Page 49 of A Love Like Venom

Everything was so much easier when I could just fucking hate her.

Sticks raises a brow with interest. "Do tell."

"These men operate on a different level than us. There is no honor. There is no moral compass. Hell, there is no line that they won't fucking cross. We have boundaries, Sticks. The menwe are dealing with have none and that makes them extremely dangerous," Oak explains with severity.

The awful part is he isn't lying.

That's why The Crowned Devils have taken over Hollows Point so easily.

They took a corrupted town and made it even worse. Infecting every person they touch. Planting seeds for only terrible things to grow. The people who live there never stood a fucking chance. They will follow them out of fear and desperation. Anyone who crosses paths with them and doesn't bow down is an enemy.

We were enemies from the very moment we stepped inside that club.

They will see to it that we bow down to them or die from refusing their orders.

"And what do you think?" Sticks directs the question towards me.

My eyes narrow. I'm never asked questions during Church. Sure, I'll throw in my two cents, but my opinion never really holds much weight. Not that I have a problem with that. Everyone here knows to send me in when they need muscle. I'm never one to back down from a fight and the blood on my hands has never bothered me.

"What do I think?" I repeat his question.

"You were the only other person there, Snake. You were in the club, you faced with them. I'm asking what you think."

All eyes of the club fall on me as I'm casually leaned back on my chair. With my hands folded over my lap I answer Sticks honestly, "Oak is right. I've grown up with men like them. They're always fucking hungry. They can't be stopped unless they're put down."

Sticks curses underneath his breath and the rest of the club echoes his sentiments.

The last thing we want is a war. After the fiasco with Haven last year, it took us a good while to bounce back. We may be more financially stable this time around, but it doesn't mean it still wouldn't affect us. If they continue to march into our town, they will have our people that we protect scared.

That's something that we can't have.

No matter what we do, illegal or not, we always have our community at heart.

Nothing we do jeopardizes their safety.

With The Crowned Devils already bringing in drugs affecting our youth there's more damage they can do.

Just look at Hollows Point. They made a town I thought couldn't get any fucking worse and drove it deeper in the ground.

"What did you do that would have them wanting to retaliate?" Pax asks curiously rather than accusingly. It's like the man doesn't understand why some men want to handle shit with fists rather than words.

Pax has been and always will be a man begging for peace instead of war.

The problem with that is he's fighting an already losing battle.

Some men will never be reasoned with. With some men violence is the only answer.

"We gave them a verbal warning. I'm not a man of unnecessary violence," Oak replies.

At that I laugh. "Verbal warning? We didn't warn them Oak, we fucking threatened them. We gave them an ultimatum."

"What ultimatum?" Dex questions.

"They either leave our town the fuck alone or they will reap the consequences," Oak repeats the very same words he said to The President of The Crowned Devils once we found them before we left town.

"Those consequences sound vague," Pax comments.

"What do expect us to say? You want us to tell them our whole entire plan? We have to keep them guessing. They need to question what we are capable of. From what I could tell The Vice President is already threatened by Snake." Oak shares with everyone and all eyes return to me. Meanwhile I'm grinding my teeth trying to keep an easy-going smile on my face. But it's hard when someone is mentioned who you want nothing more than to put six feet under.

---