Page 33 of Devil's Vengeance

Since I didn’t want the crew asking questions on why Mariah was in the guest room when there weren’t any parties going on, I kept her in my room with me instead. I wasn’t going to try anything with her, she’d been through hell tonight, but it made me feel better knowing exactly where she was too. I let her shower, gave her some of my clothes for pajamas, and we crawled into bed together. She passed out pretty fast, which didn’t surprise me given the night she had. Meanwhile, I lay awake, staring at the ceiling, for fucking hours.

Partially, I blamed it on my normal sleep schedule. Most nights, I’d be working right now. I’d basically become nocturnal once I started working at Lacey’s club. But I also kept hearing Trick’s threat on repeat in my head.

“This isn’t over, Jesse! I’m coming for your girl!”

I always knew Trick was a jackass, but I didn't think he’d purposely target innocents. I thought once he realized Mariah wasn’t involved, he’d focus on me again. I was always careful whenever I was around her. I didn’t want to give anyone the idea that I was into her. Why he even went after her in the first place confused the hell out of me. Sure, she was gorgeous and I could understand shooting your shot, but he used her as bait tonight to get me somewhere alone. Why? Because he knew I’d come, no matter who called me for help? And he was going to keep coming for her. How the fuck was I going to keep her safe from him?

I fell asleep eventually, still trying to work it out, and woke up to someone approaching my bed. I reacted on instinct, grabbing my gun off my nightstand and pointing it at the intruder, safety off. I didn’t even have my eyes fully open when I moved. I felt Mariah stiffen beside me, and my eyes flew open, remembering I had someone I needed to protect in my bed.

Clink stood over me, eyes wide with surprise and a grin on his face. “Holy fuck, you react fast. Kinda thought I’d get one up on you.” He glanced at Mariah and lifted his chin in greeting. “Hey, pretty lady. I’m stealing your man. We’ve got church, and he’s been ignoring his phone.”

No, the fuck I hadn’t. I twisted around, grabbing it off my nightstand, and scowled. “Fuck.”

“Forget to charge it?” Clink asked casually. He was so willing to give me shit about it if I did. I was the one who was always prepared. The officers liked to call me Boy Scout because of it.

“No. It won’t hold a charge. I need to replace it.”

He shrugged, officially bored with the conversation. “Go see Lewis. After the meeting. Hurry the fuck up.”

Sitting up, I frowned after him as he left the room. “Why the hell did you come for me yourself?” That was a prospect’s job.

“‘Cause I enjoy screwing with you,” he called back over his shoulder, cackling as he sauntered away, leaving my door wide open because he was a jackass like that.

Dropping back onto my pillow, I set my gun back on the nightstand and scrubbed my hands roughly over my face with a groan. If Clink was in the mood to screw with me first thing, he’d be a pain in the fucking ass unless I found a reason to get out of here today.

“Do your friends always wake you up like that?”

I dropped my hands, looking over at Mariah. She looked disheveled and tired, but still hot as hell. She pulled off the ‘morning after’ look really well. She was also mildly amused. At least she didn’t start screeching like some women would. It was too damn early for that.

“Clink is not my friend. He’s an idiot. And no. But usually I don’t give them the chance to come looking for me. I need to get my phone fixed. Will you be alright up here for a while? I don’t want you going anywhere without me.”

She grabbed her own phone, turning it over with a frown. “I planned on working this afternoon. Unless you think I need to call in?”

I could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t really want to. And I couldn’t blame her for that. None of the girls were happy when crew shit started interfering with their lives. If she worked anywhere else, I might be more cautious, but I doubted Trick would be stupid enough to come for her in broad daylight at a public library.

“Nah. Should be fine. Let me head to church, find out what’s up, then we’ll discuss it, yeah? I don’t think you’re in any danger at the library.”

She pursed her lips and shrugged. “Probably not. Besides, we got a silent alarm installed after I was taken in our parking lot. Sam installed it.”

Which finally gave me the answer on why they knew each other. It made me feel better too, knowing she had that extra layer of protection.

“That’s good. I shouldn’t be gone long.”

She stopped me as I was pulling on a fresh pair of jeans. “Wait. Do they really call it church? I thought that was made up for romance novels.”

CHAPTER 21

CHASE

I was still laughing to myself about Mariah’s questions as I headed downstairs. She took everything she read with a grain of salt, and it surprised her when the books turned out to be right. I could tell she wanted to grill me about it more, but I didn’t have the time to discuss it since I needed to be downstairs. I hoped the interruption would distract her from her line of questioning, since most of the stuff she wanted to know was club business and I wasn’t about to share it with her. I didn’t want her pissed off at me again after just getting on a better footing. If she listened, it was easier to keep her safe.

While I wasn’t the last person to arrive, I was usually earlier than this, so I got a few teasing comments about slacking off. I ignored it for the most part, heading to an open space in the back so I could lean against the wall while I listened. Only the officers got seats at the table. The rest of us peons had to stand and listen.

It was Croy who showed up last, his pissed off demeanor making the whole room fall silent. While he wasn’t a sunshiny person in general, you could actually see the waves of dark and angry energy coming off him, and that only meant one thing. Someone was fucking with our crew. He didn’t sit, instead propping his hands on the table and glaring at the room.

“Got word from a charter that there’s rumors of a big play going to bemade against us soon. Not just to screw with us or take our supply lines. They want to wipe us from the map.”

I straightened, listening carefully as he told us about the phone call he got from the prez of the Phoenix chapter to share the information he had. Apparently, the rumor was fucking state wide.

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