Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 117379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
“So you think it was the cartel?”
“I’m certain of it,” he said, his voice grim. “I’ve met the Reapers’ president, Shade. He’s a good man. This isn’t his style. The others don’t want to accept that, though. They’d rather blame another MC than admit we’re really at war with the cartel.”
I nodded, because he was right. Fighting the Reapers was weirdly safe, almost comfortable in a strange way. We all knew the rules and what to expect from each other.
“Like I said, this pretty much kills any chance you have to go higher in the Jacks,” Burke continued. “So you’ll stay in Portland. At some point I’d like to see a true chapter started there, assuming we can get the Reapers to sign off on it. Deke’s still pretty pissed at us over his niece, and I’m sure the Toke situation didn’t help things. That happens, you’ll have another shot at leadership. Until then, I’ll still expect you to be available for delicate assignments. You’ll have to get a regular job, though. I’ll make sure you still get a bounty when it’s warranted, but the others won’t tolerate a man on payroll who’s sleeping with the enemy. And they’re still the enemy, at least in most minds. We clear?”
I thought about Em and nodded. She was worth the sacrifice—assuming things worked out. Shit … This was happening too fast. Something must have crossed my face, because Burke paused.
“How sure are you of this girl?” he asked.
I considered the question, reluctant to answer. Would’ve been nice to pin Em down, spend a little more time together first …
“Not as sure as I’d like,” I admitted finally. “I mean, we don’t have anything arranged formally, and her dad hates me. All her people do. But she stood up for me last night, so that’s something—even told her father we were together. That means I’ve got a shot, and God hates a coward.”
Burke snorted.
“You’re an idiot,” he said flatly. “Believe it or not, I can understand giving things up for a woman. I really can. But giving away everything for a girl you barely know? I’m saying this as someone who cares about you—you’re a fuckwit. You’re lucky I need you to convince the others the Reapers aren’t behind this attack. We don’t save this truce, the cartel’s already won.”
“Hope they listen,” I murmured.
“Won’t hurt that you’re throwing everything away to tell them,” Burke said offhandedly. “Of course, your judgment is obviously fucked, so it balances out.”
I shrugged.
“Can I ask a question?” I said. Burke was the closest thing I had to a father, but I was all too aware that I didn’t really know him at all.
“You can ask,” he said.
“If it wasn’t for what happened last night—if you didn’t need me to convince the club it wasn’t the Reapers—would you still let me have her?”
Burke laughed, but there wasn’t any humor in his voice.
“Romeo and Juliet died, son. Consider that all the answer you need.”
Chapter Fourteen
EM
Kit finally called at four in the morning.
“What the hell is going on?” she demanded, and for once there wasn’t a hint of playfulness or laughter in her voice. “I just saw my phone—there’s about a hundred messages here. I want to know what I’m getting into before I get hold of Dad. Do you think I should wait a couple hours to make the call, when he’s awake?”
“Definitely don’t wait until later,” I told her, keeping my voice low. The house was crawling with people, and I didn’t want to wake anyone up if I didn’t have to. We were all exhausted. “Someone tried to shoot Shade last night in Boise. Swinger is dead. Not only that, they shot up some of the clubhouses, including Portland. Everyone’s been scared you were kidnapped or murdered or something.”
“Oh my God. I’m calling Dad right now.”
She hung up on me, and I flopped back down on my bed, throwing an arm over my eyes. What a clusterfuck. Ten minutes later my phone rang again.
“You were with Hunter last night!?” Kit demanded, her voice incredulous. “Dad says he brought you home. What the hell is going on? It’s like the world turned upside down while I was getting laid.”
“Yeah, I was with Hunter.”
“You want to give me the details on that?”
“I’m not sure even I know the details. We had sex, but before we could talk about anything our phones blew up and everything fell apart. He took me home and then left. Hopefully I’ll hear from him today.”
“I hate to say this, but have you considered he might be playing you again?” she asked quietly. “I know I’m the one who dragged you over to his place last weekend … But I didn’t think there was any danger then. Now people are dying. This is bad shit, Em, and Dad says the Devil’s Jacks could be behind it. He wants us to come home.”