Page 62 of Dev

“Actually… I already have clothes here.” Millie’s eyes drift out the door toward Corey’s room as she bites her lip awkwardly.

“Of course, ya do.” I make a sad smile back at her. I don’t know how I managed to forget. I was always getting pissed off when I saw her clothes mixed up with our laundry. A few months ago, I found a pair of her panties stuck to my jeans. Ended up staring at the things for far longer than I should have. Felt the fabric between my fingers, and took in their scent, just so I could feel that little bit closer to her. I even considered keeping them for myself. That all seems like so long ago now.

“I guess I’ll need more stuff if this is an arrangement we’re gonna make permanent.” She twists her hands together and looks up at me nervously.

“Is that what you want?” I rest on the mattress beside her, being as gentle as I can, as I brush some of the hair off her face. It’s surprising how much I’m hoping that it is. I like having Millie in my space, Ilovehaving her in my bed, and having her close will make it hella easier to protect her.

“Of course, that’s what I want.” She nods back dreamily, and I have to get my ass off this bed before I end up fuckin’ her on it all over again.

“Good. We’ll find a way of getting your stuff here,” I assure her, doing my best to stay cool. I ain’t familiar with all the feelings that are happening inside me right now. I’ve never felt so strongly about someone that I don’t want to leave ’em. I feel like I’m missing her and I ain’t even walked out the fuckin’ door.

I kiss her before I drag myself away to get dressed. Leaving her here so I can go and make someone bleed the truth is a vast reminder of how different our worlds are, but I’m done denying that she belongs with me in mine. Millie had a choice and she chose me, all I have to do now is make sure she don’t regret it.

“Lock the door behind me and don’t open it unless it’s someone from the club.” I pick up my gun and slide it into my shoulder holster.

“Is the threat to the club really that serious?” she asks, looking a little concerned, and although the last thing I wanna do is scare her, it’s important she knows the truth so she takes me seriously.

“There’s always gonna be a threat to the club, darlin’, but it’s that murderer that’s still roaming free that worries me. That’s all unknown territory to us, and whoever it is, he seems hellbent on pinning all his victims on the club. I’d rather be safe than sorry. Which is why, if you need to go anywhere, you need to let me take you from now on.”

“Sounds good to me, I loooove riding the bike.” She stretches her arms above her head before snuggling herself back under the covers.

“I’ll call you to check in later,” I smirk to myself as I shrug into my cut, and kiss her one last time on my way out.

“Well, you heard him.” The tooth I just extracted from Les Coomber's mouth pings into the petri dish our chief of police is holding when I release it from the pliers.

Chief Tomlin looks pale as he glances down into it and sees the two molars and thumb I took from Les before he ratted on his buddies. While I pick up a rag, clean off my hands, and light myself a smoke.

Right now, Raze is all about making alliances, and this one right here is gonna be the most valuable of ’em all. Prez assured us all that patience would pay off. Chief Tomlin ain’t a man who can be bought, we had to wait for him to come to us. A lot of uswere convinced it was never gonna happen, but last night, outta nowhere, Raze got a call and this straight up, clean-living man finally called in a favour.

Turns out that Les and three of his friends jumped Chief Tomlin's son last night. The kid’s in the ICU, fighting for his life as we speak, and his father is proving that he’s not much different from us by being hell bent on making them pay for it.

“You gonna head out and make an arrest, sir?” I ask him with a snigger. Then, resting my ass on the table and dragging back my cigarette, we both watch Les dribble blood all over the concrete floor.

“I wanna know why. Whymyboy?” Tomlin calls out so Les can hear him.

After hearing the names I just heard, I got a good enough guess, but I don’t wanna be the one to break it to the man. Especially not a man Raze wants on our side.

Les doesn't answer, his mouth is too swollen, and he’s still dazed from the blows he’s taken to the face.

“Is everything I’ve heard from your boss true?” Tomlin looks up at me, and I see the worry and exhaustion heavy in his eyes.

“We all got people we care about living in this city. We want our streets safe. Sometimes you gotta eliminate the scum to do that,” I remind him, looking back to Les and wondering how I should end him.

“Can you?” He swallows thickly. “I…I mean… would you?—”

“You wanna put the law in our hands?” I save him from having to finish his sentence.

“What's the price?” His eyes turn cold as they fix on Les. He must be able to hear us because he’s desperately trying to free his hands, which are tied behind his back. He looks so pathetic lying cheek down on the floor, squirming like a fuckin’ worm.

“All it’s gonna cost is your loyalty. Most of our sister charters have found working with the local PD beneficial. We all want the same thing, we just have a different way of goin’ about it.”

“Are you telling me you’d kill this man, without asking me for anything but my loyalty to the club?” He looks up at me as if the concept confuses him.

“This man…” I move to step over Les’s worthless body, then crouch down beside it, “...has been accused of rape three times, and somehow gotten away with it. He sells crack to kids and has real stinkin’ breath. I’d kill him for much less.” I wink at Tomlin before rising back up.

“And the other guys?” he questions.

“Just gotta say the word, Chief.” I shrug because killing ain’t a big deal; taking lives stopped being an issue for me years ago. The lives I’ve taken have never belonged to good people.

---