Chapter 58
Dante
The next day, I sat in Church with the club, waiting to get to the bottom of what the fuck had happened with Rachel and Shark.
I had read her notes last night after our argument, so I had a rough idea of what had gone down, but we needed to know who and why so we could begin to put shit right.
I could have asked Rachel, but after returning from wherever Vienna had taken her, she stormed right off to the bedroom and hadn’t come back out again.
For the first time since the contract had been signed, I spent the night on the sofa—which technically voided the contract, and meant Rachel was free to leave whenever she wanted. She hadn’t brought it up yet though, and I wasn’t about to either.
I sighed heavily, pulling my hands down my face as Riley filled us in on what he knew.
I had made such a fucking mess of all this with Rachel.
It was shocking she had even been willing to give me a second chance at all.
If I hadn’t already used up my nine lives with her, I was getting damn fucking close.
“And you’re certain, brother?” Ant asked, his jaw tense and gritted.
“I heard it straight from our mole. They said that Vicky’s dad had approached the Rough Riders. In return for them attacking Dante’s old lady, they would be granted full immunity from the police for any crimes for the next six months.”
Angry shouts came from my men, each of them livid on mine and Rachel’s behalf. And Shark’s, of course.
“Look,” I said loudly, making myself heard above them all. “We’re all pissed, and I get it. But I think we’d all be fucking fools if we can sit here and honestly say we would not have made a similar deal.”
“I’d never be a fucking rat,” Chicken said, spitting on the floor.
“Oi!” I snapped. “You will respect the sanctuary of Church. I want you on your hands and knees cleaning that shit up as soon as we’re done here.
One more outburst like that and you’re straight back on fucking probation.
And, let’s get one thing clear—the Rough Riders are not being rats.
They’re not feeding the police any information.
All they had to do was attack a rival gang, and they got immunity. It was a sweet fucking deal.”
“So we just let them get away with what they did to Rachel? To Shark?” Ant hissed.
“No. But I’m not Crash. Do you want to retaliate and start another war? We’ve just rebuilt. We’ve just achieved peace. Vienna, do you want to weigh in here?” I asked, almost snapping at him out of exasperation. He had barely said two words the entire fucking morning.
“Whatever you think is best, brother.”
If I didn’t know better, it almost looked like he cringed when he called me ‘brother’.
“Are you going to share what’s on your mind?”
“It was just a long night. Rachel knows how to hit the bottle,” he said with a small, tired smile.
The rest of the guys laughed and started up a conversation about Rachel being drunk, but I wasn’t convinced.
Vienna came out of the fucking womb with a pint of Guinness, and he’d only got worse since then.
There wasn’t a chance in hell Rachel had managed to drink more than him.
I’d seen Vienna take part in some of the more debased rallies, and he had never so much as had a hangover afterwards.
His excuses were bullshit, but what choice did I have right now other than to accept it?
“I didn’t think you and Rachel were together that long,” Hacksaw said, narrowing his eyes at Vienna.
“Long enough.”
“Funny. Because I was almost certain I saw you leaving the pub fairly early…”
“Leaving the pub… Us… You saw?” Vienna said, in a tone I couldn’t decipher.
“Closing time is midnight. The cameras are my job. I’m always watching. Especially when it’s the bar that non-members frequent.”
Vienna’s eyes widened, and then he looked down at the ground.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I snapped, looking back and forth at my two right-hand men.
“None of my business,” Hacksaw said, still glaring at Vienna.
“Look,” Vienna began. “Things were fucking weird last night. I—”
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Tyler, the prospect, said.
“Then don’t,” I snapped back. “Prospects speak when—”
With a look of despair, Tyler reached inside his cut, pulled out a gun and shot Vienna, sending him crashing off his chair.
I responded instantly, grabbing the gun that was always next to my gavel and shot him directly in the forehead, his body falling backwards as his eyes went black.
But his one action set off a chain of events.
Before we knew what was happening, the door to Church was booted off its hinges, and bullets rained down on the room.
“Under!” I yelled, diving under the table, hoping to God the rest of my brothers heard me. I grabbed Vienna’s body, pulling him under the table with me.
My eyes went to the wound on his chest, and I shrugged out of my cut and pressed it against him, hoping to stem the flow of blood that was dangerously seeping out of him.
“Pivot!” I yelled. “Pivot, come and hold this in place. Do not fucking let go!” I warned, placing the life of my best friend in his hands.
I grabbed the gun from my back pocket and shot at the knees of the man closest to me, his howl of pain sounding like music to my fucking ears.
They may have taken us by surprise, but they were fucking moronic. Three men wouldn’t have been enough for three Devils, never mind the entirety of the clubhouse during Church.
“Keep him alive!” I snapped, seeing Hacksaw with his hands around the last remaining man.
“Chris, go with Trent and burn these fuckers. I don’t care if they’re dead or not.
I want them to be nothing but ashes. Ant, ring an ambulance for Vienna, or, better yet, get him in the van.
Just make sure he’s at hospital ASAP. And you,” I hissed at the last attacker. “You’re coming with me.”
And with that, I smacked him with the barrel of my gun, sending him straight into darkness.