Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
“No, you didn’t. It might have looked like you left us open to the CIA, but anything incriminating or leading back to Argent Tech, you were careful to destroy. We actually had a team come in and search the place a few days after you left. They came up empty. Wylde said you’d given him explicit instructions on what to do. He was as thorough as he always is.”
“It could as easily have gone the other way, Sting. You know that.” His voice was soft as he admitted his own failure. In my book, that made him one of the strongest men I knew.
“Maybe. But I don’t think so. If you’re guilty of anything, it was loving Bev. She never deserved your devotion.”
“No. She didn’t. You still haven’t told me what you need, Sting.”
“There are brothers who are still divided over Bev. You weren’t the only one she did a number on.”
“Just one more in a long line of failures to the Tzars,” he muttered. “What do you need from me?”
“There are six men I need to send somewhere else. Four are prospects, but the other two are fully patched members. None of them are men I want to give up, but they’ll never trust each other again. I need to separate them, and I don’t want to show favorites by keeping one over the other.”
“I can guess which six.” Warlock leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes for a few seconds before hugging his woman tighter and resting his chin on her head. “Are you going to be on good terms with Cain at Bones?” Bones was an MC in Somerset, Kentucky. Bev’s daughter, Chloe, had fled to Bones when Bev had tried to get me to agree to make Chloe my ol’ lady. I had no plans to actually take on the girl, but I’d wanted to make sure she was safe. So I’d taken a contingent to Bones only to find Chloe had been claimed by a sniper named Deadeye. She seemed content so I’d left her in his care. Bones was also where Warlock had snapped Bev’s neck. Cain had indicated we should keep an open dialogue, and I tended to agree, but this was a lot to ask another club.
“I’d planned on it. Not sure this is the way to start it out, though.”
“Bringing them here creates its own set of problems, but I’ll talk to El Diablo. Bones has a sister club in Palm Beach. Tech and Pix would be a perfect fit at Argent. I’ll see if there is a way to get them an internship.”
“You think Alexi’d be willing to do that? To take them into the Shadow Demons?”
Warlock snorted. “Are you kidding? He’s been trying to get those two since the first day he met them. Are they pissed at each other?”
“You could say that. Before I left, I had to put them both on probation. It’s a testament to how much they both want to be in Iron Tzars that neither of them just fuckin’ quit.”
“Good. Giovanni can put them to work. Shadow Demons will be a ton of physical work. Argent will keep their minds occupied. They’ll be so busy jumpin’ through his hoops they’ll forget they’re pissed at each other. I can make that transfer happen.”
“I’ll talk to Cain about the others. See if he’s willing to take on a couple of the prospects.”
“Good. Sounds like you’ve got a plan, then.”
“Yeah.” I scrubbed the back of my neck. “Dad, I’m not cut out for this.”
“Sure you are.” He sounded so confident I wanted to prove him right. I wasn’t sure I could make it happen. “You need to get your feet under you. You’re twice the leader I ever was.”
That surprised me. “Not sure I’d agree with that assessment.”
“You’ll be fine, Sting. Just do what you learned over the years. Find your vision for the club and mold it into what you want it to be.”
“I want it to be exactly what it’s been since I was a kid. An instrument of justice for people in our community who can’t get it.”
Warlock grinned. “You’ll be fine. Believe it or not, your grandmother would be proud of you.”
I barked out a laugh. “You’re kidding. Right?”
“Nope. Seems she did some soul-searching in her later years. Looking back, if we’d both been better at communication, we’d probably have reached a compromise instead of cutting ourselves off from each other.”
I grinned at Hope. “Seems you were good for my gran.”
“She was good for me.” Hope gave me a small smile.
“Well.” I stood, reaching for Warlock’s hand. “I should go. I appreciate the face-to-face.”
“You’re my son. Anything you need, all you have to do is ask.”
As I was escorted out by Warlock and Hope, something caught my eye. At the gate was a young girl. She appeared to be arguing with the prospects manning the entry but they weren’t giving in to whatever she wanted. She seemed upset, her voice rising the longer the disagreement went on. Hope gasped and pulled away from Warlock.