I toss my arm around her shoulders, trying not to laugh at her. Fucking day. Fucking week. Fucking life.
It’d be great if I could just disappear with her, but I owe it to the guys who’ve had my back to stick around until the heat has cleared.
“It creates unity, organization, and a sense of less chaos,” I explain, kissing the top of her head. “We should pick a name, iron out the details, resume business as normal, and deal with any backlash from our business associates as it comes. The guys need to know they can count on us, and I vote Sledge as Prez.”
Sledge coughs and strangles like he just swallowed his own tongue before shaking his head vehemently. “Fuck that. I don’t want to be P. That’s all you. These guys won’t listen to anyone but you right now. You stood up to Herrin, cold-cocked him, and then told Hershel to fuck off. That’s you, kid. Step up.”
Everyone at the table nods like they agree, and I groan. No way do I want to be President. It used to be my only goal in life, but now…
My eyes fall on Eve, who is nervously chewing on her thumbnail and staring at the table, probably dreading the answer I have to give.
“Glad that’s settled,” Axle says with a smirk, even though I haven’t answered. “Give us a name, P. It’s not going to be easy starting a new club in the limits of an existing club we’ve all just gone up against. So make it a badass name.”
Eve looks over at me, then over to Axle. “The Reapers,” she says quietly.
I snort, but everyone else slowly has a grin crawling up. I’m fairly positive that my girl from the burbs just tried to name our club. “It’ll go with your Death Dealer reaper tats that you already have, and it’ll piss off the Death Dealers when you turn it into your logo instead, only better. Like the reaper tattoo on Drex’s back,” Eve goes on. “It’s better than the DD logo. And it suits all of you.”
“We’ll talk about it more later. I need a drink and something to eat before we head over to have that chat with our next client.”
“You’re leaving?” Eve asks, grimacing when her voice cracks.
Did I seriously forget to tell her? I’m an ass.
“Yeah. We were supposed to have a big order we were going to start this week, but we need to make sure the Hemmers Family still want to do business with us, considering the circumstances. Best to do these things in person. It makes it harder for them to change their minds.”
I brush my lips over hers and pull her to me as some of the others start to exit.
“Don’t worry, Eve. Dash will be here, along with numerous others. This place is locked down tight right now. Stay in the room until I get back, though.”
She sighs but nods like she understands. She’s going to lose every ounce of tan if I continue to keep her locked up in here like I want to. Not to mention go bat-shit crazy with cabin fever or some shit.
“After we get some things sorted, you and me are getting away for a weekend.”
“Just the two of us?” she asks, grinning up at me.
“Yeah. Just the two of us.”
Her smile grows and she stands on her tiptoes before tugging at the front of my shirt. I bend over again, kissing her until her tongue starts to drive me crazy. Reluctantly, I pull back, adjust my hard cock in front of her, and then start leading her out again.
The last thing I want to do right now is leave her behind, but I sure as fuck can’t take her where I’m going.
“Dash,” I call as Eve heads up the stairs to my room. He jogs over, and as soon as he reaches me, I glance back as Eve ducks inside the room and shuts the door behind her.
“What’s up?”
I turn back to face him, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling in my stomach. It’s paranoia. I know it is, but it’s still nagging me.
“Call me if anything seems even a little bit off.”
“Yeah. Sure. I’ll be right down here though. We’re going to play a game of poker and maybe call some girls over.”
I dig my phone out as it buzzes, rolling my eyes when I see it’s a message from Rush telling me to hurry the hell up.
“Is Drake here?” I ask Dash.
“Nah. He’s back at work with a few armed guards. He wasn’t ever the real target, and his arms aren’t broken, so he wanted to get back to work.”
I nod, feeling that knot of unease double in size with every passing second. “Seriously, call me if anything seems out of place.”
Dash shrugs before nodding. “Nothing’s going down, D. Your girl can’t be touched, and I’m sure you’re not letting her out when you’re not here. Go. We got this. Hurry back so you can stop worrying.”
I glance back one last time, and start to head up to check on her, even though it just sounds fucking ridiculous to even think about. My phone buzzing again prompts me to head out instead, but I can’t handle the feeling of dread crawling over me.
Instead of thinking about it, I dial her like I’m not right downstairs on my way toward the garage.
“Miss me already?” she asks softly, causing me to smile despite the bad feeling that won’t ebb.
“Yeah. Just wanted to remind you to stay locked up. I shouldn’t be too long. If I am, I’ll have Dash send up some food.”
“That sounds good,” she says slowly.
“You okay?” I ask, pausing and looking back at the door.
“Of course. Just tired. Long day. I may take a nap.”
I turn and duck into the garage, flipping Rush off as he revs his engine, making hearing her a little harder.
“I wish I could take that nap with you. Call me if you need me.”
“Sure thing. And, Drex?”
“Yeah?” I ask, settling onto my own ride.
“I love you.”
Pretty sure it feels like someone has just kicked me in the stomach, but I swallow down whatever chaotic feelings those surprising words are stirring.
“Bye,” she says before hanging up when the silence drones on.
“Get your ass in fucking gear. The last thing we need to do is be late,” Rush snaps.
I slowly put away the dead phone, and try to wrap my head around what she just said. I’ll have to deal with that later. It’s not a good idea to be distracted right now.
Fuck.
Chapter 36
EVE
I slowly lower the phone as the barrel of the gun stares me in the face. Well, not the actual barrel, since there’s something else on it… A silencer?
They say your life flashes before your eyes when you’re about to die. That’s not true. Everything goes fast and slow at the same time, and you feel like your stomach is twisted around a pole.
He takes the phone from my hand, drops it to the ground, and crushes it under his heavy boot.
“Good girl,” the guy says, peeking out the crack in the door after we hear the roar of the engines zooming out of the garage.
At least I got to say what I’ve been holding back. I wish I hadn’t held back now. The lone tear that rolls down my cheek isn’t for my own life. It’s for the redhead on the carpet who is slowly bleeding out, dying right in front of my eyes.
Colleen wasn’t nice to me when I got here, but she definitely redeemed herself when I was in the hospital. Her eyes meet mine with tears running as she stays paralyzed in place, frozen in death’s embrace as she tries to silently apologize.
She had to have let him in, probably at gunpoint. The Death Dealer tat on his left bicep lets me know what this is about.
I could scream. I could have told Drex what was going on—or tried to. I could do anything other than stand here, and there’s no doubt in my mind someone would kill this man. He’s outnumbered.
But how many would die in my place before he went down? My life isn’t worth risking someone else’s. Colleen is already going to die because of me.
He shoves the gun against my cheek, and I tense so tightly that my teeth start to hurt as he peers out the crack in the door again. He leans back and pulls out his own phone, and I watch as he glances down at Colleen.
“Hey, it’s me. Drex is gone, the girl is with me, but I had to shoot the redhead who runs the salon. She made a grab for my gun.”
Colleen’s eyes water more, and she starts to gurgle her own blood, doing something with her hand under the bed that I can’t see. I start to go to her side, but a cry of pain escapes me when the gun drops and digs into the flesh between my neck and chin, pressing up until it feels like I’m choking.
“Yeah. Not here. Can’t I just kill her up here like Herrin wants?”
He glares over at me like he’s expecting me to say something in protest, but I don’t give him the satisfaction of making another sound.
“Yeah. I get it. He’s your brother and you want some revenge. Just don’t tell Herrin I went along with this. Give me a distraction so I can get her out the door without anyone seeing.”
He hangs up the phone and glances over at Colleen. “Sorry, Red. Wrong place wrong time.”
She laughs. She freaking laughs while choking on blood, and I watch as she brings her phone out from under the bed and winks at me. The guy doesn’t notice, but I do. He’s busy staring out the crack while driving that gun into my skin more, forcing me up on my tiptoes as my head angles back against the wall.
I hope she didn’t call Drex. He could get killed. Or the others could get killed. Maybe they’ll just get here in time to save her life.