Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
“Look, I’m trying to protect your stubborn ass. All of you have way more to lose than me, so it doesn’t matter what you say. I’m not letting anything happen to the club.”
“Good thing we’re on the same page,” he growls back.
It’s impossible to argue with him. He’s not listening, and neither will Blade or the others. I shake my head, needing coffee, but a cigarette will have to do. I tug a pack out of my pocket.
“So, I sent Floppy to watch Pavel. We can get to him. You’re right, there’s definitely bad blood with him and his uncle. The rumor is Misha fucked Pavel’s girlfriend, she got pregnant, and Misha slit her throat and dumped her dead body at Pavel’s back door to make sure he knew his place.”
As I light up, my eyes narrow. “Okay, let’s make that work for us. We need to get Pavel in private without anyone seeing.”
“Floppy says he eats at this Russian deli every day, and his only weakness is pussy. I say we send in Roxy or Amanda for food and let him take her back to his place.”
I nod. “That’s good. Let’s do Amanda. She’s got the innocent look going on, he’ll like that. She also can suck cock better than Roxy.”
Axel throws his head back to laugh. “Consider it done.” Taking another toke, he slowly exhales and drops the roach into an empty beer can.
“I’ll send her tomorrow. Pavel lives close to the deli. She can use the bathroom and text us when she’s done. Then we slip in and have a little chat with him.”
I snort. “Yeah, that ought to go over well.”
“I’m letting Amanda get him off before we make our appearance.” He smirks. “Look, it’s what has to happen. He’s a mean son of a bitch, but he hates his Uncle Misha more than us. He’s also not stupid or suicidal, so he’ll go for it.” There’s a knock on the door, and our eyes go straight to the monitors. Amy stands with a carafe of coffee and a platter of bacon with biscuits.
“We do this tomorrow. He’ll go for it. That kind of bad blood is revenge bad blood, and he’s too ambitious not to.” When I open the door, Amy marches in, and I take the platter of pig from her.
“Eve and Antoinette are on their way.” She wipes her hands on her apron. “So if you guys want anything, now is the time to ask. Otherwise, I’m gonna get the food ready for the party.”
“No, we’re good, thank you, Amy.” I kiss the top of her salt-and-pepper head.
She swats at me. “I’m too old to be visiting my boys in jail. Get this taken care of.” Her brown eyes go from me to Axel.
“Don’t worry, we got it handled.”
“I always worry. That’s my job.” She purses her lips. “I’ve seen four different presidents in this club.” She grabs each of us by the arm. “But Blade and you boys are the very best.”
She nods. “Get it done.” Then she turns to leave, shoulders back.
Frosty runs in, his hair standing straight up, like he’s once again stayed up all night running his hands through it.
“Hey, Amy.” Out of breath, he steps aside, waiting for her to leave.
My heart starts to pound.
“Where the fuck is Blade?” he says. “I got it. We got the fucking rat.”
RYDER
Present
Disciples’ clubhouse
Burbank, CA
“Where the fuck is Blade? I got it. We got the fucking rat.”
The rat.
It repeats over and over in my head as I move toward him.
“Who is it?”
“Easy, Ryder. Wait for Blade.” Axel’s already on one of his phones texting. I look at him knowing he’s right, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it. This day is fucked already, and it’s not 10 AM yet.
“Frosty, get Ox in here. I want the room swept again,” I snap.
Control. This is when I thrive. I’m an expert at staying calm, levelheaded, and then striking with a force no one can recover from.
“On it.” He pushes his glasses up but doesn’t look at me when he passes.
“It’s a woman from the truck, isn’t it?” I grab ahold of the chair in front of me, digging my fingers into the wood. It feels just like that day that took us all down, the day we were blindsided by the news that someone had blown up our lab, leaving Chuckie and the others dead.
I should have known, but I didn’t. I hear the wood crack before computing that the sound is coming from my own hands.
I should have known.
Ox enters and goes straight to work with his bug detector and infrared scanner, not even looking at us.
“Blade’s pulling up right now,” Axel announces.
“I kill the rat, you hear me?” My voice is almost hoarse with emotion.
Axel glances at me but continues to text on one of his phones.