“I didn’t worry for a second,” I tell him truthfully.
“Let’s get this done,” he says, and I nod my agreement as I force my body into motion.
Chapter Twelve
Verek
* * *
Tessa sets up the chair in the bedroom closet where we decided to stage Floyd’s suicide. Even in darkness, I can tell she’s having a hard time with this one.
That’s why, after I drag his body into the bedroom, I tell her, “He’s dead, sweetheart. You don’t have to stay for the rest. It’s just to set the scene.”
“Are you sure?” she asks, looking down at the man at my feet, her arms wrapped around her waist protectively.
“I’m absolutely sure,” I reply. “Why don’t you check to make sure everything looks good in the living room and we didn’t damage the wall or drop anything over there?”
“Yeah, okay. I can do that,” she agrees before she leaves the room.
I admit that while I’m relieved to have the third one done, it’s still an additional burden on my shoulders I wasn’t expecting. Killing men, even these evil bastards, doesn’t get easier. If anything, each one was more difficult than the last. It goes against human nature to hurt someone else, which is why I don’t understand how these assholes could do what they did to those women.
Now, more than ever, we know there were more than Tessa and the other three from around Myrtle Beach. I counted at least twenty pieces of hair in his trophy box, the sick fuck.
How many more would he have added to the box if we hadn’t killed him? If I hadn’t killed him and his three friends? There is still one more man to go, but before the night is over, he’ll be dead too, and then our mission will be complete.
I think I’m dreading facing Roman more than anything else I’ve done. It’s not going to be pretty. In fact, I think he was serious when he said that my time with the Savage Kings is over and done. Not that he can single-handedly vote me out.
That thought inspires a bit of hope in my chest as I rig up Floyd on the rope and then knock the chair over to ensure there are lines around his neck to convince the police there was no foul play here. Hell, I bet even some officers would look the other way if they had any doubts because of what this sick bastard has done to women.
As I do a double check in the bedroom for anything out of place, I try and count the votes at the Savage Kings table. Who would vote me out for going behind Roman’s back? It would have to be a majority vote against me to kick me out for good.
Marcus most likely would side with Roman, only because that psycho motherfucker will be pissed that he wasn’t able to get his hands dirty for a good cause.
Leo is too green, newly patched in, so he’ll toe the line and vote with Roman.
Winston is our VP and Roman’s best friend, so that’s four votes already. One more and I’m toast.
My only chance of staying is if I can convince Cannon or Conrad to vote to keep me. The twins always vote the same way no matter what, giving me two votes to hold off Roman. I would also have to try and talk to Hugo, Nolan, and Abel, who were nomads before joining us about a year after I first patched in. They usually keep to themselves but are closer to each other than the rest of us thanks to their wandering ways.
Now I’m starting to wish I had made more of an effort to get to know them before now. Not just because I need their vote but because my time is running out.
“Verek?” Tessa calls from the living room before I hear her coming down the hall. I stop her at the doorway, so she won’t see Floyd in the closet. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, sorry. Just got caught up in my own head,” I tell her. “Ready to get out of here?”
“God, yes,” she says, her nose wrinkled in disgust. “This place is awful.”
“It is,” I agree. “Let’s go home. One more stop to make and then it’ll all be over.”
“Maybe I’ll sleep without any nightmares tonight.” Reaching for my gloved hands, she takes it in hers. “I wish you could stay with me again.”
“Me too,” I say, which is the truth. I want that more than anything, not just tonight but every night. Tessa’s the reason that I haven’t been with another woman in months, a new record for me.
“Roman isn’t going to let me step foot in his house.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” she says.
“Don’t worry about any of that,” I tell her, giving her hand a squeeze, loving that she’s comfortable enough to initiate even that small contact. “We’ve got a two-hour drive back. Think you can make it the whole way without stopping?”
“I think so,” she agrees. “And then we’re going to the boathouse to end things?”
“That’s the plan. I don’t have my regular phone, so I don’t remember the schedule for who has watch tonight. Doesn’t matter, though. Whoever it is will understand what needs to be done when we tell them the rest are dead.”
“Good,” Tessa replies with a sigh.
The drive back was easy this time of night.
And when we pull up at the boathouse and see the two similar and shiny new black and silver Fat Boy Harleys, I’m not sure if I lucked out tonight with the twins or am sealing my exiled fate.
“Here we go,” I say to Tessa when I climb off my bike. I turn around and offer her my hand to help her down, which she takes without hesitation, making whatever decision the Kings make worth it.
Before we reach the door, her hand still in mine, Cannon is coming out to meet us with his phone serving as a flashlight, talking a mile a minute like usual. “Verek? Dude, you’re in deep shit! What are you doing here? Roman told you he doesn’t want her here. Are you asking for a beating?”
“Can I talk to him for a second?” I ask Tessa, who nods and walks back over to my bike that’s still within sight.
“Are you gonna vote me out?” I get right down to it and ask Cannon quietly, not wanting Tessa to hear and worrying herself about my place with the Kings.
“Huh?” he mutters, momentarily speechless, which is a first for him. “Vote you out? You think it’s coming to that?”
“Don’t you?” I ask. “Roman pretty much already told me to turn in my cut.”
Cannon’s silent for another long second before he says, “He can’t do that. He needs a majority vote.”
“You’re right,” I agree, glad that he sounds like he’s not happy about Roman’s call. “I need the majority vote more than he does.”
“No fucking way!” he says, holding up his palms in front of him. “I don’t want to get into the middle of your feud!”
“Too bad,” I say. “You’re going to have to choose a side.”
“Fuck,” he mutters, knowing I’m right.
“Verek was helping me,” Tessa speaks up and says, coming over to join in my defense. “I didn’t want the entire MC to chance getting caught. If anything, he did you all a favor! I’m not worth ten men spending life in prison for my vengeance.”