“Ow! Fuck, Skull! Your woman bit me!” Beast growls, trying to pull me away. I give up when it’s clear he’s not going to drop me.
“This isn’t over,” Colin says, motioning to the men around him. That’s when I see Colin’s men holding guns. Skull’s men have guns pointed directly at them. How did I miss that? At Colin’s signal, they back away but keep their guns aimed. “It looks like you got your war,” he says and my stomach rolls with the implications of that.
“So be it. I’m not giving her up,” Skull says.
My tears fall at that declaration. The thing I was trying to prevent just happened. How many deaths will be my fault? Will Skull’s?
Beth rides on the back of my bike all the way to the compound. I’m so pissed at her, I’m afraid of what I’d say right now. I need to calm down, but I don’t see that happening. We pull into the garage at the compound. The boys are as silent as I am. This fucking shit is going to be bad. There’s not a fucking thing I can do to stop it. I’m not giving up Beth. Hell, even if I delivered her back to Colin at this point, there’d still be war. Anything less would make me a weak motherfucker and I’m sure Colin feels the same.
Beth climbs off first and I follow. She’s wringing her hands, betraying her nerves. I can’t feel sorry for her. She should have fucking told me this shit from the get-go. I’m not sure it would have changed anything, but she knew what kind of fucking secret she was hiding. She might be young and inexperienced, but she’s not stupid.
No. Instead, she made me the fucking last to know.
“Torch, increase all the security around the compound. Then, you call Church. If they wear a motherfucking Blaze cut, they are there. No exceptions. I also want Pistol’s brother on the phone. It’s time to batten down the hatches, motherfuckers. Nothing in or out unless I clear it.”
“Got it, Boss.”
I grab Beth by the arm and look at her. “Who’s the motherfucker that helped you get out of here?”
“Skull…”
“Names, Beth,” I warn her, at the end of my rope.
“I promised I wouldn’t—”
“I think you’ve kept enough fucking secrets from me. Give me the names. Now.”
“Marker.”
“Torch, chain his ass up,” I order over my shoulder. “Who else?”
“Skull, I think this is something we should discuss in private,” she pleads, her face pale.
“The time to discuss shit with me privately would have been before everything went to hell. Now you just fucking tell me. One more time, Beth. Who the fuck helped get you out of here?”
“The bathroom window was unlocked, really. I mean, I could have just got out on my own.”
She looks down at her hands as she answers. She looks nervously over at Beast. It clicks into place.
“Beast?” I ask. Beth looks up, stricken with fear.
“No, Skull! It wasn’t Beast! He even stopped me in the hall to make sure I was alright! I lied to him, I swear! He’d never betray you.”
“Beast?” I prompt again, ignoring Beth. My hand is so tight on her upper arm that I know it will cause a bruise. That’s good. She needs to remember the fucking stunt she pulled today. She needs to remember what happens when she keeps secrets from me.
“Yeah, Boss?”
“Your old lady. Was she around when Beth escaped?”
“Jan?” Beast asks and then I see it hit him in the face. His old lady is a bitch and, I’m pretty sure, a fucking cokehead. I’m tired of seeing my man keep blinders on his eyes.
“Fuck, Boss…”
“Beast,” Beth tries to interject. Beast gives her a fucking look that most men would shrink from, then turns away from her.
“You lock your old lady down. Got me, Beast?”
“I’ll get it taken care of, Boss.”
“Get moving, boys. I know the Donahues aren’t going to wait until we’re ready to attack.”
Everyone moves out, leaving me and Beth alone.
“Skull, please, just let me explain,” she begs.
I ignore her, throw her over my shoulder, then walk her through the club and back to my room without stopping to acknowledge anyone else.
I throw her on the bed. “Skull,” she says as she bounces on the mattress.
“What the fuck were you thinking, Beth? How could you not tell me that Colin and Matthew were your fucking family? Or that Colin wants to stick his fucking dick in you? Don’t you think that’s something I need to know?”
“No. I mean, you said you’d grow tired of me. I thought I’d be long gone before—”