Crash (Brazen Bulls MC #1)(93)

And then you saw her eyes—ice blue and intense as all f*ck. When she turned those things on you, your balls shrank right up and quivered in your gut.

Rad had only been face to face with her a few times, and he wouldn’t ever admit it out loud under any kind of torture, but that little old lady intimidated him, no mistake. Out loud, he called it respect, and that was true, too. She was smart and savvy and goddamn ruthless.

He’d never seen her dress either flashy or frumpy. She dressed like a businessperson, in pantsuits and unremarkable shoes. Her clothes were probably every bit as custom and pricey as her son’s, but she wasn’t as obvious about it. Today, she wore a black pantsuit and a black top. She was a businesswoman in mourning, and in Tulsa, she had to do both at once.

She greeted Delaney and Dane and accepted their condolences. Then, without further preamble, she wanted to sit down and talk business.

Rad was surprised when she waved all of her men present—the two who’d been on the run with them and the man who’d arrived with her—away and went into the chapel on her own.

Her men had been surprised as well; a few Russian words had been exchanged, theirs urgent, hers firm.

In the chapel, she sat at the far end, directly opposite Delaney. The men sat after her, and they all waited. Rad had refused a renewed dose of painkillers because he wanted to be sharp for this meeting, but now the throbbing agony in his shoulder was dulling his focus. He clenched the arm of his chair and marshaled his will to the task.

He wasn’t sure who was leading this meeting. It was Delaney’s table, but, just as the power had tipped to her son when he sat in this room, Irina had the gravitational pull now.

Delaney spoke first. He didn’t use the gavel. “I’m sorry you had to come to Tulsa like this, Irina. Kirill was a good friend to us and a good partner. We’re deeply sorry to lose him. I won’t do you the disrespect to think I know how deep your loss goes.”

She nodded brusquely. “Spaciba. Thank you. But we need no talk of grief. We talk…your word…payback, da?”

Rad wondered if she meant that as a threat.

Delaney nodded. “The hit was a club beef. Kirill and his men could’ve avoided it, but they helped us out. He saved our lives. We ask the honor of taking revenge for his death.”

“No,” she said and didn’t elaborate. For a few seconds, that single syllable, uttered quietly, resounded in the room.

“Is this a debt we owe you, then?” Delaney asked.

Rad couldn’t think clearly enough to be sure, but he thought their president was asking if the alliance was broken and they were sitting with their enemy now. A glance around the table told him his brothers were wondering the same thing.

“This world we make, deaths are every day. Every day, we wake and know death. I am born into this world, in darker place than this. Kirill born in same place. We know death. It is price of power. In such a world, to make enemies of friends, this not good business. My son knew your…what word? Beef?” Delaney nodded, and she went on. “He knew your beef with these Dirty Rats. We talk about it.”

Irina turned her icy eyes on Rad. “You killed Rat, da?”

Not expecting her to address him, and struggling to stay upright in his chair, Rad was caught off guard and almost repeated her last word. “D—yeah. Yes. He went after my old lady.”

“He hurt her before. Badly.”

“Couple times, yeah.” Delaney had told the Volkovs everything Rad had told him, it seemed. He wouldn’t tell Willa how many people knew she’d been raped.

“Then kill is…how to say…dobrodetel’nyy.”

Not one man in that room could have repeated that word, much less translated it.

She flicked an impatient, imperious hand. “Made of good justice.”

“Righteous,” supplied Dane.

“Da.” She nodded and stared again at Rad. “Righteous.”

“Yes,” he replied, not knowing if she’d expected him to speak.

“We know of this beef. We decide work goes on. This is our risk. Kirill’s risk. When Rats come, he help because Volkov and Bull are friends.” She waved her hand in a circle, encompassing everyone at the table. Then she set her hands flat on the scarred oak and leaned in. “Dirty Rats are no friend to me. I make hole in Lubbock and no more will be Rats there. Then I take Kirill home.”

Gunner grinned, wide and characteristically crazy. “Goddamn. You want to blow ‘em up. That is f*ckin’ beautiful.”

“Gunner, mind your mouth, boy,” Delaney snarled.

“No. His words foul, yet right. Vengeance is beautiful. And is mine.”

She was basically quoting God, taking those words for her own. The audacity was chilling and completely accurate. Anyone with a lick of sense would know to fear Irina above all others.



oOo



The next day, Irina took her Volkov men to Lubbock. Of the Bulls, only Delaney and Dane were invited along. The Rats had hit the club and seemed to have had no idea that they’d grabbed the Volkov tiger by the tail, too—or at least no idea about how that tiger would bite—but Irina had taken control of the payback.

Rad was just as glad that more Bulls weren’t along for the ride. He’d been more than ready to start a war with the Rats, but blowing up their clubhouse, a few months after Oklahoma City? The fewer people involved in that, the better. The Feds would be crawling all over that scene.