“We’ll be right outside.”
I glared at Waverley, who finally deigned to look in my direction. Her eyes were hard, her chin raised in defiance. I gave her a look that told her she would pay for this later, but she just arched a brow at me and I could almost hear her saying, “bring it,” in my head.
I stomped over to the door. War said something else to her, or Mace I didn’t know who, before he followed me outside. Once he shut thedoor he folded his arms over his chest and watched me pacing back and forth. I was too angry to speak right now.
“Just let her try.”
“I don’t have much choice do I?” I spat.
“Nope,” he said, popping the ‘P,’ like a fucking prick.
“You’re only getting away with this shit because of that,” I pointed at the patch on his cut.
“Right, that’s all it is.”
“If he hurts her.”
“I’ll slit his throat,” War said without hesitation. “But we’re giving her this chance, so shut the fuck up, or get lost.” He held my gaze as I spun around. “Don’t make me knock you out.”
“As fucking if.”
War chuckled. He glanced at his watch then back at me. “I’ll give her ten minutes.”
That didn’t appease me, but I chose not to argue again, it would be a waste of breath. I took out my phone to check the time. Ten fucking minutes. I turned away from him and text Ballistic, asking what was happening with the guys at the warehouse and whether there was any plans for going after Nytro, despite King’s edict that Danica was his focus.
“He’s talking.”
I turned at War’s voice and saw him looking through the window to his right. I moved forward to get near the window, but War put his hand on my chest and held me back. I snarled at him, he should know better than to try and stop me.
Giving me a hard look, he pushed me back. “We don’t know what he’s telling her and whether you like it or not, they have some kind of connection.”
I growled at him.
War laughed. “You’ll never change,” he said. “Where she is concerned.”
“Fuck off,” I knocked his arm away, but I didn’t go at him again and neither of us went to the window. I’d never admit he was right. I didn’t like it, but we had to give this a shot.
“You’re not gonna want to hear this, Hustle, but he is the best we’ve got right now. As much as it sickens me to say it, Mace was always adecent guy, for a fucking Kingsmen,” he added with a wry laugh. “Would you fold too easily if we were in this situation.”
“You’re not a fucking dick running his club into the ground.”
War shrugged. “Push came to shove, Hustle, could you turn on me, if I was a complete bastard? Look at it this way, Omen is a fucking traitor bastard but if the Kingsmen came knocking, asking for him, would you hand him over.”
“Hell no.” War just looked at me as if he’d made some point. “It’s not the same thing,” I argued.
“Dumb ass,” he muttered. “Look, I never realized this before, but King has a way of doing things. He’s a manipulative fucker but he always gets it right. Mace hates Nytro, he hates what he has done to his club but he is a Kingsmen, just like you’re a Devil. It would be hard as fuck to break your loyalty but if you’d been through what he has,” he indicated the house behind us. “If you’d seen your President almost killed so another guy could take his place, let that bitch come in and dictate what you do, then take control of the club and watch as your brothers allowed it? Would being tortured or screamed at or met with hostility be the way to get you to talk?
“Would treating you like you are a human, keeping you secure but not locking you up, hearing about all the shitty things your President did from a different perspective, make you talk? Maybe being reminded by the one person you felt was innocent in all of this, that the club you’re so loyal to are a pack of animals who deserve everything they get. How about knowing your brothers can be saved from being killed if the other club take out the bad apples?”
I’d turned my head from him, looking over the compound that lay spread out below us, listening to what he was saying. I didn’t want to use Waverley like that and if she knew that was King’s intention, it would break her heart.
“I see you thinking of her,” War said going to stand near the railing and looking off in the same direction I was. “For years, Hud, she wanted to be a part of this. No one is using her right now. Not in the way you think. Even King sees it. She’s a part of us. Her loyalty has never been in doubt, even after she left. She kept our secrets when she didn’t have to.
“I’m not seeing this as tricking my sister into getting us the information we need to take down that club. I’m seeing this as a way to find out what we can do to get to the people who are hurting our club, while showing Wave she’s all in with us. King too. He’s been an asshole to her most of her life but you and I both know it wasn’t intentional. He's just wired that way. It became a whole lot clearer, finding out about our mom…”
I looked over at him, his head had drooped forward, and he grabbed the rail with one hand. I felt bad. He’s my best friend and I’ve neglected to consider everything he’s gone through over the last few days. Fuck, if we got Wave back from them and she told me she never wanted to see me, I’d lose my mind. On top of all that, I’d seen how hearing the truth about their mom affected her.
War was in the same position. Only he was our VP and doing everything he could not to let anyone see what all of this was doing to him. There was a hardness to my best friend that had never really been there before, but still, he was doing what was right for the club in allowing his sister to pull whatever information she could out of Mace.
