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My breathing slowed as I waited to hear Brant’s next words. I focused every sense on deciphering his body language, tone, and what he said in my effort to figure out the truth of him. And all the while, my finger stayed glued to the trigger of my gun because if I decided I didn’t like what he had to say, that gun would be in his face before he could draw another breath.
Brant looked up at Axe and swallowed hard. He took his time forming his words before finally saying, “For Ivy.”
My mind exploded with questions, and I was unable to hold myself back any longer. Throwing our usual plan of attack out the window, I pressed my gun to Brant’s temple. “Keep fucking talking, motherfucker, and don’t hold any-fucking-thing back. The minute you say something I know to be incorrect, you’ll have a bullet in your skull.”
His shoulders bunched more than they already had, and his hands balled. Good. He tripped over his words trying to get them out. “Ivy has always been good to me. Always. And he never appreciated her. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve turned up to their house and found her beaten up. I tried to convince her to leave, but every time she tried, he found her, dragging her home kicking and screaming.”
When he stopped talking, Axe said, “Go on. I feel like you’re just getting to the good bit.”
Brant glanced up at me. “When she told me your history and that she’d heard what Tony had planned for you, I encouraged her to bring t
hat information to you, hoping you’d take her in and keep her safe from him. She wasn’t sure you would, not after the way things ended between the two of you. I figured you would, though, because of the way she said you’d always looked out for her, right from when you were kids. I’ve been waiting to hear from her, but I never did. And then Tony was raided by the cops and went into hiding and I—”
“When was this?” I barked. And why the fuck didn’t Bronze know?
“Two days ago.” His shoulders sagged a little. “Fuck, tell me you have Ivy. That’s all I care about, that she’s safe. I’d never forgive myself if Tony had another chance to hurt her for something I encouraged her to do.”
Brant knew my history with Ivy, which led me to believe him. Ivy had never been the kind of person to share personal shit with people, so for her to open up to him meant she trusted him.
I was the worst kind of asshole. I’d let all the bullshit I carried with me after decades of dealing with the scum of this world affect the way I treated one of the only women I’d ever loved. Ivy had come to me in good faith, and I’d taken that faith and shit all over it. Worse, I’d been a bastard and locked her up.
Fuck.
I was halfway out the door when I looked at Kick. “Find out everything he knows and bring it to me. And don’t let him out of your sight. We’ll keep him here until I’m sure we don’t need him anymore.”
Pulling out my phone, I hit Bronze’s number, and when he answered a moment later, I said, “One of Tony’s men turned up at the clubhouse today. Says Tony was raided two days ago. Why the fuck don’t I know about this?”
“Fuck,” he muttered. “Give me half an hour.”
“I don’t have half a fucking hour, Bronze. Get it for me now!”
Hyde exited the office and came my way, fury etched into his face, as Bronze said, “Half an hour, King, and you’ll say yes because there’s something else you need to deal with right now that I’m just about to fucking tell you.”
I had the distinct feeling that whatever Bronze was about to tell me, Hyde was, too. “What?” I demanded.
“Nitro and Marx have been arrested.”
Looking around the room at church five hours later, I noted the grim expressions on everyone’s face. Fuck. Shit was going south at a great rate of fucking knots, and I was experiencing something I never had—concern that the situation was spiralling into a clusterfuck I couldn’t manage. There were too many fucking balls in the air, and I only had two fucking hands.
I directed my attention to Kick. “Before we get into this, have you found somewhere for Jen?”
He leant forward to rest his elbows on the table and nodded. “Yeah. Just waiting on your word for when it happens.”
“Tomorrow afternoon.” Ignoring the churn in my gut—the fucking guilt over Jen that never left—I turned to Hyde. “Tatum’s coming in soon. You and I are going to nail her down with a plan of attack. And then we’re gonna figure out how to deal with Marx.”
He nodded. “Also, Ghost made contact with me. He wants to see you.”
“I don’t have time. You go. Take Kick with you.” Ghost was one of the last fucking people I wanted to deal with.
“No, he said he’s got something to share and that he’ll only share it with you.”
I rubbed the back of my neck and stretched it as another headache clamped down over my skull. “Jesus fucking Christ, does it never end with that motherfucker?” I exhaled hard. “Okay, you and I will take care of that tomorrow.” I’d have to move shit around to make it happen, but the sooner I sorted him out, the better.
Looking around the room at everyone again, I said, “Tony Romano has disappeared. The latest info I have is that the cops raided his warehouse two days ago, but Tony was already gone. Bronze is digging up more info on that, but this is all we know for now. We need to find him fast, so keep your ear to the ground and report any little thing back to me that you hear, even if you think it means nothing. Keep your families safe until we’ve dealt with him, and don’t trust anyone outside of the club. It seems Tony still has men doing his dirty work while he’s laying low, and I don’t want a repeat of what happened this morning with Devil. As far as what’s happening with Nitro, Tatum is working to get him out, but Marx has talked. If you have anyone on the inside who we can use, come to me with it. We’re working all angles, and I’ll consider anything. And when I say anything, I fucking mean anything. I don’t give a fuck who it affects. I want Marx dealt with so he never becomes a problem again.”
After the meeting ended, I headed towards the front of the clubhouse, looking for Tatum. Unfortunately, I didn’t find her. Instead, I found Detective fucking Ryland.
“We need to take a walk,” he said, a smug look on his face and swagger to match.
