Melissa
“Ido, of course, apologize for including you two in this. I assure you, however, you are safe and will not be killed or raped.”
That was a lot easier to believe when we weren’t wondering what this middle-aged man with hair too long and a demeanor too cool for the situation would have done in this room. Now a stranger was talking about how our boyfriends would come our way? What sort of fucking nonsense was this?
Hailey looked panicked, far more than I was. She looked like she’d seen him before. Given that she ran with Sam and the Devil’s Patriots, that was pretty probable. Had he done something to her before?
“I can see that my words have not assuaged you. Perhaps it would be better if I explained myself better.”
He cleared his throat, sat up in his chair, folded his hands over his lap, and leaned forward.
“I have known these clubs far longer than either of you have been alive, in fact. Or, perhaps better said, I’ve known the people who would eventually lead to these clubs far longer than you’ve been alive, longer than the Devil’s Patriots have been around, in fact. In this particular case, the Devil’s Patriots are an enormous thorn in the side of society. It’s only a matter of time before they cause chaos and damage to the world at—”
“Fuck you!” Hailey shrieked. “You have no idea what you’re talking about! They just want to be left the fuck alone! You’re the one coming into town and causing them trouble!”
“Think of me as like the vaccine for Phoenix. I come in and provide a small amount of pain before something much worse happens.”
“Bullshit,” I snapped. “You’re the power-hungry one.”
King looked at me in surprise. He then looked over his shoulder and threw a wink at…something.Probably how they’re spying on us. I don’t see anything, but…
“I’ll admit, you don’t get to where I am without being a little bit hungry, without letting the chip on your shoulder grow, without stomping on some heads. But it’s a necessary evil.”
“Or just evil, period.”
King sighed. He carried the tone of someone who felt he was too smart for the room. Perhaps, in a way, he was too smart for himself—so intelligent he was able to rationalize his sick actions.
Either way, someone needed to kick his ass, and while he wasn’t Corey’s or Sam’s size, we weren’t going to beat him up. Not with his size and not with gunmen standing nearby outside.
“Perhaps it would better be explained if I told you what’s going on,” he said. “It’s not like your boyfriends will survive to know what’s happening.”
There was no wicked smile when he spoke. There was no growl behind what he said. He said it with the same coldness and straightforwardness as someone explaining that their pizza order would be ten minutes delayed. It was frightening how wicked he could sound.
“Long ago, back in the day when I was younger than both of you were, I was a youth in Las Vegas who got involved with some hotshots. We were unofficially known as just the Reapers back then, and I was tasked with doing all the runs. Being a prospect before becoming a member, but very much an understudy all the same. There were three big names. Roger Carter. Lucius Sartor. And Damian Briggs.”
Hailey’s eyes lit up at the last one. The other two didn’t mean much to me.
“Of these, the most notable was Roger Carter. That man was ferocious, fearless, and to a certain extent, shameless. If you ask his boys about him, they’ll say he was the perfect father, but I knew him as someone a little more out of control, someone still trying to find his way in this world.”
And where is this going…
“Anyway, I was what Spawn, or your dear Corey, is to Satan, or your dear Sam.”
He chuckled. There was apparently something funny about using both their club names and their real names in the same sentence. I didn’t see a damn thing funny about it. I saw an egotistical sociopath indulging himself by sharing his favorite story with his prisoners. What was supposed to be funny about that?
“There have been many prospects and members in various motorcycle clubs. That’s not new. What was different about me, however, was that I had something none of the other three had. I had patience. I was calculating. I was in control of my emotions. I could see things for what they were and not how I demanded they be.”
He chuckled again.
“Your boys, the ones that you so love? They will easily be manipulated.”
Something vibrated. King paused, turned around, and waved at the corner. Again, I strained my eyes, but other than some dots that I’d long considered just part of the wall, I didn’t see anything. How long King had been spying on us, I had no idea—and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“As is the case now.”
“What the hell?” Hailey said.
“Oh, don’t worry, they know exactly where we are. One, dear Satan has been here many times, and for another, we just provided him with a live feed of the place. I’m sure they’re watching closely but think of it as a restraint on me. Why would I want to rape or kill you now when they could see and bring a force greater than they should to me? It does no good to kill them if I have to die in the process.”
