by Franca Storm
They all shook their heads, almost in unison, the tension palpable.
“Nah, Prez,” Liam spoke.
“All right then,” I muttered, before pushing out of the room.
***
Much better.
I fixed a towel around my waist as I stepped out of the shower.
Refreshed didn’t even cover it.
I’d spent days laid up and basically stewing in my own filth. It was a load off and the steam had helped to ease the ache in my muscles from not using them for a while. It had cleared my head a lot too. I felt more awake, my thoughts much clearer.
Now I just had to eat something to get my strength up more.
It turned out, I didn’t need to go far to see to that, as the second I stepped out of the bathroom and back into my room, I saw a whole load of food laid out on a rolling table.
Liam stood beside it, his head swinging my way as I walked into the room. “I figured you’d be needing this.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I said, walking up to the table and snatching up a BLT bagel.
I was wolfing it down in seconds, my hunger getting the best of me.
Liam walked over to the window, took a look outside, then eased himself down onto the windowsill with a heavy sigh. “When will you leave?”
So, this was it then.
We were getting into this shit right fucking now.
I leaned against the dresser, resignedly. As much as I’d tried to avoid it, it was clear now that he knew, he needed to hear the details from me. “Right after these two threats are dealt with.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Shit.”
“It’s better this way. A long, drawn out goodbye would just ramp up the drama of me leaving.”
“You’ve been President of Steel Titans for decades. Do you really think you leaving isn’t a big deal?”
“How’d you find out? Rick?”
“I figured it out on my own. Your behavior since the Strikers takedown, you upping the intensity of my training, then your impromptu vacation. All major red flags.” He sighed. “Slade, I know a lot has happened lately, but—”
“I’m tired, Liam. I’m fucking tired.” I walked over to him by the window. “It ain’t the kind of tired that a vacation or some short-lived break from the club can fix.” I slapped my hand over my heart. “It’s in here. All right?”
Our eyes locked and he rose from the sill, making his way over to me, taking me in. “You want peace,” he realized.
I nodded. “It’s time.”
A long, tense silence fell between us.
It was clear that he’d thought he could talk me down. But now that I’d laid out just how deep it ran for me, how it was more than a decision, and it was a need, he was having to recalibrate and let it sink in before he could figure out his next move.
Despite the tension—something I fucking well hated with a vengeance—I couldn’t help an inward smile. He was taking his time, strategizing, doing exactly what I’d taught him, exactly what I did when heavy news came my way.
“I’m sorry,” he finally spoke. “Everybody deserves peace. Especially you. You’ve had a harder time of it than the rest of us put together. You’ve carried the weight of Titans on your shoulders long enough. It’s time for you to be free.”
“Appreciate that, brother.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve got this. I’ve got this. You’ve taught me well. I’m ready.”
I laid my hand on his shoulder. “I know you are. There ain’t no doubt in my mind.”
He gave a smile that let me know how much my confidence in him meant. “All right,” he said, with a clearing of his throat. “I’m glad that’s out of the way.” He shifted his weight uneasily, clearly struggling with his emotion over actually acknowledging that I was walking away from the club. Pushing through it, he asked, “So, when this is over, we find her, and take out the threats, is she going to be ready to leave with you?”
“It’s time for her to walk. And even if she weren’t, Freeman finding out who she is and sharing it with his militia, likely Nolan too, doing all that deep research on her, has burned her as Shadow forever.” I walked back to the table of food and snatched up a strip of bacon, taking a bite, before going on, “Is she ready to go to ground with me? I ain’t sure. We never got that far into it, before all that hellfire rained down on us.”
“But you’re still gonna walk, if she’s not ready?”
“She’s Willa Rose, brother. Shadow. When she is ready, she’ll find me.”
22
~Willa~
“PREDICTABLE AND COCKY.”
Freeman eyed me from across the table, keeping his gaze steady, his expression unreadable. I’d come to understand that it was a tactic he employed whenever he wasn’t sure about something. He didn’t want others to know that. He wanted to be seen as infallible and all-knowing. Of course that was impossible, an unattainable state.
But it was possible to get close to it with experience and practice. He wasn’t interested in going that route, though. He wanted a shortcut. He referred to it as ambition, but the cold, hard truth was that it was ego and desperation. He didn’t want to pay his dues, or build this empire of his up slowly and carefully. He was determined with his bull-in-a-china-shop approach.
He would be the architect of his own destruction.
Of course, I was going to help it along a little.
I kept my gaze steady on him, ensuring my expression was completely neutral. I affected a casual disposition, popping a raspberry into my mouth, continuing to leisurely pick at my breakfast. It was more like a lavish feast than a regular, run-of-the-mill breakfast. A wealth of fruit was on tap in fancy crystal dishes. There was an assortment of breads and rolls, not to mention the numerous pastries. There was a selection of yogurts as well. Then there was the lobster omelet. It was a few steps beyond overkill, for sure.
It was also my third breakfast here at Blake Freeman’s penthouse. My third day confined here.
“That’s your assessment of Nolan?” he finally spoke.
I stabbed at a piece of omelet with my fork, noting his involuntary wince as I did. “His major weaknesses, yeah,” I said, popping the omelet into my mouth. I finished chewing, swallowed, then expanded, “The two we can exploit, anyway.”
“How about him coming to me and going outside his own guys?” he challenged. “That wasn’t predicable.”
He was still wary about trusting me. He had no fucking idea.
After his threat that first time I’d woken up here, he’d left me to stew for hours. What he’d really given me was time to formulate a strategy.
I knew that I had to rid myself of the sedation he’d been subjecting me to. I’d needed to ensure I was at full strength as soon as possible. And I knew the only way to do that was to neutralize my aggression and continued threats and, instead, make him believe that I was willing to give him what he wanted. To do that, I’d had to come up with a reason for me doing that one-eighty.
It turned out that Adrian Nolan made a perfect alibi for that. Not only was he unfinished business to me, but he had a connection to Slade, somebody I was personally involved with. Agreeing to make him the first target and using those things as my motivations had bought me Freeman’s trust.
Now I just needed to solidify that.
Long enough for me to destroy him.
“It still falls within the realm of predictability,” I countered. “Whenever a threat is imminent, or an attempt has been made on his life—believe me, there have been many over the years—he retreats and reaches out to outsiders, leveraging whatever he can to wield them against said threat. This time, it was you, and he believed it to be a sure thing, thinking that you had a hate on for Slade Mitchell, that you were running on short-sighted vengeance.”
“Hmm,” he said, sitting back in his chair with a nod. “I see your point.”
I swallowed a mouthful of food. “Good. Then let me use these weaknesses of his to our advantage.”
He grinned.
“What?”
“I just love hearing you say ‘our’ now. It’s a far cry from a few days ago. I’m enjoying it.”
“Then let’s celebrate by pulling off our first victory.”
“Wiping Nolan off the board.”
“I can take care of it swiftly and efficiently, no blowback.”
He looked more than a little surprised by my plan. “I have a militia in play. A highly-trained, ex-military force.”
“An army will draw attention. They also don’t know Adrian Nolan as well as I do. Plus, using the militia he put you in contact with is extremely lowdown and trashy. Is that how you really wish to start your empire, with a below-the-belt and clunky move like that?”
He mulled it over for a few moments. “Okay, we’ll do it your way.”
“That’s why you hired me.” Hired was an incredibly generous term. Diplomatic too. But that was the way I had to play it right now. Sometimes you had to swallow pride and fury for a bigger payoff later.
And that was what I was all about.
I played to fucking well win.
“Right you are.”
“Good. I’m just going to need two things from you first.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, and steepling his fingers. “Tell me, sugar.”
“Return all the gear you confiscated from me. Weapons. Clothing. Devices. All of it. I also need to stop off at one of my properties to pick up some additional equipment.”
He let out a laugh of disbelief. “Let me get this straight, you want me to rearm you and let you walk out of here to return to one of your strongholds?”
I eyed him steadily. “Precisely.”
“You think I’m stupid, is that it?”
“I wouldn’t have agreed to work with you if that was what I thought.”
That had him pausing, just as I’d thought it would. Guys like him couldn’t resist a stroke to their egos.
He rose to his feet and rounded the table toward me. “That’s right. You did agree. We have a deal.” He leaned over my chair, looming over me. “I would hate for you to go back on that.” He caressed the cuff binding one of my wrists to the chair. “The consequences would be unimaginable.” He slid his hand over mine, then squeezed painfully, making me grunt. “Hurting you in a severe and permanent way is the last thing I want to do.” He dipped his head and whispered hauntingly in my ear, “But disloyalty warrants my absolute worst.”
I gritted my teeth, fighting against my every instinct to react… unfavorably. He had to believe the current reality was real. He had to think that I was helpless cuffed to the chair. I couldn’t show him how easy it actually was for me to both free my hand and to take him down, all in a blink of an eye. The four guys he had stationed outside the door to his penthouse suite wouldn’t be able to stop me either.
Ending him right here and now wouldn’t be enough. I needed questions answered first. I needed to understand how far-reaching his empire was at present. Without that knowledge, I’d be risking the lives of all the Steel Titans members and every innocent living in Warlow. Cut off from any sort of tech and communication right now, that wasn’t a possibility. I also needed to know how he’d managed to acquire the militia so easily from Nolan to determine the best way for me to sever that connection.
Fortunately, I could get the answers to both questions directly from the target I’d just agreed to take down.
I eyed Freeman steadily as he pulled back and glared suspiciously at me. “There’s no reward without risk. Isn’t that what you’re all about with this empire-building endeavor?”
He stared at me up close, far too close, for the longest time.
If he thought that cliched attempt at intimidation would work on me, he truly had no idea who he was dealing with. And there was no way in hell some twisted version of a staring contest would unnerve me and crack the façade I was throwing up his way.
“Well?” I spoke when time continued to stretch and he hadn’t moved a muscle. “Are you going to let me do what I do best, or not? You can either trust me, or you can’t. And if you can’t, then this partnership is over before it really begins. There are no sure things, but with the way I work, my efficiency level, knowing what I do, I’m as close as it gets. So, decide now as to whether you want that, or if you’d rather go it alone. You’re a novice. Having somebody like me beside you is not only beneficial, but it’ll prove necessary. It’s why you chose me. I’m just reminding you of something you already know, because sometimes we can’t see clearly through our fears and insecurities. Falling victim to that would be a shame for somebody with such vast potential.”
His lip curled up. “You really have a way with words, don’t you?”
“I’m just telling you things you already know.”
Finally, he released me and pulled back. “We’ll move against Nolan, per your plan. I accept your two conditions, but I have one of my own.”
I cocked an eyebrow.
“I’ll be your backup.”
“You aren’t equipped to do what I can,” I warned.
“That’s why I’ll be close by. We’ll also be in constant communication via COMM’s.”
“Fine. Let’s not waste any more time.”
“Time to build that empire.”
We’ll see, asshole.
23
~Slade~
I NEEDED A DRINK.
Something to take the edge off.
A smoke would do it too, but I weren’t gonna go down that road again. It’d been a bitch of a thing quitting in the past. To start up again now right in the middle of a high-stress situation was far from the best idea.
Besides, I had to stay alert.
So much was on the line.
The club.
My freedom.
And, worst of all, the fate of the woman I loved.
Another couple of days had gone by of running down sources, pressuring contacts, and all that, but nothing had come back on Willa’s current whereabouts. That fucker was keeping her off the grid. It was disturbingly ironic, given that it was usually the other way around, with her being the one to hide her clients when they needed it.
Freeman hadn’t just kidnapped her out of spite, or for some sick thrill. The kind of heat involved in taking and trying to hold somebody like her weren’t worth it just for that. Nah, he wanted something from her. With her skillset, what that something could be was anybody’s guess. Whatever it was, I had no doubt it was something real fucking bad.
Well, we weren’t gonna let it get that far.
We were gonna pull my woman out of there and take that trumped-up kid down.
I took another sip from my coffee, making an effort not to crush the mug in my hand with how worked up I was.
I couldn’t count the number of times I’d looked out on the same fields and foliage surrounding the through road that led up to the Steel Titans clubhouse. Just like back at Willa’s safehouse, when shit was going down and the stress and frustration was trying to get the best of me, I came out here to be around nature and fresh air. I drew in a deep breath and continued taking in the view around me, just breathing it all in, as I stood just a few feet beyond the clubhouse gates.
It was hard to believe that it would be nothing but a memory soon. After doing the same job for decades, it was a hell of a thing to wrap my head around.
I turned away from the view and scanned the courtyard until my gaze fell on my bike. I’d gotten real lucky that the boys had been able to retrieve it intact and without a scratch. It’d been far enough away from the safehouse explosion that it’d made it and been in the same condition as I’d left it the night before.
At least that wasn’t gonna be a change I had to make in my life. Not only would my bike still be with me, always be with me, my retirement plan featured bikes very heavily. Everything was ready and waiting for me. I could walk anytime I wanted. I would have by now, if it hadn’t been for the threats still out there. I just needed
to hold on a little while longer, then I’d be free. And, hopefully, I’d be taking Willa right along with me.
Movement from the clubhouse entrance pulled me from my thoughts and drew my gaze straight to the heavy, old doors.
Cole was walking out.
His instincts as good as they were, he noticed me right off the bat, giving me a chin lift, and veering my way with those strong, no-nonsense strides of his. The guy was a force, for sure. He really had been my greatest soldier. For the longest time now. I’d taken a chance on him, bringing somebody with his temper and wild nature into the club. Sure, there’d been some issues along the way, but the good far outweighed those. He was one of my greatest assets. Hell, the truth was, he was like a son to me.
As he got closer, I tensed up, just thinking about all that. It would be hard to say goodbye to him. Hard for both of us. We’d been through a lot together. We’d suffered through a lot together. We had a bond, no doubt, one that went deeper than what I had with the rest of the boys, except Liam. And now, I was gonna break that.
He was off-duty. It was always easy to tell with Cole, because he went without his cut, just sporting that gray hoodie of his, which seemed to function as some kind of security blanket. He also had a much more relaxed edge about him when he had a day off.
Because I still had Liam running things as Acting Prez right now, I had no clue about who was scheduled where and when. It was strange as fuck not knowing every little thing that was going on with the club. But, I’d decided to let Liam continue leading even with me technically back on club soil, because it would be that way permanently soon enough. We both needed some time to get used to that. Also, I weren’t exactly in the best frame of mind right now. I was frustrated, full of rage at Nolan and Freeman, and suffering some major anxiety and real fear for Willa. My judgment was clouded, for sure. I couldn’t put that on the club, couldn’t lead them when I was like that. It weren’t fair and it was beyond dangerous.
Cole shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie as he came to a stop in front of me. “Surveying your empire, Prez?”