Golden Atonement - Chapter 63

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Remi

“Can’t thank you enough for coming,” King said as he showed me the cabin we would be staying in.

The Sons of Hell had a sweet setup. A beautiful two-story log-cabin clubhouse, nestled deep in the Shenandoah Mountains, surrounded by twelve smaller cabins. The place looked more like a retreat than a motorcycle club. Then again, living in one of America’s best tourist hot spots, it was reasonable that the club would want to blend in.

“Don’t thank me.” I smiled up at the handsome man. “I’m just here to see my father and the woman he married and meet your wife. I hear she is a handful.”

King groaned. “You have no idea. Right now, she’s on a tear and threatening retribution if Banks doesn’t fix shit with LeeAnn.”

“Who’s that? Another wife?”

“Oh God, no!” King gasped. “She is Laurel’s mother and a serial bride.”

“A what?”

“Woman has been married more times than a polygamist. She’s gearing up for wedding number six. Or is it seven, cause number six just passed away. Hell, I don’t know. I do know that woman is a handful and Banks fucked up when he put his two cents in.”

I smirked. “Let me guess. A Southern Bride?”

King nodded. “Yep.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Thanks,” he muttered.

“So when is my father due to arrive?”

“They should be here soon enough. Though I’m not sure why Vladmir decided to bring everyone.”

“Because Maxim is a nosey motherfucker who loves a good laugh. Fucker wouldn’t miss this shit for the world,” Max said, walking in with a proud smile on his face.

Narrowing my eyes, I glared at my husband. “Where the hell have you been, and why the hell are you smiling?”

Puffing up his chest, my husband proudly announced, “’Cause I just got patched into the Manly Club.”

King rolled his eyes and groaned. “I’m gonna beat that boy’s ass.”

“Can’t let you do that, Prospect.” Max smirked, taking a seat on the couch and reclining back like he owned the place. “I’m under orders to stop you by any means necessary if you harm one hair on his head.”

“CAMERON!” King roared out the front door. Seconds later, a small blond-haired boy ran over, smiling from ear to ear.

“Yeah, King?”

“What the hell have you done?”

“Nuttin’ yet. Why?”

“You patched Reaper into the club?”

The kid, like Max, puffed up his little chest and nodded. “Sure as hell did, and he’s my enforcer too!”

“Why the hell does he get to be the enforcer and I’m just a prospect?”

“’Cause he’s got cool blades and he let me hold them.”

King turned and glared at Max, who didn’t look repentant at all.

“And he’s gonna get me my own blades for Christmas. Isn’t that right, Reaper?”

“Yep. My word is Golden, kid.” Max smiled happily at the annoyed and frustrated King. “You know, babe, we gotta bring Jesse here and let him meet Cameron. I think my son needs a Manly Club of his own.”

“No, Jesse needs a fucking parole officer. Your son was issued a prison ID number at birth, not a social security number, and you best remember that, because you will be the one bailing his ass out of jail. Not me.”

“KING!” I heard someone yell as King groaned.

“What now.” The man sighed, stepping out of the cabin when a brother in the Sons of Hell ran over.

“Banks is sick.”

“What the fuck do you mean, he’s sick, Enigma. Fucker was fine at breakfast.”

“Well, he’s in the shitter blowing up the place, and Bails is laughing her ass off. Also, Mike called. Three black Range Rovers are headed up the mountain. Will be here in fifteen.”

“Jesus Christ.” King hung his head. “I’m not going to survive this visit.”

After all the introductions, the guys headed for church, leaving the women to take care of and handle everything.

Fucking typical.

They’d been in church for hours now with no sign of ever coming out.

“Anyone know what’s going on in there?” Sarah, the wife of Gunner asked while she held one of her triplets. The woman couldn’t be older than twenty-something and she was already the mother of three babies. Though to look at her, she didn’t seem to mind one bit.

“They’re measuring their dicks,” Bailey snarked as she fed her own little pink bundle. “It’s what happens when too much testosterone settles in one room.”

“They’re in there because of me,” Aksana whispered as she looked out the window of the Sons of Hell nursery. “This is all my fault.”

“No, it’s the fuckers with the dicks fault,” Bailey snarked, and some of the women in the room chuckled. “It’s always the penis’ fault. Remember that.”

“Bailey is right, Aksana,” Illyria spoke up. “You had no idea any of this would happen. You’ve said it yourself many times. You were just trying to protect Katiya. No one here will ever fault you for that.”

Smiling at the little girl on the floor with blonde ringlets, who was playing with Little Max and the other toddlers, I couldn’t get over how cute she was. In fact, she bore a striking resemblance to Vladmir.

It was uncanny.

If I didn’t know any better, I would say Katiya was a blood relative.

“I’m tired,” Aksana politely said to the room as she bent down and picked up her daughter. “If you would all excuse me, I think I’m going to go to bed.”

No one said a word when the scared woman quietly left the nursery.

However, the second she was gone, Bailey piped up, “That girl needs to grow some balls.”

“Bails,” Sugar sighed. “She’s been through a lot. Let her catch her breath.”

While I would never say that out loud, Bailey was right. Being married to the Bratva wasn’t going to be easy. Especially when Aksana was married to Vladmir, one of the Two Spies, second only to the Pakhan. While I knew the woman didn’t believe she was legally married to my dad, I, for one, knew if Vladmir said they were married, it was a legal and concrete binding. Vladmir never did anything by halves.

“I get her fear,” Illyria added. “All she wants to do is protect her daughter, but she needs to realize that everyone here wants the same thing. I can’t speak for the Sons of Hell or the Golden Skulls, but I know the Bratva will happily kill to protect her and Katiya.”

“Same,” Bailey and I muttered in unison when Max, Vladmir, and Maxim stuck their heads in the door.

“Hey, babe, where’s Aksana?” Max said, looking around the room.

“She took Katiya back to the cabin. Said she was tired.”

“It’s better we talk to her away from everyone,” Maxim quietly said as I looked at Illyria, who simply shrugged.

“Won’t do what I need to do with my daughter in the room,” Vladmir snarled, stepping back into the hall pacing while fury radiated off him.

Illyria and I got to our feet, and I asked, “What did he mean by daughter?”

“Yeah, about that,” Maxim muttered as he looked at his wife.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” she groaned. “How?”

“That’s what we need to find out.”

“Oh. My. God,” I gasped as I quickly put two and two together.

“Yeah,” Max sighed, turning to Maxim. “We need to tread carefully with this. First, we need to get Katiya out of the line of fire, so Vladmir can do what he needs to do. Then you and I will step in.”

“Agreed,” Maxim said, turning to me. “Remi, how would you like to watch your little sister while your father talks with her mother?”

Narrowing my eyes, I huffed, crossing my arms. “Define talk?”

Vladmir seethed. “I’m going to extract every bit of information from her lying lips by any means necessary.”

Pacing back and forth outside their cabin, I waited while my father went to retrieve my sister.

Yeah, I was still having a hard time with that one. Like how in the hell it happened? I mean, I had my suspicions, but until I learned more, I wasn’t going to voice them. It was bad enough that Vladmir was ready to kill; I didn’t want to send him over the edge.

“I know that look, woman. What is it?” Max whispered as he leaned against a tree.

Looking at my husband, I said, “Promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“Be on her side. Don’t let Maxim or my father run roughshod over her. She’s been through enough already.”

“Woman is keeping secrets, Remi, and you know I won’t interfere with another man’s wife. Unless Vladmir lays hands on her, I can’t do anything.”

Stepping over to him, I whispered, “There is more at play here, Max. She’s Devlin Scott’s daughter.”

He grabbed my shoulders and sneered. “How the fuck do you know that, Remi? We just learned that shit not even an hour ago.”

Blinking, I said, “The Trick Pony.”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Max seethed. “Did you know about Katiya?”

Shaking my head, the back door of the cabin opened and out walked Vladmir, carrying Katiya.

“No, but I had my suspicions,” I quickly whispered as my father walked directly toward me, handing me my sister.

“She doesn’t leave your sight, moi chrabry levie.”

“Translation?” Max asked as I held my sleeping sister close.

“My brave lion,” he replied, as his eyes stayed glued to Katiya. “And my little lion.”

“Babe, take your sister back to our cabin.”

“I’ll go with,” Illyria offered, walking over to stroke my sister’s hair. “My God, she’s the spitting image of you, Remi. How did I miss it?”

“We all did,” Maxim said, kissing the top of his wife’s head. “Vladmir. You have one hour before I come for answers.”

With that, I watched my father storm back into the cabin he shared with Aksana.

After leaving my sister with Maxim and Illyria, Max ushered me into our bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind him. Leaning against the door, he crossed his arms over his chest and fumed.

“No more secrets. That’s what I promised you, but, baby, I can’t do my job if I don’t have all the answers. So spill.”

Pacing the room, I shook my head. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Max. There is a lot that I haven’t told you. Shit I don’t ever want to think about again.”

“How did you know Aksana was Scott’s daughter?”

“Because I overheard Scott threatening Petrovitch once. Something about Baranov returning what belonged to him. The only thing I knew Baranov had of value was his daughter. Everyone knew that. Only no one had ever seen the girl.”

“Where did this conversation take place?” he asked, then quickly added, “No. Let me guess. The Trick Pony.”

I nodded.

“Jesus fucking Christ, I really starting to hate that motherfucking place.”

“I told you that place was evil, Max,” I replied as my hands began to shake.

Pushing off the door, he walked over to me, wrapping his arms around me protectively.

Grabbing him, I held onto him for dear life, closed my eyes and whispered, “The monster is coming, Max. You have to stop him.”