Page 11 of Twice the Rivalry

“I think he’s been in front of his computers too long if he thinks it’s going to be that simple,” Razor drawled with a roll of his eyes. “Look, we’re going around in circles. They’ll be here in a couple of days, and we need to make sure we’re ready for Glitch.”

“Code, you get your system up and running again,” Savage ordered. “Probably best if you don’t interact with Glitch between now and when she arrives. And you’ll make space in your office for her.”

Code scowled. “Just because she said she was going to work with me doesn’t mean she has to,” he argued.

“You really want to piss her off more right now?” Rogue asked flatly. Their VP and one scary motherfucker, Code resisted the urge to roll his eyes at him. He stood at six-four with hard blue eyes, dark hair, a goatee, and a body that was made for crushing. He was not one you pissed off if you wanted to live another day. Though, Code had seen him settle down now that Scarlett was in the picture. And their twin girls, Win and Wren. Still, he didn’t feel like getting his ass beat by the man if he could help it.

“I don’t like anyone in my space,” Code maintained stubbornly. “And the last time, she just got in my way.”

“Tough shit,” Savage replied unsympathetically. “Maybe this way the two of you will work out whatever your issue with each other is.” He looked at Fury and Ice. “The two of you get to work on making sure we’re set up for any possibility.” Both men nodded. Savage looked at Steel. “I’ll leave the logistics to you on whether we need a sniper, but work with Fury and Ice if you need anything.”

“Done,” Steel said with a nod.

“Everyone else, be on your toes and keep an eye out for anyone that doesn’t look like they should be around. Keep an eye on the bar and the garage in case they try to get through our businesses first instead of an outright attack. Razor, do you think Karissa will tell us what we could expect to come our way?”

Razor gave a sardonic smile. “What do you think?”

Savage sighed. “Fine, wait until she calms down and doesn’t want to castrate you, or the rest of us, but we need to know what could be coming. We can ask the Predators when they get here, but it won’t hurt to get ahead of everything and get things sorted before they roll up. Especially since we don’t know if whoever is after them has already tracked Karissa here.”

Code felt another jolt of guilt. He really stepped in it this time, and he was going to have to work hard to apologize and make it up to Karissa and Glitch. Though he would worry about Glitch when she got here.

“What room are we putting her in?” Fury asked.

“She can stay with Karissa and I,” Razor offered.

“You really are a crazy bastard, aren’t you?” Rogue grunted. “You want two women that can slice your balls and throat at the same time in the same small apartment?”

Razor winced as if that thought hadn’t occurred to him before. “Yeah, okay, maybe not a good idea.”

“They should both be on the grounds,” Snake said with a shake of his head. A former Special Forces operative, the man was a quieter member of their club, but he was no less lethal. He was like a modern day Rambo, but with shorter black hair and bright blue eyes. He was built like Rogue, but had less ink.

Savage nodded. He looked at Razor and Rogue both. “Which means both your women, and the twins, need to stay on the grounds. And the girls will have someone driving and picking them up from school and school only.”

Rogue nodded. “Been meaning to talk to you about building a house on the grounds anyway. We spend more time here than in town.”

Savage nodded. “We’ll talk about it.”

“And I’ll talk to Karissa; we’ll stay in our room here,” Razor added. “I think there’s a spare room near us.” Then he smirked at Code. “Though, I think that room is also near Code’s, so I guess the question is, will he be getting any sleep knowing that the two women most likely to murder him in his sleep are close by?”

Code glowered at him. “No one is going to be murdering me,” he snapped. “I can sleep in my office if I feel the need.”

“Do we have any other spaces other than that room?” Savage asked, redirecting the conversation.

“Not unless we want her to sleep with the club whores,” Ink said with a grin. “And after the last time, I don’t think that would go over any better. She’d probably throw a fit.”

One of the club whores made the mistake of getting in Karissa and Glitch’s way when they were heading into Church when dealing with Karissa’s former foster sister, and it had ended with both women making an example out of Loni, one of the women who were stupid enough to question them. Code knew her being with them would not end well.

“Then she’ll be in the room Razor mentioned,” Savage decreed. He arched a brow at Code. “And you two will have to play nice because I’m not dealing with a dead body.”

“Fine,” Code muttered.

“Alright, then we’ll call this meeting over. Everyone get to it. Keep your eyes open and your ears to the ground.” With that, Savage called an end to Church and stood.

They all filed out of the room and Code headed for his office. He had to make sure his system was back up and running to full potential. He also had to find any holes still left open, before someone else got in and screwed them over again.

When he entered his office, he slammed the door shut behind him, collapsed into his chair and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Fuck,” he breathed out, as he let himself have a moment to digest everything.

He really fucked things up, and now that he was alone, he could let himself really feel the guilt and other emotions running through him. Then he told himself to get over it, and that moping wouldn’t fix anything. So, he got to work.

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