Chapter Twenty-Five
Damon
The next evening comes around and it’s go time. We have decided to put the women and Julian at the new clubhouse, because it’s less known and frequented. We also have high fences and are on a hill, which is a good advantage point. If there is an emergency, we also have a bulletproof basement they could hide in, and one that isn’t easy to locate. Romeo wants to leave two men with them, so we decided on Leif and Jag. They are going to be on call for anything we may need and will also be on security watch.
And the best part of this plan? We don’t have an exact plan. We are going to go find them and take advantage of whatever opportunistic situation presents itself. Ideally, we’d like to be able to take Tatum or Gio hostage and give them a little time with River in our dungeon. We can’t have them in our town, making everyone feel unsafe.
“Oh shit,” Jag murmurs, looking up away from his phone. “I think I found something.”
“What?” Romeo asks, brow furrowing.
“I’ve been going through social media and public records, trying to find what Tatum’s been up to since he turned eighteen, and he has a kid. He’s been hiding him—the kid doesn’t have his name.”
Romeo and River share a look.
“I’m not saying we should hurt a five-year-old child,” Jag clarifies, clearing his throat. “But we could use that as leverage. As to whether he even cares about his kid, that’s another story.”
“I wouldn’t harm an innocent kid,” Romeo says, and we all nod in agreement. “But if we need to use that, we’ll have to.”
“At the end of the day that is Corey’s nephew,” I point out. “Speaking of Corey, she wants to help by trying to get information we can use from Tatum.”
Romeo turns his head to me. “And how do you feel about that?”
“I think she wants to be useful, and I think she can be,” I reply, backing my woman.
River nods. “I agree, as long as you keep her safe.”
The threat is in his tone. He’s giving me freedom to make choices regarding her, but if harm comes to her, he’s going to kill me.
They leave it to me to handle. As long as she remains in the clubhouse, safe, I have no problem with her helping in that way. I didn’t miss the way her face lit up when I said we’d consider it.
“You look all sexy in black,” Corey comments a little while later, as she steps into my bedroom as I’m getting all my weapons ready. She eyes my usually hidden collection of guns and knives in my wardrobe. “Okay, I had no idea that was in there.”
“That’s the point.” I grin, bending down to slide a knife into a strap around my shin. When I look over at her, she’s staring at me with that glimmer in her eye that I’ve been getting to know too well. “What?”
She reaches up to push my hair off my forehead. “I don’t know, you in your shady getup and weapons is really doing it for me.”
I laugh and cup her face. “I love you.”
I’ve been wanting to tell her, and this is the moment. I want her to know how much she means to me. If I know anything, it’s how short life can be and I need to tell her how I feel.
Her eyes widen in surprise, and her throat works as she swallows. “I love you, too. But you already know that because I accidentally said it before.”
She’s so damn cute.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight, so I just wanted to tell you that,” I say, lowering my head for a kiss. “But I’m sure it’s going to be fine.”
I say “fine” like Ross from Friends .
I hope she doesn’t notice.
“Okay, why don’t you message Tatum now and keep him talking? Stay by your phone. I’ll text you with what you should ask him, and we will see how forthcoming he is with information.”
I should probably run this new plan by Romeo and River, but like River told me, she’s my responsibility now, and I know how important it is to her to feel useful. I decide we can just see how this plays out for now.
She nods. “Okay, I won’t let you down.”
“You could never,” I reply, my tone raspy. “I hope you know how incredible you are, Corey. You are strong, you are an asset. And I’m so fucking proud to have you standing with me.”
Her eyes shine with tears, and she takes a deep breath. I think she needed to hear that, and I will remind her every fucking day if I have to.
We share a long hug and some more kisses before we leave the bedroom.
The men meet out front, all fully loaded and ready to go. I must admit, we do look pretty badass.
“Look after them,” I tell Jag and Leif, looking between them.
They both nod. “You know I will,” Jag replies, slapping me on the shoulder. “We got this.”
“I will guard them with my life,” Leif promises.
And then we get on our bikes and ride off. I don’t know how this is going to go, but I do know that we aren’t leaving until we get what we want from them.
Which is for them to get the fuck out of here.
Jeremiah and Diamond go alone to do a stakeout and watch the Lost Lions MC to see what else they can find, while the rest of us get ready for war. After about an hour, Tatum leaves the rest of his MC and rides off somewhere alone, so we send Blaze after him in a car to follow him. Having Tatum separated from his MC puts us at an advantage.
Corey: Damon, I think Tatum is going to go to my mom’s house. He texted that he needed to talk to her!
Shit.
Damon: I will handle it.
The rest of us are close by, hiding out in an empty warehouse that we own, our bikes out of sight.
“Corey thinks that Tatum is going to go to her mom’s house,” I tell Romeo, who mutters a curse.
“Blaze is on him. And Jeremiah says there are about fifteen men still in the house,” Romeo says, looking at his phone screen. “Tatum has left, and the rest of them are just hanging around, it looks like. They’re drinking and talking shit. Only problem is, they’ve brought a few women from town over to party with.” He pauses, and then mutters a curse. “Okay, bigger problem. One of those women is Rosalind.”
“Shit,” River replies, scowling. “I wish I could say I’m surprised she’s partying with the enemy, but no, I’m not.”
I can literally see the regret and disgust flash in Romeo’s eyes. “Okay, no women get hurt. Someone will need to get them out safely.”
“Even the wicked witch?” River asks, jaw tightening.
“Yes, especially the wicked witch,” Romeo replies in a dry tone, pushing off the wall and walking to the entrance of the warehouse. We’re all a little on edge, and I’m sure just like me, he wants this over with so we can go back to our women and on with our usual lives.
He turns around just as his phone vibrates and he quickly answers it. “Yeah? What? Yes, stop him! We are on the way.”
“What?” I ask, standing to alert.
“Blaze said Tatum is heading out of town,” he says, straddling his motorcycle. He turns to River. “I think Corey’s right—he’s going to your mother’s house.”
Fuck!
Of course.
Tatum’s dad was married to River’s mother, so why wouldn’t he try to use that? He wouldn’t give a shit about Lisa, so I wouldn’t put it past him to hurt her in revenge for what happened to Robert.
“Blaze is going to try to stop him, or at the least follow him there,” he says, pausing. “Fuck, what do you want to do, River?”
River stays calm as always, but underneath I know that he is fucking furious. “I’ll go alone. We can’t go now and leave the clubhouse with just two men and the rest of us out of town. You guys go ahead with the original plan. I’ll go to my mom’s.”
And with that, he rides off.
Romeo starts to pace, and I know he’s not a fan of how the night is starting out. “I don’t like us all being spread out like this.”
“I mean, if we get Tatum, do we need to storm their place?” I ask, and the two of us share a long glance.
“Fuck it, everything has changed. Let’s go and get Tatum. I’ll send Jeremiah back to the clubhouse in case we need him there.”
I nod, agreeing with our president’s decision.
If we get Tatum, we have some leverage.
And with him being alone right now, it’s our best and easiest bet. Not that the giant lug won’t go down without a fight.
But the women will be safe, and we don’t have to worry about any of them getting harmed in the crossfire.
Tatum wanted a fight, and now we’re going to give him one.