“I know.” I push the words through clenched teeth.
“They’ll kill her, too.” He points at the house, his eyes never leaving mine.
I don’t respond, because that will never happen. I won’t let it, my eyes conveying that clearly.
“You’re a fucking traitor.” He shakes his head and steps back. “You didn’t just turn on the club, you turned on me.” He curses under his breath and starts heading back to his bike, and guilt rips through me.
“It’s not like that, Felix.”
He stops in his tracks and turns.
“If you care about her at all… you’ll break it off.”
Just the words have panic rising in my chest. Looking down, I shake my head.
“I—I can’t.”
Silence falls, so I look up at him. His face is red, his nostrils flaring, fists clenched.
“Fuck you!” he hollers, walking back to his bike.
I know I should leave Jillian. I know I broke my oath to the brotherhood. But I can’t walk away, and now we’re both screwed.
***
Walking into the club, the scent of cheap perfume, body odor, and beer greet me.
“Zeek!” Dolly throws her arms out in excitement. She runs toward me, but I hold my hand out, stopping her. Her mouth is swollen, her tooth crooked as shit. Jillian made a mess of her face. I silently smile to myself, proud that my woman can take care of herself.
“You look like shit.” I smirk. “You deserved it.”
She stops, blinking in confusion.
“Hey, Zeek!” Tinker smiles big. I ignore her.
“The boys are waiting,” Felix informs me, poking his head out of the church doors. Shoving past Dolly, I head into the chapel.
“Sorry, boys. I overslept.” I avoid looking at Felix, ‘cause I’m sure he’s giving me a look a bitch would give a friend after she fucked her ex-boyfriend.
I slam the gavel. “First order of business.”
“Gentry boys are taken care of…” I nod, knowing exactly how that went down. Bones brought the van, Mac and I shot two of the men, Felix used his buck knife, and Machete used his machete on one. The cleanup was quick, and we left. So, why is he bringing that up?
“But…” Machete twists his lips. “Seems we’re missing one.”
“What the fuck does that mean? Explain.”
“I mean, we had four bodies in the back of the van. Bones went to dispose of them and there were only three.”
“Find him!” I yell. Having a missing Gentry can be dangerous, not only to the club, but any member’s family, as well. They’re rednecks without a code, without a structure. I don’t know much about them, but I know enough to understand no hell is too low for those fuckers.
“We’ve been trying!” Felix shouts. “If you’d answer your phone, you’d see a lot of shit has been going down around here. You know your uncle patched in two guys we’ve never even heard of?”
“I know, I took care of it.”
“Oh, you took care of it?”
Shooting Felix a look, I take in a slow breath, my glare telling him to calm the fuck down before he says something that gets us all in shit. I don’t know who we can trust at this table, so my uncle is a conversation we’ll have later.
“So, what do we do about the missing Gentry?” Machete asks, taking the subject of my uncle off the table.
Sitting forward, I rub at my forehead. Where did the little fucker go?
“Did you call it in?” Meaning have we used our dirty cops and sheriffs to find the asshole.
Felix inhales quickly. “Wasn’t sure if you wanted us to go that route.”
“Do it.”
“You got it, brother.”
“Anything else?”
“Yeah, Uncle Frank is looking for you.”
“Got it.” I slam the gavel down, dismissing the boys.
Frank is going to be the big problem though. I need to figure out how to get him away from my club. In doing that, I might have to get my hands a little bloody.
Regardless, it ends now.
JILLIAN
Waking up this morning, Zeek is gone. My body is still stiff in some places, so I skip going to work again today, even though it’s all I want to do. Maybe going to the gym will help stretch the tightness out.
I pack my gym bag and head for a workout.
I change into my tight, black elastic pants and a pink tank top. Pulling my hair into a ponytail, I stuff my bag into a locker and go pee before hitting the treadmill.
“Oh, my God, last night he took me to that new Italian restaurant. It was soooo good. And I know he spent a buck, because that champagne he ordered was over a hundred dollars,” a voice sounds from inside the locker room.
“He sounds so genuine. And he is such a looker. You think anyone in the department knows you’re dating?” another voice sounds.
“I don’t think so. If so, then we’ll deal with it.”
“You guys are so cute.” I roll my eyes and step out of the stall.
Both girls turn around, their faces bright red. I know one woman as Deputy Sara Collins. She was flirting with Deputy Needon at The Big Blue restaurant.
“Busted.” The other girl smiles, clearly loving the drama.
Sara smacks her lips together, resting her hands on the sink behind her.