25. Savage
25
SAVAGE
“You might not know my name, but you're gonna get real familiar with it, real soon,” Hellfire thunders into the phone.
Stefano is on speaker mode in the middle of Hellfire’s desk so we can all be part of the call. This started as a simple job, but from the sounds of it we might be heading for a war with the Mob. I hope the fuck not, because this is bigger than just us. This can affect the whole fucking club, and change the balance of power in the area.
We're in the old sacristy where Hellfire set up his office. His desk is covered in documents, nearly burying his laptop. A couple of the file cabinets are open, where he tracks club business. On the wall is a topless calendar of biker chicks, and underneath it his private bar. He's got one of those fancy ergonomic chairs for working in, but right now he's pacing back and forth behind his desk, obviously frustrated with Stefano Fabbri. Meanwhile, Poe's in the chair next to me, and Crank's leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, looking real fucking annoyed.
“Must you be so dramatic? It’s hard to take you people seriously when you screech like monkeys and wave your genitals around to make a point.” Fabbri's voice is cold, unbothered, maybe even just a little bit amused. “My point is that I don't even understand what you're so angry about.”
“You decapitated the guy we were supposed to turn the girl over to,” I growl, finding it hard to keep my anger in check. He was an asshole, but he was the only family she had left. “What about his wife? You ice her too?”
“But why do any of you care ? You found the girl and the money. We would like them, and we will pay you the agreed upon bounty, plus a small bonus if the money is all returned. Her uncle isn't part of the deal, and irrelevant. Same goes for his wife. When did you become such a bunch of boy scouts? It's a little disappointing, to be honest. I was expecting you to be more… ruthless.”
We're brutal sometimes. We have to be. Do we break the law? Fucking constantly. But do we take apart bodies and leave them to rot where some poor fucker has to find it? Fuck no. This fucker is a psychopath.
“We care because if we can’t trust you to not go off half cocked and do shit like this, it makes me wonder if it’s possible to have a working relationship with your fucking family.” Hellfire's rumble is low and dangerous. “We told you we needed a couple days to get the girl in place. You assured us that everything was in order, but from what my boys tell me, Walter Holland was probably already in pieces at the bottom of a pile of sheets at that point. Am I wrong?”
“In order does not mean frolicking in the fields, Hellfire. You might be sitting in a church, but don’t play choir boy for me. You would do the same if someone betrayed your club. I’ve done my research, and I’ve heard your reputation. Holland had a binding contract with my associate. If he had come to me as soon as his niece had taken the money, he might still be alive. Perhaps not in one piece, but alive. Instead, he chose to lie and attempt to hide the problem.” There's a rattling sound like he's drumming his fingernails on his desk. “What this is really about is that either you don't have what you’ve promised, or you're attempting to back out of the deal. Cazzo . I can do to your little club exactly what I did to Walter Holland. Don't forget that. I can only keep my patience for so long.”
“You can fucking try. Better men than you have, and we’re still here. You aren’t the only one that does research, Steve . I know the only reason you’re in my backyard is because you got fucking run out of town and now you’re holed up in Midtown, licking your wounds and becoming my problem.”
Crank starts to laugh and Hellfire throws him a nasty glare.
“Yes, yes, what big teeth you have,” Stefano continues. “Here is how we do this if you don’t want to make me an enemy. As you appear to be aware of our new office, I expect to see you there at nine. You, Paige Holland and my money. Just so there’s no confusion.”
Hellfire chuckles, completely unamused. “You still think you can set all the rules? Fucking cute. And what if we decide we don’t like the terms of your request?”
“This is not a request. You will have her here tomorrow, or you will find out what happens to enemies of the Fabbris. We're not the two-bit gangsters you're used to dealing with. This is the big leagues, and I will personally chew you up and spit you out. I strongly recommend you find it in yourselves to appear on time. It’s when the big hand is on the nine, and the little hand is on the twelve.” And then he hangs up.
Well fuck, that escalated.
“I hate him,” Crank growls. “Can we shoot him? I don’t even give a shit about starting a war. He’s just an asshole.”
“No, you can’t just fucking shoot him.” Hellfire stops pacing. “Yet. As bullshit as it is, I think we should make that meeting.”
I bristle at that. “You saying we’re going to hand over Paige? Think hard before you answer.”
He cocks his head and looks at me closely. “It’s like that?”
“It might be, but even if I wasn’t fucking her, I wouldn’t turn an innocent girl over to the mob. Whatever he wants from her, it’s not good.”
Crank nods, still leaning his back against the wall, but looking ready to square up if he has to. “I still want to shoot him.”
“Seconded,” Poe adds.
Hellfire rubs his hands over his face like he’s hoping we’ll disappear. “Shit. No, I wasn’t planning on forcing you to hand her over to get her hands chopped off or whatever that jackass would do, but he has a point.”
“Excuse me?”
“Nobody is arguing that the money isn’t theirs, or that her uncle made a deal with the Fabbris and then fucked it up. Not a single fucking leader can let that shit go. I wouldn’t have left Walt in a bag to turn into cursed soup for who knows who to find, but I wouldn’t have given him a slap on the wrist, either.” Hellfire holds out his arm, where a series of hash marks are inked down the inside of his forearm. Each hash represents one of the traitors he executed after the Pit Vipers tried to take us out from the inside. “People don’t fuck with us because they know we’ll do what we have to to survive. As much as I hate to admit it, Stefano is doing the same.”
He isn't wrong.
I loved General like a father, but if he had one weakness, it was wanting to give people chances. It allowed poison to seep into the club in the form of survivors from the destruction of another MC. They swore loyalty, lived alongside us, and then when the time was right, made a play to take over the whole fucking club. I glance over at Poe. Crank and I had been in for a while when it happened, but Poe hadn’t been blooded long before the purge. He was on the right side of the fight, but he almost got his throat sliced open by someone he thought he could trust because they’d come up as prospects together. We took him under our wing after that, and now he’s one of the men I’d trust at my back no matter what.
Hellfire stops. “Alright, here's the fucking deal. We're—as much as I fucking hate to say it—on the backfoot here. If not by strength, then by rights because we currently have that fucker’s money. That makes for tough decisions. It's clear you’re not turning over the girl. Fine. But I need to think about the whole club, not just the three of you. Unless something new comes on the scene, we're at least going to that meeting, and we’ll have to bring her as a show of good faith.”
As expected, Crank's the one to blow up first. “Are you fucking kidding me? He could put a fucking bullet in her head as soon as we show up.”
“This is a shit situation. Believe it or not, I'm not out to murder your woman, so instead of fucking yelling, let's see what we can do to make sure that doesn't fucking happen.” Hellfire snarls back. “It's entirely fucking possible that we're gonna have to play along long enough for an advantage, and we're not even gonna get in the door if we don't have Paige with us. Are you saying you’re not up for the challenge of keeping her safe?”
Just the idea of her getting killed makes something go tight inside me, a feeling I'm not used to feeling. Fuck, I didn't become officer by letting my emotions lead me, but the idea of Paige getting hurt makes me wanna eliminate every threat. That Hellfire is triggering that feeling, if only for a fucking moment, shows how fucking bad I got it. “No, we’re not fucking saying that.”
“Good, because it’s game on again boys. Time to fortify the club and start prepping for a potential siege. If the Fabbris come, we're gonna be fucking ready. Savage, you find Ghost and get on that. I need my officers with me and focused, is that fucking clear?” He dares me to say anything else, with a tactically raised eyebrow.
I want to tell him to fuck off and that I'm taking Paige somewhere safe, but there's nowhere safer than here. This is our fucking home. So I nod. “Clear.”
Poe and Crank go out the door ahead of me. I'm almost out after them when Hellfire stops me, his face a grim mask of determination. “We'll find a way to make this work. Just get the boys ready.”
I nod. “I can’t fucking wait until someone gets under your skin. You’re going to fight it every inch of the way and it’s going to be fucking glorious to watch you squirm.”
“Oh, fuck off!”