I can only nod.
They go inside without another word, but Teller leaves the door open a fraction.
Not once in the ten years I’ve been with the club have I ever been tempted to listen in while the guys were at the table. Whatever they discuss in there isn’t my business. If they want me to know something, I trust Wrath or Rock will tell me.
Now, I creep closer to the open door.
“Wrath’s girl. He used to bring her to his fights.”
What the hell?
The guys go back and forth with whoever’s on the phone while I stand there puzzling it all out.
And then it hits me.
Ransom. The former Viper MC president. Wants me? Why?
“Go ahead, motherfucker. Burn everything I own to the goddamn ground.”
My heart squeezes at Wyatt’s words. I’ve never been consumed with so much love. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.
“He’ll burn down Crystal Ball anyway.” Murphy’s voice shakes me out of my fear. “He’ll keep coming at us.”
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for the club that’s given me shelter for years. The club Wyatt’s put his entire life into.
I have every confidence the club won’t let anything happen to me. Ransom’s crazy and stupid if he thinks the Lost Kings will hand me over like something disposable. I’ve trained with Wrath on how to use a variety of weapons for years now. Taken personal defense classes with Wrath and Jake. He won’t expect that.
At the gym. Wrath’s business that Ransom destroyed.
My mind strays to how helpless I felt seeing everything Wyatt’s worked for reduced to ashes.
The thought of offering myself up to a Viper, even for a few seconds, is terrifying.
The thought of Ransom hurting any more people I care about is worse.
My heart hammers as I approach the war room door. I place my hand on the smooth wood and give it a soft push.
Z glances up, catching my eye, but his face is unreadable.
“I’ll do it,” I announce with a hell of a lot more confidence than I’m feeling.
“Get. Out. Now.” The ice in Wrath’s voice chills me, but I already knew that’d be his answer.
I can’t back down. Mariella deserves justice for what was done to her. The club needs to eliminate this threat. And I can help them do it.
I won’t back down.
I need to do this.
“Wyatt—”
“No!” he shouts, turning and glaring at me again.
Rock’s gaze darts between Wyatt and me, but he remains silent.
“I know you guys won’t let anything happen to me.”
Z shakes his head. “I appreciate you’ll do anything for the club—”
“I’ll do anything for Wyatt,” I correct.
Z’s mouth twitches. “I know, but—”
Murphy and Teller both shake their heads.
“No fucking way,” Teller snaps. “I know what they put Mariella through. As much as I need payback for her, risking Trinity isn’t the way to do it.”
Damn. I’d been counting on Teller to understand why I need to do this and take my side.
Rock’s gaze lands on me again. I’m shaking so hard, it’s a miracle my voice comes out steady. “At least see what he wants.”
Wyatt explodes out of his chair. “We know what he wants! He wants to rape you and whore you out. I’m not lettin’ you anywhere near him. No.”
“Trin, can you wait outside, please?” Rock asks.
Wyatt whips around to glare at Rock. “She doesn’t need to wait anywhere. She’s not doing it.”
“I can do it.” Oh, it kills me to argue with him in front of his brothers. Especially Rock. But this is too important. “I’ll carry my Ruger. Maybe another smaller gun. Z can put a tracker on me—”
“No fucking way. Too easy to toss.” Teller cocks his head. “What if he strips you down the second he gets his hands on you? Bye-bye guns. Bye-bye tracker. We can’t take that risk with you. Listen to your man, Trin. He’s right.”
“If anyone can do it, Trinity can—” Murphy starts.
“Fuck you. You wanna send in Heidi?” Wyatt shouts.
“No, brother. I don’t want to send anyone.”
Z stares at me for a few seconds before addressing Rock. “She might be our best shot.”
Wrath shakes his head while Rock looks to me. “I trust you, Trinity. I know how capable you are.” His gaze lands on Wrath. “Final call is yours.”
“No.”
“Wyatt—”
He takes my arm and hustles me out of the room, slamming the door behind us. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Shaking out of his grasp, I stand my ground. “Wyatt, please. He’ll keep coming after the club. This way, we can control it. We can end this. Stop looking over our shoulders all the time, waiting to see what fucked-up thing they do next.”
“Ransom’s the last one who’s a threat to the club, Trinity.” This is probably the most specific information about a club beef he’s given me in a long time. “We’ll handle him without putting you in danger.”
“You’ve done so much for me. Please let me do this.”
“I can’t, Trinity. Don’t keep asking me.” I swear he sounds closer to begging than I’ve ever heard him.
A whirlpool of emotions spin inside me. Fear. Frustration. Determination. Faith. “You know they won’t let anything happen to me.” I point at the closed war room door. “I trust you to keep me safe.”
“Not letting you do this is how I keep you safe.”
The next thing I say is cruel, but I say it out of love and I hope Wyatt understands. “Keeping the club safe is also your job, and this is a way to do it.”
The anger shining in his blue eyes levels me. “That’s low, Trin.”
I’m a powder keg about to blow if Trinity doesn’t drop this craziness. Does she seriously think I’m going to allow her anywhere near a psycho like Ransom?
She struggles out of my hold, and I release her arm. “I’m so sorry I’m putting you in this position. You know I’d never challenge you in front of—”
I wave her concern aside with a flick of my wrist. “I don’t give a fuck about that.”
“You have to let me do this, Wyatt.”
Visions of all the horrible things that could happen to Trinity flash through my head. “No, I fucking don’t.”
“I can handle it. I swear. You—”
“No! Don’t you get it? You’re asking me to do something that goes against everything I am.”
“Wyatt—”
I take her outstretched hands and back her up against the wall. “Are you mine?”
“Yes,” she whispers.
“Do you love me?”
Her face softens, and she reaches up to run the back of her hand over my cheek. “More than anything in the world. That’s why I have to do this.”
“No, you don’t. You don’t owe me anything.”
“That’s not it. I love you. I’d do anything for you.”
We stare at each other for a few long moments. “If you love me, you understand—this is who I am, Trinity. You can’t pick and choose which parts of me work for you. You’re mine. I keep you safe. I protect you. I can’t turn that off.”
“Please listen to me.”
“No, you need to listen to me. You know how tight I hold you at night? It’s because even in sleep I want to keep you safe.”
“Wyatt, I’ve never felt safer than I do with you.”
“Good, that’s what I want. Me to take care of you and protect you. Not put you in the middle of club business.”
“But this is the life we choose to live. I know this. You’re worth the risk.”
For the first time, Trinity’s voice falters. Thank fuck. Does she finally get it?
“You have to let me do this, Wyatt.” She places her finger against my lips to silence the fuck no already forming.
This determined glint shines in her eye
s, and I steel myself against whatever argument she’s about to make. “You have to trust that I can handle it. Otherwise, this will never end.” Her voice comes out low and steady. Almost hypnotic. “Maybe he doesn’t burn CB down, but because everyone’s focused on that, he slips under the radar and does something else to hurt the club.”
Jesus Christ. She really has learned too much from me, because that was one of my first concerns.
“What if while all the guys are busy securing CB, Ransom grabs Heidi when she’s out with the baby? Or Hope when she’s on her way to court? He could ambush me some other time. When we don’t know it’s going to happen and we aren’t ready for it. God only knows where I’d end up.” Her bottom lip trembles as she asks her next question. “What happens then?”
“I won’t let it happen.”
She shakes her head. “What if he really does burn CB down and hurt those girls? I couldn’t live with myself.”
I drop my gaze to the floor. “Fuck,” I mutter. Why does she have to make so much fucking sense?
Knowing what damage Ransom’s capable of inflicting, the thought of him grabbing Trinity when we can’t see it coming…makes me want to lock her up tight for the rest of her life.
The night we rescued Mariella comes back to me in vivid, horrifying detail. Trin’s suffered enough in her life. I don’t ever want anyone hurting her again.
I’m coming apart, bursting out of my skin while I think this through. The only person in the world who can make sense of all the noise in my head is standing in front of me, quietly asking me to do the unthinkable.
Now that I know Ransom, for whatever twisted, fucked-up reason, has her in his sights, he won’t back off. Not until he has her.
Or he’s dead.
Burning down my gym? Whatever. In the end, it’s nothing more than a big box of stuff.
Threatening Trinity? When she’s everything in the world to me?
He. Is. Dead.
My traitorous brain remembers how fucking fierce Trinity is. How accurate she is with a gun and a knife. My hands travel over her arms, gently squeezing muscles toned from hours spent at my gym. She’s strong. Quick on her feet. Smart.
She can do this.
I hate it. Everything in me says it’s wrong to use my woman to take Ransom out. To put her in danger.
But she’s already in danger. Just by Ransom knowing who she is and what she means to me, she’s in danger.
“Why can’t I have a nice, complacent old lady who does what she’s told?” I finally ask.
She sucks in a deep breath.
“Why does mine have to be so fucking smart and brave?”
“Because I have you,” she answers. Her hand squeezes my shoulder. “Nothing and no one will take me away from you.”
Finally, I pick my head up and stare into her brave, honey eyes. My mouth stretches into a pained smile. “You have to do everything I tell you to do.”
“Thank you.” She closes the distance between us and hugs me tight.
“I hate this,” I murmur against her hair. Pulling back, I cup her face between my hands. “He could hurt you.”
“I’m a fighter, remember?”
“Yes, you are.”
“I won’t lie to you, Wyatt. I’m terrified, but my faith in you…my faith in the club, they’re both stronger than my fear.”
Fuck, if that’s not the one thing she could say to convince me I’m making the right decision.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I can’t wait to rip Ransom apart with my bare hands.
Because once I catch him, that’s exactly what’s gonna happen. If he does anything to hurt Trinity, it’ll be a long, slow slide into oblivion for that cockroach.
There are so many emotions stirred up inside me, I can barely think as I lead Trinity back into the war room. Rock raises an eyebrow but doesn’t speak.
No one says a word.
Finally, Z meets my gaze. “We’re working on another plan.”
I almost say “good” and push Trinity out of the room. But she squeezes my hand. Z’s trying to give me an easy way out, and we both know it.
“She’s in. But if anything happens to her, I’m taking it out of your ass. After I dismember Ransom.”
Z rests his folded hands on the table and stares at them for a few seconds. “It all depends on how soon he wants to do this, brother. My preference is multiple tracking devices. Even if he wands her, which I doubt he’ll bother to do, he won’t catch all of them. If he does later, she can pretend she didn’t know.”
“All right,” Rock says, drawing our attention to the head of the table. “Planning anything is useless until we know how Ransom wants this to go down.”
“I say, follow his lead,” Teller suggests. “That asshole has a giant fuckin’ ego. Let him think he’s got us by the throat.”
Sparky and Stash show up next.
Z greets them. “Called you like half an hour ago, ya fucks. All you gotta do is come up a flight of stairs.”
They apologize to Rock. And while he accepts their apology, he doesn’t tell them why they’re upstairs.
“Let’s wait until everyone gets here first.”
Slowly, brothers trickle into the room and take their seats. The tension in the air stops anyone from asking questions.
Last to show up is Ravage. “Sorry, two of the girls got into a fight out in the parking lot. Had to make sure they both left…” Ravage trails off as he looks around the table and takes in our expressions. His gaze lands on Trinity in the chair next to me, and he drops into his seat without uttering another word. By the graveyard silence in the room, he knows Trin ain’t sitting here for some last-minute wedding details.
Trinity squirms and attempts to leave, but I reach out and grab her arm. I turn to Rock and he nods.
“Trin, I need you to stick around. What you’re doing for us is huge. I want you informed of everything that’s going down,” he says.
Once he’s sure Trinity’s staying put, Rock finally explains why we’re all gathered here. Every word he drops intensifies my urge to grab Trinity and run.
And I’ve never run from a threat in my life. Removed myself from a bad situation until I could regroup, sure. I consider that smart. Outright run and hide? It’s an unfamiliar feeling. But I’m willing to do anything to protect Trinity.
I’ll give Sparky credit because as soon as Rock finishes he shakes his head. “There has to be another way, prez.” He swings his bloodshot gaze my way. “You cool with this, bro?”
“No. I’m not fucking cool with this.”
All eyes are on me after Rock wraps up the discussion.
“You’re sure?” he asks.
My hand settles over Trinity’s. “We’re ready.”
“Let’s get this over with.” Rock keeps his eyes on us while he dials Ransom. No one in the room needs to be told to be quiet. A hush falls over the table as everyone watches Rock.
“Surprised you made a decision so fast, prez,” Ransom answers.
“Let’s make this quick. I only have a few minutes. I can’t have this blowing back on me. I think you understand why.”
“Going behind your SAA’s back?” he taunts with fake surprise.
“Gotta think of the entire club,” Rock snaps back. “How do you wanna do this?”
“Day after tomorrow.” Ransom rattles off the address of a grocery store in South Ironworks. Not far from the Vipers’ old clubhouse/meth lab. “Send her there. I’ll take care of the rest. Don’t even have to get your hands dirty.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to get her there?”
“Don’t your bitches listen? You gotta give her a fuckin’ reason to do what she’s told?”
Rock snorts.
“You sure about this, Rock? Why you so eager to hand one of your girls over to me when you think I’m such a bad guy?” Ransom’s brazenly disrespectful tone would get him shot if he were standing in front of us.
“Come on. You know how uppity these whores get
when they start fuckin’ one guy on the regular.” Rock keeps his steady gaze on both of us as the words flow out of his mouth. His expression doesn’t change, and only because I’ve known him so long do I know how much it bugs him to talk about Trinity that way. Even though I know why the words are being said, it doesn’t stop my hands from curling into fists.
Trinity doesn’t even flinch.
Ransom, scum that he is, laughs—loud and harsh. “Yeah, prez. I know exactly what you mean.”
“Who’s gonna pick her up?” Rock asks.
“Now, prez, you’re not plannin’ to double-cross me, are you?”
“No, you fuck. You’re asking me to hand over a brother’s girl. I wanna make sure the right person gets her.”
“Oh. Yeah. I’ll be the one to get her. Me and my associate.” He pauses and hastily adds. “Don’t get cute, I got other people in the area watching my back while I’m down there.”
Hard to tell if that’s true or bullshit.
Rock doesn’t press for details. Even though we’re all curious, he won’t risk raising any more suspicions.
“Is this number good?” Rock asks.
“For now. Why?”
Frustrated with Ransom’s denseness, Rock shakes his two fists at the phone while silently mouthing “stupid motherfucker. “I was gonna text you with what she’s wearing, so you know what to look for,” he answers calmly.
“Oh. Yeah. This number’s fine. Don’t stress, prez. I remember that bitch real good. No way I’d forget a face or an ass like hers.”
Fuck me. This motherfuckin’ prick needs to die. Hard.
Silence clings to the room even after Rock hangs up.
“Anyone else find it curious he’s comfortable meeting in Ironworks?” Teller finally asks.
Rock nods slowly, his gaze straying to Trinity. “Yeah. We’ll need to speak to our friend over there about that at some point,” he says, meaning Loco. Ransom shouldn’t be able to show his face anywhere in upstate, New York, and definitely not in Ironworks without it getting back to us.
Murphy shrugs. “South Ironworks has always been sketchy and that’s where their—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Rock says, cutting him off.
I sit up and pin Rock with a stare. “Lot of buildings down there. Could set up camp with a sniper rifle and take him out before he even touches Trinity.” It’s a weak plan and I know it, but I have to explore every other option.