Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
River
I shoved my phone back into my pocket, hating that I wasn’t there with Adelaide right now, but I knew Joey would take care of her. I knew this shit was going to hit her hard. After all, the only reason Vin’s men wanted retaliation was because Tristan was an idiot and allowed himself to be seen when he sent a bullet through Vin’s skull.
Which put him and all members of his club on their radar, not to mention anyone that might be attached to them.
I strode into the clubhouse. “Call church,” I ordered Tristan, not giving a fuck about the boundaries that I was overstepping. They wanted my help? They were getting it, and they were getting it my way.
I strode into his chapel without waiting for another word. Jesup was sitting at the table with a glass of whiskey in front of him, but he hadn’t touched it. “I think I’ve got something,” I told him. “Adelaide thought of it.” He looked up at me with hope in his eyes. I only hoped that my woman was right and that I wasn’t giving the broken man in front of me false hope.
Men began to file into the room under Tristan’s command. Tristan took his seat at the head of the table, but I remained standing. Sam stood at the door with Holden and Vern. “Let’s cut to the chase,” I started. “All of you sitting here know I’m not fucking stupid. Somebody better speak up about their ties to Vin’s men, and you better tell me who the fuck is behind this shit.”
Sam coughed slightly, and I looked over at him. He inclined his head to Dray. I arched an eyebrow at Dray. Sad to see him as a traitor, but every man had a price. My men kept their loyalty to me because I kept my payment to them high. Tristan had never learned that. “Something you want to share with me?” I asked him.
He clenched his jaw and shook his head. “I’m not a fucking traitor, unlike you,” he snapped at me. I snorted. “Don’t come in here making commands when you fucking betrayed the goddamn president himself.”
Anger roared through my veins. Dray had once been a pretty damn good friend of mine, but obviously, that had changed. And Tristan betrayed himself before I ever betrayed him. He betrayed himself by not loving a good woman correctly.
“At least I owned up to my shit, Dray,” I retorted. He clenched his jaw. “I was prepared to take the bullet in my skull for sleeping with her. So, what the fuck do you know?” I asked him again.
He stayed silent. I looked up at the ceiling, slowly losing my fucking patience. The only person I had patience for was the woman currently waiting at home for me to come back to her.
“Alright, then,” I growled, pulling my gun out of my cut. Everyone squirmed uncomfortably, even Tristan. “I’m about to just start dropping fucking bodies,” I snarled. “So, if someone values their fucking life, they better speak the fuck up right now .”
“I saw Dray and Wren meeting up with a man named Calhoun a few nights ago. The night the clubhouse got shot up,” Tank spoke up. Dray and Wren’s eyes flashed with rage before they smothered it, but it was there long enough for me to catch it. “They caught me eavesdropping. I was going to call you with all of the information so you could protect Adelaide, but they saw me, and Calhoun threatened Adelaide if I opened my mouth, so I kept it shut. Said he had eyes on her.”
Jesup got up and sent a right hook against Dray’s face. I heard a bone crunch in Dray’s face—most likely his nose—as he flew out of his seat and crashed to the floor. Wren got up, but Sam sent a solid punch against his temple, sending him crashing to the floor knocked out cold. “Get Tank out of the room,” I ordered Holden. “Keep him isolated from the rest of the club because if there’s more than one traitor, someone is going to shut him up.” And I would not have Tank’s death on my conscience. He was a damn good man.
Holden nodded, motioning for Tank to follow him. I clapped a hand on Tank’s shoulder, bringing him to a stop for a moment. Like me, his loyalty had always resided with Adelaide. Fuck the president. Protect the woman. I had always had respect for him for that.
I nodded once at him in thanks. He clapped my back on his way past me as he continued following Holden out of the room.
“There are two of your traitors,” I told Tristan. “Find out where Zyla is and find the rest of your traitors. Guarantee by the time you find all of them, you’ll barely have a club left.”
I strode out of the room, pulling my phone to my ear. Joey answered on the second ring. “Yeah?” he answered, his voice hushed. Knowing Adelaide, she had probably cried herself to sleep.
My heart squeezed painfully in my chest for her.
“You got your eye on Adelaide?” I asked him.
“Always,” he responded. “She’s passed out on the bed with Axel on her chest. I’m sitting in the rocker. What’s going on?”
“Tank caught Dray and Wren talking to a man named Calhoun. Said Calhoun threatened Adelaide if Tank opened his mouth and that the man has eyes on her.” Joey growled. “Don’t take your eyes off of her and get one of your men on Reina,” I added, thinking of Sam and the attachment he seemed to be forming with her. “I want tight fucking security on my goddamn clubhouse.”
“You got it. What are you going to do about Tank?” he asked.
“See if he wants to switch clubs,” I told him honestly as I moved through the clubhouse, wanting some fucking fresh air. This clubhouse was fucking trashed and so were its members.
“What about Tristan?” Joey asked me. I grunted, frankly not giving a fuck about Tristan and his thoughts on it. “It’s his choice in the end if he wants to let go of one of his members,” Joey reminded me.
“Fuck Tristan,” I snapped. Joey laughed. “Tank has always done a good job of protecting Adelaide, and Tristan doesn’t treat his fucking men like he should. Besides, once this shit is taken care of, I doubt Grim will have much of a club left.”
Gunfire suddenly rang out on the other end of the phone. I stopped in my tracks, my hand tightening around my phone. I swore to fuck, my heart completely stopped. Joey shouted ‘fuck’ at the top of his lungs. “Adelaide, get the fuck up!” he roared.
My blood ran cold in my veins. This shit didn’t happen on my territory. Someone had notified either Fredrick or Calhoun that I wasn’t at the clubhouse anymore, that I was down here.
Down here a few hundred fucking miles away from Adelaide and our son.
“They’ll be safe, River,” Joey hurriedly told me before he abruptly hung up.
“Fuck it all to hell!” I roared, storming back into the chapel, fear and anger rushing through my veins. If something happened to my woman or my kids, I would tear this goddamn world apart. I slammed open the doors. “Put your fucking hands on the table!” I roared.
I pointed my weapon at Tristan when he didn’t move with everyone else. “That includes you, Grim,” I snarled. “Hands on the mother fucking table.”
He warily eyed the gun in my hand as he did as I instructed. I was pissed. I didn’t give a fuck anymore how Adelaide felt about him. Joey and I could bring her back to us, but Tristan was a hairsbreadth away from getting a fucking bullet put through his skull.
Tristan could tell I was at my fucking wits end, choosing to remain quiet instead of popping off at me like he usually would. “Who the fuck snitched that I wasn’t at home?” No one spoke. “Fucking speak!” I roared.
“Fucking shoot,” Jesup spoke up. “Zyla is at your clubhouse with Calhoun. I got it out of Dray right as you burst through the doors.”
I put a bullet through Dray’s head and one through Wren’s, cleaning up the trash for Tristan. “I’m taking Tank with me,” I snapped as I strode out of the room. “Jesup, if you want your woman, let’s go. My clubhouse just got fucking ambushed.” I turned my angry gaze to Tristan, letting my eyes meet his. “If Adelaide or Axel is hurt, or if she loses our baby, Tristan, I’ll fucking kill you, do you understand me? I don’t give a fuck what you mean to her right now. So, you better hope and pray that Joey fucking protected them, or I’ll bury you in a shallow fucking grave right next to your sister.”