Chapter 18 #2
It wasn't about the fucking money. Even if we handed it over now, Amato would still come after us.
He'd come after our women and children. He was just trying to push our buttons, get us to react so he had an excuse for his actions.
It was a smart move on his part. We were already pissed off that they'd gone after them before.
"You're not getting your fucking money back," Lock said, voice cold as ice. "Either take us up on the offer of meeting us out in the desert, or get the fuck out of here."
Amato's eyes narrowed and he studied Lock for a moment. "Fine. What happens next is on you." Turning, he stalked away with his men following behind him.
I watched them go, my eyes narrowed as I tried to read their intentions. They weren't going to leave us alone. They wanted war and we were going to give it to them.
We waited around for hours while the firemen worked.
We avoided the cops completely when they showed up on scene to help with crowd control.
Lock sent Static and Rip back to the compound to grab a few cage rides so we could take Amy and the children over to the apartment complex where we were housing the rest of the women and children we'd saved from the cult. We were going to have to increase our security there to make sure Amato didn’t go after them.
Giving them somewhere to go was the least we could do.
It was going to take time for her to find a new place to keep the kids.
Though, now she had the money to do so. Amato's money now belonged to them. That is, whatever didn’t burn up in the fire.
It was late by the time we dragged ourselves back to the clubhouse.
"I get that Amato thought Amy and the kids were the women and children that we saved from the cult.
But how the fuck did he get that idea? How did he find Amy?
" Smokehouse asked, raking a hand over his hair.
Ash floated down toward the ground as he disturbed it. We all smelled like smoke and sweat.
"One of his men had to have followed us from the laundromat," Lock mused. "It's the only thing that makes sense."
"I didn't see anyone pull up after you guys went inside," Static said with a shake of his head. "I was watching."
"Nothing else makes sense," Rip replied in agreement with Lock. "He must have spotted you and stayed out of your view."
"Who told Amato about the apartment building? And the school?" I wondered out loud. Suspicion was tightening my gut in knots.
"It had to be Fremont," Priest suggested. "He knows about the school. It wouldn't be hard for him to find out about the apartments housing the women and children."
"I don't know," I replied. "Something about it doesn't sit right."
Lockout focused on me. "What do you mean?"
"Fremont wouldn't want the bad press of burning down an orphanage," I told him. "If that was ever connected to him he'd be fucked."
"Who else knows, though?" Ricochet asked.
My heart sank as I thought about the way Pixie had been acting earlier that day. "I don't know for sure," I started, hesitating.
"What is it?" Lock asked.
"Let me check something out," I requested. "See if my intuition is right."
Lock narrowed his eyes. "You don’t have to handle her alone." Leave it to Lock to have already figured out that I suspected Pixie.
"Yeah, I do. If too many of us start following her around, she'll get suspicious." The others quietly listened as we spoke.
"Once you find out for sure, we'll take care of the problem," Lock told me. "However you feel is best."
Nodding, I shot him a grateful look. I didn't want to be the reason my cousin was killed if she was innocent. But if she had given us over to our enemies, I'd kill her myself.
"I'll help," Smokehouse insisted, voice hard.
"No," I replied. "I need to figure out if it was really her first. I owe my uncle that at least."
Smoke's jaw clenched and he gave a short nod in agreement. "Fine. But if it was her, you don't handle it on your own."
"Deal." I wasn't going to argue with him about that. Pixie was a pain in the ass, but she was still family. If she betrayed us, I wasn't sure how I'd react.
The meeting broke up and we all went our separate ways.
I headed straight for my apartment. Kit wasn't spending time in her own place anymore.
We were slowly moving more and more of her things into my home.
I wanted her there. Gathering her into my arms the moment I stepped in the door, I breathed her in.
She was my center. Even when I was still deploying, anytime shit hit the fan all I had to do was think of her to calm my nerves.
I'd been in love with her since the first time I saw her. She'd always been it for me. Now that she was finally mine, I wasn't letting go.
"How are you doing?" I asked, as she leaned back to look at me.
"I'm fine." Her smile was soft and sweet, just like she was. "Are you okay?"
Clenching my jaw, I considered telling her about Pixie, but I decided not to. Not yet. It was a blow to my pride that someone from my own family had potentially betrayed us. Admitting it to my brothers brought enough shame for one night. "We saw Amato."
Her eyes widened. "He showed up?"
"Yeah. Refused to meet us to end this."
She snorted. "That doesn't surprise me. He's a coward."
"He threw around a lot of threats."
"Looks like your guys' orders to stick close were spot on," she said with a grimace. "If he's the kind to go after kids, there's no telling what he'll do next."
I nodded and kissed her forehead. "Exactly. That's why I need you here."
She sighed, but agreed. "But now, I need you to go shower. You stink," she said with a laugh.
Chuckling, I tugged her into the bathroom with me. I'd have to handle Pixie soon enough. There was no reason to start tonight, though. I was going to spend the night making my old lady beg and plead for me. Tomorrow, I'd begin investigating my fucking cousin.