Page 9 of Tempt Me

“Will you be staying the night?” she asks warily.

“I’m not leaving until I know Hunter is safe,” I explain before adding when she looks confused, “So, yeah, I’m staying the night.”

The woman brings me to a sitting room, where I’m offered a drink and snacks. Once I tell her how all I want is updates on Hunter, she leaves me alone.

I drop my ass in one of the fancy chairs and pull out my phone. I’ve got texts from all the club players.

“We need details,” Noble texts.

Aunt Fred’s message asks about Hunter before ending with, “Don’t face this alone.”

Bear texts, “Once Hunter is safe, you need to tell people what’s happening.”

“Fucking respond, dickhead!” Zoot texts.

I smile at my president’s rage. Not that I don’t fear his temper. He can get rough when he thinks someone is out of line. Yet, this thing right here with him sending texts filled with nothing except cussing is more about him feeling powerless.

Zoot believed the club had a solid handle on Banta City. Then, the cops came to us with an offer to take down the Kovak Syndicate. The club rejected their plan in a very public way by agreeing for Bear to marry Natasha. Less than a week before the wedding, the Kovak family’s convoy was attacked. Natasha along with her older sister Petra and brother Roman were nearly killed. Several of our guys also got fucked up.

The club kicked ass that night. The Syndicate’s security also swung their dicks around with heavy firepower, helicopters, and the city’s big brother-like surveillance.

Two narratives emerged after that night. For some, Viktor Kovak cemented his reputation as unkillable. He walked away from the massive attack without a scratch. His oldest son survived multiple shots to the fucking chest. His daughters were in an SUV shoved into the Jefferson River. The driver died, yet Natasha and Petra miraculously survived. To many people—allies and enemies alike—the Kovak family’s status has never been more impressive.

However, for others, the attack showed how vulnerable the Syndicate could be if a strike was timed just right. Those already hungry to take down the city’s crime boss were emboldened to test how unkillable Viktor truly was.

Since Zoot is a negative man, he only cares about our emboldened enemies.

Does he think this thing tonight with Hunter has to do with our perceived weakness? Suzanne Knutsen is tight with Aunt Fred and Katja Kovak. Anyone going after Hunter is asking for hell to rain down on them.

As time passes, I pace around the fancy sitting room. The décor in the twenty-thousand-square-foot mansion is oppressively opulent. I’m used to a simpler style. The farm is filled with comfortable houses designed for casual living.

My phone vibrates in my hand, and I see an incoming call from Suzanne.

“What happened?” she demands of me rather than say hello.

“Someone’s trying to grab Hunter.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. The guys from tonight are dead. So is the guy who mugged her last week.”

Suzanne makes a weird, squeaky noise as if her rage has shorted out her ability to form words. “I wasn’t aware of that.”

“Hunter kicked the mugger’s ass.”

“Did she kill him?”

“Well,” I mutter, feeling stupid like a teenager embarrassed in front of his date’s mom, “He was alive when she was done with him, but he’s dead now.”

“That’s unfortunate since he might have shared information with you,” Suzanne replies, sounding irritated before adding, “But I would have done the same thing had I known.”

“Your security and my club will run down the details on the guys from tonight. That might answer why this is happening.”

“Could this be a kidnap and ransom plot?”

“Anything’s possible. The guys tonight had guns, but they only used a taser on Hunter.”

“Only?” Suzanne asks, sounding somewhere between enraged and heartbroken. “The doctor said she needs rest. At most, she has a mild concussion. Should I believe him?”

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