“We ain’t fuckin’ killing his dumb ass. At least not until he crosses the line,” Storm insisted. Everyone saw Fuse bid in Viper’s auction. If he winds up dead, we’ll be the first fuckers they come lookin’ for.”
Celt yawned, stretching his arms over his head. “I’m not convinced that anyone would care if Viper disappeared from the face of the earth. That fecker’s been nothin’ but trouble since we met him.”
Storm glanced down at his phone when it rang, his expression turned sour. “Speak of the devil. It’s Viper,” he grumbled out loud. “I’ll put him on speaker phone.”
Everyone quieted down, including myself. All I could think of was how much I wanted to beat his ass for parading Winter around like he did.
“Storm here. What do you want Viper?”
Our club president’s voice was gruff and irritated. I knew it was because he felt like he’d been boxed into a corner on this one. He had been and it was all my fault. I felt bad about that, but it had kept Winter from ending up somewhere worse. Therefore, feeling guilty wasn’t quite the same thing as regretting it.
“You know what I want, Storm.”
“Ready for a fucking favor already. That was fast.”
“We never agreed on a timeline. The deal was three favors, and I let you know when.”
“I remember the fuckin’ deal, Viper. I’m not refusing to honor the damn agreement,” Storm growled irritably. “I just want to know what you have in mind ahead of time.”
“It’s simple,” Viper responded. “I want you and your club brothers to ride side by side with me and my crew.”
“When and where?” Storm asked curtly.
There was a dramatic pause and Viper announced, “This evening. Let’s say six. We’ll be riding through Vulture’s Pride territory.”
“What the fuck are you doing, Viper? It sounds like you’re tryin’ to start a club war. You’ve gotta know that no favor we promised involved helping you win a vendetta against Vultures club.”
“I already told you what I’m after. I want the respect I deserve. The way I see it, if your crew and mine ride through their territory together, they won’t have the manpower to do anything about it. Therefore, there’s no fuckin’ danger to be had.”
“You’re playin’ with fire, Viper,” Storm warned.
“With all due respect, it’s my fire to play with,” Viper shot back.
Me and my club brothers looked at each other. They all knew that I’d dragged them into this mess.
“Fine,” Storm capitulated. “No stops, or confrontation. We ride straight through with no messing about. You get your petty revenge and then we all go straight home.”
“I agree to those terms,” Viper stated irritably.
Storm ended the call and tossed his phone onto the table in frustration. A short silence spun out in the room as we realized that we were getting dragged into Viper’s mess real fuckin’ quick. Disrespecting an established club was normally something we’d never do. This is not how mature, established clubs solve their problems. Viper was showing his insecurity in making this move and everyone knew it.
Breaker spoke first. “Viper’s baiting them.”
Storm nodded once. “He’s definitely trying to antagonize them.”
“And using us to do it,” Celt said.
“Refusing isn’t an option. We’ve given our word.” We already knew that in our world that mattered more than risk. Walking back a favor wouldn’t just weaken Storm. It would weaken our entire club. We needed to just make the run.
Storm started giving orders like the leader he was.
“Celt, how long does it take to get there?”
Celt cursed under his breath. “At least five feckin’ hours. We need to leave within the next hour to get there on time.”
“Then we need everyone to gear up,” he said. “We ride in an hour. I want us riding shoulder to shoulder, two at a time in close formation. Like I told Viper, no fuckin’ around. We make the ride with no stops and then get the hell outta dodge.”
His gaze moved across the room, making sure everyone understood the mission.
