Chapter 55
FIFTY-FIVE
SILAS
“Tomorrow night this goes down.”
I looked around at all my patched-in members who filled the dimly-lit room.
Church packed shoulder to shoulder with every one of them.
The single chandelier cast an eerie light over their faces where it hung in the middle of the old, rustic table, the images Madman had painted crawling across the walls and ceiling as if they’d come alive.
Monsters bred for a night like this.
Ansty, my crew shifted in their chairs and on their feet. Like maybe I was delivering a death sentence.
My guts fisted at the dread that for some it likely would be. It made me sick to think about losing any one of them.
But they were in this as deep as me.
I met their unwavering gazes.
Trevan’s.
Phoenix’s.
Slowly making a path over the rest of the men.
I could feel their loyalty and their devotion radiating from their marrow.
Clearing my throat, I leaned back in the high-backed chair at the head of the table.
Their leader. The one who brought them into battle and the one charged with getting them out on the other side.
“You were patched in as a Crimson Crow knowing our mission,” I said, voice rough.
“Knowing we weren’t just here to wreak havoc.
Weren’t here to proliferate crime and injustice.
You knew you weren’t going to be running drugs or arms for the sake of greed.
You knew we were infiltrating the filth in this world and doing your best to help eradicate its stain. ”
Volatility curled through the tension.
“You made an oath to take the violence each one of us already possessed and turn it toward something good. And this job? Crimson Crows was born from it. It was the thing that turned the direction of my purpose and set it on a different course.”
I paused, letting my words sink deep. “I have been after this motherfucker since I was sixteen years old, and he’s always remained just out of reach. Spreading his vileness on the land.”
I would never forget the night that changed everything. When the vengeance I’d sought had been transformed.
Restructured.
Iron Owls had splintered the next month, and I’d taken the few men I trusted and created Crimson Crows.
But we were no longer riding for corruption.
We were riding for liberation.
It’s your heart.
It’s your heart.
“Tomorrow, that reign ends.”
I spun the heel of my tumbler against the wood, the scars carved inside me threatening to bust wide open.
But in a way that promised all of this was right.
That maybe in the end, I was living a life worthy of the belief my mother had in me.
That maybe…maybe this offering was enough.
“You’ve already been briefed,” I said around the rocks in my throat. “You know your missions and your destinations and that our friends from Moonlit Ridge and Redemption Hills will be taking up our backs.”
I’d gotten word that it wasn’t only Cash and his crew who were joining forces, but the guys from Redemption Hills, including Trent who’d been Iron Owls’s vice president.
Old friends coming to our aid to ensure this job was done.
“Everyone has to be their sharpest,” I continued. “Their keenest. Their cruelest. There will be no place for mercy for the merciless.”
It had to be clean or we would be done.
The same as every other job we enacted, but this one was on a scale none of us had ever faced.
Phoenix rocked beside me, violence skimming his flesh as he fisted a giant hand on the table.
“This mission is big, but I believe in this calling, and I believe in you. Be careful. Be wise. And come home.”
A riot of fists banged on the table, and the deep resonation of their chants banged through the room. “Born in chaos. Forged by iron. Sworn to vengeance.”
They all stood after they said it, the lot of them flooding out through the door and into the long hall that led to the bar.
Half of them clapped me on the back as they went, murmuring every variation of “We have this.”
We did.
We had to.
It couldn’t turn out any other way.
My chest tightened as I pushed back from my chair.
Anxious to get back to the house but knowing I needed to keep up appearances. Without a doubt, I’d be out in that bar throwing back old-fashioneds for half the night.
Wanting to be curled up next to Brinley instead.
Tucked into her beauty and held in her faith.
Trevan and Phoenix came to stand beside me.
“You good?” Trevan asked. Concern twisted in his brow.
“Yeah. I’ve been waiting a long, long time for this.”
I failed twice at trying to end them in the past, but this time, our only choice was seeing it through.
“And what are we going to do about the girl and Dereck?” It came as shrapnel from Phoenix’s mouth.
Protectiveness bound every inch of me, and I wanted to lay it out. Tell him exactly what I had planned. It was fucking painful to muster the lie. “We’re going to do exactly as planned. He keeps his end of the bargain, and he walks.”
I couldn’t bring myself to specifically mention Brinley.
Speculation traipsed across the dark lines of his face. “I don’t trust him, Prez. I think you’re making a mistake.”
I exhaled a sharp breath, and I delivered the words low and hard. “I made the deal, so the deal stands. Don’t fucking question it.”
I didn’t normally rule with a heavy hand, and I considered Phoenix one of my closest friends, but I couldn’t entertain what he was clearly suggesting.
I didn’t deal in betrayals, especially not when it had brought Brinley to me.
Phoenix’s tattooed hands curled into fists, so clearly trying to temper what he wanted to say. His jaw worked overtime before he gritted, “Understood.”
Then he turned on his heel and stormed out. I blew out a sigh, and Trevan squeezed my shoulder. “Tensions are high, brother. Don’t fret. It’s all gonna work out exactly as it should.”
I scraped a palm down my face. “Terrified I’m leading my crew to their deaths.”
“Of course, you are, which is why every single one of them will follow you into battle. Now get your ass out there and share a drink with your men.”
I gave him a tight nod, then followed him out into the dusky hollow of the hall.
Music vibrated the walls, but it was the frenetic energy blistering the air that singed across my skin.
Awareness thrummed through my veins as Trevan pushed out in front of me and into the bar.
I shouldn’t have been surprised to find Elena and Brinley there.
Two of them dressed up for a party, though looking so out of place. Standouts from the rest of the women who pranced around.
Even though we had Church, women had been permitted tonight, knowing the men needed to indulge in that type of revelry before we set out on this mission tomorrow.
It didn’t matter how many times I looked at Brinley. Every time, my guts tangled.
Wild curls around her. Wearing that same short, satin skirt that was baby blue and hemmed in beige lace that she’d worn the first morning to the office.
Legs so fucking long, especially with those nude pumps.
A stunner walking around on my property.
The fucking sun that had risen on my life.
I could barely fucking breathe.
Trevan leaned in close to my ear and muttered, “I don’t know who the fuck you think you’re fooling, I just hope you give up trying to fool yourself.”
I’d given that shit up days ago, but I couldn’t tell him.
Not yet.
So instead, I waltzed behind the bar and nabbed a bottle of whiskey. Lulu tossed me a knowing wink from where she was hustling to serve about ten of my men, and I strode back out and slinked into the shadows.
I tipped the entire bottle back and took a long pull as I watched Brinley and Elena dance.
Lights strobed all over them, but Brinley was the one who was shining into the darkest corners of my being.
Seeping in the way she did.
Eyes flitting to me every few minutes, seductress tempting me into disorder as I tried to force myself to sit still in my seat.
I kept swilling from the bottle, but there was little hope it would quench the thirst.
It only amped it.
I didn’t know how much time had passed when Brinley leaned in and whispered something to Elena before she turned and strode through the swinging door that led into the hall.
It turned out Brinley Webber had a hook directly in my soul because I couldn’t do anything but stand.
I set the whiskey bottle on a table as I slinked along the outskirts of the bar.
Trying to play it cool.
Not to draw attention to myself.
I slipped out into the hall thirty seconds behind her.
She was there, standing in the middle of it, staring back at me like she knew I had no choice but to follow.
“What do you think you’re doing?” It rolled out like a threat.
“Looking for trouble, apparently.” Her voice was pure temptation.
“It’s me who has found the trouble since I can’t stay away from you. I’m supposed to be standing with my men tonight, rallying them for tomorrow’s fight, and the only thing I want is to get inside of you.”
The bulge against my jeans was proof.
“I’m sorry. I just missed you. Do you want me to go home?” A moment’s sincerity filled her words, and fuck, the way she said home penetrated to the depths.
Truth that she got how important this was.
I took two steps toward her, my voice lowering further. “I don’t want you to be anywhere but with me. Right now.”
She heaved a breath. “Good because I don’t want to be anywhere, either. You’re leaving tomorrow…” Worry filtered into it before she forced it off and lifted her chin. “So I need you now.”
Pride swelled.
I fucking loved that she asked for what she needed. Wasn’t shy about it. No fear or questions between us.
I took another step forward.
Our connection thrashed.
Chains of fire that whipped around us.
I reached out and took a fistful of those wild curls, and I angled in close. “What’s it you need?”
She rubbed me over my jeans as she sent me a sly, sexy smirk, though the blaze in her amber eyes promised of the seriousness. “Your heart and your cock.”
“Mmm,” I hummed, running my nose along her jaw. “Good for you because you get them both.”
But it was me who had it good.
She kept jacking me over my jeans. Sending shockwaves of pleasure shearing through my veins. My need for her nearly sent me into a tailspin.
A nosedive into this sweet bedlam.
And I realized we were standing in the middle of the hall and we could be exposed at any time. Funny it wouldn’t have mattered if I was fucking any one of the bunnies out in the hall.
It was this one woman who was illicit.
A secret I didn’t want to fucking keep.
Still, I grabbed her by the hand and hauled her deeper down the hall.
Passed the bathroom I was pretty sure she’d told Elena she was heading to. I opened the door to the first bedroom only to snap it closed when I found Fuse and Jupe in there with three women.
A soft breath of surprise hit the back of my neck, Brinley catching a glimpse of what was going down inside.
I led her deeper, bypassing every door, not able to picture myself taking her into one of the shared rooms where I’d had uncountable women before.
Yeah. I was fully aware that I was crossing so many lines when I guided her all the way to the end of the hall to the massive Church doors.
The Crimson Crows emblem emblazoned across both sides.
A seal of its sanctity.
One I was about to desecrate.
I stalled for one beat before I tossed one side open and pulled her into the wisping darkness.
Heat saturated the air, and her heels clattered on the hard floor as I dragged her up to the head of the table.
I could feel her attention racing. Trying to categorize everything she was seeing. The grim images painted on the walls, the demons and ghosts more alive than when these men had actually been breathing.
“You see what you’ve done to me, Brinley? It’s forbidden for anyone to be in these walls except for the patched-in members of Crimson Crows. You’ve made me break every fucking one of my own rules.”
And I couldn’t bring myself to care.
She exhaled a shaky breath, and I kept hold of her as I dragged the high-backed chair that appeared more like a throne from the head of the table.
Putting her in its place.
“If I’m the fucking king, then you’re my queen.” It was a scrape of air as I pushed her chest down onto the table.
Her skirt rode up so high, the satiny slip of her underwear bunched up in her soaked pussy.
I knelt behind her, and her long legs shook as I slowly peeled the scrap of material down.
I spread her, licking her into a needy puddle before I flipped her around and planted her ass on the rough wood.
“Heels on the table.”
She rushed to comply, those high, high heels hooked to the edge. She leaned back on her hands, her skirt bunched up around her waist and her cunt dripping.
I took a single step back so I could appreciate her trembling in need.
Slowly, I unbuckled my belt while I watched that Little Wildfire burn.
I flicked the button on my jeans and undid the fly, shoving them down enough to free myself.
I stroked myself from root to tip.
“From now on, every time I sit at the head of this table, I’m going to imagine when I fucked you on it.”
A mewl rolled from her, and she lifted her ass a little from the wood.
“You want it, Brinley? You want this?”
She shoved her fingers into her pussy then lifted them to my mouth. “Why don’t you have a taste for yourself and see?”
Vixen.
Seductress.
I sucked them deep, lapping her up as I fully stepped up to the table.
Committing a thousand sins as I brought my tip to her lips, running the barbell that ran through my head over her clit.
She clawed and clutched at me before I shifted and shoved in.
We both arched.
Knocked the fuck out.
Bliss in a beat.
Her walls throbbed around me as she struggled to adjust.
“Silas,” she rasped.
I took her by the knees, still buried deep. “This is so you know you’ll have this part of me, too. Just give me a little time, and I promise you, there will be no secrets between us.”
“I trust you.”
“Good.”
Then I fucked her right on Crimson Crows’s table. Thrusting into her in rough, rigid strokes.
Knocking the breath out of her with every stroke. Our bodies colliding, rocking and gripping.
Her fingers in my cut and my hands on her hips.
Lifting her every time I surged forward.
Sweat drenched our flesh as the type of pleasure neither of us thought we’d find spun us into ecstasy.
She moaned and shouted and I didn’t give a fuck if the whole MC heard.
Because she was mine, and it was fucking time everyone knew it.