Chapter 27
Burn It All Down
Thunder
I thought Liz was going to hug me, but her fingers slid down to the waistband of my jeans. “Don’t even think about it,” I said. She was reaching for my gun or my phone, and neither would get her the revenge she clearly wanted.
“I can’t…let him…get away with…” She waved her hand around. The sound of glass breaking drowned out whatever else she was going to say. I tucked her further into my body so she wouldn’t have to hear the crackling.
Liz untangled herself from me, reaching for my hand. She linked our fingers together, pulling me away from the activity. Each step drowned out the scene behind us until there was nothing left but darkness. “Take…me.”
“Take you where?”
“Alex.”
“Are you fucking kidding?”
We mirrored each other’s positions, standing shoulder-width apart with our hands on our hips. My wife had good intentions, and if I thought it would help, I’d drive her over to his office building myself. Going half-cocked was only going to get us killed.
Liz was the first to crack. She fell into my arms, and I held her tight against me. My T-shirt absorbed her angry screams.
“I know, pretty girl,” I whispered into her hair as I tightened my hold around her. “I know, but if I take you over there, what good will it do? You’ll give him more ammunition to use against us. You said it yourself. We need a plan.”
“I…want…him to hurt.” She rubbed her forehead against my sternum. “He…didn’t have to…do this. Grace’s.”
I scanned the lot. The firefighters had the fire under control, but the line of brothers never moved. They still stood in a semicircle, their arms crossed over their chests. Sabre still held Grace a few feet behind them, but when his eye caught mine, I waved them over.
“Liz wants to go over there.” I let it sound just as crazy as it was.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Sabre’s eyes bugged out. He let go of Grace and turned Liz to face him. “If you think I’m letting you show up at his office building with no protection, you’re delusional.”
“This is…Grace’s.” She wanted to say more, but the words wouldn’t come. Balling her hands into fists, she slammed them against the outside of her legs. “This is…personal.”
“I know.” Sabre scanned the surrounding area before he leaned in closer to Liz.
“I won’t let him live that down.” She nodded, listening.
“If I let you go now, there’s no doubt you’ll get hurt.
I’m not willing to live with that on my conscience.
” He smirked. “Besides, I’ll lose the one brother who doesn’t annoy me daily. ”
It was high praise from my president, and I perked up, preening like a peacock. Grace laughed, and the sound only made me act further like a fool. If it gave her a few minutes of joy, I didn’t care if it was at my expense.
“It’s not worth it, Auntie.” Grace wiped a few remaining tears from her cheeks. “If we’re done here, let’s go back. I can’t bear to watch this anymore.”
“Text.” Liz held her hand out for my phone.
“I want to see it before you send it.” Sabre shot her a look.
I handed her my phone, watching as Liz typed out one line before showing it to Sabre. Laughing, he bent over. Liz smiled at me, holding the phone so that I could see what she’d written.
Don Fuckface
Wait for my call.
***
Elizabeth
Emily came rushing towards Grace and me as soon as we walked through the clubhouse doors. “Oh, thank God.” She gathered both of us against her. “Is it still there?”
“It’s gone. Burned,” Grace sniffled.
“I’m so sorry,” Emily said, pulling slightly away, but she didn’t let us go. “When you’re ready, we’ll help you rebuild. This time, it’ll be exactly the way you want it.”
“We will, but right now, I just want to lie in my bed. I’ll worry about all of this tomorrow.”
“Meredith should still be upstairs. She put the kids to sleep in JR’s room for the night.”
Grace said goodnight. Sabre traced her movements as she made her way towards the stairs. She pointed to the second floor, and he met her at the bottom. They held hands as they headed to their room together.
“It’s really gone?” Emily asked me in disbelief. I nodded. It was all I could do. I didn’t have the energy to hash everything out again. I could hear bits and fragments floating around the main room. Emily would get the rest of the story by the end of the night.
Zook appeared next to me. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Emily reached up, kissing him. “Do you have a hundred on you?” He didn’t ask questions as he reached for his wallet, handing Emily a crisp bill. “Thanks. When this started, Count said something like this would happen. I didn’t think they would actually come for the club’s businesses.”
“You shouldn’t have bet against me,” Count yelled, sitting at the bar facing the room.
“Ha.” Emily turned at her hips, sticking her tongue out in his direction. “Don’t forget you needed my help.”
“He has that problem a lot,” a brother said from somewhere near the pool table.
“I close deals just fine. You get paid, don’t you?” Count called back.
“Is Kelly out with her male lab partner?”
“Do you have a death wish? He can easily beat your ass.”
“What did you do, Em?” Zook got her attention again.
“Count added more insurance to the club’s businesses, but when the company audited how much, they balked at the coverage.
” Emily rubbed a spot above her heart with her knuckle.
“I stepped in and reminded them we were paying customers and breaking their terms of service would cost them more money.” She reached for his hand, pulling him farther into the room.
A hand crept around my waist, and I didn’t even look. There was only one man who touched me so intimately, and I leaned back into him.
“Are you tired?” he asked.
“Yes. Can’t sleep.” Even if I went to bed, I’d lie there with my eyes wide open.
“Me neither. You want to stay out here?” I shrugged, sliding my fingers between his as I made my way to a couch. Thunder took the corner, and I curled up against him, letting the sounds sweep around me.
Op held out a beer to Thunder before he sat on the couch directly in front of us. He still carried another beer in one hand and a mug in the other. Setting his beer on the table next to him, he grabbed a coaster, placing the mug closer to me. I scrunched my nose.
“Too late.” Op laughed at me. “I made you tea from Flo’s secret stash she thinks we don’t know about.”
Reaching for the mug, I took a sip. “Thank you.”
“I figured now was as good a time as any,” Op said, crossing his leg over his knee.
How dropped onto the couch next to Op. He drank from his beer as his eyes bounced over the rest of us. “You didn’t tell them?” he asked Op, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.
“Was this planned?” Thunder sat up, staring the two of them down.
“We keep talking and talking when we really need to act. No one wants to bring it up to Prez.” Op’s eyes met mine. “You’re part of his family, but he’s looking for a happy solution.”
“There…isn’t one,” I said.
Op raised his eyebrow before nodding in my direction. “She’s yours,” he said to Thunder. “No one wanted to disrespect you.”
“So you brought me beer?” Thunder shook his head, and I placed my hand on his thigh.
“It was my idea. You’re welcome.” How smiled widely, but all I saw was Emily with masculine features. Zook pulled up a chair on the other side of Thunder, and Dead sat on the other side of the couch from me.
“Is this…an inter...vention?” I asked them.
“No.” Dead was the first to respond. “Call it a strategy session.”
“He burned…Grace’s. Burn him.”
“It was time, brother,” Op said to Thunder. “We can’t let this go on any longer.”
“I get it, but I don’t have to like it,” Thunder boomed. “What have you numbskulls come up with?”
“Not a lot. There’s limited communication.” Zook leaned forward, holding his beer bottle between his legs. Emily came up behind him, pushed his shoulder back and waited for him to adjust before sitting in his lap.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Zook said, wrapping his arms around her
“You’re only planning a get-together.” She slung her arm around his neck. “If it gets out of hand, I’ll fake a yawn and go to bed. Besides, I’m here for Aunt E, not any of you.”
I smiled, proud of her, and she winked at me.
“I can’t think.” How closed his eyes.
“He only answers to his advantage, so we can pick a place, send him the location, and he still might not show up,” Thunder said, draping an arm around my shoulders.
“Back and…forth. Our move…next.” I shrugged. I didn’t have any ideas, and the brothers were better at bouncing ideas off each other.
“What if we plan a date?” Op brought his beer up to his lips, watching Thunder over the lip.
“You know I hate that.”
“Somewhere private but public enough that we can protect her.” Dead shifted, staring at Thunder over me, but Thunder never returned his gaze. He bristled at the suggestion that I’d be alone.
I laid my hand on his chest, tuning everyone else out. “I’m sorry, Bob…by. They’re only…saying what…already know. I have…to go alone.”
He growled, making the hairs on my neck stand on end. “There’s nothing for you to apologize for. We knew this was coming, and now that it’s here, I have to accept he was in your life. Doesn’t mean I have to fucking like it.”
“Will this work? Somewhere…private?” I asked Op.
“I don’t know, but it’s worth a try. He might show up if he thinks it’s you calling.”
I nodded, willing to take the chance to put an end to this. “First date…rented…restaurant. Need to do…the same.”
“Oh, I have just the dress.” Emily bounced excitedly, but a grimace crossed Zook’s face.
“Fuck me. I need another beer.” How drained his, getting up to get another round from the bar.
“It’s going to work. Aunt E will fix this, right?” Emily asked Zook, but he shrugged.
My eyes met Op’s.
Dead slung his boots onto the coffee table, crossing his feet at the ankles. “I’d rather go down swinging instead of being the cartel’s bitch.”
Thunder’s hand tightened on my shoulder, but it felt like dead weight.