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20
Gage
The basement is usuallyKnox’s domain, unless we have reason to be down there, interrogating prisoners ourselves or having private conversations that don’t feel right to have in the other parts of the house.
The rest of the house is an actual space to live, and it’s nice to have a little separation from the place where the real dark shit happens.
I don’t know what Knox did to the man we hauled in down here in the basement, but at least he cleaned up after himself when he was done and let the fucker go. I can still smell the sharp, crisp scent of the cleaning products he used to get rid of the blood.
“Did we ever get the guy’s actual name?” Priest asks, his arms folded and his back against the wall as usual.
“Derrek,” I tell him, pacing the floor in the center. “Did Knox not say?”
“He didn’t know. Kept calling him ‘Reggie.’”
“Sounds like Knox.”
Priest reaches up to brush his fingers through the short blond hair on the side of his head. “The Diamond Devils are getting bolder, if they have their men doing deals behind our backs because they think we’re taking too long. That’s not a good attitude for them.”
“It’s not,” I agree. “But it remains to be seen if it’s all of them or just that one who got too ahead of himself and wanted to prove he could be a big man and handle it.”
“Letting him go in the state Knox left him in will be a good warning either way. Fucking with us isn’t a good idea.”
I nod in agreement with that. Knox could have easily killed the guy, and none of us would have thought twice about it. He crossed us in a big way, threatening people who work for us, making our club into an unsafe place. People have died for less and no one batted an eye.
But it sends a much more pointed message to have him go staggering back to his people. To have to show them the marks on his body. I didn’t see Derrek/Reggie when Knox was done with him, but I know the way my friend works. There’s no way that asshole from the Diamond Devils would be able to explain away his injuries as anything other than what they were.
“It’s still risky, though,” I point out. “They might decide to come after us for torturing one of their members.”
Priest shrugs a shoulder. “If they do that, then they’ve decided they don’t want to do business with us after all. It’s not like we started this. If they still want a shot, then they’ll take the message and get their shit in order, and they won’t try to go behind your or any of our backs again.”
“Let’s hope they’re using their heads, then.”
“If they do decide to come after us, then we’ll deal with it.” His sharp features shift just a little, a micro-expression that anybody who didn’t know him well would probably miss. “The way we always do.”
“We will. If it comes to that. But I’ve got my sights set on bigger things for us than petty feuds with biker gangs, so I fucking hope it doesn’t.”
He nods. Priest has a violent side just like the rest of us, but it manifests differently than with Knox, or even Ash or me. Knox would be happy to fight almost anybody, and to torture them too, if there was a good reason to do it. Priest doesn’t seek out violence, but he’s one of the most protective people I know. If someone threatens the few people my friend has chosen to love, well… they might as well say their fucking prayers, because they’re as good as dead already.
“Either way,” I continue. “Letting Knox do some work on that guy was the right call. We have to keep tight control of our shit, and if it got out that some fucker came in and tried to undercut us with no consequences, it’d be bad for business all around.”
Priest’s mouth turns downward just a little, and I arch an eyebrow at him, waiting for whatever he’s going to say to that.
“There’s one thing we don’t have control over,” he grinds out, showing more anger than he usually does. “That fucking woman. I don’t want her here, Gage. She’s a mess, and she’s going to end up fucking things up.”
I sigh and run my fingers through my hair. Priest talks to me more than he talks to anyone else, and that makes sense, I guess. Ash is too jokey, and Knox isn’t really clued into certain emotional things. He’s more of a physical person. With everyone else, Priest is closed off and unemotional, blank faced and neutral. But around me, he’ll show a little emotion from time to time. It’s ironic, since Knox is Priest’s cousin, but… Knox is the way Knox is.
We all have each other’s backs, but Priest is more similar in temperament to me than the others. He doesn’t fly off the handle or leap into the first thing that seems like a good idea. Without the two of us to balance out the other two, this wouldn’t work as well.
It makes it easier for Priest and me to talk about things that matter, and I can tell he really is pissed off about River.
“What did she do this time?” I ask him.
“She doesn’t take anything seriously,” he says, his nostrils flaring in and out in a quick motion. “She struts around here like she owns the place with her damn dog. Making jokes and working Knox and Ash up. She’s going to start something she can’t finish one of these days, and we’re going to be left holding the pieces. I don’t know why we even have her here in the first fucking place.”
“Yes, you do. She’s here so we can keep an eye on her. She’s supposed to kill Ivan, but I don’t want her to fuck up the things we have in the works in the process. She was already at our club by chance. I don’t want her stumbling on anything else and causing trouble.”
“So have someone tail her,” Priest says. “Ash would probably fucking leap at the chance.”
