Thrash (20 page)

I’d never met a man worth his salt who didn’t want his children to succeed.

Strangely, I was in good company. The mob had a thing with its sons. The pursuit of power and loyalty was a priority for them – but power in its place. The hierarchy was everything, unless you could break it for just the right reason and put it back in place for the greater good.

That was what had happened to Strike and Hawk. Someone had felt they could run things better than their father. And they had succeeded in usurping the role. But would they be able to rebuild? Maintain power? Keep it all running?

Or would they prove weak and be overthrown by another ambitious fellow?

I was honestly hoping the power struggle would resolve itself quickly, preferably in Fire and Steel’s favor. These kinds of internal wars tended to tear up the communities the respective groups ‘watched over.’

I was glad I was here. I wanted to hear what Alan and his man thought of the new mob boss. I wanted to be able to pass word along to Rage. He’d decide whether to pass it along to Strike and Hawk, as well.

My work here could tip the balance of power between Fire and Steel and Strike’s group in our favor a bit. Give us some negotiating room later, when we needed it.

We’d never run the mob. That wasn’t our thing. But men judged you by how much power you had at the negotiating table.

I was gaining us what we needed to have that power, both now and later.

“This here is Gerard McGuigan.” Alan gestured to his bodyguard. “What’ll you have?” he asked as a waitress came around to our table.

“Two Yeunglings,” Bones ordered for the both of us. “None of that piss-ass Iron City.” Among these types, everything was a reflection on what kind of man you were.

None of us liked Iron City. Still it was an honored tradition of Pittsburgh. People drank it even while they complained about it. But it wouldn’t have suited the situation, so we didn’t have to today.

“Two more Killian Reds here,” Alan said.

Posturing, posturing. I hid a grin. I liked playing chess-master, watching the pieces shift and the royal bits pose for what they saw as the pawns.

They didn’t even wait for the waitress to leave.

“So, Alan, what can we do for you today?” Bones asked, leaning back.

“Ha. It’s more like, what can we do for each other, actually.” Alan leaned onto the table and looked Bones over, sizing him up. “We’ve had a good working relationship up until this point, have we not?”

“We have,” Bones agreed casually. I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the good old days, or more recently.

Strike had not told us that he might have been doing a little business with Bones, but then, he wouldn’t. I guessed it was a little bit of both: then and now. How else would Strike have gotten his information?

“What are you proposing?” Bones asked.

Alan folded his hands together, his eyes shrewd. He waited until the waitress had set our beers out and left before he went on.

“That you take up with us. Don’t leave your own organization behind. No, not by any means. Not unless you want to. But consider contracting with us. Much like Fire and Steel did, prior, with the old administration.”

My eyes narrowed slightly. What Alan was offering was no small change.

He spoke so casually, as if he was offering a friendly bargain rather than a game-changing deal. Make or break.

“This time, it would be different, though, higher cuts, more authority, and a place at the table. If you want it?” He offered that last bit as a suggestion. As if he didn’t know Bones would want the world one day, in one way or another.

“You mean, be a part of the council?” Bones asked, his voice sharp.

There was a single person in charge of the mob, but that man ruled by delegating a manageable degree of power to others. Periodically, they came together as a group of ‘families’ to discuss actions, take votes, and have a say in ’family’ matters.

Being included in those circles would be a huge step up for Bones. It would grant him and his men a level of power that would leave Fire and Steel in the dust. Mice facing down a lion.

I suppressed a shudder and focused on keeping my face blank and my ears open.

“Yes, a part of the council.” Alan nodded. “It’s a good offer. One of the best you or any MC is going to get. You’re ambitious, Bones. And ruthless. A valuable ally. We recognize what you are building and we want to be a part of it.” The language had changed. Alan was higher up the food chain than I had guessed, then.

“And what about Fire and Steel?” Bones asked. “What about the surviving members of the old administration?”

“What about them?” Alan remained calm, accepting another beer like a benevolent lord.

“They were involved in the coup. They’ll be getting their own offer on their end, I assume?”

Alan might have gotten riled up by the comment, but he was a clever man. A true and dangerous member of the council. “Well, I will admit that we are weaker than we used to be.” He looked at me, pleasant and amused, like he was fully aware that I might not be completely Bones’ man. Like he didn’t care either way. Then he returned his gaze to Bones.

“Fire and Steel are a hard force to combat alone. If you join us, it would show the rest of the city that we are strong. As strong as we were before. People are hesitant to work with us, as I am sure they are to work with you. Together, we would both profit.”

The coup had killed quite a few members in both factions in their little mob family. Strike had suffered losses. Alan or his boss had suffered, too. Both sides were keeping their numbers and means close. So why was Alan so unconcerned about my loyalties?

Not knowing left me feeling a little uneasy. I just watched him carefully, keeping my thoughts to myself.

One thing I knew was this. Alan was right. His offer was a great chance for Bones to strengthen his pack. With the weight of the mob behind him anyone would be a fool to double-cross him. Their alliance would create a situation where Bones would have well-known and powerful allies.

But I knew Bones. He didn’t like being handed anything. He’d want to think about it.

I wasn’t sure whether he would take the offer or not. Either way, Fire and Steel had a very small window of time in which to bring Bones down.

As it was, Bones was true to form. He agreed to consider the offer, finished his beer while the two swapped pleasant small talk, and then we left.

My blood was racing. The tingling in my fingers and lips told me I’d better watch my expression.

I had to get word to Cullen fast. And if I was already itching to touch Nora? Two for the price of one.

Until then I had to keep my mouth shut and focus.

When we walked out of the bar Bones looked at me. He studied me for a moment, then asked, “So? What did you think?”

“About Alan?”

“And the deal.”

I scowled, reaching for my helmet. I knew better than to put it on, but I was looking forward to hiding behind it. “I’m not sure,” I answered honestly. “Alan isn’t negotiating. He has all the power here. For now. If you take up his offer, it would be wise to make sure you have the strength to face him and his, at least. You don’t want to share power just to become his bitch.” I was serious. That was exactly what I would have told Cullen in the same situation. That was my skill: juggling pros and cons.

I wasn’t always the best when it came to making a final decision. I prefered bouncing ideas off others, perfecting them. But I could unravel a paradox and map out every angle with ease. And that wasn’t something you could teach. You were born with it. And if you were born with it and had any hope for a future, you honed that skill.

It was what confident leaders valued in me. It was what made weak men fear me. And it was probably the only way I was going to survive this.

“You don’t think it is a good opportunity?” Bones asked, his voice and face difficult to read. Again, he was weighing my words as more than just advice. He wasn’t sure he could trust me.

I stayed patient, fighting to keep my fingers from clenching the helmet. “I think it could be, but we have to look at it from all sides first. Make sure we’re prepared. Jump in too early, we become pawns of the mob. Jump in too late, they’ll find an excuse to keep us off the council.”

Bones thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “This’s why I brought you along. You’re right. Power is important, but it has to be under the right circumstances. All of the guys I have working for me, for us, they don’t understand that. Not yet. They just get a whiff of power and they want to grab it.”

“That’s why they’d never keep it, even if they got it,” I said, holding my helmet up. “We ready?”

“Yeah.” Bones grabbed his helmet and jammed it on his head. “Yeah, we’re ready. Thrash?”

I turned to look at him.

“You think. I say. They do. I don’t have any plans on replacing you, you got that? You stay loyal to me, I will keep you at the top.”

At the top, under him. As long as I served his ego and kept his plans moving forward.

I nodded. “I get that.” I went to put on the helmet, then chuckled. When Bones looked my way, I sent him a sly grin. “Hey man, you think I can use the phone when we get back? I wanna talk to my girl, invite her over.”

He grinned, getting it. “Already Jonesing, huh? Well, I can’t say I blame you. Being around all these damn men makes me want to bring my own girl along. We’re a damned sausage fest at headquarters.”

“No shit,” I laughed.

“Why don’t you invite her over tonight? We’ll make a party of it. Call it your welcome home party, or some shit, right? You can get your dick wet. Have a good ol’ time.”

I wasn’t stupid. Bones wanted to see my woman. Size her up. And I was willing to bet there would be plenty of booze to get us comfortable.

I jammed the helmet on my head to hide my scowl and gave him a nod.

A welcome home party? Yeah, some shit like that…

25

“You want me to come over, already?” I asked. He had warned me that he wanted to make sure I’d be safe first. That it might take a couple of weeks. He’d been nervous. Downright jittery. And I had been distraught.

I was happy to get the call, but I was a little confused too. And I had thought I would have enough to time to implement our plans to help Desiree. Something good to fill the time…

Now I didn’t have time. It bothered me and it showed up in my voice.

“I need you to be here, baby. Why? You got some other kind of date that’s more important?” Thrash sounded a little impatient on the phone. And he spoke differently.

I knew he was stressed, but it was disorienting. The last time we had talked, he had brushed the tears from my eyes and we had clung to one another in silence.

I tried to explain. “I have a girl’s night thing going with Layla, Emma, and Desiree.” My voice rose at the end. I wasn’t trying to hide anything from him, but I had a feeling he wasn’t going to like it.

“What? With my sister?” He blew it off entirely. “She wants nothing to do with the club, so why is she sniffing around now?” I had to remind myself what Emma said; he was cynical and questioning, and when he was stressed, he could be an ass about it.

I fought the urge to shut down and shut him out. All we had was the phone right now… I wanted his touch, and he missed me, but all we had right this moment was words.

So I used what I had.

“She came by your place after the festival. We got along.” I twirled a strand of my hair and grinned a little. “She thinks we’re cute together. I didn’t expect her to like me, but she is amazing.”

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Yeah, she is. So you two are hanging out now?” I could practically hear the wheels in his head churning.

“She invited me to do this with them, and I really don’t want to bow out, it’s important that I get to know all of the women in your life.”

“Fine, but can you stop by after? And dress up a little? Bones is throwing a party tonight and I – Just please come. The party should be going late into the night.”

“Yeah, but the buses won’t be.” I wanted to see him, badly.

“Take my truck. You can drive, can’t you?”

“Yeah.” I had driven a car for a while before I left home. Then my parents took it away in an effort to get me to conform to their rules.

He ignored the worry in my voice. “Problem solved.”

“Are you safe?” I asked, concern running through me. We hadn’t been dating long, but I had never heard him so abrupt. So unwilling to talk an issue through.

“I’m fine,” he said. “It has been a good transition. I’m doing well, but I want to see you. It’s a damn sausage fest here, and I miss my girl.”

That didn’t sound like him, but it did send tingles down my spine. I liked the way he called me his girl; it made me feel like I belonged.

And as weird as it seemed, after a week of not being able to climb on top of him, his directness was turning me on a little. I almost purred right through the phone.

“I miss you, too, Demarcus.”

The sound of his name softened his voice, just a little bit. “I’ll see you later, baby. Meet me at the gas station on 4th in McKee’s Rocks, and I’ll lead you in.”

It sounded like he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t. He just hung up.

For the first time since I had met him, I felt empty, like something important had been taken away.

Then I remembered he called me “his girl.” That would be enough to get me to the gas station.

“Is that him?”

We were taking turns staring at the creep who had been harassing Desiree.

She had stepped out on one of her breaks, and we had picked her up at the door. Gary had been delayed a little, but he had followed soon after, as if he intended to keep an eye on her. Luckily, we had parked far out.

There was nothing inherently impressive or frightening about him. He was of average build. Strong enough to hurt a woman, but average height. His face was just this side of attractive. If he wanted to, he could blend in. If he wanted to stand out enough to make people back off, he could do that, too. He had options. Great. So why did he feel like he had to use them to push around a woman who wasn’t interested in him?

I wasn’t sure what the other women noticed about him, but the thing that made me uneasy was his body language.

Most hospitals were non-smoking areas by law, but this guy was enjoying a cigarette. No one dared to tell him to stop. It was the way he stood there, leaning against one of the parking pillars, looking around like he owned the parking lot. Like he owned the world.

He acted like a bad boy. But he was just an average prick on a power trip. And he had picked the wrong lady to bother.

“Wow.”

I agreed with Layla. Wow. This guy wore whatever mask kept him out of trouble. He was just a coward. But he was physically stronger than any of us on our own. And he’d been getting away with too much.

We needed to be careful. We needed to do this right.

“How has HR missed the fact that this guy is a shit?” Emma snapped, disgusted.

Desiree shrugged, tired. “He plays sheepish. Says he’s sorry at the right times to the right people. They want to pretend he’s not that bad.” She sighed, pulling the bag of her strap up as he ground his cigarette out. “I don’t blame them,” she said. “It hard to know what to do about him. If I could pretend this wasn’t happening, I might do it, too.” She looked ashamed.

That was when I realized what was tripping her up.

Desiree was an extraordinarily strong woman. But this situation had made her realize a flaw in the way she approached the world. She was ashamed that another woman might have to go through this. She was ashamed that, before now, she would have been too busy to notice.

So she was enduring the way he was treating her.

If we could buy her a week of space where she wasn’t exhausted by her work, worn down by this prick, and caught up in the unwelcome realization that she had found a blind spot on her radar, she’d bounce back. She’d figure out what to do.

Desiree was always giving to everyone else. It was time to make a little time and space for Desiree.

“You think he’ll follow you tonight?” Emma asked.

“He’s even bolder since HR told me I was full of shit. He’s been telling everyone we’re going out. We aren’t.” Her cheeks were taunt with frustration. “Openly dating coworkers can get you fired. He’s going to cost me my job with this crap, and he doesn’t care.”

I felt ill. He was trapping her.

When animals trapped one another, everyone knew one of them was going to get hurt. So why was it so hard to acknowledge that when a man behaved like that, the woman he was pursuing like that was going to get hurt? And why did we blame ourselves for what someone else chose to do?

I remembered those feelings. I remembered blaming myself because I knew everyone else would. The part that had really hurt, though, was the fact that I’d very much wanted to get away from that guy. I just hadn’t known how. No one had cared to help me figure it out. And then he had been able to walk away.

This guy wouldn’t be walking away with clean pants, though. This guy was happy to hurt Desiree while no one was looking. We were just going to return the favor. Give him a crash course in empathy.

“You are sure the cameras aren’t working? No one is going to see this?” Layla asked. “If they see this…”

Emma was a little pale, but she smirked all the same. “We’ll take a little heat, but you could lose your job. We don’t want to make this worse.”

Desiree hitched her bag up on her shoulder, getting ready to go in. “I’m positive. I heard the custodians talking about how people are coming in next week to install them.” She bit her lip. “Look, if you think this is too dangerous, I don’t blame you for leaving. I won’t –”

“Nonsense.” Layla waved her away. “We stick by each other. We stand up for each other. And if you want our help, you have it.” She meant every single word. . She was a leader, like Rage, and the club was lucky to have such a solid team leading them.

Together they were creating a strong community.

“Thank you,” Desiree said quietly. That was all she said.

It was interesting, actually. She wanted to trust us. She was willing to risk a lot because she really did need the help. And Thrash trusted us. If her brother hadn’t backed us, Desiree might never have mentioned what was happening.

She didn’t trust the club. But maybe she would trust us as fellow women. Maybe.

When Desiree left, we parked next to her car and settled in to wait. .

We had brought books, magazines, freaking nail polish, although Layla insisted we lower the windows. “Fumes,” she said, pointing to her belly.

We ended up talking for the last two hours non-stop. About our lives, our childhoods. The things that annoyed us the most. I hadn’t laughed that hard in forever. I never thought I would bond with a group of girls over a stakeout, but I did. And I was loving it.

“Oh, oh, I think I see Desiree.” Emma straightened up in her seat and pointed the door.

Emma was right. Desiree walked out and headed towards her car, minding her own business. It was creepy, watching Gary follow her out. He looked so normal, but he was watching her like he already owned her.

He called out to her, and she faltered, her back stiff and her hands clenching. Then she shook her head and kept going, walking a little faster.

His voice rose louder and we could hear the edge in it even through the closed windows.

A trembling rage and cold fear flooded into my brain when he grabbed her arm and yanked her towards him, trying to get her to look at him. It was the kind of thing that anyone would take offense to, but he acted like it was completely within his rights.

If I had to take a guess, I would bet that he was trying to make her behave before the cameras came in.

She pulled away from him and kept walking towards her car. Just a little bit closer, that was all we needed. She was far enough away from the building, and her car was in such a remote location that I doubted anyone would see, or hear, what was about to happen.

He seemed to recognize the situation, too, because he let her walk farther away. But he didn’t stop following her. He didn’t think he had anything to fear.

He trailed behind her until she was at her car. We had parked next to her, but she was on the opposite side.

He must not have noticed us. That or he figured a bunch of dumb white women wouldn’t care what he did.

We could hear everything.

“I’m going to the diner down the road.” He assumed she would be there. There was a subtle threat in his voice, too, one that Desiree had become attuned to by now.

Her shoulders hunched slightly, but they didn’t give in.

She didn’t say no, but she didn’t say yes, either.

“Meet me there in fifteen minutes,” he said. “And for fuck’s sake, fix your hair. You look like shit.”

What the actual fuck? She had just gotten off work. Paramedics didn’t have time to care what they looked like. They were saving lives. What the fuck was he doing?

The force of my disgust and rage had as much to do with Desiree and it did with my own memories. It drove me from the car.

I wasn’t alone. Emma and I rounded the hood. Layla came around from the trunk side. She had a bat in her hands.

If she hadn’t been pregnant, she would probably have led us at him. As it was, she was keeping out of his line of sight.

“I don’t think she wants anything to do with you,” Emma said loudly as we walked towards him.

“This isn’t any of your business,” he said coldly, as if we were the ones out of line. That was the funny part. In his eyes, he wasn’t doing anything wrong.

Desiree leaned down to get in her car, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back up. The look he gave her was awful: a vicious warning that she would be paying for this later. He didn’t know we were with her yet. He just knew she wasn’t smiling. They she wasn’t sticking up for him. So he’d make her regret it later.

Never mind that she had been telling him to leave her alone from the beginning.

She was tougher than he could ever understand. Even in the face of that look, she looked him straight in the eye and said it to his face again. “Leave me alone.”

“That sounds very clear to me,” I said softly in a way that made him double take.

He sneered at us. “You need to move along. The parking lot for patients is one level over.” He pointed, like we’d do as we were told.

He really was deaf to what he didn’t want to hear.

“You don’t know who she is, do you?” Emma asked, a slow, evil grin sliding across her lips.

His lip curled even higher and he muttered something along the lines of “stupid bitch.”

Emma burst out laughing.

I smiled unpleasantly at him, happy to unnerve him. “I’ll give you a little hint.”

Emma grabbed him and threw him against the car.