Page 38 of Savage Protector

Chapter Sixteen

Houston

Houston ran to his bike, ignoring the emotion tearing through his gut. He needed to stop thinking about Izzy as his missing princess and start working methodically through the problem like he would a mission.

He was trained to acquire and take down these kind of people before shit went bad. That's exactly what he'd do here. First he needed some intel and there was only one way he knew how to get it. Or make that one place.

By the time he made it to the hotel’s garage, he had his gear strapped to his back and his shit somewhat together. He straddled the bike and stabbed his key into the ignition. The bike roared to life and he raced out onto the street, forcing himself to turn in the opposite direction the van had taken. Too much time had passed. Searching blind in a city this size would be a waste at this point. Without eyes in the sky and a concrete description of the van he didn't have a chance in hell.

Not that reason made him any less frustrated. Even in warrior mode his muscles coiled tight and the frustration of losing her from right under his nose still rattled him. He had to forcibly fight the urge to do something violent. The whole thing was stupid. The initial attraction made sense, and there was no denying the sex was off the charts hot. But it should have ended there. It certainly would have the minute she told him she was really Isabella Mazzeo.

So why couldn’t he get these possessive thoughts of her belonging to him out of his head?

Images of her sitting on his bed, listening to him tell his story, filled his head. The way her eyes lit up when something excited her or the compassion she'd shown over the not so good parts he’d never shared with any other woman.

He didn't know how to connect that with the fact she was a Mazzeo, a member of one of the most dangerous organized crime families on the west coast.

He rode faster, the urge to protect her from her own family gripping him. Tonight there would be no comfort from the open road. He had to find her, whatever the cost. Then whatever other secrets she harbored would be laid out on the table and dealt with. Whatever it was.

As long as she was safe.

Less than two hours later and after a shit ton of traffic laws had been broken, Houston rode into the Wrath compound. Back in Seattle he made the split second decision to turn to the only people he knew who would have the kind of info on her family he needed and spent the entire ride home cursing life for putting him in this situation.

Getting Wrath into Mazzeo family business would require a huge payment on his part or no go. He didn’t have enough money in the bank for that kind of service, but he did have something they wanted.

Him.

He killed the engine and hooked his helmet on the handlebar. There was only one way to get through this and that was head on.

“What the fuck are you doing here? I thought we made it clear you were no longer welcome here.” He hid his wince at Axel’s anger as he and two other men he didn’t recognize came out of the Wrath headquarters. The place was a behemoth of a building that used to be a local saw mill and covered several acres of land. “You were crystal clear you wanted nothing to do with us, so what makes you think you can waltz right in and act like you belong?

There was more than a little rage in his former friend’s voice and the two guys with him looked surly at best. Showing up a mere twenty-four hours after cutting ties wasn’t his best idea, but it was the only one he had. The fact he’d have to put up with the shit they’d give him also not fun.

“I need your help.”

Axel raised a brow. “You shitting me?”

“No. I am not shitting you. I have a serious problem and I need help. I don’t have much money to hire you, but whatever it takes, whatever you want, I’ll do it.”

That brought a slight smirk to his old friend’s face.

“Anything?” he asked, clear disbelief written in his eyes. “Well, come on then. By all means lets go in the office and you can discuss what you need with JD. Although you might find he’s not in a generous mood after the shit you said yesterday. I can’t even imagine how hard up you must be for you to drag your ass in here so soon. Personally though, I could give a fuck about what you want, but I’ll enjoy watching you get put in your place.”

Houston ignored Axel’s jabs and followed them in. He didn’t care how difficult they made this for him or how much bullshit they made him take as long as they agreed to help.

He stepped into the main gathering room, not altogether surprised that the place hadn’t changed much in a decade. Other than a few new pieces of furniture and a sweet seventy-inch television hanging on the wall, everything else had stayed the same.

Despite the dread sitting heavily on his chest, a strong sense of nostalgia washed over him and soothed some of the rougher emotions he'd been dealing with over the last several hours.

The grainy image of Izzy being thrown inside the van outside the hotel kept flashing before his eyes. And with so little intel to go on he had nowhere to funnel his growing rage.

“I think this calls for a drink.” Axel pointed to one of the guys Houston didn’t know. “Zook, get us some fucking beers and bring them in the office.”

When the man named Zook went to the bar, Houston got a look at the back of his cut and noticed the missing club patch. He was a recruit. Part of the club, but not yet official. Recruits had to make it through an unspecified probationary period before the club would consider them for full membership. Basically, they made sure you weren’t a pussy or a narc.

He followed Axel into the office, a glorified conference room for club official meets or church as they were sometimes called depending on the current President’s rule. Although technically church was the universal MC code for a fucking club meeting.

The furnishings in the room were sparse with the focus completely centered on the long, scarred table his father told him was made with some of the wood left behind at the mill. Up on the wall hung another old piece of lumber that had the club mantra burned into it.

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