Page 42 of Kings Don't Break

Now that it’s come to light Korine’s husband is a police officer who’s a violent piece of shit, it could get complicated. It’ll make us—me—an even bigger target than ever.

There’s no way the asshole’s going to take kindly to his wife leaving him. He’ll be even less happy she’s gone to a Steel King in her hour of need.

Mace and Sydney are posted at the bar counter, sipping coffee with Mick and Tito. The four look up in surprise as I bust through the saloon doors and head straight for them. Probably because I’m usually not by this early. Let alone with fury carved onto my face.

Mace stands up, on alert just from my body language. He juts his chin at me. “What’s going on?”

“The club office, now,” I growl.

Mace doesn’t question me on it. He glances at Sydney, any easiness about him gone, then he nods. “Tito, you coming?”

The three of us head to the back with tension ratcheting up. Sydney seems tempted to get up off the stool and follow us but decides against it.

Mace closes the door to the office and turns toward me. “What’s this about, Cash?”

I’m pacing. The rage I’ve bottled up in Korine’s presence is finally spilling free. I go to the nearest wall and slam my fist into it. My knuckles burn, splitting open, and I leave a huge, cracked dent in the plaster, but it proves to be an anger reliever.

I do it again. My blood smears the wall.

Mace and Tito wait patiently as I get it out of my system.

“You done?” Mace asks. “Tell me what the hell’s going on, Cash.”

“It must be serious if you’re this worked up, primo. Breathe, it’ll calm you down,” Tito advises.

I run both hands through my hair. “It’s Korine.”

Mace’s jaw squares, his arms folded. “I expected that. What about her?”

“Her fucking trash husband’s been putting his hands on her!” I roar. My anger ramps up all over again just speaking the words. Remembering the bruises marring her face and body. “He beat her up so bad, last night she fled into the night and turned up on my doorstep!”

“Korine,” Tito says slowly. “This the girl from your high school days? I remember you los jóvenes working in the shop. Time flies.”

Mace takes a moment, even his silence loud and commanding. “Where is she now?”

“At my place. I won’t let her go back, Mace. She can’t even fucking open one of her eyes. She goes back, he’s gonna do worse. It won’t be long before he kills her.”

“She’s not going back,” he agrees. It’s with that final authority the prez of an MC carries. “You know how we roll, Cash. Kori’s been gone ten years, but she’s still ours. She’s one of us as much as Sydney and Mick are. We’ve got her. Where’s the husband?”

“Probably already out looking for her. He’s a cop,” I spit out in disgust.

Tito shakes his head “Ahhh. That makes sense. That complicates things.”

“She couldn’t even fucking call 911 ’cuz the dipshit’s pals would show up! It’s been going on for years. It’s so bad, he’s got her brainwashed. Basically fucking scared of her own shadow.”

“That’s gonna make things interesting,” Mace says, rubbing his chin. “But it explains why Pulsboro PD’s been extra interested in us.”

“You think it’s related?” Tito asks.

“They’ve started patrolling our block more in recent days. Take a look outside.”

I stride over to the window and peer out at the street.

Sure enough, there’s a cruiser parked at the end of the block. He must’ve arrived after I rode in… or maybe he was tailing me all along and I was too enraged and distracted to notice.

My eyes narrow into thin slits. “They want to fuck with us? We can fuck them up. Law or not.”

“We’ll do what we need to do.” Mace steps to me, giving one of our brotherly back-of-the-neck squeezes. The gesture’s to calm me down and remind me of our brotherhood. “We’ll come up with a plan at our next club meeting. For now… just make sure Korine’s straight.”