Page 46 of Vendetta
While most of his Cottonmouths had initially been told that Tank hit the road like a cowardly piece of shit, the men before him knew what really happened to him, the one he’d made an example of.The one they’dhung.
And now he was alive.Back with a vengeance and he had Dylan.His blood.Hisfamily.
Word had gotten out, too, fast and ugly.Not just about Dylan running or who her boyfriend might be.But the truth aboutTank.They knew now that their brother hadn’t walked away.Eli had given the order to kill him.That kind of truth wouldn’t stay buried, no matter how deep you shoved it.It slithered through the ranks, whispered over beers and barked across backrooms.Eli could feel the trust bleeding out of his club like an open wound.He hadn’t wanted to believe it would matter.He was president, damn it.His word waslaw.
Now he wasn’t so sure.He saw it in the way some of the younger guys looked at him, like maybe they were wondering what line they had to cross before ending up on the wrong end of a noose.Eli never would have guessed how much one ghost could shake a club until that ghost came back swinging.And he had no Goddamn idea just how bad the fallout would ultimately be.But deep down, he knew the answer was coming, and it wouldn’t be pretty.
“Son of a bitch,” Eli muttered, pushing away from the table.“He’s been inside our walls, watching and listening, while we sat here with our dicks in our hands.”
No one spoke.They just waited while his mind cracked like glass beneath a hammer.
“Freddie should’ve said something,” Eli said.“That scar alone -- hell,Ishould’ve seen it.”
Grudge finally spoke, voice low.“Freddie didn’t know.The man barely leaves his damn warehouse.”
Eli pointed at him, eyes burning.“Don’t start.Noneof you figured it out either.”He took a deep breath, trying to force his fury down.But it just sat under his skin like a live wire.“He’s not just after me.He had a bug up his ass about Sinister Skin the entire time he was here.”His voice dropped lower when he said, “He wants a fucking war?He’s getting one.”
Trucker shifted in his seat, his gaze sharp beneath his ball cap.“Our scout said he’s got an MC riding in behind him, a couple of them Cottonmouths.Most of ‘em, he said, were Hounds out of Mercy.”
Eli’s blood ran cold.“The Hounds?”he said, like the word tasted foul.
Trucker nodded.“That’s what he said.Rolling deep.”
Eli’s jaw clenched.“A couple of Cottonmouths…” He leaned forward.“Shade and Ripper?”
Grudge looked up from where he’d been oiling a rifle.“Last time I saw ‘em was yesterday morning.Figured they’d skipped town, kept their heads down.”
Eli’s stomach turned.“Should’ve clipped them when I had the chance.”Pushing away from the table, he started pacing.“Those two came over from Abingdon with Tank.I should’ve known they’d come sniffing around once word got out.”
Bones muttered from the corner, “Didn’t know there was any word.”
Eli stopped in his tracks, his glare cutting through the room.“There always is.You kill a brother and bury the truth, the ground remembers.Eventually, somebody always digs it up.”
Grabbing the coffee mug in front of him, he smashed it against the floor just to hear it break like his last thread of control.
“So now he’s bought himself some Hounds?”Eli muttered, his gaze moving over each of his men.
“Well,” said Grudge, leaning forward.“Hounds don’t ride for cash.They ride for cause.And I’d be willing to bet they’re backing him because of Sinister Skin.”
Eli stilled, feeling the sting.He was losing fucking control of his chapter.And now another club, the fucking Hounds out of Mercy, no less, was rolling in like executioners.He glanced around the room again, at what was left of his inner circle.
“You all with me?”he asked, voice cold.
There was a beat of silence.He knew Trucker, Creep, and Bones were in.Eagle and Grudge?He wasn’t so sure.
Trucker gave a stiff nod.“We’re in.”
“Then dig in,” Eli said, turning toward the door.“This place is going to be a fucking fortress by nightfall.”
But even as he marched out, barking orders and rallying his men, a dark thought gnawed at the back of his mind.Tank hadn’t merely run away from them.He’d risen from the grave.And a man who came back from the dead didn’t have limits, didn’t know fear.He wouldn’t care about rules or consequences.No, he was looking for more than payback.Tank was coming to end everything Eli had built from the inside out.You couldn’t outplay a ghost no matter how loud you shouted or how many guns you stacked at the door.
That meant he had nothing left to lose -- except Dylan.
That gave Eli an idea.If Tank was coming for him, it wasn’t just vengeance driving him anymore.It washer.Dylan had to be in Mercy, especially since he’d buddied up to the Hounds.
Eli didn’t know how the showdown would end when Tank rolled into Oak Grove… but he had one last card to play.If he couldn’t stop the ghost head-on, he’d hit him where it hurt most.
He’d take out Dylan.
