Rian, the asshole, doesn’t answer my call the first time or the second, which only makes me even more confident that I’m doing the right thing.
Finally, on the third try, he picks up and says, “I’m not changing my mind about this, Maeve! I’m not leaving!”
“I know you won’t leave! That’s not why I’m calling,” I say in a rush. “Don’t hang up. I have information about when the Dirty Aces are going to retaliate. I’ll give it to you if you promise to do just one thing for me.”
“And how the hell do you know the specifics?” Rian asks, sounding skeptical. He’s right. It doesn’t matter who I was sleeping with, the men in the MC wouldn’t ever tell me their plans in advance for this very reason – in case I’m a traitor.
“I-I just do. I’ve been in touch with some of the Knights and overheard the details.” I would never give him Wirth’s name. For all I know, Cormac could use that against him somehow to turn the club against Wirth. “Promise me, on my life, that you’ll agree to my one condition and I’ll tell you.”
“Fine. I agree. What do you know?”
“In the morning at four a.m. they’re going to attack the pub.” When he doesn’t respond, I ask, “Did you hear me, Rian? You can’t be there tomorrow at four a.m.!”
“All right. Got it. Four a.m. I’ll let Cormac know,” he says with a sigh like he’s about to end the call.
“Wait! You can’t tell him or anyone else. That’s my condition, and you promised me!”
“Then what the fuck is the point of you telling me then? You know I’m not going to leave Cormac and the other guys there to get murdered in their sleep.”
“You can still get everyone out of the building, as long as you don’t tell them the reason so that they can stay on the outskirts of the bar to attack the Aces from behind! There has to be some excuse you use, right? Rian? You swore to agree to my condition on my life!” I remind him.
“I’m thinking!” he shouts. “I may have an idea. Cormac’s been talking about wanting to do some stupid beach bonfire thing one night. I’ll make sure it’s tonight and that everyone is so drunk we crash on the dunes.”
“You think you can convince Cormac to do that this late?”
“I think so, yeah,” he agrees. “He owes our family…”
“Good. Then that’s perfect!” I say with a heavy exhale of relief. “You swore on my life, so you better not back out. If you do, I could end up dead for telling you what I know.”
“That doesn’t make any sense…” he says.
“Well, it’s true,” I reply even if it’s not exactly the truth. I don’t think Wirth would kill me, but I’m not going to take the chance that he could get killed in an ambush after he caved and told me how to save Rian’s life. If the other guys in the MC find out I was involved in betraying them the whole time I was in their clubhouse, well, I wouldn’t put it past Hunt to take his revenge out on me personally.
“Call me when you’re at the beach so I know that everyone is okay,” I tell Rian.
“Fine, mom,” he says it like it’s an insult, when that’s exactly how I see him. I’ve been like a mother to him since he was born, even though I was only six. I had to grow up incredibly fast, giving up most of my own childhood years. Our father left me no choice and then made sure there was nothing left of my innocence when I was sixteen.
No matter what Rian does, I won’t ever stop loving him. I just wish he didn’t do so much stupid shit that puts his life in danger…and now mine.
Chapter Sixteen
Wirth
There are two dozen men squeezed into our pool hall in Carolina Beach by two a.m., putting on bulletproof vests and loading up on guns and ammo.
I don’t like this plan, but I’ll go along with it because that’s what it means to be loyal to part of a brotherhood. We have each other’s backs; and when it comes to it, we would take a bullet for each other.
Fiasco is still laid up in bed at Joanna’s, not because he loves it there, but because now he’s running a high fever. The infection isn’t going away with the antibiotics, so she’s going to try and get her hands on stronger ones. At least she hopes it’s just an infection and not some sort of internal issue.
So, this morning, before the sun comes up, we’re doing this for him. For Malcolm and Hunt too, who could’ve been killed. That kind of violent attack against the MC can’t go unanswered even if it means risking our lives. If we didn’t hit back, other clubs and groups could think we’re weak and try to encroach on our territory across the state and up in Virginia where we’ve expanded.
“Everyone have the address for the old mall?” Malcolm asks. “That’s where we’ll park our bikes and then head to the pub on foot, so the bikes don’t give us away.”
Once everyone nods or voices their agreement, we saddle up and are rumbling down the highway in only a few minutes. I’m so lost in my own thoughts that I’m on auto pilot as I ride in our convoy, only snapping out of my dark thoughts once Malcolm, out in front of the rest of us, pulls into a parking lot. We file in behind him, killing our engines and then immediately dismounting. We’re out on the edge of the mall’s lot, well away from any security cameras, but we’re still careful as we cross the road on foot towards the Irish pub.
All the lights are off, including the pub’s neon signs out front. A few vehicles are in the lot, but otherwise
