The room freezes. Viking’s men move forward with their guns raised, but nobody fires.
Viking doesn’t move. Slowly, his eyes flick sideways.
“Well,” he says after a beat. “That’s unexpected.”
“Patch-over talk’s done,” Steel says calmly. “Now we negotiate.”
Viking exhales through his nose. “Fine. Then here’s the deal I was willing to make before you forced my hand.”
He straightens. “Like I said, you keep Helena. I get warehouse access. One permanent. Three shared. My men move product through your territory. You get paid. I’ll keep on doing what I’m doing, because it works well for us. We have a few joints, casinos, strip clubs, whatever—that we funnel our money through. You’ll be compensated for the use of your warehouse, and we’ll stay the fuck out of Helena.”
Steel snorts. “That’s all you wanted? You could have just fucking called a meeting with me and asked the nice way. There’s this device, called a fucking phone. Could have got on that and fucking used it. Didn’t need to shoot our bar up or take our women.”
“And,” Viking adds, “there’s one more thing.”
My stomach tightens.
Wraith growls, the gun never leaving Viking’s head.
Steel’s jaw tightens. “You threaten my family again—”
“I took three of your women,” Viking says. “Just so happens I have three daughters. Sons are good. Son will go to war for you, follow you into business, but daughters—they’re adifferent breed. A liability. Being unattached, they weaken and threaten everything I’m doing here.”
I guess I can see the guy’s point, though I think he’s overdoing it.
He continues, “I want your agreement that three of your men will marry my three daughters.”
“What!” I exclaim. Because unless I’m misunderstanding, he’s suggesting marrying off his daughters like he’s some kind of medieval warlord. A warlord who’s currently got a gun pointed at his skull.
“My men are free to do what they want,” Steel mutters.
“Put it to a vote,” Viking suggests. “I’m not just offering my woman. I’m offering a business opportunity.
“I’m gonna need you to elaborate,” Steel says.
Viking rolls his shoulders. “Your reputation precedes you. It was part of the reason we targeted your club. You’re in a strategic location. You’re not a part of Jacksonville, yet you are. My daughters marry into your club, we’re family. And family looks out for each other. Your men will be based here, in Jacksonville. Do the shipments and help move product and oversee the harvesting of it. It only makes sense that we could help with that. Share the burden.”
“You’re talking about a formal alliance?” Steel’s voice actually betrays his amazement.
“Something like that. Think about it. As a united front, we’d be a force to contend with.”
“The Riders have got on all these years because we don’t sell hard shit. We’ve flown under the radar because of theprotection we offer the town. We don’t move women. I want no fucking part of that,” Steel says.
“I was considering cleaning up our operations. While our current business is lucrative, it’s also a liability. We intend on being in Jacksonville for the long term, so it makes sense that we fly under the radar. I might be a hard man, but I think you’ll find that I’m a fair one.”
“And I think you’ll find that I get to make the decisions here. You might still have my women, but I just need to say the word, and you’re a dead man.” Steel’s voice is deadly calm.
I glance over at Wraith. He’s still got his weapon pointed at Viking’s head. I wouldn’t put it past the fucker not to shoot anyway.
Steel’s silent for a moment. He glances around the room, and I see his gaze fall on Wraith. Wraith nods and something passes between them. That’s when I realize in my absence, they’d already figured out that shit might go bad.
“Okay,” Steel says. “I’ll consider your offer. There are a fuck ton of things to work out. Details we don’t have time for right now. You want an alliance, then we can talk. You want to be a chapter of Steel Riders, then know that Helena is the OG. You answer to me. I’m a fair man, you’ll find, unless you double cross me. The Riders are my life, and I opened the doors for any man wantin’ to join and swear loyalty, take his vows and take them serious. You and your men want to do that, then we have a deal.”
I don’t think there’s any way that a man like Viking would give up control of the empire he’s built, but he surprises the hell out of all of us by nodding slowly.
“And my daughters,” he says. “Real marriages. Not for show. Decent men. I’m too old to keep cleaning up their messes. I want them protected. Looked after.”
Steel doesn’t ask if they’ll come willingly. Maybe because none of us want the answer.
