The door opens and Earl and Sam step inside the room along with a few guys from Luca’s club, the Satan's Rejects. The room’s packed now. Men from both clubs fill the room with a single goal. To save Veronica and kill the fucker who dared to take her.
No one but Bash is sitting as he does something on his laptop. Research no doubt. He pulls Luca to the side, and the two of them have a hushed conversation.
I take a deep breath, feeling as if I’m about to explode.
“Let’s just go. Get the fuck out of here and find our girl,” Luke whispers again, and I can tell he’s just as frustrated, pissed, upset…hell, I don’t even know what we are. All I do know is that the woman I love is in danger.
“If we don’t have a plan in five minutes, we’re gone,” I tell him.
Earl finally breaks the silence, his voice deep and gravelly.
“Start talking, Luca. How do you know this man, and what do you know about him?”
It’s about damn time!
All eyes swing toward the tall bastard leaning against the wall. His arms are folded across his chest, jaw tight like he’s chewing on old memories he’d rather choke on than spit out. He’s just as furious as me about Veronica being taken. Of all the people in the room, she means the most to him, Luke, and me. At one point I would’ve added Hank, but he’s made his choice.
Luca pushes off the wall and steps forward, moving over to the desk so that he’s standing beside Bash. He exhales slowly through his nose and then begins to speak.
“He knew my father.”
The room stills, and he has everyone’s attention now. Especially mine. My fists open and close, extending my fingers then piercing my palm with my fingernails with each fluctuating movement.
Luca takes another breath and continues to speak.
“When my old man was pissed…or drunk—which was most nights—he’d run his mouth. Said he had a deal lined up with him once. He bragged about how he planned to sell Vee to him. Talked about the profit he could make from selling her.”
The words hit the room like a gunshot, and a chorus of curses erupt as each and every one of us become outraged at what’s being sad.
“FUCK THIS! I’M FINDING MY WOMAN!” Luke growls, his voice rising above everyone else. I take hold of his arm, holding him back from racing from the room. As much as I agree, we need more information.
“QUIET!” Earl barks, glaring at us, waiting to see who will defy his order, not caring which MC does it. Once everyone calms down, he speaks again, quieter. “Go ahead and finish, Luca.”
“His name is Hiram Davis. My mom and dad fought all the time. It was commonplace in our home. On the night my dad took me and left, he mentioned using what was between Vee’s legs to benefit him.” My stomach churns at Luca’s words. I knew Mark was a bastard, but using his own daughter like that makes me sick. “My dad was cruel to Mom and Vee. They were his punching bags. My mom threatened to take the both of us and run. That she’d disappear with us. My father told me I was coming with him. That she could keep Vee, but she couldn’t have me. I refused. He threatened me.”
“What did he threaten you with?” I speak up, asking, knowing I’m not going to like the answer.
“That if I didn’t go, he’d sell Vee to Hiram. He said that he’d had his eye on her for a while. There’s no way I was going to let that happen. So I made a deal. I’d go if he’d leave her alone.”
“He took the deal, didn’t he, son?” Earl asks.
Luca’s eyes flick briefly toward me and Luke before nodding his head.
“Hiram disappeared a couple of years later. Figured he either died or someone finally put a bullet in him. He wasn’t exactly loved.”
A knot tightens in my chest.
“Apparently,” Luca says coldly, “he didn’t die. He’s been hiding out, waiting for a chance to take Vee. I just don’t get it. Why now if he knew where she was?”
Silence spreads across the room again.
“Maybe he didn’t know where she was until recently,” Ryker speaks up.
Bash clears his throat. “I’ve been going back through all the surveillance of the club, and it seems like he doesn’t show up in any of them until after she came back to work. Until she spent time at your clubhouse, Luca.”
“So he was watching the clubhouse?” Luca says softly. “He found her because of me.”
“Or it was a total coincidence,” Earl interjects. “Regardless of how or why, he has her, and that’s all that’s important right now.”
