Chapter 19
GOOSE
“Have you ever tried your hand at the slots?”
“Never really had the opportunity.”
“Well, now you do.” I placed my hand at the small of her back, guiding her toward the middle of the slot machines. I pulled out a twenty and offered it to her as I said, “Give it a whirl.”
She hesitated, but eventually, she took the money and stepped over to one of the machines. “Seems a shame to just throw money away like this.”
“It’s not throwing it away. It’s taking a chance.”
She smiled, then pulled the lever.
The dials turned, and after spinning for what seemed like forever, the three rows stopped, one by one. And as luck would have it, none of them matched. She immediately shook her head. “I don’t think today’s my day.”
“Sure, it is. Give it another go.”
She nodded and pulled the lever again, and damn, if she didn’t look good doing it. But then again, she always looked good. She was one of those women who looked amazing without even trying, and tonight was no different.
She was wearing a soft pink sweater with jeans that fit like they were made for her, and her hair was straight and brushed away from her face. Looking at her made it hard to remember to breathe, let alone keep my hands to myself.
But I managed. Barely.
Besides, tonight wasn’t the night for my shenanigans. Over dinner, she’d mentioned what had happened with her grandmother’s ring. While she knew it was a risk, she was disappointed at how things had played out, and I was doing my best to lighten her mood.
I thought the slots would be a good place to start.
So far, no such luck.
“Okay,” she muttered, feeding another bill into the machine. “This one’s got to be it.”
The lever clanked. Lights spun, and then, nothing.
“Oh, man. Tough luck.”
She sighed, and she gave me the most adorable pout as she said, “I swear, these things hate me.”
“They sense fear.”
“I’m not afraid of it,” she scoffed.
“That machine just stole another twenty from you.”
“That’s because I’m jinxed. Not afraid.”
She laughed, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. And that got me right in the gut. I’d hoped a quick win would distract her, but clearly, luck wasn’t on her side tonight. After another loss, I reached over and gently placed my hand over hers.
She glanced over her shoulder and smiled, “You got some secret slot magic skills I don’t know about?”
“I have my moments.”
I pulled the lever, and the machine exploded with sounds and blinking lights. Coins clattered in the trough at the bottom of the machine as the screen flashed WINNER over and over. Presley’s mouth fell open as she gasped, “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
“Look at that! You won two hundred bucks,” I replied proudly.
“Technically, you won it.”
“It was a joint effort.” I gave her a nudge. “I’d say drinks on you tonight.”
“Oh, most definitely,” she giggled, and just like that, her mood lifted a notch. “You thinking a glass of wine here or take a bottle back to my place?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but I was cut short when Memphis came up next to us and said, “I need a word.”
“Alright.” I took a few steps back, leaving Presley to collect the money on her own. “What’s up?”
“Rusty and Skid were with Smitty at Gin and Bailey’s, grabbing a cold one on the way home, and they got jumped.”
“Who?” I growled through clenched teeth.
“The Rebel Coyotes,” he answered, sounding as pissed as I felt. “They’re new around here. Still growing their numbers, but from what I hear, they’re pretty well-known up North.”
“How am I just hearing about these guys?”
“They’ve been playing smart. Moving in quiet. Under the radar, but they weren’t quiet tonight. Pretty sure one of them broke a few of Smitty’s ribs, and both Rusty and Skid are with Blade getting stitches.”
Rage washed over me. Rusty and Skid were both brothers, but they were young. And they weren’t exactly the biggest and strongest of our bunch. In fact, you couldn’t have picked three with less muscle power. Those assholes probably took one look at them and saw an easy take-down.
They were wrong.
“We going after them?”
“That’ll be up to Prez. He’s called church.”
And just like that, my plans for an easy, chill night with Presley went flying out the window. I let out a breath, then told him, “Let me wrap things up with Presley, and I’ll follow you over.”
He gave me a nod and waited as I made my way back over to Presley.
She’d just finished shoving all the coins into her purse and was completely unaware that my world had just tilted on its axis. The sight of her smiling made my chest ache in a way I didn’t have time for.
Not tonight.
Presley's smile faded when I announced, “Sorry, doll, but I gotta cut things short.”
“What?”
“I’ve gotta get to the clubhouse.”
“Oh, okay.” Disappointment marked her face as she muttered, “Is everything okay?”
“No, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.”
“Anything I can do?”
“Just get home safe and text me when you’re settled.”
“I can do that.”
I leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll make this up to you.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“I’d expect no less.”
I hesitated, and this was not the time for hesitation. My brothers had been through it, and I needed to get to them. But I felt torn in a way I never had before. I didn’t know what the hell to do with that.
Presley noticed my pause, and with a soft smile on her face, placed her hands on my chest and inched up on her tiptoes, kissing me. “It’s fine. Go do what you need to do, and I’ll text you when I get home.”
I nodded, then forced myself to turn and head back over to Memphis. He didn’t waste time with chitchat. He simply started for the door, and I followed.
The ride to the clubhouse was a blur of headlights and adrenaline. I kept my eyes trained on the road, but my mind was all over the place. I’d heard about the Coyotes. I knew I had, but I couldn’t place when or where or even what was said. That was fucked up.
I should’ve known when and exactly what was said.
It was my job to know. It was all over our jobs, and we’d slacked off. We’d let in too many distractions, and now, it had cost us. I eased the throttle back, and mile after mile, I was running through faces, territory lines, and every rumor we’d brushed off and shouldn’t have.
By the time we rolled through the gate, most of the brothers had started to file in. Bikes were lined up in their usual spots, and more were pulling in by the second. Like me, they were eager to find out what the hell had gone down.
Memphis and I parked, and as I stood and took off my helmet, I couldn’t help but notice how tense the air felt. We headed inside, and it was unusually quiet.
No music playing in the bar.
No laughing.
No talking.
Just the sound of our footsteps as we started toward the infirmary. I didn’t bother looking back as I continued down the hall. I knew Memphis was right behind me. When we reached the infirmary door, I paused, swallowed hard, and did my best to collect myself before stepping inside.
It was a waste of fucking time.
The second I saw my brothers, broken and bruised, I nearly lost it. Memphis stood behind me as he hissed, “Holy shit.”
My focus went straight to Rusty. He was sitting stiff-backed on the exam table with a swollen jaw that was already starting to bruise, a busted lip, and a gash on his shoulder that Blade was currently stitching.
Blade eased the needle through his ripped flesh, and Rusty hissed, but he didn’t move. He just fisted his hands at his sides and tried to sound stoic as he glanced over at me and muttered, “You should see the other guy.”
I swore under my breath.
My brother was covered in scratches and bruises, but all things considered, he didn’t look all that bad.
My eyes shifted over to Skid, and my stomach dropped.
He was slumped back on one of the cots, and there was a thick bandage wrapped around his head. One eye was already black and blue and swollen shut. His knuckles were a mess. Busted. Bleeding. Angry red. That told me all I needed to know.
He’d kept swinging long after he should’ve gone down. He let out a breath as he grumbled, “Laken’s gonna have my ass over this.”
“Does she know?”
“Not yet. Figured I’d give these pain meds some time to kick in before I called her.”
“Smart thinking,” I scoffed. “What the hell happened?”
“We stopped for a beer on the way home, and everything was all good until Rusty started flirting with some chick. Wasn’t nothing out of the norm. Just typical shit. You know how he is.”
“She was fucking hot. I would’ve been a fool not to at least try to get her number.”
“Yeah, well, he was laying it on pretty thick when these motherfuckers came out of nowhere starting shit. They were wearing cuts, but I hadn’t seen these guys before.
They started spouting off about their ol’ ladies this and that, and next thing I knew, they had us surrounded, and fists started flying. ”
“Damn.”
I stepped closer, and that's when I spotted Smitty.
He was lying back on the far cot with his eyes closed. He wasn’t moving. Hell, he was barely even breathing. His ribs were wrapped tight, and his face was swollen and cut like he’d gone a few rounds with a meat grinder and lost. One eye was swollen shut, and the other didn’t look much better.
Even unconscious, his jaw was clenched tight, like his body hadn’t realized the fight was over. My hands curled into fists at my sides and I snarled, “I’ll fucking kill ‘em. Every last one of them.”
“Looks worse than it is,” Blade interjected, trying to reassure us. “Gave him some pretty good pain meds. He’ll be out for a while, but he’ll be okay.”
I didn’t respond.
I just stood there staring at Smitty, anger roaring in my ears. These weren’t just my brothers. They were men who’d fought by my side, bled with me, laughed with me, and trusted me to have their backs.
And some assholes decided to test that.
Once Blade finished off Rusty’s last stitch, Rusty turned to Memphis and said, “We had on our cuts. They knew who we were. Didn’t care.”
That did it.
Something settled deep in my chest.
Cold. Unforgiving. Relentless.
“We’ll take care of it. You have my word on that.”
I turned for the door, and Memphis followed. I’d barely made it to the hall when I felt the shift. Concern had given way to resolve. These Coyotes thought they could make a name for themselves by fucking with us and get away with it.
They were wrong.
Memphis and I made our way down the hall and into the conference room. Most of the brothers were already there and waiting, and like Memphis and me, they were wound tight.
Prez stood at the front, and a mix of anger and concern marked his face as he looked around the room at each of us. His hands were braced on the table. His shoulders were squared, and his jaw clenched. It would be easy to mistake that calm for restraint, but I knew him better than that.
The rage was there. It was idling beneath the surface.
Controlled.
Lethal and waiting to explode.
I’d already heard the details from Rusty and Skid.
I didn’t need the recap, but I sat there and listened as he said, “As some of you have heard, Rusty, Skid, and Smitty were in an altercation with another club tonight. They call themselves the Rebel Coyotes. They’re new to Little Rock, but not a new MC.
They have several chapters up North and are looking to expand.
They’ve been testing the edges of our territory for some time, but they’ve been quiet about it… until now.”
A low murmur rolled through the room.
“Do they not know who they were fucking with?”
“They knew, and it didn’t even slow them down,” Grim answered. “But we don’t know shit about them. That’s the problem.”
“Shep’s already pulling intel, but I don’t need fucking names.” The veins in Prez’s neck pulsed with anger as he roared, “Anyone involved with what went down tonight is going to pay.”
“So, how do you want to play it?” Grim asked.
Prez reached over and grabbed a baseball bat from the wall. “We fight fire with fire.”
“And the intel?”
“We’ll bring it back with us.”
“I get you’re pissed. Hell, we all are, but don’t you think we need to stop and take a breath here?” Memphis asked. “We don’t know what we’re heading into with these guys. It could be a trap.”
“I’m willing to take that chance.”
“I’m with you, Prez,” I interjected. “Those motherfuckers are sitting back at that bar thinking they’ve really done something. Fuck that. We gotta go in there and show them just how wrong they are.”
“That’s how wars get started,” Memphis argued.
“The war was started the second they put their hands on my boys!” Prez snarled. “It wasn’t just some misunderstanding, they beat the hell out of them, and they did it while they were wearing their cuts. They knew damn well who our boys were. We can’t let them get away with that shit.”
“You think they’re still at the bar?”
“Only one way to find out.”
“Then, let’s do this.” Grim stood, grabbing another bat from the wall.
We all followed suit and were about to head out when Prez glanced back at us and said, “We make an example outta these guys… one that no one will ever forget.”
Prez didn’t have to tell us twice.
We knew exactly what he meant, and we did just that.
It was only a matter of time before these assholes knew exactly what happened when you crossed Satan’s Fury. It’s not a mistake you’ll make twice.