“So, you see here, Alec, we’re not fuckin’ playin’ around anymore,” I growl as I press my pistol to his forehead and squeeze Feather closer into me. I don’t want her in harm’s way because of us. “This isn’t a goddamn game, man. Give this shit up, and go somewhere else to start a new club before you lose your chance.”

I will not be able to keep the club from killing him if he doesn’t leave. I’ll even be the one to pull the trigger because he has pissed me off. We have given him all the chances he is going to get.

“Why the fuck do you even want my club?” Alec tries to yell, but I press my Glock against his throat so it muffles the sound.

How could he be so fucking clueless?

“You aren’t taking care of it. You let an unexperienced Sadist harm one of the brother’s daughters, you idiot. And you aren’t screening motherfuckers properly.”

I don’t even know why I’m giving him a response. He doesn’t deserve one. He lost that right when he didn’t take our warning.

“You’re still buggin’ about that, man! Seriously,” he cries.

I lean towards him and yank my knife out of his hand. He cries out again as I drag it up his arm, slicing deep into the muscle. I would shoot him if we weren’t trying to be nice and giving him until tomorrow. This will have to do.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!” he screams, and Sniper sighs and smacks his gun upside Alec’s head. It knocks him out cold.

“I was tired of his excessive whining. How the fuck you were even friends with that, I’ll never know,” Sniper says.

I question myself on that, too. This guy is a wimpy ass little shithead.

“Feather, we got these guys under control.” I motion to the two guys left. “Go and get me some tape out of the maintenance room. I know there’s some in there.”

She pulls away, backs up, turns around, and then flees.

“You tapped that, didn’t ya?” Smokey chuckles.

My lips tilt up to the side to reveal my answer. The thought of Tatiana finding out how many times I have slept with this girl makes me cringe.

“Here you go,” Feather says in a small voice as she comes up and hands me the duct tape.

“Thank you, babe,” Pyro says.

I’m too busy thinking of the guilt churning in my stomach. I wonder why that is though. I have nothing to be ashamed of. We haven’t committed to one another, and now, that thought repeats itself over in my head and is the only thing I can think.

“Sorry,” I mumble as Sniper takes the roll to tape up the guy. He has to be tired of holding his gun on him, and here I am all spaced out.

After they are secured, and we’re satisfied with the way we’re leaving things here, we trudge outside to our bikes.

“You got anywhere to stay for a few weeks?” our VP asks Feather as we straddle the seats of our ladies.

“I do. I’ll go to my sister’s. Shadow, you have my number. Call when it’s safe for me to come home, please.”

I reach up and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “I will, darlin’. No worries.”

We watch as she walks to her car. We don’t start our bikes until she safely pulls out of the lot.

***

Chapter Twenty-Two

Shadow

When we get back to the compound, our Prez doesn’t even give us a second to calm down before he calls us into the chapel. It isn’t a meeting. It’s a follow up to what happened. Piper takes all of our guns and puts them in the safe before we can enter and sit down.

Pyro lights a joint, takes a few hits, and passes it around the table as our Prez takes a seat.

“So what happened?”

Pyro, being VP, goes on about what went down and what we should expect.

“He really didn’t think we were fuckin’ serious?” Prez asks in disbelief.

I puff on the joint before I pass it along. “Nope. He was in shock that we’re still pissed off about what happened to Tatiana.”

Prez grumbles under his breath before speaking. “Well fuck, I wanted no blood shed. Winter can lose the baby if we don’t keep the stress level down. And she is set on staying here until the pregnancy is over.”

Well, that complicates things. We need to keep the blood away from the compound, and the club is where we have the high ground. We can only hope we will be able to hit him at Euphoria tomorrow night before he hits us here. That is, if he has the balls to do that in the first place.

“Thanks, brothers. Go do your thing. I got a wife to attend to. Be well rested for tomorrow. I don’t need any sleep deprived motherfuckers when we hit him hard.”

We stand at the same time and let the Prez leave before we follow suit. I already know where I am going.

Tatiana. She is the only thing that crosses my mind tonight. I am finished thinking about all this other bullshit, and what better way to disconnect myself from it all than to bury myself deep inside of her and forget everything.

I walk through the clubhouse, out to the parking lot, and into the live-in building. I let the door slam shut behind me and walk towards the stairs. I don’t dare stop to greet anyone lingering around. I am done with pleasantries and threats. My demons and I are going to forget for a while.

***

I knock on her door. I don’t wait for her to answer, but I do give her the courtesy of knowing someone is about to enter. When I shut the door behind me, I stand there and watch her. She is lying on her stomach, earbuds in as her foot bounces up and down to whatever she’s listening to. She looks at peace, carefree even. I decide I’ll wait until morning to tell her everything that is going down tomorrow.