Chapter 27

 

As perfect as the last few days have been, it’s now time to figure out this Tomlin shit.

“We know where he works. You been in there more than once unnoticed, grab him and go.” Ghost says with a shrug like it’s no big deal. Ideally, that would be how to do it.

“I can’t just drag him out of his office.” I say. Devil chuckles.

“No, you call him; tell him you are offerin’ up Aria. He’ll come out for that. Meet him in that alley.” Dragon doesn’t look up from his phone as he speaks. He has a solid plan; I already know this.

“Bring him here?” I ask. Dragon finally looks up at me.

“That’s on you. Will your girl lose her shit if he’s here? If she will, we take it somewhere else.” Scrubbing my hand over my face, I sigh. I don’t want to hurt Aria any more than she already has been. It’s hard enough on her knowing that he set her up. Having him here and in her face might push her too far.

“I’ll talk to her.” Devil says. I don’t know how much of that shit I like.

“I’ll talk to her. You call Tomlin.” He says again. My insides react to every word he says. I don’t like this little bond they have formed. That whole jealousy thing is killer. I could rip his throat out right now and not think twice about it. But Devil’s my brother. He wouldn’t cross me like that. Nodding my head, I shove off the chair and head outside. I need to be free and clear of everyone. Telling Tomlin, I’ll give him Aria is going to be the biggest lie I’ve ever told. He won’t touch her, she’s mine. Sliding my phone out, I dial his number.

“Rocland. Finally come to your senses?” His voice grates on my nerves. I don’t want anything to do with him, but fuck!

“You could say that. I can’t afford the war over her.” His laughter on the other end of the line pisses me off. Motherfucker thinks he won.

“I would assume not. Bring her to me.” I want to laugh. I want to tell him to fuck off but I can’t.

“I’ll meet you in the alley in two hours.” He grunts before the line goes dead. I drop my head, letting out a breath. Stupid fucking asshole. I can’t believe that anyone would want to kill their own kid. That’s not something my mind wants to wrap around. I mean, look at her. She’s perfect, full of life, and to him, she’s a liability.

He brought that on himself, though. He dabbled in the illegal aspect of life and took her along for the ride.

Fuck, I’m doing the same thing. It hits me harder than I thought it would but I shake it off. She’s mine. There is no way around that. She knew what I was when she stepped foot in my room.

Yeah, she’s mine. 

I head back inside with a lot of things running wild in my mind. If things go wrong, shit could get bad.

“You call Cambridge?” Dragon asks. Glancing over at him, I nod.

“He’ll be here when we get back.” My insides tighten. I don’t like having this many assholes in one place at time. Running my hand through my hair, I look to the left to see Devil walking back toward us.

“That other girl is a smartass,” Devil says pointing over his shoulder.

“She is. Thank fuck she can go home soon,” I say.  Devil nods with a smile on his face.

“Heard that!”

“She’s good with it goin’ down here.” Devil says as he walks past like it’s just another job on another day.

“Ask me, Roc. Stop lookin’ at me like that.” He snaps. I know he must see the look on my face.

“No. I trust you.” He spins around, his eyes coming to meet mine.

“You should. She was havin’ a rough time when we left. I was just tryin’ to make her calmer. She has a good heart and honestly, she gave me a lot of insight into myself. It wasn’t nothin’ more than two friends talkin’,” Devil says in all honesty. Nodding my head, I know Devil would never do that to me. I’m just a little unsure of how I feel about everything.

“I’m glad you were there,” I tell him. Devil slaps a hand on my shoulder giving me a quick smile before disappearing out the front door.

“Let’s get this shit goin’.” Ghost shoves off the counter where he’s been leaning the whole time. Nodding my head, I go down the hallway toward my room. When I step inside, my heart explodes. She’s just so breathtaking. I stand there watching her make the bed in awe. It’s like she’s always belonged here.

“Stop staring at me.” How can she know I’m staring?

“I can’t. We need to talk.” Tossing the pillow to the top of the bed, she turns to look at me, tears falling down her cheeks. A few short strides and I have her in my arms. Holding her as close as I can get her, I let her cry.

“You don’t have to be there. I’ll figure this out.” Her sniffles rip me apart.

“It’s not that. I mean, it is, but it’s not. I know why you have to kill him, Roc. It’s just, he’s the only family I have left. Like real family.” Sighing into her hair, I pull back, looking into her eyes.

“That’s not true. You have Dana. Most importantly, you have me. You have the club. I didn’t plan on havin’ anything in my life, Aria. You showed up and that shit changed. Don’t for one second think, that I’m lettin’ you go. I can’t.” The tears fall harder. I don’t know if I just messed up saying that to her. I don’t know if she wants to be here with me. Those are not thoughts that have gone through my head.

“I love you, Roc.” 

***

My hands are covered in sweat. I don’t like having Aria anywhere near this fucker.

“Roc, calm down.” My eyes jerk to hers. She gives me a sad smile that breaks me.

“I hate him, Aria.” The little giggle that escapes her makes me smile slightly. I roll my shoulders, ready to get this part of our lives over with. I don’t know what the future has in store but I’m ready for it.

“Nice to see you, Aria.” My stomach rolls when I hear his voice. There’s nothing I’d like more, than to kill him right here, and now.

“Is it?” Fuck, this girl is going to make me hard watching her smart off to him.

“It is. I’ve been wondering when you were going to come back.” Aria laughs a sick, twisted laugh.

“You want to kill me. Your friends want to kill me. They want to kill me.”  Nodding over her shoulder at me, I have to suppress a laugh.

“You have begun to get older and learned things that you have no business learning. You’ve become too much of a liability, Aria.” I don’t miss the gasp that escaped her throat.

“Can we save the family bondin’ shit for at home? You got my shit or what?” I growl. Tomlin glances past Aria, to me. With a grin, he pulls an envelope from his bag, holding it out to me.

“It’s all there. No other prints were made despite what you may think.” I step toward him, grabbing the envelope from his hands. Looking through it, he had a lot of shit on us. Fucking, son of a bitch. Giving Aria a little shove, she stumbles forward.

“Nice doin’ business.” I walk past them hearing Aria gasp once more. She didn’t know this part of the plan. I round the corner; my heart slamming in my chest. With a quick nod, the guys move in. I can hear her screaming and it rips me apart to have to do it like this, but we can’t have anyone seeing her walk out with us, not yet. Climbing in the truck, I throw it in drive and haul ass back to the clubhouse.

My mind is a complete mess. My stomach cramps. I don’t know if this was such a good idea.