Page 27 of Mason

I swooped Aprilia up, sat her in my lap, and started explaining to Storm about what I saw on her phone. “She’s getting multiple messages from some guy named Chester. He’s talking about how Don Diavonte gave her to him and he’s not giving her up. There were images of barbie dolls that had been carved up.”

“Chester’s Don Diavonte’s bookkeeper, he’s always been awful. I can’t stand him, that’s why Nicco—” Aprilia stopped and shook her head. My heart went out to her as she wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her blouse.

“It was pretty bad, boss. We probably should get her phone to Hacker so he can figure out what’s going on.”

“I’ll go talk to him right now. He always gets here early.”

I watched him walk off before pulling Aprilia back to look into her eyes. “I know that was pretty upsetting, but you gotta know that he can’t get to you while you’re at our clubhouse. Ain’t nobody gonna get within a hundred yards of you on my watch, okay, cher?”

She nodded and drew in a deep breath. “Sorry I freaked out on you. I never expected to have anything like that directed at me.”

“He’s just acting out because his opportunity to marry a beautiful woman slipped away.”

She put one hand on my chest and shoved off my lap. “I’m not beautiful. Although I’m sure he would force himself on me if I ended up married to him, it’s not my body he’s after.”

“It doesn’t matter what the stupid fucker is after. He’s not going to get it. In fact, if he keeps scaring the shit out of the woman I’m charged with protecting, he might end up catching a bullet in the head.”

She frowned at me. “I don’t want him dead, that could make things worse if his family or Don Diavonte sought revenge. I just want him to stay the hell away from me.”

I stood up and sighed. “For guys like him, those often turn out to be one in the same. You know that, right?”

Her voice became strong again. “I’ll tell you what I know. My best chance of never having to look at his ugly mug again is making the alliance between you, Steel, and Sophia’s brothers work.”

My head tilted to the side as I realized something odd. “You refer to your Nicco as just one of Sophia’s brothers a lot. It’s almost like you don’t see him as your fiancé. Want to talk to me about that, cher?”

She folded her arms over her chest and glared at me. “Hell no, I don’t. We’re not asking each other personal questions today. You said so yourself.”

Just then, Storm stuck his head out the back door. “Let’s load up, Mason. We’re already late for our meeting with Steel. There’s no sense burning daylight. If Aprilia’s not up to coming, she can sit with Hacker in his office until we get back.”

“I’m coming,” Aprilia yelled. Without another word, she stalked off toward Storm, who was holding the back door open for her.

Fucking hell, this woman had more guts than most men I knew. It only made me like and respect her all the more.

Chapter 10

Aprilia

Mason had an extra helmet tucked away for passengers, and I gratefully accepted it. I tried not to show my amusement when he hovered around me like I might not know how to put it on correctly. Once it was strapped into place and I climbed effortlessly onto his bike, he finally relaxed.

Although I’d rather be riding the vintage bike I inherited from my father, being on the back of Mason’s bike felt more carefree. I didn’t have to worry about finding my way, navigating traffic, or other drivers. I could just sit back and enjoy the ride. Since the landscape around their clubhouse was breathtaking, I took advantage of the opportunity to enjoy it, even as I tried to process the messages from Chester and what it all meant—had Don Diavonte changed his mind?

It caught me by surprise, and I reacted like a scared little girl. That wasn’t me. Now that the shock had worn off, I was trying to figure out what went wrong with our plan. Surely, Chester the bookkeeper wouldn’t think he could go against our don and claim me. We all knew that whoever openly went against Don Diavonte wound up dead. It was the one certainty of our lives and the reason Nicco and his brothers were moving heaven and earth to overthrow him.

A sick feeling swirled in the pit of my stomach. Maybe the Russo brothers had made a deal with Chester to help them topple Don Diavonte, using me as payment. Mobsters were good at using women to pay off a debt.

Suddenly, I wanted to cry all over again. I thought I could trust Nicco, and now I was starting to wonder if he was no better than his crazy brothers. I could totally see Diego doing something like this. I held onto Mason a little tighter. He was my rock right now.

My protector noticed I was trembling, and one big hand landed on my leg. He gave it a quick squeeze that I interpreted as reassuring, rather than anything sexual and went back to driving. It was enough to make me realize that I had options, others who might help me if Nicco turned against me. Maybe Storm hadn’t been so wrong to worry about that after all.

My anxiety ebbed and flowed during the long drive to Steel’s clubhouse. When we pulled up, I was shocked to discover that their place was very different from the Slayers’ property, and not in a good way. Their building was older, made of cinderblock that had been recently painted. The roof looked like it was in desperate need of repair, and the parking lot had large cracks and potholes. Several brothers were hanging around outside smoking crack. A few of them appeared dirty and much rougher than I’d seen any of the Slayers look. They nodded at Storm and Mason when we walked by.

Several of them sent admiring looks in my direction, which creeped me about a bit. I stepped closer to Mason without thinking. He put his arm around me and drew me close.

His words from earlier floated through my mind.Ain’t nobody gonna get within a hundred yards of you on my watch.I believed him.

The moment we stepped into the building, I noticed it was similar to the Slayers’ clubhouse, at least in the general ambience. The furniture matched, there was a large bar, the walls were painted a light blue color, and there was an older woman behind the bar with a glass in her hand.

Her voice rang out cheerfully, “What’re you drinking today, Storm?”

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