Page 50 of Healed

“That wasn’t because of Rachel. That was because of Macbeth. He went behind our backs to the Riders. Sure, Rachel had involvement—they used her to get to me, and brought her demons from the past back to the present. She wasn’t the sole reason war happened, though. Just like Gabriella isn’t the sole reason we’re doing this.”

“Sure seems that way to me.”

“For what reason? Because from where I’m sitting, it looks like we’re doing this for Vienna. To show that an attack on our vice can’t be left unpunished. Hacksaw, you do the minutes of this meeting. Did I once mention Gabriella’s name?”

“No, boss.”

Dante raised his eyebrows at Chicken.

“We’re protecting Nico’s old lady! Of course it’s about her!”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Dante placed his hand on my arm.

“Chicken... I want you to take a moment to think about what I’m saying here—really think about it. Nico is Gabriella’s cousin. He basically locked her up and threw away the key. And whilst she was locked up, she was abused in the worst imaginable ways. Ways that leave scars on your very soul. And when she finally found a way to escape, she came to us for help. How is that any different to any of the other women who have asked for our help? How is that any different to us donating money to women’s shelters?”

“Well... I suppose it isn’t, but—”

“Do I need to take this to a club majority to settle the matter?”

“No, brother,” Chicken mumbled, lowering himself down in his seat.

“Very well. Now that’s settled, let’s make one thing very clear. We’re not doing this for one specific person. We’re doing this for fucking survival. The aim of the game here is to show that the Devil’s mean business. We aren’t fucking around here. We want them to give up Nico willingly, or we want to flush him out. I don’t want a single safe area in this entire fucking country. But there is one condition.”

The entire room seemed to hold its breath.

“When you find him, you bring him here. Alive.”

“But—” Eagle tried to protest.

“No buts. The rest of the Riders are fair game, but Nico? He gets brought in alive. Anyone found disobeying that order will face unimaginable consequences. Not just for them, but their entire families—old ladies and children included. Do I make myself clear?”

The room mumbled agreements.

“And when he’s found?” Eagle asked.

Dante looked at me and grinned.

“I’ll be the one to kill him,” I beamed.

The thought almost had me salivating.

A knock at the door had us all pausing, and a second later one of the hang-arounds came in and asked if he could speak to the Lancaster president, Kevin.

“What do you think that’s about?” I asked Dante.

“Damned if I know, but I’ve got a feeling we’re not going to like it,” he said, lighting up another one of his smokes.

Less than a minute later, Kevin came back into the room, his face grim and his lips tight.

“Am I okay to have the table?” the Lancaster president asked.

“Sure, Kev,” Dante nodded, a small frown on his face.

Kevin wasn’t the type of man to speak up during these meetings. He ran one of the smaller charters and he did so quietly. So the fact that he was now centre stage willingly only proved that this was not going to be good news.

“We had this left in our van this morning,” he said, pulling out a paper envelope from the inside pocket of his cut and throwing it on the table. “One of our prospects got a bit... handsy with one of your club bunnies last night. He took the van into the woodlands out there for somewhere more private. We retrieved the van this morning to find the prospect with his throat slashed and the bunny nowhere to be found. That was on his chest.”

“Fuck’s sake,” Hacksaw muttered, immediately pulling out his phone for the security footage.