Last Ride (Wind Dragons MC #5.5)(17)

Ripper tightens his jaw, weighing his options, but then finally nods. “Tell him.”

“She’s being held in a warehouse.”

“Give me the address,” I tell him. “Now.”

He gives me the address, keeping his head down and avoiding eye contact. I look to Tracker. “Who wants to stay with him and make sure he’s not lying? I think someone should take him somewhere else, in case the men here try something.”

“They won’t,” Ripper says, but I ignore him. “I don’t know about Slice though. He’s the wild card here, but you can’t take out his actions on our club. He hasn’t even been patched in yet!”

I freeze, catching Talon’s eye before looking back to the Kings’ president. “What the f*ck did you just say?”

Why the f*ck would the Kings MC be talking about Slice?

I’m confused as f*ck, until all the pieces start to fall together in my mind.

That f*ckin’ bastard.

Slice, Talon’s former second-in-command, is the traitor?

This has to burn Talon. Fuck, he was just saying how he trusts Slice more than anyone else in the Wild Men MC.

Fuck!

“I had no f*ckin’ idea, Sin,” Talon says, sounding shocked. “That f*ckin’ bastard!”

“I know,” I say to Talon, my eyes still on Ripper.

I’ll let Talon handle Slice, as long as he shows him no mercy. I just want to find Faye and have her in my arms, so my heart can start beating properly again.

Slice is going to pay, that’s for sure. He’s caused so much trouble for everyone, just because he’s a disloyal piece of shit. I have to admit, even I’m f*ckin’ surprised; although looking back, we probably should’ve seen this. Why didn’t Slice want to join us with Ranger and Talon? We thought it was just because he was loyal to the Wild Men, but how f*ckin’ wrong we were.

“Vinnie, you and Ranger take him somewhere until all of this is over. If my wife is hurt, or if he’s lying, Ripper dies.” I nod at him. “Tell your men to stay out of our way, or they won’t make it home to their families tonight.”

I think this is the safest way to do it. If Vinnie and Ranger have the Kings’ president away from all this, we can use him as a hostage without having to worry about the other Kings coming after us. I’ll take the rest of the Wind Dragons with me to the warehouse, because we don’t know how many men are already there, waiting to fight. It can turn ugly, and we need to be prepared.

“All right, let’s go,” I say, bringing the Kings’ president to his feet and dragging him outside.

Let’s just hope this works.



Faye

“I always knew you were stupid, Eric,” I say, sitting down on the floor, against the wall. “I mean, let’s start with cheating on me—any man with half a brain wouldn’t have done that—and now this. What the f*ck are you doing? You’re with the Kings now?”

Does he think that joining an MC will make him more like Dex? Will earn him respect? How deluded can he be?

His whole expression changes, and right then and there I see something I’ve never seen before on his face.

Hate.

Eric Black hates me.

No, he despises me. After all these years.

Why? I have no idea. I thought we were all good, but apparently not. Or does this have to do with him and Sin? Maybe this isn’t about me at all.

Some people need to get a f*cking hobby.

“It’s been years since I’ve even seen you, Eric,” I say quietly, not sure what to make of this. “And now you want me dead? Or is it your own brother you want gone?”

We’re the parents of his niece and nephew. Not that he sees them much, but he could have—I mean, Dex’s mom still saw them every now and again. She passed away about three months ago. Does that have something to do with this? She died from a heart attack, and maybe Eric isn’t taking it well. Or is he blaming Dex for some reason? Something must have set him off, because I had no idea he was capable of something like this. He sits back in his chair like he’s a f*cking king or something. I don’t get him. Does he have some complex because he will always be nothing compared to Dex? He lacks in every possible way. Looks, character, strength.

Heart.

“I think it’s time my brother is taken down a notch,” he says, and I notice that his eyes are dead. There’s nothing there. Eric is a completely different person. What’s happened to this man?

“And you’re going to do that by killing me?” I ask him, lifting my chin. “By leaving my children without a mother?”

I can take Eric on in a fight. There’s no question about that. I could kill him right now, but it won’t get me out of here. Will it save Dex from his brother’s hate though? I won’t get past the men outside—there’s too many of them—and Eric hasn’t tried to physically hurt me yet. Will he?

I wish Dex were here right now, not because I need him to tell me what to do, but because at the end of the day, Eric is still his brother, and that means something. You can not talk to your family, or have a falling-out with them, or even hate them, but you still don’t want them dead, especially at your own hands. I don’t want what happens today haunting Dex. And it will. He’s human, after all; it would haunt any man or woman with a conscience.