Chapter 54
Slade
Flashes of light cut through the images in my head from that horrendous video and what I did.
The demons I’ve deeply buried have awakened with a vengeance, demanding attention.
However, I don’t have the luxury of spiraling out of control because everyone here is at an even greater risk than I ever imagined. All because of me.
An open bounty… Criminals from around the globe are likely descending on the city, not to mention the criminals already in the city.
Badger has been fully debriefed, as have my brothers and friends, and everyone has worked as a team. All for me. If I had a second to breathe, I’d be choked with gratitude, but as it stands, I don’t have that luxury.
Badger turns off the welder, pushes up the mask of his helmet, and studies the weld of the push bar. “This will ram through parked cars, but it’s only as strong as the weakest link.” He looks dubiously at the little car. “I wish we had more time to reinforce the frame better.”
Granger claps Badger on the back, the two seeming to have bonded. “Slade is a wicked driver, Badge. She’ll make it work.”
“What about the mechanics of it?” Bane asks.
“Solid.” Axel runs his hand over the hood. “She runs like a top.”
Badger turns to me and Bane. “You sure about this plan?”
I answer before Bane can because I know he has serious reservations. “It will work.”
It has to.
Badger nods and asks Bane, “Did Breaker, Tyr, and Sten find two cars that will work for Camber and Pix?”
He nods. “They found two similar cars and are on their way back now.”
“Are you guys sure you want to play a direct role in this?” I ask Pix and Camber.
Pix grins, looking excited. “Of course.”
Camber looks less excited, but still confident. “I’m all-in, Slade.”
“Make sure you work with Digits to prevent Camber being caught on any CCTVs, Sam.” Then I turn to Badger. “When Tyr and Sten get back, I want that reflective coating applied to Camber’s windshield so no one can take a picture of her and identify her that way.”
He grips my shoulder. “I’m all over it, kid. That will be taken care of, but my concern is you. If this Len character has access to a helicopter, then let’s just have her land here and pick you up.”
I shake my head. “It needs to be known that I’ve left the compound and am not with the Havoc Guardians so no one attacks here. Pix and Camber are the diversion and will come into play when I need cover getting to Len at the rendezvous point.”
I turn to Bane. “You’ll be with Len?”
He grips my face, thumbing my jawline. “I’ll be there waiting for you.”
“No one can see you,” I stress. “No one can know that you’re with me; otherwise, they’ll know the Havoc Guardians are protecting me. I need a clean break from the MC.”
“I know, baby.”
“Bane,” Ash calls from outside the shop, and we turn to watch him run in. My heart thunders at the possibility that the compound is already under attack, and we’re too late. But there’s a different expression on his face—not one of worry but grim satisfaction. “Jez is here.”
“Everyone but Breaker and Badger out,” Bane bellows. He grips me to keep me by his side. “Ash, bring the dead motherfucker in here.”
Camber’s eyes are wide in shock, and Axel wraps his arm around her waist, pulling her to him. He nods at me, then steers her out. Granger and Sam flash me a look of concern but let Pix push them out of the shop.
Ash hauls Jez in by the back of his cut, and Badger pulls down the big overhead door as he leaves.
Jez looks like shit, and he looks at me with guilt and a pleading look. “I fucked up. Slade, I’m so sorry.”
Bane’s fist slams into the side of Jez’s head, and he crumples with that one powerful blow. Bane hauls him back to his feet, rips Jez’s cut off, then punches him again. Jez stumbles back, his nose exploding with blood.
Ash catches Bane’s fist with one of his. “Let him talk first.”
“There’s no explanation that will prevent his fate,” Bane snarls.
Jez closes his eyes briefly. “I know that, but I still came back.”
“Hoping Slade would grant you forgiveness,” Bane growls.
Jez looks quickly between Ash and Bane but sees no mercy.
“Cutt was in too deep with the Mambo Posse,” he blurts in a rush. “He needed to give them something so they’d forgive some of his drug debt. He's always looking for a way to undermine Ash, and when you guys were so protective of Slade, he thought why not her? Destiny was helping him.”
The fucking bitch.
“When Cutt disappeared,” Jez gulps, looking panicked, “Destiny convinced me to continue…” He pales as Bane steps closer to him. “I just gave innocent information, I swear.”
“You sure you didn’t promise to get her outside of the compound?” Ash asks with a hiked brow.
“And you know the shit their gang is involved in.” Bane’s look is lethal. “You would’ve willingly let Slade be trafficked?”
He balks, shaking his head frantically. “I wouldn’t have let it come to that. I knew Slade didn’t want to be here; I was just trying to help her.”
“And how did you know that?” Bane’s tone is pure malice. “None of the Council or her brothers said anything in public about that.”
“Slade… Slade told me!”
That’s a blatant lie, and Bane reads the answer on my face. He pulls his gun out of his cut and levels it at Jez’s forehead.
“Please,” Jez begs. “Don’t do this. I wouldn’t have let them take Slade. I came back. I came back! That has to mean something! Please, Destiny just wanted her gone. I wouldn’t have—”
Bane cracks him across the face with his gun, splitting his cheek wide open, then presses the muzzle against his forehead again. “You betrayed Slade. You betrayed my trust. You betrayed your club… And for what? A passed-around pussy.”
Jez squeezes his eyes shut.
“Open your eyes and meet your fate without being a fucking coward,” Ash demands, but Jez only shakes his head.
“What I would give to have the time to take you apart, piece by fucking piece,” Bane snarls. He squeezes the trigger, and the gunshot echoes in the big shop.
A small hole in Jez’s forehead appears, and blood trickles down between his eyes.
I stare in shock. I knew Bane would end him the minute Ash hauled him in here, but the finality and brutality of his act hammers home.
Jez topples to the side, and Bane steps into my line of view to stop me from seeing the exit wound that would’ve obliterated the back of Jez’s head. He holsters his gun and grips my face, checking me over to make sure I’m not about to lose the plot.
“That was merciful compared to what I’ll do to others who threaten you,” he rumbles, low and deep. “You may not officially be my Old Lady yet, but you’re mine, Slade.”
And rather than freak me the hell out like that ferocious, lethal claim should, I pull his mouth down to mine and kiss him like my world will end in the next two hours.