The Henchmen MC: Renny Part 2

But not before I figured out who the f.u.c.k the Abruzzo family was, what the f.u.c.k they wanted from us, and what the f.u.c.k that had to do with the f.u.c.king Mallick family.

Priorities, in this case, meant to make sure my a.s.s was still breathing long enough to get her pretty a.s.s in my bed.

THREE.

Mina The Abruzzos?

In what freaking universe was that who was stepping to The Henchmen?

"I'm putting a call into Charlie Mallick now," Lo said, sounding calm though I know she was likely as freaked as I was. "He needs to warn Eli."

"Isn't Eli still..."

"Not as of this morning," she cut me off. "Are you heading back now?"

"Yeah, Renny just got in the car. We will be there in five."

"I'll be there in twenty. Janie is at the hospital, but I don't want to involve her in this. I'll call Alex instead. We need all hands on deck if we are going to figure out how the f.u.c.k some n.o.bodies from Long freaking Island are taking down one of the longest-standing organizations in Navesink Bank."

She ended the call and I tossed my phone toward Renny as I threw the car into reverse and peeled out of the marina. "So are you going to let me..."

"I only want to tell it once and it's a short drive. You'll just have to wait."

I knew he wanted to say something to that; I could feel the air in the car getting thicker, more oppressive and I knew that fun-loving Renny was taking a short vacation and dark Renny was making an appearance. But, really, there was no time to coddle him.

We pulled into the garage and flew out of the car in unison, both getting to the door at the same time, but Renny held it open for me despite his mood.

Everyone was in the common room, kids included.

Reign's head jerked up when the door closed. He looked at me for a long minute before turning to Summer and giving her a look that managed to communicate that the kids needed to disappear.

"Come on guys, let's go see the gla.s.s room!" Summer declared cheerfully, but I could hear the tension there. She was stressing out. And given that she was pregnant, things needed to calm down so she and Maze, who was also expecting, could finish out their pregnancies with as little stress and worry as possible.

The kids jumped up, excited, knowing they weren't usually allowed to go up there and it was novel to be able to. Even though Ferryn was old enough to give everyone a look that suggested she knew she was being shooed away so the adults could talk and that she didn't care for that one bit.

She was going to be a handful when she was a teenager. I hoped Reign and Summer were aware of that.

"Alright," Reign said when it was just the men left, Penny going with the women and kids because she was the only one who could climb the ladder with them. "What'd they say?"

I swallowed a little hard, not particularly liking being the one bringing the information to them. Again, it was messy. I never had to be the one to deal with the outrage and the questioning and everything like that. I was hoping Lo was hauling a.s.s so I only had to deal with it for a few minutes.

"The Abruzzo family."

"You've got to be f.u.c.king kidding me," Reign seethed, standing suddenly to pace a few feet, raking a hand through his hair.

"Who the f.u.c.k is the Abruzzo family?" Duke asked, looking at his brothers.

"Remember that time Wolf got locked up?" Reign asked the group at large.

"Which time?" Duke snorted. Wolf's uncontrollable temper was not exactly a secret to anyone.

"The time he ripped mother f.u.c.king Lex Keith to shreds," Reign said, stopping pacing suddenly and standing almost freakishly still.

"Know Lex Keith was a rapist sc.u.mbag..." Duke offered, shaking his head.

"Yeah, he was. And once upon a time a long f.u.c.king time ago, he got ahold of Janie. Way before Wolf and she shacked up, but when she told him, he flipped his s.h.i.+t and got locked up for it. But, along the way, Janie kind of lost her s.h.i.+t around here..."

"Janie loses her s.h.i.+t all the time," Renny said, smiling affectionately.

"Yeah, no. She snapped. Was ordering us around and s.h.i.+t. It was nuts. And the cop on the case, Marco, would not be bribed. He was a f.u.c.king hardhead. Was in no one's pockets. Janie enlisted Eli and had his a.s.s kicked, found out something was off with him, did some digging, and realized he was an Abruzzo."

"And that is a bad thing because..." Duke went on.

"Janie just wanted Wolf out of jail. She went to the Gra.s.sis and told them the Abruzzos were in town, figured she would create some chaos. The Gra.s.sis don't want any other Italians stepping in on their turf, understandably enough. Marco was never heard from again, though we have no proof that they killed him. We thought that was the end of it."

"You never stopped to wonder if they were after the arms trade?" Renny asked. "Taking out Wolf seemed pretty planned. Especially over something like Lex Keith's murder. The cops wanted him put down just as badly as everyone else..."

"We considered it," Cash said, running a hand up the shaved side of his head. "But that was the end of everything. Wolf got out of jail. Things went back to normal. None of us have heard the f.u.c.king Abruzzo name since then."

"Until now," Renny said, exhaling hard.

"So they were having a meeting with the Gra.s.sis," Reign said, tone deceptively calm. "The were making a power move, trying to get in good with the importers before they took over fully. Getting connections."

"They're f.u.c.king glorified G.o.dd.a.m.n pimps on Long Island," Repo said suddenly, jaw clenched tight. "The f.u.c.k makes them think they can overtake the gun trade in Jersey?"

"The fact that they obviously have almost already accomplished that goal?" I asked, realizing my mistake when all their eyes snapped to me, angry. All except Renny who was pressing his lips together like he was trying to hold back a smile.

I was not a blurter. I didn't let my mouth run away with me. Everything I said was carefully thought out and filtered to produce the reaction I wanted. And having four angry bikers p.i.s.sed at me and one amused by me, was absolutely not the reaction I wanted.

What was wrong with me?

"What I am saying is," I tried, taking a breath, "that they have obviously outgrown their prost.i.tution ring. And they must have new leaders.h.i.+p that is hungry for bigger and better for themselves. This has been carefully orchestrated. I mean that thing with Wolf was years ago. I don't think I need to tell you that having an opponent as patient as that, as persistent as that is really dangerous. They are in this for the long haul. And, I know this isn't what you want to hear, but you are weak right now. You are down to five capable members. Even if you can find them and go after them... you won't be able to do it with brute force. You'll have to..."

I was cut off by the blaring of a horn outside. My eyes went to Cash and he gave me a strained smile. "That'd be my woman," he said, getting up and moving toward the door, hitting the b.u.t.ton for the gate.

Lo came charging in two minutes later, Malcolm and L in toe. If Lo was our bada.s.s mother figure up at Hailstorm, then Malcolm was our bada.s.s father. Ex-military, skilled, capable, calm, caring, and focused, he cared for every last one of us like we were family. Which, given that he had none of his own, was likely how he felt.

L was, well, an enigma.

He had been at Hailstorm for the better part of two years and my file on him was all but blank. I had a picture where he was as obnoxiously good-looking in a candid shot of him drinking his Big Gulp full of coffee as he was in person- mid-twenties, dark, s.h.a.ggy hair, dark eyes, perfect bone structure. I had a couple scribbles about the fact that he was very likely the smartest person I had ever come into contact with. He was also blunt, sarcastic, and reclusive.

What he was doing there, I had no idea. He, like me, generally preferred to work from a distance. Though I had no idea what his specialty even was.

"You guys know Malcolm," Lo said, waving her hand toward him. "This is L. They're here to help us make a plan."

Malcolm made sense. Being ex-military, he knew all about covert operations, sneaking up on the enemy, making a plan that wouldn't blow up in everyone's faces, even if they only had five able-bodied men left. Whole armies had been taken down by less.

I fell back, leaning against the wall to watch as L moved into the center of the room, pulling a pile of folders out of his black, busted-up messenger bag. "The Abruzzo family," he said, handing out the files. "Ten years ago, they were n.o.bodies. Then Ricky Sr. died suddenly and, if you ask anyone in the know, suspiciously, and Ricky Jr. stepped up. Little Ricky, named ironically because he's about a f.u.c.king thousand pounds, wasn't happy pimping out poor women and liberally taking use of them whenever he d.a.m.n well pleased anymore. He set his sights higher. And since New York has too many established syndicates, they set their sights on Jersey."

He moved back from the group as they flipped through the pages, looking at the pictures for a second, but giving L most of their attention. "Little Ricky even had his cousin Marco go through the f.u.c.king academy and join the police force. Not, at first, to lock you guys all up, but to have someone on the inside to hide evidence when they eventually did gain power. Though, he has been missing since after Janie had Eli put him in the hospital. That thing with Wolf, that was just a smart move to bring him in."

"Why us?" Duke asked. "Got tons of crime around here. The Mallicks and their loan sharking, Breaker and Shooter with their hired muscle and contract killing, Lyon and his cocaine, Third Street and their heroin and s.h.i.+t, Gra.s.sis and their docks. Why us? Why the arms trade?"

"Best f.u.c.king guess," L said, shrugging, "it's easiest."

"Easy?" Reign scoffed, brows drawing together.

L held up a hand, not the kind of man who put up with overt displays of testosterone-driven anger. "It's easier. There isn't a whole h.e.l.l of a lot of daily effort. You don't have to go out every day and beat the s.h.i.+t out of people like the Mallick family. You don't have to inspect s.h.i.+pping containers like the Gra.s.si family. You don't have to find reliable contacts in South America like Lyon who can get cocaine in this country. You don't need to travel like Shooter or deal with the sc.u.m of the Earth like Breaker. As for Third Street, well, they're a pathetic force these days. Paine and Enzo held them together. They've been flailing since. There's nothing to take over there right now."

"We don't exactly sit on our f.u.c.king hands all day," Reign said, shaking his head. "The Abruzzo family thinks it wants to go off to meeting with the Russians and Irish and Mexicans and Chinese all the f.u.c.king time? Do they have any f.u.c.king idea how unpredictable they all are?"

"I imagine they figure since you have had peace for so long that all your relations are solid. Who the f.u.c.k do I have to f.u.c.k to get some coffee around here?" he blurted out suddenly, making me let out a surprised laugh before pus.h.i.+ng off the wall and walking to the kitchen.

"Don't worry about the payment," I said as I pa.s.sed him, "you're not my type, L."

He was actually. Except he was too young.

"You're not my type either," he said casually, not bothering to sugarcoat it, as was his nature.

I moved into the kitchen, glad to be out of there, to be away from the almost overwhelming swirling emotions in the other room. Quiet, it had felt like forever since I got any.

At least back at Hailstorm, there was always somewhere I could sneak away to to get some peace. There wasn't a whole h.e.l.l of a lot of places to escape at The Henchmen compound, especially with the kids running around.

"What's that kid's story?" Renny asked as I was scrubbing the coffee pot.

"He doesn't have one he is willing to share," I shrugged.

"And you accept that?" Renny asked, sounding surprised.

"People deserve to have their secrets at times."

"Bulls.h.i.+t," he shot back, making my head snap over to him, finding him watching me.

"It's not bulls.h.i.+t."

"It is complete and utter bulls.h.i.+t," he said, shaking his head. "You don't believe that at all. I'd bet you have files on every other f.u.c.king person at Hailstorm. And, for that matter, everyone who is a major player in this town." He wasn't wrong, so I just turned back and rinsed out the pot, filling it with fresh water. I went over to pour it into the machine, finding Renny standing right near it and too stubborn to move so my shoulder and arm brushed his chest as I filled the machine. "What does my file say, sweetheart?"

I felt my belly wobble at the low, intimate way he asked, his breath warm on my ear, making a s.h.i.+ver move through my insides.

The familiar warning alarm was going off somewhere inside, but it seemed more m.u.f.fled, lost under the heavy blanket of desire.

I had been there too long. I had been around Renny and his flirting for too long. He was wearing me down. And that was not good.

I made my hand lift, hitting the b.u.t.ton for the machine, taking a deep breath as it started to drip.

And it was right about then that his hand moved out to my hip then slid across my back, landing on the other hip and using it to turn me toward him. Already standing so close, our chests pressed into each other and my b.r.e.a.s.t.s forgot we were supposed to be resisting him and swelled in desire.

"You're losing those defenses..." he said, his arm tightening around my lower back. "You gonna admit you want me yet?" he asked, his voice deeper.

"Renny, I..."

"Where the h.e.l.l is L's coffee?" Lo's voice called. "He's going to come to blows with Repo at this rate... oh..." she said as I sprang away from Renny, my face heating.

"It's dripping," Renny said easily, obviously not as embarra.s.sed about being caught as I was. "If he wants, he can come in here and stick his head under it and drink it as it comes out, he's welcome. Though I don't think the insurance here covers third degree burns from idiot coffee drinkers."

"Idiot," Lo mused, pressing her lips together, her brown eyes dancing. "I think I might just tell him you called him that." Then she looked over at me, her head c.o.c.king to the side. "Mina, come take a walk with me," she invited, nodding toward the door.

What was left of The Henchmen generally didn't spend much time out on their property. They were too few and too valuable. But Lo and I could walk around freely as the Abruzzo family didn't seem overly invested in taking any of us out. Which was a smart move on their part. No matter how big their operation had gotten, they didn't want to mess with Hailstorm.

"So, Renny, huh?" she asked as soon as we stepped outside, turning and waving at the kids who were up in the DARPA gla.s.s enclosure on the roof- nothing, no firearm in the world, could penetrate that gla.s.s. They were as safe as could be up there.

"No, Lo," I objected immediately, shaking my head.

"It didn't look like a no in the kitchen," she added.

"Renny is a flirt," I brushed it off.

"He is," she agreed with a nod. "But I have seen you shatter a man's ego with a few carefully chosen words when they wouldn't back off before."

That was true enough. "Renny isn't like most guys."

"Because he is like you," she nodded. "You know, I would think it would be almost refres.h.i.+ng to find that- someone who gets how you are. I don't see any relief in you though. If anything, you're tense. What are you so afraid of here? That you won't be able to keep up appearances? That if he gets in, he will see that your life isn't quite as neat as it seems, that you aren't quite as perfectly controlled as you want people to believe?"

That was exactly it.

There was a legitimate reason that very few people wanted to be exposed emotionally. It made you vulnerable. It gave people with bad intentions the ability to hurt you in a more lasting way.

No one wanted to expose the hidden parts of themselves to someone unless they knew that person was trustworthy.

I didn't feel that way about Renny.

He was too unpredictable, too up and down.

And he had used information he had gained on his own people against them in the past. I didn't need that kind of uncertainty in my life.

"I can't trust him, Lo," I admitted. "It's not like you and Cash. It's not..."

"I know we're so stupidly in love that it's sick," she cut me off. "But it wasn't always that way. It certainly didn't start that way. He didn't like me because he didn't approve of what we did at Hailstorm. I had no interest in being a notch on his very, very long belt. And we b.u.t.ted heads and we sniped at each other and we didn't get along. But he proved himself. Sometimes you need to give men that chance."

"To prove themselves?" I asked, shaking my head. "I think their actions and lifestyle should..."

"But they don't," she cut me off again. "They don't. Sometimes men get stuck in a spiral of sport s.e.x and responsibility-s.h.i.+rking and hanging out with their buddies who do the same thing, not realizing that they want more. Until more shows up."