Chapter Fifteen
Troy drove the SUV back to the club and parked it in the garage around the back. The club building had been refurbished with granite block walls and had no windows on the ground floor on account of them being shot out by a rival club five years ago. The windows on the second level had sturdy iron bars. With the rebuild, the place had taken on the look of a fortress. Since the shootout, no other clubs had messed with them.
Okay, his rocket launcher hit on their rival club, the Banderos, might have helped. He didn’t tolerate disrespect.
There were only about ten bikes parked in the back, which meant the club was quiet. Troy strode through the games room and bar, gave his good pal, Axel, a heads up, nodded at the others, and walked into his pa’s office.
“Where’s Lizzie?” Pa, known in the club as Razor, didn’t bother with a greeting. He never did. He was as tall as Troy and even deadlier in appearance.
Sitting on the visitor’s side of Pa’s desk was the club VP, Hawg—named on account of his size—who was holding a hand grenade. Thankfully, it still had the pin in it.
“Banderos got a new delivery,” Hawg said, nodding at Troy. “Too bad for them we intercepted it, so they can’t use this shit on us.”
“Don’t pull the pin. Pa just painted his office,” Troy said with a half grin. Hawg was a mean bastard with a round face and a bushy beard. He and Pa went way back. He was his father’s best pal.
The Banderos were rebuilding their clubhouse. He’d wait to see if they continued to be a threat before he blew it up again. Neutralizing the enemy was his job, and he was damned good at it.
He waited, hoping Hawg would take the hint and leave. Troy didn’t want to discuss his sister in front of him. Although Lizzie was outgoing, she kept her private life to herself, and he respected that. But no such luck. Hawg just leaned back in his chair, which creaked like it was about to give out.
Pa pointed to a second seat. “What’s going on? Did you find your sister?”
Given present company, Troy decided on a brief version. “I snatched Animal’s sister and took her to the bayou. Animal picked up when Stacey called him. I spoke to Lizzie, and she says she’s not coming home just yet. Claims she caught Snake with one of Gabriella’s whores.”
The MC had fifty brothers and owned several legit businesses, mainly bars and bike shops, thanks to Pa’s management. The guarding of Gabriella’s “escort service” was new to the club. Another club had wanted to take over her business, so Pa had stepped up to protect her.
Troy wasn’t interested in being around a brothel, but several members loved the gig. Snake, a little too much, it seemed.
“Is Lizzie fucking Animal?” Pa asked, missing the point entirely.
“Don’t know.” Interesting that Snake’s extra activity was no surprise to Pa or to Hawg.
His father scratched his spiky gray goatee. “Your mother is frantic because your sister isn’t picking up her cell.”
“Lizzie promised she’d call Mom when she’s calmer. Want me to drop in?” Mom was always freaking over her kids, though usually, it was over him. Didn’t matter that he was a full-grown man.
“Nah. I’ll call her,” Pa said.
“Where’s Lizzie staying?” Hawg asked.
“Wouldn’t say.” Lizzie was none of the VP’s fucking business.
Hawg surveyed him with inquisitive eyes, as if he thought Troy was holding back information. “This sister, she know where Animal is?”
“No,” Troy said firmly.
“You pressure her?” Pa asked.
“Yeah. She knows nothing.”
The last thing he fucking wanted was the brothers’ attention on Stacey. Hell, he didn’t normally feel guilty, but he’d done a number on her. Made her angry. Made her feel hurt, betrayed. Besides, he’d found he actually…liked her. If she got hurt, he’d have to kill somebody.
“Think if we bomb his house, Animal will cough up Lizzie?” Hawg asked Pa as he rolled the hand grenade on the desk.
Pa scowled. “Quit playing with that fucking thing. You’re making me nervous. Think I want to scrape you off my fucking walls?”
Troy kept his face neutral at Hawg’s comment. He had to keep the brothers’ attention off Stacey. “Violence won’t make Lizzie come back. She hates violence. She’s just pissed off at Snake.”
“Fucking women,” Pa muttered. “The moment we took over guarding that brothel, trouble started. The men can’t keep their dicks in their pants. The girlfriends and wives are all calling me complaining. What am I, a fucking counselor?”
“I like the gig,” Hawg said.
“That’s because if you fucked a civilian, you’d squash her,” Pa said. “I already had to reinforce one bed you broke.”
“You did a good job.” Hawg laughed, his whole body jiggling as Pa’s gaze turned back to Beast. His fist slammed down on the desk.
“I want my daughter answering my calls. I want my daughter home, living near her mother, so I don’t have to worry.”
“Happy wife, happy life,” Hawg said, ever the poet.
“Tell me about it.” Pa picked up his cell phone and speed-dialed Lizzie. It went straight to voicemail. Pa banged it down.
Like Troy, their women—Mom and Lizzie—were Pa’s responsibility to protect. Bikers’ families, their female partners, and their children were off-limits to other club members. No matter how bad things got, even enemy clubs didn’t go after family unless they wanted war.
That fool, Animal, was a different case, because he’d started it.
Except he hadn’t really. Lizzie had begged him. Not that Pa would believe it.
“Lizzie wants us out of her business,” Troy said. “She’ll come home when she’s ready.”
“She didn’t ask my permission to leave,” Pa muttered.
Troy eyed the hand grenade that Hawg was still fingering. Troy wasn’t sure which would make a bigger explosion if he dropped the truth on Pa that Lizzie blamed him. He’d bet on Pa over the grenade.
“Lizzie thinks she has the right to make up her own mind where she lives,” Troy said.
Pa scowled. “Tell her Snake made a mistake. He goes to that brothel again, Hawg will cut off his dick.”
“I’m not touching Snake’s dick.” Hawg shuddered. “You ain’t seen the asses it goes into.”
Jesus.
Why didn’t his father object to Snake’s behavior? Troy wasn’t going to question him in front of Hawg, but Lizzy was not wrong to be upset.
“She’s not taking my calls,” Troy said. “I had to wave Animal’s screaming sister over Psycho’s head with her cell phone on speaker to get him to make Lizzie call me. Now she hates me.”
“Nice trick.” Hawg nodded approvingly.
“I’m not proud.”
“Animal’s behind this,” Pa said. “Lizzie should have come to me, not a prospect. It’s time to make Animal’s sister talk. We’ll get what we need out of her. When we find Animal, I’ll kill him.”
“No one touches Stacey,” Troy said, straightening menacingly to show he was serious.
“You fucking her?” Hawg asked, his gaze shrewd.
“Mind your own fucking business.”
“Told you Beast wouldn’t be able to do that job without getting laid,” Hawg said to Pa. “Is she a pretty little thing? Guess it’s time I pay her a visit and find out.”
Troy moved on Hawg. “Like hell, you will.”
“Back off, Beast,” Pa said, holding up his palm like a stop sign.
“Obviously, you were too soft with the girl,” Hawg said tauntingly. “Except with your cock.”
“She doesn’t know anything. And I don’t hurt innocents,” Troy said through gritted teeth.
“Great. All that training, and you won’t use it,” Pa said disgustedly.
Hell, if Troy did a kill count, he’d have more than all the brothers put together. He wasn’t proud, even though he’d been serving his country. But he’d had enough.
“You should have tortured her until Animal showed his fucking face, dragging Lizzie behind him. Fucking useless,” Hawg said.
“Like that would have helped,” Troy shot back. He turned to Pa. “Lizzie left because she couldn’t deal with the violence. She doesn’t want Snake beaten. Don’t order a hit on Animal or hurt his sister, or Lizzie will hate you forever.”
Pa looked uncertainly at Hawg. “What do you think? I want my daughter home. She doesn’t have to marry Snake, since the fool can’t keep his dick to himself. We have other good men in the club.”
Right. Because Lizzie would really want another Slayer after this.
“Like I said,” Hawg said, picking the grenade back up off the desk and throwing it from hand to hand, “how about I pay the little sister a visit, since lover boy, here, couldn’t get anything out of her except pussy.”
“Won’t do any good,” Troy said, trying to keep his cool and not jump up and flatten the ass-wipe.
“Wrong. She can get Lizzie on the phone,” Pa said. “That would do a lot of good.”
“Leave. The girl. Out of this,” Troy said, his temper about to boil over.
“You living with her?” Hawg asked smugly. “She your woman? Because if you’re not shacking up, club rules don’t apply.”
All right, fine. If that was how it had to be played, so be it.
“Stacey is mine. You fuck with her, you fuck with me.” Troy moved so fast Pa and Hawg didn’t see it coming.
He grabbed the grenade out of Hawg’s hand, spun so his back was to them, and lightning fast unscrewed the top, removed the fuse, and screwed the top on again so it looked intact. By the time he’d turned back to them, holding up the grenade, Pa was just reaching for his gun.
Troy loomed over Hawg. “See this? You touch my woman, you go near her or threaten her, you’ll be eating this.”
Pa had gone fifty shades of pale. “Put it down, son.”
Troy ignored Pa because it was Hawg who had taken the notion to visit Stacey, and he could be a cruel bastard. “Do I make myself clear, Hawg?”
Hawg was quivering, but it didn’t stop him being a smart-ass. “You won’t detonate that thing.”
“Want to test me?” He pulled the pin and dropped the grenade in Hawg’s lap. “Touch Stacey and I will kill you.”
“Holy shit!” Hawg tried to jump out of his chair, but Hawg’s jumping days were over. The chair broke, and he crapped his pants.
Pa dived under his desk.
Troy walked out with a grim smile, listening to them scream like little girls.
The gratification was short-lived. Now he’d gone and done it. After that, there was no way he could leave Stacey alone in her house.
Looked like the princess was about to see him again…whether she liked it or not.