Page 42 of The Devil's Conflict

“Your brother is a soldier and he’s the exact kind of person that we need,” Sniper tells me calmly. “Not because of this shit going on, but because we need strong men, and we need men we can count on. That is exactly what we need from someone like Theo or Crypt. Kaleb and Carson, they’re great and going to make amazing brothers, but they don’t have the experience or knowledge of Theo or Crypt.”

“And I know that Theo needs that too or I would probably convince him to walk away and find something else,” I admit. “But that doesn’t mean that I’m okay with whatever is happening here. If you want my help, I don’t do half-truths. I’ve been through too much of that already.”

He regards me intensely, until finally he sighs, scrubs a hand over his face and mumbles something under his mouth about stubborn women, but I just wait. “Give me until the end of the day and then we’ll talk about it, okay?”

I narrow my eyes at him, suspicious, but nod. “Fine. Now, I need to get showered and find some clothes.”

“I’ll see if any of the women have anything for you,” he offers. He trails his eyes over me again. “Though I certainly have no issue with you hanging out in my bed just like that for the rest of the day.”

I give him a smug smile when I glance down and see that he’s already hard again, his hand circling his shaft as he slowly strokes it. “Well, well, looks like your recovery time certainly doesn’t need too much improvement,” I purr as I crawl toward him, anticipation burning hot again in my core. I give him asaucy look when I add, “Popped one of those little blue pills in the bathroom, did you?”

His eyes blaze at that, and then he launches himself at me with a surprising speed, and I let out a shocked screech before I laugh. “I think it’s time we revisit what I said about you and that smart mouth, baby girl,” he growls as he rolls me under him, his front to my back and grinding his cock into my ass before he suddenly pulls away, slides down the bed, and yanks me down with him until my feet hit the floor.

When his hand comes down on my ass hard, I can only grip the sheets and moan before I manage to pant out, “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone needs a little help every now and then.”

The growl that comes out of him has a small frisson of apprehension traveling down my spine, but right behind it is anticipation. Another slap comes down harder on my ass, this time on the other cheek, and I jerk at the sting. “Keep it up with the old man jokes, baby girl,” Sniper offers, even as he spanks me a couple more times before rubbing at the sting with his hands, spreading my cheeks and making me feel ridiculously exposed, but also ridiculously hot. “And you’re not going to be able to sit comfortably for a week.”

I want to give a witty retort to that, but my entire body is slowly turning to fire.

A sharp knock on the door has us both freezing, and I turn my head quickly to look at the door, shock, horror, and then annoyance all rolling through me. “Sorry, brother, but we need you out here,” a deep voice on the other side says loudly.

“What is it?” Sniper barks, clearly unhappy, even as he releases me and pulls away.

“Arson and his crew arrived early. Bullet wants you down here,” the voice answers.

Sniper curses. “Fuck. Okay, I’ll be down in a minute.” We can hear the sound of footsteps retreating away, and I quickly crawlback up on the bed. Sniper groans, and I look over my shoulder at him in surprise, only to find him staring at my ass with such hunger in his eyes that I can’t stop the smug chuckle. I purposely widen my stance so he gets a great view, arching my back just enough to really make sure to give him a good show. His eyes slice up to mine and he warns, “Keep baiting me, Thea, and you won’t like the consequences. Now get your ass moving and we’ll find you something to wear.” But he punctuates that by reaching out and slapping my ass one more time, just hard enough for me to jolt but also to make me groan.

Apparently if he has to suffer, then so do I. Now to figure out who Arson is and why he’s here. Though something tells me that I’m about to find out just what is going on around here, no matter how much Sniper is trying to keep me out of it.

EIGHTEEN

VLAD

War is for brute strength and outsmarting your opponent, and I’ll have no trouble with either one.

“They haveall locked down in their clubhouse,” Nikolai informs me. “They have guards patrolling and their security person has been updating and putting up new cameras throughout the night. They have also pulled in the K9 trainer with her dog, their group’s various children, and as of an hour ago, their known allies, the Heaven’s Misfits MC also joined them and have started patrolling as well.”

I’m furious that my men have failed. Again. They had the perfect target to get the entire lot out of our way in one go, and they fucked it up. “One more club means nothing,” I tell him curtly. “It just means more bodies to deal with before we’re done.”

Nikolai holds my gaze, and despite it being empty of any kind of emotion, I can still sense the disapproval aimed my way. But he doesn’t voice it as he says, “I have the men already getting to work on getting information on them quickly so we know what we’re dealing with. I will now have to adjust my plans depending on the information that they provide me.”

“Just go in and blow the fucking place up! They’re all in there and you can get rid of them at once. You’re supposed to be the fucking expert at that kind of thing.” Do I have to think of everything?

“An explosion of that size that would take out what is surely to include an underground bunker as well, would require time and stealth that is not possible in that space currently,” he informs me. “I need them all off the grounds so I can get in and do what I need to do, but considering the turn of events, that’s unlikely for a while. In the meantime, while I make a new plan, we will need to start shifting our stash houses. Some of our men spotted a couple of them sneaking around close to house fifty-seven, and though they didn’t find it, they’re too close for it to be a coincidence.”

“You think they’ve figured out where some of our bases are? Impossible. They haven’t found any other than a couple of the businesses and that was mostly just luck or stupidity on the ends of our men.” I don’t believe for one minute these stupid bikers will ever be able to find all our operation bases which is exactly why we’re always going to come out on top. They’re merely a few speed bumps in the way of us taking over this part of the country for ourselves and the Pakhan’s operations.

“Not yet but they’re starting to sniff them out. They managed to figure out the pawn shop, and that was a secure operation, despite none of the men reporting any of the bikers being around, which means they’ve figured out how to get in and around undetected.” Now his eyes go hard. “A fact that isunsurprising considering what they’ve done in the past. You would do well to remember, Vladamir, that they are not your run of the mill MC that you can boss around or buy off. They have their own moral compass, and the training of one of the best militaries in the world. If you are not careful, more cautious in your approach to how to handle them from here on out, you will lose the war you’re waging.”

Then without a word, he leaves the room.

I’m furious, and I have half a mind to follow him out and put a bullet in his head and be done with it. How fucking dare he come in here and act like he knows better than me? That he has any right to give me any kind of order or suggestion. He’s a solider, and he has to follow the orders, not give them.

But I don’t move from my chair, instead, I pull out my phone. If he is correct and these sons of bitches are getting too close, then it’s time to make sure that there is nothing for them to find but a few surprises. Nikolai might want to be cautious, but the time for caution is over.

War has never been won by being cautious. War is for brute strength and outsmarting your opponent, and I’ll have no trouble with either one.

NINETEEN

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