Chapter 23
Gage
“He won’t be talking,” Chase assured us as he and Juarez climbed back into the Suburban.
“You can even take that literally if you’d like,” Juarez added.
“Did you two knuckleheads do something stupid?” Angelo asked, irritated by their enthusiasm.
He turned to me. “I told you these two needed to just stay muscle. They didn’t need any official titles or recognition by the MC.”
“Hey, bro, they wanted in,” I said, defending them. “They do a lot of good work. If it hadn’t been for these two knuckleheads, we wouldn’t have found out about this drug deal. It would have gone down in secret on the lake, and no one would have been the wiser.”
“That’s right. Who’s the knucklehead now?” Juarez joked.
“Yeah, I’m convinced, these guys are idiots,” Angelo added.
“Well, guys, we’ve got a lot of celebrating and planning to do,” I told the car.
“Hey, does that mean we get to finish Dimitri off?” Chase asked.
I heard Angelo groan in response.
I thought about it. It would have been incredibly satisfying to go ahead and handle Dimitri. He’d caused me so much trouble since we brought him in.
“No,” I finally answered. “No, we need to keep him as collateral for when we approach Ivan.” I decided it would be more satisfying to murder Ivan’s right hand man right in front of him. It would feel great to break Ivan and watch him crumble before dispatching him.
“Speaking of Ivan, how are we going to do this?” Angelo asked.
“Yeah, we’ve got to find the yacht. We’ll need to identify who all is aboard it. We’ll probably need to board it ourselves,” Ricky chimed in, starting the list of everything we needed to plan for.
“We’ve got to bring enough people to handle whatever they have waiting for us. You know Ivan isn’t going to try to pull something like this off without some sort of firepower,” Chase added.
“You’re all right, but that’s something to discuss when we get back to HQ. For now, I think we should just enjoy the fact that we now know when and where this is taking place. I think we need to have a few drinks. We should take it easy tonight and spend tomorrow getting ready,” I told everyone.
Angelo nodded. “Sounds fair to me, bro.”
“Yeah, sounds like a plan. Hell, that’s what I was going to do anyway,” Juarez added.
I couldn’t wait to get back and share the news with Julia that all of this would be over soon. I couldn’t really get a handle on her, though. I still couldn’t figure out why she made me feel the way she did.
All the way back to HQ, I had butterflies in my stomach. It was like being in grade school again. After I told her the good news, I was planning on asking her if there was any way we could see each other outside of the MC after everything was said and done. I wanted to get her as far away from Ivan and his drug deal as I could. I didn’t want a repeat of what had happened to Lisa.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Angelo said, and I realized how quiet I had been, absorbed in my thoughts of Julia.
“Nothing, bro, just thinking about finally taking Ivan down. You know, thinking about the work ahead,” I lied. I was thinking about those beautiful green eyes. I was imagining pulling her beautiful golden brown hair down and letting it spill over her delicate shoulders. I was thinking about taking her away from all of this and making her mine. I wanted more from her than just sex. She was good at it, but there was so much more to her than just her magnificent body.
“You’re lying,” Angelo said, “but I know what’s on your mind. Just be careful, kid. Remember what happened last time.” Angelo had a few years on me. He was an old-timer, a throwback to a rougher time, when clubs like the Kings of Hell ruled the streets and shut other criminal elements out. He always seemed to know what was best for the MC.
The problem was that I had been reminded of what happened last time, and I wanted to forget it again. I wanted to pretend that I would be able to keep Julia away from Ivan and his men. I wanted to pretend that once all of this was over, I could whisk her off her feet. I wanted to believe that I could keep my feelings for her separate from the work I did for the MC.
The truth wasn’t nearly as neat and pretty. I’d known guys who had made it work, but a lot of times, the old ladies still ended up getting mixed up with club business. Now, for most of them, that didn’t present much of a problem. Most women who hung around bikers were cut from a similar cloth. Julia was not. Julia was as good as they came. She kept herself straight and followed the rules. I was sure she must have broken a few here or there, but nothing that would land her in prison for fifteen to twenty.