Chapter 16
Nikki Landis
N ikki Landis
Alessandra (Alex)
The dining room is warm and inviting as I take my seat, and the aroma of my favorite pasta and vodka sauce is mixed with cinnamon, pumpkin, and vanilla. It’s a clash of two different cultures and two fierce women—a melding of my old life with the new.
Everyone I love is seated around the table as Granny and Mamá place heaping dishes of food in the center. Well, minus one. Braxton, my fierce, protective Goliath, isn’t by my side. He should be. This dinner is meant for us. For our new combined family.
Famiglia… Mine. His. Ours. The one we were forming with the tiny life growing inside my womb.
Instinctively, I move my hand to my lower belly as if I can feel the flutter of movement. It’s too soon, but I can imagine how I’ll begin to show a few months down the road. Maybe it’s just my yearning for something I never knew I wanted until now, but I can almost feel my child kicking and the tiny beats of his heart. I hope I give Braxton a son. That’s my secret Christmas wish.
This baby is everything. Every reason I need to cement the choice I already made hours ago. All the will to overcome my fears and fight alongside my child’s father. The strength I feel in my muscles and bones to stand against my enemies.
I. Will. Not. Back. Down.
My gaze bounces around the faces of everyone gathered, and a fierce, overwhelming ache tugs at my heart. This family is a mismatched group of individuals who come from different backgrounds and vary in experience, but we’re all united together because of the love that I share with Braxton and my unborn child. We’re from two different worlds. It shouldn’t work. But it does.
That’s because the mafia and the MC aren’t that different. Loyalty, brotherhood, and honor are qualities they both cherish. I ran from this life only to find it again in ways I never expected.
This is who I am.
The sense of belonging floors me. I ran to escape my family because of the tragedy in my youth. I blamed my father and his connections for placing me in danger and killing innocents. I believed I had to forge my own way instead of accepting the path already carefully carved for me.
You can’t run from fate.
Evil exists in the world, and it finds a way to hunt, no matter what blood runs in your veins or what name you’re given at birth. Family is the only barrier against it. And it’s not just a matter of bloodline. The bond I share and the family I’ve come to welcome is more than my mamá, papá, and cousins. It’s the men in the motorcycle club my man loves so much. It’s Braxton, my rock. His Granny.
They are all my shield against the world and the evil that lurks within it.
There’s only one thing to do.
I have to fight.
I know this. The urge is coiling in my gut, and it will strike soon.
Enzo sees it. He’s at my left, and I watch his lips twitch with humor. My cousin senses my emotions, much as he has since we were kids, and he knows action is only a minute or two away.
Enzo briefly dips his chin as our eyes lock. I’m with you. The unspoken confirmation that he’s got my back and supports my decision is more than a relief; it’s acknowledgment and respect, akin to bending the knee. I’m the heir to the Allegrini empire. Enzo understands. More than that, he’s swearing his fealty—an unbreakable bond.
I wasn’t ready to accept it before now, but it feels right. It’s time.
I’ve never been idle. It’s not been my luxury to live a life without purpose. I can’t and won’t sit back and do nothing while everyone I love is threatened. It’s not my way. Thanks to my father’s rigorous and, at times, brutal teachings, I’ve become the woman this family needs me to be. A princess who doesn’t need a knight to save her, only a force of reckoning at her side. My Braxton.
I have to leave. The thought is punching through my mind, and hot on its heels is the next one. I’m not a pigeon.
Papá loves his analogies. Speaking in code is as natural to him as his beloved Italian. When I was a girl, I asked him once why the eagle was so proud. He replied that eagles are strong, honorable, courageous, fearless, and able to fly independently. A powerful image. The pigeon? Prey.
I’m not prey. I might have been taken from my bed and kidnapped, but I’m not weak. I’m an eagle.
Papá stares at me as I rise. His expression, for once, is unguarded. There’s nothing holding back what I see as he nods, his dark eyes conveying a single emotion: pride.
I’ve waited for what feels like a lifetime to see that look directed at me. It’s almost too much. Emotion churns inside me, but I use it to ground myself. I focus on the task that matters most. “We need to confront Carlo.”
I know he’s figured out by now that Dante and Enzo have taken a side with me and my father. He’s lost his sons, and that will make him desperate. Desperation does wicked things to men in power. I’ve seen it.
Uncle Carlo trained me. I know how he handles situations like this. He won’t back down. He’ll never give up.
My father nods. He’s come to the same conclusion. Carlo has to die. Tonight.
We’ve put it off long enough.
I turn to Enzo. “Call him.”
My cousin purses his lips like he wants to argue or delay, but, in the end, he knows it’s the only course of action left. Men like Uncle Carlo and Lorenzo Allegrini are incapable of surrender. They live by a code and die by it. The truth of that statement hits me hard. Braxton is the same.
We’re perfectly matched.
He can’t expect me to stay here and do nothing. It’s not in my nature. Somehow, I know he’ll understand.
I’m not risking our baby. I’m ensuring his survival and future.
Enzo shifts from one foot to the other before he stiffens. His voice loses the warmth that’s characteristic of my cousin’s pleasant baritone when his father answers the call. There’s a heated discussion entirely in Italian before Enzo loses his temper. A string of profanity leaves his lips, and I can tell he’s more than upset. He’s livid.
There’s nothing but silence in the room as he hangs up. Mamá and Granny are holding hands as I glance in their direction. I expect fear or hesitation, but I only see resolve. The women in this family might be stronger than the men. When everything comes crashing down and the men shoulder the burdens, it’s the women whose soft touch, gentle words, and unflinching support carry the family through to another day.
I’m proud to be an Allegrini, but as I see the love in my mother’s eyes, I’m proud to be her daughter, too.
“He wants to meet at the dock.” Enzo clenches his phone tight enough that I hear a crack. “In two hours.”
Dante has been silent until now. He shakes his head. “My father will be ready, Uncle Lorenzo. He’s had time to prepare.”
“So have I.”
Part of my father’s lucrative empire is shipping, along with importing and exporting goods. He’s made a fortune in moving merchandise and selling to the right buyer. We own several warehouses and a profitable jewelry store chain. Along the Gulf Coast of Alabama, we have a port where our ships conduct business.
That is where Uncle Carlo will wait.
I know my father already anticipates this outcome. He prepares for every scenario, and it’s kept him alive all these years because he’s intelligent and ruthless. There’s a plan, and I need to know the details.
“Papá, tell me on the way.” I turn toward the door with purpose and determination driving me forward.
If blood has to spill this night, I accept no outcome but one. My enemies will fall at my feet.
Goliath
Blood drips from my knuckles and splatters my clothes. It’s been over an hour, and I’ve learned nothing new. Dawg is useless. Either he’s not the mastermind behind the operation, or he’s got balls of steel. I’m betting on the former. Sick of his cries and feeling restless, without the answers I came to find, I’m growing dangerously impatient.
My hands lift, and I take a step back. “He’s all yours.”
My brothers stood behind me as I worked on Dawg, delighting in the beating and torture that followed. Howls and laughter filled the room as I used the tools on the walls, implementing everything around me to find the truth. Dawg knows nothing. He needs to answer to the club. At least, what’s left of him.
They’re ready to finish the betrayer.
I spin on my heel and leave them to it, feeling like my skin is about to crawl off my body. I’m pissed. Frustrated. And fucking annoyed.
Miller follows me outside as I spot an old hand pump in the yard and begin to use the handle, washing the blood from my palms as water begins to flow. I dry my hands on my jeans and begin to pace. I’m restless. Time is ticking. Alex and my child are no safer now than when I arrived.
“Fucking breathe, man. We’re handling it.”
His words are meant to soothe the beast inside me, but it only roars louder. “Not until Wash and Rabbit are dead.”
Miller regards me with the same stare he’s had since we were kids, the look that says he sees through all my bullshit and knows what’s really haunting me. “You’re worth it, Braxton.”
It’s just the two of us. No one else exits the building. It’s all laid bare in an instant with his words—the shit that’s eating me up. Alex deserves better.
Right now, we aren’t just brothers in a motorcycle club. We’re best friends. As close as you can get to being blood-related without sharing DNA. He knows every dark secret in my past, and I know his. We’ve been through hell and back again, and there’s no one I want riding by my side more than Miller.
The use of my real name punctuates his sincerity. We rarely call each other by the names we grew up with, but I sense he wants me to accept what he’s spoken. Am I walking away from Alex? Hell no. But there’s a little nagging voice inside me that says I’m bringing her into a world she tried to escape from, and it isn’t fair. More than that, I’m a criminal—an outlaw. I’ve got a record, and I’ve served hard time.
I’m going to be a father. It hits me as I stand there, and I blink. All the air whooshes from my lungs as I stagger. The full weight of it is almost too much to stand against.
But then the joy hits me—the excitement. My eyes close, and I let it sink in. Alex. She’s fucking everything. Her. Our baby. The life we want. I’m all in, baby.
And just like that, I dismiss the last of my doubts and uncertainty. My head snaps up, and I square my shoulders. I know what to do.
“There it is,” Miller nods. “Finally got your shit settled. I worried I needed to bring you a tissue for your tears.”
“You’re a dick,” I growl.
He chuckles as his phone vibrates in his hand. With one glance at the screen, his expression changes. All humor is gone in an instant. A calm fury enters his eyes as he swipes across the screen and reads a text. “Motherfucker.”
“What?” I ask, nearly snatching the phone from his hand.
He levels me with a glare. “Wash and Rabbit are waiting for us.”
“Where?” I’m good to go. Now. Fuck everything else.
“They sent a pin. Looks like a warehouse on the docks. Off the Gulf Coast.”
I know the area. “It’s not far. Let’s move.” I take a step before he halts me.
Miller holds up a hand. “We’re not going without backup.”
I hate it when he’s right. “Fine. Drake, Cowboy, JD, and Jonas. That enough?”
Miller nods. “Should be. Round ’em up, VP.”
In less than two minutes, I’m on my Harley and heading to the warehouse. It’s an odd meeting place, but I don’t worry about it. Nothing is gonna drag my focus away from Wash and Rabbit. Their betrayal hurt the club, my woman, and innocents. They have to answer for that shit the same as Dawg. By the time this night is over, they’ll all be buried six feet in the ground.
Only now do I let my thoughts drift to Alex and the holiday dinner I’m missing. I have to make it up to her, and I will. Family is important to my woman, and I want her to know it’s the same for me. We might be blending two different worlds, but it’s the same concept.
With Miller and the club, I found a brotherhood. With Alex, I’m finding a home .
For a man who spent his last seven years thinking he lost everything, I sure as fuck hit the jackpot. I’m planning on spending the rest of my days proving to my sexy little elf this is all worth it.
We arrive at the location in record time. Low traffic and years on these roads make it easy. I’ve been riding on these highways since I was a teen. The street is barren leading up to the warehouse as we park our bikes. There’s no reason to hide. Wash and Rabbit know we’re comin’. None of us walk into this blind. We’re aware of the risks.
I palm my SIG as I approach the building. Alert, I tick my chin at Miller. There’s movement inside. I can hear feet scuffing the ground on the other side of the open door as we press against the outer wall.
Nothing prepares me for what I hear next as chills douse my spine.
There’s a scream first, and it’s oddly familiar. Then I hear a shout that’s also a warning.
“Goliath! Carlo is here!”
Fuck. My enemies have Alex.