Chapter 13
I hadn’t fully relaxed from last night’s confrontation at Eden.
It was a hypervigilant bunch who rode back to the compound at the end of the night.
We left about half an hour before closing time so that we wouldn’t get caught up in closing-hour traffic.
Guns were out, and heads were on swivels as we made the drive home.
No one relaxed until the gate was closed behind us.
Everyone agreed to head to our individual homes or rooms, and we’d meet up at eleven in the morning.
It was now eleven. All the members were seated around the table in church.
It hadn’t been private enough at Eden to tell the others everything, so we promised we’d give them all the details today.
Reaper pounded on the table, signaling that church was in session.
He told Mayhem and me to fill everyone in on what exactly happened.
When we were finished, our president resumed speaking.
“I thought about this a lot after going to bed. And I’ve got something I wanna say. Please hear me out before interrupting.”
His eyes bored into mine. My stomach cramped. Shit, I wasn’t gonna like whatever it was. I steeled myself.
“We spoke a while back about seeing if Aubrielle could get us close to her family. Last night, Oliver Carter backed off and suggested we speak about a business opportunity. Here’s why I think he did.
He sees an MC that has ties to his daughter.
Even if we were aggressive with them, he’d be the same way.
His mind is considering whether there’s an advantage to having an MC in his corner, maybe in his pocket.
Think of how many people they could intimidate.
Or the illegal business endeavors that an association with us might open for them.
Oliver is a man interested in money, power, and intimidating people.
He saw that it’s not working with us. What if we give him what he wants?
” Reaper’s mouth curled up on the ends as he paused.
My automatic knee-jerk reaction was no. But I held it back and contemplated what Reaper said. Murmurs had burst out all around the table.
“What do you have in mind? I know you have something,” Maniac stated.
“I do. We meet with Oliver. Pretend we’re interested in his fight club and dogfighting businesses.
We present that we have our fingers in other lucrative pots, such as drugs, guns, hell, since they accused Elle of being more than a stripper, what if we lie and say we’re into prostitution?
We make them believe we’re only legit on the surface and pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes.
We become a one-percenter club in their minds.
And once we get in with them, maybe see their operations in person, gather intel on them that way, we lay the trap and take them down,” Pres explained.
I had to admit, his idea wasn’t bad. We knew enough to pull it off. Some of the guys had been with the club when it was an outlaw MC. Appreciative murmurs filled the room. When they died down, I raised a question.
“How involved will Ellie have to be? I want to keep it to the barest amount necessary.”
Reaper sighed. “We want the same, brother. However, I do believe that to get ourselves accepted with less suspicion, we have to bring her along at first to get us onto their property, a foot-in-the-door kind of thing. Once we establish ourselves, we can ask to see their dogfighting and illegal fighting in person. We can say we want to see how popular they are before we commit. She doesn’t need to be a part of those.
It’s not ideal, Shadow. If I thought we could get away with having her have zero contact, I’d do it. She’s suffered enough.”
A string of swear words left my mouth. No one interrupted me.
They let me run out of words. When I went silent, the others began chiming in.
After everyone voiced their concerns or questions, it was clear that no one wanted Aubrielle involved more than necessary, but none of them saw us pulling it off without her.
And it would probably take more than one or two interactions before they’d allow us to leave her behind.
Fuck, I hated when the old ladies had to be put at risk or involved in shit.
However, that wasn’t realistic, and I knew it.
“Pres, I hate it, but I get it. However, this is her decision. I won’t order her to help us this way. She’s suffered enough at the hands of her so-called family. It may take longer to get them the other way, but if that’s what she wants, I’ve got to vote for it,” I explained.
“Absolutely, it’s her choice. We won’t force her. You’re correct. We can wait until Spawn finds everything we need. We can’t go forward until we know her answer. How about going and getting her?” Reaper suggested.
And that was what had me leaving the room, then entering the common area. She was there talking to Astrid. They both looked up when I came in.
“Are you guys done already? Where are the others?” Astrid asked.
“No, we’re not done yet. Ellie, babe, the guys want to speak to you. Will you come with me?” I asked, holding out my hand.
Aubrielle gave me a startled look, then she glanced at Astrid before coming back to me. She rose.
“Of course, I’ll come with you,” she said as she approached me.
I wrapped an arm around her, bringing her close so I could comfort her. As we walked down the hall to church, I reassured her.
“Dazzler, there’s nothing to be nervous about. Listen and answer honestly. No one expects you to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.”
“Honey, what do you mean?”
“Just let Reaper explain,” I said.
Reentering church with her, I felt her body tense. Everyone made an effort to smile encouragingly at her.
“Elle, come have a seat next to your old man. I promise, we won’t bite, not even in here,” Pres stated, smiling at her.
Her body’s tension eased a tad. Another chair had been scooted in next to mine while I was gone. I got her seated before sitting. I gave Reaper a chin lift.
“Elle, we need you to listen to what we’ve been discussing. I want your honest answer, not what you think we want to hear. Okay?” Mayhem told her.
“Okay,” she replied.
And from there, Reaper explained what he thought would help us get close to her family, hopefully giving us the information we needed to take them and everyone connected to their illegal activities down for good.
He told her that if she wasn’t comfortable doing it, we’d still get them.
It may take a while longer to accomplish it, but it will happen.
She listened carefully. When he finished explaining, Aubrielle sat there thinking it over. I was glad because it meant she was considering everything and not saying yes out of expediency.
“I won’t lie. The idea of having anything to do with my family terrifies me.
They have no souls. They’ll do anything for money, control, and power.
If they don’t care about actual family, they sure won’t give a damn about you guys.
They’ll be suspicious, even if Dad is the one to broach the topic of doing business together.
“They’ll suck you in, waiting to turn on you when the time is right.
You know the saying—there’s no honor among thieves.
My family exemplifies it. They turn on their own.
There have been others in the past who started out thinking they were friends or even partners with them.
It lasted until my family either realized they were no longer useful or learned to do it themselves, and then the ties were cut.
If someone complained, things got bloody.
I need you to hear that absolutely.” Her voice throbbed with concern.
“Elle, we hear you, and we don’t expect them to be honorable.
We’ve dealt with people like them before, and in some cases, people far worse.
Our club doesn’t go in unprepared. Our guard is always up, even if it might appear not to be.
We need to know how you want us to proceed,” Reaper asked kindly.
Aubrielle blew out a long breath before answering.
“I want to get on with my life without them hanging over me. I wait for them to come out of the darkness and ruin my life. I fear that they’ll suck me back, and I won’t be able to get free of their cage.
Shadow and I have started our life together.
I’m truly happy for the first time that I can remember.
It’ll kill me to lose this life, Shadow, and the club.
Can you pull it off without anyone on this end being seriously injured or killed? ”
“I’d like to promise those, but I can’t. Life is inherently risky. We could be cooking dinner and drop dead. Or be hit while walking across the street. What we can promise is that every precaution and resource we have will be utilized. We have experience in this sort of thing,” I told her.
Aubrielle closed her eyes. We sat there in silence for a couple of minutes before she opened them. Determination was a mask on her face.
“Let’s get rid of them. Tell me what you need me to do.”
“Are you positive? You can have more time to think this over,” Reaper told her.
“I’m sure. What’s next?” Aubrielle asked.
Pres ran his gaze around the table, taking in each of us. He received nods or chin lifts signaling we were on board.
“You need to connect with your dad and set up a meeting between them and us. We’ll pick somewhere neutral for both parties.
We’ll coach you on where. Shadow will be with you when you call.
Once we have a date and time, we’ll make other preparations.
Spawn will continue working on it from his IT perspective.
He may find something that allows us to shut them down sooner,” Pres explained.