Taken aback, the guy gaped at me. Then he actually lunged at me. I side-stepped him and kicked his ass like I’d promised. He stumbled against the wall of the other building, whirled around and prepared to attack again. This time with a pulled knife. I dropped my cigarette and stomped it with my boot.
“As nice as this is to watch, Luca’s expecting you, so you better move your ass inside, Maddox,” Matteo drawled where he leaned in the doorway with crossed arms.
Our eyes met and the cold calculation in them told me he wasn’t too happy about my appearance. I shrugged and grinned challengingly at the bouncer. My body was grateful for the avoided fight. I really needed to get my ribs checked for possible fractures, but I needed my money for a new bike—the old Harley I’d bought recently was giving me too much trouble—and a place to live so I couldn’t waste any on medical treatment.
“There was a scratch on my bike,” Matteo muttered.
“Not from me, I know how to treat a motorcycle.”
“Not a woman, obviously,” Matteo said, motioning me inside.
I gritted my teeth. “I had business to attend to as you might have heard.”
Matteo simply smirked. “Luca’s waiting.”
“Marcella and Growl were supposed to arrive soon as well,” I said then laughed darkly. “But I suppose Growl will make sure Marcella stays home on Luca’s orders.”
Matteo gave me a shark-grin. “He gave clear orders that you weren’t supposed to see Marcella without supervision. You should have come to him before talking to her.”
“I won’t ask Luca for permission every time I want to see Marcella. I’m not his soldier and she isn’t a child.”
“You better learn to play by our rules quickly, White, or you should run off to find your escaped biker buddies.”
“I won’t do you the favor of me running off. Marcella is mine.”
“You ran off.”
“Sure. And I don’t suppose you and your brother had a hand in the reason for my longer disappearance.”
We arrived in the office where Luca waited with crossed arms beside the desk.
“So you’re back,” Luca said, sounding surprised but definitely not pleased.
“I’m back and I’ll stay as long as Marcella wants me.”
“We’ll see,” Matteo said, plopping down on the sofa with fake relaxation. I really wanted to put a bullet in his arrogant head.
I glanced at Luca with a hard smile. “I didn’t mean to be gone so long, but I needed to settle a few things after rumor about me killing Earl made the rounds. It’s made my life a whole lot more difficult. Many people want to see me dead. Present company included, I assume.”
Luca’s face remained blank, not giving anything away. “A few of my men followed you and saw you searching for something in old Tartarus drug hiding places.”
“I thought I noticed a few assholes on my trail,” I said with a shrug. “I was looking for Tartarus money if you must know. I don’t want to have to rely on your money. I now have enough to find a place and get a new bike, so I can start working with your Enforcers, or have you changed your mind about that?”
Luca narrowed his eyes. “If you have hints to possible hiding places of escaped Tartarus bikers then that’s still an option.”
“Not all Tartarus members are a danger. Many were against Earl’s plan, and some even became lone wolves to avoid involvement. These men could be useful assets. There’s no sense in going on unnecessary killing sprees when they can become allies instead.” I paused. “But first we need to discuss who leaked the information about Earl’s murder. Either you gave the order to spread the news or your control over your men is slipping.”
Luca looked ready to choke me, but Marcella stalked in, followed by a pissed looking Amo. The Luca-look-alike only sent me a brief scowl before he exchanged a look with his father that I couldn’t read.
Growl’s face was apologetic. “She insisted I bring her.”
“You can go,” Luca said. Growl closed the door. The second he was gone, Marcella turned on her father.
“I can’t believe you’re still treating me like a stupid child. I’m not a child. But you keep deciding things behind my back and even keep lying to my face!”
“Marcella,” Luca said in a low, imploring voice. “I want to protect you.”
“Is that why you tried to have Maddox killed by his old biker friends by leaking the information about Earl’s death?”
So I was right. Vitiello had played dirty. I wasn’t really surprised.
“Did he tell you that?”
Marcella’s face turned red, her eyes growing big. She stalked closer to her father. “You promised! I thought I could trust you.” Her voice shook, not just with anger, and for the first time in my life, I saw a hint of a softer emotion on Vitiello’s face but it was gone too quickly.