Betrayed (Soldiers of Darkness MC Book 2) (5 page)

‘I ain’t lying to you, son. Sam’s out to see me dead, but he ain’t gonna do that job himself. You gotta believe me, Zeb.’

I don’t know what to believe anymore.

And I ain’t sure who I can trust…

Chapter Five

Mack

Do I feel good about what I said to Izzi? No. I don’t. But to get her back I have to push her away first. And, yeah, I know that sounds like some crappy kinda reverse psychology, and I don’t usually go in for that kinda shit but the obvious ain’t gonna work here. I can’t risk pulling this club apart ‘cause I need to get my V.P.’s old lady back in my bed. It’ll happen. In time. She’ll come to me. But I gotta push her away first. Trust me, it’s gonna work. But right now I got other things to do; wheels to set in motion because a lot of things are gonna change around here. This is
my
club, and I’m gonna start running it my way. A way I hope Cooper would’ve been proud of.

I head into the chapel and close the door behind me. All my brothers are sitting around the table, waiting to hear what I’ve gotta say, and I ain’t sure how they’re gonna take this. But they’re gonna listen.

‘Y’all know how much this club means to me, right?’

I look around the table as I sit down, leaning forward and clasping my hands together.

‘It means everything. It gave me a fucking life, for Christ’s sake. But it ain’t always been a good place. Me and my brothers back in North Carolina, we ain’t always done good things. I was born into this world, it’s all I know, all I was brought up to do. But people change. Even people like me.’

‘D’you wanna get to the point, Mack, only, Cora’s on stage in an hour and I think there’re a few of us here who’d like to get down to
Six
to witness her twisted shit.’

I throw Zeb a look when I really just wanna break his fucking jaw, but I’m trying to be nice here. I can do nice. I just don’t always want to. ‘People change. And I want this
club
to change. Which is why I want us to move away from that outlaw image…’

‘You fucking kidding me?’ Zeb laughs and, yeah, my fist’s itching to connect with that perfect jaw line. ‘What’re you saying, Mack? Suddenly being a one percenter ain’t good enough no more?’

‘Jesus, boss, you going fucking soft on us?’ Hal joins in. ‘You want us to become the kinda club that organizes summer fetes and yard sales and…’

I slam my fist down hard on the table, and that shuts ‘em up. ‘No-one’s going fucking soft, y’hear me? And no-one’s talking about turning this club into the kinda place your mom could hang out in…’

‘Then what
are
you talking about?’ Hal asks. ‘’Cause I didn’t come here to sell raffle tickets to old ladies.’

‘We got legitimate businesses round here. We got shit we can work on that don’t nececcsarily involve us risking our freakin’ lives every time we set foot outside this clubhouse.’

‘And what if we get off on that shit?’

I look at Zeb, and as my V.P. he should at least pretend to back me up on this one, but he don’t seem in a hurry to do that. ‘I ain’t saying we suddenly turn into saints. But maybe it’s time to start distancing ourselves from the kinda crap we don’t need.’

I glance around the table again, and I know I ain’t winning this one. And maybe there’s a part of me that, yeah, he’s tired of all the fighting and the repercussions. Maybe I’m starting to see a different kinda future out there. Shoot me. I ain’t entitled to change?

‘You seriously want us to think about this?’ Blade, my Sargeant-at-Arms, asks as I give the signal for them all to go. Church is over. ‘Cause I ain’t sure you got everyone on board here, Mack. I mean, where the hell did that come from, huh?’

I trail a hand through my hair and sigh quietly. I need a drink now, a fucking big one. ‘I gotta lot on my mind, Blade. Guess not all my ideas are hitting the right shots here.’

He throws me a look that tells me I gotta get my shit together, and fast, and maybe he’s right ‘cause I’m feeling a sense of déjà vu here I don’t fucking need. ‘You gonna be at
Six
later?’

‘Yeah. Just got a couple of things to finish off here first.’

‘OK.’

‘Keep an eye on things for me, Blade. All right? First night and all that, don’t want no trouble.’ I watch him leave before I turn to face Zeb, who’s still sitting at the table. ‘You not joining them? I thought you were all desperate to see Cora do her thing.’

‘You touch my wife, Mack, and you don’t wanna know what’ll happen.’

Jesus. I need
this
. ‘I ain’t interested in Izzi no more, Zeb. OK?’

He stands up and kicks his chair back, his expression darkening as he comes closer, but he don’t intimidate me. He never has done, and he ain’t starting now. ‘You’re distracted, brother. And it don’t take a genius to work out what’s got you that way; what’s slowly destroying you. Because you ain’t the man you used to be, and I think even
you
know that.’

‘You think you know me that well, huh? Because you know
shit
, Zeb.’

‘You don’t think I don’t see the way you look at her?’

‘Jesus, what the fuck is this? Some high school prom night face-off? I ain’t interested in Izzi. So back the fuck off before I do something I probably ain’t gonna regret.’

‘Tough words, Mack. From a man who, all of a sudden, don’t wanna fight no more.’

I swear, it’s all I can do not to lay him out. But he’s my V.P. As a man I could easily live without him, but this club needs him. So I’m gonna try not to hurt him too much.

‘Back off, Zeb.’

‘You still dream about her, huh? You still want to be where
I
am, every fucking night? Inside that beautiful, tight pussy of hers, making her scream, feeling her come… but she don’t want you no more, Mack. She don’t want you.’

‘You sure about that?’

Yeah, I know I’m goading him, so I probably deserved the punch he lands on my jaw, but any ideas about me going soft are put to fucking bed as I retaliate immediately. He ain’t even got time to take a breath before my fist connects with his cheek, slamming his head back against the wall and I pull my knife from my pocket and push it against his throat, my face right up in his because I’m in no fucking mood right now. Not for him, not for any of this shit. Because he’s touched a fucking nerve? Yeah, he has, I ain’t gonna lie. I want his wife straddling me, riding me, taking my cock deep while she brings herself off, I want all of that. I want Izzi, but I ain’t gonna admit that to his face. What am I? Fucking suicidal?

‘You’re messing with someone you really don’t wanna mess with, Mack. And I ain’t in no mood to be fucked over.’

I pull the knife away and laugh in his face, stepping back from him, but I know this game, and I’m ready for him as he lunges towards me, the punch he slams into my stomach winding me slightly and I stagger back, but I keep hold of that knife. One more move from this jackass and I’m using the fucker. And he tries, Jesus, he really ain’t in a good mood tonight, but again I’m no amateur, and I grab him by his cut and throw him back against the wall, the knife once more pressed against his throat.

‘What the
fuck’s
going on?’

Izzi’s voice don’t even make me flinch, I don’t take my eyes off Zeb, his expression verging on almost manic. Man, he really is one fucked-up bastard. ‘You two had some kinda falling out, darlin’? ‘Cause your man here, he’s sure as hell mad about something.’

‘Get away from him, Mack.’

‘You got her fighting your battles now, huh?’ I sneer in his face, and I know that’s only gonna push him even more but I don’t care. And I’m done here anyway. I ain’t wasting no more time on this crap. I drop my hand and step back, tucking my knife away. ‘This ain’t worth my time.’

Zeb runs a hand over his hair and throws Izzi a look that tells her he ain’t happy with her intervention. He’s pissed as hell.

‘Just remember what you are around here, Zeb. All right? You’re my V.P. You ain’t in fucking charge.’

‘And you’re a President who don’t deserve that role.’

I raise an eyebrow. He wants to go again? I can do this all night. ‘You think you can do better?’

‘Right now, Mack,
Izzi
could do better.’

Jesus!

‘If you two are gonna have a pissing match I’m out of here.’ Izzi turns to go, and I look over at Zeb, but he’s got his head down now. He looks almost defeated. Is there something going on I don’t know about? Have him and Izzi really had some kinda falling out, ‘cause I only said all that to wind him up, I didn’t know it was true.

‘Something going on between you two?’ I ask, and he looks up slowly, but his eyes are calmer now. The blackness has gone.

‘Me and Izzi are fine.’

‘She don’t seem to be a fan of yours right now.’

‘She ain’t exactly singing your praises either, brother. And me and Izzi, we ain’t your business.’ He steps forward, but I don’t sense no more shit kicking off now. I think we’re both done. ‘Stay away from her, Mack.’

He walks away and I drop my head and breathe in deep. I don’t know what the fuck that was all about, but I know one thing for sure now. Things really are gonna be different ‘round here…

Zeb

That shit back at the clubhouse, that shouldn’t’ve happened. I let my guard down, let Mack get to me, and I’m fucking angry about that; pissed that Izzi stepped in, man, she made me look like a jerk. But this crap with Kes, it’s fucking with my head.

‘That looks sore.’ Kit lights up a cigarette and leans back against the wall beside me.
 

‘Shouldn’t you be inside?’

‘We not allowed breaks now?’ She takes a drag on her cigarette and narrows her eyes as she looks at me. ‘What’s the other guy look like?’

I light up my own cigarette and draw deep. ‘It’s nothing.’

‘Don’t look like nothing to me. You should let me clean that up for you. We got a first aid kit inside, I can sort those cuts out for you…’

‘I don’t need no cleaning up, OK?’

She lets out a low whistle and finishes her cigarette, stubbing it out on the wall behind her. ‘Over a girl, was it?’

‘Listen, sweetheart, keep that pretty nose outta shit that don’t concern you.’

‘Sometimes talking about it can be good, y’know?’

‘I ain’t one for talking.’

She digs her hands into her pockets and stares out ahead of her. ‘I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say…’ She turns to look at me, and there’s a part of me that wishes she’d go away. I kinda wanna be on my own for a while. I got too much crap to think about and she’s just getting in the way. But there’s another part of me that wants her to stay. ‘This
is
over a woman, right?’

‘Jesus…’ I laugh and drop my gaze, shaking my head. ‘You really don’t know when to stop, do you?’

‘I’m not the kind of girl that takes no for an answer.’

I look back up at her, and I move so I’m in front of her, right in her space, our eyes locked. She wants to play? I can do that. ‘What kinda girl
are
you then, darlin’?’

She licks her lips and smiles. ‘The kind of girl who isn’t afraid of playing with fire.’

I laugh again, and I move a little closer to her, leaning in to her until my mouth almost touches hers. And I hear her gasp, and I smile, too. ‘Getting burned can really hurt, sweetheart. So, if I were you I’d back off, you got that?’