Page 87 of Truths

Ivan: I know someone you can take that will get you a hell of a lot further than any Drifter. Have you seen a curly blonde woman?

O’Malley: The daughter of their VP?

Ivan: Daughter of the VP, married to the son of the Sergeant at Arms, and good friends with the Black Valley President. If you take her, she will be a great bargaining chip. She might also have information you can use. She grew up in the club, and she will be the best target. Plus, being a woman means she should break easily.

O’Malley: It better work. My boss calmed down after killing Anastasia, but now that Dimitri took retaliation on his brother, he wants his blood again.

Ivan: He will get it. Alexis Nichols is your ticket to getting everything you want. Everything we want.

Psycho slams his fist on the table. “Ivan did put the fucking order out to take Lex.”

“It proves Ivan's working with the Irish, but does it mean the rest of the organization was in on this? Because I didn't get that feel from Boris when he reached out to help us,” Jennings says. “Was Ivan carrying out orders, or was he rogue?”

Brock shrugs. “I'm not sure on that. There's one last audio that seems to have information we want, and Dimitri's not on it again. If I had to guess, he felt he was being double-crossed, and he put a hidden mic wherever Ivan went. Not a bad idea to try and use as leverage to stay alive, but with this one... I gotta warn you. It gets graphic.”

Dax's stomach churns as Brock waits for their responses. “I need to hear it.”

Ivan: Can we really trust Graves?

O’Malley: You can't. Not in the least, but he's crazier than anyone you've ever met. Even crazier than Psycho. He ordered his men to kidnap and fake her death. All because she left his ass when he went to prison. And he ordered it from behind bars, which is where he built his new club. When Ryan gets released, she's fucked.

Ivan: But you can trust him?

O’Malley: He's my cousin. And he fucking hates my boss. Almost as much as I do.

Ivan: I don't suppose you'll let us place the blame on him when this comes to a head with the Drifters, will you?

O'Malley: If it comes down to him or me, I'm picking me. But I won't pick him over you. I trust you enough to work with you, but if you think I won't slit your throat if you turn against me, you don't pay attention. Especially after the things you mentioned about Alexis.

Ivan: Look, we have a plan, and we're sticking to it. The Drifters will never trust the RIO again, and when they walk, it'll weaken the organization.That gives me the opportunity to move in and take my place at the top. You'll do the same on your side as your bosses focus on revenge. We'll join forces after shutting them all down and killing them, and we'll become the most powerful entities. We will be unstoppable.

O’Malley: Graves will want his piece of the cake, too. He won't settle just for his little bitch being tortured and violated while he awaits his release. We will have to give him something.

Ivan: We will figure it out when it comes time. I have to ask you something before we get too far.

O'Malley:Laughing. Too far? I think we're far past 'too far,' Ivan.

Ivan: This thing you have for Alexis. Will it get in the way?

O’Malley: It took everything in me not to take her when we had her. I should have. She got away, and I missed my chance. Something about her calls to me. She will be mine. I have no doubt.

Ivan: That is exactly what I mean. Please tell me you have not fallen in love with that woman.

O'Malley: She intrigues me. Most women crack, but she stood her ground. And I can see when she knows I'm watching her. The way she looks around for me. Hell, she felt me even before I took her. And when I watch her fuck her husband, I get all sorts of ideas about what to do. How to take her. I am in love with the idea of having her every way I want her.

Ivan: It worries me when you say that. Especially with the lack of willingness to share.

O’Malley: She is mine!A hand slams on the table. I do NOT share. When I get her, she will be strapped to my bed, unable to move. No one else will have her. Not even you.

Ivan: She will be your undoing just like everyone else. Look at Graves. He's consumed by revenge because of a woman. It clouds judgment. I should kill Alexis to stop this.

O’Malley: Graves may be willing to share, but I do not. She will be mine. Only mine. Go near her, and I will kill you.

“Stop it,” Dax says, unable to hear anymore.

Brock turns it off, and Psycho looks perplexed. “You good, dude?”

“It's weird, but I think O'Malley may have actually loved Lex in his own fucked up way,” Psycho says. “I have strange feelings about it.”

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