Page 45 of Vendetta
Vendetta cupped her cheek gently.“Youwill.”
“I’m scared,” Dylan admitted.
“Don’t be.”Vendetta said it as much for himself as for her.He kissed her forehead, lingered there.“No matter what happens today, I’m coming back for you,” he vowed.“Believe it.And then we can start over, build a life together.You and me.I love you, Dylan.”
Throwing herself into his arms, the tears did come then.“I love you,” she said against his chest, tears soaking into his shirt.
Vendetta hated leaving her this way, but the sooner they returned, the sooner he could keep his promises to her.Easing back, he tipped her chin up with his fingers, making her meet his gaze.
“I’m finishing this today,” he whispered.“And when I get back, I’ll know that you’re safe.I’ll know he can never hurt you again.”
Tears still sliding from her eyes, she nodded.When he pulled away, he smiled.“We won’t be long.”Vendetta looked at Ryder next.“She’s underyourwatch.”
“You have my word, brother,” Ryder said, clasping Vendetta’s hand when it was offered.
Margot nodded, her presence calm and steady.But it was the woman who stepped up beside her that drew Vendetta’s attention next.Deva, Razor’s old lady and Outcast’s sister, was petite.But she carried herself like she could take on a storm and walk away dry.Her purple hair was pulled back in a loose braid, and her eyes, fierce and intelligent, missed nothing.
“Go on now,” she said, her gaze moving from Razor to him.“Fuck ‘em up and get your asses back here.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied.
He took a final look at Dylan, every part of him wanting to stay with her but knowing he couldn’t.Not until he made her life safe again.Turning, he walked back to his bike.
“That’s Eli Crizer’sniece?”Player eyed her, his skepticism obvious.“How?”
Crash smacked the back of his head, but it was the look Razor cut him that ended it.
Engines thundered to life, the war drums of men with nothing left to lose and everything to fight for.
With a nod from Razor, they rolled out, heading for Oak Grove.Into the fire.
* * *
Eli
The blinds were half-drawn, casting hard lines of light across the battered table where Eli Crizer leaned, hands fisted, knuckles white.Despite the morning chill seeping through the windows of the compound, sweat clung to his skin.His thoughts were pure chaos, but the picture was finally clear.
Now he knew the truth aboutJason, the quiet delivery driver with a wicked scar around his neck.He was the boyfriend Dylan hid from him.The one Peggy mentioned before they put her in the hospital.And funny enough, Jason disappeared the same night as Dylan.Freddie, Jason’s boss atINeedaconfirmed it.Jason hadn’t shown up the next morning for his shift and they hadn’t heard from him since.
Eli didn’t believe in coincidence.
Now, hecouldbelieve this boyfriend wanted to protect Dylan, to get her out of Oak Grove and away to safety.Most decent men would consider doing that.It was the rest of the story that didn’t add up.
Dylan didn’t know when she showed up for her last shift atNed’s that her uncle was handing her off to Earle for the night.The only people who knew were him and Earle.Eli had taken her phone, told her it was a private shift where she’d just serve drinks, and then watched her get into the car Earle had sent for her.No one else knew what was really happening or where they were going.Not even Peggy, though she’d sure as shit tried to interfere.
But all Peggy had was a picture on her phone of the license plate.That was all.No address, nothing.And during the beating she’d taken, Peggy confessed that the minute Jason showed up behindNed’s, she told him Dylan had been driven off, sent him the picture of the license plate.That’s where her story ended.That was where the entire fucking story of Dylan ended.
Since then, he’d been dealing with a very pissed off Earle who had a broken jaw and broken ribs.And he’d set off a shitstorm at Sinister Skin that had been raining down on him since.The agreement his MC had with the organization was hanging on by a thread.They’d made it clear that to earn his way back into their good graces, Eli needed to present them with two bodies: Jason’s and Dylan’s.
Earle had described what happened in the lake house with Dylan.A man had broken in, took his guards down, tookhimdown, then left with her.The man’s description of Jason matched everyone else’s.Tall and muscular with dark hair and nearly black eyes.Earle hadn’t mentioned seeing a scar, but everything else tracked.
While most boyfriends would want to protect their girl, how many would even be capable of doing what was done that night?How many would be able to track down their girlfriend to a remote location with nothing more than a description of the car she rode in and a picture of its fucking license plate?For that to even be possible, the man would have to had experience with tracking people down and at least a basic knowledge of the operation that captured her.Most men wouldn’t have that kind of experience.It was more likely Jason would have learned it working for the law or in the military.
But then for a man alone to break into the house once he found it and rip through the guards, through Earle, and leave with Dylan?Yeah, a couple of his Cottonmouths had the skill set to pull that off.One of them was dead.Well, he wassupposedto be dead…
The scar around “Jason’s” neck?All the brave, incredible shit “Jason” had pulled off?The quiet demeanor, the nerve it must’ve taken to accomplish what he had?Eli hadn’t wanted to believe it at first.Hadn’t wanted to see what was staring him in the face.But his gut, every instinct he had, told him Jason almost had to beTank.Tank had survived.Somehow, he’d fucking survived hanging at the end of a noose and made it back.According to Freddie, he’d been working for him for weeks while Eli had been completely unaware.If it was Tank, he’d changed his name and slipped back into Oak Grove like a ghost.And during that time, he took up with Dylan.The fucker had Dylan right now.
A sick heat bloomed in Eli’s chest, filling him with rage.He gazed at the men still in his club who were loyal to him.There were only a handful of them left.The rest lingered at a distance, and their silence spoke volumes.No one had said anything yet, but the looks they cut him told him that nerves were on edge.The lies about Tank had left a crack in their loyalty, and now that crack was starting to split wide open.
