Chapter Nineteen
The Beginning
Devil watched as Lexie waved at him. Butch had taken most of the women to the warehouse like they all agreed, and now he was watching his woman disappear.
“It’s safer that she’s out of the way,” Tiny said, coming to stand beside him. “Eva’s been seen.”
“Gonzalez is in town?”
“Yeah, he stopped by an hour ago. You missed him with just arriving. Don’t worry, I got you covered. I told him that one of the little ones got sick and you didn’t have a choice but to stop at a hotel for the night. He expects to see you a little later than normal.”
Nodding, Devil turned away from the sight of his woman leaving him. Seeing Lexie leave always filled him with regret. Entering The Skulls’ clubhouse, he moved toward the back where there were weapons strewn all over the place. The men were suited up and ready to go. Pussy was packing, and he’d given Sasha some guns so that he could use them when the time came to protect her.
“I can’t believe it all boils down to today.”
“Mason Terry is in town. You know, the guy from Paradise Rocks?”
“Yeah,” Devil said.
“Gonzalez’s men on the police force, he’s rounded them up, and they’re in a secured location for us to deal with when the time is right.”
Devil hadn’t met Mason before, but he knew the man ran a tight ship. He lived, worked, and breathed all things Paradise, but he was also a Skull, part of the Nomad team that travelled from place to place. Mason, however, wasn’t so much a nomad as a Skull in his own town. It was strange, but it worked for him.
“So Mason has the men we were initially worried about. Who’s next?”
For the next hour Tiny spoke of the men that were in town. Several of the men were pimps or fighters sent to provide entertainment for the coming night.
“Gonzalez thought it would be fun to have a contest to see who won against pimps and illegal fighters. He’s been poaching from Ned,” Tiny said, getting him up to speed.
“This is what it comes down to.”
Tiny sighed. “Yeah. In a few hours we’ll all know if we live or if we die.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
Devil walked out of the office toward his men. Sasha was standing by Pussy’s side, dressed and ready for the town hall.
“Right, I think this is how it’s going to be. Cheryl’s going to take Sasha, and they’re going with Butch to the town hall. We’re going to follow, little by little, so as not to raise suspicion. I’m going to turn up last in the van. I don’t want him to cotton on at the last minute what we’re about to do. In between then, The Skulls are going to arrive. We’re going to take our places, and then we’re going to make sure this goes down, cleanly and without any other fights. I want you to be ready to hit the deck.”
He looked at Sasha. She held Pussy’s hand hard as he spoke. When he’d first seen and heard about Pussy liking this girl, he’d had his doubts. She couldn’t take care of herself or even be what Pussy needed her to be. At least, to Devil she came up lacking. Seeing the determination on her face, gave Devil doubts about his first thoughts about her.
“You, Sasha, when it starts to get loud, you hit the deck. Do you hear me?” Devil knew Pussy wouldn’t be the same if they lost her.
“Don’t worry, Pussy’s been training me to duck and cover. It’s quite funny, actually. He started doing it at night,” Sasha said.
Pussy gave him a thumbs-up. “You don’t need to worry about my girl, Devil. I’ve trained her to be ready for the worst amongst other things.”
Sasha hit him on the shoulder.
Chuckling, Devil stepped away to see Hardy at the bar. The other man was looking at the booze as if it was a lifeline.
“I wouldn’t drink today until after all this shit has hit the fan,” Devil said.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to hit the drink at all.” Hardy tapped his fingers along the counter.
“Why do you look cut up?” Devil asked. His curiosity was always going to get him in trouble. He had to know the littlest detail about everyone he came across. It was a flaw he hadn’t repaired.
“Besides the fact we’re walking in to a potential death trap, my woman’s going to leave me.” Hardy turned away from the booze.
“Rose won’t leave you.”
“Yeah, she will. It’s been ten years in the making. Neither she nor I realized it.” Hardy shrugged. “Can’t say that I blame her. I fucked another woman who wasn’t her, got her pregnant, and then we lost the kid that we were supposed to get out of it.”
Shit, Devil’s curiosity really did need to stop.
“Do you love her?” Devil asked.
“More than anything. I was a young, foolish fucker who didn’t know what he had.”
“Then instead of treating her with kid gloves, show her that she’s the only woman you want. Don’t give her a chance to get away. Fuck her, love her, and show her who she belongs to.” Devil tapped him on the shoulder. “Life is far too fucking hard to give it all up because fighting seems even harder. I love Lexie with all that I am. I wouldn’t give her up over something I did ten years ago.” He wouldn’t admit that there was no chance of him ever cheating on Lexie either. Only an idiot cheated on his woman.
“Thanks, Devil. I actually think that was a good talk.” Hardy tapped him on the shoulder.
Yeah, that was him. He was the guy filled with all the wisdom today.
The rest of the morning passed by with tension as all the men waited for the coming fight. Devil didn’t know how it was going to go, but it was starting to look up in his favor. Every now and then he saw Butch looked a little freaked out as he checked his phone. He didn’t like the change inside Butch, and if he could know what was going on inside his head, he’d feel a hell of a lot better.
“Butch, it’s time,” Tiny said.
Devil stepped away from the bar as he watched the first couple move out of the clubhouse. Cheryl looked petrified, and he watched as Pussy helped Sasha into the waiting car.
This is it.
After everything they’d been through they were now going to get their chance to take out their revenge.
Anticipation filled him.
He checked to make sure that he had his weapon at the back of his jeans. Devil made his way out to the car and climbed behind the wheel.
Watching men with their brides leave the compound filled him with anticipation. Gonzalez wouldn’t know until the last minute what was going on. Only a couple of women, Angel, Sandy, and Mia, were present, and by the time Gonzalez saw most of the women were absent, it would be too late. Within thirty minutes he was on the road and heading toward the town hall. They passed several of the locals at work. Some of them stopped to see them driving and riding past. He glanced in the back of the car to see his kids’ car seats. This was why he fought as hard as he did. He couldn’t fail them, nor could he fail Lexie. She needed him.
Thinking about Ronald with the gun pressed to her temple, filled him with anger. Getting into the zone, he parked the car ready to enter the town hall. Tiny was outside waiting for him.
Climbing out of the car, Devil walked toward Tiny.
“I want to apologize,” Tiny said.
“I don’t give a shit what you want to do. I told you, after today, we’re done.” Devil entered the town hall and saw several locals were inside, surprising Devil with the attendance.
Sasha and Cheryl stood at the front near the stage, looking a little out of place with their dresses. In the front of the seating arrangements, Devil spotted Gonzalez. In his mind he saw Lexie with a gun pointed to her head once again followed by Ashley, the club whore. She’d never had an easy life, and this bastard had taken it away from her. There were so many people Gonzalez had ruined to get to this moment. So many men, women, and children, who deserved their chance for revenge. They were going to do this, take this fucker out and ride the world of several bad guys along the way. Above all, they were going to finally put Ashley to rest. Pussy would never have loved her, but Devil knew one man would have. She was the kind of woman everyone loved.
Going to his gun, Devil grabbed the weapon. This was his chance to end all the pain. Judi was in a coma because of this man. All of those girls who were now a little broken, it was because of this man.
Taking out his gun, Devil didn’t care about the civilians who were present. Aiming the gun, Devil was ready. He’d lost his chance the other day, but he could win this time.
Before he got a chance to fire, gunfire exploded from behind him. He had no choice but to duck as he saw men enter the town hall, firing their guns. A bullet missed him by mere inches. He didn’t recognize any of the men. They were untrained, erratic, and simply firing away.
“Danny, no,” Butch said, yelling as the guns started to explode. Turning around, Devil saw several men with the jackets of the Savage Brothers entering the clubhouse. Behind them all, he noticed a blue-haired woman enter the town hall with her head lowered. She didn’t hold a weapon, but there was no mistaking the intent of her face.
****
Their carefully ordered plan was going up in smoke. Whizz watched as Ronald went for his knife. Striking out, Whizz pounced on the other man. He fought, getting slashed in the process as Ronald lashed out. There was nothing for him to do. Wrapping his hands around Ronald’s neck, Whizz squeezed the very air out of him. Unlike Killer and Lash, he didn’t have the skill to snap a man’s neck. Chaos ensued, and the mess went on around him as the Savage Brothers made a mess, killing civilians in the process. He should have known it was impossible to wipe out an entire club. Whizz felt the mistake as he watched the survivors kill before his eyes. There were over fifteen people in the room, all with weapons. Gonzalez was down, grasping at his neck from being shot. He was kicking out begging for help. No one went to him. The pleasure Whizz got was seeing the pain in the man’s face. For once it was a monster who was feeling what pain meant.
Holding tighter to the man’s neck beneath his grip, Whizz watched as the life choked out of the man. Slowly, even though the man fought, Ronald died in his arms. There were no emotions inside Whizz as he watched the man in his arms fight a useless battle. He had the control in this situation, not this man. He jerked in Whizz’s hands, and his eyes bulged out.
When it was over, he collapsed back and looked out at the room. His brothers were fighting. Some of Gonzalez’s men that he couldn’t reach out to were fighting back. They’d posed as locals and were now fighting. The men with the Savage Brothers MC jackets on were also fighting. There was no order to this battle. It was brutal.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Butch asked, turning toward one of the Savage Brothers.
“You were supposed to tell us where he was. You fucking lied to us. You’re no better than Gonzalez.”
Before he could do anything, the man in front of Butch, aimed and shot him in the neck. Cheryl screamed, panicking. Butch went down with blood pooling out of his neck. Whizz watched as Butch grabbed his neck, trying to save himself.
Butch had betrayed them for the Savage Brothers. Why hadn’t Whizz thought of looking to see if any of them had survived? How could Butch have betrayed them? Whizz looked down at his shirt to see his side bleeding.
He was in pain.
This was all his fault. If only he’d been on the ball, he’d have known there was no way to completely wipe out an entire MC.
Through the pain, he saw the blue hair. Lacey was there? Why the fuck was she here? He needed to get up and get her to safety. It wasn’t over yet. He needed to protect his woman.
The town hall was alight, and he saw her inked body on display. For once she wasn’t hiding in the darkness. This was the woman he’d fucked, the same woman he couldn’t stop thinking about. She knelt down in front of him. In her hand she held a knife. For some reason it didn’t look out of place on her; it looked natural.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. The fighting went on, the shouting.
Tears filled her eyes as she lifted up her wrist. Every time he saw her with enough light, she always wore a long sleeved jacket. Focusing on the writing up her inner arm, Whizz chuckled.
“Now, that fucking figures.” He coughed as he went for his gun. The woman he’d been drooling over was none other than the enemy. She’d known who he was, had sought him out whereas he’d been fucking blinded by her beauty.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“You wanted to tell me what?” he asked. “That you fucking used me like a whore? Was that your intention all along? Play with a Skull and laugh while you did it?”
He was fucking hurt and not just because of the slash against his stomach. Lacey was the first woman since his kidnapping and torture that he’d actually wanted, and yet she was the enemy.
“I stumbled upon you, Whizz. I didn’t go out of my way to meet you. I wanted a drink, and you were there. I couldn’t stay away from you.” She stopped as tears fell down her cheeks.
Pulling his weapon in front of him, he aimed it at her, wanting to cause her some kind of pain. Seeing the tears, he knew she was also in a great deal of pain. Could he end this woman? He knew if she was part of the Savage Brothers MC then she’d been through a shit load of pain already.
“My name is Lacey Weatherfield, but I was born Lacey Newbon. I was part of the Savage Brothers. I was a kid. Please,” she said, reaching out to touch his cheek. “Don’t hate me. Everything we shared together, that was real.”
“You couldn’t warn me?”
“No, I didn’t have any other choice but to do this. I’ve been with the Savage Brothers all my life. This is what they wanted, and my loyalty was with them, not with you. I’m truly sorry. I never wanted it to be like this.”
He loaded his gun ready to shoot her. There was no way he could let her live, and yet, the very thought of never seeing her again cut him to the core. For once, he didn’t know if he could kill an enemy of The Skulls.
She looked sad. “You can kill me if you want.”
“Fucking bitch,” Gonzalez said, growling.
They both turned to look at the other fucker. He was on death’s door, and he was still trying to fight. The bastard was interrupting Whizz’s moment, and he needed to die
“Give me a second and we can finish talking,” she said. Lacey got to her feet and straddled Gonzalez’s waist. “This is for the Savage Brothers.” She held the tip of the blade to Gonzalez’s neck. Glancing around the room, Whizz saw the rest of his brothers were too busy fighting the Savage Brothers or some of Gonzalez’s men to get to Gonzalez himself. From the quick glance, he saw the majority of The Skulls were still standing.
Whizz watched in disgust and awe as she slid the blade in once, twice, three times and kept on going. She wasn’t with him in that moment. She was killing the man from the past. Gonzalez wasn’t responsible for the Savage Brothers’ demise years ago, but his son was a good second. He dropped the gun to his side admiring Lacey’s kill. She was brutal in her work. There was no holding back as she plunged the knife inside Gonzalez, over and over again.
There was no way he could kill her. He wanted to kill her. Whizz wanted to hurt her, but this wasn’t the way.
“Lacey, stop, we’ve got to go.” A large man Whizz had never seen before grabbed a blood covered Lacey.
“Get off me, Dalton.”
“No, we’re going now. I don’t give a fuck what you’ve got to say. This is fucking over. We’ve got to round shit up and get the fuck out of here.”
He watched her being carried out of the town hall. Fuck, what was he going to do? The one woman he really wanted had just turned into the enemy of The Skulls.
Fuck!
When was his life ever going to make fucking sense?
****
“Butch, wake up, baby, please, you’ve got to wake up. You can’t die,” Cheryl said, screaming his name. There was blood everywhere, and none of The Skulls agreed to help him. Everything had gone wrong, and she didn’t know how to make it all right. “Please, somebody, help me.”
Tiny, Devil, Alex stared down at the body refusing to help. Why wouldn’t they help? Butch had done everything they asked.
He didn’t tell them about the Savage Brothers MC.
“He’s dead. Leave him be,” Tiny said, spitting on the ground. He was covered in blood, his arm holding a giant gash revealing too much of his flesh. Gonzalez and the Savage Brothers had taken them all by surprise, and now both crews were having to pay the price.
“No, he’s not dead. I can feel a pulse. Please, you’ve got to help him.” Cheryl tried to cover the bullet wound to keep his blood from leaving his body.
No one was helping. Sandy was passing out across the room. The guys had brought her along in case they needed fixing up. What remained of the Fort Wills town hall left a lot to be desired. Civilians were running around trying to get away from the attack that had hit the town within days of Tiny going to war with Devil. Well, they didn’t go to war, but they’re no longer friends. Butch had told her that it could end in war if Devil and Tiny really wanted to fight over territory. She’d always doubted they’d go to war seeing as Devil didn’t want Fort Wills. For the first time in years Devil and Tiny didn’t get along. They’d all been mistaken. Gonzalez never intended to choose between the two men. He was going to take on Fort Wills and Piston County, killing all of them without leaving anyone behind. Cheryl saw the glares they were shooting at her man. It was all a big mistake. They were all staring at Butch as if he was a rat, vermin, something they couldn’t bring themselves to touch. Didn’t they know he was helping them all?
“He’s not getting my fucking help,” Zero said, standing up. “He’s fucking dead to me. I saw him talk to one of those bastards. He was with the Savage Brothers. No brother helps another club behind our backs.”
“This is what Gonzalez wanted, to tear us all apart,” she said. Butch told her everything about what he’d done and why. Gonzalez had to be put down. There was no way to stop what he had to do. He was betraying his brothers, and yet he was protecting them at the same time. The Savage Brothers was in his blood. He was helping all three clubs without even picking one. The Skulls were his home, and the Savage Brothers had left him for dead.
Butch did what Alex told him to. He’d told her everything, not leaving anything out. The Skulls and Chaos Bleeds were refusing to see the truth, and now the love of her life was dying in her arms. Glancing around the room, members of both crews were dying all around them.
She tried to think fast.
Staring at one man to the other, she tried to figure out the fastest way to help her man.
All of them, apart from Alex, were married. Those women were in a safe house, or at least they thought it was safe. Butch had arranged for the women and children to be at the warehouse in the hope of luring Gonzalez away from them. The Savage Brothers knew where they were, and perhaps Gonzalez did as well. Deep in her heart, she knew Butch would never allow harm to come to the women, but she hoped they doubted him enough to believe that he would.
“If you let Butch die, every single person you hold dear will die,” she said, letting her words sink in.
“They’re safe.”
“Are they? Have you heard from Lexie? Eva? Tate? They’re all where Butch put them, and I know I can end their lives if his heart stops beating.” She gritted her teeth as the blood seeped through her fingers and the lies poured from her mouth. She hoped none of them tried to call their women as they’d see through her lies immediately.
Cheryl was willing to do everything to save her man, even put the lives of the clubs’ women at stake.
She would say anything to get Butch the help he needs.
“Please, he didn’t do this. He told me it was all going to be okay.” She held onto Butch’s hand, while covering up his neck.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Gonzalez was indeed dead. The Savage Brothers had come in, killed Gonzalez and several civilians. She even heard some gunfire as they left the town hall. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Fine,” Tiny said. “We’ll get him to the hospital.”
The words were by no means comforting, but she wasn’t going to argue with him.
“I’ve got your back, Butch. I’m going to make sure everything is okay.” She was going to stay by his side until all of this mess was cleaned up. Tiny wasn’t at war with Devil, but the two were not getting along. She’d heard Butch tell Gonzalez that Devil and Tiny were at war.
Why didn’t you take care of this?
****
Standing outside of Butch’s hospital room, Tiny was so fucking angry. The bastard was alive, barely alive. He didn’t know what Butch had been trying to do, but he was sure going to find out.
“None of it makes any sense,” Zero said, standing with them. Cheryl wouldn’t let any of them in the room, probably out of fear of what they would do. Tiny couldn’t blame her. He wanted to kill the bastard, but he needed to find out the truth before he decided to end one of his men. Gonzalez was dead, and the threats he posed were all dead.
He, Ned, Alex, and even fucking Devil had planned today down to the last detail. Civilians in his town had died because of his interference, and he was fucked off. This should have been clean and finished, not like the way it went down. The Savage Brothers may have come from a fucking MC, but they didn’t act like it. They were fucking amateurs.
“Tiny and I had Butch gathering information from Gonzalez,” Alex said, speaking up for the crew to hear. Sasha was sobbing against Pussy, who was badly bruised and beaten. There had been a lot of men to fight off. Sasha had hit the deck, and Pussy had stayed in front of her, fighting. Tiny, in between everything that happened, had seen the couple. Pussy was holding her tightly, whispering against her head.
Lash held Angel tight to him as the woman shook in his arms. She was a lot stronger than people gave her credit, even him.
No one knew where their women were being kept. The club had agreed on the warehouse, but Tiny wasn’t willing to risk the safety of his woman in case Butch had taken them elsewhere. He truly thought Butch had taken them to the warehouse. Frowning, he wondered if they were in fact at the warehouse. With everything that went down, he’d not even tried to contact Eva. The only person who knew the details were Cheryl and Butch, at least if they weren’t at the warehouse. She was keeping their location very close to her chest. Unless there wasn’t a different location and she’d said what needed to be said in order to get them to help with Butch. Fuck, he didn’t know what to do anymore.
Pulling out his cell phone he dialed Eva’s number, and it went straight to voicemail. He was pissed, scared, and he didn’t know what to do. Every time he called her, there was no answer.
He didn’t see any reason to stop Alex from explaining everything they had planned. Gonzalez was dead, but knowing that didn’t fill Tiny with happiness. In fact, he was fucking angry. The Savage Brothers were alive, and he wanted them dead. They had come into his town without his fucking permission, and now he had blood on his hands because of them. He didn’t give a shit about what they’d suffered years ago. There’s always a way around getting revenge, especially in his fucking town. He’d fought off so many other clubs intent on taking on Fort Wills, and the Savage Brothers were no different. Tiny wanted them all dead, and Butch was going to help them. He wanted the truth, and he wanted that truth now.
“It seems Butch wasn’t working for just us,” Alex said. “I had no idea he was talking to another club. I should have looked into it.”
“No, he wasn’t working for us,” a blue-haired woman said, appearing in the room. Tiny recalled seeing her blue hair in the town hall. What the fuck was she doing here?
Whizz tensed up. “What the fuck are you doing here?” He was speaking Tiny’s thoughts aloud. The man was refusing to be cleaned up. He was determined to wait for Sandy to fix up the cut along his side. Whizz was a stubborn bastard when he wanted to be.
“You’re one of them,” Tiny said, glaring at her. It was against his principles to kill a woman. He never killed women, but with his anger right now, he was more than ready to kill.
“I had to come and make sure you didn’t kill Butch.” She had her hands fisted at her sides. “He didn’t give away your location. Danny—he’s our leader—he found out that Gonzalez was at the town hall today. I tried to get him to stop, to back off, but he wasn’t listening. I’m sorry about what happened and for the damage we’ve caused. There was no talking him out of this revenge. He’s been determined to get what he wants for a long time. I did try, but he wouldn’t listen to me. He’s not trusted me for a long time.” She stopped, and Tiny saw her eyes were on Whizz. “Butch isn’t a traitor. Danny asked him, and he talked about their fathers and stuff. He’s a loyal Skull. Please, don’t take this out on him. I promise you all, Butch didn’t want to hurt any of you. You shouldn’t kill him or hurt him. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
Tiny looked at the door to see Cheryl standing in the doorway. “He didn’t want to help the Savage Brothers,” Cheryl said. “He was scared, and by the time he realized what he was doing, he was scared that you’d turn on him. After everything that happened he didn’t want to tell you for fear of what you’d think. He knew The Skulls was his home. He just wanted to end Gonzalez. That man had hurt all of us at some point, and another MC could have helped.” Tears were falling down her cheeks. “He’d never put any of you in danger nor would he put the women. They’re all at the warehouse outside of town. I lied to you so that you’d take care of him. He told me to tell you. He didn’t want you all here waiting for their location. I’m sorry for lying to you, but Butch, he means everything to me and to Matthew.” She wiped the tears away. “They’re all in comfort as well. Butch saw to that. He didn’t want any of the women to suffer. He followed your orders exactly, Tiny.”
Looking into the room, Tiny knew he had a choice. He could kill Butch or believe that the brother who’d been serving loyally for the last ten years truly had the club’s best interest at heart. Tiny had once been part of another MC, The Darkness, but they didn’t deserve any kind of loving loyalty. They’d been a bunch of monsters intent on causing pain. Butch had been part of a very different MC. For all he knew, Butch had been with a loving club that had been taken from him. Some of that club had survived. Fuck, he didn’t know what to do.
Looking over his shoulder at the blue-haired woman, Tiny nodded his head. “Thank you for telling me. Get the fuck out of this hospital before I kill you my fucking self. I don’t give a fuck that you’re a woman. Get out of my fucking sight, now.”
She scurried away, giving Whizz one last look.
“You’d kill a woman?” Whizz asked.
“Right now, I’d kill anyone related to the Savage Brothers. They invaded our town and almost got us all killed. One of the brothers shot Butch. I don’t trust them.”
Tiny turned toward the room holding Butch. He didn’t want to kill Butch as he believed the brother’s heart was in the right place. Ten years of loyalty, he wasn’t going to throw it out of the window. Tiny was better than that. He was going to find out the truth before he did anything he might regret.
Entering Butch’s room after Cheryl agreed to let him inside providing he didn’t kill Butch, Tiny stared at the brother. He was awake but could barely speak.
“I’m sorry,” Butch said, licking his lips. The fear in his eyes was clear to see, but Tiny also saw acceptance. Did Butch expect to be killed?
“No, I don’t want you to speak yet,” Tiny said. “You were a fucking idiot to do what you did. By doing this alone you risked the lives of our club and our women. The moment you knew the Savage Brothers were in town you should have come to me.”
“I tried to get them to come to you. They wouldn’t listen.” Butch stopped talking. Tears leaked out of his eyes, sliding down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry. If you’re going to kill me, will you please send Cheryl away?”
“Butch, no, I’m not going to let them kill you,” Cheryl said. “You’re not getting rid of me. You didn’t do anything wrong, not really. This is wrong, and they should see that.” She sat on the chair beside him, taking his hand.
Tiny didn’t want to kill Butch. Butch had been used by the Savage Brothers to get what they wanted. “I’m not going to kill you, Butch. The Savage Brothers used your compassion against you. I’m not interested in taking out one of the men I consider a friend. If you want to remain a Skull then you know the Savage Brothers need to go, and I don’t mean to take a vacation. I want them dead. I will forget all about this, but you’ve got to make that final choice, Butch. The Skulls or the Savage Brothers.” The town was in chaos because of this. Tiny would need to spend a great deal of money repairing the town hall and also reassuring the locals that they were, in fact, safe.
Butch nodded. “I know.”
“Then you need to start now. You need to make a choice.”
“Butch, baby, you know what you’ve got to do,” Cheryl said. She squeezed Butch’s hand. “It’s them or us.”
“I don’t want to be part of the Savage Brothers. I’m a Skull, through and through. I fucked up, but I know how to fix it.” Butch turned from Cheryl to look at Tiny.
“I want them gone, Butch, and I need you to write down where they were.”
Cheryl grabbed some paper and a pen. She didn’t say another word as Butch wrote the address down on paper. “They’re not going to come to you, Tiny. I can lure them out, help you resolve this,” Butch said.
Taking the piece of paper, Tiny looked down at the address. It was an old, crumbling house. It made sense for a group of people who were not part of The Skulls to locate at a part of town where they wouldn’t be noticed. No one would pay attention to men coming and going out of this old house. Tiny had been so preoccupied with Gonzalez that he hadn’t paid any attention to his own town.
After everything that happened, Tiny wasn’t prepared to take a chance.
“Will you let me live?” Butch asked.
Cheryl gasped, tears falling down her cheeks. “I’m not going to let them kill you.” She turned to look at Tiny. “Please, don’t kill him. He didn’t mean to do this. Please, you can’t turn your back on him.”
Staring at Butch, Tiny knew the man had meant well. “I’m not going to kill you, Butch. I understand what you did and why you did it, but until further notice you’ll no longer be part of meetings. You’ll be with the prospects. Until I can completely trust you, you’re back down there.”
“I understand.”
“Good.” Tiny stared at the address. Gonzalez was gone, and now it was time to take out the other MC that had put all of their lives in danger with their stupidity.
“Thank you for this. Now you concentrate on getting better.” He turned to walk out of the room then stopped to look at Cheryl. “You surprised me today.”
“Why?”
“I never had you pegged for the kind of woman to lie or to risk the lives of the other women.”
She shook her head. “The Skull women were never in danger. I’ll lie, cheat, and fucking steal to protect Butch and my son. I’m an old lady, Tiny, and I’m part of The Skulls in a way. I’ll do whatever needs to be done to protect the club.”
Respect for Cheryl grew as she turned her attention back to her man. Butch was a good man, but he was fucking lucky to have a woman willing to go that far to protect him. If Cheryl hadn’t been willing to lie, Tiny would have let him die back in the town hall without a second thought. He walked out of the hospital room, moving toward Devil. The leader of the Chaos Bleeds crew wouldn’t be part of the hospital meeting nor any other meeting for that matter. They were done as far as he was concerned. Eva had already kicked his ass over what he’d said to Devil. Calling the Chaos Bleeds women whores had been a low point, even for him. Tiny, thinking back to what he did, was ashamed of it. He was much better than that, but their relationship was dead, gone. Hearing Devil was going to leave when he needed him had filled Tiny with hate. Gonzalez had sent a man to kill Eva, and then Devil was leaving. It was all too much for Tiny, and he’d lashed out in the worst possible way. The verbal insults were not something he could take back. They wouldn’t be at war as far as Tiny was concerned, but they were no longer friends to call in a fight. He’d come to rely too heavily on Devil and the Chaos Bleeds crew. The Skulls would never change who they were. Tiny had his rules whereas Devil lived by as few rules as possible. Neither of them was ever going to change who they were. This was it. From this moment forward neither of them was going to be calling on the other in a fight.
“Tiny, I need a word,” Whizz said, invading his thoughts.
Glancing at the other man, Tiny nodded.
“We’re going after the Savage Brothers?” Whizz asked.
“Yeah, I’m not allowing them to live. Butch gave them up, and we’ve still got time to get them before they try to escape.” He held up the piece of paper holding the address that held their location.
Whizz ran fingers through his hair. “We’re not backing down from Butch?”
“No. He gave their location. He’s back to being a prospect to a point. We’ll give him time. I understand why he did what he did, but I don’t agree to him lying to us or keeping shit from us.”
“I want Lacey.” Whizz didn’t beat around the bush; he stated what he wanted. “The woman with the blue hair. She’s the woman I’ve been seeing. I don’t want her as part of this.”
“You know I can’t let that happen. She’s a Savage Brother, and she needs to die.”
“You’re not a murderer of women. She killed Gonzalez, and I need her. Ever since Alan attacked me I’ve not been able to focus. The nightmares, the memories, they claw at me every day. When I’m around her, she makes me feel different. I wouldn’t ask this if I hadn’t thought it through. I wanted to kill her in the fucking town hall, but I couldn’t. I’m asking for you to let me have this.”
Whizz hadn’t needed anyone in such a long time. Simply hearing the words from Whizz made Tiny pause. Could he take away the brother’s crutch? Ever since he met Lacey, Whizz had been different. He’d started whistling, smiling, and looking like his old self. There was no way that Tiny could take that away from him, no matter what he wanted to do.
“Fine, but you’ve got to keep her away from the group, as otherwise she’s dead along with them. Get her away from the rest of the Savage Brothers, but you better make sure she doesn’t try anything. I’m not in a mood to be fighting a crazy bitch when she realizes the rest of her club is dead.”
Whizz nodded and rushed off out of the hospital, holding his side.
Tiny didn’t know what the other man had planned, and he wasn’t interested.
“Did you get the girls’ location?” Devil asked.
“Yeah. Butch hadn’t moved them anywhere else. They’re at the old warehouse. Cheryl lied to save her man. I respect her for it. I’d have let him die, and I wouldn’t have listened to him back at the town hall. I wasn’t interested in listening to anyone.” He started to talk about an attack about to happen, but Devil cut him off with a fist to his face. The blow was unexpected.
“We’re done, Tiny. I mean it. Gonzalez was the last person we’re dealing with. I’m taking my woman and my crew, and I’m getting the hell out of here.”
Tiny followed Devil outside. He watched Devil climb behind the wheel of his car, starting up the engine.
“What about our women? They’re friends,” Tiny said, accepting the punch. He leaned on the open window. “I’m not going to stop Eva from talking with Lexie.”
“I’m not going to stop Lexie from talking with Eva either. There’s no way we could stop those two women from talking to each other. They’ll do whatever the hell they want. I can’t blame Lex. She knows what she’s doing, and I trust her. We’re done though, Tiny. I’ve got a town to protect.” Devil started his engine and pulled away from the curb.
“You’re just going to let him get away with punching you in the face?” Alex asked, standing beside him.
“I had no choice. I insulted his woman and his club. I’d do the same to him.” Tiny was filled with regret. He’d fucked up big style, and there was nothing he could do to change it. Glancing at the rest of his club, he saw they were waiting for him to take charge. “I’m not going to turn against Butch. I know why he did what he did.”
“We’re not going to kill him?” Zero asked.
“No. He’s given us the Savage Brothers’ location. We’re going to take them out and finally rid our lives of everything that Gonzalez touched. However, Whizz asked to have the blue-haired woman. He wants to keep her by his side. I’ve agreed.”
“Do you think that’s fucking sensible?” Lash asked. “She’s part of a club that almost fucking killed us. There’s no way that makes any fucking sense to me. It’s fucking wrong.”
“Whizz asked this of me, and until I hand you over the fucking gavel, you’ll accept my word as fucking law, understood?”
Lash nodded, still looking pissed.
“She came to us to protect Butch. You’ve got to remember that. She didn’t want us to hurt him. I’m willing to give Whizz a chance with this.” Tiny ran fingers through his hair. When all of this was over he was going to call Eva out of the warehouse. There was no way he was going to put her life at risk until he finished this off once and for all. Eva wouldn’t completely agree with his plan, but it’s what he needed to do. “Are you with me or not?”
Killer stepped forward first. “I’m in. I don’t want the Savage Brothers alive. If others hear of a club who attacked like that and made it out alive, we’ll be fucked all over again. I don’t want that. We do this, and we do it now.”
One by one his men stepped forward, agreeing to take out the Savage Brothers.
“When do we attack?” Alex asked.
Pulling out his cell phone, Tiny started typing a message.
Whizz, you better have your woman. We’re coming now!
“We’re going to go and get them now.” Tiny glanced at the hospital. For a long time it had felt like he’d lived inside those walls. Eva, Angel, Sophia, his boys, all of his club had been locked within the hospital walls because of different enemies. The hospital contained good memories, bad memories, and the feeling of hope. Turning his back on the hospital, he knew this was going to be a turning point in his life. Chaos Bleeds and Devil were gone. He wasn’t going to call on them for help. Their friendship was through, and there would be no way of a future between the two clubs. He wouldn’t allow it. Gonzalez was gone and so were the men who posed any kind of threat. Whizz had reached out to all of the other men, and they were backing down. Ned would be coming to town soon, and everything was looking up.
Glancing up at the sky, he saw the sun was shining bright. It was the start of something new, something different, but before he could embrace that, he was going to kill the last of the Savage Brothers once and for all.