Page 35 of Naughty Santa Daddy

“There’s our Alabama-New York connection,” Miller exclaims. “Whatever is in that building holds all our answers.”

“Think Wash could be there?” Drake asks what I’m thinking.

I doubt Wash and the others are anywhere nearby. But then again, he was dumb enough to cross us; he could be foolish enough to remain in reach.

Alex twists on my lap, her eyes begging. For what? I don’t know but I don’t have a good feeling about it.

“I can lure out my uncle.”

“No,” I snap. No way is she putting herself in danger. “Enzo and Dante will find him. Your father has the right to handle that.”

“And so do I. Listen to me. He doesn’t know where I am. Or that you know about him, right? I can reach out to him pleading for help to find my parents. Drawing him out could lead to your men also.”

“I don’t like it.” I don’t like any of this, but remembering that Wash, Dawg, and Rabbit took shots at my woman has me fuming again. I want them myself. “I say we raid the shop and clean out our own. Leave Carlo high and dry.”

“Stand down.” Miller leans forward. “She may be on to something.”

Chapter 12

Khloe Wren

Khloe Wren

Alessandra (Alex)

Tucked safely in the rear seat of the truck between Braxton and Granny, I ignore the tension filling the cab and focus inward, processing everything I’ve learned in the past twenty-four hours.

Even ignoring the whole being snatched from my bed in the middle of the night while my childhood home burned, it had been a day.

My uncle wanted me dead. Not in some hypothetical way, but in a “hire a crew to shoot up a public place” way. Those hired guns hadn’t known which female I was, so they’d been trying to kill every woman from the law firm that was at the hospital. That was what the conversation we’d overheard in the parking lot was about. I’d assumed they’d meant the bikers when one had asked if they’d “got them all” but it hadn’t been that at all. It had been about the elves, about me.

It is my fault my co-workers and boss are now dead.

Clenching my jaw, I mentally shake the thought aside. No. I am not at fault. My piece-of-shit Uncle Carlo is. He is the one who’d ordered the hit; he is the one who didn’t send through a picture of me, instead just arranging for several women to be gunned down without a second thought to all the lives he will destroy. Anger flares bright inside me, burning away any guilt I feel. Carlo needs to pay for what he’s done.

It looks as though Carlo hasn’t consulted his sons, not even Dante, the one he is trying to promote into being next in line to be the head of the family with this harebrained plan to do me in. I have to admit, as much as my uncle’s betrayal hurts, it would have been a whole lot more devastating if my cousins, especially Enzo, were in on it. But they contacted the club for help, bringing Goliath in. The few moments of embarrassment at Enzo hearing me call out Goliath’s name in my sleep were well worth it since that is what brought us back together. As much as I am happy with Goliath being a part of my life, the biker world isn’t so different from the mafia one I’ve tried too hard to leave behind. I’ve changed my name and moved across a thousand damn miles in order to get away from that life. Now I have this rage at Carlo, burning deep in my gut, I know I’ve made a mistake. I’m my father’s daughter, and I need vengeance for what has been done.

I can’t be the one to run off, guns blazing. I have to be smart because not only will my uncle be keeping his most trusted close now, his plan has failed, and it isn’t only my life at risk. I rest a palm over my still-flat tummy. Where our baby rests. Braxton’s beard tickles against my neck a moment before he presses a kiss there as his hand slides over mine, covering my hand and our baby under his much larger palm.

“I got you, baby. Both of you. Nothin’ will ever fucking get near you again.”

Shaking my head, I turn to look into his gaze. “I left New York, changed my name, to get away from that life because I want to be a lawyer, not live a life where I need one on speed dial. But what Carlo has done?” I shake my head. “He’s gotta pay for that. He killed all those women at the hospital for no fucking reason. He needs to be held accountable.”

Braxton nods, “And he will, Alex. We will make them all pay: Carlo, Wash, Dawg, Rabbit, and any other fucker stupid enough to work with them.”

With fury in my gaze, I make myself as clear as I can. I know Braxton wants me safely tucked away with his Granny while he runs off with his club to save the day, but that isn’t who I am, even if I am pregnant.

“I have to be part of this. I thought I wanted out, and I still want to be a lawyer someday, but right now? Today? I need to beAlessandra Allegrini, Lorenzo Allegrini’s daughter and future head of the family. I will not cower away and hide from this threat. You know as well as I do, as well as Miller does, that the fastest and easiest way to flush out my uncle, along with his cronies, is to use me as bait. If we do it now, before he realizes I know he’s behind everything, it’ll work. If we wait, even twenty-four hours, it’ll be too risky.”

Reaching up, I cup his face between both of my palms. “Please, Braxton, don’t take this from me. You and your club will bethere to back me up, to keep me safe. So will my cousins. Hell, let my dad know, and he’ll be there with his most trusted men too. We can do this, get it over with so we can move on and focus on what’s important.” His gaze lowers to where his hand still rests over my belly. “I want to enjoy this pregnancy as much as I can with all the puking, and I want to make a home with you somewhere, settle in, and do all the new mom shit pregnant women are supposed to do. I want to tell my mother she’s going to be a grandma and hug her when she cries in joy. I want to be able to focus on all those good moments and not be watching over my damn shoulder, waiting for Carlo or one of his goons to gun us all down!”

Goliath

Fuck me, but my woman is a force of fucking nature when she gets riled up. I know she’ll be putting herself in danger to take down her bastard of an uncle. The look in Miller’s eyes made it clear when she’d first suggested it.

Fuck my life. I just want to keep her safe, is it too much to ask that she help with that? But no, I have to fall for a warrior woman who is gonna send the rest of my hair gray by Christmas the way she is going.

At least Granny hasn’t interrupted the conversation; I’d worried she would. And I honestly hadn’t known who she’d back up. Maybe that’s why she stayed silent. She didn’t know who the hell to back, either. I have no doubt she’ll do anything to keep her great-grandbaby alive and safe, but she is all for women taking care of business too.

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