Bounty:Fury Riders MC(34)

"You sick fuck. Get outta here. I don't wanna see you."



He stood. "You know I don't really mean that. I like Erica, and I like  her for you. I'm just trying to help you see this from all sides is all.  Before you met her, you took on the responsibility of leading the club.  We were your priority first. You're talking about handing us over, just  to save her. Fuck us, right?"



I sighed heavily, some of my anger melting. "You know I don't see it that way. This is ripping me up inside."



He nodded slowly. "I get it. I don't know what I would do if I were you.  I mean it. You're my president. Whatever you decide, I'm with you."



I turned away and heard the door open and close. When he was gone, I let myself collapse back into the chair.



It was an impossible decision. Give myself up, which meant giving my club up, or leave Erica there to die.



She would think I deserted her. I imagined her sitting there in that  shithole, wondering why I wasn't coming for her. Thinking she didn't  mean anything to me. Nothing could have been further from the truth, but  there wouldn't be any way for me to tell her that. If anything, York  would tell her I didn't care. He'd fuck with her head before he killed  her. And he might do it slowly, after the pigs and degenerates he called  a club did whatever they wanted to her.



My blood boiled. I pounded on the top of the desk with my fist, wishing it was York's face.



The laptop was the only thing on the desk I hadn't swept off with my  arm, and I opened it in the hopes the memory card was still inside. It  was, and the picture up on the screen was probably the last thing Erica  saw before Onyx took her. There he was. He was still in the shadows, but  he was there.



When had it happened? When did he decide to turn on me? How didn't I see  it? Lance was one thing, but Onyx? He was the closest friend I had in  the world. How did I not see what was right in front of me?



Maybe York was right and I didn't deserve to be president of the club. I  was fucking blind to the obvious. I wanted Onyx to be my loyal  second-in-command, and that's who I told myself he was. So what if he  was actually going behind my back and destroying the club? I didn't  wanna see it.



I still didn't, even as I sat looking at the picture. I wanted to  believe it was a mistake. There he was, though. Standing still, watching  Harrison murder Lance. Someone who was supposed to be his brother. He  let it happen and didn't flinch.



I told myself to harden my heart against him. There was a good chance I  would be seeing him at the clubhouse. York would make sure of it. He  wanted to be sure I knew he won, right down to stealing my best friend's  loyalty.



I wondered for a minute if he would compromise. If I offered him the  drug trade, he might take it and leave the rest alone. That was what he  wanted. The prestige, the money. He was welcome to have it. I wouldn't  hand over my club, though. Axel was right. I had to think about them,  too.



I walked out of the office. The lounge was empty, the door to the game  room closed. I nodded grimly. They were having a meeting without me. It  made sense. They would have plenty without me before long.



I went to the bar and poured myself a whiskey. I was proud of everything  I did with the club, including the steps I took to get us out of drugs.  I hoped York didn't put them right back into it, but it was obvious  that he would. Drugs and the money from them-that was what he wanted.



That and the knowledge that he'd beaten me. That meant a lot to him, too. He was so pathetic, it made me sick.



How many times had I sat there with Onyx next to me? Even way back  before I was president. When I first got hooked up with the club. We  used to sit and watch the older guys and wish we could be as cool as  they were.



I didn't have anybody else in my life then. I had just lost my family,  and I was looking for something. I never had time for friends at that  age either-taking care of the kids, going to school, it ate up all of my  time. After I had dropped out I was really lost. I couldn't relate to  people my age.         

     



 



Then, I met Onyx. He was a prospect with the club in those days, but he  had been around long enough to show me the ropes. I trusted him from day  one-he tried to be tough and hard, but I saw through him. He only acted  that way because of the scars. He thought people would reject him, so  if he rejected them first, he wouldn't have to get hurt. I never told  him that I knew, though.



I couldn't think of the club without thinking of him. The two were so  closely wrapped up in each other for me. What made him do it? Was there  ever a time I said something or did something he didn't agree with?  Yeah-that happened a lot. He was never afraid to tell me what he thought  about my decisions, though. I didn't think we had any secrets. In fact,  when I was first named president, I asked him always to be brutally  honest with me. I needed somebody to keep me grounded. He swore he would  be that person.



When did he stop? I couldn't remember things changing. He had to be the  best actor in the world, keeping me fooled the way he did.



Then again, Lance had, too. I had thought he was loyal. Maybe I was the  problem. Could I ever trust any of my men again? I reminded myself it  didn't matter. I wouldn't have to worry about it for long once York had  his way.



The door opened like they had heard me thinking about them. They filed  out one by one, two dozen of them. None of them would meet my eyes. The  girls followed them out, and they looked at the floor, too.



I was leaving them. It broke me up inside, thinking of handing them over  to anybody else-especially York, who was barely a step up from human  garbage. What would happen to them?



Before any of them could speak, I took a deep breath. "I know Axel told  you what's happening. I know you think I'm crazy for thinking about  this. I don't see that I have a choice. I can't leave her there. And  he'll kill her if I don't go, believe it. York doesn't make empty  promises."



"We know," Axel said, quietly.



"I don't know what this means for all of you. I'm sorry. This is the  choice I have to make. Even if I stay here, he's never gonna stop coming  after us. How many more people have to die before he gets what he  wants? I'm trying to think of you guys, too. But, in the end, I have to  try to save Erica. I'm sorry. It's what needs to happen."



"So that's it, then? None of us gets a say? York moves into your spot  and we go on like nothin' happened?" Frankie looked livid, his face  dark.



"That's what he wants. He's got me cornered. I don't know what else to  do." I stood, showing them the gun I had in my waistband. "I'm gonna do  my best." I would have to find some way to take him out. It was the only  way I could think to protect Erica and the club at the same time.





Chapter Twenty-Four





Erica





I had no idea how long I'd been there, tied to the chair in that  stinking room. There was no way of telling time, and no windows without  boards on them.



I was exhausted, weak. I knew the intensity of my emotions wasn't  helping. I wondered how much longer it would take for somebody to come. I  wasn't sure anymore whether I wanted Vince to come, or if I wanted him  to stay away. There was no winning.



My shoulders burned and my wrists ached from the ropes. The rope around  my ankles was so tight my feet were asleep. I must have been there for  hours at that point. I'd started counting the seconds at one point, but  the more seconds I counted, the more upset I got. It was easier in a way  to let the time pass unmarked.



There was a series of loud shouts from outside the door. I flinched.  They were getting louder all the time. Probably the drunker they got.



They could come in here whenever they wanted. The thought chilled my  blood. Any of them, whenever the mood struck. It sounded like an entire  football team was out there making noise, cheering, listening to music. I  heard bottles smashing now and then. Were they killing each other? I  hoped they were.



The drunker they became, the larger my fear grew. Alexander might have  been able to control them while they were sober, but when they were  drunk? I knew it was only a matter of time before they got ideas in  their heads. I didn't hear any female voices out there. Pretty soon it  wouldn't be enough to throw each other around and break bottles. Their  attention would turn to me. Tied to a chair. I remembered Alexander's  warning about what they did to girls with big mouths. A sob escaped my  throat, muffled by the gag.



I squeezed my eyes shut. Thinking like that would only make me panic  again. I couldn't do that. I didn't even want to cry since I couldn't  wipe my eyes or my nose. The gag was soaked with tears already. Nobody  had been in to check on me in a long time. I didn't know if that was a  good thing or a bad thing. I didn't want to see any of them or give them  the chance to be alone with me. I could have used more water, though,  or a tissue.



Then again, having one of them wipe my tears? Not tops on my list.  Again, there was no way out that didn't involve one of the Wolves  getting way too close to me.