Chapter Sixteen
Eros
Her words echoed inside my head for days. I don’t want him to die.
He was trying to kill her, but she wanted me to sit back and do nothing.
Death was what he deserved. That was the exact argument I made to her, but she insisted I not touch him.
She wanted justice the right way. She was na?ve in a way that was endearing and frustrating at the same time.
Her father had power and money, hence being able to hire the Vipers.
Those types of people didn’t come to justice the right way.
They only came to justice the Savage Order way.
I took this shit personally, even if she believed she was in it alone. As a father, I couldn’t wrap my head around there ever being a time where I’d want Ambrose dead. No matter if he saw me blow someone’s brains out, that was a decision I made and the consequences I’d have to deal with.
How could a father turn on their kid like that?
I was outraged for her.
“You’re quiet,” Knox said as we waited for all the men to file in for Church. “What’s on your mind?”
“Janea.”
He chuckled. “Well, I figured that. You’re in deep, aren’t you?”
I blew out a breath and looked at my brother. “Fuck, yeah.”
“It’s not the end of the world, Eros. You found a woman, a strong woman, protect her at all costs.”
“She wants her father to face justice the right way,” I said, scoffing. “Her words, not mine.”
“In a world of money and power, there’s no right way,” Knox said. “She’ll come to terms with it. She’ll have no other choice.”
“And that’s the problem. How will she handle that?”
He shrugged. “Only time will tell. All you can do is prepare her and be there for her when shit hits the fan.”
I nodded because he was right. The only way this ended was with her father dead. He had too much power in this world. And he wouldn’t stop until Janea was dead. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“I want to handle the Vipers first, then take out her father.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Knox said.
The door closed as the last patched member of Savage Order took their seat. Knox’s words rattled around in my head as chatter from the brothers sounded around me. He was right. It would be a cruel lesson, but a lesson she needed to learn if she was going to be in my life.
“Church is in order,” I said, and immediately the room fell into silence. “Things are happening fast. As you all know, we have a guest. She’s under our protection.”
I should have brought all the brothers in the loop to begin with, but I only needed the approval of the officers to give her protection. Now this was affecting Savage Order’s businesses, all the other brothers who depend on that income have a right to know.
“From who?” Nero asked.
I didn’t like Nero much. He had always gotten under my skin.
His attitude fucking sucked, and he was always out for himself.
He was one of the brothers who kissed Crash’s ass no matter what he did.
It shocked me, Crash hadn’t recruited him for the attack on the Sinners, but Nero was definitely one of the ones Crash had warned me about before his death.
Knox and I had a long talk about how long it would take for Nero to turn on me. He didn’t agree with the decision to get rid of Crash, and I knew his loyalty was not with me.
“Her father. He’s hired the Vipers to kill her.”
“Okay, but what does that have to do with us?” Nero asked. “She’s just some random bitch.”
“What your fucking mouth,” I said, pointing at him.
Nero and the rest of the brothers didn’t need to know how Janea actually came under our protection. It would give them a reason to question my leadership and why she was still alive. We didn’t need that shit right now. We had bigger shit to deal with.
He smirked. “Is she your old lady or something?”
“That doesn’t matter. She’s under our protection—my protection,” I said to emphasize to him not to fuck with her under any circumstances. “And you’ll show her some goddamn respect unless you want to deal with me.”
Nero’s jaw clenched, but he knew to keep his fucking mouth shut. I also saw the hatred in his eyes. He was going to be a problem.
I slid my gaze to the other men, planting my forearms on the table in front of me. “That goes for all of you. If you can’t abide by my orders, I need to know now. I won’t tolerate any kind of disrespect or disloyalty.”
The others remained silent. “I’ll take your silence as you understand. I’ve called Church because of her predicament, eyes are on our businesses, so you guys have the right to know. We’ve been having problems with permits as well as increased police patrols around the clubhouse and the club.”
Groans echoed around the room. Their irritation was understandable.
“I understand, and we’ve been working on a solution to the problem.”
“So, how are we going to deal with the Vipers,” Chaos asked. “She’s pissed off someone powerful to have them after her.”
He had only been with the club for a few months, but he had been a major help when Crash went off the rails. He didn’t agree with the direction the club was going either, so when push came to shove, he chose to side with me over Crash.
“When I have that plan together,” I said, “you guys will be the first to know. Any more questions?”
“Yeah, I got one,” Nero said, and I almost told him to fuck off.
“Ask it.”
“Is this chick worth us going through all this shit?” He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. “I hope you’re not putting this club in danger because of a piece of pussy, Prez.”
I smirked. “She’s worth every goddamn minute. And as for putting this club in danger, I’m not Crash. Savage Order always comes first with me. Sit and think if it’s the same for you, Nero. Church dismissed.”
I knew mentioning Crash’s name would piss him off, but I was past giving a fuck about what Nero thought of me or any of the men whose loyalty was to Crash. They would meet the same fate as him.
***
With Ambrose sleeping between me and Janea, I grabbed the vibrating cellphone from the nightstand.
I had only slid into bed only an hour ago, and I was tired as fuck.
Knox and I had been working on trying to find Nikki with no luck, but I couldn’t stop until Janea was safe.
Even if that meant killing another woman that I cared about.
“What!” I growled but was met with silence.
I sat up, the mattress springs creaked beneath me and checked the caller ID. Unknown caller in big white letters flashed on the screen.
Of course.
“Who the fuck is this?” I asked, my irritation rising.
It was fucking three o’clock in the morning and some motherfucker was playing on the phone.
“I heard you were looking for me.”
The voice of a ghost hit me square in the chest. “Nikki?”
“Nikki’s dead. I’m Nyx now.”
“Greek goddess of the night,” I mumbled.
Her laughter echoed through the phone. “That’s right. And they call you Eros now, right? Greek god of love, desire, and passion. It fits.”
If she knew my club name, then she knew Janea was under my protection.
“Glad you called.”
“Get to what you really want to talk about, Eros. I don’t like games.”
“Stop the hit,” I said, getting right to the point. We weren’t going to go down memory lane. I didn’t have the time, and I was sure she didn’t either.
I walked inside the bathroom and closed the door behind me so I wouldn’t disturb Janea and Ambrose.
“No can do. I never back down from a contract, Nikolaus. Her death is going to happen.”
I sighed. “You can’t do that, Nikki. Please.”
“You love her?” she asked.
Her voice was filled with pain, but there was nothing I could do about it. The past was the past, and I made the right decision for both her and me.
“Let’s meet so we can talk,” I said instead of answering her question.
“There’s nothing to talk about Nikolaus. That heart you’re trying to appeal to died years ago. The only thing that will sway me is money.”
“What’s your price?”
She was quiet for a moment like she hadn’t expected my answer.
“What’s your price, Nikki?”
“Five hundred thousand dollars.”
“Meet me in three days at noon where you took that first shot. I’ll have your money.”
She didn’t say anything, then the line went dead. I blew out a breath and stared at myself in the mirror. “How the fuck am I going to come up with that kind of money,” I mumbled.
I had three fucking days to figure it out. If not, then I’d kill Nikki at the meetup. There was no other way around it.