I was still in a desire-filled haze when Rafe turned and headed back out to his bike. I didn’t even have a chance to try and stop him before his engine roared to life, and he was gone. It terrified me how much I wanted him. I had no doubt I’d end up with a broken heart, but just for the chance to be loved by him, I was willing to take the risk.
Chapter 9
Rafe
After days of going back and forth with Schommer, Menace and Shotgun were finally able to get the information needed to find Stark. Menace spent hours on end trying to break through the coded emails, but just as he was about to reach his wits end, he finally cracked it and hacked into their main server. Once he was inside, he was able to find the emails exchanged between Schommer and Stark, which he used to find Stark. After a little more digging, Menace discovered the guy wasn’t only a drug runner, but he also had ties to the Italian mafia.
Everyone knew about the Italians and their history of blood, rebellions, and wars. There was no way anyone couldn’t. They’d been plastered all over the news for their conflicts over territory and dominance. Hell, they’d even made fucking movies and TV series about them. I’d like to say this was the first time we’d had any dealings with the mafia, but it wasn’t. Less than a year ago, we’d helped the brothers of Satan’s Fury when they faced issues with Anthony Polito—a known leader in the Italian mafia.
It was a hell of a fight, so needless to say, we were concerned about Stark and his connections with the mob. It was that very concern that had me leaving Marlowe on her doorstep after a kiss that rocked me to the fucking core. To say walking away wasn’t something I wanted to do was an understatement. Fuck, if I had it my way, I would’ve spent the entire night wrapped up in her arms, but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. Viper wanted us close in case we were needed, and I couldn’t, wouldn’t, let him or my brothers down. That didn’t mean I wasn’t thinking about Marlowe as I headed into the clubhouse. In fact, I was so lost in my own head I hadn’t even noticed Widow was calling out to me. It took him shouting to finally get my attention.
“Yo, Rafe!”
I looked up and noticed him standing at the end of the hall. “Yeah?”
“What the fuck, man?” Widow barked. “You deaf or something?”
“Sorry. I didn’t hear ya.” As I continued in his direction, I told him, “I got a lot on my mind.”
“Don’t we all.” When I made it over to him, he asked, “You and Country get Gladys taken care of?”
“Yeah, I guess you can say that.” I shrugged. “We sent a few prospects over to finish cleaning.”
“What about ol’ Gladys? She found a new place yet?”
“Not that I know of. I’m sure she and Country will find something.”
“She could always move in with Ada over at the storage lot. I bet she’d like having the company.”
“You know that’s not a bad idea.”
“Might be worth bringing it up to Country.”
“Will do.”
Concern crossed his face as he told me, “Guess you heard Viper called for church first thing tomorrow morning.”
“That’s why I decided to stay here tonight. Wanted to be close in case something came up.”
“Same here.” He ran his hand through his thick dark hair and sighed with worry. “Feels like we’re just sitting here waiting for a bomb to drop, and it’s getting to me.”
“It’s getting to us all, brother, but we’ll deal with this. We always do.”
“I don’t know, man. I got a bad feeling about this Stark motherfucker.” Widow stepped closer as he grumbled, “You remember how things played out with Satan’s Fury. These fucking mafia assholes are no joke.”
I didn’t know if I should feel relieved or even more concerned that I wasn’t the only one feeling like a dark cloud was hovering over us. This whole thing had been eating at me for days. I didn’t see any point in adding to Widow’s apprehension, so I nodded and said, “We handled those assholes, and we’ll do the same with Scar and whoever else he has in his pocket.”
“I sure as hell hope you’re right.” He gave me a pat on my shoulder, then started towards his room. “I’m gonna hit the sack.”
“I’m right behind ya.”
I continued down the hall, and as soon as I got to my room, I took off my clothes and got in bed. I didn’t realize how tired I really was until my head hit the pillow. I’d barely closed my eyes before I passed out and didn’t wake until the following morning. When I saw that it was after six, I got up and took a shower. I was just starting to get dressed when I heard Country pounding on my door. “You planning on sleeping all day or what?”