Page 27 of Victorious: Part 3

She squeezes back. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She winks at me as we enter the main room. The clubhouse is buzzing with activity. Brothers are checking weapons, making final preparations, and the tension in the air is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

But I know we’re heading into unknown territory. I know I’m the man taking all of us down this path, so I need to have my game face on at all times, and I can’t show these guys what I am really feeling inside, which is that I am quietly shitting myself that I’m calling on these men, my brothers. Men who have families—old ladies, some have children—and they’re putting themselves on the line for a war that honestly is mine to bear.

This Cartel came formyfamily.

For some reason, The Rojas Cartel took it upon themselves to start a fight with me, and nowIam asking my fellow Defiance chapters to help me end that fight.

Because the truth is, Ican’tend it on my own.

And it’s taken me a long fucking time to come to terms with that truth.

I’mnot man enough to take out these bastards.

But being brave enough to ask for help is what makes the man.

When this war is over, I pray Defiance stands on top. If Javier manages to beat me again, he’d better finish the job tomorrow, because I won’t drag my men into a fight like this just to see him crowned the damn victor.

Wehaveto win.

There’s no other option.

Rolling my shoulders with purpose in my stride, I call out, “Church,now!” My tone is full of authority and conviction, causing every conversation in the room to stop.

One by one, my brothers file up the stairs toward the Chapel.

Loki’s already got his monitors set up, multiple screens showing the faces of our sister chapters across the country.

Everyone is ready.

Everyone is waiting for my word.

As I take my place at the head of the table with Haven standing behind me, I look around at these men who have become my family.

Some of them might not come back from this.

Hell,Imight not come back from this.

But we’re fighting anyway.

Because that’s what we do.

We do what’s right.

The Cartel is a threat to everything we love and cherish.

And we protect what’s ours, no matter the cost.

Banging my gavel, I start the meeting, feeling the heavy pressure pressing down on my shoulders. But I won’t let it weigh me down. I wear it like armor. Like a shield, reminding me thatJavier is the enemy, and these people here, these people showing up for me, for my family, for my club, are the reason this weight is worth bearing.

“All right, brothers,” I say, my voice carrying to every corner of the room and through the monitors to every chapter this concerns. “You all know why we’re here. At midnight Pacific Standard Time, we take the fight to them. Weendthis.”

The responses come through the speakers with affirmatives from Chicago, Houston, New Orleans, Tampa, and Vegas.

Every chapter is ready.

Every brother is committed.

“I want you all to be safe out there,” I continue, looking each of my LA brothers in the eye. “I want everyone to come home. But if something happens to me, if I don’t make it back, you keep fighting. You protect this club, you protect Defiance, and you protect our families. You don’t stop untilevery… last… oneof these Cartel fucks is in the ground.”