“Donovan and his men are a scourge on this town. I want him in prison. Or dead. I don’t much care which. So are you with us, or do you wanna join your buddy Decker on desk duty?”
The night goes silent for a moment. Then Miller clears his throat. “Yes, uh, sir. I’m with you.”
“Good. Get the bike,” Allen barks. The jingling of keys is followed by the sound of tires rolling across gravel.
Their voices fade as they walk the machine towards the exit.
Only when they’re well out of earshot does Grace speak. “Why the hell does that guy have such a boner for my brother?”
“No fucking clue. I’m more concerned about what the hell you’re doing with a damn gun. You planning on using that on me tonight?”
She wriggles, trying to free herself, but when I don’t let up, she lets out a huff of frustration. “Not your business. Let me go, Decker. And give me my shit.”
“No. I don’t think so.” In one move, I tug the gun from her pants and push her away from me.
She reaches for it, but I bat her away and roll out from under the truck. I’m already heading back to where I came in when she catches up to me.
“What do you mean, no?”
“I mean this gun is mine now. It’s too big for you anyway.” I shove it into my waistband alongside my own. “Who’d you have to fuck to get your hands on this thing?”
“I didn’tfuckanyone. He did make me blow him, though.”
I stop dead in my tracks and wheel around, red crowding my vision. “You what?”
She snorts, those damn eyes practically twinkling. “I’m kidding, relax. They still hide their shit in the same nooks and crannies of that clubhouse. Wasn’t hard to find one.”
I stare her down, letting that spark of anger that ignited in my chest simmer. “Don’t really give a fuck whose dick you’re putting in your mouth, Grace.”
She tilts her head, her lips twitching. “Kinda feels like you do.”
“Well, I don’t. As for the drugs and the money”—I whip around and stalk towards the fence—“I’m keeping that too.”
Grace’s fingers dig into my arm as she jerks me back. “The hell you are. We had a deal. Which means you still owe me a bike, by the way. I’m not gonna let you?—”
“Letme?” I smile. “How you gonna stop me, Grace?”
“You’re forgetting what I know about you.” She rolls her shoulders back. “What I could do with that information.”
“And what exactly are you gonna say? It’s your word against mine. And I’ve been careful. Not much to dig up. You’re the one who should be worrying. You start running your mouth, Donovan either runs you out of town and I keep your stash, or he kills you and I still keep your stash.” I dip my head so I’m level with her face. “Right now, I’ve got a wad of cash and a fuck load of coke, and I’d bet Allen’s left nut that your prints are on both. You know how much jail time this could get you? I’d call that leverage.”
Her jaw ticks, and she gives me this unyielding, angry stare. But I’ve got no intention of backing down.
No way I’ll let another fucking Donovan think they can force me onto my knees. I’m tired of this shit.
When I only glare back, her eyes turn pleading. “Linc. I’m… I’m not fucking around, okay? Forget the bike. But I need that product. And the cash.”
“Mmm. No.”
“It could get me killed.”
“Not really my problem.”
Her shoulders sag, like she’s actually hurt. Like I’ve betrayed her. Or maybe she’s just surprised her play at blackmail backfired. “You’d seriously let me die over this?”
Depending on the night, maybe.
Sometimes I get so fucking angry about how this all played out, how Axe got me under his thumb. Before then, I’d let it go—the bad blood, the history between our families.He used that. Saw a situation that could put him ahead and took advantage of it. In the lowest of my lows, I mistook a chess move for an olive branch. By the time I realized what he had against me, it was too late.
