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The air in the room feels heavy, almost like the walls are closing in around me as the five of us sit silently at a table, backs against the wall, facing the bar's entrance and waiting. The music and murmurs of the other patrons soon fade into the background as I focus on the front door.
A few minutes later, the door swings open, and five men walk in. All the air is squeezed from my lungs as I set my eyes on one man in particular. His ice-cold stare lands on me. Aside from his dark hair turning gray, my uncle's appearance hasn't changed. He and his men weave around the scattered tables on their way toward the end of the bar where we're sitting. I push my chair from the table and stand, followed by Gabriel, Logan, and Quinn doing the same. Jake remains seated as the four of us flank his sides.
Hellhound stands around the same height as me but is much broader through the shoulders. "It's like seeing my brother's motherfuckin' ghost." One of his men snatches a chair from a nearby table and hands it to my uncle, who spins it around and straddles the seat. "So, you're in bed with another club." He cocks his head. "Where is your loyalty to the blood that runs through your veins?" he sneers, his face twisted with disdain.
"We may share the same blood, but that doesn't make you family, motherfucker. My loyalty is to the men beside me." I sense rage surging in his chest.
"We'll see." My uncle smirks, then shifts his attention to Jake.
Jake gets down to business. "You've been watching my club. Why?"
"My club always kept tabs on Blake when he was younger, making sure he kept his mouth shut. But, you see, Blake vanished around the same time my brother was found with a bullet in his head, and we lost track of his whereabouts, until now." He eyes me then shifts his attention back to Jake.
"What do you want?" Jake's tone turns lethal.
"For starters, I want the young woman you currently have in your possession."
"Over my dead body," I growl, swallowing the festering ball of fury. One of his men reaches into his leather cut, setting off a chain reaction. Chairs screech across the wood floor as the bar empties, leaving us the only people inside the building. The air thickens as each man stares down the barrel of another biker's gun.
"The bitch's whore mother gave her as payment. She is ours, motherfucker."
My finger itches to pull the trigger. "I'll put a bullet in your head before you ever get the chance to lay one finger on my sister, you cock-sucking bastard."
My uncle ignores my threat to his man. "The way I see it, you have no other options here. Bellamy stole from us. She owes me." My uncle narrows his eyes to slits and shoots daggers at me. "And so do you."
Jake hardens his face. "The Kings don't owe you shit."
"Oh, but you do. Because I believe you also have two of my men in your possession."
His men?Then it dawns on me. The bastards who broke into the garage and bakery are my uncle's men. Those were the motherfuckers spying on me and the club.
There's a beat of silence before Jake fires back, "You stick your nose where it doesn't belong, you pay the price. They stole from my club. Your men are dead."
My uncle lights a cigarette. "I thought as much." His features turn to stone, his eyes becoming a darker shade of black. He exhales, blowing smoke from his lungs. "Consider their deaths my payment. I'm only here for the girl." He cuts his eyes back toward me, and the motherfucker grins. "After all, sharing the same blood doesn't make you family, so handing her over shouldn't be too hard." He throws my words back in my face, and my anger erupts.
Before I move, a large hand clamps down on my shoulder. "Now is not the time," Gabriel warns.
Hellhound stands, looking down at Jake. "I'll tell you what. I'm a gracious man." He jabs the cigarette against the surface of the table, snuffing it out. "You've got one week to hand her over."
Jake rises to his full height, a couple inches taller than my uncle. "You'll be waiting for a long time, motherfucker. The Kings don't do ultimatums."
My uncle's lips thin, and he snaps his fingers. Turning on his heel, he walks away, his men backstepping, keeping their weapons raised as they exit the bar. It's only when the sound of their bikes fades that we holster our weapons.
"What's our next move?" Quinn asks.
With a fiery wrath, Jake claims, "We prepare for war."
18
EMBER
It's late afternoon, after my sister hit me up to go shopping earlier in the day. Blake and the men have been gone since yesterday, dealing with club business, but are expected to return home today. So, with permission to leave the compound, Scarlett and I headed into town.
Scarlett left most of her stuff back in Georgia and needed clothes and other necessities. We also had to stop and get her a new cell, since our parents cut her off. They also froze her credit cards, and she no longer has access to her bank account, which had my father's name attached. Because she had been attending school full-time, she didn't have a job and was entirely dependent on our parents. Earlier, Scarlett tried to put up a fight about the phone and me adding her to my account. Now she is currently having a fit at the electronic store. I didn't tell her ahead of time we were coming because I knew how she'd react when I told her I would be buying her a new laptop and a tablet. After doing some research on what is the best tablet for design, I pick her the recommended one.
"Em, this is too much." Scarlett tries to take the laptop and tablet from me as we arrive at the checkout.
I casually slap her hand out of the way. "It's not too much. Besides, you'll need this stuff for school."
