“Men usually are, honey,” Candy says. She’s one of the club women, but she seems cool. She swore she never slept with Skull. Not that it should matter, but it does.
“Amen to that,” Katie joins in, kissing a sleeping Gabby on her forehead. We should put her in her crib, but Katie loves holding her, so I haven’t tried. It wouldn’t surprise me if there’s little Torches running around soon. Heaven help us all. I can’t imagine the chaos they would cause. I almost smile, then I remember I won’t be around to see it.
“I mean something about Matthew and Colin,” I mumble, wishing I could read Skull’s lips.
The girls go quiet. “What makes you say that?” Katie asks, suddenly studying Skull even more than I am.
“It’s just a feeling, but it’s a strong one.”
“So? He needs to shut the fuckers down. Blow them off the map as far as I’m concerned,” one of the other girls says. I can’t remember her name. She’s Annie’s friend, kind of quiet, but I don’t think it’s because she’s shy.
“Sabre says he’s going to be leaving again sometime this week,” Annie whispers like she’s giving out state secrets, and I guess in a way she is.
“That means they’ve found Colin,” Katie says.
“Or Matthew,” I mumble.
“With any luck, both of them. We should party,” Sacks says.
“I need to find out when they’re going and where,” I mutter to myself, then realize the others heard me. Shit.
“Why the fuck would you need to know that?” Katie asks, but she knows already; I see it in her eyes.
“Because I’m going to kill him.”
“Bethie,” she starts.
I cut her off. “Don’t start, Katie. You above all people know what Matthew took from me… from us.”
“You don’t even know for sure it’s Matthew. It could be Colin.”
“Then he’ll just be practice for the real target. They both deserve to die. You said that yourself.”
“You can’t risk yourself. Gabby needs you. I can do it.”
“Hell no. You’ve given that monster enough. I will kill him. It’s my right.”
“I think that’s my line,” she mutters.
“You have Torch and you can’t let anything stand in your way of that Katie. What you have is real and you get to live it out. You don’t just give that up.”
“You could have that,” she mutters. The other girls go silent as we talk. They’re hearing too much, but I trust them. I don’t know why, but despite everything, I feel like we’re all family.
“Skull can barely look at me. I’m not getting that.”
“There’s other men, honey,” Candy says, and I give her a sad smile that I feel all the way into the depths of my soul.
“Not for me.”
“So what do we do?” Annie asks. I look at her blue eyes, which shine extra bright. “I know all about having someone you need revenge on. I don’t need to know what went down, but I’m in. So, what do we do?”
Wow… okay.
“Same here. I’m all in,” Sacks says, and all eyes go to her.
“It could cause you problems with your men. This isn’t your war, ladies. It’s mine.”
“Ours,” Katie interjects. I frown at her.
“Bull hockey!” exclaims Annie. “We’re the women of Devil’s Blaze. The Donahues not only fucked with you girls, they fucked with our men. They’ve tried to kill each of them. I think that’s reason enough. So, I repeat, what do we do?”
I smile despite myself. She doesn’t curse but very seldom, and her sweet nature is directly at war with the look on her face right now. But, as I look around at all of these women, I realize I’m surrounded by fighters. It looks like I’m not alone. After all this time of being alone, and then my time with only Katie and Gabby, it’s a strange feeling.
“We find out what the men are planning first, I guess,” I tell them because I really have no clue on how to wage war. I just know I’m going to.
“Then what?”
“We find a way to foil their plans—or at least delay them—then strike ourselves.” This comes from Katie. She looks at me with that kickass smile she used to get right before we’d strike out at our father or grandfather. That time was hell, but being a team with my twin? That part I definitely miss.
Looks like we’re going to war.
“They’re meeting now,” Sacks says, coming into my room where all the girls but Annie have gathered. She’ll be here soon. I hope I’m not opening a can of worms. Skull already hates me. If I cause a war between the men and women of the club, Skull is going to kill me. I push those thoughts out of my head and pay attention to the here-and-now.
“We need to find out what’s being said in the meeting.”
“Already got that handled,” Katie says.
I freeze. “What do you mean you already got it handled? Did Torch tell you what’s going down?”
“Are you kidding? You know how close-lipped these men are about church. Nope, I didn’t even try. I just remembered what I think you’ve forgotten, sister dear.”