Naked Dirty Love (22 page)

The voice, distinctively Trey’s, allowed me to breathe again. My body was slowly let go and I stood again on my own two feet. I turned around and faced the man I loved, a semi-automatic in his hand as he pointed it at Cheuy, my would-be abductor.

Carlito took the opportunity to stroll into the hospital, flanked by his own personal security detail but my mind wasn’t on him now. The man in front of me had participated in the drive-by. I didn’t see much since my body was sheltered by Trey’s but I never forgot a face and he’d been in the first low-rider. Whether he was just a passenger or one of the gunmen didn’t matter. He’d been there and he was a direct reason why Miranda was dead.

I reached behind me and pulled a semi-automatic from the waistband of my low-rise jeans. It was a Ruger P89 nine-millimeter—a “chick” sized handgun—Trey had surprised me with the previous Christmas.

Somewhere in the background, I could hear sirens but they weren’t close enough for me to give a damn. I aimed at Cheuy’s head and pulled the trigger.

The world went silent for me after that. I didn’t know if it was the actual sound of the handgun going off in my hand or my own disorientation. It was an out of body experience that left me shaken to the core. I didn’t know what was going on until the world spun away and everything around me faded to black.

“M
s. Hughes? Can you hear me?”

The voice sounded like it was coming from the top of a deep, dark well and I was at the bottom.

I slowly came to and blinked several times before the world swam into focus again.

My head hurt and my mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls. I certainly wasn’t having the best of days.

As I sat up, the room spun. Gisela quickly walked to my side and offered me a paper cup with water. “How are you, sweetie?”

“Not so hot,” I finally said after finishing the water.

“Ms. Hughes, I’m Doctor Camaron.” I glanced in the direction of the kind female voice. She smiled kindly, her ash blonde hair tucked in a neat bun while her blue-gray eyes looked into mine with empathy. “You were brought in last night after an incident outside. A man tried to abduct you and you shot him in self-defense.”

The night slowly started to come back to me. Cheuy or whatever his name was had let me go, Trey and the guys were there. I remembered the same guy from the drive-by and I’d shot him point blank in the back of the head as he faced Trey, not in self-defense.

I nodded my head. “Yes, now I remember.”

“You fainted in front of the hospital. We ran some blood work just to be on the safe side. You’re fine, physically, but we wouldn’t rule out Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Between the events you witnessed yesterday and the attempted abduction—most people would find it very hard to cope,” Dr. Camaron explained in an empathetic voice.

“So there’s nothing wrong with me?”

“Well, psychologically speaking, you’re
not
okay. Physically? You’re a perfectly healthy woman. Since you’re not expecting, we’ll start you on a regimen of Prozac and Xanax - both will be small doses. The Prozac is just to keep you at equilibrium and the Xanax is for anxiety issues. Often, PTSD patients will suffer from severe panic attacks. It will make them much easier to get through.” She wrote a few notes on my chart. “I have to make my rounds but if you need anything, please contact our nursing staff.”

“When can I go home?”

“I’m discharging you today. Your fiancé, Mr. Lennon, should be by shortly to pick you up.”

I waited until the doctor left before I stared at Gisela. “How long have I been out?”

“Long enough to miss all the goddamn drama.” She rolled her eyes as she sat a shopping bag on the bed. “Clean clothes I was able to pick up from your house.”

“Is the lockdown over?”

“For now, yes. All the men responsible for the drive-by are either in police custody or dead. This morning, the Feds had a surprise sting on the warehouse
Aztecas Infierno
uses in Long Beach. They’ve arrested Emilio and Fernando Navarro. Carlito is still on the run…he abducted both his fiancée and their child at gunpoint just an hour after she had the baby last night,” Gisela explained as she opened the curtains.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and slowly stood to my feet. “Do you think it’s safe to end the lockdown so soon?”

My best friend turned toward me. “Honey, there’s a worldwide manhunt for Carlito Navarro.
Aztecas Infierno
might survive this—they might not. It’s certainly possible for criminal organizations to be run by men behind bars. However, they don’t pose a threat to us entirely. The Saints are in the clear and the Knights are cooperating with the Feds to keep their members from doing any hard time for what happened over at O’Branaughs last year.”

That
was a touchy subject in Birch Tree.

O’Branaughs, a family owned pub, had been shot up by the White Knights. People were murdered and injured during the attack. The incident was quietly handled by Sheriff Rawlins, Colm O’Branaugh, the owner of the pub, and Dizzy. The victims received retribution via Dizzy when the Saints shot up a clubhouse spot for Knights members in Black Oak and compensation from Nel Decker, who would have rather paid hush money than go to prison.

The pub—rebuilt and retrofitted with a nice outside deck for spring and summer months—had reopened for business and the place was still one of the best spots in town to get an authentic Irish meal and great local brews on tap.

“Okay…” I trailed off as my best friend grabbed her Samsung Note from her Herm
è
s Birkin and read a text message.

“Trey’s here,” she said with a smile as her amber eyes met mine.

“You didn’t mention my dad or the Bastards,” I replied quietly.

“I didn’t say anything to anyone.” Gisela slid the smart phone back into her rose-colored crocodile handbag. “The Feds found some information…it linked the Bastards to
Aztecas Infierno
. The case falls under RICO. My father knows some of the best attorneys in the state. There’s a hot shit law firm from Las Vegas who are branching out and recently opened a second practice in Carson City. They’re handling your father’s case. We’ve been barred from having anything to do with the case in a professional manner.”

“Why?” I exclaimed in anger. “That’s my father—I should be able to defend him if he wants me to!”

Gisela walked over and gently placed her hands on my shoulders. “Sweetie, you’re considered a potential witness. The FBI, ATF, and DEA are acting on this one together…the likes of which I’ve never seen happen on a Federal level. There’s talk of the US Marshalls also coming in to handle certain aspects of the case since we’re talking about certain people who will probably be placed into Witsec before they even testify.

“They know about our involvement,” she continued. “I spoke to the head FBI investigator myself. She said she met with you briefly on another matter. Anyway, she knows you’re involved with Trey Lennon and are being protected by the Saints. It doesn’t matter that Jonesy’s your father. The government feels you wouldn’t be able to represent him to the best of your ability. Jonesy contacted my father and Angelo Abandonato. I don’t even know what’s going on, honey.”

My heart raced in my chest as I brushed strands of my hair behind my ear. “Do you remember the FBI investigator’s name?”

“Of course,” Gisela replied flippantly. “Eve Kerrigan.”

I nodded my head and stood there, trying not to cry yet again.

“Sweetie, why don’t you get dressed and let’s get the hell out of here? I know everything is really tough right now. We have a club to think about though. Kink wants Miranda to be buried as soon as possible. The funeral’s on Wednesday, two days from now. He wanted to give her parents and siblings enough time to travel here so they could say goodbye to her. Chantal’s lost her best friend again and we don’t know whether Lacey is dead or alive. There’s a lot of shit that’s still so messed up but…life goes on and we make the best of what we’ve got.”

“What about Lacey’s baby?” I asked in a small voice.

“Oh, he was born via natural birth. Seven pounds, nine ounces, and perfectly healthy.” My best friend unpacked the clothes she brought me and put them on the bed. “Can you believe that? The woman drank like a fish during her pregnancy. Anyway, she named him Christian Brendan Henderson-Navarro. She wasn’t taken against her will, at least that’s what the nurse told the investigators from the FBI and the Sheriff’s Department.”

“And what about the crime I committed last night?” I shed the flimsy, hospital gown and slid on a pair of fitted jean capris and a coral, short-sleeved baby doll top. “I murdered a man in cold blood. What happens to me?”

Gisela glanced at me with cool amber eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I saw you shoot a man in self-defense and so did every other witness last night. He participated in the drive-by and tried to abduct you because he knew you’d seen him earlier that day. The Sheriff’s Department doesn’t plan to charge you and neither do the Feds. Let’s keep it that way, all right?”

“Okay.” I smiled at her as someone knocked on my door.

Trey walked in, followed by Cillian.

He strolled directly to me and swept me up in his arms with a warm embrace. “Babe, thank God you’re all right.”

He put me down and stared into my eyes. I couldn’t stop from grinning back at him or kissing him as he grabbed my waist again.

“I spoke to the doctor and she said you need some rest so let’s go home and get you into a warm, relaxing bath. Then you’re goin’ to get into bed and sleep for about a day. We gotta keep you fit and healthy,” Trey whispered in my ear.

“I have a feeling I’ll be doing a bit more than resting,” I responded as our eyes met again.

“Well, that goes without saying.” He grinned at me before we kissed again.

Despite all the crap going on in my life at the moment, that one small gift of affection from the man I loved made me feel better.

Chapter Fifteen

Trey

T
rey couldn’t wait to get Kyra home after the scare she’d given them all the night before.

He couldn’t pretend seeing his woman, a deranged maniac holding her against him while brandishing a gun hadn’t affected him. If the whole situation hadn’t been so utterly bizarre, he would have shot Cheuy Rodriguez before he’d known they’d even pulled up.

Trey was man enough to admit he hadn’t been at the top of his game. Snuffing out the lives of people earlier that evening had taken its toll. He’d been willing to do anything other than murdering anyone else that night.

It was Kyra who surprised him when she pulled a gun—his Christmas gift to her—out of her waistband, aimed, and fired. Cheuy’s body fell to the ground and she’d fainted shortly after. The doctor’s diagnoses of PSTD didn’t surprise him—hell, he already knew he suffered from it and so did most of the brothers. They didn’t talk about it because what was the use? The drugs to treat it were for shit, left him disoriented and didn’t mix well with booze so he dealt with the highs and lows, and called it a day.

Earlier that morning, the club received great news, and Dizzy prematurely ended the lockdown. The sudden arrest of the Navarro brothers, the brains behind
Aztecas Infierno
, wasn’t completely unexpected but watching his mother at a press conference as the head FBI in charge of the task force was a rush of blood to the head.

Eve Kerrigan, beautiful and poised, answered questions from the local Long Beach station as well as from the national news stations including MSNBC, Fox News, and CNN. He smiled as he dragged off a cigarette and drank a cup of coffee to sober him up after a long, sleepless night.

Cillian walked into the game room and motioned for him. He stood and followed his brother into chapel where Dizzy sat down. He joined the two men and sat across from them.

“She really is somethin’…ain’t she?” Dizzy greeted without preamble.

“Yeah, she is.” He glared at his father. “Now you know she’s still alive, are you gonna put a hit out on her?”

Cillian laughed loudly before Dizzy joined him. “No, son. Why would I do that? Your brother and me—we talked about this already. That woman on television is—no matter what name she calls herself—the only woman I have
ever
been in love with. I wouldn’t hurt a hair on her head, not when she was the one who bartered the truce between Jonesy and I. We would’ve destroyed this area—and each other’s clubs—but she stopped us, son.”

“We’ve always known she was FBI,” Cillian continued. “She told us about her assignment coming to an end and we agreed to make it seem like we were gonna kill her. She knew you wouldn’t go into the life anymore than Trista would. Tristan was the only one who pursued a career with the Feds, and he convinced my cousin to do the same. Not that it was hard. She worked for Police Services in Northern Ireland—PSNI for short—in Belfast, and had passed all her tests to work for MI6—or the Secret Intelligence Services—in the UK.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Trey glanced at them both as he folded his hands together on the oak table.

He still didn’t know where they were going with the cloak and dagger bullshit but he had a feeling this wasn’t an ordinary conversation either. They were about to let him in on a major club secret. The impending news both excited and disturbed him at the same time.

“Son, a long time ago…I was a good man. I worked hard and I went really far. I earned a top-notch education and I truly
believed
in law and order. Graduated from Cambridge—I did—many blue moons ago. I joined MI5 and my first assignment was going undercover as an IRA terrorist. Some people aren’t meant to do that and I was one of them. I lost myself…couldn’t separate my fantasy life from reality. I almost forgot about Bronaugh and my kid, Cillian. I was so immersed in this new way of life, it completely slipped me mind the life I led wasn’t my own. It was borrowed and counterfeit.

“I had a nervous breakdown and realized I had no other choice but to leave and start over. Make a new life elsewhere. I disappeared first and got lost in Boston’s Irish community. It was easy because I had more family afoul with the law than on the right side of it. Tim Lennon, my cousin, he got me the paperwork and I transformed myself into Desmond “Dizzy” Cox. My siblings were already Coxes…they were all half-siblings anyway. My da died—he was an IRA legend—and I proudly bore his name. Rory Daire Lennon.”

“What happened?”

“Life, son. Your ma and I—we knew we couldn’t last. She and Tim were serious about each other and I pressed me luck. They’d already trained at Quantico and received their assignments. She knew who I was, tipped me off, and I did what I had to do. I called a couple of me hometown buddies over from Northern Ireland and we formed our own MC. We moved out here to the middle of nowhere but the English are sneaky bastards. MI5 found me all the same. My American handler is…Eve Kerrigan, your mother.”

“Wait…so…what about all the shit we do and the illegal crap we’ve been involved in? Are you sayin’ we can’t be arrested or go to prison?” Trey stood and paced the small room.

“’Course we can,” Cillian replied. “But we won’t if we continue to supply information. We’ve kept up our end of the bargain. It’s the reason I have to move the club into human trafficking. It’s the only way the FBI, ICE, and the CIA can make a case for the Koslakov family. Hardy did his part and he got in as deep as he could go but…it wasn’t enough. The players weren’t big enough. The SIS didn’t have enough to catch Koslakov red-handed. They believe if the Saints’ parent chapter sanctions the move, the Mafia will be directly involved.”

Trey’s head spun as he sat down again and spread his hands out on the table. “What about Raymond Jackson and the Abandonato family?”

“Like us…they’ve got immunity. At this point, the Feds feel like they can do more for the country by catching the really bad guys with people like us. We move in their circles, and get the evidence needed to successfully prosecute these scumbags.”

“And Riley? What happened there?”

“He
was
a rat,” Cillian replied in an icy voice. “He sold privileged information to
Aztecas Infierno
. The club isn’t on any database and that’s the only way this situation works. We must maintain our outlaw status - the situation won’t function any other way.

“It was unauthorized kill and I could have spent time in prison for what I did…though it wouldn’t have been anywhere here in Nevada. Gisela managed to get me off on a technicality but that didn’t stop the state from looking into her background. She was almost disbarred behind me for Christ’s sake. As you can see, sure, we take liberties, but we
aren’t
above the law.”

Trey’s hands ran through his short dark hair. “So, let me get this straight: you two already know Eve approached me and offered me a deal? Immunity, two different passports, and money for information gleaned from my hacking skills regarding
Aztecas Infierno
and the Koslakov Mafia.”

“Well, we do now.” Cillian looked at his brother before he glanced at his father. “I knew you were meeting Eve in SoCal. Gisela told me as much…after all, she knew about Kyra setting something up between you two. Now, just so you don’t think she betrayed your trust, she didn’t. Kyra didn’t tell a soul. Gisela discovered it on her own accord.”

“Now we know Eve’s been in contact and what she wanted, we understand the government doesn’t intend to shut us down just yet.”

“What happens to the Bastards?”

Dizzy’s crystal blue eyes hardened. “I honestly don’t know, son. If Jonesy did what the government is accusin’ him of doin’ then even I can’t save him. I’ll do me best but…RICO is a beast and it’s taken down greater criminal organizations than a motorcycle club.”

“And Kyra? What do I tell her?”

“She knows enough,” Cillian responded in a non-committal manner. “What we just told you never ever is breathed outside this room. Hardy is informed and so is Ronan, but that’s the extent. Everyone else is on a need-to-know basis. It’s the only way. As for the women, Gisela and Naomi know everything too. Naomi is a Fed working on the inside, actin’ as a double agent but both sides know about the other. Her immediate superiors don’t, but the real people in the government she directly reports to do. Gisela’s father is protected and that is why she’s been informed.”

“I trust Kyra, Trey.” Dizzy stared at his son intensely. “Really, I do. But I must draw the line with her knowing everything. Her father is being pursued by the Feds and desperate people do foolish things when their family is at stake. It’s best for you that she never knows how deep the relationship is between the Feds and the Saints.

“She might believe you can perform some sort of…miracle for her father and get him out of these charges, but you can’t. The only way this works for Jonesy is he must go through the court of law and his case will have to play out in court. Other than that, he can make a deal with the Feds but that’s not our concern nor can we broker it for him. Jonesy made his bed, and now, he’s gonna have to lay in it.”

“Understood. No one will ever know what we discussed today and, as far as I’m concerned, this conversation never took place,” Trey replied, resigned as he got to his feet.

Cillian and his father also stood.

“I’m proud of you, bro.” He smiled and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Trey faced his father.

“I’ve told you as much as I could…as much as I
should
. There is so much more to this story and I’m sorry you had to hear the
Cliff Notes
version. When the time comes, you’ll know the whole truth. I promise you that, son.”

“We’ve got the rest of our lives to catch up. You have no idea how much I wish I’d grown up with you in my life. I’m not gonna lie and say that Tim wasn’t a good father figure, because he was, but it’s not the same as bein’ with your flesh and blood,” he replied in a somber tone.

“I know, me son.” Dizzy sighed as he walked over and pat him on the back. “Tim is a good man but he wears his heart on his sleeve. He never forgave me for what I did to him, and I don’t blame him. He isn’t like Cillian. For all intents and purposes, Caitlin is his daughter and he’d never treat her any different. Doesn’t matter he didn’t feel the same way about Brianna as he feels about Gisela. She’s still his heart and he’d be crushed if you ever did to her what I inflicted upon you.”

“I’ve assured Cillian I would never do that. Caitlin may be my daughter by blood but she’s his - he raised her from the time she was born until now. As far as I’m concerned, the only woman who will ever be the mother of my children is Kyra.”

“Another fiery, Celtic redhead—just like Brianna. However, I must say I have much more faith in your woman than I ever had in my ex-daughter-in-law.”

They laughed together before he’d left the clubhouse with Cillian, drove to Birch Tree Hospital, and picked up Kyra who’d recently been discharged.

This was his train of thought as he sat outside in the backyard, a beer in his hand. The home Kyra and Trey purchased together in Serenity Village was obnoxiously huge. Three thousand square feet spread over two stories, four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, a living room upstairs, and a formal sitting room and large dining room downstairs.