Athudon one of the main doors had me tensing, and I glanced toward the vestibule when another knock came, this one louder and more violent.
“Stay here, sugar.”
Phoenix frowned at me. “But Daddy—”
“It’s for your safety. Stay.” I kissed him on the forehead and walked down the aisle with confident footsteps. If worse came to worst, I could still defend myself. I knew how to fight, and I would do anything to protect Phoenix.Anything.
I hurried to the front and unlocked the doors, then opened the right one slightly so I could look outside, and what I saw made my stomach drop right out from under me. Near the curb was a row of parked motorcycles and leather-clad men who had masks on the bottom half of their faces. The biker who’d knocked was huge and had graying brown hair. He towered over my six-foot-two frame and was bulging with the kind of muscles I used to have when I was younger and hit the gym hard.
On the man’s leather jacket was an insignia—a skull wearing an ancient Greek-type helmet with spears crossed in the background. On the top, curved downward, were the wordsGreek Lords MC, and on the bottom wasSt. Loren. I knew exactly who they were. Ric worked closely with this motorcycle club, which in turn was a chapter of the Norse Lords MC that ran in Pleasant Beach in Cali. I’d never had the “pleasure” of working with them directly when I was in the family because we didn’t have the partnership back then—it was only a recent thing.
I turned back to look at Phoenix, who stood peeking through the vestibule doors while he stared at me in concern. “No matter what, boy, stay there. Okay?”
He nodded worriedly but disappeared into the sanctuary as I slipped outside and closed the door.
“You must be Father Gian,” the bulky man in front of me said. I couldn’t see his mouth, but I assumed he was smirking by the crinkles around his eyes.
“And I know who you are. What are you doing here?” I crossed my arms. I wouldn’t put it past these men to hurt a man of God, but I wasn’t scared of them.
“I’m Zeus, the president of our chapter.” He held out his hand, but I didn’t take it.
“I don’t care. Why are you here?”
He laughed, booming and loud, and the men sitting on motorcycles joined him. One of them, with brown hair in a bun, got off his bike and stalked up the steps to stand beside his president, as though offering support.
Zeus gestured at the new man with a thumb over his shoulder. “This is Hades, my brother. Real brother.”
I squeezed the bridge of my nose. I had no doubt in my mind that Ric had sent them. “Again, I don’t care. Are you here for Ric?”
Zeus nodded. “Yeah. We’re doing a job for him, and he told us to come to the church to pick up our payment.”
I frowned. It wasn’t often Ric sent anyone here for money, but I knew my cousin well enough to see a power play. He wanted to remind me who was in charge. I hadn’t heard from him for months, and he finally wanted to rub my face in the family business again.
“How much?” I asked, keeping tall.
“Ten grand,” Hades bit out, glaring at me.
“That isn’t small change. How do I know Ric sent you?”
Zeus laughed again. “It’s nothing to a man like your cousin, is it?”
He wasn’t wrong.
I sighed and held up my palm to them. “Wait here.” I didn’t stay to hear his response before I went inside and locked the door again. Phoenix was sitting on the last pew on the right side, and he reached out for me as I walked past. I stopped to grab his hand and place a kiss on it.
“It’s okay, just stay here.”
He nodded, and relieved, I left him to go to my office. The money safe was in the floor behind my desk, under a piece of thick red carpet I yanked off and set aside. Once I got a few bundles of cash I knew was ten grand, I closed up the safe again. Guilt swamped me as I wrapped the cash in a church bulletin.
Phoenix didn’t stop me as I walked past him this time, and when I got to the front doors and unlocked them, my jaw was clenched so tightly I thought my teeth would shatter into a million pieces. As soon as I opened the door, I was surprised when Zeus, Hades, and a few other guys shoved inside, pushing me backward through the vestibule and into the sanctuary. I stumbled and heard Phoenix yell my name, but when I regained my balance, I was facing five guys.
“Don’t do this,” I snapped, narrowing my eyes on them.
Zeus shook his head. “We’re not robbing you. We don’t want anyone seeing us exchanging money, do we?”
“You could’ve asked,” I growled out, glancing at Phoenix from the corner of my eye. He was standing next to the pew, alert and serious, and I shook my head at him.
“Would you have let us in?” Zeus asked, nodding at Phoenix. “I knew you had to have something important waiting in here.” Even though I couldn’t see his mouth, I noticed the interest in his eyes as he turned to study Phoenix again. “I can see why you were so touchy, he’s pretty.”
