Utah (Knights Corruption MC: Laredo #4)

Chapter 5

5

Things between me and Ria had been tense for some time now, which was why her offer to let me stay with her while I recuperated surprised me. Instead of questioning whether it was a good move, though, I embraced the opportunity to spend more time with her. Unlike Crash, I’d been given a second chance, and I wasn’t going to waste it. I had every intention of solidifying our relationship. I loved her, even though I hadn’t told her as much. Yet. And we were having a baby. For us to be apart was asinine. In my humble opinion, at least.

Most of the guys had stopped in to see how I was doing after Ria left earlier today, but the one person I needed to see hadn’t come by yet. I’d asked where Prez was a couple times, and all I was told was that he would be here soon.

Lying in bed with nothing to do besides resting drove me nuts. I needed information on the cartel. I needed to know if Javier Carrillo was still in Texas or if he’d scurried back to Mexico, leaving his men to do his dirty work. I needed to know what the plan was now that they killed one of us. Surely, Prez wasn’t going to still wait for his meeting with Rafael Carrillo, Javier’s uncle, which could be months away .

So many questions peppered my brain, but I barely had any energy to focus on them because of the pain meds working through my system. The lessening of pain was awesome, but they made me tired. And I wanted to be alert in case something popped off. Not like I was in any shape to help if it did, though.

I snatched my cell from the bedside table to text Ria, but the second my finger touched the screen, Salzar walked into my room. Marek and Stone, our California charter’s president and VP, were hot on his heels.

“Hey,” Prez greeted. “How you feelin’?”

If the average citizen saw Prez out in the world without his cut, they’d probably think he was someone’s sweet ol’ grandpa. He had a full head of stark white hair and a clean-shaven face. But for those of us who knew him, we’d never refer to him as sweet.

Loyal—absolutely.

Fierce—no doubt.

Ruthless when he needed to be—never a question.

But never sweet.

“I’m alright.” I touched the bandage on my stomach. “Sore.” Next my fingers glided over the wound on my temple. “Bit of a headache.” My gaze swung toward Stone. “I’m wishing I had some of your magic right about now.”

Stone had something called congenital insensitivity to pain, which basically meant he never felt any physical pain, no matter what happened to him. Lucky bastard.

He tugged on his beard, which was a couple inches longer than mine. “My condition has come in handy more times than I care to count.” He and Marek shared a coded glance before he turned his attention back to me. “What exactly happened?”

He didn’t need to elaborate on his question before I started recounting the details of the other night, starting from when Knox asked me to check out a camera issue at Cloud Nine, to watching them kill Crash in front of me, to when the guys showed up, killed the two cartel fuckers, and saved my life. Once I finished, I closed my eyes to regain some composure, anger boiling in my veins at the memory of Crash’s murder and the fact there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop it. The fear in his eyes before he died would forever be etched into my brain.

The air was heavy with unspoken words. A beat passed as I looked between the three men standing in front of me.

People often viewed me as unapproachable, but I was nothing compared to Marek and Stone. After hearing the details of what happened, their anger was etched into every line of their face, pulsating in their clenched fists and twitching jaw muscles. They were decades younger than Salzar yet appeared just as formidable. If I didn’t know what kind of men they were, I’d second-guess looking in their direction.

Just when the silence turned borderline suffocating, Marek finally spoke. “We’ll make them pay for what they did to Crash and to you.” Prez and Stone nodded, a unified front. “They’re done fuckin’ with us.”

“That means we’re going to Mexico to meet with Rafael?” I asked, attempting to sit up in bed. I made it halfway before giving up. “Demand payback for what his nephew did?”

“We’re going,” Prez said, pointing to himself and the other two guys. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Fuck that,” I all but shouted. “I wanna be there. I need to be there.”

Prez shook his head as Stone added to the conversation. “You’re no good to us or yourself in this condition. You’ll only hamper what needs to be done.”

“No way.” I could be as obstinate as them. “Right before that bastard put a bullet in his brain, Crash told me he didn’t want to die. He tried his best to be brave, but he was scared. I couldn’t help him. I couldn’t save him. Fuck… I couldn’t even gi ve him any peace in the end. But I will be there to make sure Javier pays for what he did.”

There was no question in any of our minds that Javier Carrillo was behind everything, including following Emmy, running me, Crash, and Knox off the road, cutting the camera wires at Cloud Nine, and killing a member of our club. I wasn’t privy to any communication between Prez, Marek, and Rafael, but they’d been trying to set up an in-person meeting for months. How much the head of the Los Zappas cartel knew about his nephew’s antics, I didn’t think anyone knew yet.

I thought one of them was going to argue once more, telling me I couldn’t go to Mexico for the meetup, but after all three men shared a look, Prez’s gaze landed on me.

“We leave in a week.” Relief flooded my veins. “Do you have a follow up appointment with the doctor?”

“Yeah, in a couple days.”

“Ask him for extra pain meds. You’re gonna have to load up on them if you’re gonna be of any use,” Stone said.

“Okay” was my only response, thankful they weren’t going to make me stay behind.