“Was there an accusation?” Uhlig tapped his desk with his right forefinger.
King kept his cool, but there was a slight shift in his demeanor. A storm raged beneath the surface. “The Kings have no reason to attack your business or jeopardize our...friendship.” His jaw twitched. “Yet, you let your men hurt PD without proof of any involvement. Did youaskhim why he was near there?”
My fingers trembled, a restlessness building up inside me. I swayed but stayed rooted to the spot as my attention slid to PD through the glass walls.
Uhlig watched King for a moment, gaze intent, before his lips lifted into a smile. “Let’s ask now.” He waved his hand at his men outside, and they moved toward PD, untying him from the chair and dragging him to his feet.
PD nearly tripped, and I jolted forward, but Jester grasped my wrist to stop me from rushing out of the office. My heart gave a painful throb as PD struggled to walk properly.
Our other brothers watched, their faces giving away their irritation. They were firecrackers ready to explode. One wrong move was all it would take for a war to break out.
The men opened the glass door and shoved PD inside, and he tripped, falling to his knees with an “umph.” I rushed forward and Colt did, too. He shoved me, but I jostled him right back.
“Fuck off,” I growled at him, baring my teeth. “He’s my partner. You touch him again, I’ll slit your fucking throat.”
Colt glared for a moment, then chuckled as he took another drag of his cigar.
“Colt, leave it alone,” Uhlig said.
I went to my knees and cradled PD’s face between my hands. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
PD offered me a bloody smile and leaned up to kiss me. I smooched him gently, softer than I wanted, but he was in pain. The tangy taste of copper lingered on my tongue as I broke contact and helped him stand.
I wrapped an arm around him to keep him on his feet and pressed my forehead to his temple. “We’re getting you out of here. I promise.”
Uhlig leaned back in his chair, casual and unaffected. “PD, right? You want to tell us why you were near the asswipes who stole my money?”
14
PD
I spat blood from my cut lip at Uhlig’s fancy fucking desk, and he didn’t flinch, only grinned and slid his sunglasses back on. I’d started out this adventure worried—hell, even scared for a hot minute—but around about the time I’d taken a punch from Uhlig while both my arms wereliterallytied behind my fucking back, I’d begun to hate him as much as the fucking cops.
“You’re a coward,” I hissed. My brain was close to shutting down, the way it had the time I’d mopped the floor with Barnes and trashed the bar at the clubhouse. He’d learned to shut his fucking mouth about my business. Uhlig would need a harsher lesson for anything to sink through his thick skull. My fingers twitched.
Uhlig shrugged. “I prefer to think of it as strategic planning. It’s not my fault if you’re lacking in that department.”
The flunky who had Uhlig’s back, a meaty bear in a suit, flicked ashes from his cigar in my direction, though he was nowhere near enough to burn me. It was a subtle warning that he could shove directly up his ass. I’d make him eat that cigar.
“PD, why were you in the area?” King sounded bored, but I knew that tone. He could go either way—think this was all funny as fuck or try to cut out Uhlig’s heart—and whatever I said might send him careening off a cliff. He didn’t take his eyes off Uhlig. Part of me wanted blood, but Will was here.
“We don’t owe them an explanation.” I spit more blood on the floor, and Will’s warm, solid arm tightened around me, making this all bearable. I held back on the slew of names I wanted to call Uhlig and his army of fuckheads.
Will bared his teeth in a way that sent alarm bells ringing in my head. I didn’t mind if he wanted to try to rip one of these fucker’s heads off, but I leaned against him hard because, more than likely, he would end up the worse for wear if he made the attempt. Part of me was pissed off with King for allowing Will in here, but the rest of me was just glad to have him close.
Plus, maybe he needed this. I couldn’t keep him from danger forever, not if he was still a King.
Uhlig’s smug smile slipped a bit as King casually crossed his legs and lounged in his seat, though his expression was still pleasant.
“Hmm.” King swung around in his chair and gave me an assessing look. “You know—” He slapped his thighs and stood up. “—PD is onto something. We don’t owe you any explanations about where we go in this goddamned city.Ourcity.”
Will chuckled, a deep evil laugh that reminded me I used to call him Rook more often than not.
Uhlig scowled, but the man at his back seemed unimpressed.
I topped King’s comment off with a nice middle-finger salute in Uhlig’s direction.
The dickhead shot to his feet. “Someone stole a lot of my fucking money. They were on bikes and organized. They took out good men who will be a pain in the fucking ass to replace.I would blame the Harlots because, frankly, they’re better than you, but it wasn’t women who hit the truck.”
