Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Maksim
Everyone was present at the Ghost Born MC clubhouse when we walked inside.
Jax’s old lady, Blakely, was sitting at the bar.
She simply pointed toward the chapel, a place I’d never been allowed in before, but without a word, Alfonzo guided me that way with my personal guard, Drew, following close behind us.
Drew was a quiet guy and never said much except to wish me a good morning, a good night, or ask if I needed anything.
Otherwise, he just remained silent and stoic with a “I dare someone to fuck with us” look on his face.
Alfonzo had chosen him for me, and I was pretty sure he’d picked the deadliest bodyguard he could find on their roster.
When we entered the chapel, Drew took up a perch right outside the doors, his hands clasped behind his back. Alfonzo led me to one of the chairs, and I gratefully took a seat. He took up residence behind my chair much as he had in Rico’s office.
“You look like you’ve seen better days,” Cameron, also known at GOAT, drawled as he took me in. “Probably could use a sandwich or something.”
I snorted a laugh and shook my head. “I just ate. Lost a lot of blood a few days ago.”
He nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Blood loss is a bitch, I hear.”
Ace—road name Babe—rolled his eyes at his brother. “Shut the fuck up, Cam. Leave him alone. He’s clearly just tired, and no one wants to listen to you when they’re tired.”
“Both of you hush,” Arlo reprimanded as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Christ, you’d think the two of you weren’t adults.”
The door opened again, this time revealing Rurik and Anatoly.
I’d seen their SUV when we got there, but I hadn’t seen them when we walked in.
I swallowed thickly. Anatoly skimmed his eyes over me but didn’t say a word—just took a seat.
Rurik, however, made his way toward us and gripped my chin, tilting my head back. “You look like shit.”
I scoffed. “Thanks,” I muttered.
He shook his head. “Whoever did this will pay, Maksim,” he swore. Dropping his hand, he looked at Alfonzo. “The guard outside his?” When Alfonzo nodded, Rurik grunted. “Good.” With that, he walked away from us and took a seat beside Anatoly.
Rico was the last to enter. The room went silent when he did, tension rising in the air. Jax stood and shook his hand, and Ace grinned and waved at him. Rico’s lips twitched with a smile at Ace. “Anurak misses you,” Rico told him.
Ace nodded. “I know. I miss him, too. When everything is calm again, I’ll come spend all the time in the world with him. I promise.”
Rico ruffled his hair, then dropped into the chair beside me. Shaw leaned forward. “Before we start, I want to make it clear that any animosity between the two of you,” he said, pointing his finger between Anatoly and Rico, “will not be tolerated in my clubhouse and around my wife.”
Anatoly nodded once, and Rico grunted. Rurik leaned forward, bracing his forearms on the table. “We’re here because someone has targeted Maksim, and it doesn’t make sense to do so unless they’re trying to make some kind of statement with him. We may all have an issue on our hands.”
“The fuck would anyone want with us?” Cameron asked. “Maksim doesn’t have shit to do with the club.”
“No, but your president is married to my daughter,” Anatoly coolly reminded him. “If they’ve targeted a mere soldier—” I bristled— “I don’t put it past them to go after Amaliya.”
“Watch your fucking mouth,” Alfonzo snapped at Anatoly. “Maksim is not just some mere soldier.”
Anatoly cocked his head to the side for a moment, then dipped his chin. “My apologies, Maksim. I only meant that you are low-ranking. Not that you are not… worthy.”
I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know what to say. Silence just seemed the best way to go.
“Okay, hear me out,” Ace spoke up, leaning forward now. “What if someone is targeting Maksim because of his attachment to Alfonzo? We all know Mr. I’m-A-Ghost is fucking untouchable. But if they found his weakness, which is now Maksim—clearly—they may be exploiting that.”
Alfonzo laughed quietly at Ace’s name for him, and Ace smirked. Anatoly looked at me. “Did anyone happen to see the two of you when you were intimate?” he asked.
My cheeks darkened. “I don’t know,” I admitted. I wasn’t aware of anything but Alfonzo touching me and fucking me when we’d been in those woods. Someone could’ve recorded the whole thing while right next to us, and I wouldn’t have been aware.
“If they knew to look for us there, then someone was tracking one of us. And since I’m damn good at knowing if someone’s tracking me, then they had to have figured out Maksim was given the job of taking me out, which means they tracked him,” Alfonzo said.
“And no one but me, Rico, and Niran knew about my task to take Maksim out, which leaves it as an inside job on your end. Someone in your family isn’t afraid of taking out another family member for the sake of their own agenda. That’s dangerous.”
Anatoly stood. “Then we’ll begin prying information out of all our soldiers, starting with the ones who lived in the same house as Maksim.”
Rico stood as well. “And we’ll keep digging on our end. At some point, this person has to get sloppy. If I find something out, I’ll have Alfonzo reach out to Rurik.”
Anatoly nodded. “We will be in touch.” He looked at me. “Stay safe, Maksim. I don’t agree with what you did, but I would never kill you over falling in love.” With that, he left the room.
Rurik pointed a finger at me. “Don’t get shot again, clear?”
I nodded once. “Clear,” I murmured.
Once I was in Alfonzo’s car and we were headed down the highway, I looked at him. “Anatoly didn’t put a hit on me,” I said quietly. “But if he didn’t… then why did Rurik feel the need to get me out of the country? And why was Anatoly set on taking you out?”
Alfonso shrugged and reached over to hold my thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I don’t know, mouse. But I intend to find out. And when I do, you’ll be the first person I inform,” he promised.