by Jordan Marie
“He’s planning something,” I say mostly to myself.
“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.”
“What’s that?” I question, almost afraid to ask.
“That I managed to survive our father and grandfather for a lot of fucking years and that we didn’t do too bad for two women and a baby on the run for two years.”
“If you don’t count having a one-night-stand with a man tasked with bringing you back home at any cost to use as leverage, then sure, you were great. Oh, and we won’t even get into the runaway eighteen-wheeler…”
“Sarcasm doesn’t become you, sister dear. In any event, you know that little box of toys we took from our father’s room at Hell?” I smirk. Hell is what we called my grandfather’s mansion. Sadly, it more than lived up to the name.
“Toys? Toenails and doughnuts, why are you carting around sex toys used by your father? That’s just wrong on so many levels.”
We all look up as Annie walks in and the laughter erupts almost simultaneously. It might be because of the comment about our father’s toys, but more than likely it has to do with her aversion to cursing.
“Not those kind of toys, fruitcake,” her friend Louise says.
“I swear, being with two men has fried your brain,” Candy adds.
“I’m with one,” Annie grumbles, though she blushes.
“Girl, please, you have both of them men jumping to your every command. They are pussy-whipped with a capital P,” Candy says.
Annie’s blush deepens, but she doesn’t deny a thing. It’s probably for the best; no one would believe her.
“Where’s the baby?” Annie asks suddenly, looking around.
“Katie got Mattah to babysit,” I tell her. Mattah is an older woman who works in the kitchen. She’s great with Gabby and she’s been really good to me since I got back.
“Actually, Mattah had to go home. Her daughter went into early labor.”
“Then where is my daughter?” I ask, annoyed. I love Katie, but I just don’t trust Gabby with very many people.
“Oddly enough, she wanted her Uncle Torch.”
“He took Gabby into the meeting?” I asked, completely surprised.
“Yep. Along with something else…”
“What else?” I ask, knowing from that look on Katie’s face that she’s up to something. In answer, she takes out her cellphone and starts pushing buttons.
“Gather around, girls. We’re about to attend our first church meeting.”
“What did you do?”
“I slipped Father dear’s mini nanny cam he used against us onto Gabby’s hair bow.”
“No fucking way. That will be way too big! You’ll get us killed. They’ll see it!”
“Relax, Louise. When I say mini, I mean microscopic. It’s amazing what money and a twisted sick fuck can find when they want to spy on you,” Katie says hatefully, and that same hate twists inside of me too. I hate my father for so many things. I
thought I hated him before, especially the day I discovered Katie was alive. That was nothing compared to the hate that grew once I traveled back to France.
“But…” Louise starts.
“She’s right. Trust me, I carried it around for months not even knowing it was there.”
“Where did he hide it on you?” Annie asked, studying my face closely, almost like she understands what kind of monster that Katie and I called father. I doubt that’s possible. My hand automatically goes to my upper arm, rubbing it through the cotton sleeve.
“It doesn’t matter. Just trust me: Torch will never see it.”
“Now let’s see what the boys are up to, shall we?” Katie, says, drawing attention back to her.
When I look at her, she’s looking me in the eye. Memories are there. The same ones I’m remembering. Nightmares even. She gives me a weak smile and I walk to her. I don’t want to remember those. Not right now. It haunts me enough at night. Katie pulls up the camera feed on her phone. Time to get my mind on the task at hand. The past needs to stay in the past.
Maybe I can bury it with the cold dead bodies of Matthew and Colin.
“What are you doing with Gabby? Where’s Beth?” I ask when Torch comes through the door carrying my daughter.
I immediately get up to take her from him. She’s already fucked up enough about not knowing me. She’s not going to get the chance to think of another man as her papá. That shit is not happening.
“Beth was sick. Katie was watching her, but she got a migraine. Mattah had to leave, so I volunteered to keep her.”
I ignore the fear that’s wrapped around my heart at the mention of Beth being sick. That’s not my concern anymore. It doesn’t stop the words that come out of my mouth, however.
“Is Beth okay?”
“Katie said the nightmares have been keeping Beth awake. She took the baby so she could sleep.”
“Nightmares?”
“Yeah. Living with Redmond Jr. and Senior wasn’t exactly a fun-filled ride. Katie gets them, too.”
His words burrow down inside of me and I don’t want to think about them—at least not right now. I’ll think about them later after I take down Matthew.
“Call the club doctor and get Beth looked at,” I grumble.
“No offense, boss, but if you get your girlfriend to check out your ex-wife, you’re just inviting a murder,” Briar says.
“True enough. My Annie is shy, but if I did that, she’d tear the doctor apart limb by limb.”
“My money is on Beth,” Latch speaks up. “She’s quiet. Those quiet women can be hell on wheels.”
“True story,” Sabre says, bumping fists with Latch.
“I don’t know. I think Dr. Torres might have the advantage, being a feisty Latina and all,” teases Clutch.
“She’s not Latina, you idiot,” Shaft grumbles.
“I think she might take Beth, too. But it’d be a hell of a match,” Torch chimes in.
“Will you fuckers shut up? I don’t have a fucking girlfriend and I’m talking about Doc Patton. Get him to come out. He will help the club anytime we ask.”
“Patton? Jesus Christ eating pancakes! Is that asshole still alive?” Torch asks. “How old is he now?”
“Shit, he has to be a hundred and twenty,” Briar says.
“Mierda! Can we talk about what the fuck we’re here for?”
“You know you need to watch the words you say in front of Gabby. Before you know it she’s going to be running around telling everyone to fuck off.”
“Good. Then they’ll know not to mess with her,” I grumble at T-Rex.”
“Not so good,” Beast objects, and his deep voice quiets the room down. “Little girls are supposed to be cherished and taken care of. They shouldn’t need to tell anyone shit. That’s our job.” The room goes completely silent now. The man’s eyes are glued on little Gabby and there’s such pain coming off of him, it swamps the room. I haven’t had Gabby long, but I swear I don’t see how Beast does it. I don’t know how the bastard still finds the courage to breathe.
I clear my throat over the lump I have in it and I hold a sleeping Gabby a little tighter. “Okay, let’s talk business. Namely, Matthew. Do we know anything about this damn cabin he’s holed up at?”
“It’s a freaking cabin in Hurricane, Tennessee,” Torch says.
“Tennessee? What’s the asshole doing so fucking close? That’s not even three hours away!” Briar growls.
“If I had to guess, I’d say he’s staying close so he and Colin can attack easier,” I answer.
“You think they’re planning shit?” Latch asks.
“Seguro.” I know they are. I can feel it.
“Then we should give them the fight they want,” Beast murmurs, and I agree one hundred and fifty percent.
“What do we know about the cabin?” I prompt.
“They have it guarded like fucking Fort Knox,” Torch says, and finally he is all business. Well, except for his t-shirt that has a giant rooster on it being whipped by a shadow figure which is obviously a very well-endowed female. Writing under the picture proclaims his wife is a giant cock tamer. Christo. I have no idea where he finds these motherfucking shirts.
“Any weaknesses?” I ask him, turning my mind back to the business at hand.
“The property butts up against the Green River. I think we can bring a boat in from the East and slip through the defenses there pretty easily. Plus, surveillance shows that bastard Matthew and about ten of his top henchmen. Sadly, there’s no sign of that fucker Colin. I think it’s pretty clear that word has gotten out we’re hunting them.”
“Good, I want them to fear what’s coming,” I tell him.
“Might make them harder to find,” Sabre cautions.
“I’ll find them,” I tell him coldly. “Torch, what about explosives? I’m not about to walk into another fucking mess like last time,” I growl.
“That’s Colin’s calling card, mostly,” Beast says, and I know he’s upset I didn’t take Colin out and, instead, exacted all my revenge on Redmond. That’s on me, too. I was too fucked up in the head to see what was going on.
“There’s a supply building on the outskirts of the property line on the south side. Scans show that it contains explosives inside, but that’s it. Of course, we can’t be a hundred percent sure until we get in there, but it looks like it’s mostly clear,” Torch informs us.
“The cabin itself might be sketchy, but with the bastard inside it, I don’t see it being rigged to blow,” Clutch adds.
“Anything else pop up through surveillance that might help us?” I question the brothers, shifting Gabby in my arms. For being barely two, she’s a chunk.
“Glad you asked, boss. Matthew and his men are randy motherfuckers. They have women delivered for a party every Friday,” Torch says with a grin.
He knows as well as I do, this is our in.
“That’s two days away. T-Rex, you’re over the women. Do you think Clara and a few girls would be willing to help us out?”
Briar sits back with a calculating look. “You’re thinking of intercepting their shipment with our own girls?” he asks.
“Damn straight,” I answer without hesitation.
“I don’t want the girls hurt,” he says.
“Shit, man. We’ve trained our women in hand-to-hand so good they can take down any man. Plus, they can fire any gun on and off the market with pinpoint precision. Clara helped train them. Let her handpick the ones we should use,” I answer.
The men around me seemingly grunt in approval. It wasn’t an exaggeration. The first thing we do when we agree to take a woman on is to train her so she can take care of herself. If a john tries to rough her up, we’ll send our own message, but she damn sure will make certain he doesn’t take what she isn’t willing to give.
“How many are we going to need?” T-Rex asks.
“Manny is their supplier. He usually brings seven girls.”
“Fucking Manny. Does Diesel k
now Manny’s tramping around in his territory?” I ask Torch.
“He does now. He wasn’t exactly happy.”
I nod in agreement. Diesel will nail his ass to the wall. Manny won’t be an issue.
“Okay. Let’s set it up. I want enough firepower to light up Afghanistan on a cloudy night,” I order.
“How many men we talking?” Beast asks.
“Me, you, T-Rex, Latch, and Shaft.”
“Boss,” Sabre starts at about the same time Torch interjects.
“No fucking way!” Everything in him is ready for a fight.
Shit, why can’t my men just listen to fucking orders?
My nerves pick up as the meeting starts. It’s so hard to even watch Skull, let alone hear his voice. I stand behind Katie and try to calm my nerves. I know what I’m planning on doing is crazy in the eyes of some. I don’t care. I need to do this. Redmond and my grandfather took so much from me and Katie. I may have lived in hell for a little while, but Katie lived in it a lot longer. I need to do this for me, for Katie, and especially for Gabby. I owe it to all of us. They took so much from me and Katie, but Gabby? They took her chance to grow up in a happy home with both her parents, and I never want her to be used as a pawn in the family. They must be destroyed. Even as I’m justifying my reasons, I know the real truth. I know why I want to destroy Matthew and Colin. I rub my upper arms in memory… in just one memory of hundreds. If anyone needed to die, it would be my stepbrothers.
My attention is brought back to the meeting we’re watching on Katie’s phone when Skull starts talking. When he orders Torch to call the club doctor out here to check me out, I nearly lose it.
“What the fuck is he thinking? If that skank comes within two feet of me,” I growl. I stop, however when the men start going over who they think will win in a fight. When Sabre brings up Annie, I laugh.
“Darn tootin’ I would! No one is touching what’s mine!” she says with a blush, and we all laugh. I stop when Torch thinks that whore Teena would take me.
“I’ll kill him,” Katie growls. “Kill him dead.”
“I might help you,” I tell her because that kind of hurts. None of the other members know me quite that well, but I expected Torch at least to have faith in me.