by Bella Jewel
“And you can do that.”
“How the fuck can I do that?”
“Listen to me, for god’s sake!” I yell, throwing my hands up.
He clamps his lips together, but he doesn’t say another word and so I can finally tell him the plan I’ve been working so hard on.
“If, and when I say if, I mean if, Dax thinks that we’ve backed down, then we’ll have the chance to do this without him being on our case. We’ll go back to having the upper hand by being anonymous, by going in there without his knowledge. This works for everyone, Alarick. If we don’t do this, people are going to keep dying. King will die. Cova will die. He’ll make sure of it.”
“You want me to fuckin’ surrender to that motherfucker?”
“No, I want you to make him think you’ve surrendered, and we can do this right.”
“What about Bennett?”
“We don’t need Bennett anymore if we have Cova, we hand him back, call it a truce, and be done with it. At least, that’s what he’ll think.”
“Bennett is an essential part of that operation, I hand him back, it’ll be the last time I get a chance to take him down.”
“Listen to me, I want to take Bennett down as much as you do, but if we kill him, we’re never going to see King or Cova. I can’t have that. I just can’t. The best option for us right now is to do this, Alarick.”
He ponders it for a moment, a long moment, and then he exhales and says, “I can make this work. I’ll take Bennett down, but I’ll make it look like a fuckin’ accident. You’re right, it gives us a clean slate. Stops more lives bein’ taken. Fine, tell Dax we have a fuckin’ deal.”
Oh.
Thank god.
“I have to wait for his call, it’ll come soon. In the meantime, keep Bennett. When Dax calls, I’ll tell him that we’ll hand Bennett back as part of the exchange. It only makes it look that much better.”
“He don’t know about Waverly?”
“No, Waverly is our secret weapon. If she keeps doing what she’s doing, we’ll get all the information we need to have the entire operation taken down without bloodshed. If we can get enough, with Zariah’s help, we can end this.”
He knows I’m right.
He has to know I’m right.
We just have to be patient. This doesn’t have to be a blood war if we don’t want it to be, we just have to outsmart Dax.
We can do that.
We will do that.
Once everyone is safe.
My chest tightens with anticipation at the thought of meeting my sister, of finally having some family left.
I wonder what she’s like?
Is she traumatized? Has she been living in pure hell all these years?
I literally have no idea what I’m going to get when she returns.
But one thing is for sure ... I’ll be getting family.
Right now, that’s more than I could ever ask for.
21
FLICK
“You’ve got to be fuckin’ kidding me,” Cohen roars. “Like this isn’t fuckin’ bad enough now you want us to stand in front of that shady motherfucker and tell him we’re willin’ to back down?”
“First of all,” I growl, stepping up to Cohen. “Sit the fuck down. This is not a war we’re havin’ here, it’s a war we’re finishin’ so we don’t lose any more lives.”
“By fuckin’ giving into him? By admitting to the entire fuckin’ world we’re weak as fuck? What sort of plan is that? What sort of fuckin’ President comes up with such a stupid idea?”
That’s it.
I’m done with him and his fucking insults.
He’s angry.
He’s hurt.
He’s betrayed.
But he is pushing my buttons.
“Back. The. Fuck. Down,” I warn.
“Or what?” he growls, getting up in my face.
I raise my fist, and I hit him.
The first blow seems to come as a shock, because as his head whips around and then comes back, he looks at me like I’ve just fucking taken out his best friend. Then, his look is replaced with rage, and he bellows angrily as his fist flies into my face. It connects with my jaw, and pain radiates through my fucking skull.
Then, it’s on.
It’s on so god damned hard we’re on the ground in seconds, fists flying, grunting, angry pants as we beat into each other, release all the rage we’ve both had pent up for fucking months.
“Stop it!”
I hear a woman’s scream and lift my head to see Zariah walking into the club, her face scrunched in horror as we both beat into each other on the ground.
She pulls out her gun and aims it at us. “Stop it right now.”
Cohen’s fist lands on my face once more, and the hit is powerful enough to knock me off him. I roll to my back, blood trickling into my mouth, panting with rage. I look over to him, and he’s standing, his fist bloodied. He looks down at me, his eyes still filled with rage, and then he disappears out the door.
I glance up at Zariah, who is still pointing her gun at me. She puts it away and reaches out a hand. I don’t fucking take it, I push up to my feet and swipe my face with the back of my hand. “What’re you doin’ here?”
“I want to talk to you about Bennett, he hasn’t shown up for work in two days and ...”
“We’ve got him.”
She blinks. “What?”
“We’ve. Got. Him.”
“Are you insane?” she cries. “Why would you do something so stupid? Like it’s not risky enough.”
Yap, yap, yap.
I turn to her and growl my response. “First of all, don’t come into my fuckin’ club throwin’ around insults. Second of all, we’ve got him because we’re makin’ a deal with Dax. He wants him returned, and in return he’s goin’ to give us what we want.”
She shakes her head, confused. “You’re making a deal with Dax?”
“Yeah, he wants Bennett and he wants us to back down. We’re not backin’ down, of course, but he’s goin’ to think we are. It’ll give us the chance to go in undetected once more. He’s got two people I want, and he’s goin’ to return them when we return Bennett and declare we’re goin’ to leave this one alone.”
“He’s not stupid, Alarick. He’s going to suspect you’re going to keep looking into him.”
“Which is why we’ll leave it for some months. He’ll think we’ve given up. Trust me on that.”
She frowns. “How, exactly, are you going to take him down?”
“Waverly. You.”
“You want me involved still?”
“Yes, and I want Waverly to keep doin’ what she’s doin’. You tell me exactly what we need to bring this operation down, and we’ll make sure she gets it.”
“You’re handing this over to the police?”
I glance at her. “I don’t need any more blood on my hands, so yeah.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea? I can’t see Dax just giving up that easily.”
“Here’s the thing about Dax, his operation is worth more than the war with me. If he keeps going like this, attention is going to be brought to him, and he’s going to end up in a fuck load of trouble. That ain’t worth it to him. So he figures if he gives me what I want, I’ll back off and he can carry on doing what he’s doing. My guess? Someone higher above him is ordering this to be dealt with, and he’s not getting an option.”
“You do make some sense,” Zariah agrees. “I just feel like there’s going to be more to this, call it cop intuition.”
“Maybe there will be, but the fact of the matter is that we’re not in a place right now to fight anymore. One thing is for sure, Dax will kill anyone that gets in his way and right now we can’t afford anymore lives.”
Zariah nods. “Count me in, then. Let me know when you’re going to do the exchange of Bennett, I’m glad you’re choosing to let him go because if we were to be kept, it would cause a world of problems.”
“Believe me,” I m
utter. “If Dax didn’t offer this deal, I would have fuckin’ killed Bennett and made sure I put a huge hole in their fuckin’ operation.”
Zariah blinks, and then turns and walks toward the door. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Smart woman,” I murmur.
She disappears.
I glance down at my bloodied hands.
I hope this is fucking worth it.
“I’M NOT DOIN’ IT,” Cohen growls the next evening at Church. “I will not stand in front of that dirty motherfucker and admit defeat.”
“It’s not admittin’ defeat, Cohen,” Mykel growls, finally out of the hospital but still going really slow with his everyday business. “It’s doin’ the smart thing. Alarick is right on this one, it’s about makin’ the best choice for right now.”
“The best choice is killin’ that cop, bringin’ their operation down, and bein’ done with this,” Cohen snaps.
“And riskin’ the lives of two innocent people because of pride?” Mykel snaps back.
“King ain’t my fuckin’ problem. He chose to get involved in this shit, that’s on him.”
I exhale and stand, putting my hands on the table. “This is happening, it is fuckin’ so ordered. You obey, or you suffer the consequences, Cohen. You do not want to cross me on this one.”
Cohen stands and glares at me. “You’re makin’ a fuckin’ mistake, but I’m not goin’ to go against the club. I’m not stupid. I am, however, goin’ on a long fuckin’ ride after this away from you motherfuckers.”
He turns and walks out, slamming the door so loudly the building echoes. I release the breath that was sitting angrily in my chest at the idea of having to take him on again. But, being smart is part of Cohen’s better traits. He’s not a stupid man and he’s not going to risk his life, or his respect with the club by not following orders.
Still the idea that he’s fucking disappointed in me bothers me. He’s my best friend, and I respect the hell out of him. But he’s angry about all of this. He’s angry at me, at King, and he feels let down by the fact that he wasn’t told any of this.
Can’t change that now.
“Everyone else on board?” I ask the remaining table of people.
The older members all nod their approval.
“Yeah,” Kendric and Samson say at the same time.
Bohdi nods.
Mykel gives me a supportive look.
“Good,” I say, slapping the table with my hand. “Then let’s fuckin’ do this shit.”
I STEP FORWARD, MY entire club behind me, and Dax walks forward with five of his men, all holding machine guns. They’re not coming unarmed; they don’t trust us. That’s fucking fine, because we’re all carrying, too. I don’t trust him either.
Standing next to him is King, battered and bruised, but alive. He’s standing, hands cuffed behind his back, staring at the club with a look of complete love in his eyes. Pride, pure pride. This club was his whole fucking world, just like it’s my whole fucking world now. I know exactly how it feels to look at them and feel that.
“Got to admit.” Dax grins. “Didn’t think you’d do it.”
I glare at him. “I’m not a fuckin’ stupid man, Dax. You should know that by now.”
“Your pride is greater than your mind, though. Isn’t it, Alarick?”
I grit my teeth but say nothing. He’s not going to bait me, not right now. My club is relying on me to keep this safe, and that is exactly what I’m going to give them. I’m here to make a fucking point, not let them all down any further.
“Are we going to get on with this, or would you rather sit around and have a chat?”
Dax’s grin gets bigger.
He loves every fucking second of this.
“I’ll hand over what you need, once I’ve heard you and your entire club confirm that you’re going to back down.”
“You’re getting off on this, aren’t you?”
He nods, slowly. “Oh, you have no idea. What’s it going to be, Alarick?”
“How do I know the moment I say it, you’re not going to shoot him?”
“Well, it’s simple. You don’t. But you’re going to have to trust that your pathetic little fucking club isn’t enough for me to risk everything for. You back off, we back off, and everyone goes on with their lives. Believe me, it’s not the option I would rather, but it’s the option I’m going with. I’m sure you can understand that?”
He’s right.
I know he’s going to give me this, because the operation he’s got running, is so much bigger than the club. He’s right about that. And he’s going to do anything he can to protect it, including calling a truce this time around.
“Very well,” I say and then look back to the guys. I know it’s going to kill them to do this, but they do it because they do what I ask and they’re fucking loyal. At the same time, all of us say the following statement, “We, the King’s Descendants, will officially step down and stop looking into your operation. We will no longer cause any problems, or distractions, and will go on with our lives in exchange for King and Cova.”
He’s not getting any more than that.
He laughs, slapping his hands on his knees. “Man, I wish I got that on camera, really. It would be a YouTube sensation. Big tough bikers admitting defeat.”
I keep it together, and I know everyone behind me will keep it together.
I owe them fucking big for this one.
“Hand him over,” I growl.
Dax turns to his man that’s holding King and nods, and the man undoes his handcuffs and shoves him forward. Tight faced, King walks toward me. When he reaches me, he places a hand on my shoulder and looks me in the eye, “You’re a smart man, my son. You’ve done the right thing.”
Then he joins the rest of the group.
“Now the other part of our deal,” I demand.
Dax nods again, and another man steps forward with a file. It’s thick and it’s marked with the name Cova Reynolds. I take it when he hands it to me and look down at it, flicking it open to see pictures, information, and contact details for Cova.
“I said I’d give you her location, but it’s up to you to get her out of the place she’s in. Can’t guarantee she’s going to go willingly, but that’s not my problem, is it? It’s yours.”
I stare at him, closing the folder.
“Then this deal is done.”
I turn and nod to my guys, and they all return to their bikes and get on. King gets in the truck with Kendric. I glance back over at Dax and he’s getting into his truck. He looks at me before he does, and gives me a long, slow grin.
Evil motherfucker.
I’ll take him down.
Oh, god, I’ll make him wish he was never fucking born.
This time, though.
I’ll be smart about it.
22
BRIELLA
“So, this is where she’s living?” I ask, staring at the file about Cova.
There is an address, a name, hell a social security number, for the man she was sold to. Mostly, though, I let my eyes scan over the pictures of her. The few pictures that are in the file, but they’re everything.
She looks a lot like me, gosh, so much more than Magnolia did. She has this soft brown hair, with light scatterings through it. They look natural, sun-kissed. She has greeny-blue eyes, not quite like mine, not quite like Mom’s. She’s very similar in build to me, and other than that fact that she’s a little fairer and has a smaller frame, we’re very alike.
“We’ve got an address,” Alarick tells me, taking the pictures from me and staring at the girl who looks a whole lot like me. “Fuck she looks like you.”
“Well, we have the same parents ...” I say, and he grins at me.
“You’re way prettier.”
I chuckle. “Well, of course you have to say that.”
He presses a kiss to my forehead and then kicks back on the sofa, going over the file. “We’ve got an address, and by the looks of
things, it’s not going to be too hard to find her. We’ll go there, bring her back with hopefully no drama, and that’ll be the end of it.”
“Do you think it’s going to be that easy?”
He snorts. “Fuck no, I was just hopin’ it would. We’re goin’ to have to go there, watch her, see if there’s a way we can just snatch and grab.”
“I’m not sure that’s going to be a good idea, she might freak out, she doesn’t know who we are after all.”
“I’m sure if she’s been livin’ the life I think she’s been livin’, then she will quickly get over that. We can’t have anyone knowin’ it was us that took her, so the quicker we’re in and out, the better.”
“What if she’s locked up somewhere and we can’t get to her?” I ask, frowning at the possibility.
“Then we fuckin’ make them give her over. Trust me, Briella, I’m goin’ to get your sister back.”
“When do we leave?” I ask, holding my breath in anticipation of his answer.
“We’ll go first light. Bring a group of us, we’re due for a big fuckin’ ride. I’ll have Bohdi follow in the truck, to bring Cova back when we get hold of her.”
“Okay, yeah, that sounds good. I’ll get everything ready.”
“How’re you feelin’ about it all?” he asks, studying me.
“I’m nervous. I have no idea what kind of damage has been done to her. It has been a long time and god only knows what she’s endured. I’m scared that she’s going to be a handful, or too damaged to heal. That’s my biggest fear, is getting her back but it’s too late.”
Alarick puts a hand on my shoulder, squeezing tightly. “I’m sure you’re goin’ to get through to her. You have a beautiful fuckin’ soul, Briella. If anyone can help her, it’ll be you. It might take some time, but I have no doubt in my mind that you’re capable of doin’ it.”
I smile at him, grateful for his words. “I’m going to get some things ready, I’ll see you later?”
He nods, and steps forward, taking my face in his hands. He kisses me, long and hard, and then tells me he’s going to go and see King and the club, and make sure they’re not causing too much trouble out in the shed, now they’re all back together.