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Hershel looks like he’d prefer to be shooting anyone without a Death Dealer logo on them somewhere, but he’s stuck holding up the unconscious asshole.
“This is Death Dealer territory. You can’t be—”
“Come for us, Hershel,” Rush says in a chilling way that has goosebumps pebbling on my skin. “I dare you. Come for us and make us leave if you have the balls. You know damn well you don’t want me off my leash, and with Herrin gone, there won’t be anyone here to keep me from filling you full of bullets in no-kill places before finally unloading a magazine right into your eyes. Halo is ours. Not yours.”
The graphic imagery has my stomach churning, but I remain frozen to my spot. Drex stares at his father’s limp body and the small trickle of blood coming from the side of his head where he hit him. There’s no expression of remorse. If anything, he looks like he’s proud.
“If you stay, you can’t have any contact with Death Dealers,” Drex states without looking at anyone. “If you do, I’ll kick you out on your ass. Halo is ours, like Rush said. No Death Dealers are to step foot in it. Stay in Culvan, or deal with me. We all know how I do shit.”
A few rumbles of laughter sound out as though Drex has made a joke. I’m still playing catch up.
Hershel isn’t laughing. Neither are the men still in Death Dealer cuts. Hershel decides to quit staring at Drex like he can intimidate him, and turns to help carry Herrin out. I finally take a deep breath into my starving lungs as my entire body starts to tremble. It’s not until I hear the sounds of the bikes roaring out of the garage that my legs give out and I sink to the platform.
Drex swore he’d keep me safe. To keep his promise, he just left the one thing that meant the world to him—his club. He disowned his own father. He saved me.
If I was on my own, I’d be dead right now.
“Make sure they didn’t leave Pop’s bike behind,” Drex tells someone. “If they did, set the bitch on fire.”
Hoots, whistles, and celebratory sounds of all kinds ring out as people go on like death wasn’t just staring them down. Drex just risked his own life, and he didn’t even know how many people would back him.
“So are we starting a new club?” someone pipes in as beers start getting passed out.
Drex has his back to me, and I watch as he speaks to Snake too low for me to hear.
“Hell yeah we are,” Dash says with a grin.
More celebratory sounds break out, but I barely notice. My eyes are fixed on Drex’s back until I see a familiar face whirling around in an electronic wheelchair with one cast-covered leg sticking straight out. The other cast-covered leg is bent normally and resting where it’s supposed to.
With shaky legs, I slowly make my way to the bottom of the stairs just as Drake stops in front of them with a cocked eyebrow.
“Well, I never thought I’d see the day Drex Caine loved a girl. Guess hell just froze over and the devil is getting a fur coat.”
“I can’t believe that just happened,” I say quietly, ignoring the part about his assumption Drex loves me.
I slowly sit down on the bottom step while Drake ruffles the hair on my head like I’m his kid sister.
“It’s not that surprising,” he says with a shrug. “Organized crime has a formula. You get a shady, high-income business, then you clean the money using your legit businesses. Usually you find something you all bond and go bromantic over. Some have gambling rings, some have poker night, and some ride motorcycles with pretty little matching cut-off vests. One thing they all have in common: everyone wants everyone dead. The end. I just want to put some ink on people. How the fuck I got dragged into this, I don’t know.”
I half laugh, half groan, while scrubbing my face with my hands.
“Are you going to be a member of the new club?” I joke, trying my damnedest to not let the gravity of the situation sink me.
“Never,” Drake scoffs. “I like my clothes to be more original,” he adds, causing me to laugh lightly, even though I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders.
It’s vain to say this is all my fault, since it’s not, but for some reason, it feels like it would have never reached this level without my presence.
“Don’t worry, Eve. One thing is for certain… More people fear Drex than Herrin. This won’t go over well, but no one is stupid enough to start a fight with the son, when everyone knows the father is a coward.”
I look back up at him, but before I can speak, a shadow falls over me, causing me to turn my head to see Drex staring down at me with that stoic expression he wears too easily.
