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Chapter Thirty-One

Griffin's Beach Dax

S itting in the Chapel with Jennings and Psycho, all Dax can think about is how he wants blood. Lots and lots of blood. He wants to make the scene from The Shining when the elevator spills the river of blood look like a children's movie.

The last thing he ever expected was that Dani would have been involved with a different club. When they first got together, she'd told him she was familiar with the club life, but he never expected the abusive ex who scared her to be part of another club. In retrospect, he probably should have put those pieces together or at least asked. Maybe things would have been different. Gone differently. Maybe she wouldn't have gone through the hell she did.

“I don't even have words,” Jennings says. “The last thing I would've expected was that Ivan's in bed with our enemies.”

“You thought he was going to screw us over,” Psycho says, “so it's not exactly a giant leap.”

Nodding, he sighs. “Yeah, but I didn't think that screwing us over would mean working directly with O'Malley and Graves.”

“Tell me more about this asshole,” Dax says.

It's unnecessary to specify he's talking about Graves. The only person in this clubhouse who knows him best is Psycho, followed by Dani.

“He's not a good man. Not even close. He's as unhinged as they come.”

Tapping his fingers on the table, he tries to tamper down his temper. “And?”

“There may have been a time or two where I intervened to stop Ryan from killing Dani. Got my ass beat for it, but I can handle a hell of a lot more than he can dish out.”

An image of anyone trying to kill Dani sets Dax on fire. He leans forward with his elbows on the table. “What now?”

Psycho sighs, and he seems resigned to share everything without any sugarcoating. “He drinks. A lot. And when he gets drunk, he turns even uglier than he naturally is. Dani didn't even have to do something for him to lose his shit. One particular instance involved a pitchfork. Grabbed it during a screaming match, and I tackled his ass to the ground to stop him from stabbing her with it. Knocked his ass out and got her away from him. That landed me in chains for two days as he took out his anger on me.”

“How'd she even get involved with him in the first place?” Jennings asks. “She seems like a good girl. At least too good to not settle for a sociopath like him.”

“She comes from a really conservative family. The day she turned eighteen, she took off and never looked back. Ryan offered her something she never even dreamed of, and he can be charming when he's not a sociopathic motherfucker. But once she was in, there was no getting out. The only way is death. But when he got locked up, she had the chance to get away from him. It's the ultimate betrayal in his eyes, and he was obviously pissed. Pissed and crazy creates a lethal combination.”

“And he had her taken and abused as punishment,” Dax says. “I want fucking blood. All his fucking blood. I want to bathe in it.”

Psycho's eyebrows raise. “That sounds like me.”

Jennings just nods, completely unfazed. “You'll get it. But we should look at our relationship with the RIO first. That poses the highest risk for us to not get what we want.”

“Fuck them. They don't have their house in order, and they've fucked their biggest client. I say we walk and tell them to shove it up their asses.”

Dax nods in agreement as the door opens after a quick knock. Brock sticks his shaved head in the room. “Sorry to interrupt, but I think you should hear this.”

“Come in,” Jennings says. “What is it?”

He comes into the room with a laptop and sits next to Psycho in VP's seat. “I finally got everything decrypted from Dimitri's laptop. We, uh, we kind of killed the wrong man.”

Looking at them in confusion, Dax shakes his head. “I thought Dimitri called the shots.”

“Ivan ranks higher than him,” Jennings says. “What the fuck did we do?”

Hitting play, they hear two men speaking in Russian. “This is gibberish to me,” Psycho says. “Any of you speak the language?”

Jennings shakes his head and Dax just shrugs. Brock laughs. “This one I had to run through a translation program. There are a few things, as they say, lost in translation, but it basically comes down to Ivan telling Dimitri to put a hit out on the head of the Irish Mafia. Some guy named O'Connor. This is the failed hit that started the whole mess.”

“Ivan put the hit out, just like Dimitri said,” Psycho says. “But why would the Irish target Dimitri?”

“That's where this second recording comes into play. I have no idea how Dimitri got it because, as far as I can tell, he's not in the room.”

O’Malley: My boss wants Dimitri's head on a platter.

Ivan: We will get him. I wish I had control over him, but I do not. I have no idea why he'd want to attack O'Connor, but you will get him. I promise that.

O’Malley: Attacking the fucking Drifters is doing nothing. They are holding their ground, and they're not even attacking back. I sent a slew of men to the clubhouse to shoot it up, and they just killed everyone. No action coming back to give us a chance to capture someone and use as leverage to exchange for Dimitri. We want him, Ivan.

Ivan: I know someone you can take that will get you a hell of a lot further than any Drifter. Have you seen a curly blonde woman?

O’Malley: The daughter of their VP?

Ivan: Daughter of the VP, married to the son of the Sergeant at Arms, and good friends with the Black Valley President. If you take her, she will be a great bargaining chip. She might also have information you can use. She grew up in the club, and she will be the best target. Plus, being a woman means she should break easily.

O’Malley: It better work. My boss calmed down after killing Anastasia, but now that Dimitri took retaliation on his brother, he wants his blood again.

Ivan: He will get it. Alexis Nichols is your ticket to getting everything you want. Everything we want.

Psycho slams his fist on the table. “Ivan did put the fucking order out to take Lex.”

“It proves Ivan's working with the Irish, but does it mean the rest of the organization was in on this? Because I didn't get that feel from Boris when he reached out to help us,” Jennings says. “Was Ivan carrying out orders, or was he rogue?”

Brock shrugs. “I'm not sure on that. There's one last audio that seems to have information we want, and Dimitri's not on it again. If I had to guess, he felt he was being double-crossed, and he put a hidden mic wherever Ivan went. Not a bad idea to try and use as leverage to stay alive, but with this one... I gotta warn you. It gets graphic.”

Dax's stomach churns as Brock waits for their responses. “I need to hear it.”

Ivan: Can we really trust Graves?

O’Malley: You can't. Not in the least, but he's crazier than anyone you've ever met. Even crazier than Psycho. He ordered his men to kidnap and fake her death. All because she left his ass when he went to prison. And he ordered it from behind bars, which is where he built his new club. When Ryan gets released, she's fucked.

Ivan: But you can trust him?

O’Malley: He's my cousin. And he fucking hates my boss. Almost as much as I do.

Ivan: I don't suppose you'll let us place the blame on him when this comes to a head with the Drifters, will you?

O'Malley: If it comes down to him or me, I'm picking me. But I won't pick him over you. I trust you enough to work with you, but if you think I won't slit your throat if you turn against me, you don't pay attention. Especially after the things you mentioned about Alexis.

Ivan: Look, we have a plan, and we're sticking to it. The Drifters will never trust the RIO again, and when they walk, it'll weaken the organization. That gives me the opportunity to move in and take my place at the top. You'll do the same on your side as your bosses focus on revenge. We'll join forces after shutting them all down and killing them, and we'll become the most powerful entities. We will be unstoppable.

O’Malley: Graves will want his piece of the cake, too. He won't settle just for his little bitch being tortured and violated while he awaits his release. We will have to give him something.

Ivan: We will figure it out when it comes time. I have to ask you something before we get too far.

O'Malley: Laughing . Too far? I think we're far past 'too far,' Ivan.

Ivan: This thing you have for Alexis. Will it get in the way?

O’Malley: It took everything in me not to take her when we had her. I should have. She got away, and I missed my chance. Something about her calls to me. She will be mine. I have no doubt.

Ivan: That is exactly what I mean. Please tell me you have not fallen in love with that woman.

O'Malley: She intrigues me. Most women crack, but she stood her ground. And I can see when she knows I'm watching her. The way she looks around for me. Hell, she felt me even before I took her. And when I watch her fuck her husband, I get all sorts of ideas about what to do. How to take her. I am in love with the idea of having her every way I want her.

Ivan: It worries me when you say that. Especially with the lack of willingness to share.

O’Malley: She is mine! A hand slams on the table . I do NOT share. When I get her, she will be strapped to my bed, unable to move. No one else will have her. Not even you.

Ivan: She will be your undoing just like everyone else. Look at Graves. He's consumed by revenge because of a woman. It clouds judgment. I should kill Alexis to stop this.

O’Malley: Graves may be willing to share, but I do not. She will be mine. Only mine. Go near her, and I will kill you.

“Stop it,” Dax says, unable to hear anymore.

Brock turns it off, and Psycho looks perplexed. “You good, dude?”

“It's weird, but I think O'Malley may have actually loved Lex in his own fucked up way,” Psycho says. “I have strange feelings about it.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Dax asks. “He was going to strap her down and-”

“Yeah, I heard. That pisses me the fuck off, and I wish I would have tortured him more for it. But he would have killed anyone who went after her, even with this grand plan. I mean, what the fuck?”

Laughing, Brock shakes his head. “I guess only truly crazy can see through all the other crazy. But I agree. No one else was going to hurt her. I don't know that he wasn't going to hurt her, but he would have hurt others who tried. I think that's what the kids these days call toxic.”

“Everything about these motherfuckers is toxic,” Dax growls.

“I'll leave you to talk. I thought you'd want to know that this doesn't feel fully planned out. Not with the Kingsmen, anyway. They likely used him for manpower and a fall guy,” Brock says and stands.

The door shuts, and Dax whips around to face the other two Presidents. “I need revenge.”

“We need to make sure it's planned out this time,” Psycho says. “We got the wrong man killed when we played this game before. I don't want that on my head again.”

Jennings nods. “I agree. We know the Kingsmen are at fault for Dani. There's no doubt about that, and Ryan was released a couple of weeks ago.”

“I want him,” Dax says. “He's fucking mine. I want to end his fucking life.”

“I'd like to be there. I watched every other member of my club die.”

“Works for me.”

Smiling, Jennings says, “I might have an idea. But we'll need Mickey and Diego.”

“The friend of his from south of the border?”

“Yeah. What are we going to do about Ivan?” Psycho asks. “And the RIO?”

“Ivan dies. And I think we need to give Colt the opportunity to be one of them who has a hand in it. As much as I hate to say it, though, we're going to need to make nice with an enemy to pull it off.”

“Fucking Irish,” he growls. “I'm sending his fucking head somewhere, though. It's fucking happening.”

Dax narrows his eyes. “You want to cut off his head and send it to someone?”

“It's kind of my new thing. Don't make it weird.”