And fuck me, I did. Had it all mapped out in my head, every grim, dirty detail coming together to protect her, avenge the Prez, restore the club's honor after the kick in the balls they'd given us.
“What the fuck are you thinking, Firefly?” Skin growled. “I'm gonna trust you on keeping her safe. You know the special treatment the Prez has given this girl from day one. Don't know how the hell you think you're gonna announce her, bring them into our ambush, without leading 'em smack into her.”#p#分页标题#e#
I stood, looking over all my brothers, one by one. “We're gonna piss off Red real bad. Let the fucker know we lied right to his face. Announce it in the open.”
I paused. They all looked at me, waiting. I flexed my fists, finally ready to speak the words chewing at my insides.
“Truth is, I'm claiming Cora. She's getting my brand slapped on her skin and a ring on her finger before shit flies. Torches' spies'll hear all about it. We'll hit 'em hard when they come charging in, assuming big Red doesn't have a fuckin' stroke first...”
“Shit!”
“Fuck!”
“Goddamn!”
Several brothers bellowed at once, laughter and shock filling up the room. Joker's knife slammed into the table, adding one more gouge to his spot, already knifed to kingdom come. Bingo sat up and barked, cutting through the commotion. We all piped down as the Veep stood, ruffling Bingo's furry head with one hand.
“Fuck, and they call me crazy,” he said, giving me an ice cold look. “You're gonna lose your dick when the Prez finds out.”
“Then we'd better move fast. I plan on keeping my pisser. Dust'll be mighty forgiving when he finds out we've mopped up the Atlanta assholes while he's laid out in recovery. Besides, this shit goes deeper than just keeping her safe and cleaning up this fuckin' heap. Cora and me, we're together now. For real.”
Sixty grinned, his goattee twitching. “You poor bastard. You sure you're ready to be a married fucking man?”
“I'm more worried about her,” Skin growled, the long scar on his cheek catching the light. “She has to want this, brother. She doesn't, I'm gonna make damned sure she's got an out the instant we've got the Torches' guts smeared across the Smokies.”
“She will,” I said, giving him a look from hell. Bastard was probably bent out of shape because he'd been the first brother engaged to his old lady, and now I'd beat him to the altar. “Cora wants me. She needs me. She's fuckin' suffered for everything she's got, and I'm gonna make sure she never has to do it again.”
“Whatever, bro. Joker's right. It's your cock on the line.” Sixty laughed, and Bingo barked again.
“You heard him. Church adjourned,” Joker said, slamming the Prez's gavel down on hard wood. “Report back when you've got this shit in motion.”
I nodded, ready as hell to head out and do what I had to do. Saving the club and killing all the Torches was gonna be easy as a run through the Tri-Cities, if I kept this manic energy going.
Getting Cora to go along with it, a little harder.
I'd find a way. Lived my whole life just drifting by like a fucking zombie. Only way I thought I could live after the shit I'd seen overseas. Men dying, villages burning, mass graves of poor sorry bastards killed in cold blood by terrorist fucks. We'd always stumble on that shit whenever we got too deep in the killing.
No man fit easy in civvie life after being on a battlefield. It stayed with him, made him wild, stole his soul and all his drive for anything except the next adrenaline fix.
Drinking, boozing, chasing down pussy to keep me company for just one night.
Before Cora, pussy never got to my head. It was something to fuck, something to feel wrapped around every throbbing inch of me, good for just a shot or two. No different than what I did when I hit the bottle.
Before Cora, I couldn't have dreamed about chasing down pussy for more than just a fuck. Owning a woman past more than the pink was as alien as the big yellow moon in the sky.
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Now, I craved it. I wanted it so bad I could feel it smoking in my veins like fire.
I need her. Bad. Needed to keep her. It fuckin' scared me.
Every brother sharing my patch knew how I fought. The unlucky motherfuckers who'd been on the receiving end of my fists, my shots, or my matches and kerosene knew I never backed down. I never winced. I never quit 'til I'd buried the bastards lined up against me and my club alive.
Fighting, killing, torturing...none of that shit raised a single hair on my neck.
Cora, on the other hand...my life after Cora...what the hell did that look like? Not a damned clue, but I wanted it.
I rode hard through town, heading for my girl. I could taste her on my lips already, feel her soft gold hair in my hands as they gripped my bike's handlebars.