Chapter 51

JUSTIN

Justin sat in his chair and put his head in his hands. He was trying hard not to cry and swallowed the sob that almost came out of his mouth.

He felt the guilt bubbling up in him and he didn’t know which was bigger—the guilt over his position getting her hurt or the anger that someone had gone after her.

There was an unspoken code in MCs that you don’t go after children and old ladies. This was a men's club, and women and children had no knowledge of what was happening inside.

So you just left them alone. Because there was no better reason for a club to lose their control and take down everyone around them than if their families were hurt.

That got Justin thinking that maybe this wasn’t a motorcycle club—maybe this was something else. He sent a quick text out to the others letting them know his thoughts.

Stevo, who had moved to his room to give Justin privacy, immediately agreed and started working on another angle, especially since Dominique was involved.

A knock on the door shook him from his thoughts, and he saw his sister and daughter waiting to walk in.

“This okay? Someone wanted to see you and maybe get a hug,” Kiki asked softly, concerned after seeing the lines of worry on his face.

Justin nodded, not trusting his voice, and Lexi ran up to him and jumped into his lap, squeezing his neck tightly. “Hi, Daddy. What’s wrong? You look sad.”

Justin caught a glimpse of Kiki wiping a few tears away and swallowed again. “I’m okay, princess. Just tired…”

“Where’s Avery?” Lexi asked. “I need her.”

“I need her too, but she is out running some errands and won’t be back for a while. You can see her soon,” he replied hoarsely, hoping that appeased her.

Lexi sat with her head on his shoulder, and they just held each other. Justin knew Lexi didn’t believe him and knew something was off, but she didn’t press the issue.

She was a smart little girl and could see that everyone was on edge.

Another knock had all three turning to see Stevo standing there with his computer and phone. “It’s Luca, you need to hear this.”

“Come on, Lex, let’s go make some brownies for a bedtime snack. I think Ryan and Mama June will help,” Kiki said, taking the little girl’s hand to lead her away.

Justin tapped his heart and mouthed “thank you” to his sister, who repeated the same thing back.

As soon as Stevo shut the door, Justin started speaking to Luca, who was on speaker. “Did you find anything? Anything?”

“Not yet. Our guy just got to the warehouse and found the crates. It’s small-caliber bullet holes, but nothing really to explain who or why,” Luca explained. “Anything on my sister?”

Justin sighed. “Not really. Found the surveillance videos and didn’t recognize the guys. The two women in the video we do know.”

“Stevo, can you send me the video? I’ll have Dad and Matty take a look as well as our guys. We can see if it sparks anything on that end. But what about the women? How do you know them?” Luca asked.

“One is a former club whore who is pissed that she hasn’t been in my bed since Avery came into my life. She looked to be familiar with one guy.

“The other is Lexi’s lying, druggy mother,” Justin spat. “No, not mother—incubator. Avery is her mother.”

“Wait, I thought you said that she wouldn’t be a problem anymore. I thought you had her shipped out east and paid off some guy to keep her there,” Luca asked, trying to put together the pieces.

“That’s what I thought. Stevo is trying to get ahold of the guy to see what the fuck happened,” Justin said, and Stevo added, “One of his guys is supposed to be calling me back so we can figure this out.”

“Fuck, what a mess. Dad and Tina are flying out and should be there this evening. I’ll update Matteo as soon as he gets here. Send me the video,” Luca repeated, and hung up.

Stevo sent it right away and went to leave. “I’ll get you as soon as I have more info.”

Justin nodded and sat back down. He looked at the framed pictures he had on his desk and tried to have hope.

There were three pictures—one of him and Avery at their wedding reception, one of him, Avery, and Lexi during the ceremony, and one of him holding Lexi when she was born.

He teared up again and played with his wedding ring, trying to feel close to her.

He had no idea how long he’d been like that and jumped when his phone rang.

“What?” he demanded.

“Justin,” Mikey started, “we got Heather. Stupid bitch wasn’t even expecting us and Mitch is taking her to Legs.

“We are gonna start tearing this place apart for some answers, if you want to go talk to the cunt. Nothing on the van yet. Peterson is still trying to figure that out.

“Jennings said that Cole is out of surgery and Nina is with him. Gonna make a full recovery. Jennings is gonna stay and keep an eye on them while he waits to hear back from his people on the van.”

“Thanks, I’ll be there in a few. Good job, Mikey,” Justin added, and he ran to his truck. He sped to the strip club and went down to the basement to see Heather tied to a chair, sitting defiantly.

She smiled when she saw Justin. “Hey, handsome. Mind getting the ropes off?”

Justin didn’t smile, he just pulled a chair over and sat in front of her. “I need you to tell me how you know Dominique and who those men are that took my wife.”

Heather looked shocked and then frightened. “What... what are you talking about?”

“Cut the shit, Heather. We saw the whole thing on surveillance video,” Justin said. “Not gonna repeat myself.”

“What are you going to do? I know you don’t hit women—it’s, like, a club policy,” she said, trying to be brave.

Justin nodded. “You’re right. We don’t, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still inflict pain on you.”

“You wouldn’t do that, handsome,” Heather purred. “Think of all the good times we had. I can do that again, right now.”

“NOW, HEATHER!” Justin yelled, making her jump. Heather knew he was pissed and didn’t know how much farther she could push. So she sat quietly.

Justin desperately wanted to hit her, but knew he couldn’t.

“Call Sally,” he said to the group. Cash made the call and asked her to come right away.

The men all took a seat and talked among themselves while they waited, ignoring Heather and her questions and pleas.

They heard footsteps on the stairs and then a cute, petite woman came in, chewing gum. She was dressed in yoga pants, combat boots, a hoodie, and had her black hair in a bob.

Justin got up. “Hey, Sally, thanks for coming.” He hugged her.

“Hey, Justin, I’m glad I can help. I assume this is what you need dealt with?” Sally asked as she eyed Heather with disgust.

“Yeah,” Mikey jumped in, eyeing Sally like she was the only glass of water in the world and he hadn’t had a drink in ten years.

“Someone took Avery this morning and we saw her on surveillance talking to the people who did it. We need to know what she knows.”

Sally’s eyes went wide. “Seriously? Have you heard anything from the people?”

Justin shook his head. “No, and this club whore won’t talk. Thinks this is a joke.”

Sally turned and looked at the woman in the chair. “Well, skank, you done fucked up! I like Avery a lot, so you need to start talking before I get pissed off.”

Heather scoffed. “Oh bitch, please! You are about five-foot-nothing and weigh about 100 pounds. I can easily kick your ass.”

The men chuckled. “Oh, just wait,” Cash said happily.