Page 15 of Claimed By the Rebel

Razor grins and leans in for another kiss, but my stupid stomach rumbles again. “Food first, then we can play later.” He presses his lips to mine in a short and sweet kiss, then crawls off the bed and walks his naked ass to the bathroom, presumably to wash up. No complaints here. The view is incredible.

9

RAZOR

Something pulls me from the deepest sleep I’ve ever had. I groan, not wanting to wake up just yet. Not when I have the sexiest, sweetest, curviest woman in bed next to me.

My phone vibrates from where I left it on the side table last night and I grab it before the noise wakes her up. When Domino’s name flashes across the screen, I know I need to answer. Even if it’s only six forty-five in the goddamn morning.

“Domino,” I answer in a hushed voice as I crawl out of bed and throw on a pair of sweatpants. “You got something for me?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

I wait until I’m out in the living room to continue the conversation. “Lay it on me,” I say, bracing for bad news.

“Your girl isn’t just connected to the Serpents. She’s the VP’s sister.”

“Fuckin’ Viper?” I ask in disbelief.

“Yup,” Domino confirms.

I curse under my breath again and run a hand through my hair before rubbing the back of my neck. “No wonder she feels like she can’t leave,” I say more to myself than to my friend.

After a moment of silence, Domino continues. “Not sure how much of this you’ve already figured out, but Aurora grew up in a trailer park on the outskirts of town, near the Serpents’ clubhouse. They cooked meth for the club once they became members, then died in an explosion about a decade later. The news report about the incident claimed a gas leak was the problem, clearly trying to cover up the fact that it was a meth den. Neither the media nor the local government wanted anyone to know about how bad the drug problem had become in Maplewood.”

“She told me most of that,” I reply. I’m thankful my girl shared her story with me so I don’t feel quite as bad getting a dossier on her from Domino.

“I know you didn’t ask for my help with the cartel, but if they’re already in Maplewood, they’ll be headed my way next.”

I grunt in understanding, though he’s right, I didn’t ask for his help.

“Anyway,” Domino goes on. “They’ve been burnt before from different outlaw clubs or shady businesspeople, as well as run out of town on more than one occasion.”

“Yeah, we’re no strangers to standing up to the cartel,” I say with a hint of pride in my voice. “The Rebel Hearts are dedicated to keeping our town clean of all that shit, whether it’s meth or cocaine.”

"All that to say, this partnership is still very tentative." I nod even though he can't see me. I know all of this from my own club, but I appreciate the thoroughness my friend took on gathering his intel. "My sources say the cartel will do a few test runs with whoever they're doing business with. They want to make sure the product doesn't get stolen or tampered with and to see if their partner skims any money off the top. More importantly, the partner doesn't know anything about the tests."

“So intercept the first run and we’ll put a wedge between the Serpents and the cartel,” I say, finishing his thought for him.

“That’s my advice,” Domino agrees. “Shit,” he curses, his voice sounding a bit faded as if he’s pulling his phone away from his ear.

“Everything okay?”

“I got another call comin’ in. I’m scouting out locations for a new clubhouse. Fresh start, new place, all that shit.” He takes a breath and blows it out in frustration. “This real estate agent is busting my balls over here,” he grumbles.

“I find that hard to believe. The Domino I know? He doesn’t let anyone walk all over him.”

“Apparently the only exception is if they wear sparkly pink four-inch heels,” he grunts under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing. Gotta go, buddy. We’ll talk again soon.”

As soon as we hang up, I navigate over to the app we use at the club to send secure messages. It scrambles the signal and changes the location and metadata each time we use it so it’s nearly impossible to track.

I convey the info I got about the test runs, though I leave out any mention of Aurora and her connection to the Serpents. I convince myself it’s for the best, but the feeling in the pit of my stomach tells me I’m going to have to tell the truth to everyone soon. I can’t live like this much longer.

After sending the message to Aldis, our president, I set my phone on the counter, making a note to charge it later. It’s almost dead, but I have more important things to attend to at the moment.

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