"I destroyed it when I found it," he told me in a soft voice. His gaze wasn't pitying, and that was the only saving grace. It was just regretful. What the hell he had regrets about, though, I had no idea. "I burned all the tapes too. But... I don't know if anyone had already seen them. It seems like a long shot, but I can't think of anything else."
I swallowed hard, letting my gaze drift over the club below us in an attempt to detach from the memories clawing at their cage in my mind.
"You're sure you burned them all?" I asked in a hoarse, far too vulnerable voice.
Zed leaned forward, blocking my line of sight to the club. He raised a hand to my face, stroking my hair away from my cheek with the backs of his fingers in a gesture that made my chest tight.
"Every last one," he assured me. "It's why I never told you. They're gone, destroyed. You didn't need to know."
I drew a deep breath, letting it ground me and wash away some panic. "Why? I never needed you to protect me, Zed."
His lips twisted in a sorrowful grimace. "Yes, you did. I was just too late."
That statement struck me right in the heart, stealing my breath away. But I didn't get a chance to unpack all the baggage piled into those few words as screams rose from the club below.
25
Zed and I both jerked at that first scream, leaping to our feet and peering over the railing to get a read on what exactly was causing such a commotion.
"You must be fucking kidding me," I uttered, hardly believing what I was seeing with my own eyes. "Has everyone lost their goddamn minds?"
Zed huffed, pulling his gun, and led the way out of the VIP lounge. "Not everyone, boss. Just Vega and Cass, apparently."
"And their men," I snarled. "They seriously chose the wrong night to break my rules." I drew my own gun as I followed my second down the stairs to the main club. I usually let him handle fights within the venues, but I was already in a rare mood. This might be just what I needed.
By the time we got down there, a lot of the patrons had scattered into the parking lot or were staying well out of the way while the Anarchy security team tried to break up fights between the Reapers and the Death Squad.
In the middle of it al, were the leaders themselves. Vega had Cass by the front of his shirt and was punching the shit out of the bigger man... yet Cass wasn't fighting back.
Zed glanced over at me, his brow raised, and I aimed my gun at Vega's head.
"What," I said in a voice like glacial ice, "do you think you're doing, Vega?"
I didn't need to yell. He heard me loud and fucking clear. His spine stiffened, and he released Cass like he'd just realized he was holding a poisonous creature.
"Hades," he croaked, spinning around to face me with a stricken look on his face. "I didn't realize you were here tonight."
I raised one brow. "And that would make it okay? You know the rules, Vega. You all know the rules." At this, I shifted my cool stare to Cass, who sat on the floor, dabbing at his split lip with the corner of his T-shirt.
"Respectfully, Hades," Cass spoke up, "I broke no rules. Vega attacked me."
Silently, I was impressed. That sly son of a bitch had known I would crack down on this breach of my law with an iron fist and had made a point of not striking Vega back.
"Confirmed," Zed told me, his phone to his ear. He would have one of the security guards on the other end reviewing the CCTV footage already.
Vega looked gobsmacked, like he'd been set up. Then he shook his head in disbelief.
"Hades, please, give me a chance to explain myself." His face was sheet-white, despite his Hispanic complexion, and he spread his hands wide in open surrender. "He set me up. My whole shipment was stolen last night, and Tito was killed. It had Reapers written all over it." He swallowed heavily, his throat bobbing and sweat beading on his brow.
I stared at him for a long moment, letting him sweat in his panic. But I could already sense there was so much more to this than it appeared. Tito was Vega's cousin, but he treated him like a brother. I could understand how something like that might drive him into a drastic, stupid move like this.
Without a word, I lowered my gun, and Vega let out a huge sigh of relief. Far too soon, though, in my opinion.
"Take Vega and his men down to one of the old storerooms," I ordered my security team. "Hold them there until further notice."
"Hades, please..." Vega begged again, but my guards were already escorting him out of the club as I shifted my attention to Cass.
He hauled himself up off the floor, wincing at some damage Vega had managed to inflict, and blood was still smeared across his lower lip.
"Cass, take your boys over to the training building and wait for me there. I'll review the security footage and deal with you shortly." There was no polite request in my tone; it was a clear order. Do it or die.
His brows dipped in a scowl and arguments flashed through his dark gaze, but I gave him a granite stare back.
"You may not have broken the rules, Cassiel, but can you make that same claim for all of your guys?" I arched a brow, and his furious glare lit on the handful of Reapers who'd jumped in to—presumably—defend their boss.
He jerked a nod of understanding, then barked an order for his guys to follow as he left the club.
"Need us to keep an eye on them too?" one of my remaining security guards asked. Security was all run by Timberwolves because everyone needed a day job and what better use for highly-trained fighters and killers than nightclub security?
I shook my head, tucking my gun back in its holster. "No, Cass will do as he's told." Because he damn well knew he'd already pushed me too damn far. One more misstep and I really would shoot him. "Let's review the footage and leave them all to sweat it out a bit."
A couple of my guys were already helping the bar staff sweep up broken glasses and mop spilled drinks, so Zed and I made our way through to the security office where the footage was already up on the screens.
"Evening, boss." The bouncer stationed at the desk nodded, hopping up from his seat and offering it to me. "All cued up, ready to play."
Sitting down in his seat, I clicked the mouse to start the video, and the three of us watched it in silence. A couple of times I rewound, freeze-framed, then replayed, but it didn't take a lot of time to get a grasp on what had happened.
"What do you want done, boss?" Zed asked in a low murmur as I stood up from my seat once more.
I pursed my lips, thinking. "Let's deal with the Reapers first. Vega can stew in regret and panic a bit longer."
We needed to cross back through the main club on our way out of the security office, and it was satisfying to see everything back to normal, if a little less crowded than before. Still, it would take more than a bar fight to dampen the mood in a Copper Wolf club.
"What are you thinking?" Zed murmured as we stepped out into the darkness behind the Fun Zone. It was just the two of us, no one else around to hear us speak, so I shrugged.
"No fucking clue," I admitted. "I can't deal with replacing two gang leaders tonight. I know how Vega and Cass work. I know they're loyal... to a degree. I don't know or trust their seconds, so..." I trailed off, but he knew what I meant. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.