Chapter Nineteen
On the one hand, I was so fucking relieved that the asshole was already squirrelled away somewhere, and not likely to show up and upset Glory, but on the other, I was shitting it, because I could hear the words before she even uttered them. I knew her that well.
“I need to see him,” she declared, and those bearded bastards exchanged a look, before the phone flipped around again to show Lenore. She looked concerned, but maybe also a little resigned, because she’d seen it coming too.
“No, don’t worry. You don’t need to do anything, honestly. I’ve… we’ve… got this. He’ll never be seen again, and you can go on with your life.”
“Lenore.”
“Seriously, you don’t need to see what’s about to happen to him. He’s toast.”
She practically winced at the look on Glory’s face, and I was proud as hell that she was fighting her corner, but I wished like fuck it didn’t mean this. Not this. Literally anything but this.
“The Pres wants to know where,” Harley said, having reappeared while I wasn’t even looking.
“Our… their… kill house. It’s secure. It’s off the grid.”
Harley snorted. “The address please.”
Glory was nodding. “Yes, we’re coming there. I have to see this through, for closure, you get that right? I have to see him leave this earth, so I know he’s never going to be a threat again.”
Ha. I recognised that tone. That was the one she used when she was about to get her way, because I’d always been powerless against it, and it was just a question of how long it’d take for Lenore to cave.
“I mean, if I don’t see this, then I can’t know it for sure. That means I’ll worry about it, and I know you’re trying to save me from that-”
“Fine! Stop looking so smug, Samuel, she’s as bad as you.”
“We’ll send the address for your Pres, bruv. Send us numbers on who’s coming out, because… well, we’re nosy bastards and we don’t share this shit with just anyone. Just… you know… allies.”
Fuck. The call ended, and I heard Harley arguing with Micro, because that one word said it all. Allies. Another reason they’d think they could call favours when they wanted to. Since I met Lenore at the hospital, I’d been briefed on how they got involved in Rocket’s little break from home.
There was a flurry of activity immediately after, with us kitting up to go, and word coming from Micro and Reacher that others would join us there.
Strength in numbers, right? Just in case this turned out to be a fucking double cross or something.
That’s how it is when you’re dealing with mobsters or crimelords or whatever the hell these guys thought they were.
One great thing was coming of this shitshow and it was the idea of Glory on the back of my ride, wrapped around me, because there was no way in hell she was going on the back of someone else’s.
That seat was firmly reserved for old ladies, and even though I didn’t have an old lady, I made sure two of my rides had a fucking seat waiting for her.
Her. It had always been Glory I’d pictured using those seats, so it was time for it to happen, even if, for her, it was just her catching a ride.
I grabbed the helmet I’d bought for her, and helped it onto her head, even as she fussed and tried to take over.
Fuck me, her sass was coming back in waves now, and I loved every second of it.
We stepped outside and I pulled my helmet on, keeping the visor up, like I’d done with hers, so I could explain how this was going to work. She narrowed her eyes at me.
“I think I can figure it out. It’s not rocket science!
” She ended that sassy statement with an even sassier move, reaching up and slapping my visor closed.
Well, fuck. I grinned, not that she could see it, and retaliated, and then I looked up to see my three brothers just staring at us, astride their rides, their visors still up.
“What?” They couldn’t hear me with their engines running, so I hurriedly helped her on behind me, and pulled her arms around me, demonstrating how tight I wanted her holding me.
As soon as she was balanced, I tapped her hands, and started us moving.
Her arms tightened further as we picked up speed, but I soon felt her relax into it, her body moving with mine as we took bends and kept up with our crew.
As we rode, several other bikers joined us, so I kept cutting back and letting them all ahead of me.
Glory wouldn’t understand it, but I was a prospect.
Lowest of the low. Pres or VP up front, followed by the important guys, and then little old me.
It sucked, but I was determined that it wouldn’t be forever.
The road we’d been sent to, which took over a damn hour to get to, was desolate and about as unused looking as the one leading to our clubhouse, but at the end of it was a fucking monstrosity of a building.
Some kind of industrial site that had barbed wire around it, and looked about as inviting as the entrance to hell.
I guess that’s what it was for many people, but hopefully not us.
I glided my ride in behind the others, and stayed seated while I watched them park up, and dismount.
Those bearded fuckers were standing outside the place, with the big guy, Marco, and two others behind them who looked just as dangerous. Clearly steroids were just part of the daily diet with these fuckers.
Micro waved us over, and I helped Glory off, tethering our helmets down, before we headed in their direction, her hand firmly in mine.
She was wearing actual leather jeans with a leather jacket over a jumper, and looked like fucking sex on legs, and that’s why every fucker who looked at her was chipping away at a little more of my sanity every second.
Micro was talking to the mobster guys, with Harley and Reacher beside him. Fuck me, all the big guns in one place. They waved us over, while the rest of our brothers, nearly thirty in total, milled around by our rides.
“You must be Gloria, love,” one of the guys said, and I practically fucking bristled at him, because he sounded too familiar and definitely didn’t have that right.
“Down, Cujo, we’re just saying hi, all friendly like,” the other said, while I was briefly distracted by the use of the same name I’d assigned to Lenore at the start. Whether it was coincidence, or a fucking scary parallel, I had no idea.
“Glory,” she declared, lifting her chin defiantly, even as her fingers trembled in mine. Fuck me, she was so hot, thinking she was faking this shit for them, when she was just showing her inner self. The goddess I’d loved for ten fucking years or more.
“What she said,” I added, mentally cheering at her reclaiming the name he’d beaten out of her, because it was hers. It was literally who she was, and if someone, anyone, tried to tell her differently, they’d have to relearn speaking after I made them swallow all their teeth.
“Alright, bruv, all you bruvs and one lady. Here’s the sitch.
This here’s my brother Sammy, but you’ll call him Samuel if you wanna live.
I’m Seb, and these three bellends are Marco, Tony, and Deano.
We’re all gonna be there, and we want to get some hits in too, but Glory, love?
You get what you need first. He’s not gonna hurt you, trust me.
Not with… ahem… broken fingers on both hands.
” He lifted his hands innocently. “He fell, I swear.”
Glory started giggling, and he grinned back at her. Maybe they weren’t so bad, but I still didn’t like this, our revenge for Glory being a tool they’d use against us later.
“Thanks,” I murmured, eyeing Micro and Reacher, who both looked grim, and Grease behind them now, one hand tucked in his waistband.
“Oi, mafia fucker, if that’s a fucking gun, you keep it out here. We don’t need guns, and people tend to get shot with their own pieces if they bring them, ain’t that right, Deano?”
The big guy groaned, and facepalmed. “Jesus, boss, it was one time!”
Micro cleared his throat, gesturing to Glory. “When you’re ready, love. We’re all here backing you, so like this dickhead said, get your revenge. Whatever you need.”
“Oi, I think I said my name’s Seb, didn’t I say that to him, bruv?”
“That’s what I heard.”
The double act headed inside first, followed by Marco, but the other two stayed on the door, eyeing our club like they thought they’d stand a chance if shit got real.
“Grease, stay with the rest, so nothing gets edgy.”
Glory
Now that we were here, I was shitting myself.
It wasn’t just about seeing Sean, but that was enough in my book, I mean, wasn’t it enough?
Still, this building, these people, they were all so terrifying!
When I met Lenore, and she changed my life, I had no idea she was affiliated with people like this!
“There you are, Gloria.”
“Uh her name’s Glory apparently, Lenore, love.”
She looked from the man called Seb, who I actually thought was the sweet one out of the two, and grinned widely at me.
“That’s my girl.”
She stepped out of the way of what I’d been dreading seeing, and there he was.
Sean. His blonde hair was sticking up in all directions, that pretty face of his was bruised, and there was blood that hadn’t been there when we saw him on her screen earlier.
He was glaring furiously at me, muttering something beneath the duct tape wrapped viciously around his mouth and the back of his head several times.
“Oh… he fell out of his chair,” Lenore said with a tiny grin, and I was starting to realise she was very much like the men she called ‘boss’.
“That’s a shame. He always was terribly clumsy,” I said, getting in an intentional dig immediately, because that asshole blamed my ‘clumsiness’ for all those spills down the stairs and stuff. Monster.
Henley’s fingers slipped into mine again and he squeezed gently.