Page 62 of Devil's Vengeance

“Fuck.”

“What’s wrong?” Mariah asked. She had her hair half pulled back, some curls escaping around her face, and she was putting on makeup in the mirror above her dresser. I almost wanted her to take it back off, so she’d be less of a target for creeps like Trick, but it wouldn’t matter. She was still gorgeous either way.

“Prez wants me at the clubhouse. Bear is going to be at the library with you. You okay with that?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Do I have a choice?”

Smart woman. “Not about my part in it, no.” If she wasn’t comfortable with Bear, I could probably request someone else, but I didn't think they even knew each other. And she waved away the questioning look I shot her.

“It’s nothing. I’m just worried about you. We haven’t gotten to talk and…” She straightened, her brows furrowing as she looked over her shoulder at me. “I know you can’t tell me a lot, but can you at least tell me if I need to worry? Yesterday felt like goodbye and I’m worried if you walk away, I’ll never see you again.”

With a heavy sigh, I closed the distance between us and pulled her into my arms. I didn’t want to talk about Croy’s demand last night. I was still fucked up about it. Part of me felt like I didn’t deserve to live. But I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I didn’t doubt for a second that Croy would follow through with his threat. Not that he had to worry about that. I wasn’t going anywhere until I dealt with Trick. He was going to suffer for constantly taking important people away from me. I was going to feel him take his last breath myself.

At least for Mariah, I could tell her the truth. “I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart. I told you I’d keep you safe.”

She seemed to accept that, and we headed out not long after. She said her mom was around, so I thought I’d have a run-in with her, but Mariah backtracked by the calendar on the wall and chuckled as she grabbed her purse.

“What?”

“Apparently, she’s in a goat yoga class this morning.”

I jerked my head back, surprised. “What the fuck is that?”

She smirked at me. “It’s exactly what it sounds like. Yoga, but with goats running around and jumping on you. My mom is the queen of weird hobbies. She’s eccentric.”

I followed her outside, still looking at her like she was crazy. “Goats? Like the farm animals. Seriously?”

She snickered. “Yep. You’ve never heard of it?”

“No. Where the hell would I hear about that?” Granted, the sweetbutts were chatty when they wanted to be, but none of them ever mentionedthat. “Isn’t that unsanitary?”

Things were easier with Mariah, but I knew she wanted a conversation. And she deserved one after all the shit that went down last night. I tried not to feel guilty for ditching her at work, but I couldn’t help feeling a little grateful that I didn’t have to have that conversation right away. I couldn’t ignore an order from Croy. Not after how badly I fucked up. I waited at the library long enough for Bear to show up before heading back to the clubhouse to face whatever hoops Croy would have me jump through. He let me live, but that didn't mean he wouldn’t make my life miserable. And I still felt like I deserved it.

This early, the clubhouse was quiet for a different reason than last night. More than half the crew was asleep. The only ones who were awake were the ones with legit jobs. And the officers, apparently.

They were waiting for me in Croy’s office, all of them glaring at me as I stepped inside. I kept my face carefully neutral and didn’t sit until Croy jabbed a finger at the only open chair across from his desk. Everyone else leaned up against a wall and glared holes into the back of my head.

“I know you haven’t been sitting on your ass since you started on your stupid revenge quest. Start talking. What do you know?”

I figured he’d ask, and I was prepared for it. “I know the Iron Horsemen are having trouble with the cops in their town. Too many warrants out. Frequent raids, arrests on coercion, extortion, that kind of thing. Trick is a low-level nobody, which was why I thought–”

“No one gives a shit what you thought,” Brewer snapped from behind me. “Stick to the facts.”

I bit back a scowl and forced myself to stay calm. “They’re originally based in a small town outside Phoenix. The same town we went to for the rally.”

“Who’s in charge?” Reaper demanded.

“The president goes by Patriot. His real name is Silas Eden. He’s a racist motherfucker, runs his club like a nazi party. After the arrests, he was left with three other officers. His VP, Billy, or Billy the Butcher as he likes to be called, and his Sergeant at Arms, Tank. I haven’t gotten anything about who’s filling in the rest of the positions yet.”

“What’s their product?” Clink asked, his arms crossed over his chest. He wasn’t usually a serious guy, but his crew came first, and these assholes fucked with his people. If he was ever going to be serious, it’d be in situations like this.

“Used to be weapons. Guns mostly. But they’ve been branching out in the past few years if the arrest records are anything to go by. Coke, for the most part, but they’ve dabbled in other drugs.”

“So they are coming after our product then. Stupid fuckers,” he hissed.

I fought to hide my grimace. I thought it was just Trick messing with me. I’d still believe it if his crew hadn’t attacked mine. If it’d just been him last night, it’d make sense, but there were a lot of those fuckers attacking the house. More than just Trick and a few of his buddies. How he managed to convince his entire crew to start something with mine just because I threatened him was beyond me.

“They into trafficking?” Brewer demanded. “They were in Lacey’s club.”

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