Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
“Not unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’m not ready for what that entails.”
Atlas nodded. “At least you can admit it. Brick can take care of him. He would anyway.”
“No. Anyone leaves the club for any reason, it’s my responsibility. So, if I have to kick him out, I won’t do it when I’m angry at him. I’ll do it with a clear head and after I’ve discussed it with you and Brick. Not before.”
Atlas inclined his head, a slow smile forming on his lips. “Yeah. You’re gonna do fine.” His grin widened. “Pup.” I swung my fist at Atlas, but he easily ducked it, chuckling the whole time.
“We’re heading out.” Brick approached, a hard expression on his face. “Anything I need to take care of?”
I shook my head. “Not now. We’ll worry about it later. For now, your job is the kids.”
“Understood, sir.” With a nod to me and a quick glance at Atlas, Brick stomped back to his team. Brick would be there when they moved the children. He would do as I’d instructed, and he’d be efficient about it. Which was a good thing, because I was going to have my hands full with the warehouse.
“We’ve only got until dark, Prez.” Atlas clapped a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll see if El Diablo can spare Jekyll.”
“He’ll be a good fit?”
“He will. More importantly, he’s a lot like Brick. Loyal to a fault. He and I grew up together. Reconnected when we rolled in here. Went through a lot when we were kids.”
“Good. He gonna have a problem takin’ orders from me?”
Atlas shrugged his massive shoulders. The man was aptly named. “Can’t speak to that. But I wouldn’t consider him if I thought he’d be a problem.”
“Jekyll it is, then. I want to be in place by full dark. Shotgun and Esther said the men from the warehouse should be back with a fresh group of kids an hour after that.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll fill Jekyll in on everything and meet you here in three hours.”
“Sure he’ll join us, are you?”
“Yep.” With a grin, Atlas turned to leave.
I looked at the compound gate. Everything in me demanded I follow Iris. I barely knew the woman, and only from afar. I knew nothing about her other than she was super protective of her sister and had more determination than was good for her. “Damned woman should have trusted me to take care of this.”
“Well, she doesn’t know you.”
Warlock came up behind me. I turned to look over my shoulder at him and scowled. “So? She knew El Diablo asked me to do this. She knows him and this club well enough to come here when she needed help. She should have trusted them.”
“You’re gonna have a hell of a time, Sting. This is going to be amusing.”
“You can be a real dick sometimes, Dad.”
“Just sometimes?”
I wanted to smack the grin off his face. I had certainly fallen hard for a woman I didn’t know. The only person who could read me better than Brick was Warlock. “Watch it, old man.”
He sobered then. “Heard you had words with Snake.”
“I did. He’s gonna give me grief.”
“Always did me. Want my advice?” I raised an eyebrow, knowing Warlock would give me his advice whether I wanted it or not. “Cut him loose. I shoulda done it years ago, but I was too busy letting Bev ruin my life.”
“You think he’ll continue to cause trouble, then?”
“I know he will. He has for years. Had his sights set on being president since before I was voted in years ago. He will question everything you do and sow seeds of discord everywhere. Especially with the older men. You’ve got Brick and Atlas firmly in your corner, so they can keep it under control, but that’s one more nail in your coffin.” His expression was hard. “The best way to keep those guy’s respect is to do what you have to do as quickly as you can. In fact, take care of it before you leave to go back to Indiana. Use this job as leverage to get Black Reign to clean up the mess.”
“Is that what you’d do?” I knew what his answer would be, but I needed to ask the question.
“Without hesitation. Don’t make the same mistake I did. You want Iris? Great. Take her. Make her yours. But keep your eyes on the club and her members.”
“Understood.”
I headed up to my room. I needed a power nap so I was fresh when this went down. The last three months had been filled with sleepless nights and planning. My head hurt sometimes with all the things rolling around up there. This was a mission I could not fuck up.
When I reached my room, I locked the door and shot off a text to Atlas telling him where I was. Then I stretched out on the couch and shut my eyes. I was as prepared as I could be. It was time to trust my team and be as rested as I could be for the coming battle.