Rina stood on the other side of the glass, keys in hand.
Drew gave her a short nod. Barely there.
She smiled proudly in response.
Halloran tried to head towards the back exit, but Drew’s hand landed flat against his chest and stopped him cold.
“What are you gonna do?” Halloran scoffed, though fear had started to creep into his eyes. “Kill a cop?”
“You’re already dead,” Drew answered in an oddly pleasant voice. “You just don’t know it yet.” He took another step closer and smiled. “Besides, you’re not here as the law, areyou? In fact, I’d bet good money that nobody in your department knows you’re here.”
I watched Halloran like a hawk and that was when I saw it. Real fear coursing through his veins, widening his eyes as his pulse spiked. He swallowed hard, recognizing the mistake he’d made too late to do anything about it.
For once he was the one caught off-guard.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Vandal
Now we had him.
Halloran was alone with men who didn’t give two shits about that stupid fucking badge hidden beneath his jacket.
Dagger stood beside me while Tank and Hollywood stood on either side of Halloran, making sure he felt the pressure as it closed in all around him. Half a dozen brothers had arrived after Rina had alerted them that something was up. She’d proven her loyalty and smarts with two smooth acts and when this was all over, I wouldn’t forget it.
“I’m taking Macy home,” I said, not taking my eyes off that slimy fucking bastard. “I’ll be back.”
Rocky stepped up beside me, his grip firm on my shoulder. “We’ll get a little information out of the good detective, brother. You know exactly where we’ll be.”
I gave a short nod. Yeah. I knew exactly where Halloran was going.
“Leave a few strips of skin for me,” I muttered.
Hollywood’s mouth twisted into a wry grin. “We’ll try our best.”
I gave one crisp nod and led Macy out of the tattoo shop. The air felt sharper but thick with tension, as if the universe knew what this night had in store for all of us.
She stopped beside my bike and turned to face me, those big violet eyes swimming with worry. “You don’t have to watch over me,” she insisted in a quiet voice. “I can grab a rideshare that will take me straight to the clubhouse so you can stay here and… do your thing.”
I grabbed her arms harder than I needed to, but I needed her to hear me. I leaned down until we were eye to eye. “I’m not doing this shit because I have to,” I said, keeping my voice low and steady. “I’m doing it because I want to, because I wouldn’t be able to fucking function if something happened to you.”
Her lips parted into the barest smile and her breath caught.
I flashed a proud smile that I’d been able to make her speechless and turned back to the bike. “I’ll get you settled at the clubhouse,” I continued, gentler now. “Then I’ll come back and deal with Halloran. But first, we’ll need info out of him.”
She swallowed, her brows pinched together. “Will you… torture him?”
I shrugged casually at her question, not because it was casual but because I needed her to know the truth. “If that’s what it takes to get answers.” I wasn’t going to lie to her. Not now. Not about this. I cupped her face and sighed. “I’m gonna find out every fucking thing I need to get this Diego asshole. That’s not a problem, is it?” I held my breath because even if itwasa problem, I would do what was necessary to keep her safe.
“No,” she answered immediately, shaking her head. “It’s not that, I just don’t want you facing a lengthy prison sentence because of me.”
I tipped her chin up with my finger. “Aww. You’re worried about me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Shut up.”
I handed her the helmet, and she took it without comment. The ride back to the clubhouse was quiet, my mind fixed on Halloran and all the things I wanted to do to him. All the ways I wanted to make him scream out his pain, his anguish. His pleas to end his pain.
I gripped the handlebars tighter until my knuckles burned. I didn’t get a chance to think about what I would do to Halloran for too long before we were back at the clubhouse.
