“He’ll kill you.” A new wave of tears streamed down my cheeks. I refused to be responsible for putting Crank in harm’s way.
“He’ll never see me coming. A name, angel.”
“I can’t…”
His thumb swept over my cheek, and he cupped my chin in his palm. “I don’t think you understand how far I’ll go to protect you. You either give me one name, or I’ll take out the whole fucking club. I would burn the world to the ground just to keep you safe. Do you believe me?”
I’d dreamed of a man willing to do whatever it would take to fight for our love. And here he was, right in front of me. “I believe you.”
“You’ve already been so strong. Let me take it from here, my sweet girl.”
I swallowed hard, forcing the fear back. “I’ll give you a name, but I’m coming with you. I can’t stay back while you go fight my battles for me.”
Crank nodded. “You can come as long as you swear you’ll do exactly what I tell you to.”
“Okay. His name is Beast, and he operates out of southern California. At least that’s where he was when I was with him.”
“Everything’s going to be okay. I’ll talk to the guys in the morning, and I’ll figure out how to handle this. You did the right thing, baby.”
Despite his reassurance, it didn’t feel like the right thing. I had no doubt that Crank would go after my ex with everything he had. Beast wouldn’t be expecting him, so Crank would benefit from the element of surprise. Would that be enough?
“Can you do something for me?” I whispered.
“Anything, angel.”
“Make love to me again.” I craved the connection between us, of knowing I was his and he was mine, at least as long as it would last.
“With pleasure.” His lips spread into a wicked smile, and he eased me down to lie on my back. “But this time I’m going to take it slow.”
I’d take it however he wanted to give it to me. He’d proven himself, and I swore I’d never doubt him again.
CHAPTER 10
CRANK
I leftPoppy sound asleep in my bedroom and went downstairs to check on Eeek and do a little recon. My club had connections all over the country. Surely someone would be able to tell me where the Hellfire’s Reapers were currently operating. Once I figured that out, no one would be able to stop me from going after the fucker who’d messed with my woman.
With the current threat from the Savage Bones getting worse, I couldn’t expect any of my MC brothers to join me. I’d do what I needed to do as quickly as possible so I could come back and do my part to silence those motherfuckers for good.
“Rough night?” Juice sat at the bar, a steaming cup of coffee between his hands.
“Just the right amount of rough.” I reached for a mug and filled it to the top.
Juice grinned. “You finally did it, eh?”
“Finally did what?”
“Convinced a woman to sleep with you.” He arched a brow, daring me to deny it.
“Real men don’t kiss and tell.”
He let out a deep laugh. “I’m happy for you, brother. Sounds like you got her out of a pretty bad situation. Do we have a plan to retaliate yet?”
I took a sip of coffee, giving myself a few extra moments to think of the best way to present my idea. “I need to talk to Atlas. There were a couple of guys I hadn’t seen before when I went after Poppy. I snapped a few shots so we can circulate the pics and see if we can get an ID on them.”
“Let me see.” Juice leaned over and peered at my phone as I pulled up the images. “He’s a fierce-looking fucker, but I don’t recognize him.”
“I heard someone call this one Malice, and he seemed to be in charge.” My finger swiped across the screen, and the next image appeared. “It’s time we put an end to them, once and for all.”
