“Yeah, and the last time Driver was out this way with Blue, I saw the way he looked at Lila.” There’s no way in hell I’m letting Driver anywhere near my sister. Brother or not, he’s a playboy, and I’m not going to let anyone hurt my sister, which is exactly what he’d do if he got his hands on her.

  “Grinder will look out for her,” Twister says. “Then again, Driver knows what it’s like when it comes to sisters getting with a member of the club.”

  “Yeah, he’s still pissed about Chelsea and Lucky,” Horse says and lets out a chuckle.

  “How about we drop this subject?” I suggest, wanting to forget about the idea of my sister leaving for school in another state, for that matter. “Let’s focus on something else. If I have to think about my sister going away, it’ll just piss me off.”

  “You’re gonna be pissed regardless,” Gadget states from behind his laptop.

  “Did you find something else?” Brass asks.

  “Yeah, you can say that.” Gadget nods. “Athena and Lucian gave me access to the security camera feeds. I’ve been going through them for the past two days. Last night, though, someone gave Autumn’s apartment another visit.”

  I stiffen in my seat and focus in on Gadget. “And?”

  “The security feed in her apartment showed them trashing it,” he remarks, grimacing. “Didn’t see the feed until just a bit ago, my fault . . .”

  “You gotta sleep sometime,” Dragon mutters, speaking to his twin brother.

  “Yeah, I know, but shit right now is real,” Gadget grumbles and glances around the table. “The men who broke into Autumn’s apartment, they didn’t go in just to trash it. They were there to take her.”

  “How do you figure?” Twister asks, leaning forward.

  Gadget nods to the screen off to the side of the room and points a remote at it. “This is why,” he says as the picture comes up.

  On the screen, you can see the men trashing her place. Gadget turns the volume up, and that’s when I hear a man who steps in from her room. “She’s not here again. She was here, though.”

  “I still don’t know why the boss wants this bitch so badly,” another man says, kicking at the shredded couch cushion.

  “Because he does,” the other one says. “You know better than to question the bossman about his intentions.”

  “I don’t give a flying fuck what his intentions are. I’m sick of looking out to snag a bitch who⁠—”

  “Watch it, Micky, you don’t want the boss to find you talking shit about this woman. He has plans for her.”

  “What plans would those be, Rob?” Micky scoffs.

  “I don’t fuckin’ know.” Rob sneers. “Look, let’s just get the fuck out of here. She ain’t here. I’ll talk to bossman and see what he wants to do.”

  “He probably needs to just snag her from that café again,” Micky says, heading for the door.

  “It’s a possibility, but we know those friends of hers from the club have that place on radar. One of them lives right down the hall here. We’ve risked enough the times we’ve come in here as it is. He doesn’t want them to cause any more trouble than they already have. He’s not ready to deal with them just yet.”

  The two of them make their way out of the apartment, making sure to close the door behind them.

  “So, their boss isn’t ready to deal with us just yet? What does that mean?” Burner asks.

  “I don’t know, but ‘Marionette’ wants Autumn. He just doesn’t want to go against us,” Gadget remarks.

  “Question is, why doesn’t he want to go against us?” I ask, more to myself than to any of them. “That’s what we need to find out,” Twister adds, rapping his knuckles on the table. In the years I’ve known him, this is something I’ve seen him do plenty of times to know he’s deep in thought. He leans back in his seat and nods. “For now, Striker, you stick to your woman as much as possible. Don’t let her outta your sight.”

  “Wasn’t planning on it.” There’s no way I’m leaving any openings for anyone to get to her. This means next time I have to go to Devil’s Nirvana, she’s coming with me.

  “Good,” Twister remarks and looks around. “Until we have this situation taken care of, we need to be cautious as much as we can. You got an ol’ lady, make sure she’s on alert, don’t let them go anywhere alone if you can help it.”

  “We don’t need to take chances,” Horse says. “We’ve had enough bullshit around here. Don’t need more.”

  “Agreed,” Burner grumbles.

  The rest of church, we put a plan together in trying to locate this ‘Marionette’ guy. I, for one, want nothing more than to get my hands on him. He wants Autumn for some reason, and I’m willing to bet it’s got more to do with the woman herself than just Rick and what he was into working for the guy.

  By the time we finish, I pretty much have a plan of my own put together in my head. First things first, getting back to my woman and making sure she’s not working herself to death.

  Tonight, I’ll tell her what she needs to know about what’s going on. Then I’ll make sure she understands that I’m gonna do whatever it takes to protect her and make sure she stays safe.

  No matter the cost.

  CHAPTER 14

  Autumn

  The bell chimes over the door, and I swear I know exactly who it is before I even look up. Not because of Lila calling out a greeting. I knew it before she even spoke. I don’t know how, maybe I was just able to sense his closeness. It’s weird, but I did.

  Him being here right now, though, couldn’t be the worst timing. Not because I didn’t want to see him, but rather because my parents decided to make a trip out after getting a call from Tony.

  Stupid Tony reported back to them that things were changing for me and told them that I was seeing someone. I hadn’t told them. I didn’t know how to tell them, let alone if I was ready for them to know.

  Mom came in and decided she was going to get straight to work and, in her words, told me to sit my keyster down with my dad. This was both a good thing and a disaster. Mainly because my mom was an amazing cook and baker, she’s the one who taught my sister and me everything we know. However, when it came to her being around everyone else in the kitchen or behind the counter, she can be bossy. More so when she thinks she’s right, though, she doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing.

  Thankfully, I think she’s more or less having the time of her life. She’s been laughing with the others. At first, it was just Tiffany and Athena, then Chris came in, and he’d blanched at her bossing him in the kitchen. He looked ready to blow. At that point, I had to step in to keep him from doing so. When Lila came in, she wasn’t supposed to be there for a shift, but she wanted just to come in since Striker had grounded her, and she wasn’t ready to go home.

  My parents took a quick liking to Lila. Dad thought she was something else. The way she talked about preparing to go to college and even admitted she’d gotten into the school of her dreams but hadn’t told her brother yet.

  “He’s going to lose his mind, Autumn, I know he is,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t want to hurt his feelings when I tell him.”

  I’d been about to tell her something when my mom intervened. “Sweetheart, if he loves you, it won’t hurt his feelings.” Smiles and looks between the two of us. “I don’t know you or your brother, but I’m betting he loves you dearly and would do anything for you. Even if it means letting you go to the school of your dreams.”

  Lila blinked at her then looked back to me. “You think she’s right? Striker will let me?”

  “I don’t know, but your brother does love you,” I told her and walked behind the counter, not needing this conversation right now.

  Thankfully, she hadn’t pushed and got back to working.

  That had been just thirty minutes or so ago.

  Now, Striker was here. My parents were here. Inwardly I’m freaking out.

  I slowly spin to face him as the door closes to see him embrace Lila as it seems is his way. I think it’s sweet how he doesn’t hide his affection for her. I didn’t know much about how it came about him taking full custody of his little sister. Only what she’d told me, and I didn’t like the parts she shared.

  Their parents were drug addicts and were more about the drugs than they were about taking care of their kids. I mean to each their own, do what you must, but when you have kids, you need to put them first. Their needs. Their lives.

  “To get out of your punishment, you decided to come to work, huh?” Striker’s gruff baritone sends shivers down my spine at his teasing while talking to Lila.

  “Can you blame me?” Lila asks in return, pulling out of her brother’s arms.

  “Naw, can’t blame you. Better you here than you completely disregarding me and going to your friends,” he says, “How about tonight, instead of dinner at home, you, me, and Autumn go out to celebrate you getting into that college?”

  “You know?” she squeaks out.

  “Horse told me,” Striker confirms. “I might not like it. I don’t want you that fuckin’ far from me, but if it’s what you want, then best believe I’m gonna do what I’ve gotta do to make sure you stay safe while there. Means you gotta agree to the rules.”

  “I can do that,” Lila squeals and wraps herself around him again.

  Seeing the way he is with his sister melts something inside me I didn’t know I was holding back, which scares the daylights out of me. I mean, if he can be like this with his sister, I think how he could be with . . . nope, I don’t want to go there.

  Striker lets Lila go, eyes locking on me. “Hey, Mama.”

  That shiver rolls once again down my spine straight between my legs, making me that much wetter for him than I already was from him just walking in the café.

  “Um . . . hey,” I murmur as he closes the distance between us. He isn’t able to get to me completely because of the counter, but that doesn’t stop him from reaching out, curling his fingers in my hair, and tugging me forward to lay one on me. Having his lips on mine makes me feel like . . . honestly, I don’t know what exactly it makes me feel other than happy, and I find myself having to think past the guilt that wants to set it.

  Just this morning, I told myself after he left, I wasn’t going to feel guilty. Not this time. Not when I want more than anything to just feel alive in his arms. He’s right. I didn’t die with my sister. We’re two completely different people. I lost her, not me. It’s time I realized that and stopped letting guilt control me.

  Striker pulls from the kiss but leans his forehead against mine. “You doin’ good?”

  His question tugs at my heartstrings, and rather than give him words, I simply nod.

  The sound of a throat clearing causes me to stiffen slightly. I’d totally forgotten my parents were here. This is definitely not the way I wanted them to meet the guy I just started to see.

  Striker jerks back and looks to my father, who’s staring at us with watchful eyes.

  “Ugh, Striker, this is my dad, Adam. Dad, this is Striker, Lila’s brother and . . . um . . .ugh, my um boyfriend.”

  Striker gives me a look and cocks his brow. “Baby, boyfriends are for teenagers, shit like that. I’m not a pubescent kid, I’m your man,” he says, straightening and turning fully to my dad as my mom steps closer to my dad’s side. Both of them staring at Striker and me. Striker stretches his hand out to first my dad. “Good to meet you.”

  Dad looks from him to me, then back to Striker, and takes his hand. “You too, Striker. Is that your actual name or just what they call you?”

  “It’s the road name my brothers gave me,” Striker answers. “Name’s Jonas Alvarado.”

  Dad nods and opens his mouth to speak again, but my mom beats him to it, surprising me as she does so because she doesn’t exactly speak. Rather, she throws herself at Striker.

  “You’re a godsend,” she cries and hugs him tightly.

  Striker gets this look on his face that says it all for him. He doesn’t know what to make of my mom’s embrace.

  “Vera, you wanna let the man go?” Dad says, looking at me, wordlessly saying, ‘You know your mom.’

  “Mom, seriously?” I ask, annoyed she’d throw herself at Striker like that. I mean, what does she mean by calling him a godsend?

  “What?” Mom snaps, letting Striker go, and turns to face me, hands on her hips.

  “You can’t just throw yourself at someone who you don’t even know,” I tell her, planting my hands on the counter.

  “Yes, I can,” Mom says and rolls her eyes. “Besides, I know all I need to know, considering he picked my daughter and loves his sister.”

  At this, I can’t help but roll my eyes. “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “I think not. Far as I can see, Striker brought my living, breathing daughter back to life,” she says, tears brimming and readying to fall down her cheeks. “Way I see it, I know all I need because I see it in the way he came in here. The way your eyes changed. I can finally sleep easy knowing my only living child is finally showing she’s alive and not gone.”

  My mom’s words are like a sledgehammer to the heart. The pain of it hurts, and it’s all I can do to stand strong and not crumble under the weight of it. I know losing Avery wasn’t easy on them. She was their daughter. They brought her into this world. Raised her, just as they did with me. What they’ve had to have been feeling at the time and since . . . and here I am, making it worse, leaving them to handle things on their own and not checking on them.

  I’m the worst daughter in the world.

  Striker moves around the counter and pulls me in his arms. “Give us a minute.” I hear him say as he moves me through the doors and into my office, where he closes the door, securing us away from the others. “Talk to me, Mama.”

  “I’m the worst daughter in the world,” I whisper, shaking my head. “No. I’m the worst daughter in the universe.”

  “Autumn, you’re not the worst of anything. You’ve been grieving just as they have. They lost a daughter. It’s marked them. Hurt them. You, though, you lost your sibling. Your twin. It can’t be easy.”

  “It’s not,” I confirm for him. Losing Avery was like losing a part of me.

  “I get that. So do they. You all lost enough,” Striker murmurs. “I’m sorry you had to lose her, but like you, they’re learning to live without her. I’m betting with what your mom said out there . . .” He jerks his chin, nodding toward the door. “She’s felt like she’d lost you alongside Avery. And Mama, you ain’t dead.” He steps in close, body right against mine. “You’re living and breathing right here and now. Not buried six feet deep in the ground.”

  I nod in response, my throat tight and unable to find words.

  “Now, I know the plan was we’d talk this evening after dinner. We’re still doing that, but first, we’re going out to dinner. We’ll invite your parents to come along. I’ve got to celebrate my sister’s accomplishment even if it’s the last damn thing I wanna do.” From the sound of his voice, he’s not pleased.

  “You know she’s really excited to have gotten in,” I tell him, smiling weakly.

  “Yeah, sucks, though,” Strikers grunts, shaking his head. “I don’t like the idea of her being so damn far from me.”

  “Understandable, you’re her big brother, and in her eyes, you’re the only one who has always been there for her.”

  “Damn right, and I’ll always be there for Lila,” he says and curls a hand around my neck. “I’ll let you get back to it and hang with your folks until you’re able to leave.”

  I nod, though I want to ask him why. I don’t but I’ll ask him tonight after dinner. Right now, I don’t have the strength or energy for much more right now.

  CHAPTER 15

  Striker

  “Well, I’m heading to bed,” Lila announces, bounding off the couch. “Night.”

  “Night.” I look toward her and smile at her, though I don’t move from my spot. I couldn’t if I wanted to. Not with the way Autumn is curled around me. She passed out not long ago, and I don’t have it in me to move her just yet.

  Tonight, she’d gone with the flow, relaxed her guard, laughed, and was at ease. Her folks had gotten to see this, and I knew they appreciated it. They’d been worried about her. You could see it in the way they both watched.

  I’d gotten to see the way she and her mom could go at it, debating who was right and who was wrong about the simplest shit as to what’s the best way to cook potatoes and make fries. If I’m not mistaken, they even started talking about purple potatoes. Something I hadn’t even seen before, but Autumn swore cooked just right, they were the best potatoes to eat.

  Adam explained to me that Avery had been his sweet, quiet girl while Autumn was his wild one. They never did anything separately. It’s why they’d decided to open two cafés. Since Avery’s death, Autumn closed the other one deciding to keep just Avery’s going, but she changed the name.

  At dinner, I learned a bit more about Autumn, and I know deep down I made the right call in deciding she was going to be mine. No matter how fast or slow I’ve got to go with her. Yielding to the temptation that is my woman is hard enough. Giving in completely is all I can think about. She’s quickly becoming more to me than I thought was possible.

  I’d just like for her to stay awake longer than it takes for her to fully relax and chill out.

  Lila had put a movie on when we got home. I planned to talk to Autumn, but she instantly curled up to me without me pulling her in, and within minutes of the movie being on, she passed out. Lila barely got thirty minutes into it before deciding to go to sleep, leaving me here with a sleeping woman in my lap. At least Lila had a good sense to put it on the new Godzilla and Kong movie.

  Eyes to the movie, I debate moving, carrying Autumn to bed, or just lying there.

  Autumn whimpers something in her sleep, and I give her a squeeze as I kiss the top of her head. Last night, more like this morning, she hadn’t had a nightmare. I fucked her to the point of exhaustion and then some. She’d been so worn out she could do nothing but sleep. I think even with it being just a smaller amount, she’d been able to sleep deeper than she had in a while.

 

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