Page 36 of Filthy Liar

“They will not succeed,” I point out.

“No, they won’t, but they did get one over on us. Never again, though,” Gnaw grinds out.

“Nope.”

A deep voice rumbles through the room. “Next time, we follow Clink’s gut and shoot first, then ask questions later.”

I don’t tell him he said it’s what he was going to do in this situation, and then he changed his mind. He shouldn’t have. We should have picked these fucks off one by one.

No fucks given.

We need to come into these things with the same rage we have when we first hear about them. We’re too soft. It’s starting to cause us some serious fucking problems.

“What do we do now?” I demand.

What the fuck do we do now?

“I’ve already called in reinforcements to watch the women. To protect them. Beyond that, we just need to get the fuck out of here and go home.”

“When do you get released?” I ask, looking at Atomic.

He snorts as if he’s highly annoyed. “Not until tomorrow.”

I understand why he’s annoyed now because we will be released today, but he’s stuck here for another one. I don’t say that, though. Clearing my throat, I jerk my chin. “It's going to be a fucking painful ride home.”

Atomic grunts. “But we need to get back to our women. We need to get back to our club. I refuse to let these fucks scare us.”

Everyone agrees. But I can’t keep my mind from drifting to Vixen’s sister. This shit is consuming us and taking over. Before we realize it, her sister will be gone, and with it, our opportunity to save her from a life that she thinks she wants but likely doesn’t realize what it entails.

We should probably mind our own business, but Vixen is our business, and with it, her family. If she says that her sister doesn’t realize what this is, that she doesn’t want her to be part of it, then we’ll do what we can to help her.

What feels like hours later, we’re finally released from the hospital and the police. However, they look like they are itching to pin something on us. But since there are no crimes committed, other than we were all three robbed and stabbed, they have no choice but to let us go.

Vixen is waiting at the front of the hospital as the nurses wheel both King and me to the car. She is smiling, although I can tell she’s not happy. That smile doesn’t reach her eyes, and if I know anything about Vixen, when she smiles and she’s happy, her entire body lights up.

We all climb into the car, and she offers to pick us up something to eat. “I’m fuckin’ starved, babe. That would be great.”

She nods once but doesn’t say anything else. She’s lost inside of her own head, and I don’t blame her. I am feeling much the same way. A few moments later, we not only have food but are also in a hotel room.

I can’t wait to take a real shower. I want to wash the hospital off me. Vixen has already brought our shit into the room. The brothers brought our bikes to the hotel and all of our stuff.

I’m thankful for them and their help. “Got a charger?” I ask, looking at Vixen. She smiles and dips her chin. She holds out herhand, and I slip my phone into her palm, watching as she moves across the room to charge it for me.

“You want to talk to us?” King asks, breaking the ice.

I shove my burger in my mouth and take a huge bite, nodding in agreement. Vixen spins around, her eyes finding King’s before they swing over to mine.

“I wanted to get my sister. I was driving to Virginia. To Richmond.”

I snort. “Yeah, I figured that part out when you called me and said you were here in Knoxville. You were going to what? Beg the Southern Mafia to release your sister?” I ask.

She closes her eyes slowly, then opens them before she speaks. “I don’t know what I was going to do. I just knew that I had to do something.”

“Well, babe, no worries. We’ll get your sister.”

Vixen’s gaze flicks down to the floor, and she keeps it there for a long moment before she lifts it to meet King’s. “I know I did the wrong thing. I deserve what came my way and whatever is coming my way. All of this is my fault.”

“Nope,” King barks. “This is not on you. This is on them. They were looking for an excuse, an opportunity, and you provided that, nothing more, nothing less. You never apologize for loving your family and trying to do the right thing. Not fucking ever.”

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