Page 20 of Reckless Vengeance

“Most likely. Rage hated Slash, but he’ll be pissed the Soldiers killed him. He’ll deal with them before coming for you again. No idea how long that will take though. I’ll have to try and reach out to him to find answers,” he explained, finishing serving three bowls before bringing two over and placing them in front of us, grabbing his own before taking a seat.

“You can do that? Just call and ask for an explanation?” I asked with surprise, a grim look on both their faces.

“We can. Doesn’t mean he’ll tell us. Rage isn’t exactly a team player,” Diesel said before shoveling food into his mouth, all of us going quiet as we started eating.

“Are you going to help Lexi?” I asked randomly, Skeeter’s eyes narrowing on me.

“What do you know about Lexi?”

“Just what you and Slash told me. I know you don’t like her, but aren’t alliances like that good?”

“Kind of hoping someone shivs her in her sleep,” he grunted, and Diesel rolled his eyes, telling me his hatred for the girl was most likely ridiculous. “But it can’t hurt to agree to have our girls keep an eye out. We’ve got two in there right now, so hopefully if the Soldiers or Kings try anything, our girls will be protected if people like Lexi are looking out for trouble.”

“I’m surprised you’re agreeing,” Diesel said dryly, and Skeeter scowled.

“I don’t need Hendricks to throw a tantrum right now. It’s not like I have to do anything.”

“You want me to drive down to Fairview and see them?”

“No. It’s not safe right now. Just get a hold of them. It’s not like telling them to buddy up with Lex over the phone will be a problem if the warden finds out,” Skeeter shrugged, finishing his bowl.

“Isn’t that suspicious if you guys start being friendly with Reaper connections?” I asked with confusion, picking at my food.

“We haven’t really been at war with the Reapers. We don’t like each other, but we’ve kept the peace. They can’t prove anything just because we tell the girls to play nice,” Diesel explained, eyeing my half-eaten dinner with a frown.

“Aurora, eat your food before I force it down your throat,” Skeeter muttered, grabbing his phone out to text. “Anything else happen today, D?”

“I went over more of the footage from the Shed with Brick,” he answered, pulling his phone out and tapping the screen a few times before sliding the phone over to him. “You need to put your emotions aside with this.”

Curiosity burned inside me, but I kept my eyes on my food and kept eating, knowing I probably shouldn’t see whatever it was.

“What am I looking at?” Skeeter scowled, taking the phone.

“Matteo wasn’t running. He climbed out the window and was outside, trying a sneak attack on the Soldiers. You can’t crucify the guy for locking Rory out of the bathroom.”

“Want to fucking bet?”

“Yes, actually,” Diesel snapped, my eyes lifting to him in surprise. He sounded mad as fuck. “If you lose your shit at him, the guys won’t trust you. Matteo has it out for her, man. Is it frustrating? Of course it is, but if you blow up that she couldn’t escape because of him, you’re putting her first. I get it, I want to put her first too in this scenario, but the facts are right in front of us. He went through the bathroom to sneak around to the front door and defend the crew. He was only doing what he was supposed to.”

“Why does he hate me so much?” I asked quietly, and Skeeter gave me a dirty look that I was pretty sure wasn’t aimed at me.

“Don’t take it personally. He was a loyal member to Savage. He likes the old way we did things.”

I looked at Diesel, finding him already looking at me, waiting for me to connect the dots.

“He was part of it? With Sasha?” I asked, not wanting to spell it out.

“Yeah, and the bastard got off on it too,” Diesel replied tightly. “He’d do anything to punish you himself. It’s like a game to him.”

“Why can’t you just kick him out?”

“Doesn’t work that way. Unless he makes a move, we can’t prove shit. The guys will back him if Skeet doesn’t put the crew above you. If he hurt you for no reason, they’d side with Skeet,” he explained, pointing at my food. “Eat.”

We fell silent again as I went back to picking at my food, eyeing Skeeter as he went through footage.

I’d just finished when Skeeter looked up at Diesel, seeming tired.

“Have the guys said anything?”