Page 58 of Tyrant

Raiden grabs his phone and hurls it to the floor. It shatters on contact, spraying glass and parts like shrapnel, effectively ending the call.

“Jesus Christ,” Blake mumbles from the back. “That’s a lot of sister fucking, don’t you think?”

Scythe whips up and out of his seat again. “This is exactly why prospects aren’t allowed in meetings. They don’t know when to shut their fucking mouths.”

Raiden is red, struggling for breath, but he aims a finger around the room. “I didn’t get to give my blessing because things got complicated, but I’m giving it now. There’s no man in the world I’d rather have for my sister, let there be no doubt about that. Is it any fucking wonder they wanted to keep their business private?”

Very wisely, no one responds to that question. It’s clear that Raiden would throttle them and no matter what state I’m in, I hear anyone even think about disrespecting my woman and they’re going to get destroyed on the spot.

Crow, who is normally so quiet, speaks, surprising us all. “Is there any way that could be real?”

I shake my head, punching at the laptop. “I don’t know. It’s possible. Zale barely talked about his ex-wife. My mom and I never saw her again after she left town. Figured she didn’t want me and wanted even less to do with Zale. She was dead to him. It could be possible that there was another woman in some other town. Some ride, one night. That’s all it takes. He might have multiple kids he never mentioned.”

“Unless they turned out like you, that’s far too many reproductions of the truest bastard I’ve known in a good while,” Bullet rasps. He raps his knuckles on the tabletop, his heavy rings smacking the surface. “They can’t really expect that one of us would just marrythat?”

I can’t imagine the chaos of this fucking ‘peace.’ I don’t know my father at all. I don’t even want to call him my father anymore. He severed that connection with his knife and his men when he broke his word and came back to destroy my life.

“This is just Zale and his men fucking with us,” Reckless reasons. As the club’s old VP, he knew Zale well, probably better than the rest of us, but did any of us really know him at all?

A madness settled into him and hasn’t left. It’s only worsened over the years. Was that always the real man? Was the rest of it just a mask until he could gather up enough power to flex his might? How would anyone know?

“This is going to take some thinking on and another vote before we decide on anything. None of us expected war and I’ll be endlessly sorry that my actions five years ago have brought us here now. I don’t know how much time we have, but however many days or hours are left for us, we need to take them. If we allow this to happen, we’ll have to have a plan in place that can be executed flawlessly.” I pause as my eyes track the room, meeting the gaze of all my club brothers, “Once there are spies and rats living amongst us, there can be no secrets. The only thing I know for certain is that Zale Grand has to be eliminated. If anyone has some solid ideas on how we do that without starting a full-scale war, and we still don’t know our enemy yet, I’m open to hearing them. We’ll take the night to think and meet back in the morning for another vote—”

“Let them come.” Gunner pounds his chest, cutting me off before I can say anything else. He exudes menace and terrible promise. Not for the first time, I’m glad he’s on our side. “We’ll make a plan, and we’ll make sure it’s ironclad. A plan for vengeance. We all respect your fairness, Tyrant, but there’s a time for it and there’s a time for playing dirty. You’ve tasted the edge of Zale’s blade. Let him drink the fine wine of our collective steel. If he wants blood in this club, he’ll have it eventually. We learn our enemy, draw them close, and then we strike like a viper.”

One by one, my brothers bang their fists on the table in agreement. Raiden stands at my side, snorting like a demon, but even he eventually thumps a heavy, tattooed fist onto that scarred wood surface. The men standing stomp their boots and a lusty, blood curdling cry rips through the room, voices raised in assent.

They’re waiting on me, as prez, to lead them. I have the final say, but I use it to give my brothers what they want. “Alright, then. We meet back in the morning to plan not for vengeance, but for our freedom and safety, and if the only means of securing our future is justice, then it will be done.”

Epilogue

One Month Later

Lark

The revelry in the club kicked off just after six when my brother married Widow Grand. As in, officially tied the knot. He made the call to chain himself to her and I just hope that this is a part of whatever the plan the club devised.

It’s been a very long month. One of the longest of my life, especially since it came so close on the heels of my mom’s death. There’s been a lot of change and I feel like I haven’t fully recovered from the whiplash my life has given me. Gray’s dedication to the club has been unwavering. He hides it well, but standing next to him right now, I can tell just how exhausted he is. I’ve made sure that my support for him has been boundless, digging up reserve energy to match his own stamina.

Across the huge lounge packed with bodies, I spot my brother leaning up against the far wall by the bar. He said his vows in his club vest, a black t-shirt, and worn-out jeans. At least he was surrounded by the whole club, here in the safety of their domain. The room is packed and despite the fact that danger now walks amongst us, men we don’t know, just met last week, and certainly don’t trust, the atmosphere is one of revelry. The air is thick with smoke. After every single kid got put to bed, either taken home by old ladies or safely ensconced in rooms at the club, the real debauchery began.

This is my first biker wedding. It’s my first real biker celebration of any kind. Despite the women and children returning slowly, the atmosphere has remained tense around here. It’s my home now as well, Penny’s too—at least temporarily, until we can see how the truce plays out. Gray’s not happy about me and Penny being here, because as the antics in the lounge show, an outlaw biker clubhouse is not a place to bring up a kid. But he doesn’t trust his father and thinks that out of the possible options, we’re safer here. There were none of the club whores or hang arounds allowed on the premises. It was still basically under lockdown even though Zale arrived with an armada of his brothers three weeks ago and stood there and signed an agreement, laying out terms and peace. He gave his word to uphold it in front of a bunch of bikers and enemies or not, they looked like men who cared about upholding it. Either they have no idea what kind of a man Zale Grand is, and they believe in their prez, or they were really good at faking it.

I hope that Satan’s Angels MC are good at faking letting their guard down, because it certainly looks like that’s what’s happening.

Gray twists his hand in mine and pulls me in against his side. He’s alert, sharp green eyes missing nothing, but he doesn’t look like a guard dog. He gave every appearance of trusting in this. That can’t be the plan. He hasn’t shared it with me because I haven’t asked him to, but if this is it, it’s going to make me wish I could knee him in the balls. I wouldn’t, but I’dwantto.

My face heats and I quickly look away from the couch where Bullet is sprawled out, one of the club whores clearly doing something on her knees that belongs in a bedroom. I guess it’s that time of the night when the whiskey is flowing, and the scantily clad clothing is going to get even more sparse.

I stand on my tiptoes and put my hand on Gray’s shoulder, guiding his face down to me. “I’m going to check on Penny. I know that my dad is there with her in and that she’s got cameras at her door and a guard, but… but I feel like I should make sure she’s okay.”

He nods, makes a small motion to Gunner, who is standing like a very obvious guard dog on the far end of the room, his chill stare roving over everyone. He certainly hasn’t forgotten that the enemy is now within these walls. Gunner nods back. He’ll take over so Gray can come with me.

I steal one last glance over my shoulder at my brother and Widow. They’re standing far enough apart that it’s obvious that they really don’t want to have anything to do with each other. Raiden has this funny expression on his face though. I have no idea what it means. Widow looks smug. She’s drawing a lot of attention. Tall, leggy, an actual bombshell with huge boobs, a tiny waist, and curvy hips, she’s rocking a tight leather dress and her own club’s vest. She’s got knee high leather boots on with spiky heels that only add to her towering height.And. And she’s freaking blonde. Naturally. She doesn’t look at all like a female version of Gray, but she does have his eyes.

If she makes herself a widow that she’s technically married to my brother, that will be two hearts in this world I’ve vowed to stop from beating.

We check in on Penny, the loud music, laughter, and strong male voices carrying down the halls. She’s fast asleep in the big bed, my dad sprawled out on his back beside her. He’s awake, reading a book with one of those flashlights specifically made for reading in the dark. He waves at us and smiles, assuring us that Penny is fine.

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