Chapter Eighteen #2
It wasn’t a big cabin, just the one big room, with a separate bathroom.
King never lived up here before Wave left.
They had their house off compound where the three of them had lived together.
He still had the place and sometimes stayed there but it’s more secure up here, so he’d been staying here since everything started, at Dirt’s insistence as his bodyguard.
The bed was made and pushed up against the wall.
Raptor was standing by the kitchen counter with his back to us, making sandwiches.
Mace was sitting in the armchair. He wasn’t restrained and had a mug in his hand.
He gave me and Wave a cursory glance before looking back into his mug.
Didn’t look as if Mace had any marks on him either.
She headed further into the room as the bathroom door opened and War stepped out.
He looked at us both in surprise, but his eyes fell on Waverley.
They had a silent conversation while we all stood there watching.
It was a twin thing, they did it all the time growing up and it pissed me off then. I figured this was about Connor.
Whatever Wave saw in his face, her shoulders dropped a little, like some tension had been released. Eventually War rolled his eyes and asked Raptor to make more food and grab his sister a black coffee. Raptor lifted his chin to me, but I declined. Last thing I needed right now was more caffeine.
Waverley dropped down onto the sofa, but I remained standing. War had made it clear he wasn’t keeping Waverley out of this, but we all sat in silence as Raptor finished up and brought the food and drinks over.
“You okay?”
Mace raised his head at Waverley’s question. “Peachy.”
She laughed slightly. “Is the hospitality here better than what I got?”
“Don’t know, I haven’t had a shower yet.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I snapped. I did not want to hear him ever talking about Waverley showering.
“Stand down, Caveman,” Waverley rolled her eyes at me.
War looked over at me, waiting to see how I was going to react to that.
He arched a brow when I didn’t say a damn thing.
I just grabbed the sandwich Raptor offered.
I barely paid any attention when he took his leave and headed out too, going to the table and angrily pulling out a chair, dropping my ass into it.
Mace didn’t look at anyone. I didn’t think it was because he was afraid.
No, he was pissed. That was coming off him in waves.
“You coming here won’t make me change my mind.”
I glanced at War, checking to see if he was going to respond to that but he was watching his sister. I leaned back in the chair, waiting too.
“Never thought it would, you boys are all the same,” Waverley huffed. “That’ll never change, dumb to the fucking core.”
Mace looked up at her, his features drawn into a sharp frown. War and I remained silent, knowing what she was doing. It worked on us when we were younger. Probably would now too.
“What do you see happening here, Mace? King might be going easy on you now because you brought me back to him.”
I exchanged a quick glance with War, but one we had perfected over the years, it was quick and unreadable to anyone else. I was sure Wave realized King wasn’t going easy on him just because of that either but she was playing up to it, making him think she was the one in the dark now.
“I know what you want, and you have to know that if you talk to us, I’ll make sure it happens.”
He scoffed at her, but he didn’t argue, or refute what she was saying. He cast a quick look War’s way. Whatever they were talking about, he wasn’t about to disclose information. Waverley suddenly got to her feet. She went to stand in front of her brother.
“Let me talk to him alone.”
“No fucking way,” I shoved the chair back and got to my feet, but the infuriating woman didn’t take her eyes off her brother, like I hadn’t even spoken.
“Warren.”
I watched as my VP looked from his sister to Mace, then back again.
“Wait a minute,” I stepped forward, but War raised a hand to halt me. Fuck, I stopped, looking over at Mace. I would not disrespect my VP in front of this asshole, but I wasn’t going to let this shit happen either. I’d drag Waverley out before I let her be alone with this guy.
They did that silent twin thing again and I knew the moment War relented. I swore, loudly but it was like I was invisible.
“We’ll be right outside.”
I glared at Waverley, who finally deigned to look in my direction. Her eyes were hard, her chin raised in defiance. I gave her a look that told her she would pay for this later, but she just arched a brow at me and I could almost hear her saying, “bring it,” in my head.
I stomped over to the door. War said something else to her, or Mace I didn’t know who, before he followed me outside. Once he shut the door he folded his arms over his chest and watched me pacing back and forth. I was too angry to speak right now.
“Just let her try.”
“I don’t have much choice do I?” I spat.
“Nope,” he said, popping the ‘P,’ like a fucking prick.
“You’re only getting away with this shit because of that,” I pointed at the patch on his cut.
“Right, that’s all it is.”
“If he hurts her.”
“I’ll slit his throat,” War said without hesitation. “But we’re giving her this chance, so shut the fuck up, or get lost.” He held my gaze as I spun around. “Don’t make me knock you out.”
“As fucking if.”
War chuckled. He glanced at his watch then back at me. “I’ll give her ten minutes.”
That didn’t appease me, but I chose not to argue again, it would be a waste of breath.
I took out my phone to check the time. Ten fucking minutes.
I turned away from him and text Ballistic, asking what was happening with the guys at the warehouse and whether there was any plans for going after Nytro, despite King’s edict that Danica was his focus.
“He’s talking.”
I turned at War’s voice and saw him looking through the window to his right. I moved forward to get near the window, but War put his hand on my chest and held me back. I snarled at him, he should know better than to try and stop me.
Giving me a hard look, he pushed me back. “We don’t know what he’s telling her and whether you like it or not, they have some kind of connection.”
I growled at him.
War laughed. “You’ll never change,” he said. “Where she is concerned.”
“Fuck off,” I knocked his arm away, but I didn’t go at him again and neither of us went to the window. I’d never admit he was right. I didn’t like it, but we had to give this a shot.
“You’re not gonna want to hear this, Hustle, but he is the best we’ve got right now. As much as it sickens me to say it, Mace was always a decent guy, for a fucking Kingsmen,” he added with a wry laugh. “Would you fold too easily if we were in this situation.”
“You’re not a fucking dick running his club into the ground.”
War shrugged. “Push came to shove, Hustle, could you turn on me, if I was a complete bastard? Look at it this way, Omen is a fucking traitor bastard but if the Kingsmen came knocking, asking for him, would you hand him over.”
“Hell no.” War just looked at me as if he’d made some point. “It’s not the same thing,” I argued.
“Dumb ass,” he muttered. “Look, I never realized this before, but King has a way of doing things. He’s a manipulative fucker but he always gets it right.
Mace hates Nytro, he hates what he has done to his club but he is a Kingsmen, just like you’re a Devil.
It would be hard as fuck to break your loyalty but if you’d been through what he has,” he indicated the house behind us.
“If you’d seen your President almost killed so another guy could take his place, let that bitch come in and dictate what you do, then take control of the club and watch as your brothers allowed it?
Would being tortured or screamed at or met with hostility be the way to get you to talk?
“Would treating you like you are a human, keeping you secure but not locking you up, hearing about all the shitty things your President did from a different perspective, make you talk? Maybe being reminded by the one person you felt was innocent in all of this, that the club you’re so loyal to are a pack of animals who deserve everything they get.
How about knowing your brothers can be saved from being killed if the other club take out the bad apples? ”
I’d turned my head from him, looking over the compound that lay spread out below us, listening to what he was saying. I didn’t want to use Waverley like that and if she knew that was King’s intention, it would break her heart.
“I see you thinking of her,” War said going to stand near the railing and looking off in the same direction I was.
“For years, Hud, she wanted to be a part of this. No one is using her right now. Not in the way you think. Even King sees it. She’s a part of us.
Her loyalty has never been in doubt, even after she left.
She kept our secrets when she didn’t have to.
“I’m not seeing this as tricking my sister into getting us the information we need to take down that club.
I’m seeing this as a way to find out what we can do to get to the people who are hurting our club, while showing Wave she’s all in with us.
King too. He’s been an asshole to her most of her life but you and I both know it wasn’t intentional.
He's just wired that way. It became a whole lot clearer, finding out about our mom…”
I looked over at him, his head had drooped forward, and he grabbed the rail with one hand.
I felt bad. He’s my best friend and I’ve neglected to consider everything he’s gone through over the last few days.
Fuck, if we got Wave back from them and she told me she never wanted to see me, I’d lose my mind.
On top of all that, I’d seen how hearing the truth about their mom affected her.
War was in the same position. Only he was our VP and doing everything he could not to let anyone see what all of this was doing to him.
There was a hardness to my best friend that had never really been there before, but still, he was doing what was right for the club in allowing his sister to pull whatever information she could out of Mace.
“About that,” I started, and he looked over. “Your mom, finding out what happened, Wave told me what you’re planning.” He shrugged at me. “Whatever you need,” I dipped my chin.
“It’s something I need to do alone.”
“That won’t happen, asshole. Like you’ve just waxed poetic about,” my lip tilted as he scowled at me.
“Wave is one of us. Do you think she’ll let you do that alone?
You gonna stop her, or are you gonna be the biggest hypocrite alive?
” I grinned. We needed to lighten this moment.
“Besides, you’re gonna need someone to show you how to interrogate that bastard when we find him, you can’t just walk in and wave a gun around or slap him about a little. ”
“Fuck off, you dick. I know when to show restraint.”
“Bullshit.”
“You want a fucking broken nose?”
“Case and point?” I held out my hands. “Always so quick to violence, War.”
“Prick,” he snapped but he was trying hard not to let me see the laugh he wanted to let loose.
After a short moment of silence, he looked back at the cabin.
“I don’t intend to interrogate the asshole anyway.
We already know why he killed her, I don’t need to talk to that piece of shit about his reasons.
He got paid, he did it, no questions asked.
He killed an innocent woman without a second thought.
I want to end him, the way he ended her. Nothing more.”
He ran a hand over his eyes and down the side of his face, trying to wipe away the fatigue written all over him.
For a second, I thought about raising the issue of Connor but decided against it.
I knew my brother, he was pushing that deep down inside of him so he could do what needed to be done, but he couldn’t do that forever. I just needed to be there when he blew.
The door opened and we both turned to see Waverley stepping out. War raised his brows in question as I clenched my fists. I fully expected her to say he was being tight lipped but I shouldn’t have been surprised when she told us what he said.
“Besides Mad Hog, there are four guys so loyal to Nytro they’ll do anything for him. They’re the ones you need to take out. Once those five are gone, Danica loses her hold on the club.”
“Did he elaborate on that?” War asked, pushing off the railing and stepping closer to his sister.
“You’ll never find them or get close to them, they will have gone deeper once they realized Mace bolted.
But right now, they don’t know we have him.
As far as they’re concerned he ran. Everyone has kept tight lipped about Mace being here,” she pulled the cuffs of her shirt over her fists, a move so quintessentially Waverley.
“Nytro won’t give a shit about Danica, no matter how much she thinks she controls him. All he wants right now, is Mace.”
“Meaning?” I asked and she turned her gaze to me.
“If we use him as bait, Nytro won’t be able to help himself coming out into the open.”