I was livid. The monster inside me was stirring. It was pissed that it only got a little bit of fun fighting all those rich businessmen. The monster wanted more. Not to mention another side of the monster wanted Harlee.
“We’re listening,” Trev said. “I’ll shut my mouth for a few minutes to hear this. Because it has to be good, Trent. That woman was going to kill a table member of this MC. And you’re supposed to be a monster. A ruthless fucking outlaw who would kill anyone at anytime for any reason.”
I turned and face the President of the club. My eyes were wide. He was fucking with me. He was tempting me. He wanted me to snap.
I inched closer to Trev, almost going nose to nose with him. “The truth… yeah, I didn’t kill her right away, did I? I let her live. Before I could get anything out of her, something happened with Duke. He lost his damn mind and started fighting people. I went to his rescue because The Hell Five were the ones guarding the outside of the building. They came rushing in with machine guns and I took off, saving Duke.”
“And saving that bitch,” Jasper said.
I turned and thought about hitting Jasper. Instead, I nodded. “That’s right. I saved her. Want to know why?”
“I think that’s why we’re standing here,” Trev said.
“She’s not a trained killer,” I said. “I watched the way she moved.”
“Hell, who wouldn’t?” Jasper asked. “I wouldn’t mind bending her over a table…”
I stepped back and leaned against a railing. I folded my arms. “Let me know when you’re done.”
“Sorry,” Jasper said. “I’m just saying… she’s not bad looking at all.”
“That’s not why she’s alive,” I said.
I knew some of that was a complete lie.
“Then why is she alive?” Trev asked.
“First off, Duke lost it,” I said. “I had to make sure he didn’t end up dead for real. That’s part of the reason. The other part? She’s not a goddamn killer, Prez. She was forced into this from Night Soul. They’re expecting Duke to be dead and Harlee to be back at their clubhouse.”
“Harlee?” Trev asked.
“That’s her name.”
“You got the name,” Jasper said. “Good for you.”
“Listen to me,” I said. “She knows the monster, okay? I had her. She watched what I did to protect Duke. My point here is that we have someone who could help us with Night Soul. We have what they want. We have Duke, alive. We have their so-called assassin, alive. It’s going to fucking drive them crazy to think how bad they fucked up here.”
I looked at Trev. He looked at Jasper, then at me. “So you think she knows something?”
“Depending on how long she was with the MC,” I said. “I didn’t get that far with her before Duke went crazy.”
“So she’s here now,” Jasper said.
“Yes,” I said. “Right now, the entire game over there is busted up. Guys are beaten up but nobody was killed. The Hell Five have a mess to clean up. And then Night Soul will be waiting for Harlee to go back to them. We’ve got the upper hand on this now. I’m not trying to step out of line here with anything but we have always acted harsh and what did it get us? So maybe now we can be strategic.”
“The monster,” Trev said. “Talking beyond the violence and blood. That’s not like you.”
I looked at Trev. “I’m tired of watching scumbags trying to kill my brothers and kill my new President. We just got rid of Ripper after a long road of lies. If I killed Harlee, what would it do? Nothing. It would piss off Night Soul and they’d be right back at us again. But now, we have the brains behind it. We knew about the gambling. We knew about the hit on Duke. We stopped it, trashed the place, and took the woman they sent to kill Duke. Plus, here’s the million dollar question… what else does she know?”
That got Jasper’s full attention. He grabbed for his knife. “I can make her talk.”
“Any of us can,” Trev said. He grabbed my shoulder. “You think she trusts you?”
“I made it very clear to her there are two options in this situation. Either she tells me what I want to know or she takes a bullet to the head. I’d call that a good foundation for trust.”
“You think you can actually pull the trigger on her?” Jasper asked me.
I reached for my gun with a grin on my face. Then I made my move to solidify who I was and to end whatever bullshit everyone thought about me right then.
I grabbed the blade of Jasper’s knife and squeezed, feeling my skin slice open. He looked down and I released my hold. I grabbed his shirt, leaving my blood on it, and then I put my gun under his chin.
“I can pull this trigger on anyone, VP,” I said.
I felt something touch the back of my skull. “Stand the fuck down, Trent.”
It was Trev and he had his gun to my head.
I gave my gun a little jam up against Jasper’s jaw. He stepped back and ripped my wrist away and put his knife to my throat. We were all a little crazy in the head but that’s what made us so good at what we did.
“I’ll slit your throat,” Jasper whispered.