Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 76881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Crank starts to laugh and Hellfire throws him a nasty glare.
“Yes, yes, what big teeth you have,” Stefano continues. “Here is how we do this if you don’t want to make me an enemy. As you appear to be aware of our new office, I expect to see you there at nine. You, Paige Holland and my money. Just so there’s no confusion.”
Hellfire chuckles, completely unamused. “You still think you can set all the rules? Fucking cute. And what if we decide we don’t like the terms of your request?”
“This is not a request. You will have her here tomorrow, or you will find out what happens to enemies of the Fabbris. We're not the two-bit gangsters you're used to dealing with. This is the big leagues, and I will personally chew you up and spit you out. I strongly recommend you find it in yourselves to appear on time. It’s when the big hand is on the nine, and the little hand is on the twelve.” And then he hangs up.
Well fuck, that escalated.
“I hate him,” Crank growls. “Can we shoot him? I don’t even give a shit about starting a war. He’s just an asshole.”
“No, you can’t just fucking shoot him.” Hellfire stops pacing. “Yet. As bullshit as it is, I think we should make that meeting.”
I bristle at that. “You saying we’re going to hand over Paige? Think hard before you answer.”
He cocks his head and looks at me closely. “It’s like that?”
“It might be, but even if I wasn’t fucking her, I wouldn’t turn an innocent girl over to the mob. Whatever he wants from her, it’s not good.”
Crank nods, still leaning his back against the wall, but looking ready to square up if he has to. “I still want to shoot him.”
“Seconded,” Poe adds.
Hellfire rubs his hands over his face like he’s hoping we’ll disappear. “Shit. No, I wasn’t planning on forcing you to hand her over to get her hands chopped off or whatever that jackass would do, but he has a point.”
“Excuse me?”
“Nobody is arguing that the money isn’t theirs, or that her uncle made a deal with the Fabbris and then fucked it up. Not a single fucking leader can let that shit go. I wouldn’t have left Walt in a bag to turn into cursed soup for who knows who to find, but I wouldn’t have given him a slap on the wrist, either.” Hellfire holds out his arm, where a series of hash marks are inked down the inside of his forearm. Each hash represents one of the traitors he executed after the Pit Vipers tried to take us out from the inside. “People don’t fuck with us because they know we’ll do what we have to to survive. As much as I hate to admit it, Stefano is doing the same.”
He isn't wrong.
I loved General like a father, but if he had one weakness, it was wanting to give people chances. It allowed poison to seep into the club in the form of survivors from the destruction of another MC. They swore loyalty, lived alongside us, and then when the time was right, made a play to take over the whole fucking club. I glance over at Poe. Crank and I had been in for a while when it happened, but Poe hadn’t been blooded long before the purge. He was on the right side of the fight, but he almost got his throat sliced open by someone he thought he could trust because they’d come up as prospects together. We took him under our wing after that, and now he’s one of the men I’d trust at my back no matter what.
Hellfire stops. “Alright, here's the fucking deal. We're—as much as I fucking hate to say it—on the backfoot here. If not by strength, then by rights because we currently have that fucker’s money. That makes for tough decisions. It's clear you’re not turning over the girl. Fine. But I need to think about the whole club, not just the three of you. Unless something new comes on the scene, we're at least going to that meeting, and we’ll have to bring her as a show of good faith.”
As expected, Crank's the one to blow up first. “Are you fucking kidding me? He could put a fucking bullet in her head as soon as we show up.”
“This is a shit situation. Believe it or not, I'm not out to murder your woman, so instead of fucking yelling, let's see what we can do to make sure that doesn't fucking happen.” Hellfire snarls back. “It's entirely fucking possible that we're gonna have to play along long enough for an advantage, and we're not even gonna get in the door if we don't have Paige with us. Are you saying you’re not up for the challenge of keeping her safe?”