Savage flicked a quick look toward Absinthe, as did Czar. Absinthe was seated the closest to Plank. His nod was nearly imperceptible.
“You don’t believe any member of your chapter killed and dumped her without your consent?” Absinthe asked.
Pierce started to speak, but Plank lifted a hand, and he went silent.
Plank shook his head. “Absolutely not. I questioned everyone. I brought them together and questioned them all. Pierce was very upset. He knew I would take a close look at him. He had the most to lose if Tawny was killed and dumped in your territory. He wanted to get back with Alena. No way did any of my men do this.”
“Alena has moved on. She has an old man in our club,” Czar said. He leaned back in his chair. “I have some information, but it is unconfirmed.” He raised his gaze to first Lion, and then Shark. “I believe both of you are targeted and will continue to be targeted, as will your chapter as well as your brothers’ chapter eventually. We believe this is a vendetta specifically against you. It was meant to internally turn the chapter against itself. The money is being traced right now, but we have a suspicion we know where it will lead back to.”
Lion and Shark shared a look. Plank and Judge waited in silence for them to speak. When neither was forthcoming, Plank snarled at them. “You know something, now would be a good time to tell us what you know.”
“That’s the problem, Plank,” Lion said. “We don’t actually know anything.” He tapped the table and then looked directly at Czar. “Are you referring to our half brother? Do you suspect him in this? Because we considered it, but he really isn’t that talented or smart.”
“Not if he was acting on his own,” Czar agreed. “The Diamondbacks turned him down. He has a big ego. A really big ego. He uses women. He wanted to show you he could take you down and take down the club that dared to refuse him entry.”
“He might want that, Czar,” Shark agreed, “but he doesn’t have the kind of smarts to set it all in motion. That kind of long-range planning. And the hits? I can see him thinking up the women and blow jobs, but the hits on the presidents of the clubs? Planning to throw the clubs into chaos? He wouldn’t think about that.”
“He wouldn’t,” Czar agreed and fell silent. Waiting.
The clock ticked. Plank stirred but then didn’t speak, realizing Czar was giving Shark and Lion the opportunity to put it all together. To figure it out.
Lion swore under his breath and then turned to his brother. “Aunt Nina. She orchestrated this. She’s cunning enough to do something like this, and she hates Mom. I’ve seen her looking at Mom sometimes with this look on her face.” He stood up suddenly, shoving back his chair so hard it nearly fell over, but his brother caught it. “I should have done something about her years ago. I was always afraid she’d do something to Mom. Hurt her.”
“I thought maybe she’d changed over the last few years,” Shark said.
“That’s what she wanted everyone to believe so she could help Brandon carry out his revenge plan,” Lion said. He shoved a hand through his hair. “Aunt Nina knew Tawny’s mother. They were drinking buddies.” He looked at Czar. “How soon can your man get the information on the money trail?”
Czar looked at Steele. Steele texted Code. They waited a few minutes. Steele glanced down at his phone. “Code will provide you with the information when you leave. Not text.”
“Good enough,” Lion said. He looked at Pierce. “We’ll take care of the problem from here.”
Pierce nodded in agreement.
Plank stood up. “Appreciate your help as always, Czar.”
“Always good to see you, Plank,” Czar responded.
Absinthe opened the door and led them down the hallway back into the bar. They sat down at the table and drank another beer, listening to the music until Heidi came to the table and leaned over Lion’s shoulder, all flirty. In her hand, she had several folded papers, which she tucked into Lion’s jacket.
Immediately, the Diamondbacks stood. They threw several wads of big bills on the table and left. The other members of their crew in the bar followed them out. Heidi gathered the enormous tip and grinned at the other two waitresses and the bartenders as she made her way through the crowd to hand over the tip to Preacher.
He whistled softly. “Nice, babe.”
“It’s this top. It’s always lucky.”
Sabelia coughed behind her hand and continued to serve drinks as fast as she could while Anya laughed and the band played.
Savage tossed the keys onto the nearest end table instead of hanging them up. This wasn’t going to be easy. Seychelle moved ahead of him toward the bedroom, not bothering with lights. At the sound of the keys dropping, she stopped and turned back to face him. The floor-to-ceiling windows allowed so much light in despite the night, he could see the sudden apprehension on her face.
“Savage?” She took a step toward him.
He held up his hand to stop her. It was best she didn’t come near him. Not now. Not when his demons were riding him so hard.
“Babe.” He kept his voice casual. “Was thinkin’ it was time to take a trip with a couple of the brothers to San Francisco.”
Seychelle’s head turned toward his, her blue eyes opening wide. Already she was shaking her head. He ignored her first response and kept on.
“I know my cycle, Seychelle. I need to hit the fight club. I’ll take Maestro and Keys with me. They’ll look out for me. When I’ve worked a little energy off, I’ll come on home.”
She stopped in the middle of the living room, regarding him with her large, all-too-seeing eyes. She gave another shake of her head. “We talked about this.”
“Yeah, babe, we did.” He didn’t want to look at her, so he moved to the large glass window and stared at the crashing waves. He was like that inside. Roiling. Fighting. Complete chaos. “I explained to you very carefully how I went to the clubs and took a few fights. I’ll text the brothers and start out this evening.” It was already two in the morning. He was feeling like a maniac. Too close to the edge of madness.
“We do this together. If you need to go to a fight club, that means it’s time.”
The sadistic monster in him roared for release. He wanted nothing more than to take her out in the moonlight and tie her where he could use his whip. His entire being craved that release. Needed it. He tasted that need in his mouth.
He forced himself to speak when his body rebelled. Everything in him rebelled against it. He didn’t want to save her this time—and a part of him feared that. His voice came out a dark rasp. “It will be safer for you if I go to the club first, Seychelle.”
“It’s safer for you, and much more enjoyable, if you stay right here with me, Savage.” She tilted her chin, but her eyes met his steadily. “I’ll need instructions.”
He could see the trepidation. That little hint of fear. A flare of excitement rushed through him. She awakened the beast like no one else ever could. He was roaring now. Hungry. Greedy. Eager to devour her.
Savage stared at her for a long moment, the fight in him all too real. “I can’t lose you, Seychelle. I can’t. This goes wrong and I lose you or I hurt you, it’s over, baby. There’s no coming back from that. It’s just safer to go to San Francisco …”