Page 10

Rebel

“W ell, well, look who finally decided to grace us with his presence.” Gio was the first to spot me when I entered the clubhouse, and the first to give me shit. “Wondered what happened to you.”

Maverick snickered. “I think you mean who happened to him.”

None of my brothers bothered to hide the delight they felt about what they assumed about my whereabouts. “I’ve been busy. Are Diesel and Rocky around?”

Instantly their smiles faded. Gio was at my side first. “They’re in the office. What’s up?”

“Three words, fucking Blood Fangs.” I shook my head as we all made our way to the office where Slate stared at his wall of screens while he typed, and Diesel and Rocky talked in hushed tones.

Rocky noticed us first and was on his feet immediately. “What’s up?”

“Blood Fangs,” Rocky answered for me.

I nodded. “They’re escalating.” I told them about the asshole who tried to run Nikki and Mia over three nights ago. “I thought it was just a warning, but they’re emailing threats. And making them live on the radio.” Shit, that meant they didn’t care who knew what they did, which definitely meant that they weren’t afraid of repercussions. “There’s a journalist who’s now asking questions. Very public questions.” My jaw clenched as I thought about the way Nikki had broken down in my arms. “Whoever shows up next time won’t scare away as easily as prospects.”

The room fell silent, and an unease crept over me. Would they tell me this wasn’t any of my damn business and to forget it? And why the fuck couldn’t I just forget it? Nikki wasn’t my problem.

“Okay, what the fuck?”

Hawk scrubbed a hand over his face, but it didn’t hide his grin. “So, wait, are you asking for the MC to help out a damsel in distress?”

“Can’t be,” Maverick added in. “Because Rebel is the biggest pain in the ass when it comes to troubled women bringing heat on the MC.”

“Come on guys,” Gio said. “Don’t give our boy Rebel shit. He’d only bring this to us if there was some way this impacted the MC directly.” He looked around the room before he swung his gaze to mine, laughter sparkling in his eyes. “Right?”

I rolled my eyes. “Assholes.” Heat burned my cheeks, because my brothers weren’t wrong. I’d given them nothing but shit each and every fucking time they stepped into business that didn’t affect the MC, especially when it was about a woman.

Diesel and Rocky kept their expressions mostly blank, but there was no hiding their amusement. “You’re asking us to step in and keep this woman safe?”

“No,” I rushed to answer. “I’m not asking for the full power of the Steel Demons. I can take care of her myself, and it’s not just Nikki. It’s her kid too.” Dammit my chest burned something fierce thinking about anything happening to that little girl. “I just wanted to check with you to make sure you can do without me until this shit dies down.”

“No.” That one word left Diesel’s mouth on a deep, commanding boom. “I’m not letting you go off half-cocked, risking your ass just to avoid being a hypocrite. A woman is a good reason to admit you were wrong.”

I nodded without confirming or denying his unspoken accusation. “It’s just her and her kid and I’ve been following them for the past few days. Stubborn woman refused my help until yesterday.”

“Did something happen yesterday?”

“No, I just made her aware of all the things she wasn’t aware of while I was following her.”

“How old is the kid?” Slate’s smile stretched wide, just as playful and annoying as the rest of my brothers.

“I don’t know, about three or four, I guess. Talkative.” I smiled thinking about how many questions Livvy asked me before she fell asleep on a bed of onion rings.

“So she has a nanny or babysitter or something?”

“Yeah. Nikki does an evening show and she has a sitter, an older woman, looks to be in her sixties.”

“I’ll run a background check if you get me the name, I’ll make sure she doesn’t have any vulnerabilities. And you should probably put a man on them too. I hate to say it, but taking the girl would be the quickest way to bring her to her knees.”

My hands balled into fists at his words. If those Blood Fang bastards put one hand on Livvy, I’d tear them apart with my bare hands. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” I bit out through clenched teeth.

“Ask for help when you need it,” Diesel demanded. “Don’t let your pride get your ass handed to you.”

“I won’t.” I needed to be smart. I promised Nikki that I would protect her and Livvy, and it was a promise I had to keep. I’d examine the reasons later, when the Blood Fangs had been dealt with. “I promise.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Slate waved off those words and pointed to the screens on the wall that contained multiple images of some middle-aged fucker in a suit that was too big for his stout body. “I’ve looked into this Cameron asshole. He’s been on the City Council for about a decade, and in that time he’s managed to build up his wealth considerably. He makes over a hundred grand a year, but he lives like someone making at least five times that.”

Gio whistled. “Nobody’s that’s good at gambling. Or the stock market.”

“Same damn thing,” I grumbled to myself. “He’s a politician, of course he’s dirty.”

“Right,” Slate agreed. “But that video Nikki posted shows he’s dirtier than most. Especially consorting with the likes of the Blood Fangs, that’s really fucking dirty. And bold to do it in public.” His fingers flew across the keyboard. “I’ll keep digging.”

“Thanks. To all of you. I know I gave you all more shit than I should’ve, and now I’m asking for the same.”

Hawk clapped me on the back. “Don’t worry about it, brother. We’re all excited to see how this plays out with darlin’ Nikki.”

Slate stopped and looked around. “We should reach out to Sheriff Cross, see if he has any intel. That straight arrow is probably itching to go after Cameron.” He grinned but it turned to a frown as we all stared at him. “What? I can do things the so-called right way if I have to. Besides, if we take Cameron off the board then we can deal with the Blood Fangs without worrying about their connected allies.”

That was an excellent point. We all needed to tread carefully until we had more information. “If you need me, call me.” I headed towards the door.

And back to Nikki.