I’ve read the details of Maxine's attack more times than I can count. I know what they did to her, and it's clear that Slade knows, too. I can't imagine living with knowing that the three men who beat, raped, and sodomized my woman were walking free. Slade deserves this as much as they deserve the hell they’re going to before we leave this room.
I knew the three of them liked to share women—one for each hole as they said—but I never knew they would go after someone who wasn't willing to be their toy. If I did, I would have put them down years ago.
“I'm done with this shit,” Slade says when the only sounds are the breaths of the three unconscious men and their blood dripping on the floor. “You want that one?” He nods at Rocky. “Or you want me to do all three?”
Without answering, I lift my blade and slit Rocky's throat, watching the crimson spray hit my chest. Slade does the same to the other two and we watch as they bleed out until their skin turns gray. We each grab a hose from the corner to wash the blood down the drain in the middle of the floor in silence.
We don’t need words to know that we each have a new brother. One born of a different kind of blood. Blood that burns hotter and runs darker than any family ever could.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Sloan
Iwatch the laptop as the camera pointed at the Hell Hounds’ clubhouse shows Dean and Slade follow Victor inside. Since the camera is mounted on Dean's Chopper, Mac and I can't see what's happening for the next hour. So, we both let out an audible sigh when Victor leads them back outside.
“Sorry about the brawl,” Victor says to Dean. “Dane has been trying to find a way to stage a coo against me for ages. I'll take care of him. I don't want this…” He waves his hand around. “Messto interrupt our arrangement.”
“Keep your dogs out of my clubs,” Dean says as he wipes blood from his swollen lip. “And we can stay straight. I've got a new shipment coming in next month. Grade A shit. I'll put you at the top of the buyers list if you want in.”
“That's my boy.” Victor balls up his fist and punches Dean in the shoulder playfully.
“Not your fuckingboy,” Dean snarls as he pulls a gun from behind his back and presses the barrel to Victor's forehead. “The next time I see a Hound near anything Iown, I'll kill the whole fucking lot of you.” He shoves his arm forward, pushing Victor's head back. “You fucking got me?”
Slade stands to the side and watches with one hand on his own gun as Victor lets out a loud laugh.
“Damn, son,” Victor says as he steps back. “I got you. I'd have tried harder to recruit you if I knew you had this side.”
“Never gonna happen,” Dean says as he tucks the gun back in its holster.
“Clearly,” Victor agrees. “I'll keep my men out of your clubs until this cools down.”
“Keep them out of Thorngrove, period,” Slade snarls, speaking for the first time.
Victor nods as his grin drops before turning to walk back inside.
“We can't ride all the way back home like this,” Slade says, looking down at his black clothes.
“I've got a place,” Dean tells him. “Follow me.”
When they start the engines of their motorcycles, Mac presses the button to silence the speakers before turning to face me with a furrowed brow. When he meets my wide smile, he tilts his head in confusion.
“It doesn't bother you that your man just held a gun to another man's face?” he asks, looking at me like I'm hysterical.
“It's not like he shot him.” I shrug. “And even if he did, Victor's a prick.”
Mac barks out a laugh. “You really are perfect for each other. Double fucking trouble.”
I keep my eyes on the screen until Dean and Slade park at what I’m guessing is Dean's club in Cherokee Falls and going inside a back door. Thirty minutes later, they come out in different clothes, and both have wet hair like they just got out of a shower. Dean laughs when Slade complains about his shirt being too tight and his pants too short before they get back on their bikes.
Mac and I watch,flipping between the two windows as the road rushes under them and their dots on the map bring them closer to home. When they pull off the highway, my phone chimes with a text.
Almost home. Stay on lockdown until I get there.
Sloan
I know where you are, Dick.
I hear him chuckle through the speakers on the laptop as the ellipses bounce on my screen.
