“Firely, how soon can we be ready?” Prez growled, stopping just short of rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “Blackjack said he can get some men out here by next week. They'll be ready as soon as they're in, itching for action after the cartel wars ended out west. I want everything square in five days. Earlier, if we can swing it.”
“Five days,” he repeated, staring at the Prez like a spider he wanted to stomp. “Doesn't leave much time to train any of the brothers on the heavier shit. We've been getting more of it in and our range ain't great for this stuff.”
“Fuck the big guns,” Dust growled. “We'll have manpower on our side. The Grizzlies are bringing a few of their newer toys, too. It'll balance out.”
“Before we do this, there's something else,” I said, sitting up in my chair. “That girl, Summer, who some of you boys saw the other day. She's got news on the Deads...”
I went through all the facts then. Told them about how they'd trashed Seddon, how Hatch wanted to use her as a mole to pry shit outta the club through me. I told them about my kid last, how I was sure he was mine, and I'd do everything I could to make up for lost time, keeping them both safe.
She'd come clean to me.
So had I, and none of this shit bothered me.
Yeah. Yeah, fucking right.
“Jesus Christ, bro. I mean, fuck, everybody knew you had secrets, but...shit.” Sixty grinned, chomping on his smoke. “We've got your back. You and your new family.”
His last words didn't do much to settle me down. I waited for more shit, pivoting my switchblade in my hands, feeling the sharp reflection of the sunlight coming through the old blinds peeling off it. Straight into my eyes.
“Goddamn. I'd hoped to get the fuckin' jump on those bastards,” Dust said, twisting his pipe thoughtfully between his fingers. “Looks like they're gearing up to do it first. They can smell us fuckin' coming.”
“Better not be a damned rat,” Firefly growled, his rage shifting to something else.
My guts sank. Fuck, it didn't seem likely, but we'd only brought on the three new prospects last week, men who'd been there as hangarounds for months.
“Nah,” Dust said, dismissing it with a wave of the hand. “Hatch is a brutal, sick motherfucker. He ain't stupid. He knows we're getting stronger, pulling in legit money from the strip clubs and the chop shops, buying more guns. Fucker's probably been busy moving in on the Torches' old territory for months, and he's gotta know we wiped 'em out. Nobody else would've planted Deadhands' cuts in the wreckage for the cops after we torched that place.”
No, nobody else would've been so stupid and ballsy. That idea had been mine, just a couple months ago, when we saved Firefly's old lady down in Atlanta, and finished off our friends-turned-enemies. The Torches MC was dead, and we'd framed the Deads for doing it.
Too fuckin' bad the bastards hadn't taken much heat.
“Motherfuckers must be handing out bribes left and right,” Skin said, like he'd read my mind. “Fuckin' FBI should've given them something to shit bricks over for months. They're not doing that.”
“More reason to hit them hard, soon as we gas up our bikes and get our new troops,” I said, thumbing the edge of my knife.
“Joker's right. The roadblocks we tried to put up while we got our shit together just went down. They're coming, unless we knock them on their asses first. No more fuckin' around, boys. This is all out war.”
Dust looked at me when he said it, as if he finally understood me. This wasn't just about avenging Piece anymore.
This was about saving myself from losing my last shred of sanity.
Nobody was coming for Summer. They damned sure weren't coming for Alex. I wouldn't let any of the sick, evil poison from the club's fights savage my family.
Maybe I hadn't figured out what the fuck family even meant. Right now, it didn't matter, I'd have all the time in the world as long as I decapitated the bastards who'd picked at Taylor blood like vultures.
“We can't be fuckin' fools about it, Veep. It's gonna take planning. Maybe seven or eight days instead of six. Give me the time I need to do the job right,” Firefly said, still giving Prez the stink eye.
“Orders are orders,” Dust said coldly. “I've given you a time line. You make it happen, Firefly.”
The big Enforcer clenched his jaw, his biceps bulging as he pushed his fists together. My eyes bounced over every brother, waiting for the whole fuckin' room to go up like a rocket factory on fire.
“Listen, you've all got the big picture. We'll iron out the details later. It's time to vote.” Dust brought the gavel down, moving this shit along. He looked at me first.
“Aye,” I said slowly.
Aye for Summer, for Alex, for my own future, however rough or fucked up the going got. Yes to death, to avenging Freddy and Grandpa, to burying the past once and for all so I could focus on the family I hadn't known I had 'til yesterday.