailed and after interrogating the dog, I understood.” I pause, pushing away from my woman and falling to my knee. Of course, she looks at me crazy as hell, but I ignore it. She’ll understand soon enough. I reach into my back pocket and pull out the little box I’ve had for twenty years, waiting for it to be placed on the hand of the only woman I’ve ever loved.
“Svetlana Petrov. You are the love of my life. You are my light in the darkness. You are my truth, my heart, my everything. Plain fucking mine. We may have taken a long fucking time to get where we are, to have the family we do. I love every part of you and I never want to live another second, day, week, month, or year without you being by my side. Will you put my ass out of my misery, because I’m to old to be kneeling on this hard as fuck hardwood floor and tell me you will be my wife in this life and the next?”
At first Savvy stares down at me open mouthed, before a smile spreads across her lips and her eyes glisten.
“Gunner, I’ve loved you most of my life. I never imagined that I would be happy again. I never thought that I would have been able to love you the way I ached to for so long. We were written in the stars and I know that there will never be a moment where I wouldn’t want to be your wife. I love you, Gunner. Kiss me.”
Savvy pulls me up, and I kiss the hell out of my woman. When I pull away, I pull out another item from my pocket. Something I know she will appreciate. She chuckles.
“You know me too well.” Savvy laughs at seeing what I hold in my palm.
“Put it on me.” She says with a smile. The ring I slid on her finger during our kiss. She stares down with so much love in her eyes my knees nearly buckle. She pulls it off, and places it in my open palm, turning away from me and pulling her hair up and away from her neck.
I’m not an idiot. My woman is an assassin. She can’t do her job with the five-karate rock sparkling on her finger when she’s trying to be all stealthy and shit. So I did my research and found a necklace that she can wear that will not break and fall off, so she can put her ring on it when she works, wearing it close to her heart, and always having a piece of me with her.
Making our way to the common room, I’m shocked when I see Jackson Peck, the president of the New Hampshire chapter of LSMC, along with a few of his brothers and enforcers from his club. My brows furrow when I find my VP. He gives me a nod to come over, eyes saying that he will explain. I lean down to Savvy, whose eyes are on her fathers and brothers. I kiss her on the forehead.
“I’m going to go see what the fuck Jackson is doing here. Why don’t you head over to your Pops and get the plan from him. Love you, wifey.” I say with a smirk on my lips. She looks up at me and blows me away with the shy smile that lifts her beautiful, full lips. My woman is blushing. I chuckle and smack her on her ass and walk toward my brother. I don’t miss her calling me her husband and telling me I’m going to pay for that.
My smile is wide, but my eyes are assessing as I take strides toward my VP and brothers.
“Before you get pissed, Prez, after I called lockdown. I wasn’t trying to be caught with our pants down, so when Jack called saying he had plans to head this way next week to visit with Verna and Skal. I let him in on what was going on. He was coming up anyway. Apparently, he and the boys have been neglecting their mamma. Coming a week earlier wasn’t going to be an inconvenience.” All the men in the circle chuckle at his comment about Verna. They all know how Verna is all about her boys. We also know how hard it is to have half of them in another chapter.
Looking at Jack, I shake his hand and pull him to me, doing the same with his blood brothers Luka and Daxton, along with the rest of the brothers he brought along with him.
“Well, like Taz said. I’d called to let him know we’d be heading up this way. I could tell by his manly, growly voice shit was going on around here. He didn’t volunteer shit. I had to pry the details from his shiny head ass.”
“Fuck you, brother. My woman loves my shiny head.” At the mention of Bellamy, Taz”s face hardens. The brothers who know curse and the brothers who don’t watch him curiously. Jack doesn’t comment.
“I offered my help. Up in the mountains, we don’t get much action and we missed the party the last time. I’ll be damned if we miss another one. And Taz ain’t wrong. Mamma has been on my ass about getting me and the boys down here.”
“You’re damn right I have!” Verna yells from somewhere, causing the room to burst into ruckus laughter.
“Anyway. We are here and will do whatever you need us to do, brother.” He gives me a pointed look.
I step closer to him and lower my voice, so as not to alarm anyone who doesn’t have the details.
“Well, I can’t get into it all. But Princess was taken. My eldest daughter thought she could help and we assume she’s served herself up on a silver platter to the same people that took her sister. There is a lot I can’t share because it has to do with my woman and her family. What I can say is, I don’t think you will get any real action. Lockdown was protocol after I was nearly taken out and we didn’t know who was behind it. We know now and we’re headed out to go handle some business.”
“Well, shit. Alright then. I guess me and the boys can hold down the fort and spend SOME QUALITY TIME WITH MAMMA.” The last part is clearly for his mother’s benefit, which has a squeal being heard. “Oh, shit. I also brought you a little present. Not sure who she is or why she was breaking into your shit.” He signals to the prospect next to him, who nods and takes off out the clubhouse doors. “When we got in last night, we stayed at Ma’s before coming over this morning. Anyway, a prospect spotted this chick slinking around the gas station when we sent him out to get us some food and beer. You know how pops is about his beer.” He chuckles. We all do. Because Skal is a stingy motherfucker. “When the prospect brought her to the house, he’as an eager pup–anything to prove his worth. We asked her who she was and what she was doing. She gave us lip and wouldn’t answer. Figured you’d want to handle her. Didn’t know what she was doing and didn’t want to cut her loose if she was up to shit.”
As the last words leave him, a tiny little woman is being dragged into the main room fighting like her life depends on it, cursing the prospect out for all he’s worth. She gets the better of him when she stomps on his boot and kicks him in the shin. He lets her go. And before he can get a handle on her again, she takes off and runs smack dab into Blaze’s back as he is about to walk out of the door with his bag of equipment.
They are both frozen in place as we all watch in fascination as Blaze turns to stare down at the pixie of a woman. His eyes are cold and assessing. I can’t see the look on her face, but her body language says it all. She’s scared out of her mind.
“Whelp, guess we found who we were looking for,” Spider says from my side and I grunt, my eyes remaining on my son and the pixie.
I don’t have time to deal with it because Victor calls out for me when my eyes meet his. I know it’s time to go. Letting out a breath, fuck if it isn’t one thing, it’s another.
Turning back to Jack.
“Yeah, well, we’ve been having some problems with someone stealing from us. We couldn’t figure it out. Whoever she was, she had both Spider and Blaze chasing their tails, trying to figure out how she was getting in and out of the businesses. I don’t have time to deal with her right now. So, I need you and the boys to keep an eye on her and keep her here and guarded until we get back. Put her in twenty-three, not the hole. I don’t know her story and don’t have time to find out. Twenty-three has enough to keep her busy and comfortable. I’ll deal with her…” My words trail off as I watch my son.
Blaze leans forward after the prospect says something to him, and he picks up the woman like a rag doll, putting her over his shoulder, ass up. The action jostles her out of whatever stupor she is in and she starts up again, banging on his back and cussing him out. He smacks her on the ass hard as shit, which has her momentarily stunned, stunned long enough for me to tell him what I want him to do with her.
“Take her to twenty-three, son.”
As he passes me, he only levels me with a grunt. And stomps down the hall toward the room she will be in until we return. Chuckling, I turn back to Jack.
“Well, I guess Blaze is going to get her situated. We need to head out. We shouldn’t be out of communication, so if you need anything call. If you can’t get a hold of us. Pike and Whistler can fill you in, tell you what you need to know, and answer questions you may have.”
I go to step away but stop. “And make sure you keep an eye on that chick, because she’s been eluding us for months. She’s a sneaky little pixie.” I say with a smirk.
“You go it, Prez. Happy hunting. I’ll hold shit down here.” Jack says with a nod.
When I turned my eyes meet my soon to be father-in-law, everything came rushing back at what we were heading off to do. My face blanks as I carry my bag toward the main entrance. I stop at the door and hold my hand out for my woman, who doesn’t hesitate to make her way to me.
Turbo, Taz, Bull, Vex, Spider, Pain and Rocket are following my woman’s lead and do the same. Blaze no doubt will catch up. I walk out of the clubhouse doors