Maksim wasn’t a work-alone kind of guy, that much was obvious. And now that he’d been shot and had come tome, into the enemy’s territory, for help because he felt he had nowhere else to go, felt he couldn’t turn to his family… I was left with even more questions than I had when this damn game started between the two of us.
A light knock sounded on my door. Standing, I opened it, letting Niran and Bento inside. Niran passed me the plain black bag. I set it on the bed and unzipped it, then began to tug all his clothes out of it. I growled when I came up empty-handed of the one thing I was looking for.
“Told you there wasn’t a phone,” Niran drawled, sounding bored.
“He wouldn’t lie to me.” Maksim hadneverdone that, and I knew he never would, consequences be damned. I felt around the inside, finally finding a tiny, hidden, padded compartment. I quickly opened it, tugging out the phone. I held it up triumphantly, a smirk tilting my lips. “Maybe you just suck at your job,” I told him.
Bento coughed to cover his laugh, and he rolled his lips into his mouth when Niran shot him a look full of promises forpunishment. I flipped the simple flip phone opened and found one number in the phone, unsaved. Betting that was Rurik’s number, I hit dial and held the phone up to my ear.
“The fuck are you doing?” Niran snarled at me. He pressed a hand to Bento’s chest, as if he could somehow protect his husband from whoever was on the other side of the phone.
“I told you not to fucking call me,” Rurik said, his voice void of emotion. He sounded… dead. I could work with that.
“Merry Christmas,” I teased since the holiday was just around the corner anyway. “I think we need to talk.”
He was quiet for a moment, then hummed. “Alfonzo fucking Aguado as I live and breathe. Yeah… I think we need to talk, too. But not until I have confirmation of Maksimalive.”
Well, at least that was confirmation enough that he didn’t want my man dead. I held the phone near Maksim’s mouth, letting Rurik hear his snores. Putting the phone back to my ear, I said, “He’s sleeping like the fucking dead. He was shot. Came to me for help. I won’t give more than that over the phone. I want a meeting, Tarasov,” I said, calling him by his last name.
“Give me five minutes to coordinate something with FAME, and I’ll call you back.”
He hung up the phone. FAME, also known as Shaw in his daily life, was the president of the Ghost Born MC. He was a chill guy with a pretty dark military background. But when push came to shove, he was reliable, deadly, and he would slaughter anyone who touched his family.
Bringing Shaw into our meeting meant Rurik wasn’t looking for a fight. He was looking for assistance. And if it meant I got myhands on whoever did this to Maksim, I’d be cooperative as fuck. The most cooperative mother fucker to ever cooperate.
“Rico is going to slit your throat for this,” Niran warned me.
I waved him off. “Wouldn’t be the first time he’s wanted to kill me,” I assured him. I had a tendency to piss him off. I looked at Bento. “Think you can protect Maksim while I’m gone?”
Bento nodded once. “Of course.”
I looked at Niran. “I’m going to fill Rico in, and then, when Rurik calls me back with a time and place, I want you with me.” This meeting was theonlyreason I was willing to leave my boy behind and let him out of my sight.
Niran rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Go talk to Rico. Let’s see if you survive that first.”
“The little faith you have in me,” I sighed before tucking the burner into my pocket and leaving the room, heading for Rico’s. He wouldn’t be happy having his time with Anurak interrupted, but he’d have to deal. There were more important matters to deal with than marriage cuddles.
Chapter Seventeen
Alfonzo
Rico glowered at me as he stepped out of his room, shutting the door quietly behind him. He was shirtless and only wearing a pair of sweatpants. I had no doubt he’d been naked before I’d come knocking on his door while simultaneously texting him to get his ass out of bed and come talk to me.
If his look was anything to go by, he was highly annoyed and seriously contemplating if I was worth keeping around. Rico was extremely adamant about making sure the time Anurak got with him were uninterrupted, but some things were just more important than cuddles and being all lovey-dovey.
“You’re becoming a right pain in my fucking ass lately, Aguado,” he warned me. He rarely used my last name, so I knew I was treading on thin ice. But a man like me? Thin ice was the best to play on. I liked seeing how far I could push someone before the ice broke beneath me, and Rico was no exception. It was just rare he stooped to my level because he knew I was usually itching for some kind of altercation.
He blamed it on my mental health. I knew it was just a part of me. But that was Rico in a nutshell—cold as fuck to the world but where it really mattered, he liked to take care of his family. I was just one person he couldn’t get to take medication.
I liked raw-dogging my issues. It was more fun that way.
“Good thing you’re already in a bad mood. I won’t feel bad for delivering news you’re definitely not gonna like,” I said. He narrowed his eyes at me and crossed his arms over his broad, tattooed chest. “I got in touch with Rurik Tarasov.” Rico clenched his jaw so fast, his teeth audibly clacked together. “And he’s supposed to call me back with a time and place to meet after he talks to Shaw.”
“I’m trying really fucking hard to be understanding about your obsession with Maksim,” Rico growled, “but you’rereallypushing your fucking luck,niño.”
“Rurik tried to help him, according to Maksim,” I told Rico, “and I trust what he tells me. Maksim isn’t the type to lie, even if it may mean his death. I need to find out what Rurik knows so I can hunt down whoever did this to my boy and fuckingkillthem. I’m letting you know what I’m doing out of respect, Rico, but make no mistake,niño, I will do whatever the fuck I please whether you approve of it or not. I’veneverquestioned a single move you’ve made. I need that same trust now.”
He stared at me for a moment, his expression blank and his eyes empty. I waited as patiently as possible for whatever he was going to say. This could go one of two ways—either he agreed and let me do what I needed, or he fought me on it and we came to blows… or worse. Rico was my family. The only family I’d ever known, but I knew without a shred of doubt that I’d toss it allaway to keep Maksim. And maybe that was fucking insane, but I never claimed to not be absolutely batshit crazy anyway.
