Released(Devil's Blaze MC 3)(16)

“Not for me.”

“So what do we do?” Annie asks. I look at her blue eyes, which shine extra bright. “I know all about having someone you need revenge on. I don’t need to know what went down, but I’m in. So, what do we do?”

Wow… okay.

“Same here. I’m all in,” Sacks says, and all eyes go to her.

“It could cause you problems with your men. This isn’t your war, ladies. It’s mine.”

“Ours,” Katie interjects. I frown at her.

“Bull hockey!” exclaims Annie. “We’re the women of Devil’s Blaze. The Donahues not only fucked with you girls, they fucked with our men. They’ve tried to kill each of them. I think that’s reason enough. So, I repeat, what do we do?”

I smile despite myself. She doesn’t curse but very seldom, and her sweet nature is directly at war with the look on her face right now. But, as I look around at all of these women, I realize I’m surrounded by fighters. It looks like I’m not alone. After all this time of being alone, and then my time with only Katie and Gabby, it’s a strange feeling.

“We find out what the men are planning first, I guess,” I tell them because I really have no clue on how to wage war. I just know I’m going to.

“Then what?”

“We find a way to foil their plans—or at least delay them—then strike ourselves.” This comes from Katie. She looks at me with that kickass smile she used to get right before we’d strike out at our father or grandfather. That time was hell, but being a team with my twin? That part I definitely miss.

Looks like we’re going to war.





“They’re meeting now,” Sacks says, coming into my room where all the girls but Annie have gathered. She’ll be here soon. I hope I’m not opening a can of worms. Skull already hates me. If I cause a war between the men and women of the club, Skull is going to kill me. I push those thoughts out of my head and pay attention to the here-and-now.

“We need to find out what’s being said in the meeting.”

“Already got that handled,” Katie says.

I freeze. “What do you mean you already got it handled? Did Torch tell you what’s going down?”

“Are you kidding? You know how close-lipped these men are about church. Nope, I didn’t even try. I just remembered what I think you’ve forgotten, sister dear.”

“What’s that?” I question, almost afraid to ask.

“That I managed to survive our father and grandfather for a lot of fucking years and that we didn’t do too bad for two women and a baby on the run for two years.”

“If you don’t count having a one-night-stand with a man tasked with bringing you back home at any cost to use as leverage, then sure, you were great. Oh, and we won’t even get into the runaway eighteen-wheeler…”

“Sarcasm doesn’t become you, sister dear. In any event, you know that little box of toys we took from our father’s room at Hell?” I smirk. Hell is what we called my grandfather’s mansion. Sadly, it more than lived up to the name.

“Toys? Toenails and doughnuts, why are you carting around sex toys used by your father? That’s just wrong on so many levels.”

We all look up as Annie walks in and the laughter erupts almost simultaneously. It might be because of the comment about our father’s toys, but more than likely it has to do with her aversion to cursing.

“Not those kind of toys, fruitcake,” her friend Louise says.

“I swear, being with two men has fried your brain,” Candy adds.

“I’m with one,” Annie grumbles, though she blushes.

“Girl, please, you have both of them men jumping to your every command. They are pussy-whipped with a capital P,” Candy says.

Annie’s blush deepens, but she doesn’t deny a thing. It’s probably for the best; no one would believe her.

“Where’s the baby?” Annie asks suddenly, looking around.

“Katie got Mattah to babysit,” I tell her. Mattah is an older woman who works in the kitchen. She’s great with Gabby and she’s been really good to me since I got back.

“Actually, Mattah had to go home. Her daughter went into early labor.”

“Then where is my daughter?” I ask, annoyed. I love Katie, but I just don’t trust Gabby with very many people.

“Oddly enough, she wanted her Uncle Torch.”

“He took Gabby into the meeting?” I asked, completely surprised.

“Yep. Along with something else…”

“What else?” I ask, knowing from that look on Katie’s face that she’s up to something. In answer, she takes out her cellphone and starts pushing buttons.