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  "This shit?" I arched a brow and sneered. "I'm not planning to bring anything I can't lift above my head, which means no heavy bags and no furniture. Though I assume your son has at least that much of the latter inside his place? Unless he sleeps on the floor like an animal."

  "Not so much anymore." He chuckled. "He's got everything you're gonna need out there, including him at some point."

  "Christ." Nix lifted his eyes above our heads and snarled. "The only thing she's gonna need from this muthafucka is the goddamn money you're promising -- nothing more or less on that shit."

  Chino grinned. "He told me you two had a good talk out there; said your understanding didn't come without more hesitation on your part, but nonetheless, that shit finally showed the hell up when it needed to."

  "Sure, but I'm hoping the transition out comes with much less bumps in the road."

  He waved a hand between us as if it were nothing, and turned from me to head back to his car. "As I said before, once the shit is made official, everything will start falling into place in terms of what we all need to get outta this--"

  "And just what the fuck are you getting out of it, specifically?!" Nix moved in next to me while throwing his arms across his chest in anger to make a point.

  Chino stopped walking and spun around to us with a lopsided smile parting his lips. "Freedom," he replied in a low, humbled voice, "in knowing that my son will be well taken care of in more ways than one once I'm gone." He looked between us one last time with a gaze cool enough to freeze snow, then dipped his head and slipped into the back seat of his car. "You need anything else before moving in, call that number." He pointed again before his driver shut the door, hopped into his own seat and took off down the street.

  As Nix watched the tail lights flicker between stops, he rested a hand against the frame and anxiously grinded his teeth. "That son of a bitch is hiding something with all this shit," he said. "I don't fuckin' trust him at his word on any of it, Cheyenne -- not one goddamn bit."

  "You don't trust anybody on anything and never have."

  "You shouldn't either -- especially not now." He looked to me with a plethora of worry that caused his palms to redden and sweat. "You gotta tell Rattlesnake before moving into Nikko's place that you agreed to this shit. You need to have somebody on you at all times."

  "I don't need a babysitter."

  "You need something, baby girl."

  "Yes, money." I gently moved him aside to close the door. "I wouldn't be doing this otherwise."

  "How do you think Taz is gonna feel about it?"

  My skin ran hot before becoming an ice box. I wagged my head and jerked my shoulders. "He's just going to have to deal with it like everybody else."

  "Yeah, but he ain't just 'everybody else' to you, Cheyenne." I whirled around to him as a lump filled my throat, and glared. "We both know that shit."

  "What I know," I replied, resting my hands across my chest as I bent forward, "is that Chino was right in what he said about this wedding. It needs to happen sooner before later and anything with Taz can't matter to me right now -- it can't be the same priority I was hoping for when I first showed back up."

  "Which was what?" I pulled my lips into my mouth, refusing to answer, and moved my attention elsewhere. He soured. "Where the hell do you plan on leaving things with him once all this shit between you and Nikko is done?"

  "I don't know -- But what the hell does it even matter to you either way?" I tossed my hands out beside myself and shrugged. "What you said in the club earlier today was the truth -- if Rattlesnake were to find out, he'd be smoked. And more than anything with me, Taz would lose his mind without the MC."

  "Baby girl--" I raised my hand to stop him from going on, then stepped aside to reopen the door and pointed outside. "What...?" He contorted his face as the corners of his eyes crinkled. "Why?"

  "Because I can't do anymore of this tonight. I've said what I had to say and now it's happening; nothing is changing about any of it."

  "What if that asshole decides to show back up tonight?"

  "He won't, because there's no reason for him to attempt to take things left before Nikko is even on the outside. Once that happens, it's a whole new ballgame and I'm keenly aware of that. But we'll handle it then. For now, I just need a break, a bed and some sleep."

  "And you don't want me staying here to make sure you get just that?"

  "No. Just go home."

  "Alright." He raised his hands with his palms out in defeat, then leaned in to kiss the center of my forehead. "You need anything," he mumbled against my skin, the words warm as they bounced together in vibration, "you dial up my number before latching onto that muthafuckin' goon Chino hired." I nodded with a smile as he pulled back and shuffled past me to head outside.

  While leaning against the frame, I watched him move past a few more complexes before finally reaching his bike, all the while wondering just how right he would turn out to be about everything to do with Nikko and beyond it, and how wrong I more than likely was in hoping for the best in it all.

  Chapter Eight

  Pressure Olympics, Squared

  The next morning, I nearly fell out of bed while pushing my hand from beneath the warmth of my blankets to grab my buzzing cell from the nightstand.

  After pushing the green button, I dropped it to my ear and groaned into the mouthpiece. "Hello?" I sounded as groggy and somewhat hungover as I felt even though I hadn't had a single drop of alcohol from the night before, though it was warranted. "Hello?!"

  "Chey?"

  "Yes?" I cautiously rolled to my back while attempting to rattle the fog from my brain. "Who is this?"

  "Taz." A long pause followed before he responded again. "You don't recognize my voice?"

  "Not this early in the morning, no."

  "It's 10:30am, Chey."

  "Oh." My eyes flew open as I threw my other hand across my forehead in slight embarrassment, and sighed. "Sorry. What is it?"

  He cleared his throat. "Snake wants you out here in a few to discuss some shit."

  "A few what?"

  "Minutes."

  I stopped rubbing my eye midway through and glowered. "Is he serious? For what reason?"

  "Didn't say, but he wants me and Nix here for whatever the fuck it's for too."

  "Oh... great."

  "You know what it's about?"

  "No." I dropped my hand to the bed, pushing myself to sit up straight, then hunched forward and blankly stared across the room. "Is Nix already out there with you?"

  "Not yet, but he should be back before long."

  "Do you know where he is right now?"

  "Out with some pussy he took home from the club last night."

  I turned my head and gagged. "Did you have a party out there?"

  "Not exactly. Just some of the regulars coming to hang out and listen to some music while sucking off a few of the boys; I wasn't one of them."

  "Okay." His need for admission bothered me. I shoved my hair out of my face and frowned in wishing I hadn't known that fact either way, but realized he told me in the hope of sparing himself. "Do you mind telling your President that I'll be out there to see him soon? I'm not sure when today, but... soon."

  "Yeah, I can do that shit for you."

  "Thanks."

  Within a few hours of hanging up and showering, getting dressed and throwing my hair into a loose bun on top of my head, I was back at the compound and hopping out of my car.

  After slamming and locking the door, I started making my way toward the front of the clubhouse, but was stopped when Rattlesnake started moving outside and pointed near the back fence.

  "What is it?" I stared down at his hand and grimaced. "What?"

  "We need to talk, Chey."

  I looked away from him and knit my brows in confusion. "I thought that's why I was here?"

  "Not about that shit," he replied, "not yet."

  "Then what?"

  "I need to know what Chino said to you at Rikers yesterday." />
  I blinked once and peered. "I'm sorry, what?"

  "I know he's the one you saw after getting called back out there by your old man -- you ain't gotta play dumb on all this shit."

  "I'm not playing dumb about anything," I whispered. "I'm just wondering how?"

  "Fuckin' psychic, I guess. Let's go."

  "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me."

  He pointed again, then moved in beside me and dropped his hands inside his pockets as we began walking. "I've got a motherfucker on payroll out there -- one of the older guards. Word got back to me from him before Chino even got into the room with you."

  "If that's the case, then you should also be aware of the fact that all he wanted was to repeat everything you had already mentioned to me about marrying Nikko." He grunted and stopped walking. I nearly tripped over the toes of my shoes in attempting the same, then turned to look him straight in the face. "What is it now?"

  "I don't know your response to any of that shit."

  "What do you mean?"

  "What you said to him in return," he told me. "If you agreed to all this shit or not."

  "Oh, right. Well..." I dragged my attention across the lot of various cars on the verge of getting worked over inside the garage, and sighed heavily while thinking of what I knew needed to be said to him, along with what I was certain needed to remain unknown. "Are Nix and Taz in there?"

  "Waiting inside my office. They know something's up with the club getting its funds back, but don't know how it could happen. This is where I need to hear from you first what went down before they know about anything else."

  "Well, I told him yes to marrying Nikko. But for no longer than the time needed for me to get the funds for the club, and for him to get the rest of Chino's money. Once everything is where it needs to be and done, so are we."

  He gradually nodded as a sigh of relief escaped him, and lifted his hands around his waist. "Alright, good--"

  "But there's something I need to ask you about before we head in there."

  "What is it?"

  I sucked in a breath, releasing it between my teeth. "The Gambiano's."

  His brows furrowed. "What about 'em?"

  "What do you know about them?"

  His jaw became rigid as soon as the question left my mouth; his teeth clinched. "Why are you asking about those assholes, Cheyenne?"

  "Because they were mentioned--"

  "By Chino?"

  "They were mentioned," I said again, "as a possibility in helping to get Nikko out of Rikers by the end of the week. If they do, I fear they might want something in return from him or Chino or both."

  "And you're thinking you might be lumped in with all that shit?"

  "It's inevitable once I find myself married to him, Snake."

  "You know I can put a motherfucker on you at all times and keep you away from that kinda shit."

  "I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't want someone following me around the city like a toddler in need of a human walker all day, everyday."

  "Then what the fuck do you want?"

  "To be able to get through all of this bullshit while still being in one piece by the end of it." I winced as a cool breeze suddenly whizzed between us. He remained still even as it circled the hair around his neck. "You know, when I was little, I remember hearing Rox on the phone with someone and screeching at them in Italian. It was the first and last time any word but English had ever crossed his lips. Do you know if the Gambiano's were somehow involved with any of that?"

  "Why would you assume them and nobody else?"

  "Because if they're connected to Chino, chances are that they also had connections to the club -- whether it was through my father or otherwise. And you obviously know who they are given your distaste at just the mention of their name."

  "That's through the grapevine," he said. "Shit I've heard, none of it ever being good. If your old man ever had something to do with them, the shit wasn't on the books for the club."

  "Meaning, what?"

  "It was on his own. Meaning, you'll have to ask him about it on your own goddamn time, which doesn't include this shit here...." His face tightened with every clipped response that followed. "Is that it?"

  "Not exactly, no. But I can let it go for the time being as long as you make sure in the space between it all that I won't 'get got' by one of them as a result."

  "I can make sure of that shit." He exhaled in what almost sounded like an aggravated growl erupting from within the deepest part of himself, and shifted his jaw. "You'll be protected without a muthafucka hovering over you twenty-five eight. At least on my end, Nix is another goddamn story."

  I glanced behind him at the club. "You said he was inside your office?" He nodded. "Well, I already know that he's going to lose it once he hears all of this from me. Taz might fume in silence, but he'll still be pissed."

  "I can keep their asses in check with it."

  "And what about the rest of them?"

  "I'll deal with that shit when the time comes for it later and you won't be around for it. Right now, let's just get in here with these assholes." He placed a hand along the center of my back and anxiously guided me inside.

  Chapter Nine

  Dial M for Misinformed

  Once we made our way through the club, Snake walked me straight to his office in the back, allowing me ahead of him to open the door. After pushing back, I saw Nix with a freshly lit joint casually hanging from the corner of his mouth while leaning against the front of Snake's desk without care. On the opposite side, an ill-focused Taz was stiffly planted along the edge of a black leather couch with one hand tightly clasped over the other while his elbows rested along his thighs in leisure; the toe of his right foot tapped against the floor a few times until his eyes found my face and he nervously pushed himself to stand.

  When I turned back to Nix, he rattled his head and grumbled. "Baby girl." He smoked back some of his joint with a snarl to his upper lip before standing away from the desk and crossing the room. "Took you a while to get out here today."

  "From the city? Yes, of course, as always."

  "Seemed longer than usual."

  "It wasn't."

  He jerked his shoulders as if to defeat my words with silence while Snake made his way in behind me and closed the door. "So..." Nix moved toward the window behind the couch and stared into the lot, his eyes roaming from left to right as a pensive thought seemed to cross his mind. "What the fuck are we doing here so goddamn early in the morning, Prez?" He peeked over at him with an arched brow and tightened his jaw. "I've got more shit to do and a pile of pussy I was planning on doing it all with before tonight."

  "Jesus," mumbled Snake.

  "What's tonight?" I questioned, glancing at Snake as he fumbled behind his desk to take his seat.

  "Some business with another club out in CT," said Taz.

  "Connecticut?" I looked to each of them with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. "You're going out there in your red and black leather cuts and ripped jeans while on Harley's, at night, and think... what? Because I'm guessing this other club you're meeting isn't filled with any color."

  "There might be a sprinkle in there or two by now." Nix chuckled. "One of us always manages to get in somewhere we ain't ever wanted."

  Snake leaned back in his chair and threw his hands on top of his head; he clasped his fingers together and gulped. "Those Crow motherfuckers we're meeting up with know we're coming and have all but laid out the welcome mat for us, Cheyenne."

  "Crow?" I deeply exhaled as a flush of concern rendered me stiff. "You just better hope that when you finally show up, one of them won't be attempting to place that same mat on top of your back instead of the ground."

  "We know these assholes, Chey. They've been out here before to see us -- It's cool." Taz stepped in front of me with a smile warm enough to melt the room while parting his lips. "You don't have shit you need to worry about for us."

  "I can't help it when I hear about you heading out to one o
f the whitest parts that side of the city has ever seen without any protection. Is it just going to be you three?" I asked. Snake nodded. "That's just great."

  "We'll be fine out there, baby girl." Nix blew out the smoke from his joint while throwing his hand out toward me in a nonchalant manner and rattling his head. "Don't go pissing about all this shit when you've got enough on your plate right now with your old man."

  "I at least know where he'll be tonight; the three of you, I can't be so sure about."

  "Chey." Taz placed his hands on my shoulders and dipped his head, forcing me to stare into his face. "We'll be good on this shit. Don't worry about what the fuck we've got going as a club. Take care of yourself and this shit with Rox, like Nix said."

  "Her old man is why we're here right now." Snake rolled closer to his desk and crossed his arms while shifting his attention between us.

  Taz dropped his hands from me, then looked over at him with scrunched brows and a snarl. "What the fuck are you talking about, Prez?"

  "'Baby girl' over here," he replied in a sarcastic tone, "has got a whole ass solution to the club getting back what he stole."

  I looked to Nix in a panic as he tightened his fingers around the center of his joint and inhaled until a pile of ashes fell to his feet. After pulling back, he kept the smoke inside his mouth, refusing to exhale.

  I gulped in realizing what finally needed to be said, then threw my hands together in feigned exclamation and blurted, "I'm getting married."

  "What the fuck?" Taz dropped away from me almost immediately, as if the words 'getting married' had just stung him like a bag of bees from head to toe. He eyed me up and down with a thread of silent pain casually dangling above our heads as all air in the room had suddenly been sucked through the vents, and glowered. "What the fuck are you talking about getting married, Cheyenne? To who?"

  "Chino's kid," mumbled Snake.

  "Chino?"

  "Fuckin' Chino!" Nix finally blew out his smoke while keeping his eyes focused on the floor. "This kid is the same motherfucker you watched on the court out there yesterday?"

  "Yes--"

  "The SAME motherfucker, Cheyenne -- WHY?!" Taz's face tightened with anger as his shoulders locked in place. "Why the fuck would you marry some low-life, white trash asshole you watched take out three people on the courtyard of a goddamn prison?"