Razing Grace: Razing Grace Part 1 (28 page)

“What you pulled with Cassia was low.”

“Low?” I laugh, dropping the water bottle and picking up a towel before wrapping it around my neck. Miles and Millie both have no idea. “Miles, do you not know me at all? And besides,” I say, walking towards the weight bench, “it had to be done or she wouldn’t have left. Everything has to go as planned, and whatever the fuck it is I feel for her…” I pause when I hear Miles chuckling behind me. “Oh, bro, there better be a fly stuck in that fucking throat of yours or I’m going to rip it clean out.”

“Calm down.” He chuckles, attempting to silence his laughs. Shaking his head, he walks behind the bench to spot me. “You love her.”

My ass hasn’t even touched the bench when I shoot back up, landing to my feet. “The fuck you just say?”

Miles smirks, unaffected. Cocky fucker. “I said,” he begins, leaning his elbows on the metal bar. “That you love her. L. O. V…”

“Miles?” I say softly, my eyes narrowing. “You’re this close,” I inch my fingers apart, “to losing all your teeth, and I’m not playing, brother.”

“Alright, sorry.” He throws his hands up in defeat and I take a seat back on the bench before lying down. Clutching the barbell in my hand, I go to push it up when he starts again. “I’m just saying, you’ve never—”

“Miles!” I snap, looking up at him from under the bar. His face looks down at me. I continue, “I don’t fucking love her. I’m not qualified to love.” Exhaling, I lift the bar off its brackets.

“What? You think you have to earn a degree to love someone? No, Raze.”

“No,” I huff, pumping out my reps. “I got kicked the fuck out of that college. I. Cannot. Feel. Love.”

“How do you know?” Miles continues.

“I just do.”

“Well, do you think I can love?” he shoots back.

“Yes.” I answer without a doubt, because he can. Miles is a stone cold killer, and not just any killer, but he has perfected the art of killing. Miles can make killing a classy act. Strangest fucking guy you’d ever meet, but his heart is not cold. I thought it was… until I saw him with Millie.

“Okay,” Miles answers with a roll of an eye. “You’ve always said you and I were much alike in the whole heartless department.”

“True,” I answer, placing the bar back on the stand and getting to my feet. “But that was until I saw you with Millie.”

“Really?” he says smugly, walking towards me. “Well ditto, Raze, the executioner, 000 of fucking heartless Tripp, that’s exactly how I know you are capable too.” I run the towel across my neck to wipe the sweat off. Miles laughs smugly as he bounces backwards towards the door. “As you can see…” His arms stretch wide. “That girl is the only girl that has brought to the surface not one, but two coldhearted dead men. Now,” he adds with a deep smirk, tilting his head over his shoulder to check to see if the door was open, “who’s going to get her first?”

I launch off the bench just as he laughs like a high-pitched hyena and bolts out the door.

My phone starts ringing in my pocket. “Fuck.” I pull it out and slide it unlocked. “What?”

“I’ve come to a decision,” Beast mumbles down the other line.

“Yeah?” I take a seat back on the bench. “Continue.”

“We need to meet somewhere.”

“Here.”

Beast laughs. “Yeah, no. Not now. Not now that I know who you are. Public setting. There’s a bar across town, on the outskirts. Meet there at, say, twelve?”

“Done. Send me the details.” I hang up and make my way out of the gym. I can deal with Miles later, and as much as I know Millie has a little thing for him and he her, they’re both full of shit. Miles is stuck between boyfriend one and girlfriend one all while still having sex with girls on the side. He doesn’t need or want Millie in that way. I’ve yet to tell Miles that he’s in love with Blake, or why else would he not sleep with another male except for him? It doesn’t make sense, him drowning himself in pussy. He’s doing it to avoid cock. Blake’s cock.

Pushing open my bedroom door, I find Cassia sprawled out on my bed. I stiffen. “Get the fuck out.”

“Oh, what? We didn’t even get to start yesterday before we were so rudely interrupted.”

“Enough went on, now get the fuck out. You know the fucking rules.”

“Raze,” she scoffs, rolling her eyes. “You didn’t even put your dick in me. Please.” She pouts.

I laugh, looking to the side before looking back at her. “I’m going to give you three seconds to get the fuck out of this room or I’ll kill you my fucking self.”

Her face sets. “You wouldn’t.” Rising, she approaches me. “My dad won’t like that.”

My hand flies up to her throat. “Your dad?” I say, tilting my head and studying her face while my fingers clench onto her throat roughly until I feel her neck constricting under my pressure. “He needs me more than I need him, so I wouldn’t be so cocky. He would let me kill you in a heartbeat if it meant he gets protection.” Tossing her body to the side, I point to the stairs. “Get the fuck out.”

She quickly gets to her feet and runs out of my room.

Grunting out in frustration, I sit on my bed with my hands on my face. I’m feeling like I need to go another round with Miles, but I know I’d probably beat his fucking ass for real just for saying all of that shit about Millie. Dropping down onto my back, I look up to my ceiling and run over his words. I didn’t see any change with how I was when she was around. I let her in, yeah, a little. Did I do it because I thought I owed her because of what we put her through in the dungeon? I don’t even know how I should respond to those questions because both answers would result in me caring in some way. I look at the alarm clock on my nightstand when an idea begins to form in my head.

“Fuck it.” I stand and head for the shower. “She’s mine.”

RAZE

Beast had texted me to meet him at some typical small town biker bar. I laugh under my breath. There’s a line of black Harley’s outside except for one red one: Hellraiser, Hella’s bike. I know everything there is to know about all of the men sitting in that bar wearing a Devil’s Own cut. I’ve known every bit about them for the past ten years.

Beast: President, ex-Army member, also known as 316; ruthless, deadly, but at the same time silent and calculated. He can kill you in his sleep and not break a sweat.

Hella: Vice President, ex-Army member, also known as 112; ruthless, deadly, but can be reckless because he has a short fuse. He and Beast balance each other out, kinda like yin and yang.

Frost: Secretary. Broken home, junkie mom who married a rich well-off man who owns a chunk in the stock market. Fighter ever since he was a kid, calculated, demonic but a fucking genius with numbers. Doesn’t care about much, only his mom.

Hannibal: Sergeant of Arms. Feral. One of the youngest in the pack and absolutely lethal. Takes after his namesake, Lector. Kill choice and all. Gives fucks about very little, but has a soft spot for some hacker chick he grew up with and his own sister. Comes from a normal home, unsure what went wrong along the way in his mind.

Ripper: Treasurer. His name speaks for him. The go-to man for anything they need. Some say he has nothing to lose.

Toke: Patch member. Long standing patch member, loyal to the club and to Beast, but has no issues with voicing his opinion.

Skid: Patch member since recently. Newest Devil’s member. Young, same age as Hannibal, maybe younger, and is lethal with his fist. Throw him in a cage with Chuck Norris and I’d put my money on this kid.

Flicker: Patch member. Longtime member. Patched in because his old man was one of the founding brothers. Weapon of choice: fire.

Dash: Prospect. New prospect. Beast got rid of a few that had come through, and Dash is the last man standing, so I’m guessing his redeeming quality has something to do with the fact that he has low latent inhibition. It basically means that he sees the world in pieces rather than as objects. The kid is a fucking genius. Next level.

That leaves another two prospects who have recently started and I’m not sure they will survive long enough to even give them thought. Beast is selective with who he lets into the club; you gotta bring something to the table or he’ll shoot you.

Pushing open the door to my Phantom, I walk towards the bar and up the old burnt wooden steps before pulling the heavy door open. Silence falls as I enter and I smirk inwardly. Finding Beast, Hella, and Frost tucked away in a corner, I walk towards them.

“Where’s your other hand?” Beast asks, gesturing to the seat in front of him.

“Miles?” I smirk, unbuttoning my suit jacket and removing it, taking a seat. I begin rolling up the sleeves to my dress shirt. “At home.”

“He doesn’t follow you around? You know, for backup?” Beast hints at me, pointing to the beer that he already ordered for me.

I smile. “Hmm, no.” Taking the beer, I lift it to my mouth and take a long pull while keeping my eyes on Beast.

“And why’s that?” Beast cocks his head. Hella sits beside him with his arms stretched over the seat and Frost sits on a single seat at the end of the table.

“Because I don’t need it.” I shrug, throwing my arms over the rim of the two chairs beside me. “Are we going to carry on with this pissing contest? Or can we get down to why I’m really fucking here?”

Beast laughs, sitting forward. “Alright, then…” He pauses. “How do I know I can trust you? How do I know this isn’t some trap? This,” he points to the table, “could start the biggest war in outlaw history. You’re talking about mafia families joining together.”

I pick up my drink. “Has Millie said anything about who I am?”

“We fucking know who you are, man.”

I shake my head. “Mmm, no. I’m talking about the civilian side of me, not The Army side.”

Beast leans back and crosses his arms. This is probably the first time I can see some similarity between the both of us. “Go on.”

I grin. “How much do you know about the underground? I’m not just talking mafia. I’m talking everything. From illegal poker games to street races to who keeps the peace between transaction deals… How much do you know about who makes sure everyone stays in line or they lose their head? How much do you know about the man who plays God?”

Beast and Hella shuffle in their seat. Hella puts his hand up. “I’ve heard about a kingpin, never met him personally.”

My grin deepens at Beast. I flick my hands up. “In the flesh.”

“Get the fuck outta here!” Hella slumps in his seat and Beast’s eyes darken.

“And why the fuck should I believe you?”

“Well, you don’t have to, but if you were smart, and I think you are, you’d know I wouldn’t bullshit about something like this.”

“How the fuck old are you?” Beast asks.

“Twenty-eight.”

“How the fuck did you get this position?”

“I was groomed for it since I was a kid. It was between me and you, but they chose me.” I can’t stop the cocky smile on my mouth.

“I’m feeling like I didn’t get the full experience of The Army,” Hella whispers to himself. Beast gives him a bored expression.

“You’re telling me that you hold the power in the underground world?”

I shake my head. “No. Just when shit goes down between families or transactions turn ugly, they all answer to me.”

“Jesus Christ,” Hella adds. “You’re a legend on both sides.”

I look back at Beast. “Ask me anything and I’ll tell you. This plan has been brewing for ten years.”

“Ten years? You’ve been planning this for ten years?”

I nod. “What? You think I’m daddy’s little psychopath?” I question with an arched brow. “No.”

“We were at the compound all our lives. We never saw you once. How do I know you’re not lying?”

“What? You think they only had one? No. I was raised in the second sector, the one that’s not far from here.” I pause and take a pull of my beer. “Regarding your trust issues, I have a proposition. Has Millie said anything about the two girls I keep at my house?”

Hella shakes his head. “Nah, man. Melissa said that they talked when they got back last night, but when Melissa asked her about you, Millie shut down. She didn’t tell her shit, but Melissa could see she was hiding whatever she knew.”

Something about knowing Millie didn’t say shit fills me with something. Pride? Was I proud of her? Taken aback? A bit of both. She’d make the perfect boss wife, if someone could rein in her crazy side.