I tilted my head innocently. "What's that got to do with this? I must have missed the MC 101 course. Sorry."
He sneered. "I heard you had a mouth on you." He reached for me, and it took tremendous effort to keep from shrinking away as his fingers stroked my lips. My skin crawled, my breath came fast and shallow. If I hadn't been afraid of whatever he might have been carrying, I would have sunk my teeth into his nasty fingers.
"Oh, yeah," he breathed. "I'd like to see what else this mouth can do. Does Vince already know? He has to. I bet that mouth worked him over real good."
I swallowed against the bile that rose in my throat.
He grinned, his blue eyes narrowing. Like he knew how I felt about him and didn't care. Maybe he even liked it.
"Why else would he shoot at my guys to keep them from taking you today?" He shook his head, a look of mock disappointment on his face. "Honestly, and you might not believe this, I was willing to let go of him beating the hell outta one of my guys. I really was. I mean, Harrison took out one of his. And between you and me, he's never been what you might call ‘right in the head.' I would have let bygones be bygones. But then Baldoni had to go sticking his nose in where it didn't belong. Right into my business. If I wanted you, he should have let me have you. We don't mess with each other's business. That's rule number one."
"Do those rules apply when you turned two of a club's members against their leader?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You really are mouthy. I'd hate for you to learn what happens to little girls with big mouths. We find things to stuff those big mouths with until they can't talk anymore."
My blood ran cold. I got the message.
"This was only business. All of it. Baldoni has to take everything personally. That's why he'll never be a leader, why his club deserves better than him." So that was it. He wanted the club. Harrison wasn't the only person not right in the head if he thought Vince would ever go for that.
He didn't expect him to, I realized. He was going to kill Vince.
"Do you think the other club members would want you as their president? I mean, no offense or anything, but don't they have a say in it?"
He sneered nastily. "No, they don't. They'll follow whoever they're told to follow. Otherwise, they'd be the ones sitting at the head of the table. Lance and Onyx were the only two I could find with any vision."
I wondered what Alexander promised them when he convinced them to take sides with him. What would be worth turning your back on your club?
I thought back to the game of cards I'd just played with them. They were a family-laughing, busting balls. It was the same way with everything they did. They had fun together. They had one another's backs. What would be worth sacrificing that? Money? From the looks of the Wolves' clubhouse, they weren't swimming in it.
Alexander cut into my thoughts when he pulled out his phone. "It's time to give your boyfriend a phone call." I watched as he dialed, wondering if I could get a message to Vince. Just then, Onyx pressed a knife to my throat, making me gasp.
"Don't say a word," he muttered, taking a handful of my hair to pull my head back.
I whimpered. How could he do this to me, after pretending to at least tolerate me? What was wrong with him?
In my terror, I almost couldn't make out Alexander's words. He was taunting Vince-I could tell that much from his tone of voice.
"I've already touched her. I'll do any damn thing I please," he said. I closed my eyes, grimacing. I still felt his fingerprints on my mouth.
The pressure disappeared from my throat. "Say hi," Onyx demanded, pointing to the phone in Alexander's hand.
What should I say? It had to count for something. I couldn't waste my chance. Onyx pulled my hair to get me to do as he said. I whimpered.
"Vince! Stay away!" I screamed. Then, Onyx's hand was over my mouth, his fingers pressing into my cheek. I wondered dimly if I'd have a bruise there. I struggled against him, clawing at his arm with my free hands. I wanted to hurt him. I dug my nails into his hand, making him wince and loosen his grip. When he did, I bit him as hard as I could.
"You bitch!" he screamed. Alexander was already off the phone. It was too late. I couldn't get another message to Vince. I'd hurt Onyx, at least. He was gripping his wounded hand with a look of cold, hard hatred on his face.
"Tie her arms back up," Alexander ordered. "I'm done trying to be nice to her if this is the way she repays me for it."
I laughed. He sounded like this was a hotel I was staying in, not the hellhole he treated as a clubhouse. He was pathetic. I knew why he had to rely on deception to get what he wanted-he wouldn't be any good at it any other way.
"Don't be gentle," he added, spitting on the floor in my general direction. "And close her mouth."
I couldn't help but cry out when Onyx tied the rope excruciatingly tight around my wrists. It was even worse than before. That was where my mouth got me. My arms screamed in pain, and a single tear trickled down my cheek.
I looked up at Onyx when he walked in front of me. He held up the strip of fabric that had been tied over my eyes earlier.
"Why?" I asked. "Please, I just want to know. Why did you do it?"
He looked taken aback. I wasn't snide or confrontational. I genuinely wanted to know. He would never get the chance to tell Vince why, that was for sure. I had the feeling Vince would kill him as soon as he looked at him by the time he found out what happened-if he didn't already know. I remembered the holes he punched into the office walls after seeing the photos of Lance. What would he do when he found out Onyx was even worse?
"I needed the money." He shrugged. "That was all. It wasn't personal."
"Alexander paid you for this?"
He shook his scarred head. "The drugs. Vince wanted out of drugs, but that means cutting off our revenue. A huge chunk of it. Lance and me, we were pissed about that. He wouldn't listen when I told him it wasn't a good idea to pull out. York wants the club, wants the business."
"So you agreed to hand over the club in exchange for money."
He nodded, then tied the cloth tight around my mouth, knotting it at the back of my head. He turned and left the room, throwing one more look my way before closing the door.
Another tear trickled down my cheek, then another. I would be dead by morning.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Vince
"No fucking way you're going," Axel hissed. "I won't let you. I'll fucking tie you down if I have to."
I shook my head. "I know you're against it, but you don't have a say in it."
"Why the fuck not? This is club business, Vince. This isn't all about you. What do you think York's gonna try to do after he blows you away?"
I shrugged. I knew well what he would do, but I couldn't think about it. All I could do was try to save Erica. No, not try. I had to do it, period.
"Listen," he said, "I know you care about Erica. She's a good girl. But think about us, too. You're gonna leave us like that? He's gonna come in here, try to take everything over. It'll be fucking chaos, man. We need you right now. You've gotta step up and be a leader right now. Think about the big picture."
"You try thinking about the big picture when you're in my shoes," I snapped, miserable. "When that happens, stand there and tell me how easy it is to do. I can't wait to see it."
"I know, I know. You're all fucked up over this. But please, I'm serious. Think about it rationally for a minute. You go there, he blows you away. Because there's no other way for it to end. Agreed?"
"Agreed." I had thought of that already. I was willing to accept that.
"Where's the guarantee that he's gonna let her live?"
I froze for a minute. I hadn't thought about that. "I'll make sure she's safe," I said.
"How? You'll be dead."
"Since when can't I trust you?" I had assumed they would protect her. I guessed I was wrong. It wouldn't be the first time I misjudged a member of my club.
Axel's massive body shook with intensity. "Think, Vince! He wants to take over the club, right? So she won't be under the protection of the Fury Riders anymore because there won't be any Fury Riders."
I saw how right he was. York. That fucker. He'd thought the whole thing out way in advance, like a game of chess. Piece of shit probably couldn't spell his own name, but he could think ten moves ahead.
"What do I do, then? Leave her there?" I pushed myself back from the desk in a violent shove and stood. "No fucking way, man. I can't."
Axel shrugged. "I'm sorry, Vince. That seems like the only option. If she were out of the picture, you wouldn't have to worry about keeping her safe anymore."