Page 33 of Blade's Return
Something cold slides across me. “Where’d you hear that?”
Ranger shifts. “I was at Ricky’s Roadhouse with a buddy on leave. Demon came in and was bragging to some other idiot he was with. He said Eyeball promised him his sister. Said he was going to take Olivia and show her what it means to be an old lady in the Feral Kings.”
My hand tightens on the bottle until glass kisses skin. “Eyeball and Demon need to be put down like the rabid dogs they are,” I growl. There’s no question in it—only a promise. “We’ve got too much shit going on, but they need to go.”
“How we goin’ to do that?” Ranger asks. “Eyeball’s got heavy hitters backing him. They’ve got numbers.”
“We do it small,” I say. “Keep tabs. Find when Eyeball and Demon are out. Me and you, working together like we did in the early days. We swoop in and take them out. Quiet. No war. If they’re gone, Lucky steps up—he doesn’t have interest in us. Word is he’s got his sights on taking out the Savage Brothers in Kentucky. That means he’d push elsewhere and give us room to breathe. Lucky has always been the brains of that club anyway. Eyeball and Demon are nothing more than figureheads Lucky easily controls.”
Ranger’s face goes from disgust to slow comprehension. “What makes you say Lucky’s the brains?”
“It’s just apparent. Hell, most of the clubs we deal with are always laughing at Eyeball and Demon for being dumbasses. If we take out those idiots, the rest fall in different directions. It’s about leverage and numbers.”
Ranger nods. “Alright. I’ll keep my ear to the ground.”
“Does that mean you’re in?” I ask.
He smiles grimly. “I’d be pissed if you tried without me.”
“Good.” I set the bottle down and we shake hands. Solid, old-man club handshake—no bullshit. Ranger asks, quietly, “You ever look back and regret choices you’ve made?”
I close my eyes. The past is a feral animal that scrapes at the edges of the present. “Yeah,” I admit. “But you can’t go back. You play the cards in your hand. That’s all you can do.”
“That’s the damn truth,” he says, before leaving.
I sit, eyes shut, whiskey numbing the sharpest parts. I wish like hell I could go back and do it all differently. The only thing I can do now is protect what I have left. Keep Olivia safe—give her a life where she doesn’t have to look over her shoulder. Even if that life means she lives it with my brother. Even if it kills me slow.
I pour another swallow and for a second the world tilts and all I can hear is Olivia’s laughter and her smile after we kissed. I want to crawl back into that day and stay forever. But men like me don’t get do-overs. We get whiskey, plans, and the weight of the path we’ve chosen. I lift the bottle to my lips and drink for the past, the future, and for the woman who once laid her head on my chest and made me believe I could be anything but the man I am.
The woman I let down. The woman who loves my brother.
18 OLIVIA
One Month Later
It’s strange how much can change in just a month.
A month ago, the casino was nothing but an idea—steel beams on blueprints and whispers in boardrooms. Now the shell rises over Cherokee like a monument. Even from a distance, it feels alive, humming with promise. My boss and his buddies nearly lost their minds when they took in just how massive it was all going to be. I wasn’t there when they started panicking, but I can imagine their smug faces melting into terror when they discover that they approved a business that will probably take from the corporation that is currently padding their pockets.
They’ve all been getting kickbacks for years from the old casino across town, smiling while the rest of the citizens just scraped by. So yeah, I’ll admit it—I’ve been enjoying their panic a little more than I probably should. Let them sweat. For once, the system isn’t working in their favor.
Blade has shown me the plans for everything—the resort, the spa, the restaurants, even the boutique shops that will fill the top floor. The plan is massive, more than anyone in this county has dreamed of. If the so-called “leaders” here knew just how big it’s going to be, they’d probably start holding emergency meetings to figure out how to sabotage it all—but they can’t.
Not this time.
The permits are clean. The zoning is airtight. Every dotted “i” and crossed “t” is locked down tighter than a safe. And sure, some of that is because Blade nudged the right people, pulled a few strings that might’ve been better left unpulled. The circuit clerk’s “private files” proved useful, and the county clerk—well, Blade’s negotiations were equally effective there, too.
Normally I’d feel dirty about Blade using blackmail and manipulating people. But this town has been bled dry by corruption for too long, and if a few underhanded plays get us a casino that can rebuild Cherokee—new roads, better schools, and jobs that actually pay a wage that will support a full family—then I’m fine. The good outweighs the bad in this instance. I don’t have trouble falling asleep in Blade’s arms at all.
We’ve gotten so much closer this past month. I’ve seen him outside the armor he wears for everyone else, seen the heart that drives him. He told me about his mom, how she held their family together after his father disappeared. He said that’s why he is helping the Saint’s and working so hard now—to make sure no one else feels that kind of hunger or fear.
I asked once about his brother. He smiled—soft and loving. He said I’d meet him soon. “Maybe at our wedding,” he joked, and I’d felt that flutter in my stomach that I hadn’t felt since high school. It made me laugh, but also made me realize just how deep I’m in.
We’ve had bumps, sure. The fight about the Saints Outlaws was the worst. The fact that he wants to be part of them one day, still scares me. The club world isn’t something I will probably ever trust. Still, Blade promised me he wasn’t going anywhere. I’m his future and I believe him when he says that.
Some nights when he holds me, I catch myself feeling that this is my life from here on out and I want that more than I can say. The only thing holding back my complete happiness is my past and the fact that there’s a lot he’s still in the dark about. I keep meaning to tell him more, to let him see it all, but every time I try, the words tangle in my throat.
Tonight’s a club party. My stomach’s been tight all day. I try to reassure myself that it’ll be fine. Blade said it’s outdoors, nothing like the loud, crowded places that make my chest lock up. He’ll be there. So will Bear and Ayita. I won’t be alone.
