Empire of Savages (Savage Hunt MC #1)

20. Nick

Chapter 20

Nick

Fucking hell.

I ran a hand through my hair, feeling completely and utterly shattered. I hadn’t intended to go to Alex and break the fuck down, but as soon as I saw her, I knew. I knew she was the only person I could trust with my grief. I’d broken down and cried for Molly, but as she held me to her, as her scent and her heat consumed me, I finally cried for my brother, too.

There hadn’t been a safe space for me to grieve my brother when I found out. In jail, crying would’ve been seen as a weakness. Something to be taken advantage of. Something that could cost you more than respect. So, I’d stuffed all my anguish and pain away into a box in the back of my head, chaining the motherfucking thing so that nothing could escape. But Alex…

Alex had taken a pair of bolt cutters to the chain and cut through it like it was nothing.

Fuck, that woman was too good for me.

I told her, point-blank, that I was going to kill her father and she didn’t flinch. She didn’t beg for his life. Didn’t throw herself at my feet for mercy. From her interactions with Bliss, I knew Alex’s loyalty wasn’t in question, so what had La Croix done to lose it?

Whatever it was, I was glad he’d fucked it all up.

We would get our war.

But we needed weapons first.

The small armory we had was dwindling in supplies, but we knew exactly where to get some. Returning to the clubhouse, I found every single patched member waiting in the bar. The tension in the room made my blood fizz with awareness. It was like walking into the chow hall right before a fight broke out.

The VP was sitting at the bar, Gunnar beside him.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Kaash asked, taking a long pull of his beer. His glare had a physical weight that made my shoulders stiffen.

“Out.”

“Well, while you were out , Vox has been fucking waiting for you.”

Fucking asshole.

As the sergeant at arms, it was my responsibility to follow through on all committee orders that were made during Church. I knew we had a lot to plan, but I needed to get out for a bit. To breathe. Refusing to rise to the bait, I walked down the hallway to Church. Pushing open the door, I found Vox sitting at the table, a laptop in front of him and a pad of paper beside it. As road captain, he was responsible for gathering intel for the run. The best routes. Alternate routes in case of delays or law enforcement interference. Locations of hospitals, rest stops along the way, and motels where we could safely rest when we needed to.

“How are we doing?” I asked, my jaw aching from clenching it so tightly. Rounding the table, I took a seat opposite him, dumping my rolling papers and pouch of tobacco onto the surface in front of me.

“Almost finished. Jack, the Cleveland chapter president, will be sending ten escorts to meet us at the border. They’ll give us safe passage through Ohio and into Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania doesn’t have an outlaw motorcycle club in residence, so it should be smooth sailing through there unless we get targeted by the cops. When we hit Maryland, though, we have an issue. There’s a feeder club for the LA Storm that has ties to the Devils. If you successfully negotiate safe passage, we’ll be free to get into DC without any issue.”

“I negotiate? That’s Kaash’s job.”

“Kaash said you can sort this shit out. His words, not mine.”

Motherfucker. “And if I can’t negotiate a term?” I didn’t know anything about this feeder club. They weren’t in existence before I went away.

“Then we take the long way through Ohio and West Virginia, and it takes up four fucking days instead of two.”

“Did Kaash at least secure the guns?”

“Markov says we can take whatever we need as long as he’s compensated.”

“Of course he fucking did,” I muttered. “Do we know how much compensation he might want?”

“He said he’d call in his debt when he needed it.” Vox’s already-intense stare increased. “Are we really doing this?”

Pulling a rolling paper free, I started rolling cigarettes. Anything to help calm the frenetic pace of my thoughts. “We can’t let this shit slide without recourse. Someone shot Molly.”

“Yeah, they did, but we have no solid proof that it was La Croix who’d ordered the hit.”

I tapped the end of my newly rolled cigarette against the table, desperate to light it but knowing I couldn’t disrespect the sanctity of Church in that way. “You don’t think we should?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m saying we need to be sure. Striking against the Devils right now, without any clear reason?—”

“We have a reason,” I spat at him. “Molly is dead. My brother is dead ?—”

“Motive, yes, but fucking proof, Nick?” he interrupted. “We don’t have that, and if we go in there and wipe them out, I can guarantee the retribution against us will be swift. The Devils have more chapters than us, and they’ll want their pound of flesh.”

I didn’t want to admit that what he was saying made sense, but my blind hatred needed somewhere to go.

“Think about it,” Vox urged. “Why now? Why the hit on your brother? On Molly? Things have been quiet for the last five years. No violence. No attempts to disrupt production or shipment laneways. Why would La Croix fuck around with peace?”

“Maybe he wants in on our Canadian operation?” It was a weak reason, and he knew it. The Devils didn’t want to run guns. They were making more than enough money with two major drug corridors.

“Or maybe your release from prison was the catalyst.”

I jerked my head up to look at him. “For what?”

He shrugged. Not the answer I’d been looking for. Licking the edge of the paper, I finished another cigarette, adding it to the stack I’d started.

“We can theorize about this all day long. At the end of the day, Kaash won’t let us sit here and hold our dicks. He’s approved the hit. End of story.”