Wild Ride (Wind Dragons MC #4.5)(26)

“Look, Tia, you want honesty, then fine, but this needs to stay between us, because I haven’t told anyone else about it.”

“Of course; you don’t even need to say that,” I tell him, resting my hand on his chest.

He kisses my lips softly, looking me right in the eye as he says, “There’s been shit going on in my clubhouse. I’ve walked in on fights between some of the brothers, but no one will tell me what the problem is. Zip was killed inside our walls, and no one knows by who, but I know it has to be by one of our men. I don’t want to bring you there, because it’s not safe. I don’t know who I can trust, and I don’t know what the f*ck is going to happen to my MC.”

His rant renders me silent, because I wasn’t expecting him to say any of that. “You think one of your men killed Zip?”

All I know about MCs is what I’ve seen from the WDMC, and those men would rather die than hurt one of their members. I don’t know how this all works, but everything would be so much easier if Talon just joined the WDMC. If the Wild Men can’t be trusted, then their club has nothing. Trust and loyalty is everything for these MCs; I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

“Maybe I can help,” I say to him, trying to think of how.

“You’re staying out of all of this, Tia,” he tells me, gripping my upper arms. “I’ve trusted you with the information, and you need to trust me to take care of it in return.”

“Do you think that woman Carla knows anything about why her man would have been killed?” I ask, wondering if she’s the key to solving the murder.

“I already tried that.”

“Yes,” I say. “But you’re a man, and an imposing biker at that. Maybe she’d feel more comfortable talking to a woman.”

“No,” Talon says, not realizing that I don’t take well to that word.

“Do you think if you find out who killed Zip and deal with him, you can pull your club back together? Maybe it’s just one person behind everything, or maybe it’s a few. Look, give me a chance to just talk to Carla. We have nothing to lose. Either she knows something, or she doesn’t.”

He grits his teeth, avoiding my eyes for a few moments before he brings his back up to me. “I’ll give you ten minutes with her, in a public place.”

“Deal. Set it up.”

“You’re a fiery little thing, aren’t you?” he murmurs, gripping my chin with his fingers. “Don’t do anything stupid. I’m only letting you help because I know you’re capable, strong, and smart, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be extremely protective of you. You can be my partner in crime to an extent, but I need to know that when I tell you something, you’re going to listen to what I say and not go against it. Otherwise I’ll just lock you up somewhere.”

“Fine. And what do you expect me to do? Make out with her? Jeez, I’ll just have a conversation with her.”

“Fine,” he sighs, and I can see he’s not happy, but it doesn’t seem like he has much else to go on.

I just hope I can help him in some way, because a man like him deserves to have more than what he has at his back right now.



“I thought I was meeting Talon here for him to give me my money,” Carla says, glancing around us. “Who are you?”

“Talon told me to give you the money,” I say, showing her the envelope in my hands. “But first I have a few questions for you.”

“I told Talon everything I know,” she says, rubbing her stomach with her hand. “He wasn’t into any drugs or anything like that, and he didn’t tell me anything. I don’t know anyone who would want him dead.”

Her lines were well rehearsed, or at least they seem that way to me.

“We’re missing something here, and I know it. If you cared about Zip at all, I think you need to stop being a coward and tell the truth. Don’t let his death be in vain. Talon is being nice enough to support you and your baby so you don’t have to work. If something happens to Talon, that money will stop, and you won’t get any other help from the Wild Men.”

She swallows, her lower lip starting to tremble. “If I speak and he finds out, he will hurt me and my baby. So what’s the point?”

What? Who will hurt her?

I take her hand in mine and squeeze it gently. “No one will hurt you or your baby. Talon will give you the money to move far away if you want, okay? Just tell me what you know.”

She’s silent for what feels like hours, thinking everything over before she speaks. “Zip called me before he died, and he told me a few things.”

“What did he tell you?”

“Zip had a confrontation with one of the men in the club, and he found out something.”

“Like what?” I ask, wondering what it could be.

“I don’t know,” she says, looking down at her hands.

“So Zip found out this information, and that’s why someone killed him, to keep him quiet?” I guess, my head about to explode at the thought of the men in Talon’s MC being disloyal bastards. Talon should just leave the Wild Men and join the Wind Dragons. At least they know about loyalty there.

She nods.

“I was the last person he spoke to. They must have killed him straight after, because he was going to tell Talon everything he knew.”