Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
I don’t like this at all.
Tripp sits back, arms crossed, giving him the space. That alone tells me this is serious. Tripp has that personality, the one that takes charge and commands a room.
I drop into my chair, trying to shake the unease.
“What’s this about?” I ask, leaning forward, eyes narrowing as everyone seems to be watching me.
Crunch doesn’t look at me first. He looks at the room. “Brothers, I called for sermon tonight because there’s something we need to talk about. Something that’s gonna require all of us.”
Murmurs ripple. Red sits up straighter. Boomer’s jaw works, his teeth grinding. BW is wide-eyed and alert. The way Crunch has his eyes scanning each man, reading them, makes me more on edge.
My pulse spikes. “Spit it out.”
Finally, Crunch turns to me. His eyes lock to mine, and the weight there knocks the breath right out of me.
“It’s Jami.”
The world stops.
“What about her?” My voice is sharp, already dangerous.
“She’s bad off, Tommy.” His words are slow, deliberate, like he knows everyone in this room is a potential landmine ready to set me to blow. “She’s using again. And worse.”
“No.” I shake my head hard, like I can knock the words away. “No, she—she wouldn’t.”
Crunch swallows. His throat bobs. “She is. I’ve got it from a source who wouldn’t lie. She’s not just using. She’s working the streets to pay for it.”
The room explodes, chairs scraping, curses flying, brothers throwing questions. I don’t hear any of it. All I hear is the rush of blood in my ears, and my brother’s voice breaking me in half.
“She’s selling her pussy for drugs, Tommy.”
I lurch to my feet, the chair toppling behind me. My fists slam onto the table hard enough to rattle bottles.
“Why the fuck are you saying this in here?” I roar staring him down. My voice shakes the walls. “This isn’t club business! This is my business! Why didn’t you call me, brother?” My tone is pure ice and venom on the last word.
Crunch doesn’t flinch. He holds my gaze, steady and grim. “No, brother. This is family business. You claimed her, she’s ours. We all fight together for her.”
“Fuck that and fuck you! I can save her. You should have told me, not left her hanging in the wind. You got a man on her then you yank her out and bring her home to me!”
He shakes his head. “I had to do it this way. If you go in alone, you’ll get yourself killed. Or you’ll kill someone or buy the club an enemy that we aren’t ready for.”
“Don’t give me that shit!” My chest heaves. My hands curl into fists so tight my knuckles ache. “She’s mine. You hear me? Mine. You don’t parade her name in front of everyone like this!”
Red’s voice cuts in, sharp. “Sit the fuck down, Tommy Boy!”
I whirl on him, wild. “Don’t you—”
Tank slams his palm on the table, the sound like a gunshot. “Enough!”
The room goes still.
“Sit,” Tank growls, eyes locked on me. The father taking over in him is more to fear than Tank the biker.
I force air into my lungs, my body trembling with rage and terror, and I sink back into the chair, every muscle coiled. Pretty Boy my other brother, the quieter one, moves in close. He stands behind me and holds his hands in a firm grip on my shoulders as if to keep me in place. I don’t give a fuck. This shit gets any worse, blood or not, I’ll fucking end him to get out of here and to her.
Crunch’s voice drops low, just for me. “You think I wanted to say it like this? You think I don’t know what this does to you? But if you found out alone, you’d already be dead or in prison, Tommy. She’s in deep. Not just drugs—she’s on somebody’s leash. Territory we don’t control. Closest club to that place is an hour away. She found a small town hole and hunkered down.”
My chest is on fire. My vision blurs at the edges. The thought of her—my Jami, my Tiny—out there, lost, hurting, being used and discarded—my stomach twists so hard I think I’ll be sick. I know how much doing this shit before haunts her. How will she come back from this relapse?
“Where,” I grind out, my voice raw. “Where is she?”
Crunch shakes his head. “Not yet. We move as a unit. The guys she’s tied up with—they don’t let go easy. If you go charging in, they’ll bury you. Or worse, they’ll hurt her worse than they already have.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” I snarl, slamming my fist into the table again. “I’ll burn the whole damn world down to get her back!”
“I know.” Crunch’s eyes soften, just a fraction. “That’s why I called sermon. Because if we’re gonna take them out, you’re not doing it alone. You’ll have your family at your back. And we do it so she comes home in one piece.”