Page 14 of Bone's Destiny

“So let’s get this meeting going.” I pounded my hand on the table obnoxiously. I didn’t want to risk being put on the spot and forced to tell my other siblings anything. Not yet. Cobra had given me his word earlier he’d keep quiet. I trusted he would, but if we continued in the direction we were going, my brothers would catch on.

“Yes, I want to go home to my family.” Cobra rocked in his chair. “I’ve done some digging.” His gaze swooped across the room. “I hate all the sex trafficking shit that keeps popping up. Even after we shut down the Rat Brotherhood, I couldn’t ignore this gnawing in my gut regarding Destiny.”

I sat straighter in my seat. Why was Cobra bringing up that gang? We’d dismantled them. Killed several members after they’d tried to steal Dodge and Emilee’s baby when she lived in Fargo. After Emilee was reunited with Dodge, Misty, Rat’s sister, tried to take his and Storm’s baby. Dodge had killed her, a shot to the back.

Our town had been clear of the Rat Brotherhood months after all the craziness. But we hadn’t captured Rat’s sister Tami. I was sure she’d gone elsewhere after we burned the gang’s nest to the ground. She’d be stupid to return to these parts.

Cobra’s next words pulled me from the dark memory.

“Her old man showed zero guilt or sadness about offering her as payment. Like she wasn’t his. So I agreed to take her. He thinks we’re going to sell her.”

“I don’t get it.” I looked at my brothers. “We don’t mess with the skin trade.”

“And we won’t start now. We’re rescuing Destiny from her worthless piece of shit father. I want her out of the state if the people he’s involved with try to take her back.” Cobra scratched his chin. “I had Grizzly vet Destiny Bates. There’s no record of her legal birth. Roland said they were from Florida.”

“The fucking liar,” Buff growled and slammed his hand on the table. “You should’ve let me kill him.”

“Then what?” Cobra snapped. “We wouldn’t have known about Destiny, and she could’ve been taken by the traffickers who were after Brynne. The shit that went down in our cousin’s club keeps me up at night.”

Now that I studied my brother’s face. There were dark circles under his eyes. He looked exhausted and haggard. I should feel a smidge of guilt but didn’t because I’d been cleaning up the shit in Montana left by Storm’s crew. The residents in my territory had been terrified when the news spread about Dorian Adrienne being in their town and his human trafficking organization. People feared for their children and the women.

Brynne’s college roommate’s face had been on store windows and talked about daily on the radio. Locals were constantly reminded about the violence in the quiet small town. I hated how it put a spotlight on my club, the compound, and forced us to lie low. The dust had finally settled in Three Forks, and I was about to bring a woman there against her will. Fucking hell.

“We don’t know that. Besides, we’re not in the business of playing hero. We’re the outlaws, brother.” Buff tapped his thumbs on the table, a sure sign he hadn’t been in the boxing ring in a while. I sensed he needed to blow off steam and release the tension in his muscles.

From what Cobra told me, Buff spent all his time with Reign. My brother had been stressed while helping her deal with the trauma she’d been through at the Hell’s Bells MC in South Dakota, along with her abusive dad. He went to every counseling appointment she went to and drove Reign’s mom to her own. He’d been preoccupied with Reign and her mom. So Roland, the dickwad, had fallen under the radar and avoided paying his debts owed to the club.

And now Destiny was my problem. Yay, me.

“He’s right,” Copter said. “We shouldn’t get involved if the club isn’t directly at risk.”

“Wrong answer,” Cobra told him. “When you have kids and an old lady, you’ll feel differently. All of you will.” He pointed at every man in the room.

“I’m not having kids,” Copter muttered.

“Me either,” Gunner replied.

“Fine. It’s your life. But I don’t want no fucking human traffickers anywhere near my family! Or in my territory. Understand?” Spit flew out of Cobra’s mouth. “We’re helping Destiny, and Bone will find out what she knows.”

“Hold up.” I raised my hands. “You never said I had to talk to her. I’m just getting her out of North Dakota. That’s it.”

“That’s not it. I need you to find out everything she knows about her dad’s dirty dealings. Make her believe her life depends on it, or you’ll—”

“I’ll what?” I hissed through clenched teeth, not liking how the plan had evolved into more than keeping a chick in the basement until… Who knew when. Dammit, freaking dammit.

“Torture her. Kill her.” Cobra messed with the mallet on the table. “I don’t know what to tell her. Make something up to scare the shit out of her.”

Stitch burst through the door before I could tell Cobra to leave me out of this shit and to deal with his own problems. My brother should know I was the wrong guy for the job. I didn’t have a gentle bone in my body. I was an irritable, unfriendly asshole. I could guarantee the chick would not open up to me.

“You all aren’t going to believe what I just overheard at work.” Stitch sat beside me, cracked open an energy drink, and gulped.

“What’d you hear?” Hustler asked.

“My mind is blown.” Stitch drew in several deep breaths.

“Will you stop with the fucking dramatics and spit it the fuck out.” I elbowed him.

“Sorry. It’s just so crazy.” He took another breath. “I think I found someone who might be linked to the Faceless Frat. My mind is blown.” He gestured with his hands like his head exploded. “Right under my nose too.”

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