Page 52 of Everest

Nova moves in fast, crouching beside the old man. “What the hell happened?”

Tony coughs, wincing. “Velasco. He sent two of his goons in here. Tore the place up, then did the same to me.”

“You know the name Velasco?” I ask, hoping he’ll have more intel than we do.

Tony shakes his head. “First I’ve heard of it, but I sure as shit know it now, and I’m fuckin’ pissed.” His fingers dig into the chair’s armrest, his knuckles turning white as he tries to stand but fails. “This got anything to do with London or Amara’s disappearance?”

I shake my head. “No. This is aimed at the Kings.”

Nova pulls out his phone and steps away. “Callin’ Prez.” He speaks low and fast, giving a rundown of the situation, then comes back. “Prez says, get him to the clubhouse.”

Tony waves him off. “Fuck that. I’m not leaving my place.”

“You just got your ass handed to you, old man,” I growl. “You need patchin’ up.”

“I’ll heal,” he says, spitting blood to the side. “But what I won’t do is run.”

Nova doesn’t argue. He pulls his phone out. “I’m callin’ Teagan.”

A stretch of time passes with nothing but Tony’s labored breaths filling the space.

When Teagan arrives, she looks around but doesn’t ask questions. She mutters, “Jesus,” under her breath. Moving fast, she gets to work. “Stay still,” she says, opening a gauze pack. Tony doesn’t even flinch as she cleans the gash on his temple. Once Teagan is done and Tony is patched up, she places a bottle of pills on his desk. “Nothing appears to be broken, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t fractures. You should have X-rays done to rule it out.”

Tony groans, adjusting himself in the chair. “I’m all right. Appreciate the house call, though.”

Teagan reaches into her bag. “This should knock the edge off for a few hours. If you want more, you’ll have to get it yourself.” She then turns to Nova and me. “I’ll see myself out.”

“Give us a minute, and we’ll follow you back to town. Not risking your safety after doin’ us a favor,” Nova says.

She sighs but doesn’t argue.

I look at Tony. “You sure you wanna stay? They could come back.”

Tony leans over and opens the bottom drawer of his desk. From inside, he pulls out a monster of a revolver, matte black steel, and a long barrel with six chambers. “Dirty Harry style,” he mutters. “They caught me off-guard, but if those motherfuckers come back, I’ll be the one putting them in the ground.”

“You’re not alone on this, old man. The club has your back,” I say.

Tony locks eyes with me. “I know. But let the record show, if this Velasco motherfucker wants to start a war with me, he’s gotone.” He rests the revolver on his desk, keeping his hand on the grip.

14

LONDON

We’ve been on lockdown here at the clubhouse for a few days, and it doesn’t appear the guys are any closer to finding out who this Velasco character is. The club feels that as long as he’s out in the streets of New Orleans, I’m not safe, which doesn’t exactly give me a warm, fuzzy feeling. The guy already sent one of his goons to kidnap me, so who’s to say he won’t succeed the second time?

In a perfect world, I want to believe Amara came to the realization she wasn’t safe and got the hell out of town, but I know that’s not the case. She would have at least told Tony of her plans if that were true.

Being cooped up in the clubhouse day after day doesn’t help my wandering thoughts either. Luckily, Promise and I were able to convince the guys to let us go to the office today. We can only put off our clients for so long. Promise and I have several court dates approaching, and there is no way I’m allowing my clients to suffer because my personal life is currently a shit show. Returning to work, however, did come with stipulations. One, we don’t go anywhere without Catcher. He is now our shadow. And two, we don’t go anywhere but to the office. That meansno lunch date with friends and no visiting my mom. That last condition had me up in arms until Riggs explained how visiting my mom might bring danger to her doorstep. I had to admit he was right, but I felt like an idiot because I hadn’t thought of that. Then I had a whole panic attack, questioning if Velasco already knew about my mom and if he’d do something to hurt her to get to me. Riggs assured me he had someone watching my mom to ease my mind. He gave me his word that nothing would harm her.

“Babe,” Kallum calls out, snapping me back to the present. I realize I’ve been spaced out in front of the mirror for several minutes in nothing but my bra and underwear. I hadn’t even realized he’d taken a shower.

“You say something?” I ask.

“I asked if you knew when you’d be done today.”

“I’m not sure. I have to play catch-up, so it's probably late. Why?”

Kallum comes up behind me and wraps an arm around my waist, pulling my back flush against his chest. He kisses my neck, sending shivers down my spine. “I was thinking I’d pick you up and take you to dinner.”

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