Chapter 22 #2
"Nice place you have here." Parker surveyed the room with distaste as Grey glared at the nasty-ass carpet.
"It's close and deserted." I shrugged. I hated it too, but we'd certainly stayed in worse places.
Atlas and Kim had quieted, both hanging their heads, zoning out as they stared at various pieces of ratty furniture. An uncomfortable feeling itched at the back of my neck. I hoped like hell this place wasn’t bringing up memories of that house in the woods.
I went back to leaning on the wall next to the window. Jorge sat in the car parked at the edge of the lot, watching the road. The bands constricting my chest loosened, and I was able to take a full breath.
Just the extra eyes made being here feel ten times safer.
"Why did you come to Virginia?" I asked as Parker and Grey took seats at the round table. Beasty and Kim perched on the edge of one bed while Joaquin and Atlas were on the other.
No one had even taken their shoes off.
"I keep my promises. I got the statue, now I'm here to help you get rid of the problems."
"You didn't promise that." Now I was suspicious as hell.
Grey grunted, and Parker shrugged.
"I might not have promised it, but I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to use your club to source information. It's hard to do that when the club is closed half the time."
"Fair point," Joaquin muttered under his breath.
Drumming his fingers on the table, Parker said, "Catch us up. What's going on."
"First, Danny is dead."
If I'd slapped Parker with a rotting fish, he couldn't have looked more surprised. "The brother you met with yesterday?"
"No, his brother. Danny tried to run us off the road and we were able to catch him in a trap instead."
Parker whistled. "Okay...That's one trouble maker down."
"And...Gio called. He knows Storm is dead." It felt good to spit out the wins over the last twenty-four hours. They reminded me that not everything sucked right now.
"Knew or you confirmed it?"
I shrugged. It was a toss up. "Regardless, he's out of control. Blames us for Storm dying in his botched kidnapping attempt," I growled, digging my fingernails into my thighs. The bright pain bringing back some of my calm.
"I'm sorry to hear about that." Parker addressed Beasty, his face softening as if he truly meant it, but when he turned back to me, his jaw popped. "As for Gio and Adrian, we'll take care of them."
I hated how my body relaxed, as if the assurance that he would handle some of the load actually meant something. It didn't. I knew, hell, we all knew, that if anyone was going to take care of us, it was us. But still, the help was appreciated.
Atlas wasn't so trusting. "You expect us to believe that you'll get rid of your men in a way that protects us?"
Parker slowly shook his head as he gave Atlas a measured look.
"They are, for lack of a better term, contracted.
I've known them for quite some time, but just because I do business with someone doesn't mean I know them.
This is a perfect example of how well I didn't know someone.
They're clearly only out for themselves in a way that makes them dangerous to everyone.
" He pressed his lips together as if he felt guilty.
But knowing what a psycho he was, I doubted it. "Here's what we do—"
Beasty's phone rang.
"It's Books." She bit her lip, glancing at each of us. She hit the answer button before any of us could say otherwise. "Hey," she greeted.
"Where the hell are you, and why am I watching news reports of some kind of electrical outage causing explosions at the club?" She didn't put her phone on speaker, but Books was so enraged that his voice carried plenty in this small, dated room.
"It's a long story..." Beasty drawled, like she wasn't sure now was the time to explain it.
"Where are you?"
She flicked her questioning gaze to me. We had burners, and so did Books. She might as well tell him, he was one of the few people I believed truly wanted to help us to no end of his own. I nodded.
"Just outside my old town." She stressed old, like she was keeping it under wraps just in case.
A string of curses followed. "Where?"
"A killer motel." Beasty's lips turned down in distaste.
An even more colorful string of curses lit up the phone.
Beasty pulled it away from her ear, wincing at the high decibel of Books' tone. "Get the fuck out of there. Not only is that a pile of tinder waiting to go up in flames, it's operated by one of the Pesci brothers' partners."
"Well, that settles that." Parker slapped his hands on his thighs. "Books, is it?" Parker called, glancing at the phone as he and Grey stood.
"Yes," he said slowly. "Who are you?"
"Friends of the Fashion Boys." Parker’s mouth only twitched a little when he said that. Fucker. "We're here to help them with their infestation problem. Where is a safe place to go?"
Books didn't hesitate before rattling off an answer. Both Joaquin and Grey fumbled with their phones to type the address out. Well, Joaquin fumbled.
Grey seemed alarmingly ready and efficient. It gave me the chills as I eyed him.
"That's my place. It's secure. I'll meet you there."
We hung up and grabbed our bags.
Parker stood to the side of the window, holding the musty curtains back with two fingers as he glanced out. After a low whistle, he said, "There's a slight problem."
I closed the distance in two long steps and peeked out.
A row of cars slammed to a stop, blocking off the parking lot as men piled out like roaches.
"Wicked Little Love is going to be pissed." Grey pulled weapons off his belt so that he had a gun in one hand and a nasty serrated blade in the other.
I'd just moved my head when a bullet broke the glass and grazed my fucking ear.