“No, I wouldn’t let that happen,” he said.
“The next generation are coming, Tiny. They’re right
on us, and we’re going to hand them down our legacy. All of us, not just the
two of us have something to pass onto our kids. Do you want them eating out of
Gonzalez’s hand? I know my Simon is not going to be taking this shit. I will
not have this become what The Darkness wanted. Fuck, Snitch would
be loving
every second of this. He’d be using the girls like
they were his own. We fought to put a stop to this before. I’m not going to
stop now. Gonzalez means war, and I’m going to give him one.” Devil stepped
back, holding his hand up. “Chaos Bleeds does not accept shit. We throw shit
back. What I did with his warehouse is simple payback.”
“He took Ashley from us. We deserve payback,” Pussy
said, growling.
They were all in Fort Wills to celebrate Cheryl and
Butch along with Pussy and Sasha’s coming wedding. Both clubs were using the
event to deal with the main problem they all faced, Gonzalez, the drug dealing
pimp, who happened to be big over in Europe and was working his way through
their towns and further. At least, Gonzalez had been big until he decided to
take on America. Whizz had found out some startling revelations that could tear
Gonzalez’s operation apart. It seemed his absence over in Europe had created
some waves with other crime lords, who’d decided to swoop in and take over. All
of the deals Gonzalez had now only involved people in America. Everyone had
severed ties and connections with Gonzalez. This could be the one thing they
needed to finally draw Gonzalez to his knees. Tiny wasn’t ready to share any
news he had with Devil. The leader of the Chaos Bleeds crew could end up
reacting prematurely and ruining every chance they had of taking Gonzalez down.
Tiny knew he needed to take his time and not screw this up.
“He took something from everyone—”
“But he hasn’t killed one of your team,” Pussy said,
interrupting him. “He’s taken from us, and he did it because he could. You
don’t know what it feels like.”
There was no argument for that. “I know and I’m sorry,
but starting a fucking war with this piece of shit is not the answer at least,
not now.” Tiny glared at all of the Chaos Bleeds men. “There’s a time and a
place to take revenge.”
“Dude’s got a point,” Steven said, speaking up. “We’re
fucking lapdogs, and this fucker is only going to get worse. Ashley was the
beginning. He’s going to go after others, and if we’re not careful, he’ll kill
all of us and get what he wants. We need to put a stop to this.”
Blaine cleared his throat. He’d been shot some months
back but was fully recovered thanks to his woman and little girl, Emily and
Darcy. “I’ve got to get my girls out of dodge if shit is going down. I can’t
risk them. It has taken too much to get them back, and we’ve already had a lot
of shit to handle.”
“We can’t take anyone out of town. Gonzalez has his
men all over the place. None of us leave, but we can set up a safe house for us
all,” Tiny said, staring at Devil. He saw his men looking tired of it all. “I
know what you’re all are going through. My daughter was in a fucking coma
because I hit out at this shit. Next time it might not be a fucking coma, it
could be death.”
He was tired of fighting this shit. “I’m asking for
you to trust me. We can keep them safe.”
“Where?”
Devil asked.
“We stay in Fort Wills. The old warehouse where Nash
went through his recovery and that we’ve converted it to a gym of some kind.
We’ve been sorting that place out for us to work through. Every chance we had,
some shit happened that pulled us away from it,” Tiny said, glancing around at
his men.
Nash nodded. “That would do. We could work with that.
The warehouse would be the perfect place to keep the women safe. They don’t
have to stay here, and we’re still in town, but the warehouse is locked up
tight. It’s safer than a fucking bank with Whizz controlling everything.”
“It still leaves us open to an attack,” Zero said.
“But it doesn’t put us at risk. The women will move to
the warehouse, so they won’t leave the town. It’s a win-win,” Butch said,
speaking up.
Butch had yet to be voted in, which Tiny was hoping to
get done within the next couple of days. There was no way he was allowing Butch
back in unless he proved himself. Lash and Angel were due back this afternoon.
Once shit settled down, the club was going to vote on letting Butch back in,
and then they could truly deal with Gonzalez.
“We’re all in agreement. We celebrate the weddings,
and then we put the women in lockdown at the warehouse. Once that’s out of the
way we can deal with Gonzalez.”
“I’ve got to collect the rest of my club, Tiny. We’re
not going back to Piston County until we know what’s going on,” Devil said. “They’re
at risk there, and I’m not going to put any of my men at risk.”
“Fine, do whatever you need to do. We’ll work together
as a club, but when Gonzalez is gone, you’re out of here.” There was only so
much time two MC clubs could work properly together. If they weren’t careful,
the closely guarded relationship between The Skulls and Chaos Bleeds would
shatter the longer they spent together. He and Devil were two different people,
and they had different rules that they abided by.
“What should we call ourselves?” Pussy asked.
“The Bleeds or Chaos Skulls?
Maybe even The Skulls Bleeds.”
Rolling his eyes, Tiny turned away. Out of all of the
men, Pussy was still the joker. Considering he was getting hitched to a blind
girl, Tiny would have thought Pussy would grow up. It hadn’t happened. Pussy
was as big a clown now as he’d always been. Sasha kept him in line to a point.
How they were going to get on, Tiny didn’t know, and it wasn’t any of his
business. Pussy and his woman were Devil’s problem, not his.
“Shut the fuck up,” Devil said, leading the way out of
the room. One by one his men and those of the Chaos Bleeds crew left the room.
Running a hand down his face, Tiny tried to clear his thoughts. Nothing was
happening, and his thoughts were still as chaotic as before. Gonzalez was a big
problem, one he couldn’t solve on his own.
“Are you all right?” Eva asked.
Opening his eyes, he saw his wife with her arms
folded, leaning against the wall. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“You don’t look it.” She tilted her head to the side,
seeing past his bullshit. No matter what he said, Eva always saw deep inside
his soul. She was his other half, his soul mate, and the reason he was shit
scared of Gonzalez taking her away from him.
“Shit’s going down all around, and I don’t know what
the fuck I’m doing.” He opted for the truth.
She walked into the room, closing the door behind her.
They were alone, in private where no one could get them. “You’re not supposed
to be doing this alone. This wasn’t our fight, Tiny, but we’ve been dragged in.
You’re not alone in this. Devil’s part of it—his crew, our crew, we’re all part
of it.”
Rounding the desk, he leaned against it, opening his
arms for her. Without a second’s hesitation, she went to his embrace like she
always did. He inhaled her feminine scent, finding her softness relaxed him.
With Eva in his arms, he could think clearly. She was his reason for getting
shit done.
“I love you, baby.”
“I don’t doubt your love. I worry about you. There’s
only so much shit you can take. Don’t take it all on board now.” She stared up
at him, stroking his chest. “You can come to me. I’m your woman, Tiny. This
club is as much as mine as it is yours. My father will also help you.” Her
father would help Eva and his grandchildren, and Tiny was just part of the mix.
Ned Walker put up with him because Eva loved him, no other reason.
He saw the fear in her eyes. They’d been together for
three years, and they had been the best three years of his life. Tiny had been
married before to Patricia. His first wife had died of cancer leaving him to
raise his daughter all on his own. Though he’d loved Patricia in a way, he’d
never been faithful to her. He’d fucked sweet-butts as if they were going out
of fashion. Most of his married life with Patricia had been filled with
arguments, and he’d found solace in the arms of other women.
Three years with Eva and he’d not fucked any other
woman but her. He didn’t even look at other women as they didn’t appeal to him.
The only woman he wanted was right in front of him. She gave him everything he
needed in life and in the bedroom. Eva completed him.
“It’s my club. This is my problem.”
“Your club is filled with men you helped to be
something. Nash is straight, and Lash is as protective of the club as he is of
Angel. You’ve got men around you who want to help. This is not just your club
anymore. It’s so much more than that.”
Cupping her cheek, he stared into her eyes. He was in
his fifties getting older by the second, but the love in her eyes kept him
going, kept him moving forward. The constant problems the club was facing were making
him feel older. Life should be getting easier, not harder, yet in the past
couple of years life had become just one more battle at a time.
“Use the guys, Tiny. They’re here for a reason. They
all wanted to be part of The Skulls.”
“Gonzalez is not like any other enemy we’ve faced.”
“Why not?”
Eva asked. “He’s a man with a dick and a heart. I’m with Devil on this
one. He can be hurt like everyone else. There’s no difference between him and
the other men. He’s in the same league as Alan, and we took him out. An enemy
is an enemy, Tiny. See past the fear to the truth.”
“Prue took Alan out. The club hasn’t dealt with this
kind of power before.”
“Are you telling me that you can’t take a man out?
You’re Tiny, president and leader of The Skulls. You can do whatever the hell
you want. You’ve fought far worse than Gonzalez.” She pressed a hand to his
chest. “Don’t let him win.”
“Who have I fought, Eva? I’ve never had someone invade
my fucking life, take my kids—”
“Snitch, The Darkness crew, The Lions, Kelsey’s
husband, they’ve all been your enemies, the club’s enemies. Gonzalez is no
different. He’s no fucking superhero.”
“He took our kids from us and threw us in jail, baby.
I’m not going to risk it. I’m not going to risk you.”
The slap to the face he wasn’t expecting.
“Stop being a fucking coward,” she said, yelling the
words. Eva tore out of his grip. Anger shot his way, pouring out of her gaze as
if it was a physical thing. “This fucker needs to be hit back. Devil did the
right thing. The whole of Chaos Bleeds are fighting. They’ve got exactly the
same kind of shit to lose that we have,” she said, throwing her hands in the
air and cursing. “You’re more worried about me and the kids.
Stop
being so damn blind and see what he’s doing to the two clubs.
He’s
tearing apart you and Devil. The only difference between you and Devil is
he’s
actually hitting back.”
“I know he’s got the same shit to lose, but I can’t
let anything happen to you.”
“And he can’t with Lexie or his three kids, Tiny.
You’ve both got the same to lose. You’re no different from him, and he’s no
different from you.” She stormed toward the door, refusing to look back. “You
need to decide if you’re going to stay and fight or if you’re going to run away
like a coward. I don’t think either choice is an option that’s going to be easy.”
She opened the door, and he watched her walk away from him.
Going back behind his desk, he dropped his head to the
desk and let out a sigh. Shit was really starting to get serious. The last
thing he
was,
was a coward. He wasn’t running from
Gonzalez because he was afraid. No, he was running because he had a hell of a
lot more to lose.
“Things go bad?” Devil asked, opening the door.
Glancing up, he saw Devil entering the room.
“You could say that. I don’t know. I think I’m pissed
off more than anything else.” Sitting back in his chair, Tiny stared at his
friend. “Why did you do it?”
“I’m not like you, Tiny. I can’t sit on my ass waiting
for shit to happen. I’ve been on the road longer than you have. It’s not part
of me to simply take shit lying down.”
“You were going to.”
“They killed Ashley, and I promised her my protection.
She may have been a club whore, Tiny, but to a point she was family. Everyone
loved her, and she never pissed off any of the old ladies. They all liked and
respected her. Someone kills your person then it’s time for us to take a stand
and get rid of the bad blood going on. I’ve not got the head to sit around
talking about what needs to happen and what doesn’t. My boys needed blood, I
needed fucking blood, and I gave it to them.” Devil took a seat opposite him.
“I’m sorry that I pissed you off.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I am. Regardless of what you think, I really am sorry
about what happened. I never intended to cause a problem. The shit that
happened with Tate and Murphy, it shouldn’t have happened. None of this should
be happening, but it is,” he said. “I just couldn’t take the bastard’s taunting.
He knows what he’s doing, and all he’s doing is rubbing our faces in it every
time he issues out a new order.”