30. Havoc
Havoc
Everyone is already in church by the time Aimee and I are done talking outside.
Luna is standing in the main room, waiting to steal Aimee away.
She wraps an arm through Aimee’s, and they disappear down the hallway to talk.
I don’t know how much Ghost told her, but it’s enough that she offers me a final glance over her shoulder before they disappear around the corner, confirming Aimee is in good hands.
Church quiets when I step inside and drop into my seat.
In the center of the table is the box with Anderson’s hand, still uncovered and on display since the blinds are closed, blocking the view of the room from the rest of the clubhouse.
“Is Aimee okay?” Legacy asks, but when I meet his stare across the table, he winces. “Right. ”
There’s nothing about this situation that is okay. Not after what Aimee’s gone through or the fact that this shit keeps happening.
“She’s with Luna.” I meet Ghost’s stare, and he nods. “Who dropped off the hand?”
“Flower delivery service.” Steel is the one to answer. “They said they were tipped extra to bring it out here, but that they had no idea what was in the box.”
“Creative.” My teeth grind.
“Do we actually think Anderson is still alive?” Chaos leans forward. “That’s a nasty break, which means they didn’t cut the hand off cleanly.”
As if there’s a clean way to remove a hand.
Still, I glance at the box at Chaos’s comment, taking in the condition of the hand for the first time.
I’d been so consumed by Aimee’s reaction when I first saw it, I didn’t stop to think about how the hand was removed.
That the skin appears twisted, and the bone is in splinters.
Like it was clamped and rotated until it snapped.
It’s no wonder Aimee lost the contents of her stomach in the dirt.
“Patch said there’s still a good chance Anderson is alive. But that this was a brutal break, so if he is alive, he’s probably not doing great.” Steel scratches his jaw.
Titan gave a deadline of New Year’s, but this moves that timeline up.
“Where are we at with pinning down Anderson’s location?” Steel turns to Ghost, who just shakes his head, saying enough .
“How the fuck is he always a step ahead of us?” Soul grinds out.
“Money,” Legacy answers. “Zane’s funding gives them complete freedom. Every safe house is buried under a long list of shell corporations, making them nearly impossible to trace. They’re too well funded.”
“We have money,” Soul argues. “We drained one of their accounts, didn’t we?”
“It barely made a dent.”
“So we take out Zane.”
Steel leans forward as the tension in the room reaches a precipice. “So long as the Iron Sinners have Zane’s back, it’s impossible to go after him. Between them and the FBI, we can’t get close. Our best chance is to start with Titan, then we focus on Zane.”
“And how do you suggest we get to Titan then, Prez? Not just for a meeting, but to take him down. He’s always surrounded, and he’s always ahead of us.” Soul’s tone is sharp.
Soul is usually the relief in this room, but right now, he’s pure tension. Proof that I’m not the only one Aimee has won over these past few weeks. All my brothers are on edge, ready to defend her.
Steel doesn’t immediately respond, so I do. “We use Aimee.”
The words make me want to walk off a fucking cliff.
All gazes snap my way at my comment. Half their faces look like they’re trying to decide whether they heard me right .
“You’re not seriously suggesting we turn her over to Titan?”
“Fuck no.” My fists clench at the thought alone. “But Aimee is right, whether I like it or not. She’s who Titan wants. Which means anything less won’t lure him into a weakened position.” I turn to Ghost. “You said you have a general idea where Titan has her father? Just not an exact location?”
“General as in what corner of the Vegas grid. It’s too many square miles. We would need time to search. Titan would notice and retaliate before we got close. Unless we got really fucking lucky.”
“Or unless he was distracted.”
“By Aimee?” Chaos snaps. “Have you lost your fucking mind?”
Probably.
The things I’m considering don’t make sense.
And yet, here I am, knowing this is what my girl needs.
She had her future taken from her. Her power stripped away.
No matter how much it kills me, I refuse to be a person who participates in that.
If she wants to help, I need to let her. To prove I trust her.
I love her.
Who am I to deny her this after what she’s been through? She would always resent me.
Which is why I sit in this room staring at my brothers’ shocked faces and make an argument I never expected. One that will send the love of my life into my enemy’s path. Because I have faith in us.
I have faith in her .
“This isn’t our decision to make.” I rest my elbows on the table. “Anything Titan has done to our club pales in comparison to what he did to Aimee. The things you know about—” I choke back my emotions, dipping my chin. “You don’t know half of it.”
And I can’t put the rest into words. Not only because it’s not my story to tell, but I can’t physically get them out. I can’t say what she’s been through without falling into a black hole.
“It’s true that Aimee came here because she trusted us to help her get her father back from the Iron Sinners.
But she also came here because she trusts us to keep her safe.
Until Titan is in the ground, she isn’t.
And the only way he’ll let his guard down is if he thinks he’s won. She’s the best hand we can play.”
“He’ll never believe we’d actually hand her over.” Steel shakes his head. “He’ll figure out it’s a setup.”
“It is.” Legacy huffs.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a setup or not. He wants her. We either stretch ourselves thin or we stretch them thin. Titan will do everything in his power to make sure he gets Aimee back to him, even if it means showing up himself.”
“And when Titan goes to retrieve Aimee?” Steel asks.
His expression is tense, and even if I can tell that, even if he doesn’t like the plan, he’s caving to the idea.
“We don’t let him leave.”
That has Steel considering me. He leans back, dragging his hand through his hair. “Does Aimee understand the risk?”
“She trusts me not to let anything happen.”
It’s not an answer, but Steel nods, accepting it. Still, he asks, “You’re willing to let the woman you love do this?”
“It’s because I love her that I understand why she needs to do this. And no one lets Aimee do anything. She just fucking does it.”
That’s enough to have Chaos and Soul smirking because they know I’m right.
“We don’t usually involve anyone without a patch in club business,” Steel reminds me. “But I’m willing to hear the vote before I decide.”
His gaze moves through the room, and I have no idea which way the vote will go. Honestly, a part of me hopes they turn me down because then I could be a coward and blame them. At the same time, if they try, I’ll fight them on it for her.
Soul, surprisingly, votes first. “I fucking hate this, for the record. But I’m not going to have you walking out there telling Aimee I don’t back her after all the shit she’s been through. So count me in.”
It’s probably the biggest compliment Soul has ever given, and she’s not around to hear it.
I nod in thanks, and he nods back.
“I vote yes under one condition,” Chaos says. “I’m the one with Aimee when we lure Titan out. You’ll be too busy running the operation and too distracted if things take a turn. You need to let me do it.”
My fingers dig into the arms of my chair. In every scenario, I’m the one beside her. That way, it’s on me if things go sideways. The thought of not being near Aimee when she faces Titan again has my insides revolting .
“You know it’s the right call,” Chaos pushes. “And if you’re asking us to risk her, then you’re going to let us do our part.”
He’s right, and I hate it, which is why I nod.
“Then I vote yes.”
Legacy’s teeth grind as the vote turns to him.
“Reagan will never forgive me if something goes wrong.” He dips his chin, and I’m pretty sure he’s about to kill the vote until he grumbles, meeting my gaze. “So make sure it doesn’t. I’m with you, brother.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m good,” Ghost says, and all eyes in the room move to him.
“Really?” Soul is the one to voice what we’re all thinking. “That’s it. You’re just good?”
“Did you want a speech?” Ghost stares at him. “We’ll make it happen.”
I didn’t realize how much I needed a flicker of confidence until Ghost says those words with such certainty that I want to believe them.
And then we’re down to Steel, who is leaning back in his chair, watching us.
“This might be the most reckless shit you’ve ever proposed, Havoc.” Steel taps his hand on the arm of his chair. “Although, I admit, the thought of finally taking Titan off the board is appealing.”
I’m not surprised that he’s weighing this not as a friend but as the club president.
“And if it does work, we might get that shot at Zane we’ve all been itching for.” Steel rakes his gaze over the room, landing on the hand in the center. “Aimee wants this?”
“She does.”
Steel nods, taking a deep inhale. “I don’t have to warn you what you lose if you fuck this up even the slightest.”
“Is that your approval?”
He clears his throat. “We end this with the Iron Sinners. We take out Titan. And we bring Aimee back in one piece. Nonnegotiable.”
“Agreed.”
“Okay,” Steel agrees.
The final vote should make me feel lighter. It went my way. But a new weight settles, because if I fail, I’m risking more than myself or my club. I’m risking her.
“Find me when you and Ghost have nailed down the details of the plan,” Steel says to me, turning to Soul. “Get rid of Anderson’s hand.”
Soul nods, and everyone in the room starts to stand, but I don’t. “Before we go, we should do one more vote actually.”
Something I never thought I’d do because I gave up on settling down when I lost Aimee. But now that she’s back, I’m not letting her go again.
“Figured.” Steel smirks, relaxing back in his chair, seeming to read my mind as everyone settles. “How do we all vote on Havoc claiming an old lady?”