Page 13 of Filthy Liar

“She is,” I state. “Being held by the Demon Guns somewhere in Knoxville. I assume their clubhouse, but who knows?”

“What the fuck was she thinking?” he barks, running his fingers through his hair and tugging on the ends. “Crazy goddamn bitch.”

His words aren’t out of anger. I know Atomic loves Vixen just as much as any of the guys. He’s frustrated. He clears his throat. “I know she told them she was ours. But I’m going to give them one fucking chance to let her go.”

I watch as he thumbs through his phone, then he clears his throat and touches the speaker icon. The room fills with the sound of the device ringing, and I wait. I am ready to go and getnot only Vixen but also her sister. If she went to try and get her herself, there must be more to the story.

“Atomic,” a deep voice rumbles. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” I can hear the humor in his voice.

Fucker.

Atomic closes his eyes as if he’s gathering all the patience in the whole goddamn world just to greet this asshole. “Blur,” he says. “You know why I’m calling.”

“Do I?” he asks.

I have to bite the inside of my cheek. I bite down so hard that the metallic taste of blood fills my mouth. I’m seconds from calling out Blur’s bullshit. But I have to stay quiet and let my president handle this. As much as I want to say something, it would be disrespectful if I did. So, I stay quiet, as hard as it is.

“You do. I hear you got one of my clubwhores locked up in your place.”

“Seems to me that if she walked into my clubhouse, she’s mine now.”

Atomic lets out a snort. I know that he finds this anything but funny—he’s trying to hold his shit together, and it is hanging by a goddamn thread at this point. He leans back on his heels, clearing his throat before he speaks. When he does, his voice is thick and full of warning.

“You don’t release what’s mine, you are starting a war,” he grinds out through gritted teeth.

During the silence that follows, I expect Blur to accept the threat and tell us to come and get her, but he doesn’t. Instead, he laughs. He sounds fucking psychotic when he does, too, so I know where this is going.

“War it is,” he confirms. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to take you boys out.”

“You won’t,” Atomic quickly snaps.

“We’ll see about that. Expect to see you soon,” Blur announces before he ends the call.

Atomic’s gaze swings over to meet mine. I watch as his eyes narrow and his jaw clenches before he speaks. “This fucker is going down. I don’t care how big and bad they think they are. I’m done playing nice and trying to work deals and treaties. That was his one chance. Now he’s done.”

Maybe I should feel bad for Blur and his men, but I don’t. They don’t feel bad about taking our property—Vixen. We won’t feel bad about what we’re going to do to them or how we’re going to handle the situation.

“What now?” I ask.

“Now we hold church.”

Atomic spins around and marches into the back of the house. I stay where I am, wondering if it’s too late to forget all of this happened and go back to Dillion’s warm bed. A few moments later, Atomic is back wearing jeans, boots, and his cut.

“You tell Ryan?” I ask

“Yeah,” he grunts. “She’s not thrilled, but she understands. Let’s go. We’re about to have a fucking meeting with a bunch of drunk and half-asleep brothers.”

Together, we make our way out to the driveway and climb on our bikes. The engines roar to life before we head straight for the clubhouse. We don’t waste any time. This isn’t a pleasure ride.

When we pull up the clubhouse drive, I notice that if any guests have been here, they’re gone now. Good. We have some shit to discuss, and we don’t need any more distractions than we already have.

After we park our bikes, I follow behind my president. The clubhouse is quiet. The men are bleary-eyed as they sit around the bar. A few are drinking, and no doubt they are working with a little hair of the dog. I would be the same if I hadn’t been at Dillion’s.

“Church,” Atomic shouts.

He’s pissed, and I don’t blame him because fuck those guys. Before I walk into the conference room, I stop and glance at the sofa where all of the clubwhores are huddled together.

Guilt curls in my belly. I fucked up. I should have done more for Vixen. We didn’t want to rock any boats, and now we’re in a war. It will probably be a short war, but it’s going to be a fucking war, nonetheless.

---