Page 28 of A New Era

“Luca and I met with Effie the other day,” their shoulders stiffen, and I have their full attention.

“If she’s dead we’d have liked to have known when it happened,” Jamie Boy says tightly.

“She’s not dead, she made it so it was impossible to take her down.”

“So why the fuck were you having a face-to-face with her in the first fucking place?” Ritchie fumes.

He goes to jump up from his chair, but Jamie Boy grabs his arm to stop him. His reputation doesn’t scare me.

“She made several visits to the prison when I was locked up, offering me, the club, a deal. I never once even considered it. I didn’t even get to hear what her deal was because I shut it down before I could hear her out. Last week she reached out again to me and my brother and instead of shutting her down, we met with her. She wants my club to flip on you and work with her, promising to triple what you pay us.”

Both their eyes narrow and their lips remain tightly shut. I continue, “I told her to go fuck herself and my brother agreed to her terms.”

Ritchie shoots forward in his seat and Jamie Boy remains as still as stone until he places his hand on his brother's arm to still him once again.

“I trust there’s a reason behind his decision?” Jamie Boy asks calmly.

I nod. “My club grew bored long ago of continually failing to get our hands on the bitch. She has the means to evade us for years and I won’t put my brothers through needless risks with the same outcome each time. Luca and I will make the fracture to our club appear real and this will be how we get her.”

“Again, you should’ve kept us in the know,” Ritchie grinds out.

“You gave us a job, I didn’t realise we had to report back every fuckin’ day.”

Jamie Boy steps in. “You don’t, but shit like this, we need to know.”

Leaning forward, I say, “I couldn’t give a shit who has the power in the city. The city was never our territory until you showed up with your bottomless pockets. We gave you our word to work with you, and that means something to us.”

Tension thickens and it’s JJ who simmers the air.

“We’re well aware it’s taking a shit ton longer to get this done, but we’re not prepared to lose brothers because we’re constantly fighting a fight we’re not strong enough for. When the time is right, we’ll strike, and she will die.”

It seems to relax the two kings and they finish their drinks. Jamie Boy is the first to stand and says, “We don’t like being in the dark.” He walks out but Ritchie hangs back.

“My brother is overly cautious, but you should know that by now. My dad would say that it’s better to cover all angles before shooting your load. As I’ve gotten older, I tend to agree. My family grows restless faster than most…” He stands and adds, “It’s not good for anyone when that happens.”

He struts outside and I lean back in my seat, staring at the now empty doorway. Fucking Haywards.

“They really think they’re something, don’t they?” JJ murmurs.

“That’s the trouble, they are.”

One day it won’t always be the case but for now, I’ll bite my tongue and continue to do what’s been asked of the club.

Chapter Eight

Holly

“Ican’t believe you’re going to Australia.”

Zach loads their cases into her car while Nina sits on their front step with me. I’m meant to be getting ready for Leo back at the house but he’s going to be a while with the British guys, and I can’t let Nina fly off around the world without saying goodbye.

“It’s for club business but we get to vacay at the same time, so I’m happy with that. I’ve never been away from Sebastian, though. I’m already missing him and he’s only in town with Kristen.”

Bumping my arm into hers, I tell her, “If it helps, me and Rayna will go see him every day and keep him busy. He won’t even notice you’re not around.”

“Thanks. That helps, I guess.”

“Hey, I get it’s going to be hard being away from him but enjoy this time away. Who knows when you’ll get this chance again?”

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