Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Alfonzo
The Ghost Born MC clubhouse was full of people when I got there.
All six members of the mother charter were present, as were their significant others.
Rurik and one of his bodyguards were sitting at the bar, but the moment I walked inside with Niran, they stood.
Shaw appeared from the back hall, where I knew his office was located, and he jerked his chin toward the chapel.
Konrad, whose road name was Bender, whispered something to his husband and wife, then followed us inside.
Niran shut the door behind us, then took a seat beside me. Shaw leaned back in his chair, then looked between me and Rurik. “I get you two don’t like each other. I don’t fucking care why. Just know, no shit gets started in my territory, clear? And you keep your bullshit away from my family.”
I dipped my chin at him. Rurik looked at me. “You have Maksim?”
“He’s in my bed sleeping,” I told him. “That hasn’t changed since the last phone call.”
Sliding my phone from my pocket, I began a video call with Bento. He answered on the second ring, his face filling my camera. Grunting, he curled his lip up at me playfully. “Ugh, did not want to see your face this up close and personal.”
I snorted a laugh. “Can you pan the camera to Maksim? Rurik wants proof of life.”
Bento flipped the camera, and there was my man, sleeping peacefully, still snoring. I turned my camera to show Rurik, and he nodded once. Ending the call, I slipped my phone back into my pocket. “How bad was the shot?”
“Clean through. Went in the front of his shoulder, came out the back. He got a couple of blood transfusions, and our doctor sewed him up. He was lucky he didn’t get an artery hit.
He was on morphine throughout the day. Now that he’s in my bed, he’s on pain pills, has had food, and is in comfortable clothes.
I’m taking care of him.” Leaning forward, I steepled my fingers together on the table and leveled him with a flat gaze.
“Now, who the fuck has it out for my man?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you.
I’d be tracking them down myself,” Rurik drawled.
“I rescued Maksim and gave him a home within the Bratva. I’m not a fan of people going after the ones I have a personal investment in.
I haven’t figured out why Anatoly put him on the task of taking you out.
He wasn’t ready for a job of that caliber.
And Anatoly is remaining tight-lipped about it, though he doesn’t seem to be actively hunting for Maksim for technically betraying the family. ”
“Then, who the fuck is?” I growled.
Rurik shrugged. “I’m digging, but so far, I’m coming up empty. I checked the cameras around the vicinity of the hotel, but there’s nothing. Not even a record of me dropping Maksim off there. Whoever went after him wiped everything clean. They’re not amateurs. They know what they’re doing.”
I looked at Niran. “And you’ve found nothing?”
Niran shook his head. “Not a thing. No word on the streets. Nothing on the dark web. No one followed him to the house that I can see. Whoever this is… they’re a fucking ghost.” And he didn’t look happier with that fact than me and Rurik did.
“I want a meeting with Anatoly,” I told Rurik.
Rurik snorted. “You think Anatoly fucking Balakin is going to rearrange his schedule to accommodate you? I think not.”
“Oh, he fucking will,” I retorted. I looked at Shaw. “You have Anatoly’s number?”
Shaw arched a brow at me but nodded once. “I do. Why? Don’t drag me into the middle of this shit.”
“You might be in the middle of it if we can’t figure out who’s targeting Maksim. We have no idea if they’re just after him, or if they’re after all of us.”
“And I don’t feel like this is an inside job,” Rurik spoke up. “My men don’t leave someone alive. We double check, and we clean up our mess. Whoever this is wanted Maksim to be found. They thought he would bleed out.”
I clenched my jaw. “They were using him to make a statement.”
Rurik nodded once, then muttered a curse and leaned back in his chair. “Looks like you’re getting that meeting after all. And you need to bring Rico in. It’s time to put differences aside. There’s a dangerous game at play here, and we need all hands on deck until the problem is solved.”
I pushed back from the table. “I’ll talk to him and get with you in the morning. We meeting here?”
We both looked at Shaw and Konrad, who were already looking at each other, speaking without words. Finally, Konrad nodded. “Yeah, all meetings here on neutral territory for the two of you,” Konrad agreed. “Keep us in the loop. We’ll get everyone else here up to speed.”
Niran stood as well, and we left the room. Sighing, Niran ran his hand down his face. “Rico is not going to be happy to be in the same room with Balakin.”
“Nope, but he’ll do it if for nothing else than to keep Anurak safe.” That, I knew with certainty. Rico would do anything to keep his husband protected. I glanced at my watch. “Let’s get home. Maksim will be waking up soon, and I want to be there when he does. He needs to hear this from me.”
Niran nodded, heading for the doors. I smiled at Ace as I passed him. “Hey, kid. You look mellow.” Which meant he didn’t seem nearly as bratty as he usually did.
Ace smirked at me. “Courtesy of a good dicking.” His husband, Gunner, sighed heavily, casting his boy a look to warn him he was treading on thin ice.
I barked out a laugh and followed Niran out of the clubhouse. First, I needed to talk to Maksim and get him up to speed, and then, I needed to talk to Rico.
Shit was hitting the fan, and it was time for a truce.
Especially since Maksim was mine. The Bratva was his family, and while I was a selfish son of a bitch, I would never make him choose between the two of us.
But until we knew who the fuck was targeting him—and possibly targeting the rest of us, too—he was stuck at home where I knew he was safe.
And until I knew this son of a bitch was dead at my fucking feet.