I lean down and press a kiss to her forehead, lingering for a few extra seconds to breathe her in.
“Stay put. Enjoy the Chinese food,” I tell her. Then add a wink. “But leave some for me.”
That earns me a smirk. “I promise. Now go. Handle your business.”
I grab my shirt and head for the door, already dialing Tito back. But at the threshold, I pause for one parting look at her wrapped up in my sheets as gorgeous and sexy as ever. I think about what a fucking lucky man I am that she gave me the gift she did and that I was able to give her the experience she wanted.
Then I force myself to walk away…
I stride through the doors of the Steel Saloon on a pulse of adrenaline. I’ve still got the taste of Solana on my tongue and the smell of her in my beard.
Less than an hour ago, I was having an amazing evening with the woman I haven’t been able to get off my mind. We were warm and naked in bed, Chinese takeout containers scattered across the nightstand tables as we talked about everything and nothing all at the same time. As we spent an evening basking in each other’s company.
This better be a real damn emergency or I just might lose it and flip a table.
“What the hell happened?” I demand. “Who came after you?”
The club is empty except for a handful—Cash with his hands on his waist as he watches Sydney patch up Mace’s shoulder. Tito and Big Eddie are seated at the table closest to the bar counter, their faces tight and unsmiling.
Cash sighs, deciding he’ll be the spokesperson for the group. “A black SUV came out of nowhere and ran us off the road. It was either an Escalade or a Tahoe. It was hard to tell with everything going on. They ran us off Highway 19, then opened fire while we were trying to get our bikes under control. We barely made it to the drainage ditch for cover before they unloaded two full clips at us.”
“Podría ser los Hellrazors,” Tito says with a shake of his head. “They’ve been too quiet lately, hermano. Maybe they’ve been planning something big while we weren’t paying attention.”
“Could be,” Cash concedes, nodding his head. “The Hellrazors have been silent for months now… which isn’t like them.”
“Man, it ain’t the fucking Hellrazors and you know it,” Big Eddie pipes up. “This is obviously the Peñas retaliating. He told us it would be coming when we backed out of the deal, and then we hit their shipment.”
“That’s true,” Cash says. “We killed four of their guys and stole their product.”
Mace grunts his agreement as Sydney applies another thick layer of gauze to his wounded shoulder, the white bandage immediately stained red where the blood soaks through. “Eddie’s right. The only thing that makes sense is the Peñas coming after us. They don’t forgive and they sure as hell don’t forget when somebody crosses them. We committed the first act of war when we hit that truck.”
“Did you get a look at any of their faces?” I ask, scrubbing a hand over my jaw. Though if my gut is correct, I already know the answer.
“Nah, the windows were tinted,” Cash answers. He holds out his forearms to show off his road rash from the attack. His is almost as bad as Mace’s. “They got us pretty damn good. They were clearly waiting for us. Don’t know how they knew where we’d be unless they’ve been tailing us.”
Tito gives a conciliatory nod, brows creased. “That does make more sense.”
“If they’ve been keeping tabs on us, I won’t stand for that,” Cash says. “Korine did mention she noticed a car parked outside our house the other night. I’ve got her and Sunny to think about.”
I bite down hard, teeth aching with pressure. “We’ve all got our families to think about. I saw a car outside my house a couple weeks back. Right after the confrontation with Manuel Peña. Figured it was just me they were threatening.”
“This is just like Tom!” Mace explodes, standing up from the barstool. Sydney tries to push him back down so she can finishbandaging his shoulder, but he’s too fired up. “He got us into this shit starting beef for no reason but his ego! All his bullshit power plays are about reliving his glory days!”
Sydney sighs and sets down the bloodied cotton rounds she was using to clean up her husband. “What’s the use getting angry about it right now? I saw Tom leave about an hour ago. He was dressed nice—for Tom anyway—and looked like he was heading out for the night. He probably won’t be back until morning.”
“So much for being our brilliant leader who’s going to restore the club to greatness,” Cash mutters, arms crossed.
“Our brilliant fucking leader who leads us straight into a dumpster fire while he’s off somewhere getting his dick wet and pretending everything’s fine!” Mace yells. “I’m done with this. He’s gotta be stopped or I’m through.”
“Tom’s gained a lot of support though,” Eddie points out fairly. A fact none of us have wanted to admit. “My nephew has thrown his support behind what Tom’s selling. Others too.”
“Sí, es verdad,” Tito agrees reluctantly. “I’ve noticed the same thing with others like Mudd and Johnny and Bush. They all seem completely on board with Tom’s leadership decisions, like they think the old days are coming back and we’ll all be rich.”
“I’ll get to the bottom of this,” I say plainly. “If Tom wants to war with the Peñas—and everybody else—that’s his prerogative. But it ain’t ours, and president or not, this club is still majority rules.”
My phone’s started buzzing in my jeans pocket. I ignore it for a few seconds ’til it keeps going, buzzing insistently against my thigh.
When I pull it out, Solana’s name lights up the screen. I quickly silence the call, sending it straight to voice mail.
