Chapter 5
3 mint leaves
1⁄2 oz simple syrup
2 oz white rum
3/4 oz lime juice
club soda, to top Garnish: mint sprig
I spied on my wife.
Cameras placed around the house provided me with constant access to the biker girl. I kept an eye on her, and it gave me an excuse to stay the hell away. Evie hardly seemed the type for espionage, but who the fuck knew. Her family was the sickest bunch of bastards. I could still feel the things they'd done to me.
I sat in my dad's office, watching Evie on my tablet. His spirit surrounded me, whispering from the dusty volumes that filled the shelves, the desk splotched with grappa stains, the framed photo of me at eight. Dad would roll over in his grave if he knew who I'd married.
Knox winked at me, spinning a pen in his tapered fingers. I'd called him over to help me figure a way out of this mess. The twenty-five-year-old genius was night and day from me at his age. He'd already achieved what most men couldn't in a lifetime.
He'd graduated from MIT at fifteen with a double major in engineering and political science. At eighteen, he launched some software that had consumed the tech world. By twenty, he was the CEO of a cybersecurity firm worth $2.4 billion. Two years later, Black Prism was under fire for hacking into phones of slain foreign diplomats. When they dragged him to the Court of Appeals, he fired his defense team, represented his company, and won. Then the asshole took the bar exam just for kicks.
"How's married life?"
"Exceptionally dull," I muttered as Evie moved a large sketchpad over her lap. "I haven't seen her since the wedding."
It'd been a couple of weeks since I'd dropped her at my penthouse in Beacon Hill. Fourteen days of wearing my father's ring, dodging my mother's calls, and fantasizing about being single.
"Is that your wife?" Knox put down the pages of lawyerese and peered at the screen. "She's attractive. Decent body, too."
My neck flushed. "It's more than decent, you shit."
Today, she wore a black leopard-patterned dress generous to her feminine contours. She was sitting on the rooftop garden, staring out into the city. Her dress rode the wind, floating, as though it could be blown off, and she could be undone. She bent over, displaying her rack to the overhead camera. Big and natural, just how I liked them. Her nipples would fit nicely in my mouth. The breeze played with the flyaway fabric, the top sliding way too high, and the strands slipping down her arms.
My balls squeezed with a pang.
Knox's whistle blast was like sandpaper on my cock. "She missed her calling as a porn star."
I punched his arm. "Get the fuck away from the screen."
My eyes grew hot as she returned inside and stretched out on my couch. I burned with the need to kiss her soft lips, and it sickened me. The last thing I needed was an obsession with my enemy's daughter. I had to do something productive and stop fantasizing about all the dirty ways I would fuck my wife.
This marriage had screwed up everything. My professional and personal relationships went up in smoke. I'd compromised my reputation by marrying a woman from that family.
For a year, I'd been associated with like-minded wealthy businessmen. Three of us made The Dark Circle-Knox, Cainan, and myself. Our goal was dismantling the biggest biker gang in Boston. Harder than it looked.
Even with our resources, a conglomerate like Legion hadn't folded under the pressure. When I'd first joined, I thought it'd take a matter of months.
Try years.
Legion MC had thousands of chapters nationwide. They had multiple revenue streams. They were involved in drugs, prostitution, murder for hire, loansharking-anything illegal.
I was committed to the cause, but now my loyalty would be questioned. Vinn had forced me into an awkward position.
"I didn't choose this, Knox."
"I know. I figured you were dead when you didn't answer your phone for three days," Knox murmured. "Cainan was super annoyed when he saw your wedding photos on social media. He thought you'd relapsed." "You and half the fucking world. Help me get out of this marriage." I threw the tablet on the desk and raked my hair. "I'll do whatever you want."
"Family law isn't my specialty, but it looks like Vinn went through great pains to stop you from exploiting any loopholes. Why on earth would you sign this?"
"I had a gun to my head. He kidnapped me."
"Sounds right for a mafia family intervention." Knox glared at his phone, thumbing through a document. "Why not just kill you?"
"I'm too valuable to Vinn." I didn't mistake it for familial affection. "If I die, he loses sixty percent of his revenue."
Knox made an indistinct sound as he typed notes. "We can say you were under duress, but they'll expect charges to be filed. That means a police report." Against the boss of the Family?
My stomach tightened. "Out of the question."
"Yeah, he probably figured you wouldn't do that." Knox licked his thumb, swiping through the stack of papers. "She gets a hundred grand per incident of you cheating on her. I've heard of crazy prenups, but this is wild." "I'm glad my misery is entertaining you." I rose from the chair, buttoning my jacket.
He extended his leg, blocking my exit. "Tony, hold on. I can get this thrown out. We can argue that you had reduced mental capacity. You relapsed on your sobriety. You have a history of substance abuse. It fits. I'm not worried about that part. It's what comes after. Your cousin."
I rubbed my face. "Vinn is the least of my concerns."
"Tony, your guards report straight to Vinn." Knox's voice dropped as he leaned forward. "Put this aside. It's not worth the trouble."
"I'll hire private security."
"That'll be hard. You're the son of a notorious mob boss. They'll think you want them for illegal activity."
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I did, which made my estrangement to Vinn so inconvenient. Still, there were other options.
"What about street gangs?"
"I wouldn't. They're flocking to Legion now that they're patching in other clubs."
That was news to me.
"Since when?"
"They're allowing rival MCs the chance to defect to their side, no questions asked. It's a limited-time offer that expires in the summer."
"Well, maybe I should get my hands dirty."
"Tony, that's a bad idea."
I didn't care. I wasn't giving up.
They stole everything from me. Ruined me.
I had no intention of honoring a cease-fire. My cousin had overstepped in a big way, and I would punish him. First, I needed to wrangle in the new wife.
I opened the tablet and found her relaxing in the living room. I traced her silhouette. She swiped through the phone I'd given her. She grinned, pressing the cell to her ear. That smile held secrets.
I'd find them out.