Page 39 of Buried

My phone went off as I was taking a seat on the couch, and Reina grabbed it out of my pocket for me and answered it, placing it on speaker for me. “Hello?” I asked as I finally sat down, adjusting Axel into a more comfortable position.

“Hey, darlin’,” River greeted, making me smile.

“Hey,” I breathed. “Everything good?” I asked, so happy to hear his voice. He’d made it safely.

“Clubhouse is fucking trashed.” I frowned. “Zyla’s room has blood on the carpet. There’s clear sign of a struggle. She didn’t go calmly.”

Fear for her settled in my gut. Zyla had already gone through so much hell. I only prayed that she didn’t go through it again. “River, you have to find her.”

“Trying my best, darlin’,” He reminded me. I sighed. “Everyone is silent. They won’t even meet my fucking eyes. Someone here knows what happened. No one was expecting Tristan to bring me in. They remember what I was like when I was here, how much shit I noticed. I’ll find out who did this, darlin’. I promise.”

I wracked my brain trying to think of something, anything that could help him find her. “Fuck,” I muttered. “It’s got to be someone from Vin’s circle. It’s the only thing that makes sense to me. They had to get power situated within their circle again, which is why it’s taken them this long to retaliate against Tristan, but it makes sense why they were trying to come after me to get to Tristan. Tristan pulled that trigger.”

“But Jesup was with him,” River finished. “So, they went after the next best option to get their hands on Tristan and Jesup.Fuck,” he swore. “Not even going to lie, darlin’, I’d forgotten about him. Been so fucking long since anyone heard from that crew, but I don’t have a doubt in my mind that they haven’t forgotten about what happened to Vin.”

“Fredrick wouldn’t go to these lengths to draw me out. Something in my gut tells me that whoever is in power now is behind this, and if Zyla isn’t found soon enough, she’s nevergoing to be coming back home,” I warned him, fear settling in my gut.

A chill went down my spine as I remembered what Vin’s men had been capable of doing to me when Vin had allowed them their turns with me.

It made me sick just to think about it.

“I’ll find her, darlin’. You’ve got my word. And when I find her, she’ll be alive,” he promised.

He hung up a moment later. Joey strolled over to me, his eyes narrowed down at me. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep, shaky breath. Joey kneeled in front of me, his hands lightly gripping my thighs. “Talk to me, pretty girl.”

I opened my eyes to look into his warm, dark eyes, holding him with me. “I think Vin’s men may have Zyla.” I swallowed thickly, tears filling my eyes. “She might die all because Tristan was so desperate to save me,” I sobbed, tears streaking down my cheeks.

Joey sat on the couch next to me and lifted me onto his lap, wrapping his arms tight around me. Reina quickly lifted Axel from my arms, allowing me to tightly wrap my arms around Joey, sobbing into his shoulder.

Zyla, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

River

Ishoved my phone back into my pocket, hating that I wasn’t there with Adelaide right now, but I knew Joey would take care of her. I knew this shit was going to hit her hard. After all, the only reason Vin’s men wanted retaliation was because Tristan was an idiot and allowed himself to be seen when he sent a bullet through Vin’s skull.

Which put him and all members of his club on their radar, not to mention anyone that might be attached to them.

I strode into the clubhouse. “Call church,” I ordered Tristan, not giving a fuck about the boundaries that I was overstepping. They wanted my help? They were getting it, and they were getting it my way.

I strode into his chapel without waiting for another word. Jesup was sitting at the table with a glass of whiskey in front of him, but he hadn’t touched it. “I think I’ve got something,” I told him. “Adelaide thought of it.” He looked up at me with hope in his eyes. I only hoped that my woman was right and that I wasn’t giving the broken man in front of me false hope.

Men began to file into the room under Tristan’s command. Tristan took his seat at the head of the table, but I remained standing. Sam stood at the door with Holden and Vern. “Let’s cut to the chase,” I started. “All of you sitting here know I’m not fucking stupid. Somebody better speak up about their ties to Vin’s men, and you better tell me who the fuck is behind this shit.”

Sam coughed slightly, and I looked over at him. He inclined his head to Dray. I arched an eyebrow at Dray. Sad to see him as a traitor, but every man had a price. My men kept their loyalty to me because I kept my payment to them high. Tristan had never learned that. “Something you want to share with me?” I asked him.

He clenched his jaw and shook his head. “I’m not a fucking traitor, unlike you,” he snapped at me. I snorted. “Don’t come in here making commands when you fucking betrayed the goddamn president himself.”

Anger roared through my veins. Dray had once been a pretty damn good friend of mine, but obviously, that had changed. And Tristan betrayed himself before Ieverbetrayed him. He betrayed himself by not loving a good woman correctly.

“At least I owned up to my shit, Dray,” I retorted. He clenched his jaw. “I was prepared to take the bullet in my skull for sleeping with her. So, what the fuck do you know?” I asked him again.

He stayed silent. I looked up at the ceiling, slowly losing my fucking patience. The only person I had patience for was the woman currently waiting at home for me to come back to her.

“Alright, then,” I growled, pulling my gun out of my cut. Everyone squirmed uncomfortably, even Tristan. “I’m about tojust start dropping fucking bodies,” I snarled. “So, if someone values their fucking life, they better speak the fuck upright now.”

“I saw Dray and Wren meeting up with a man named Calhoun a few nights ago. The night the clubhouse got shot up,” Tank spoke up. Dray and Wren’s eyes flashed with rage before they smothered it, but it was there long enough for me to catch it. “They caught me eavesdropping. I was going to call you with all of the information so you could protect Adelaide, but they saw me, and Calhoun threatened Adelaide if I opened my mouth, so I kept it shut. Said he had eyes on her.”

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