“But they have Harley now,” I hiss. “Why the hell would they take her if I was a rat?”
“Could have arranged it so that they won’t hurt her. Just take her with the rest. That they’ll give her back to youunharmed. You left the Riders. It’s easy for you to side with another club. Shift your loyalties to the winning side and take down your old club in the process. It would be a big win for you.”
Even though I want to slam my fists into Steel’s face until there’s nothing left of it but a bloody pulp, kick him when he’s down and piss all over his prone form, I force myself to release him and take a step back. Then another, and another, until there’s a safe distance between us, between him and me and my desire to brutalize him into seeing sense.
At the heart of it, he’s still Harley’s father. I once respected and loved this man as my own blood. For that alone, I’ll spare him. For now. He calls me a rat again, I might just lose my shit and make good on my baser, violent urges.
“You know…” I start, breathing heavy to combat my rage. “For the past week you’ve been on one hell of a fucked up bender. So fucking single minded that you wouldn’t see fucking sense. If you’d pull your head out of your ass for three seconds, you’d see that I wasn’t here the night of that shooting because I was out looking for you. Maybe it’s time to get rid of the bullshit filter and take a fresh look at shit. Do you honestly think that I’d betray my own club? A club I fucking founded with you? A club that means everything to me? My only family. If you think that, then you’re not the man I thought you were.”
Steel bares his teeth at me, but he stays where he’s standing. He doesn’t launch himself at me again or throttle me, even though I can tell, by the way his fists keep clenching and unclenching, that he wants to.
“All this time you’ve been sneaking around with Harley. Behind my back. You put your dirty hands on her. You were supposed to protect her just like you were supposed to havemy back. Why the fuck wouldn’t I think you were a rat when all you’ve done is betray me?”
“This is exactly what I’m talking about,” I snort, “when I said you have a shit filter going on. Take off the fucking blinders, Steel. Did I say anything when you chose the daughter of the man who wanted to bring our club to its knees, to be your woman? Or did I stand by you? Did I or did I not go in there fighting alongside you when your woman was taken and put a bullet in that fucker’s brain for you?”
Steel mumbles something as his nostrils flare.
“What’s that? I didn’t fucking hear that, because I’m pretty sure we both know the answer is yes.” I glare at him. At least he’s listening now. “And like we’ve both been trying to tell you, we weren’t sneaking around behind your back. We never meant it to happen, but when Harley was working in the shop this summer we… We realized that things had changed. But I swear nothing happened. Never claimed her as truly mine until a few days ago and even then, I tried to push her out of here. She made it clear what her choice was and if you’d pull your fat fuckin’ head out of your damn ass, you’d see that it shouldn’t be that way. She shouldn’t have to choose between us. Between having her father’s love and approval and being with the man she loves.”
“She’s too fuckin’ young.”
“She’s twenty-one. She’s your daughter but she’s a grown woman. At least you know with me, I’ll treat her like a queen. I’ll fight for her and I’ll fuckin’ die for her if that’s what it takes. I’ll protect her and watch over her and do my damn level best to make her happy. This isn’t just some hook-up. She’s mine, and either you’ll come around to that, or you fuckingwon’t but that’s your choice. What’s not a choice is getting her back. And Leah, and Christine. I think even you can see that you calling me a rat when I’m clearly not, does no one any fucking good. So put your grudge aside, and let’s work together to get our women back from those bastards.”
Steel’s eyes narrow and his nostrils flare again. He looks like a wild animal, right now.
“Fine,” he growls. “But if I find out that you had anything to do with this, with any of it, you’re a dead man.”
“Not the first time I’ve heard it from you,” I growl back. We’re like two male dogs, about to go for each other’s throats when what we need to be doing is leading the pack together against the real threat. “Whoever the rat is, he’s the dead man. I’ll kill that fucker myself. Now tell me where the hell to go to get Harley back.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Edge
The warehouse deep in one of the old industrial sections of Jacksonville is the perfect place for an ambush. The bastard who took our women obviously knows what our weakness is and wants to exploit it. We could be walking straight into a trap, but we have no other choice.
We park our bikes out front, because why not announce our arrival? They had to know we were coming. Steel nods to Wraith, who for once is silent. He casts a sidelong glance at me, and then at Tracker, who stands beside him.
“You bastards ready?”
“Fucking ready to fuck some shit up,” Wraith grinds out.
“You idiot,” I correct under my breath. “Not going to be fucking anything or anyone up while they have our women. Is that clear?”
Wraith finally nods. Steel runs a hand through his long, dark hair. The few hours that it took us to get our shit together and ride out to Jacksonville haven’t improved his mood. He’s a ball of fury clad in leather and denim, no different than the rest of us, but wilder, less contained, the rage emanating from him in hot, violent waves.
The warehouse is non-descript. Just another run-down, metal building that’s rusted from the elements and it’shard as hell to see any details this late at night. There could be a hundred men hiding along the rooflines, which stand more than fifteen feet in the air at the lowest point and range to probably thirty or forty at the tallest. The place, unlike most warehouses, doesn’t have much of a yard or compound. It’s impossible to guess at what might be inside. Or rather, who. And how many.
We could be shot dead on the spot, but then again, if the club wanted us dead, why go to the trouble of taking our women and leaving a note? They could have come at any time to Helena, in broad fucking daylight if they wanted to, and gunned us down. Us, our women, our children. No. Obviously they want something.
“Move out, then.” Steel waves his hand in the air and we flank him, Tracker on one side, Wraith on the other. I trail behind them, because there isn’t any way that Steel wants me at his side, no matter our uneasy truce.
We walk right up the rusted out metal door. It’s no surprise when it cracks open and a big, ugly, goon who probably tops seven feet, swaggers out. He’s holding a semi-automatic across his leather clad chest. He looks just like us, minus the stench of being a huge fucking asshole that he wears around him like a mantle.
“We came to see your Prez,” Steel grinds out, and I can tell that it kills him to have to barter with this piece of shit. “You gonna let us in or not?”
“Remove your weapons,” the ugly motherfucker grinds out, “and you’ll be taken to his office.”
“His office?” Wraith chokes. “In this dump?”
