“Why are you telling me this?” he asked, thinking about Mia happy with life. There were a few times he saw the difference in her smile. He wondered what she was like when there wasn’t a hardness in her eyes.
“Because I think the one person to help her is you. If anyone can bring Mia back to life properly, it’s you.”She stepped closer to him. Ashley took hold of his hand and smiled. “I’m happy knowing you’ll take care of her.”
She kissed his cheek and withdrew from him.
“Take care of her.”
“I will.”
Ashley left his room without another word. Touching his cheek, he wondered what the hell was going on with her. She left his room without a backward glance.
He pushed his concern to the back of his mind and went down to the office where Devil was waiting for him. Pussy was in the office along with Death, Vincent, and Ripper.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“We’re having a meeting concerning this meeting Friday. Jerry is concerned. In fact, we’re all concerned. I put a call through to Alex, Tiny’s former brother-in-law,” Devil said.
Curse closed the door and took a seat next to Pussy. “What did he say? I take it it’s not good news.”
“Frederick Gonzalez is not a man to be taken lightly. Most people, the law, criminals, bikers, you name it, most of them keep a wide berth of this man.” Devil stood away from the desk. “He’s known everywhere for having his fingers in so many pies. Alex hasn’t done deals with him, but he knows of him. The Skulls stay away from him.”
“What pies does he have?” Curse asked.
“Everything,” Jerry said.
Jerking around he saw the drug dealing pimp stood in the doorway. He closed the door and walked further into the room. “I figured you’d need me here to help you with this. Planning for his visit won’t do you any good.”
“We’re not planning anything. We’re talking.” Devil stared at the other man.
“How did you come to deal with Frederick?” Curse asked, curious to know how someone so powerful would be in Piston County. Vegas made sense along with all the cities, not this small town.
“Frederick knows to have contacts in many places. I used to be part of his bigger circle. We moved around a lot, across America, Europe, you name it, he got stronger. It originally started with his dad being a small town crime man. Over the years his father built it up until Frederick killed his father to take over. He has branched over the world. No one can touch him, and anyone who tries to take him on ends up dead. It’s either join him or die trying to get away from him.” Jerry walked toward the whisky decanter and poured himself a generous shot.
“You’re nervous about this?” Devil asked.
“I’ve not seen him in a long time. This is my area, and one of the men he wanted to kill was taken from him. Frederick is many things, but forgiving is not one of them.” Jerry swigged down the large shot of whisky. “We’ve got two choices. One, he will come to hate us on sight and kill all of us including our families, or he’ll bring you into the family, which means you’re going to help him when he needs it without any questions asked.”
“We’re not some f**king taxi service, Jerry. I don’t answer to anyone.”
“He doesn’t care. Frederick will get what he wants, and we either follow his lead or we die.” Jerry poured himself another drink.
“None of them are an option. We’re not going to die, and we’re not going to be used as puppets.” Devil slammed his palm on the table. “Do not ever say shit like that. Nothing will happen to Lexie and my kids. Do you understand me?”
Jerry shrugged. “Do I look like I care right now? We’re all f**ked. A word of warning to you all, I’ve sent my woman away. Anyone you want out of harm’s away do it now.” Jerry slammed the glass down on the desk, leaving them.
“He’s charming,” Pussy said. “Why don’t we kill him as well?”
“Shut it, Pussy. Alex warned me about this. Frederick is a fair man, but he doesn’t take shit lightly. He’s going to want something from us.” Devil sat down, locking his hands together.
“So, what do we do?” Ripper asked. “I don’t think I’m the only one who’s concerned. I’ve got Judi to think about.”
“This is all my fault. Offer him the chance to kill me,” Curse said.
“No, I’m not doing that. Dale Worthington was a sick f**k who deserved to die. No, we’re going to have to stay together as a unit. We’ll apologize, but we’re not handing any of our men over. I’m not into that kind of shit. I’ve been talking with Gonzalez through Jerry. We’ve got something in the works, and hopefully it will take care of some of our problems.” Devil slammed his palm on the desk. “Get out and do what you need to do. I’m going to take care of Lexie and let her know what’s happening.” Devil looked at Ripper. “Tell Judi the same.”
Leaving the room, Curse went to his bike. He was going to spend some time with Mia and her mother before Friday.
****
“Baby, what happened?” Mia’s mother, Debra, asked. Curse had taken some of her clothes out. When Mia had entered her home she’d shouted for her mother not to get up. After sending him away with some of her own clothes she’d made two cups of tea and entered her mother’s room.
Debra lay amongst plenty of pillows. There was some color in her cheeks, which filled Mia with hope.
“Nothing. Forget about the bruises. How have you been?” Mia asked.
“No, you don’t get to do that to me, missy. You will tell me everything that happened or I will grab the phone and call everyone I know.”
“One of the clients I worked for thought he could touch me. Curse arrived, and he saved me from what the guy did. He’s handling it.”
Her mother looked at her doubtfully.
“Please, Mom, let it go. Curse saved me from something terrible. Trust me.”
“Fine. I hate this. I want you to know that, and when I see Curse he better let me know what he intends to do. I may be sick, but I’ll take care of my baby any way I can.”
Chuckling, she tried to direct her mother to talking about Curse, but her mother wasn’t easily fooled.. She hoped her mother didn’t ask more questions after this.
“Well, this client person better know to leave this town before I get my hands on him. I won’t be in bed forever, Mia. How dare he touch my little girl?” Debra grabbed Mia’s face and kissed her head. “I’ve missed you. Now that I’ve had my say you can tell me about this man. Bradley James, he’s such a nice man.”