Razor, the goddamn idiot, still comes at him, but Pix steps in and presses her favorite long, thin knife into the soft part under his chin.
Pix, our tiny, bloodthirsty psycho pixie and the Havoc Guardians’ ruthless enforcer, doesn’t have to say a word. Her reputation and what she’s capable of are well-known to every person in this room.
Ash sighs heavily. I know how this is weighing on him; it weighs on all of us Council members, but we need to uphold the laws of our MC.
In my role as the sergeant-at-arms, I ensure that all our rules and laws are followed. I’m the one to give the patches when we decide a prospect has earned the right to become a brother. I’m the one in charge of stripping the patches, too.
I step forward. “Come here, Grinder.”
He’ll be stripped of his patches in front of everyone, but the next stage of his punishment will happen in the Cell—a hidden facility on the compound where we take our enemies, do what we do to them, and then make their bodies disappear.
“Don’t do this, Army,” Razor begs for his son’s life.
But we have no choice;Ihave no choice.
I don’t give Razor a response, only look at Grinder, who walks toward me with his head held high. It’s a goddamn shame we’re losing a solid, trustworthy member all because of forbidden pussy.
“What if this was Leeva?” Razor shouts, and I go rigid. “What if she came back, and you fucked her?”
Anger ripples over my skin. One, because a piece of shit like Razor is speaking about my little dove at all. And two, because Leeva is pure and innocent, and the mention of her, the thought of her, being fucked by a filthy son of a bitch like me is a hundred kinds of wrong.
And because I want nothing more than to have Leeva back in my life and defile her in all the ways I’ve dreamed of. But she’s my best friend, my pure and innocent best friend. Or she was until she ran from this life, and I let her go because I could never have her. Not just because I was a filthy man, not worthy of my little dove, but because she was my hated blood-brother’s old lady.
“Shut your mouth, Razor,” Ash warns.
But I turn to face Razor. “Leeva wears Guerilla’s tattoo, marking her still as his old lady, so if she ever did return and I touched her, then I’d be facing the same punishment.”
He knows this, as does everyone in the room.
But I repeat Ash’s words to drive the point home. “We don’t get to pick which club laws we enforce and who they apply to.There’s no gray zone here; there’s no ambiguity. It’s black and white.”
“Stand down, Dad,” Grinder says, stepping beside me. His body is shaking slightly, but he’s steady.
Razor wants to fight and challenge me on this, but he regards his son for a heavy moment, then storms from the room. He punches the wall on the way out, and I know I’ve just made an enemy, giving Razor and the old guard more reason to continue challenging us and our rule.
But he’s not my concern at the moment.
Turning back to Grinder, I hold up my knife. His mouth presses thin, but he gives me a nod.
Using the tip of my blade, I cut the threads that secure his patches to his leather cut.
“Amos Hanley”—I use his legal name—“road name Grinder, I hereby take away your Havoc Guardians’ patches.” I hand the patches I’ve removed from the front of his cut to Ash, then turn Grinder so I can take off the ones on the back with our club’s logo and name. “You betrayed our brotherhood and the oath you made. You choose yourself over the club.” I cut the last thread, and Ash takes the patch.
Grinder turns to face me again, his face pale and his lips pressed tight.
“You’re no longer part of the Havoc Guardians,” I say without emotion, even though a riot of emotions is running rampant through me. “You’re out.”
His eyes meet mine. “If I can have one request?”
I nod.
“Make it quick.”
Chapter 2
Army
TheCellisasoundproof building with a large main room, some holding cells, and a back room, which Tats calls the lab, where he creates concoctions to make blood and evidence disappear, as well as the ones he uses to dissolve bodies.
