“She is now.”
“What happened in Texas, Shorty?” Eagle asks.
Shorty shifts in his chair and looks at me for a long time before he speaks. “Kid did everything you asked.”
Eagle shakes his head, reluctant to believe Shorty. “That’s what you’re giving me, Shorty? He did everything I asked? Fuck.” He slams his hand down on the table. “I have a half dead president and a dead officer out back. Two other officers ready to make a call and start a fucking war. And what do we get for it, Brick? Tell me.”
I shoot an admiring glance Shorty’s way. The old man has my back. Well, I have his now. “Nothing would have kept me from coming back for Starlet. Glad I did, the sonofabitch was beating her. Thought we prided ourselves in protecting the innocent, not getting cast in the same mold as other MCs. I’ll never lose sight of that difference, Eagle, whether I’m wearing this patch or not. Starlet belongs with me—with this club. She’s an asset, not a liability.”
“I won’t disagree with the last statement, but you’re the fucking liability, Brick.”
Starlet’s words flicker in my heart…I think I love you, giving me hope. “You wanted an enforcer,” I throw into the mix.
Axe laughs and leans back in his chair. “That’s the first thing you’ve ever said that makes sense.”
I drum my fingers on the tabletop, not exactly knowing how to take his comment—as support or an insult. “Glad you finally pulled your head out of your ass so you could hear me clearly.”
The other members laugh quietly, but the tension in the air is thick and urgent. Blood was shed on club property, another broken rule to add to my growing list of crimes against my charter.
Someone knocks and the door opens. Johnny-be-Bad and a prospect stick their heads inside. “Goddamn Crusaders are getting crazy, Eagle.”
“How’s Silver?” Eagle asks.
“Out cold still,” Johnny says.
“Give the word,” I mutter.
“Word?” Eagle focuses on me again. “That hungry for blood?”
“Justice.”
He laughs. “Gratuitous violence never delivers justice, Brick, it just invites more bloodshed.”
“I love her.”
“What?” Shorty asks. “Didn’t hear you all the way down here.”
The words were meant for Eagle’s ears only. But I look at the old man and give him what he wants. “I love Starlet.”
Several of the brothers seated near Shorty nod. They get it, but does Eagle? I wait for his response.
“You sure?” he questions.
“Yeah.”
Eagle shoots up from his chair. “Then follow me, brother. We’ll test that theory.”
I follow him to one of the outbuildings on the west side of the property. Three, armed brothers are guarding the Crusader officers. Silver is sprawled out on a pallet in the corner.
“There’s two witnesses to what went down today,” Eagle says, pulling his Glock from his hip holster. “Two witnesses that could make or break this club. The Devil’s Crusaders will have every reason to retaliate for you beating the shit out of their prez and stealing his old lady. I’m prepared to stand with you, brother. But if they have proof we killed Checkers, it’ll be all out war.”
A dozen thoughts are swirling around in my head, adrenalin pumping through my body. It’d be my pleasure to put bullets in the Crusaders’ heads—a good start for recompense to Starlet. Bloodshed is just the beginning. I want to destroy Silver. I want to take every Crusader from Alabama out, one by one for what they did to her.
I tried holding in my feelings like I usually do. Pain is nothing for me to handle—I’m soulless. But Starlet… There’s a chance she can still recover from the past once I love her right—once she starts to believe in herself again. I plan on making sure she gets that chance. If it costs my life, so be it.
Eagle eyes me, not needing to say a word. I walk to the double doors and lock them from the inside.
“What the fuck is going on?” one of the Crusader officers asks nervously.
I pull my weapon. “When did you join your MC?”
“Eight years ago.” He looks at my gun and steps back.
That’s all the proof I need. He could have contributed to Starlet’s suffering, which makes him guilty as fuck. “You’re part of the problem.” I hold my pistol up to his head and pull the trigger.
A second shot goes off.
The Crusaders are dead. None of the Iron Norsemen say a word. I glance at Eagle and he nods. If I doubted my place in this club before, what Eagle just did for me erases that doubt. It’s all in this time. I have a home and old lady now.
“Clean up the mess and bring Silver to the clubhouse,” Eagle orders as we leave the shed.
