Page 35

“ Y ou got work today?” I check, stepping out of the bathroom to find Millie lying on my bed and looking damn pretty beneath my sheets. She still has a satisfied smile on her face from the way I chose to wake her up.

“No, but I do have to go speak to my parents.” That smile quickly fades.

“You shouldn’t do that alone. I’ll come with you.” I tell her, rough-drying my hair with a towel.

“Dev, that would make things twice as bad.” She looks horrified by the idea.

“Then maybe seeing them today ain’t a good idea.

You should give them a few days to cool off.

As long as they know you're safe, it’ll be better for everyone to take some time to think.

Your folks ain’t gonna wanna make you unhappy, maybe you can reason with them.

” I try being the voice of reason, which is ironic considering there’s no one to cool me off when I get mad.

“You’re gonna need clothes and shit… make me a list and I’ll get ya whatever you need,” I offer, wishing I could jump back into bed and spend the rest of the day here with her.

Unfortunately, I got business to attend to.

Club enforcer kinda business.

“Actually… I already have clothes here.” Millie’s eyes drift out the door toward Corey’s room as she bites her lip awkwardly.

“Of course, ya do.” I make a sad smile back at her.

I don’t know how I managed to forget. I was always getting pissed off when I saw her clothes mixed up with our laundry.

A few months ago, I found a pair of her panties stuck to my jeans.

Ended up staring at the things for far longer than I should have.

Felt the fabric between my fingers, and took in their scent, just so I could feel that little bit closer to her.

I even considered keeping them for myself. That all seems like so long ago now.

“I guess I’ll need more stuff if this is an arrangement we’re gonna make permanent.” She twists her hands together and looks up at me nervously.

“Is that what you want?” I rest on the mattress beside her, being as gentle as I can, as I brush some of the hair off her face.

It’s surprising how much I’m hoping that it is.

I like having Millie in my space, I love having her in my bed, and having her close will make it hella easier to protect her.

“Of course, that’s what I want.” She nods back dreamily, and I have to get my ass off this bed before I end up fuckin’ her on it all over again.

“Good. We’ll find a way of getting your stuff here,” I assure her, doing my best to stay cool.

I ain’t familiar with all the feelings that are happening inside me right now.

I’ve never felt so strongly about someone that I don’t want to leave ’em.

I feel like I’m missing her and I ain’t even walked out the fuckin’ door.

I kiss her before I drag myself away to get dressed.

Leaving her here so I can go and make someone bleed the truth is a vast reminder of how different our worlds are, but I’m done denying that she belongs with me in mine.

Millie had a choice and she chose me, all I have to do now is make sure she don’t regret it.

“Lock the door behind me and don’t open it unless it’s someone from the club.” I pick up my gun and slide it into my shoulder holster.

“Is the threat to the club really that serious?” she asks, looking a little concerned, and although the last thing I wanna do is scare her, it’s important she knows the truth so she takes me seriously.

“There’s always gonna be a threat to the club, darlin’, but it’s that murderer that’s still roaming free that worries me.

That’s all unknown territory to us, and whoever it is, he seems hellbent on pinning all his victims on the club.

I’d rather be safe than sorry. Which is why, if you need to go anywhere, you need to let me take you from now on. ”

“Sounds good to me, I loooove riding the bike.” She stretches her arms above her head before snuggling herself back under the covers.

“I’ll call you to check in later,” I smirk to myself as I shrug into my cut, and kiss her one last time on my way out.

“Well, you heard him.” The tooth I just extracted from Les Coomber's mouth pings into the petri dish our chief of police is holding when I release it from the pliers.

Chief Tomlin looks pale as he glances down into it and sees the two molars and thumb I took from Les before he ratted on his buddies. While I pick up a rag, clean off my hands, and light myself a smoke.

Right now, Raze is all about making alliances, and this one right here is gonna be the most valuable of ’em all.

Prez assured us all that patience would pay off.

Chief Tomlin ain’t a man who can be bought, we had to wait for him to come to us.

A lot of us were convinced it was never gonna happen, but last night, outta nowhere, Raze got a call and this straight up, clean-living man finally called in a favour.

Turns out that Les and three of his friends jumped Chief Tomlin's son last night. The kid’s in the ICU, fighting for his life as we speak, and his father is proving that he’s not much different from us by being hell bent on making them pay for it.

“You gonna head out and make an arrest, sir?” I ask him with a snigger. Then, resting my ass on the table and dragging back my cigarette, we both watch Les dribble blood all over the concrete floor.

“I wanna know why. Why my boy?” Tomlin calls out so Les can hear him.

After hearing the names I just heard, I got a good enough guess, but I don’t wanna be the one to break it to the man. Especially not a man Raze wants on our side.

Les doesn't answer, his mouth is too swollen, and he’s still dazed from the blows he’s taken to the face.

“Is everything I’ve heard from your boss true?” Tomlin looks up at me, and I see the worry and exhaustion heavy in his eyes.

“We all got people we care about living in this city. We want our streets safe. Sometimes you gotta eliminate the scum to do that,” I remind him, looking back to Les and wondering how I should end him.

“Can you?” He swallows thickly. “I…I mean… would you?—”

“You wanna put the law in our hands?” I save him from having to finish his sentence.

“What's the price?” His eyes turn cold as they fix on Les. He must be able to hear us because he’s desperately trying to free his hands, which are tied behind his back. He looks so pathetic lying cheek down on the floor, squirming like a fuckin’ worm.

“All it’s gonna cost is your loyalty. Most of our sister charters have found working with the local PD beneficial. We all want the same thing, we just have a different way of goin’ about it.”

“Are you telling me you’d kill this man, without asking me for anything but my loyalty to the club?” He looks up at me as if the concept confuses him.

“This man…” I move to step over Les’s worthless body, then crouch down beside it, “...has been accused of rape three times, and somehow gotten away with it. He sells crack to kids and has real stinkin’ breath. I’d kill him for much less.” I wink at Tomlin before rising back up.

“And the other guys?” he questions.

“Just gotta say the word, Chief.” I shrug because killing ain’t a big deal; taking lives stopped being an issue for me years ago. The lives I’ve taken have never belonged to good people.

“Tell Raze he has a friend in me.” Tomlin gets up from the chair he’s in and looks at the man on the floor.

“Boss’ll be pleased to hear that.” I let the chief see an immediate benefit of our agreement, sealing the deal by stomping on the back of Les’s head.

Tomlin turns gray and rushes out the door as I smash my boot into his skull over and over again.

Les stops responding, but I keep going, imagining that it’s Quinnell under my boot.

Blood splatters my face when his brains explode like a watermelon, and when I’m satisfied, I slump back into the chair and light myself another smoke.

Staring at the body on the floor, I pull out my cell so I can check in with my girl.

“Hey, handsome.” She answers almost straight away, and I love how happy and content she sounds.

“What ya up to, darlin’?” I rest back in the seat and enjoy the sound of her voice. It's so soft and pretty, nothing like the scene in front of me.

“Alicia’s on her way to pick me up and take me to the club…with Vike,” she adds before I give her a safety warning. “I figured I could hang out with the girls and meet you there once you were done.”

“Sounds goo…” I hear footsteps coming from behind me, and when I turn around, I see Raze.

“Babe, I gotta go. I’ll see you at the club, okay?” I hang up, watching him slide the leather gloves off his hands and place them on the table.

“Ya good boss?” I can’t read the look on his face. With Raze, it’s always been difficult, but just lately he’s been making it impossible.

“I bumped into Tomlin at the gate. He seems keen to extend our friendship.” Raze circles the body on the floor, checking out the mess I made of it.

“Les didn’t take much to crack; he gave the name of the others after a thumb and two teeth. I don’t think Tomlin knows his son’s involved with the crank issue we got. I’m hoping what happened will be a warnin’ to the kid.” I fill Raze in on my suspicions.

“You did good,” Raze praises me, but I can’t help noticing that he’s looking subdued.

“I’mma get Saint to help me lose this guy, then we’ll set to work on finding the other three. I was thinking we should tie ’em up with a neat little bow and give ’em to Burlusconi as a gift when we’re done.”

Fuckers should know that the consequences of dealing drugs in a city run by Burlusconi would be fatal.

“I just got a call from Frank Dawson,” Raze changes the subject. “He wanted to know if his daughter’s been hiding out at the clubhouse. Sounded real worried.”

“Yeah, well, he can fuckin’ worry some more. That asshole was gonna put her on a plane to New York.” I shake my head and snarl when I think about how much he’s hurt her.

“Weren’t twenty-four hours ago that you’d have been paying for her ticket yourself,” Raze smirks, reminding me of how cruel I’ve been.

“Yeah, well, things have changed.”

“You know, the last person we wanna piss off is the man who’s running to be state senator.” He pulls up a chair and sits beside me.

“What ya sayin’, Prez? That I should send her home? Because that ain’t gonna happen, not even on your order.” I let him know how strongly I feel, because I ain’t ashamed of a damn thing anymore. Millie Dawson is mine.

“I’m suggesting you try and convince the girl to reason with her father.” He takes a smoke from his cut and lights it.

“How about I try reasoning with him?” I make a suggestion of my own, and Raze shows he has little faith in me when he shakes his head and laughs.

“We both know how that would play out. C’mon, Dev, you know how it feels to worry about someone.

I ain’t saying that you and her can’t be together, I’m just asking you to do it as respectfully as you can.

Frank’s the kinda guy we need to have on our side, just like Tomlin.

” Raze tries telling me what I already know.

“I don’t think he’s gonna be all too happy when he finds out you're screwing his daughter.”

“I ain’t screwin’ her, Raze. Millie is mine now. Just like Peyton’s yours. Would you have anyone tell you how to handle that?” I question him.

“You know I wouldn’t.” He shakes his head and looks down at the floor.

“I’m just askin’ ya to play this one carefully.

For the sake of the club, and for her.” Standing up, he taps me on the shoulder.

“I’ll call Saint and Greaser, have ’em head out here with a cage,” he tells me before making his way out the door.

Leaving me to wonder how the hell I can convince a man like Frank Dawson that I’d be good for his daughter.