by J. L. Drake
“No, I got my hard-on after you slapped me.”
“Thanks for the visual.”
I should have known something was up when we were on our way back. Rail had spent most of our walk home on the phone, texting like mad, and not at all paying attention to the people around us.
“Want to play a little?” I nodded at the parade up ahead that was just about to start.
“Oh, God, you make life so much fun.” She laughed, and we continued our lazy walk past our street and into the sea of half-naked men. We dove behind a float, and I pulled my phone out and hit record.
A chick with giant tits stuck them in Rail’s face and waited for him to glance up. When he did, his eyes bulged out, and he grinned, clearly interested.
Poor Rail didn’t have a chance in hell to understand what was happening before she grabbed his neck and plunged her tongue in his mouth.
“Holy shit.” Minnie nearly pissed herself. “It’s like a train wreck. I can’t look away.”
I could barely hold the phone upright, I was laughing so hard. He was going to kill us dead.
The chick let him go, and he looked up, dazed, until she spoke, and he noticed the Adam’s apple.
“Wait.” He backed up and looked around. “What the hell?” He immediately spotted us, and to my utter shock, he smiled and muttered something to her.
“Come here!” he shouted, and we bolted for the clubhouse.
“Run!” Minnie grabbed my arm, and we dodged traffic as we whisked across the street and flew into the clubhouse.
“Brick!” I shouted as he came out of Trigger’s office. “Catch!” I tossed him my phone as Rail’s body slammed me to the ground.
I rolled around, trying to catch my breath while I laughed. With all the heaviness the club had been through the last few months, it felt amazing to laugh all the stress free from my insides.
“Wait,” Brick’s face broke out into a confused smile, “isn’t that a fuckin’…”
“Man? Yup.” I shoved Rail’s shoulder when he went to cover my mouth. “Tongue and all.”
“It explains so much.” He glanced at Rail, who was sweating but made one last attempt to grab the phone from Brick.
“Fuck you, Brick.”
A set of boots stopped near my head, and Trigger stared down at me. “Having fun?”
“The best.” I kept my composure.
“Rail, get ready. We leave in twenty.”
He hopped to his feet, but not before he glared at me.
“Oh, wait,” I sat up, “you’ve got a little something right there.” I pointed to the corner of my mouth, pretending he had lipstick on his lip.
“I hope you trip and fall in that dress.”
“I bet you do.” I winked and took Trigger’s hand to help me the rest of the way up.
***
Allen
“Two, four, six.” I counted the bundles as the three men and Zay piled them into the back of the van. We had a buyer who was willing to take it all, but at a discounted price. I didn’t give a shit. My plan was to fire one in his head and rob him blind, anyway.
I just needed to have enough money to give the green light to the men I hired to blow up the Devil’s Reach. Everything came with a cost.
The sun beat down on my shoulders. I wanted to remove my jacket, but we’d had some unexpected guests twice today already. People really needed to find a hobby. I still took pleasure in their adoration and wondered if I wasn’t meant to be a prophet in another life.
When the last brick was packed, and my dear weasels were safely tucked in, I tossed them a little treat and enjoyed their squeals as they fought over the tidbit. I threw my bag inside and slammed the doors shut.
Zay drove, and the three other men I had recruited to grab the cocaine squeezed in the back while I took the front.
“This will be a life changer for us, boys!” I slapped Zay on the shoulder as he pulled out of the dusty driveway. Well, for me, but they didn’t need to know that.
I leaned my head against the headrest and closed my eyes.
“I won’t lie, you’re the last person I thought would call on a Tuesday morning.” I settled in at the back of the bar. I was pleased with the location, but I had two men outside, and Zay was in view if I needed someone to step in. One could never be too careful.
“It seems you and I have similar interests.” She jumped right in and fiddled with the light blue scarf that hung loosely around her neck.
“Oh?”
“Yes, we’re both after the same thing.”
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to be a bit more specific, here.”
She leaned forward and gave me a familiar glare. “Look, I don’t want to screw around here and waste anyone’s time, so I’m going to cut to the facts.”
“You have my attention.”
“I want the flash drive, and so do you. I have some unfinished business that needs to be taken care of, and by the looks of things, so do you. I know your copy got destroyed, and I know she has a copy.
“And you know this, how?”
“I know a lot more than most think.”
“So, what do you believe is on it?”
She closed her eyes and sank back in her chair. “Look, Allen, I might look like a billionaire’s wife, but I built my business from the ground up, and I removed more than a few who got in my way. If you want to ignore me, that’s fine, or we can work out some kind of deal and get back what’s rightfully ours.”
“Interesting use of the word ‘ours.’”
“Who do you think gave him the idea to start blackmailing high-profile people? He sure as hell wouldn’t have come up with it on his own.”
“Okay, so, what’s the deal?”
She leaned in, and her eyes flashed with rage. “Kill anyone who gets in our way.”
“What about…”
“Anyone,” she reiterated.
I thought about it for a moment and let myself get excited. Oh, how the plot thickened.
“You want to team up with me and get it back?”
“Yes.”
I rose from my chair and thought for a moment. It could be a trap, or she could be an asset. Life was like Russian roulette sometimes. You just needed to be in or out.
“You have a deal, Felicia.”
My eyes opened once we hit the dirt road. The afternoon sun was low on the horizon, and the excitement for what was to come bubbled through my core.
Zay flipped the sun visor down and squinted ahead at the airplane hangar in the distance. I hit the back of the seat to get the men behind us to wake the fuck up.
“Ready, boys?” I tugged on my collar to make sure it sat perfectly straight. There was nothing better than these high-tension deals. I liked to watch their expressions when I’d step out of the van. I loved that moment of discomfort and uncertainty. I would always act quickly to twist it in my favor by taking charge of the situation first. Once you established who was in control, the rest typically fell into place. I couldn’t help a small smile. Soon my son would feel my wrath.
“One, two, three,” Zay counted the men he could see. “Five on the left, and one on the tip of the wing.”
“They’re not going to come alone.” I sighed. I really wished he’d relax. This was going to be easy. We were in the middle of nowhere and had the upper hand. We had the drugs they wanted and enough ammo to take out a small community, not to mention three expendables in the back seat.
“I don’t like this.”
I rolled my eyes and reached for the bottle of Jack I had in my bag, “As soon as this is over, we can buy three women who look exactly like that bitch you seem to care about so much.”
He shot me a look then shifted his eyes back to the road, and I rubbed my hands together as the power started to prickle the tips of my fingers. Once Zay slammed the van into park, I felt almost giddy.
Showtime!
I kicked open the door, tugged my jacket into place, and slapped on one hell of a grin.
“Gentlemen,” I raised my hands in greeting, “shall we do some business?”
The hangar had a layer of dust over everything except the silver bullet Eclipse 550 aircraft.
Shit, she was beautiful. The plane was just under three million and worth every penny. They had good taste.
The man dressed in a suit and tie checked his watch before he stood and stepped behind a steel table. I assumed this was the man I had been dealing with over the phone.
“Mr. Bellium?” I held out my hand, but he didn’t make a move toward it. I slowly dropped it and stood still. It was a battle of the alphas.
“Check them,” he ordered, and two men hurried over, stuck rifles in my men’s faces, and told them to raise their arms while they removed their weapons. One stepped in front of me and tapped my arms so I’d do the same. I glared at him, but I wanted to show I would cooperate. He removed both of my guns, dropped the clips, and tossed the rest on the table in front of Bellium.
Once they went back to their posts, I smirked. “Now it’s your turn.” I nodded at his gun sticking out of his waistband.
“No,” he simply said.
I sucked in my bottom lip and tried not to lash out. If I wanted this deal to happen my way, I knew I would have to let him think he had the power.
“Can we get started, or do we need to draw blood next?” I dripped with sarcasm.
A long smirk raced across his mouth from one corner to the other.
“Interesting choice of words, Mr. Vineyard.”
I cocked my head to the side. How did he know my real name?
“You did your homework, I see.”
“Indeed.” He undid the buttons on the front of his suit and shrugged off his jacket to hand to one of his men. The man waited a beat and huffed something I couldn’t make out, then he hung it over the back of his chair.
If one of my men hesitated and disrespected me in front of a client like that, I would have shot him straight between the eyes.
“All right, then, let’s do business.” I snapped my fingers and heard the double doors open on the van. Brick by brick, the cocaine was carried to the table and stacked in rows.
After the last one was placed, I stepped back and waited for him to take a sample.
To my surprised, he didn’t. He just stood there.
“Are you one of the few men who trusts the word of another?” I tried to see what the hell was going through his head.
“I’d never trust a man who portrays the Lord by day and the devil by night.”
I smiled my confusion at how well he knew me. “Have we met before?”
“No, but he has.” He nodded over my shoulder, and a slow chill raced up the back of my neck and over my skull as I turned and met the eyes of my son.
Fuck me.
Chapter
Twenty-One
Trigger
I stood tall while I lit my joint and squinted as the smoke consumed my lungs then broke free past my lips. I’d waited a lifetime to do this the right way, and now, standing fifteen feet away was the man who had carved me into the monster I was today.
His eyes searched mine before he swallowed and rubbed his fingers together.
“I wondered when I’d see you again, son.” He tried to smile, but his confusion got the better of him.
Morgan stepped into the light with his rifle over his shoulder. Tristen followed, and Brick joined my other side.
My father looked around and back to me. “Seems I’m at a disadvantage here. Shall we make it an even playing field?” He went for his weapon on the table, but Rail pointed a gun to his head.
“Okay, okay.” He raised his hands.
I held his gaze for another beat before I switched my sight over to the “buyer.”
“Cray?”
“Every last brick is accounted for, boss.”
My father’s face dropped as he made the connection that the buyer was one of my men.
“You’re not the only one who can mislead people.” I stepped forward and tossed my gun on the table. “Rail, go get them,” I ordered, and he walked by me and out to the back of Allen’s truck.
“Okay, now, guys,” his face twisted into a look I knew all too well, “let’s take a moment and discuss this.” I moved to stand directly in front of him, and he puffed up his chest like he used to when he wanted to intimidate me. “I have money now. Think of the possibilities.”
I slammed my fist into his face and knocked him straight off his feet. He fell to the ground hard but quickly scrambled to his feet.
My father was a dirty fighter, but a fighter nonetheless. He could take a few good cracks to the head before he’d stay down.
“Still have a killer right hook.”
“That was my left,” I corrected and seethed with anger. “Is that how you bribed Joe?” I snarled.
“Not hard to flip a simple-minded doorman.” He smiled and wiped his lip clear of blood. “Maybe you should treat your men better, and you wouldn’t have so many holes in your club.”
“Must have missed that lesson in my upbringing.”
He rolled his eyes but tilted his head when something caught his attention.
“My, my, my.” His tone changed. “Well, isn’t that Clark’s beautiful Tessa.”
My blood pumped through my neck and vibrated the demon’s cages, an alert that my switch could still be flipped at any moment.
Tess stepped to my side, and I shot a look at Ryder. He was supposed to have kept her out of sight, and now he wouldn’t make eye contact. Strike two.
“Tess,” I warned.
“I just wanted to see him one last time.” She kept her eyes on my father as she took a step toward him. I reached out and took her arm to hold her back. She turned to me, and I saw her expression. Her jaw was locked in place, and her eyes burned fire. Tigress. I let my fingers relax and released her.
She headed for the table and ran fingertips over the grooves of a gun. Her shoulders were relaxed, and her movements fluid and slow. I could almost hear the dark thoughts that raced through her head. I carried that same look whenever someone needed to die.
Slowly, she stopped and seemed to have made a decision. She snatched up a wrench, whirled around, and smoked Allen on the outside of his kneecap. He jolted sideways as he screamed in pain while he tried unsuccessfully to remain on his feet. He dragged himself to the table and held on for balance.
“Son of bitch!” he screamed as foam flew from his mouth.
Tess dropped the wrench on a fuel barrel and stood in front of him. “That was for Gus.” With that, she came and stood behind me.
I looked over at Zay. He had remained quiet while this was all going down, watching Tess from his post near the door. When he caught my gaze, he stood a little straighter and raised his head.
A challenge?
“You like what you see?” I asked and walked over. Morgan followed a few feet behind.
I licked the inside of my mouth to ease the rage that consumed me. This piece of shit needed to be put in his place. I knew he wanted Tess.
“It’s not what you think.” He squared his shoulders, but his words didn’t match his posture.
“I don’t really care.” I reached over, took his head between my hands, and to my surprise, he allowed it.
But just as I was about to snap his neck, he spoke. “That’s very Cain and Abel of you.”
“What?”
“Stop!” a familiar voice said sharply, and a moment later, she showed herself.
My fingers dug hard into Zay’s head. What the fuck was going on?
“Lovely,” Allen muttered. “I didn’t know we were having a family reunion. Zay, feel free to handle this.”
“What are you doing here?” I glared at my mother. She seemed to be a little less weak than she had been before.
“I failed you years ago, Nolan. I wasn’t about to do it again.” She glanced over at Allen while I tried to connect the dots. “You’ve been nothing but a monster, Allen, and when I
heard what you were up to, I played you at your own game.”
“Meaning?” I grew annoyed. I hated surprises at the best of times, and right now it interfered with me killing my father.
“Meaning,” she turned to face me, “Nolan, meet your brother.” She pointed at Zay, but I didn’t follow her line of sight. Instead, I saw Tess shake her head like she was as lost as I was.
“Half-brother,” Zay clarified. “You can let go now.” He pushed my hands away. “I’ve been the eyes and ears for our mother, feeding her information to help stay ahead of Allen.”
My head felt like it might spin right off. I stepped back as my mother joined my side.
“I’ll fill in the blanks later, but right now, you have something more pressing to deal with.”
Allen let out a hiss and tried to stand without the help of the table as I moved my attention over to him again. The demons screamed, and the rage came roaring back.
“You traitorous shit!” Allen hissed at Zay. “I should have known better. I should have let you become someone’s bitch in the shower. “
“You mean that fake proof you had?” Zay fixed his jacket. “Like I’d be stupid enough to let someone film me.”
Allan fell as he tried to take a step toward Zay.
Enough! This was my fight!
“For years, I feared you,” I said loud enough for all to hear. “For years, I feared I’d be like you. Until the day I got a knife to the back and found you at the other end of it. You turned my fear into fuel, and without hesitation, I returned your kindness.” I frowned slightly and remembered my disappointment when his limp body was carried away last time. “I was almost sad it had ended so quickly. I really didn’t feel like I got my revenge.”
“Well, here we are.” He held open his arms and hobbled a couple of steps.
“Yes, and here we are.” I waited a beat to savor the moment.
“So, kill me!”
I kicked his feet out from under him and drove my fist into his gut. He shot up against the van and heaved to catch his breath. His eyes watered, and his hands raced around his midsection to find a way to ease the pain.
I lowered myself to just above his eye level and whispered for only him to hear. “The difference between then and now is I saw an opportunity and took it. Sometimes the best revenge is the one you never see coming.”