Running a hand down his face, he was starting to feel
his years. It had been too long since he had the chance to relax.
The phone on his desk rang. Picking up the receiver he
greeted whoever was on the line.
“Having fun at the party?” Gonzalez asked, bringing
Tiny onto the alert.
“It’s going okay.”
“I’m sad. I thought I’d get an invite seeing as I’m
technically your boss.”
Turning his hand into fists at his side, Tiny tried to
keep his anger locked within. The last thing he wanted to do was anger
Gonzalez. They were not strong enough yet to take the bastard out.
Why not do what Devil has done?
His gut was telling him to hold off on an attack. If
they struck out too soon then Gonzalez would be the one coming out the victor.
Tiny knew his own men and that Ned also had favors to bring in to take this
bastard down. What he didn’t know was how many men Gonzalez had working for
him.
Years ago, he’d have busted into this guy’s glace and
taken him out without a second thought. Today it was all different. He had too
much to lose. The thought of anything happening to Eva scared him to the core.
“We’ve all been busy. I’m afraid there was no time to
invite you.”
Gonzalez chuckled and tutted over the line. “You’re
lying to me. I hate it when I’m lied to. People tend to get hurt or even killed
when I’m lied to, and you’ve got a lot of people together in one place. Do you
know how dangerous that is?”
Tiny stood up. “You fucking touch my club—”
“Calm down, Tiny. You’re losing your touch as a
president. Drawing all of your people into one building is risky. I mean, your
clubhouse has been blown up before. I’m sure it’ll be easy to do again.”
Sandy had been the one to blow up the clubhouse the
last time. They didn’t have a chance as the club had been divided and The
Darkness had been trying to take over Fort Wills.
“We’re here for a wedding. You want to fuck up the two
couples’ happiness, then fine, blow us the fuck up. We’ve got friends here to
celebrate a wedding and one of our men coming back to us.”
One by one the men started to file into the room.
“One of the men on the force, one of
my
men, has been found dead. His car
veered off the road into a tree. I’ve just got the news. Have you heard
anything about that?” Gonzalez asked.
Tiny took a moment to collect his thoughts.
He didn’t want Butch knowing the truth. This
had been set up between Alex and Whizz. “Hold on.” He dropped the receiver from
his ear and shouted. “Whizz, have you heard anything about a man on the force
hitting a tree?
Something to do with his car?”
Whizz raised a brow, taking his time. “No, I’ve not
heard shit.”
Putting the receiver to his ear, he started to talk.
“Nope, nothing has hit us. Are you sure it was a Fort Wills man?”
“I’m not so easily fooled. Something is going on, and
I’ll find out the truth.”
“You’re not going to find shit.”
“Now, Tiny, you don’t need to panic. I’ve got plenty
of fun to be had in time. I mean, Devil’s the one I’m really pissed at. He
killed one of my men and took out one of my factories. I’m not happy with him.
Maybe we could make a trade.”
“What?” Tiny asked, staring at the man in question.
“Give me Devil and his crew and I’ll leave you and
Fort Wills alone.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“And that’s why you, your club, and all the families
connected with you are going to die. You’re not the kind of man to make the
hard decision. I’ll be in touch.”
The call ended, and Tiny placed the receiver back in
its place, cursing.
“Gonzalez?” Devil asked.
“Yeah.
He’s disappointed we didn’t extend him an invitation to our little get-together.”
Gash leaned against the door with a raised brow. “He
actually thought he had the right to be here?” Gash asked.
“Gonzalez believes he holds all the cards,” Whizz
said. “He’s mistaken.”
“What have you found out?” Tiny asked, turning his
attention back to Whizz.
“His father set up his European base of being the king
of the criminal world, like a mafia boss, without the attitude. He was crazy,
insane, and he was unpredictable. Gonzalez senior in his early years had been
known for lashing out and fighting bloody. He’d kill people for saying a wrong
word to him. He took out Butch’s family and the club his father was part of, and
he even killed his wife in front of his son. His wife was the daughter of one
of his associates. Her death meant they had to flee Europe as there was a price
on Daddy Gonzalez’s head. He started to gain ground on American soil, and then
for some reason, he simply upped and left, going back to Europe. I found out
that his deceased wife’s father had in fact died. The reward on his head
dropped, which was why he returned to Europe. Then baby Gonzalez grew up and
killed his father, taking over the operation. However, baby Gonzalez wanted
American soil, and because of that, his European base weakened. He’s no longer
the one running shit there. It’s been taken over by some Spanish guy. I can’t
pronounce his name, and it doesn’t matter. I’ve been in touch with him, and he
doesn’t want Gonzalez back on his soil. He wants Gonzalez in the ground.”
Tiny saw the tension inside Butch. Something there
didn’t sit right with him. There was nothing that Whizz said that wasn’t the
truth, unless there was something wrong with the facts.
Glancing at Alex, Tiny saw his former brother-in-law
was also staring at Butch strangely.
“He gave all of that up to come here,” Whizz said.
“Gonzalez’s old life is gone. Someone else has taken up his place. His old
allies have pretty much spat him back out as if he tasted bad.”
“What are you saying? Gonzalez only has what he’s got
here?”
“Pretty much.
The problem we’ve
got,
is that he’s got a lot
of favors he can pull in. The raid we got a few months back was called in by a
favor from a cop. Gonzalez is your average run of the mill salesman until you
get to know him. He draws you in, sets everything up, and uses what he’s got
against you. The biggest problem is the girls and the smuggled drugs. He
clearly has connections elsewhere, which is why he has a constant supply. I’ve
been in touch with three people, and I just got another five around Vegas and
near Fort Wills. They’re backing down and won’t answer Gonzalez’s calls, but
we’ve got to take him out. If we don’t take him out within the next month,
they’ll finish what they started.” Whizz sat back, resting his head on his
hand.
For the first time since Whizz’s attack, he actually
looked normal.
“We don’t take Gonzalez out in
time,
they’re coming for us as planned? What’s going to happen to the people
supplying him?” Zero asked.
“The Spanish guy is in talks to take over from the
suppliers. We take out Gonzalez and he’s more than happy to deal with the
suppliers. First, we need to take Gonzalez out and worry about the men closest
to us. I’m working on getting them to come out and talk to us, but it takes a
lot longer to convince people to come to us. I’ve asked them what Gonzalez has
on them, but they’re silent. Not that I blame them for being silent. I wouldn’t
trust anyone with my secrets. I’m currently hacking into phones and numbers to
get the information I need. It’ll take some time, but I’ll get it done,” Whizz
said. “I’m not worried. Computers never lie.”
No one could deny Whizz was awesome.
Tiny looked toward Alex, who was still looking at
Butch. The deep thought in Alex’s eyes made Tiny tense.
“Gonzalez also mentioned about giving you up, Devil,”
Tiny said, turning to look at his friend.
“Me?”
“Yeah, you.
He wanted to make a trade, you and your crew for me to be left alone
along with Fort Wills.”
“Why didn’t you take the deal?” Devil asked.
“Do you really think he’ll leave us alone? He wants to
know how far he can push. I’ve got a feeling he’s going to start trying to make
us turn on each other.”
“Then he doesn’t know the kind of shit we’ve been
through, does he?” Devil chuckled.
“It’s time you brought me up to speed on this Gonzalez
guy,” Gash said. “He sounds like the kind of person who needs to be put down.”
“He is,” Butch said. “He’s a fucking bastard and the
worst kind of sick fuck imaginable.”
“Sounds like fun. When do we kill him?” Gash had his
arms folded over his chest, waiting for an answer.
“We can’t just kill him,” Zero said.
“Why not?
This fucker is stopping me from taking care of some unfinished
business. I want to do what I’ve been planning for the last five years. Get me
a chance to take this fucker out and I’ll kill him. I’ve waited long enough for
my revenge.” Gash grabbed the door handle. “I don’t need to know anything
else.”
Gash walked out of the room without further notice.
“I guess there’s no point in a meeting,” Tiny said,
watching his men file out of the room.
Devil stayed behind. Tiny was surprised Alex didn’t
try to talk to him.
“What?” Tiny asked, standing up.
“You’re lying to me, and I want to know what the fuck
is going on.” Devil folded his arms and refused to move.
Letting out a sigh, Tiny moved past him to close the
door.
“We’ve got Butch pretending to be a spy for Gonzalez.”
Tiny turned around to see Devil frowning.
“What?”
“It was Alex’s idea. Gonzalez was still under the
illusion that we had to blackmail Butch to bring him back into the club. He
doesn’t know that Butch begged us, not the other way around.”
“You think that’s going to work?”
“Patricia’s grave is a clear sign that Gonzalez
believes it to be the truth.”
“Butch did that?”
Tiny nodded.
“Yeah.
Believe
me, it was a shock. Butch doesn’t like the way he’s acting, but it needs to
happen for Gonzalez to believe what’s going on.”
“This is dangerous. What happens if Butch has to
attack one of our women or force her somewhere that puts her in danger? Alex
isn’t a fucking president. He’s a jumped up business man who doesn’t have the
first clue about running a club.”
Tiny almost laughed. Alex and Devil were not the best
of friends.
“Be careful. He’s a Skull, and without his help we
wouldn’t be standing where we are now.”
“I don’t give a fuck. He was never a biker. We are,
Tiny. It’s time for you to start making your own decisions before the club life
fucks up.”
Devil stormed out of the room leaving Tiny alone.
When had he stopped trusting his own judgment? Over
the years Alex had taken more and more of a stand beside him. Was he letting
Alex run The Skulls without him even realizing it?
“Hey, baby,” Eva said.
He glanced up to find his woman leaning against the
doorframe. “Do you think I’m losing my club?”
“What?”
Shaking his head, he tapped his finger on the desk.
“Forget about it. It’s nothing.”
He really hoped it was nothing.
Chapter Five
One week after Gash’s return to the club life had gone
back to some semblance of normal. Lockdown was finished, which surprised Eva.
She hadn’t expected Tiny to lift the lockdown until Gonzalez was no longer a
threat. Standing in the doorway of her kids’ bedroom, she watched as Miles and
Tabitha played together. They were three years old and amazing children. She’d
been blessed with a set of angels. Glancing down at her watch she saw it was a
little after twelve. Tiny had left to go to the club at seven.
She missed being around him all day. Lockdowns were a
burden and a pleasure for Eva. Being around Tiny and the club was always
something she enjoyed. The problem she had was the danger lockdown always
meant.
“Eva, I’m home,” Tate said, shouting out toward her.
Securing the baby gate, she walked down the stairs to find Tate carrying Simon
on her hip.
“Hey, honey. Is he here for me to look after?” Eva
asked. She was the designated babysitter for the day. The Chaos Bleeds crew was
still in town. They were staying at the club until after the wedding. Eva truly
hoped they had an idea of what to do about Gonzalez by then. She would hate for
them all to be separated with the danger still lurking at every corner.
“Yeah, if you
don’t mind.
I’m working on the desk at the dentist today. Kelsey
isn’t back to work yet as she’s still on maternity
leave
.
Killer is doing everything he can to make her quit. He hates her being a dental
nurse.” Tate chuckled.
“I don’t blame him. I only go so I don’t have to
stress about having a lot more work done.” Eva placed a hand in front of her
lips.