And he was Tavi’s brother. The reason I was so angry was because I knew I’d fallen for her, and I couldn’t be with her.
Because of her fucking name.
“Before that, tell me…how is my sister?”
My stomach dropped. “You knew where she was this whole time?”
He nodded. “She’s been followed her whole life unbeknownst to her. Our father kept a tight leash on her after her little stunts at the clubhouse all those years ago. I much rather she finds her own way, but I am still her brother.”
“The brother who let her get beaten silly every night?”
Mannix had the decency to look sad. “There were controls I couldn’t break. I did what I could to keep him away from her for hours on end, supplied him with whores to keep him busy, so she could raise my nephew in peace.”
“You know where she is now, then?” I asked, fearing my family’s safety.
“No,” he said quickly. “When I saw she was with you, I put my surveillance elsewhere. I knew she was safe.”
That hit me right in the chest.
“You like her.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a fact, and he knew it. But I didn’t see anger on his face. I saw…acceptance.
“Doesn’t matter. We are too far apart. I’m going to kill the fucker who hurt her, and then I’m going to get her away from here. Set her up away from the shit of my life, and yours.”
“You love her, then.”
I sat back, shocked at the words coming from his mouth. My heart beat faster, my mind racing to catch up with the conversation.
But the refusal didn’t come.
“What makes you say that?” is all I could come up with.
Mannix smiled softly, twisting the coffee mug around on the table between us. “You’re willing to send her away, even though your eyes lit up at the mere mention of her. I have to hand it to her, she had the big, bad Maverick falling for her in such a short amount of time. No easy feat, I imagine.”
I didn’t speak. I couldn’t. I wasn’t able to betray her trust. If he didn’t know about how we’d met, why she’d come to me, I didn’t want to be the one to tell him.
“Unless…you met before.”
Fuck. “You’re good, I’ll give you that.”
“Is she well? Van too?”
I nodded. “Yes, they’re both safe. But to keep her that way, I need Hardy.”
Mannix sighed. “It will be hard. He was good with Thomas, so he still has friends. I’ll do what I can to separate him, but it can’t come back to me. Not even a little.”
“They won’t find him, Mannix.”
He smirked at me. “Good. Now, let me catch you up on my plan and what I need to succeed. You can decide later if you want to trust me or not.”
“Actions speak louder than words with me, Charman.”
“Good,” Mannix smiled. “Actions will do exactly what I need them to do then.”
I listened as he told me of the plans he and Reaper had been cooking up, how Chaos and Trojan were in on it, but no one else. It was brazen, I had to give him that, but it might actually fucking work, and if it did, it meant, I didn’t have to hide away from my own kids anymore.
“I’ve got to go,” Mannix said, pushing out of the booth and motioning for Reaper to return. “Think about it.”