"Bash sent them down to stake out Santino's compound."

"So call them and tell them this is more important." His voice was devoid of all emotion and that scared me more than anything else right then. He was shutting everything else down. Out. As if he were preparing himself for the worst. As if he were actually planning on not coming back. "Send someone else and see if Colt can get me on the first flight out."

Chapter Nine.

Felicity I was in the kitchen helping to make sandwiches for over a hundred people when I heard her rage-filled scream.

The sheep who I was helping stiffened but I just continued to mix the chicken salad I was making. I might not have been around Raven in over a year, but I still knew her. She hadn't changed that much since I'd been gone. The angry screech of her scream told me that much.

Licking a smear of the salad mixture off my thumb, I reached for a dish cloth and wiped my fingers just as the door to the kitchen opened and in stormed my best friend. Around me, the sheep shifted anxiously. With one look at Raven's beautiful-and very angry-face, the other women started murmuring excuses and quickly left the room.

I continued the job at hand as Raven moved across the room and picked up a heavy-duty pot before throwing it at the opposite wall. It made a loud banging noise as it connected and then rolled away. I pulled out the entire loaf of bread and started putting the sandwiches together, not bothering to look at her as she continued to rage.

Another pot, quickly followed by a frying pan, hit the wall right before a plastic mixing bowl landed in the same spot.

"What the f.u.c.k is going on in...here?" Spider took one look at Raven's face and turned to exit through the door he'd just stuck his head through. "Never mind. Bash, what the h.e.l.l did you do this time?" His voice trailed off as he went in search of his friend and Club president.

Her breathing labored, Raven moved back to the island where I was working. Only then did I lift my eyes to look at her. Her face was pale, her eyes glazed with angry tears. It was the tears that had me dropping the spoon in the bowl and reaching for her. I wrapped my arms around her small waist and pulled her close. "What happened?"

She was trembling, but she let me hug her. "He's barely out of surgery and is already tossing out orders so he can leave. He's going to get himself killed, Flick."

"Hawk?"

She nodded her blond head against my chest. "He's too calm. Too dangerous like this. They're going to go to New York and my brother is going to die and he doesn't even care."

I didn't know what to say to help her right then so I just held on to her. I felt her tears soak through my shirt but didn't mind. I hadn't been this close to the woman who had always been the sister of my heart in far too many months. I couldn't even remember when she'd last let me hug her. Not even when Bash had left her had she let me comfort her. She'd gone to Spider instead.

That was the trouble when you and your best friend were complete opposites in most things. Raven had always kept her emotions tightly in check whereas I was the kind who wore mine on my sleeve for the majority of my life. Holding her now was a bittersweet moment for me.

After only a few minutes, she lifted her head and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Will you go with them, Flick? Please? I need someone I trust looking after my brothers and I can't go myself because of Max. And f.u.c.king Bash has put me on house arrest." She shook her head and glared at the kitchen door as if she could see her husband through the thick wood.

"Why New York?" I was lost. Obviously they had learned something but I had no idea what it was. If it was the senator, wouldn't they just go to his house or even Washington, DC? Senators worked in DC, right?

Raven blew out a tired sigh and dived into telling me what had happened that morning. How Hawk had been shot and the Italians had s.n.a.t.c.hed Gracie. The bombs had been decoys and the real target had been poor Gracie. She even told me about Gracie's father's will and the money she was supposed to inherit if she followed the stipulations-to marry someone her grandfather and uncle approved of. Yeah, I was pretty sure Hawk was losing his mind thinking about that right then.

"When Bash carried me out of the hospital, Doc Robertson was just walking in the door. Hawk is going to release himself from the hospital even though he just got out of surgery to repair the torn mess of his shoulder and back. How is he going to shoot when his shoulder is like that, Flick? How?" Her chin trembled and she closed her eyes before another tear dared to fall.

"I don't know, honey."

"Will you go?" Raven's voice was pleading and I knew that it was costing her to do so.

"Yes," I a.s.sured her without giving it another thought. I would do anything for her, but I was going for myself just as much. Hawk and I might not be the best of friends any longer, but I still cared about his stubborn a.s.s.

Raven threw her arms around my neck, hugging me tight. "Thank you," she whispered.

I held on to her for another moment before pulling away and smiling at her. "Since you scared off the sheep, I guess you get to help me finish up lunch."

"Great," she muttered but went to the sink to wash her hands.

By the time we had the sandwiches finished along with some fresh fruit salad and a French onion dip for the chips, Uncle Jack and his men had arrived. I carried in the heavy tray of sandwiches and noticed the old man up in Bash's office with a few of the other brothers. Raven set her own platter down and followed my gaze.

"Is it true? Is Uncle Jack really Gracie's grandfather?"

Raven nodded. "Yep."

"Huh. Didn't see that one coming." I stepped away from the table just as the brothers started lining up to make themselves a plate.

Raven let out a small laugh. "Yeah, well there are even bigger surprises if that blows your mind."

My brows lifted. "For real? Like what?"

"Nope. I can't tell. Hawk would kill me." She grinned and s.n.a.t.c.hed a sandwich before the first brother could reach them. "But keep your ears open. I'm pretty sure that s.h.i.t is going to hit the fan before this week is over."

Jet got to the clubhouse at just after one that afternoon. He wasn't alone. Doc Robertson had driven Hawk home and had a huge list of dos and don'ts that he expected Hawk to follow.

Yeah, right. Like that would happen.

He handed over two bottles of medicine to Raven, who just as quickly gave them to me and pushed me in front of the doctor to listen to the signs I needed to watch out for in case Hawk got sick. "If he starts showing any signs of fever, get him to a d.a.m.n hospital, Flick. Or if his wounds start bleeding make sure they get st.i.tched up again. The idiot should still be in the hospital getting more blood transfusions but he refused. Make sure he eats so that his body will replace the blood he lost."

"I'll do my best, Doc."

"I know he probably won't take the pain meds, but they're there just in case. Spike his drink or something if he gets out of hand. The antibiotics are a must, though. The risk of infection is bigger than he could imagine. Make sure he takes all of them." He glanced at his patient and grimaced. "The nurses couldn't get him to take the first dose and he was already walking out of the hospital before they could sneak and give him a shot of it through his IV. The surgeon gave him some during the surgery to repair the torn muscles but that isn't enough. Do what you have to do to get them in his system."

I nodded. "Will do."

He gave me a small smile. "Good luck, Flick. You're going to need it."

"Yeah. I'm aware of that much."

He laughed. "It's good to see you, sweetheart. Take care of yourself."

Once the doctor was gone, I stuffed the bottle of pain meds in my pocket and took out the two capsules of antibiotics before putting the bottle in my other pocket. I poured a gla.s.s of tea and went up to the office where Hawk had gone as soon as he'd walked through the door with his brother.

Jet stood in the doorway and I paused long enough to take in the sight of him wearing his cut again. d.a.m.n it. What was it about that d.a.m.n aged leather vest that made this man even more appealing to me? Jet Hannigan was without a doubt the s.e.xiest man I'd ever laid eyes on, but that vest only heightened my awareness of him.

His eyes caught mine and I wasn't as quick to hide my reaction to him as I normally would have been. I saw the desire flare in his olive-jade green eyes. He straightened and held out his hand for me. Helplessly I placed my hand in his and let his heat soak into me for a moment, savoring the electricity that shot up my arm and straight through my heart before moving to the most intimate part of my body.

I gave myself five seconds of it before pulling away and forcing my brain to block him out as I got down to the job at hand. Gritting my teeth, I glanced at Hawk, who was sitting in the chair in front of Bash's desk. He lifted his head when he noticed me standing there and I offered him the gla.s.s of tea.

"What's this?"

"Something to drink so you can take your antibiotics," I informed him.

He put the gla.s.s on the edge of the desk. "No," he said and went back to talking about Santino and his men.

If he thought I was just going to go away, he was out of his mind. I'd made a promise to Raven to take care of her brothers and that meant this stubborn-a.s.s man as well. "We can do this the easy way, where you take them on your own, or the hard way. Please don't make me do it the hard way."

"Go away, Flick. I'm busy here," Hawk growled.

I looked at Bash who was sitting in his chair, looking dangerous as always but amused. "Get up, Pres. We're going to have to do this the hard way." Bash smirked and got to his feet. "Be careful. We don't want to bust his st.i.tches."

Bash nodded as he walked around the desk. Hawk glared up at him and started to get up, but thankfully Uncle Jack was standing close and grabbed his arms, locking him into place. Bash dropped down onto Hawk's lap, careful of his two wounds. I figured his sitting on Hawk was a lot better than him trying to hold his shoulders down and risk busting the st.i.tches open. I nodded at both men as I grabbed the gla.s.s of tea.

"f.u.c.k you guys," Hawk snarled as he tried to pull out of Uncle Jack's hold. Normally he would have been able to without even trying, but he was in pain and the loss of blood had made him weak. "Don't you f.u.c.king do it, Flick."

"You can still do this the easy way, Hawk," I a.s.sured him as I offered him the capsules. All he had to do was swallow them and I would go away until it was time for us to leave for the airport.

"Get off me, Bash." His roar echoed through the room and out into the clubhouse. The entire building went quiet and I could just picture all eyes pointed up at the office.

I shrugged. "Okay. The hard way it is." I grabbed his hair in one fist and pulled his head back a little rougher than actually necessary. He yelped as I tugged a few hairs free and then used his open mouth to my advantage. I shoved the two capsules into his mouth and poured in a small drink of tea before covering his mouth and nose with my hands.

He struggled against my hold, but I held firm and after a few more seconds he had no choice but to swallow. Shaking my head at him, I released him and headed for the door. "See you in twelve hours."

Jet caught my hand as I pa.s.sed and I let him hold it for a moment, once again savoring his heat, before leaving the men to discuss business.

Chapter Ten.

Jet Planes weren't a form of transportation that I was used to taking. Having spent my entire life in the Club had put the "ride or die" mentality into me. I rarely drove a cage, using my bike to get me from point A to point B the majority of the time. This was only my third time flying and I wasn't anywhere near excited about it.

Luckily the plane wasn't crowded so the eight of us were spread out and comfortable. That wasn't the problem. It was my tossing stomach and the edginess from what was going on that had me glancing around the tin box with wings like the caged wolf I was.

Uncle Jack and Trigger were in a hushed but heated conversation a few rows back, but I could guess what they were talking about. Uncle Jack was taking his granddaughter being s.n.a.t.c.hed about as well as anyone could expect. His old Irish a.s.s was already discussing with Trigger how he wanted to kill the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. As for Trigger, I only knew what Hawk did. That there was a chance that Gracie was his daughter and not Craig Morgan's. Hawk and Trigger had decided to keep that little bit of information to themselves after Trigger had made his confessions. They were probably wishing they had spoken up about her possible paternity long before now, though. If they had, then maybe the Morgans wouldn't have bothered to s.n.a.t.c.h Gracie.

Spread out around the rest of the plane, Raider, Colt, and Matt looked like they could sleep the whole way to New York. Hawk wasn't so lucky. He hadn't touched the pain pills Doc Robertson had prescribed when he had reluctantly discharged Hawk a few hours before. He had only taken the antibiotics because Flick had gotten Bash and Uncle Jack to sit on him long enough for her to force them down his throat.

From his seat across the aisle from me, I could tell he was in some serious pain and I didn't know if that was contributing to the green tint to his face or if he got just as sick when flying as I did. I'd downed two Dramamine before climbing on board the plane, but that s.h.i.t wasn't doing what it promised to do.

Beside me, Flick shifted as she flipped the page of her magazine. Hawk was p.i.s.sed that we had brought her, but I hadn't put up nearly as big a fight as I could have about her coming with us. I hadn't wanted to leave her behind and there was no way I was going to stay when my bother was walking into the unknown. Bash had wanted to come, just as much as Raven had, but both had to stay and deal with the s.h.i.t storm still brewing after the Italians had targeted us.

"I kind of hope he pa.s.ses out so I won't have to force those d.a.m.n antibiotics down his throat again," Flick muttered as she lifted her head long enough to glance over at Hawk before turning back to her magazine. "Think he's going to hate me forever?"

From the bored expression on her beautiful face, someone wouldn't realize that she was feeling hurt by that thought. But I could tell by the way her fingers trembled as she turned the page of her magazine that the thought of Hawk hating her forever bothered her more than she wanted anyone to see. I couldn't help the shot of jealousy that pierced my chest.

Clenching my jaw, I shrugged. "He'll get over it in a few days. He's just got a lot of s.h.i.t going on in his head right now. Once he has Gracie back where she belongs, he'll calm down."

"His being calm is the problem right now," she said with a sigh and lowered the magazine, obviously giving up on pretending to read it for the moment. "He's scary as h.e.l.l like this, Jet. I don't know where his head is right now, but if he keeps this up I'm scared he's going to charge into a trap without thinking about it and get himself shot to pieces."

I wasn't about to tell her that I had the same fear. My brother wouldn't appreciate it if I voiced the same misgivings. I knew that if I were in his shoes and it had been Flick who had gotten s.n.a.t.c.hed, I would have been in the same frame of mind. f.u.c.k, it was exactly how I'd felt when I'd found her beaten half to death after Westcliffe had gotten done with her. By the time I'd actually gotten my hands on the b.a.s.t.a.r.d, my rage had been overflowing and I hadn't hesitated as I'd given my ex-best-friend the same beating he'd inflicted on my female. Just as he'd taken my unborn child's life, I'd taken his. I didn't regret his death, only that I couldn't bring him back and do it over and over again.

Hawk was probably feeling the same way...

Ciro and his men were waiting outside the airport when we arrived at a little after seven that evening. He had five, huge, black SUVs waiting on us. He stepped out of the back of one and his eyes went from one biker to the next before they zeroed in on Flick. She let out a small laugh as she threw herself into her cousin's arms.

Around me, the other men were taking in the men in suits who were getting out of the other vehicles. We all knew they were all packing and we itched to have our own guns. I'd told Ciro to have us some waiting, as well as the knives that Hawk wanted. My brother was already planning on how he was going to cut up the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who had taken Gracie. Uncle Jack was just as torn up over the fact his granddaughter had been s.n.a.t.c.hed, but he had been handling his emotions a little better than Hawk. And by better, I meant a little more vocally. He'd already told me in detail how he wanted to handle his granddaughter's paternal grandfather.

"You are even more beautiful than I remember, little cousin," Ciro muttered so low that only I heard him because I was standing so close to Flick as he enfolded her against his chest. Very few people knew that Flick was Ciro's cousin and that was the way we all wanted to keep it. If everyone knew that she was family, his enemies would target her to get to him.

I'd seen some scary f.u.c.kers in my life, Bash being at the top of the list followed quickly by Spider. Ciro Donati would always be in the number-one slot, though. It wasn't any one thing about the man that screamed dangerous, it was the whole package. From the tilt of his chin, the way that ivy cap was pulled low over his cold blue eyes, even the expensive suit that couldn't hide the muscles underneath. Standing at six and a half feet, he was only two inches taller than I was, but he was several years younger. Only twenty-five years old, he was the youngest street soldier on Vitucci's payroll, but he was the deadliest.

As Vito Vitucci's G.o.dson and Cristiano Vitucci's best friend, he was the most feared man on the East Coast if not all of North America.

Ciro released his hold on Flick and stepped back. "It's good to see you, Felicity. I apologize it is under such tense circ.u.mstances, though. I'll have to find time to come to California to visit with you more."

"Have you found out anything yet?" she asked softly.

He turned toward the five large SUVs. "Let's get off the street. Jet, your boys can divide up between the other vehicles with my men. You and Hawk may ride with me and Felicity."

"I'm not Club president anymore, Ciro," I reminded the other man. I'd put my cut back on as soon as I could touch the thing, but I was happy just to be able to do that. To be able to call myself part of the Club again. Bash was perfect in the role as president and I sure as h.e.l.l didn't want that position back. f.u.c.k, I wasn't going to push Flick's limits. She'd said she wanted me back in the Club. That was enough for me. "Hawk is VP now, so you should go through him."

"I don't recognize your new president," Ciro said with a clench of his jaw. "Sebastian Reid is no friend of mine. I will go through your brother, however, if that is what you wish."

Flick blew out a frustrated sigh and shot her cousin a smirk before climbing into the back of the SUV he was helping her into. "You need to get over that, Ciro."

"It's not in my nature."

"Of course not," she muttered and looked at me long enough to roll her pretty blue eyes before taking her seat.

My heart squeezed at the look she'd given me. With the chaos that had been going on all day, it felt like we'd stepped back in time. She was turning to me more and more, offering me the support during this f.u.c.ked-up mess that she knew I needed but would never ask for.

She scooted over to the middle of the seat and I climbed in next to her, tucking her close while Hawk carefully took the other window seat. Once Ciro was in the front pa.s.senger seat, the driver pulled out into traffic and Ciro turned in his seat to face us.

"I've had my men watching the Morgans. There has been some unusual activity out of Connecticut the last few days, it seems."

Hawk's fists clenched, but he didn't speak.

"Vito has personally spoken to your lawyer, Jenkins, so he knows as much as I currently do. After some careful digging we have found that the elder Morgan is facing possible bankruptcy due to some recent unwise investments. He has no money of his own left. His son, your woman's uncle, is following close behind. The money that was left to her would a.s.sist them greatly in getting back on their feet."

"So why don't they just take the money?" Hawk's voice was still dangerously calm despite the way his fists were clenched.

"It's all about legalities. Neither man can touch her money. The lawyers have it tied up tight. They need her before it will be released...And I a.s.sume you know the stipulations of her father's will?"

"She's not marrying anyone but me."

Ciro inclined his head. "That's good and all, but Morgan and his son must approve of the marriage, yeah?"