Chapter Twenty-Five
Harley
“ G ood morning.” Presley smiles at me as I enter the kitchen. She’s cooking breakfast while Axe sits at the island, Jayce sitting on top in front of him.
“Morning,” I say, less enthusiastically, since I just got up and haven’t had coffee yet.
After making myself a cup, I take a seat next to Axe, who glances at me. “The boys still sleeping?”
I nod, sipping my coffee. “They didn’t finish cleaning the shed out until really late. I think it was like two or three this morning when they finally came to bed.”
“Well, looks like Blade gets to have some fun this morning waking their asses up.” He chuckles as he pulls his phone out. Presley glances at me, and we both roll our eyes.
After talking with the girls yesterday, I feel more settled. I know what I want and what needs to happen, but that means I need to have some hard conversations I don’t think I am ready to have yet.
By the time Presley finishes making breakfast, more people have woken up and come downstairs—including my guys, who all look like zombies. “Tired?” I raise a brow at Ryker, who slumps down next to me, dropping his head onto the counter.
He grunts in response while Grayson and Cade both give me a kiss before going to make coffee.
“Something is happening at the diner,” Stone says as he walks through the kitchen, not stopping to let any of us respond.
Furrowing my brows, I glance at Axe, who is already hopping up and handing Jayce to Presley, before following him to make the rest of us follow as well.
Stone heads straight outside to his bike. “Let’s go.”
“Brother, what is it? Did Raven say something?” Axe asks him, even as we all quickly grab what we need and get ready to leave with him.
“No. I was watching her. There are suspicious people outside the diner. I’m calling her now,” he snarls as he starts up his bike and doesn’t hesitate to leave us behind.
Cade, Ryker, Grayson, and I all get in Noah’s truck and follow behind the bikes as we race over to the diner to see what the fuck is happening.
“Wait—did he say he was watching her?” I ask the guys.
Ryker snorts. “Yep. He’s a stalker. It’s his thing, and we all have come to terms with it, even Raven. It’s not like normal security cameras either. No one else has access to them, which is mostly because Raven knows he is always watching her when she is working so she’ll do inappropriate things.”
“We only know that because Nerds wanted the camera system hooked up with everything else, and he saw Raven’s breasts. Stone freaked out,” Grayson adds.
“Wow. It’s so hard to understand how those two are together sometimes,” I comment with a chuckle. Stone is so quiet and broody, and Raven is everything but those things. I can only imagine how often they drive each other crazy.
As we pull up to the diner, we don’t see anything or anyone around. The diner’s open sign is turned off, and Stone is storming inside with his gun in hand before we can even get out of the truck.
When we get inside with Colton, Axe, and Noah, we can hear yelling coming from somewhere in the back. As we get to the hallway, we find a trail of blood leading towards the office. The second I can clearly see into the office, I freeze as the last two people I thought I would see sit on the floor are tied up with–is that an apron tie?
Raven
“Trouble! You’re phone has been going off non-fucking stop back here!” Hazel yells at me from the kitchen.
Rolling my eyes, I wave goodbye to the last of our early morning breakfast goers and head to the back, snagging my phone. “You could have just checked it,” I say without glancing up.
She scoffs. “Right, because I want to see the sexting you and Stone do, again.”
“You liked it,” I grumble as I call back my man before he bursts a blood vessel from me not answering the phone fast enough.
“There’s two people outside lurking around. One of them is holding a chain of some kind. Get your gun, and you and Hazel get into the bathroom now. I’m coming.”
“Yes, sir,” I tell him, even as I secretly roll my eyes when he hangs right up.
“What is it?” Hazel questions, coming up next to me.
I grin. “Want to have some fun? We apparently have unwanted visitors outside.”
“Oh, let’s see who it is, shall we?” She smirks at me.
We walk over to the back door of the diner leading out to an alleyway we mostly use for parking. Hazel swings the door open, and we find a man and a woman standing with their backs to us. “You two lost? Looking for some breakfast?” Hazel shouts, startling them.
When they spin around, my stomach drops at the sight of the fucking Wilsons. Tammy and Richard. I may have never met them, but I have seen their pictures, and I know who these fuckers are.
Hazel must sense the change in my mood, because she tenses up slightly. Resting my hand on her shoulder, I smile at them. “Want to come in and get something to eat?”
“Oh, sure. Thank you dear,” Tammy says sweetly.
Richard, the dumbass, keeps one hand behind his back as they walk towards us.
“Seat them, will you?” I ask Hazel, who nods while I walk slowly back inside and then dart down the hallway to grab my gun.
Hazel is walking by the hallway entrance with them when I am walking back out. Tammy glances my way like she is checking the place out, and when she spots me, her eyes grow wide while I grin.
“Were you by chance coming to try to burn down our diner? Because I hate to tell you, but it was a grave mistake.” I tsk.
Richard, who was holding a chain I am guessing he was going to use to lock us inside like they did at the nightclub, reacts too slowly, giving Hazel plenty of time to snag the chain right from his hand and whip it at his legs, knocking him down to his knees.
“Damn, that’s fun.” She giggles. “Stand up, fucker.”
Richard stands back up, and I raise a brow at Tammy. “Come on back to the office, will you?” I wave the gun in my hand, gesturing to a door next to me.
She scoffs. “No. You aren’t going to shoot us. This isn’t over. We will be back.” Spinning to leave, I take my aim and fire the gun, shooting her husband in the knee. They both scream, and he drops to the ground while she spins around wide eyed.
“I said, come to the office,” I snap.
Tammy leaves her husband behind and speed walks straight into the office while Hazel makes Richard crawl, using the chain to hit his ass, making him move faster as he cries and leaves a trail of blood behind.
Harley
“So you just tied them up with apron waist ties and shoved whatever the fuck that is in their mouths?” Noah laughs as Hazel and Raven explain what happened.
“Grease rags. They wouldn’t shut up,” Hazel comments from where she is lounging on the couch in the corner of the office.
Stone is silently raging as he holds Raven, glaring down at her while she looks happy with herself—until she spots me. Forcing Stone to release her, she walks straight up to me and cups my cheeks. “They showed up here, ready to try and burn this place down. I know after our talk yesterday, you are probably feeling unprepared for this, but Harley, it’s time. Find that simmering rage within you and let it boil over. Fight this last demon. I promise, putting it off any longer won’t get you to where you want to be,” she tells me, mentioning what we talked about yesterday without actually spilling my secrets, which I am grateful for.
“I’m scared,” I tell her quietly.
“Trust your men, my love,” she whispers in my ear. “There’s a break room two doors down; use it. We will wait here.”
This was not how I thought today would go. My head begins to pound with tension as I glance at my three guys, who are watching with concerned gazes. When I tilt my head and start walking to the break room a few doors farther down the hallway, the guys follow close behind.
After they walk inside, I shut the door and then wring my hands, unsure of where to start.
“Harley–” Grayson starts hesitantly, but I cut him off, needing to get this out.
“Yesterday, I talked with the girls for hours. We talked about things I don’t want to talk about right now, but I also told them about the Wilsons, how I need to figure out what to do, but I kept stopping myself from thinking about it because I’m terrified.” My voice cracks when I finish speaking, and I don’t look up at any of them. My heart pounds aggressively in my chest, and I can feel my breathing becoming erratic as panic sets in.
Gentle hands cradle my face and lift it so I’m staring into the green eyes I have become obsessed with finding comfort in. They never waiver, they never judge, they never show pity.
Blue eyes, brown eyes, green eyes.
They are my anchor.
“Breathe, beautiful. It’s okay. Tell us whatever it is,” Grayson murmurs.
“We have you,” Cayden rumbles as he and Ryker stand on either side of me, surrounding me in their comfort.
Not looking away from Grayson’s soothing gaze, I explain, “I’m terrified if I let myself think about what I really want to do to them–I will become them. How am I any better than them if I want to give them the same treatment? What if I thrive in that environment and want to become that kind of person? How am I not just as bad as them if I do and think the same vile things as them?”
“Breathe, Harley,” Grayson interrupts my explosive thoughts.
“I think we all fear the dark thoughts in our heads, how controlling they could become if we let them out. I think that’s normal. I felt that way yesterday after we dealt with Tank,” Cade says. “The difference is, today, I woke up surrounded by the people who care about me. I knew I would never let myself fall into that darkness because it is bred from a place of fear and self-preservation, from what my father did to me. I don’t want to be that person, and if I had the choice back then, I never would have become that person.”
“And you are a good person, Harley,” Ryker adds. “You don’t want to lock up a little girl in your basement and hurt her because someone else hurt you. You want to show them what they did to you. You want revenge, and you fucking deserve it. None of us are good people by normal standards, but we have good intentions, and we only want to help those who need it. Allowing yourself to feel whatever you want to feel and do about them, it makes you strong, and it allows you to take the power back that they stole from you.”
“If you just walked into the other room right now and shot them both in the head and went home, would you feel satisfied? Would you feel like you got the revenge you know you deserve?” I shake my head at Cade’s questions, and he continues. “Then tell us what you truly want to do, and we will be there every step of the way to hold you when you feel overwhelmed. We will celebrate with you when you feel good. We will do every single thing with you. You aren’t alone, remember?”
“Okay,” I say as a stray tear rolls down my cheek. “I know what I need to do. I’m terrified, but with you all, I can do this.”
“Fuck yes, you can. Now tell us what that sexy little depraved mind has been planning.” Ryker grins at me.
I chuckle while the others sigh and dive into what I have thought about. Most of the time, I shut the thoughts down when they came into my mind, but deep down, I have known for years what I want to do.
“Fuck, now I have to walk around with my cock hard as a fucking rock.” Ryker groans as I finish explaining everything.
Grayson and I laugh while Cade steps towards Ryker, holding his fist up. “I can fix it for you.”
“Punch my dick, and I swear to God, I will cut yours off in your sleep.”
“Okay, leave each other alone.” Grayson sighs as we leave the breakroom and head back to the office.
“So what’s the plan?” Noah asks from where he is leaning against the wall outside the office.
“They are coming home with us,” I say, smiling down at Tammy as she tries to yell through her gag.
Using the two hooks in the ceiling of the shed, Cade and Ryker chain Tammy’s wrists together and raise her so she is left on her tiptoes, dangling, before doing the same thing to Richard.
“What do you want to do, baby girl?” Cade asks me as soon as they are all set.
“I really want some pizza.” I grin, glancing between them. “We can take their gags out. I guess they can at least talk to each other.”
Ryker yanks the rags out of their mouths, and after coughing up a storm, Tammy glares at me. “You little bitch–”
“Keep talking, and I’ll find something painful to gag you with. Shut up and behave. You’re my bitch now.” I tell her before walking back over to the door and holding it open for my guys, who all smile as we walk out of the shed. After locking up, we head back over to the club, where most everyone is settled in the living room besides Stone and Raven, drinking beer.
“Done so soon?” Noah raises a brow.
“Just letting them get comfortable.” I wink at him.
Cade grabs everyone a beer, and we all take seats on the couch, with Ryker pulling me down on his lap while the other two sit on either side of us.
“So there’s another thing we need to discuss,” Grayson says to the room, drawing everyone’s eyes to him. “We still have the offshore accounts that need to be handled. I have a list of names of those we know were involved from all my research awhile back. Nerds and I should be able to get all the accounts in their names, and then I remember Rage talking about having a contact we can give the information to?” he questions, glancing at Colton.
“Yeah, years ago, Killer was investigated by the FBI, and Rage became friends with the guy who was runnin’ most of it. Nothin’ ever turned up from the investigation, but they stayed in contact off and on. I know how to get a hold of him. He should be able to send the information in the right direction,” Colton tells him.
“You and Nerds can really get the accounts away from the club? I know it was like multiple accounts that connected back here, right?” I ask Grayson.
“Yeah.” He nods. “It was when you had run away from the Wilsons. We discovered the one with Rage’s name on it. After that, we found the others, and all of them are connected to the ranking officers here. Now we know Killer was more than likely the one who did that, which makes sense,” Grayson spits.
“If you and Nerds can get them ready, I will get in contact with Rage’s guy,” Colton responds.
Grayson glances at me, a guilty look on his face as he opens his mouth to speak. I cut him off. “It’s alright. Go do your thing, Gray. I wasn’t kidding about letting them get comfortable down there, and plus, I need to work out. These two can help me.” I wink at him.
“Behave.” He chuckles as he kisses me before giving Ryker a kiss. He pauses, realizing what he did without thought. The panic begins to surface on his face, but then Noah whistles loudly, making Grayson’s panic turn into embarrassment as he heads down the hall towards the tech room.
Ryker pulls me back against him so my head is resting on his shoulder and shoots a glare at Noah. “Leave Grayson alone.”
“Hey, I didn’t do anything besides whistle,” Noah says, holding his hands in the air. “If you guys are going to work out, I’m coming too.”
“Good. It’s about time I kicked your ass again,” Ryker says under his breath. Cade and I laugh while Noah shoots us a suspicious look while he walks away.
Grayson
“Who are they?” Nerds asks as we close ourselves in the tech room.
“District Judge Paul Whitlock, Jacksonville County Sheriff Caleb Jones, Mayor Ron Davidson, and Bethany Wright, a social worker,” I read him the names from my list. “Some of them were working together and had this whole scheme to take kids away without ever being caught. The Mayor was just buying underage girls, and we don’t know what happened to them after, because they never went back into the trafficking ring that we could find.” I wince, hating not having the answer to what happened to the girls.
“Fuck, I hate all of this,” he mumbles.
“We are done after this,” I say, trying to help him feel better.
“But it's not done, is it? It’s everywhere in the world. It never ends.” He shakes his head. “This shit is fucked up.” His leg is bouncing as he shoves handful after handful of nerds candy in his mouth.
“Besides this stuff, are you okay?” I ask hesitantly. Oakley is still staying with us, but she is fully focusing on healing herself and getting better so we don’t see much of her between her rehab stuff and therapies. Nerds has been isolating, even from Oakley, since Rage died. I know the others are worried about him, but no one really brings it up, because Nerds seems to be close to exploding soon. Definitely not the calm brother who has helped me over the years.
I just wish I could help him.
“I’m fine. Let’s do this,” he snaps.
Sighing, I focus on my end, gathering all the information we need to input for the new owners of the accounts. Their names, addresses, date of birth, social security. Nerds is getting into the accounts and removing our people so we can add new account owners.
“I have everything ready,” he says. Nodding, I grab my laptop and move my chair over to his desk so I can give him all the information to input.
By the time we get all four accounts ready, Sugar knocks on the door before popping his head in, his phone in his hand. “He is goin’ fly out here. I guess he was in New York for work. We will see him in a few days.”
“Everything will be ready,” I tell him.
“Alright. Church later. You need to be there, Grayson,” Sugar says before leaving the room again so we can finish.
“It’s ready,” Nerds says, and we check everything over one last time.
“This will be so satisfying.” I grin and get a tiny smile back from Nerds.