“You know better than to come into my fucking territory wearing your colors without so much as a howdy do.” The bar stool next to me groaned under the weight of the Diablos’ president. “Give me one good reason not to have my men fuck you up so bad you’ll have to ride in a side car for the next year.”
“Sure thing.” I paused to take a swallow of my beer. “As soon as you give me a reason as to why there’s a new chapter moving into Reapers’ territory and attacking my brothers.”
“What the fuck did you say?” Balthazar’s head whipped toward me. His white hair was held back in a low pony tail and half his face was obscured with a giant white beard. If we were at the mall and he was in a red suit instead of a half-buttoned flannel, I’d have mistaken him for Santa Claus. This was a far cry from the man I’d met ten years ago at a rally in Virginia Beach.
I shook my head. “Only what my VP has been trying to tell you all week if you’d answer your damn phone.”
Balthazar shrugged. “I hate that thing. It wouldn’t stop buzzing, so I tossed it in a drawer. Everyone knows if they want to talk to me, they gotta go through Lucifer.”
“Not everyone.” I took another sip of my beer.
He sighed. “Well, now you do. I’ll forgive the disrespect, but next time, I don’t care if you have to send a fucking passenger pigeon. You talk to me before riding through my town in that.”
I shook my head. “It’s funny you can get so bent out of shape over someone disrespecting your territory, yet you have no problem sending a club to take over ours.”
His brows furrowed. “That’s a serious accusation. Got any proof?”
I slapped a baggie on the counter. “This is the shit that’s being sold in our territory. That’s your logo on the pills.”
Balthazar picked up the baggie and took out one of the pills. His eyes narrowed. “Lucifer, take a look at these.” He didn’t even turn his head as he held up the baggie. I glanced back at his VP.Ahh, shit.
Lucifer wasn’t reaching for the bag. He was armed with a bowie knife. I slid my hand into the front of my cut and over my gun. The bartender wasn’t on my side obviously, but would he be a participant or an observer? Should I hit him first and then go to the guys closing in behind me?Decisions, decisions.
There was a picture over the bar of him with a family. Three kids and a cheerful wife. I could give him the benefit of the doubt and save him for last. I slipped my hand beneath my cut when I noticed the bartender give me a subtle shake of the head.What the hell?
Lucifer walked up behind Balthazar, shoving the knife into the president’s kidneys. “Your time is over, old man.”
Balthazar gasped. “You’ll pay for that! Boys,” he panted. “Take him out!”
Lucifer tsked, shaking his head. “You’ve been asleep for too long. Chapters are going rogue, profits are down, and you fucked up the deal with the cartel because you couldn’t answer your fucking phone. You’re out, B. See you on the other side.” Lucifer yanked the knife from Balthazar’s back and raked it across his throat. Blood sprayed from his neck, and I covered my glass with my palm. No sense wasting a good beer, and Lord knew I’d need it if I managed to get myself out of this predicament.
Balthazar’s body flopped onto the bar and blood poured from his wounds. I slid off my stool, needing to move into a better position in case they turned to me next.
Lucifer nodded toward two of his guys. “Take care of it.” They grabbed their former prez’s body and dragged him out of the bar. Not an easy feat, given the man was at least 300 pounds.
Lucifer pulled a rag from his pocket and wiped his knife before shoving it into a sheath on his hip. “Thanks for that. I owe you one.”
My heart hammered in my chest. I was an enforcer. Death and murder didn’t phase me, but this was the president of the national chapter, and there would be repercussions. Repercussions I didn’t want anything to do with.
I picked up my pint and drained it halfway. “Not sure I had much to do with that.” I nodded toward the blood the bartender was cleaning with a white rag and bleach water.
“You got him out in the open. He’s been holed up in his hovel of a house for months. Old man should have retired years ago, but he was stubborn. Only now he’s screwed up one too many deals, and we couldn’t keep him on anymore. Our rules state a president can only leave through resignation or death.” Lucifer shrugged. “Balthazar chose death, only we couldn’t get to him until today. So thanks for luring him out.”
Damn.I shook my head. “You can pay me back by telling me what you know about these pills and the club that’s infiltrating our territory.”
Lucifer nodded and picked up the bag of pills. “Not ours. We aren’t stupid enough to put our logo on an illegal product.”
“Are you sure about that? Because guys with your patch have been selling this shit.”
Lucifer rubbed his beard. “Let me put it this way. Nothing has been sanctioned, but it’s been a bit of a free-for-all over the last year. Clubs have gotten out of hand. With today’s change in management, I’m looking forward to bringing them to heel.”
I tried not to shiver at the gleam in his eye. I did what I had to do in order to protect my club and my family, but I didn’t get off on it. Lucifer was like a teenager watching his first porn video.
Definitely time for me to head out. “And if we need to take this group out?”
“You would be doing me another favor. We haven’t had a club in North Carolina in years. The last club moved up to Richmond. The guys you’re dealing with are probably impostors. Wearing the cut because they knew Balthazar was weak and wouldn’t do anything, if he even managed to find out. You have my full blessing to do what you need to and let me know how it works out.”
Perfect. I drained the last of my pint and slammed it down on the bar. “Glad we had this talk. Let’s exchange numbers and I’ll be on my way.”
