"So, you're not going to talk to me about all this?"
"I need a minute, Alex," I growled. "Can you give me that?"
She shrugged her shoulders and waved her hands with sass as she rolled her eyes and spat, "Take all the time you need."
Ignoring her sarcasm, I walked into the bathroom and started my shower. I removed my clothes and stepped under the hot water, letting it soothe the tension in my shoulders. While I didn't understand the feelings I had for Alex, there was no denying that they were there. At first, I thought it was just a needed distraction, that seeing her helped make the shadows of my past less daunting, but that in itself proved that this thing between us was more than just an attraction. She was more than that, much more, and as fucked up as it might be, it took me seeing her in danger for me to realize that. That was enough for me to know that I wasn't good enough for her, but I no longer cared. Selfish as it might be, Alex was mine, and I couldn't stand the thought of her being in danger. I would do everything in my power to protect her, even if that meant protecting her from herself.
After I got out of the shower, I wrapped my towel around my waist and stepped back into my room where I found Alex already in bed. She was curled up on her side with her back to me and she lay completely still as I dropped my towel and slipped into bed next to her. I slipped my hand around her waist as I eased up behind her, and while she didn't resist, she didn't acknowledge my presence. She just quietly stared ahead. I knew I should say something, tell her what I was feeling, but the words just wouldn't come. After lying there for several moments, she finally asked, "Are you going to tell me why you are so mad at me, because I really don't understand what I did wrong. I was just trying to come up with a way to help … "
"I'm not mad at you, Alex."
"Then, what's wrong?" Her voice trembled as she asked, "Was I right? Did hearing about my past change things for you?"
"No, Alex. Nothing has changed for me." I lowered my mouth to her shoulder and slowly trailed kisses along the curve her neck. "From the moment I first laid eyes on you, I knew nothing would ever be the same for me."
"How did you know that?"
I paused for a moment as I tried to think of the best way to explain it to her. "For as long as I can remember, I've lived in darkness, seeing nothing but shadows around me, but when I'm with you … I see everything. I see the light, the colors, and the shadows are no longer there."
With tears in her eyes, she rolled over, and as she faced me, she placed the palm of her hand on my jaw. "As crazy as it may sound, I feel the same way about you. I didn't even realize what I was missing until you came along."
I lowered my mouth to hers, kissing her softly. While it wasn't my intent, the kiss quickly became demanding and full of hunger. I wanted her, needed her, and my hands became possessive as I pulled her body close to mine. As soon as our bodies touched and I felt the warmth of her skin on mine, there was no way I could resist having her. Without removing my mouth from hers, I eased on top of her, slowly lowering her lace panties down her legs before settling myself between her thighs. We spent the next few hours making love, and once we were both completely sated, she nestled in the crook of my arm and drifted off to sleep. As I looked down at her, studying the delicate lines of her beautiful face, I realized I'd finally found it. The one thing I thought I would never find-love. I had fallen for her, hard and heavy, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. Trying my best to accept my new found realization, I closed my eyes and submitted to my own exhaustion.
When I woke the next morning, I was a bit dazed and confused. For the first time in years, the nightmares hadn't come. I'd actually slept through the entire night with no memories flooding my dreams, and as I glanced over to Alex nestled by my side, I knew it was because of her. She alone had kept them at bay, giving me my first night of freedom. My chest tightened at the thought, and I found myself even more captivated by her. I lowered my mouth to her forehead, gently kissing her, but she didn't budge. The night had taken its toll on her, and I decided to let her sleep. I carefully eased out of bed, trying my best not to disturb her as I got dressed and left to find Gus. Just as I stepped into the hall, Blaze called out to me.
"Gus just called us all into church."
Curious why he'd call us in at this hour, I asked, "Something going on?"
"Yeah, but won't know what it is until we get down there."
"Damn."
When we got down to the conference room, Gus and Moose were already sitting down, and they watched as the rest of us quickly filtered into the room. As soon as we were settled, Gus stood up and said, "I know you all have been anxious to hear what's been going on, but I wanted to wait until I had all the facts before I brought you all together. That's no longer an option, so I'll tell you everything we know thus far."
Gus spent the next twenty minutes updating the brothers on everything we'd learned about Navarro. The tension in the room crackled around us as he explained his connection to the Culebras, and his reasons for sending them here. Emotions were running high as we all thought back to Runt and Lowball's death which only ran higher when Gus announced, "You all know that he used Jasper to take out four of our men, and while that's bad enough in itself, we've recently discovered that he's stepping up his game."
"How's he doing that?" Gunner asked.
"He tried hacking into our database … but Riggs managed to side rail him by setting up dummy accounts that we can use to send him fabricated intel."
Gunner smirked as he said, "That a boy, Riggs."
"Don't start celebrating just yet, Gunner. Turns out Navarro was able to put a tracking device on one of our SUVs, and from what we can tell, he's been tailing us for weeks … even more. To make matters worse, if he was tracking our last run, there's a possibility that he's monitoring Ronin as well."
"Fuck," Murphy growled. "How in the hell did he find out about him?"
Ronin was our main distributor, and he was an invaluable asset when it came to our pipeline. Once we gathered the shipments from the other clubs, it was up to us to deliver the goods to him in Baton Rouge. As soon as we got everything to him, he'd load it on one of his barges and make sure they got to their final destination. The fact that Navarro might have managed to get intel on our connection with Ronin was a huge hit to the pipeline. It was clear that Gus was concerned when he said, "I've got no idea, but I intend to find out."
Tank asked, "So, how are we planning to take this motherfucker down?"
"I'll tell ya, it's not gonna be easy with this guy, but we might just have the upper hand." He turned and looked at me as he said, "Turns out he's got a daughter-Alejandra Navarro. The story is she ran away from home eight years ago, and since then, he's been searching for her. It just so happens that we found her first."
My back stiffened when Blaze asked, "We gonna use her to draw him out?"
"I wish it was that simple." He let out a deep breath as he explained, "It just so happens that Alejandra changed her name to Alex Carpenter and has been living here in Memphis. Some of you already know that she has a connection with Shadow, and when trouble came knocking at her door, he brought her over to the clubhouse for our protection."
"He also brought one of Navarro's men along with her. He might be able to give us some additional intel on Navarro," Gunner suggested.
"Absolutely."
"Have you spoken with the daughter?"
"We have, and she's willing to do whatever she can to help us."
"If she's willing to help us out, then what's the problem?" Blaze pushed.
"The problem is me," I growled. "I protect what's mine, and I'm not putting her in danger."
Knowing her stance on the matter, Riggs argued, "And what does she have to say about it?"
"It doesn't fucking matter what she says. There's no way in hell I'm going to put her in jeopardy."
"Ease there, brother. You gotta have a little more faith in us than that. We can use her without putting her life in jeopardy, Shadow," Blaze argued.
"If you can guarantee me that she won't get hurt … that he won't touch a hair on her head, then and only then will I agree to use her."
"Consider it done," Gus announced. "We won't pursue this until we can come up with a plan we can all agree on."
"I'm good with that." I thought back to Jasper and asked, "What do you want to do with Jasper and the others."
"They knew what they were doing when they went against Fury," he growled. "I say end ‘em."
I couldn't agree more, so I answered, "Consider it done."