Chapter 10
BLAZE
“ T ake it you’re officially a dad?” I asked with a grin when I answered my cell, putting it on speakerphone and setting it on my desk. King was at the hospital with his old lady, so I assumed he was calling with the good news.
“Fuck yeah, I am,” he crowed.
I chuckled at his smug tone. “Boy or girl?”
“Boy. Cadell Connor Kingsley. Twenty-two inches, ten pounds.”
Wincing, I mumbled, “Ouch. Ten? Stella doing okay?”
King’s wife was tiny, so that couldn’t have been easy.
“She was a fucking champ.”
“You call Pierce?” King and I were still close to the former prez. Despite being closer to the age of my grandfather, he’d been more of a father to me than mine ever had. And King had bounced around the foster system, so Pierce was pretty much the only father figure he’d ever had.
“Yeah,” he confirmed, a smile clear in his voice. “He was at the Silver Saints clubhouse, so he had to stop and tell every person who walked by during our conversation.”
“Proud grandpa,” I laughed.
“Told me to tell you he wants more babies to spoil, so get to it.”
I grinned and thought about how I’d spent the morning with my woman. “Working on it.”
“Guessing you need me to order a vest?”
“Already called the company and put in a bulk order,” I informed him, making him chuckle. “We’ll have a stash, just in case. Then all they will need is the names stitched onto them.”
“Prime example why you’re my VP.”
His tone was almost jolly, and it was freaking me out.
“How long is this chipper attitude going to last?”
“Chipper? When did you turn seventy?”
Rolling my eyes, I opened a folder from the stack next to me. “Get back to your family. I have shit to do.”
“Sure,” he agreed. “Call if you need anything.”
“Consider yourself on paternity leave, Prez. I have things handled.”
“Excellent. I’ll let you know when we’re home so you can come and meet your godson.”
With King at the hospital, I was covering all the club shit. Plus, I didn’t want Courtney away from the clubhouse and wasn’t willing to leave her unless it was to deal with the threat looming over her. So we decided that I’d wait to see them until they came back, rather than go to the hospital.
“Looking forward to it.”
After hanging up, I began reading through the profiles of possible clients that Ash had dropped off.
“Found her, Blaze.”
My head lifted from the document I was reading, and I stared hard at Ink as he strolled into my office and came to a stop in front of my desk.
“My cousin Raffaele called.” Ink was Nic DeLuca’s cousin, the head of the DeLuca crime family. His older brother, Enzo, was Nic’s second in command. Ink and his mother had moved south to get away from the Mafia, and they’d settled in Georgia because his aunt was married to our former prez, Pierce.
Ink—whose real name was Matteo DeLuca but was given the road name Ink because he was an extremely talented tattoo artist—had become friends with Onyx, who managed our tattoo shop, Hellbound Studio. They were both amazing and had long waitlists.
Ink didn’t have anything to do with Mafia business, but he stayed in touch with his relations, including Raffaele…who was the head of The Family in the south.
When we first contacted him, he’d found where they’d replaced Sabrina in their files. But when we sent people to retrieve her, we found that she’d taken off, so no one, not even the Hounds or the Mafia, knew where she was.
Wizard had been on the money trail, collaborating with some of Raffaele’s guys who were also deep in the tech business.
“Lilianna managed to find security footage that showed the last time Sabrina was in Biloxi. Paid with cash for the first few days, but Wizard was still able to get a general idea of her movements. She used a card yesterday, though. Must have run out and couldn’t get to a bank.”
“Picked up and on her way back here?” I confirmed.
Ink nodded as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “She’s been tight-lipped about the rest of the money, but Wizard says he thinks most of it is still in the bank account that’s under her new identity.”
“How much is most?” Since Courtney’s attackers had been vague when they confronted her, we didn’t have any idea how much money Sabrina had stolen.
“From tracking all the deposits and withdrawals, and factoring in what she paid us, Wizard thinks she might owe them about thirty grand.”
“Thirty? The bitch stole thirty grand from a drug kingpin?” I shouted. Sabrina was clearly off her fucking rocker.
No wonder the men were threatening Courtney.
If I were a lesser man, I would have given the order for my guys to deliver Sabrina straight to the enemy for putting my woman in so much danger.
But feeding Sabrina to the wolves would make me a villain too, and my soul was already black enough.
I didn’t want it tarnished to the point where Courtney couldn’t see beyond the darkness to how she lit up my heart.
“She give up the name of the head of the organization?”
“No, but I found him,” Wizard announced from the doorway. “Set up a meet for tomorrow morning.”
I grunted with approval. “Good. Get what you can from Sabrina, then let me know how much we’re short, and I’ll get the money.” Luckily, my jobs and smart investments had made me a very wealthy man.
Wizard shook his head. “King specifically told me to make sure the club handled the missing money. We took her on as a client, so he’s taking responsibility.”
“Bullshit,” I argued in a bellow. “Courtney is mine. I’ll take care of it.”
Ink backed up a few steps, watching me warily.
I was a very patient man and rarely lost my temper, so I understood his hesitancy. But when it came to my woman, I’d burn the fucking world down to keep her safe.
“It’s already done,” Wizard murmured, crossing his arms over his chest. “Talked to King on the way here.”
“While he was with his old lady and newborn son?” I growled.
“He called me.”
Of course he did.
“Fine,” I snapped. “Somebody just get me the fucking money and send me a dossier on the men I’m meeting with tomorrow.”
“Check your email,” Wizard said, lifting his chin in the direction of my computer.
I nodded. “Not a word to Courtney. I’m gonna tell her after I read through the info.”
Both men agreed, then left me to do my research.
When I was familiar enough with the players to feel like I had an advantage in the game for the next day, I shut everything down and went to find Courtney.
She’d mentioned puttering around in the kitchen, but when I walked through the door into the spacious room, I wasn’t expecting the scene before me.
The large island in the center of the cooking area was currently covered with containers of treats.
Courtney was bent over the oven, giving me a fantastic view of her heart-shaped ass. Then she stood, holding a metal sheet in her mittened hands, and turned around. The smell of cinnamon and chocolate invaded my nose, and the delicious spread almost sidetracked me.
As she set the tray on the counter, she looked up and saw me. A beautiful smile lit her face, making my chest warm and my heart beat a little faster.
“Hi,” she said softly.
“Hey, baby.” I held out my hand and beckoned for her to come to me. “I have news.”