“Right, okay. I’ll check out some local haunts and see if anyone’s seen him around. You think he’s here to cause trouble for the club or is he looking for me?”
“I don’t know brother. When I told him to leave, he seemed fine. Accepted that the club was out of hand. He told me he had family up north and he was heading there.”
“So, you want me to just chase him outta London?” I ask.
“Yeah. He ain’t welcome here.”
Raven steps out of the shop smiling as I disconnect the call. “I got the perfect bed,” she smiles. “You okay?”
“I gotta do some shit for Riggs. You go home and I’ll be there soon,” I say, kissing her on the head. “And don’t answer the door to anyone.”
I flag down a cab and Raven gets in. “Call me when you’re heading back and I’ll order us some food,” she says. I close the door and as I head off, I feel a slight panic setting in that Raven and I are becoming serious naturally with neither of us acknowledging it and it bothers me.
I head to Bill’s. He’s a tattooist on the high street and he knows everyone’s business. If people are talking, then Bill will know. He greets me with a strong handshake. “Long time no see. You in for some ink?” he asks. I shake my head and he turns to the young guy behind the desk. “Take a break, Tommy.” The guy leaves and I take his seat.
“There’s a guy in town that we don’t want here. Goes by the name Cobra. Manchester accent. Big, tattoos,” I say.
“Not heard anything, Chains. I’ll keep my ear to the ground and call you if he surfaces here. Have you tried Anita’s café? It was full of bikers when I passed an hour ago.”
I head there next, but it’s empty, and Anita doesn’t remember seeing anyone fitting Cobra’s description. I order a coffee and sit by the window, making calls to see if anyone’s spotted him.
After an hour of asking around, I call Raven. I’m gonna be home late if this motherfucker doesn’t appear soon. She doesn’t answer and it pisses me off. She never answers her damn phone the first time, so I try again and leave her a voicemail telling her I’ll be late. Then I head back out and try my luck in the local bars.
Chapter Eleven
Leia
Diesel snarls as Blu passes us and Gia laughs. She’s hiding out here to avoid going to dinner with her family to meet her new potential husband. She pats Diesel on the head. “Good boy,” she praises and Blu scowls at her.
“So,” I say, tucking my feet under me. “How mad will Vinn be?”
She pretends to think about it, tapping her chin. “I’d say about as mad as Riggs will be when he finds out about you know what,” she says, pointing to my stomach.
“I’ve decided to move to another country so he never has to know,” I say and she laughs.
“Then take me with you and I’ll never have to marry this arrogant ass who’s been chosen for me.”
“He might be hot,” I say and shrug.
“He might not be. I’m not risking it.”
“Maybe we can convince Vinn to let you marry Blu.” I grin, wiggling my brows. We stare over at where Blu sits at the bar, glaring into a half-drunk beer.
“No way. He’s too moody. Does he even talk, like in sentences?” whispers Gia.
“I can fuckin’ hear you,” he growls without turning to look at us.
“I guess you do talk in sentences. Well done,” says Gia sarcastically.
The door swings open and Vinn fills the doorway. “Oh shit,” I mutter. I’ve never seen him look so mad. “Is it too late to hide?”
“Let’s go, Gia,” he says in a tone that says he’s not to be argued with.
“I should have found a better hiding spot,” she says to me.
“If you don’t wanna go, don’t,” says Blu. Gia’s eyes bug outta her head. Clearly, Blu doesn’t know who Vinn is.
“Gia!” yells Vinn and she moves faster towards the door.
Blu snatches her hand in his as she passes. “Do you wanna go with him?” he asks.
“I . . . erm . . . I . . . ” She looks back at me for help.
“Blu, let her go. Vinn’s her brother,” I say.
“I don’t give a fuck who the hell he is,” he growls and I notice he hasn’t looked in Vinn’s direction once. If he had, he would have seen the pulsating vein about to burst in Vinn’s neck or the way his stance tells me he’s ready to blow Blu’s head off. I rush towards Blu.
“No, seriously, let her go,” I warn.
Blu takes no notice of my pleading tone. His blue eyes are fixed on Gia, who stares back like she’s forgotten what she's supposed to be doing. The click of the gun gets her attention. “I’m not in the mood to deal with idiots today. Let my sister go now!” shouts Vinn.
“Fuck,” I hiss, moving to Vinn. “Put that away. There’s kids around here,” I snap. At the same time, Blu is up off his chair with his own gun pointed at Vinn. “Jesus,” I groan.
“She ain’t gotta go with you, and who the fuck do you think you are comin’ into our club and pulling a gun?” yells Blu. It’s the most I’ve heard him speak since he arrived.
Cree and Riggs rush into the room. They must have seen the chaos unfold from the office. “Put your guns down,” orders Riggs, but neither of the men listen. Diesel picks up on the tension and begins to bark, putting himself between me and Vinn.
“You’d better get your monkeys under control, Riggs,” snaps Vinn.
Blu moves forwards, yelling about not being anyone’s monkey, and Vinn sweeps his arm to move me from in front of him. I trip over Diesel and lose my balance, tumbling towards the ground and hitting my head on a table as I fall. “Shit, Leia,” screams Gia, but as she rushes towards me, she goes fuzzy and then everything goes black.
My head hurts. I groan and the voices around me stop. “Leia,” whispers Gia.
“Did anyone get shot?” I croak.
“I’m not entirely sure. Riggs kicked them out. He’s really mad,” she whispers. “I need to warn you that—”
“Is she awake?” yells Riggs.
“Too late,” adds Gia.
I push myself to sit up on the couch. Diesel is by my feet, and as Riggs approaches, he snarls. “Do something with that fuckin’ dog. He’s growling at me in my own damn club!” he yells.
“Stop yelling and he won’t growl,” I huff, patting Diesel and reassuring him that everything is fine.
“Pregnant!” snaps Riggs, his eyes wide.
“Sorry, I blurted it out when you fell,” mutters Gia and I groan again.
“Get talking,” snaps Riggs, pacing.
“I had sex. I got pregnant,” I say and he glares at me.
“You think this is funny, Leia? All the money I’ve put into your education to get you where you want to be. For what? So you can sit here and make stupid statements like that!”
“What do you want me to say, Riggs? Shit happens. It happened to Anna.”
“Anna planned that, we both know it,” he snaps bitterly and I hear a gasp from across the room. Riggs closes his eyes for the briefest of seconds and then turns to Anna. “Sorry. I’m mad. I didn’t mean that.” Anna stomps out of the room without another word, slamming the door as she leaves. “Fuckin’ great,” he hisses.