“Yeah,” I agreed hoarsely.
“For what it’s worth, she just gave us the rest of the information we need.”
“Really?” I pulled back, looking up at him as he wiped my tears away.
“Yeah, babe. We’re gonna be able to end this. Soon.”
I blew out a relieved breath. “Good.”
*****
With the information my mother had provided handed off to the police, an arrest warrant had been issued for my father. It was a rare show of partnership between the Knights and the local PD. Not something, Axel assured me, I was likely to see again.
I didn’t know the details of the charges and, at the moment, didn’t care. I assumed Axel would tell me what I needed to know. I was focused on keeping Maddox content and hoping we’d be in our own beds that night.
A group of the guys went out scouting and came back confirming that his cronies had left town. Too many cops, too much heat for them to stick around. Plus, I’d guess with their boss about to be locked up, there wasn’t much reason for them to stick around. There’d be nobody to pay them.
It was late by the time the guys agreed it was safe enough for all of us to disperse.
Ryker had decreed he’d be staying with us for the night, wanting Axel to have him at his back. It’d been a long day and all I wanted was to get home.
Home.
“What’s on your mind?” Axel asked, his head cocked toward me as we drove up the mountain with Ryker’s bike rumbling behind us.
There was so much going through my mind just then, but mostly, I was thinking about how all of this was nearly behind us and together, we could just look forward.
“I was thinking about the house,” I answered him.
His brow lifted and I could tell that wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting.
“I was thinking it’s time we made some changes, work on Mad’s room,” I explained.
“Guess I had to put a ring on your finger for you to come to that conclusion, finally,” he goaded me with a chuckle.
“Whatever,” I huffed as he reached over and tickled my side.
“Hey!” I protested through laughter as Mad squealed from the backseat.
“Your mama’s ticklish,” Axel told him, his deep chuckle reverberating through the small space as I continued to squeal.
“Okay, okay,” I held up my hands in surrender as he grabbed one and placed it in his lap.
“You did good today,” he told me quietly.
I sighed. “Thanks.”
“The shit with your dad, are you okay with it?”
“I don’t know that I’ll ever be okay with it necessarily.” I bit my lip and looked out the window as the dark landscape slid by. “But I understand why it has to be this way. It’s better than a lot of the alternatives. Do you think they’ll catch him soon?”
He squeezed my hand. “Yeah.”
“Good,” I sighed, suddenly weary. “I’m ready to be done with this.”
“I know, darlin’.”
“What did he do?” I asked seriously.
Ax glanced over to me, his expression sympathetic, which didn’t bode well. “You sure?”
I knew he wanted to protect me from this, but I needed to know.
“Yeah,” I nodded.
“He’s been into some serious shit for a while,” he began as I braced myself for what was to come. “Seems like he’s got a pretty serious gambling problem.”
“My father?” I demanded incredulously. I would never have guessed.
“Yep, he’s broke…as in bankrupt. That’s why he was after your money. One thing we did learn from Benjamin was that there was a substantial financial gain for your father if you married him. It had the potential to rebuild his completely fucked career also.”
“So what was his plan? To sell me off?” I screeched.
He put a hand on my thigh and squeezed in reassurance. “Not sure,” he admitted.
“Do you think my mother knows?”
“The information she gave us was pretty damning so I’d guess whatever she didn’t know before she does now. I also don’t think she had any part in trying to steal from your trust fund. She actually delivered proof that he’d fraudulently tried to access your money.”
I felt an unexpected wave of sympathy for my mother. Despite everything, I didn’t want her to lose everything she had. She’d already lost her family.
“One thing I’ll say for your mother, babe. She may be a bitch but the lady is smart. I’m sure she can take care of herself,” he assured me, picking up on my line of thinking.
“I hope so,” I bit my lip. I thought about everything he just shared, trying to make sense of an insane situation. “So basically, his whole plan centered around me. He lost everything by being a jackass and thought he could marry me off to some rich senator’s son and somehow reclaim power and money.”
“Pretty much.”
“What an ass.” I shook my head in disgust.
“Yeah, well, your mother obviously has the brains in that relationship. He didn’t cover his tracks very well. The money was an easy trail to follow – Sal and I have been on that for weeks.”
My anger flared, sudden and intense. “Why didn’t you say anything?” I hissed, not wanting to yell and scare Maddox.
He turned to face me briefly before his eyes returned to the dark road ahead. “I wanted to have proof before I had to deliver more bad news,” he answered with gruff sincerity. “We all know your father’s a grade A bastard, but all this,” he shook his head. “It’s worse than I thought it would be.”
That pacified me some though I still wished he would have told me.
“What’s his connection with the Black Riders?” I wanted to know. “I don’t get how he even knew how to contact Aron, or Jeb for that matter. “
Axel jaw clenched. “It’s fucked up,” he admitted. “And we still don’t know everything, including who was feeding him information about our club. He often came to Vegas to gamble. The Black Riders run a lot of that territory. I don’t know how it started, but somewhere along the way, he invested in several of their businesses. He got in way over his head,” Axel sighed in exasperation. “You don’t live long with an outstanding debt with a club like theirs,” he said darkly. “My guess is, Aron got wind that the Black Riders were owed a pay day and struck out on his own working with Jeb to get inside information. They didn’t realize your dad was broke. They got greedy.”
“What’s going to happen with the Black Riders now?” I wanted to know.
“Cal wants to find out how much their prez knows,” he explained. “If it was just a debt they were owed, that’s one thing. But, if he had anything to do with breaking into your place or your kidnapping, that’s another. For now, we’re still thinking Aron and Jeb were acting alone.” When he saw my worried expression, his deep voice rumbled, “Don’t worry, baby,”
Easier said than done, but I nodded rather than argue.
“Thank you,” I murmured, turning to watch his handsome profile as he watched the road intently.
He turned to look at me briefly, his eyes soft. “For what?”