by Bella Jewel
The man’s hands are bound behind his back.
“Bring them back to the club,” I order. “Kendric, scour the area and see if you can ...”
I trail off.
I haven’t told them about King.
Haven’t told them why Briella and Karen are here.
Haven’t told them a god damned thing.
I’m about to break something to them that’s going to cause uproar in my club.
But I have no other fucking choice.
“See if you can see King.”
Cohen’s head whips toward me and he murmurs, “What?”
“King is alive, and this is where he’s been stayin’. You need to see if he’s still here, if not, Dax has him.”
“King is alive?” Samson asks, his voice full of shock. “What ...”
“It’s a long story, I’ll explain it when we get back to the club.”
“You’ve lied to us this whole fuckin’ time?” Cohen growls.
“Cohen, not now.”
“All this fuckin’ time.”
“Not. Now.”
He glares at me, with a look that brings me more pain than I expected. He’s my best friend, and if anyone in the world should have been told the truth, it’s Cohen.
I don’t have time to explain everything to him right now, though.
He’s just going to have to hate me for a little longer.
“We’ll split up,” Bohdi says. “See what we can find.”
Samson and a few other guys follow Bohdi into the bushland, and Cohen, Kendric and I load the two men into Cohen’s truck before I get into Briella’s car with Karen and her, and we all make our way back to the club.
“You girls doin’ okay?” I ask, glancing at Karen in the rearview mirror and seeing her looking more than a little pale. “Karen?”
“I’m okay, just shaken up,” she whispers.
“Lie down, try and calm down.”
She does as I ask and lays across the back seat. I reach over and take Briella’s hand, squeezing it. “You okay, babe?”
She nods, exhaling. “One thing is for sure, I’m getting sick of running away.”
“Least you’re alive.”
“Yeah,” she whispers, staring out the window. “But is King?”
That’s a question I can’t fucking answer.
But it makes the pit in my stomach grow even bigger.
One thing at a time.
“YOU CAN’T BE FUCKIN’ serious?” Mykel barks over the Facetime call we’ve made during Church later that evening.
He has a right to be involved in this discussion, as much as anyone else in the club. It’s big news, and he needs to be filled in on how it’s all going. I’ve just told them all about King, and how he’s been alive the whole time, why he was hiding and everything about Cova, Briella’s mom, and anything else I know.
“This is fuckin’ insane,” Kendric murmurs. “How the fuck did all of this slip by without you tellin’ us?”
“You can hate me as much as you all want, but I had to do what I had to do. No fuckin’ point in goin’ on about it. King needed my protection, he had somethin’ he had to do, and that was the best option at the time.”
“You didn’t think we’d like to be told?” Cohen growls. “You didn’t think you could trust your fuckin’ club with this?”
“This ain’t about you, Cohen. Know you’re pissed, more so than anyone, but this ain’t personal.”
“Isn’t it?” he snarls, glaring at me.
“I’m not here to fight. Shit is goin’ down in a big way, and frankly, we don’t have time to worry about anythin’ else. King is missing, we’re in over our heads right now.”
“We’ve got the cop,” Cohen says, his voice still low and angry.
“What?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. “You’re only tellin’ me this now?”
“To be fair, you’ve been fuckin’ busy the last five hours savin’ your girlfriend yet again.”
“Cohen,” I warn. “You’re pushin’ my buttons.”
He glares at me but says nothing more.
“We’ve got Bennett in the location you asked for,” Bohdi tells me. “He’s secured and we’re ready when you are over there.”
“You got the fuckin’ cop?” Mykel asks over the phone. “Since when?”
“Since we needed to knock Dax’s legs out from beneath him. Bennett is his legs, and we’re goin’ to make sure he doesn’t walk steadily again, you can count on that.”
“You’re goin’ to kill him,” Mykel says, narrowing his eyes.
“Not discussin’ that over an open line.”
“So, where to from here?” Samson asks, crossing his arms.
“Dax has got King for a reason, he’s goin’ to make a demand soon. We’ve got the cop, but I’m not entirely sure he knows that yet. He’s goin’ to want to make a deal, and when he does, we’ll be ready to make it. Until then, don’t touch the cop. If we do and the deal is his safe return, we ain’t gettin’ near King. We’ll take this one step at a time.”
“Any idea when he might pop up?” Kendric asks.
“No fuckin’ clue,” I murmur. “But it’ll be soon. Until then, I want to talk to Bennett and see if we can get anything out of him. We’ve got him now, which means we don’t need that other motherfucker we captured.”
“What do you want done with him?” Samson asks.
“You know what I want done with him, the same fuckin’ thing I want done with those other two that you caught together. Fuckin’ remove them.”
Samson nods, and he and Kendric stand.
Cohen turns the phone back toward himself and tells Mykel they’ll call in later and hangs up.
He and Bohdi stand.
“We goin’ to see Bennett?” Cohen asks, his voice strained.
He’s angry.
Fucking wild.
But he knows now is not the time to make a scene.
Not with me.
“Let’s go.”
Fuck.
I pray for one fucking thing to go right.
Just one.
20
BRIELLA
“I’m with the cop,” Alarick tells me over this phone, his voice ragged like he’s been panting.
“You promised me I would be there when you spoke to him ...” I say, a little frustrated because I’ve been promised a lot of fucking things that aren’t being held up.
“He ain’t speakin’, Briella. I’m not tryin’ too hard until we know what Dax wants. When the time comes, you’ll be here. Rest assured.”
“He’s not talking?” I ask, deciding to change the subject away from me.
“No, he’s not sayin’ a word. He’s closed lipped and for very good reason. I can change that, but I’m not playin’ those cards right now.”
“What do I do, then?”
“You sit tight. Dax is on the lookout, and he’s goin’ to pop up soon. When he does, I want you to be in a safe location.”
“Okay,” I say, exhaling. “I’ll chat to you later.”
I hang up the phone and just as I’m about to put it down, a private number rings through. I stare at the screen, and my stomach feels like it drops out of my feet because I know that whoever is on the other line isn’t good. I can feel it right down to my core. With a trembling hand, I take a deep breath and answer it. “Hello?”
“Ah, Briella, how are you, my dear?”
It’s an unfamiliar voice, but it’s not hard to figure out just who I’m speaking to.
Dax.
“How did you get my number?” I say, my voice shaky even though I’m trying to stay calm.
He chuckles. “Well, your dear old father-in-law, of course. He didn’t hide his contacts very well.”
“What do you want?” I spit, angrily.
“I want a lot of things, Briella—the question is, what do you want?”
I’m not playing his twisted little games.
I’m not.
No.
“I’m no
t playing with you, Dax. You’re calling me for a reason, what is that reason? We both know you’re not just calling to give me King back and we can all go on our merry way.”
“Smart girl. No, you’re right. I’m not calling for that. I’m calling to make a deal.”
We were expecting him to make a deal, we just weren’t expecting it to be with me. I’m not sure I should even be talking to him, but I’m also desperate to know King is okay, and I’ll do anything to get him back.
“What sort of deal?” I ask.
“Well, that depends on you. I have more than one thing you want, but, as you know, that club of yours is getting in my way. They’re making a mess of my whole operation and making people very unhappy. I’m sure you don’t want to see any more people die, because, you know I won’t stop until they stop.”
“Get to the point, Dax. I know you’ve got one.”
He chuckles. “Feisty, aren’t we? Very well. My point is exactly this: I’ll give you King, and I’ll tell you where your dear sister is and how to find her, if you have that club of yours completely back down. No more looking into me. No more following me around. They go on with their lives, and I go on with mine.”
“You want us to let you continue selling girls, innocent girls.”
“Oh, trust me, darling, they’re not innocent. It’s justice, really. Selling scum to scum.”
God, I want to rip his fucking eyeballs out.
“You’re disgusting,” I snap.
“Yes, yes, we can get to that later. Do we have a deal, or not?”
“You expect me to believe you’re just going to hand over King, tell me where Cova is, and never bother us again?”
“Indeed, yes. My operation is something I don’t need being brought to justice, so to speak. I will do whatever it takes to protect it. The more your little club looks into it, the more dangerous it gets for me. I’m not going to lose everything. I will kill everyone that gets in my way. The way I see it, this is your only option.”
“Why come to me?” I question. “Why not Alarick?”
“Because you’re likely to listen, Alarick simply will not. He’s going to make sure that I get whatever little punishment he has mapped out and he’s not going to stop.”
“You think I’m going to be able to stop him?”
“I think so, yes. I think you’re the only one who will be able to convince him to stop. After all, I have the only family you have left.”
I grit my teeth and swallow back my pain.
“How do I know you’ll hold up your end of the deal?”
“I’m a man of my word. You have Alarick step down, I’ll give you what you want.”
“How can you be sure? I could simply tell you he agrees to step down ...”
Dax chuckles. “Well of course, him and his entire club will confirm to me they are going to back down, and when they do, I’ll return what’s yours.”
“And if they change their mind after?”
“That wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interest, now would it? After all, I have plenty of bullets, plenty of time, and plenty of men. I can remove that club from existence, I’m sure that’s not what anyone wants.”
He’s right.
It’s not.
He’s also right when he tells me he can remove the club from existence. I know he can, I know that more than anyone. He will wipe us clean and everyone around us, unless we can find the power to beat him, but right now, with King’s life in his hands, that isn’t going to happen.
I feel like this is the only option right now.
“Fine,” I say. “Fine, I’ll have him back down.”
“And confirm it, to me. Him and his entire club.”
He wants the club to stand before him and state they’re going to back down. That’s demeaning, and Alarick isn’t going to go for it, but I’ll find a way to convince him this is our only option right now. Besides, we can work something out. We can outsmart Dax, it’s just right now, we need King and Cova alive.
“Okay.”
“Very good, I’ll wait to hear.”
He hangs up the phone and I exhale.
Well, here goes nothing.
“WHAT?” ALARICK ASKS, his eyes flashing.
“Before you overreact, hear me out ...”
“You spoke to fuckin’ Dax?” he barks.
“Yes, I spoke to Dax, and I have a plan, Alarick ...”
“What fuckin’ plan is that?” he barks. “Have you completely lost your mind, Briella? Why didn’t you call me immediately?”
“Because you wouldn’t have listened, you would have made a deal that would have ended up with King and Cova dying. I’ve got a better option.”
He growls, deep in his chest, and crosses his arms. “What exactly did that slimy motherfucker have to offer?”
“He will give us Cova and King, if we agree to fully back down.”
“Fuckin’ never.”
“Alarick, hear me out ...”
“I’m never goin’ to back down. I will crush that motherfucker until he’s writhing on the god damned ground.”
I exhale, searching for calm. I don’t want to fight with him right now, but I also really need him to listen.
“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?”