“It’s hard to explain.”
“Yeah? Well, it was hard for me to understand. The fact is I still don’t know the reason you sent me away. Did you know I had a ring in my pocket that night, Brittany?”
Features crumbling, she shook her head.
“A ring.” He closed the distance between them, choosing to ignore the way she flinched. “I planned to ask you to marry me. I’m so thankful I didn’t get that far. You helped me dodge a bullet that night.”
Opening her mouth to reply, she stopped at the pounding on her door.
“What?” Fuse barked out, opening the door to see Gunner.
“Sorry to interrupt. Bas, Fargo, and Chaos are here. Deke Caldwell is on the way. Kell sent additional men to guard the perimeter, so Mitch will stay with us.”
Fuse’s brows scrunched together. “Chaos? Hell, I thought he left the Navy.”
“Don’t tell him that. Wrath finally talked him into leaving his Virginia team and coming to the dark side.” Gunner snickered at his own joke, then looked past Fuse to see Brittany, and his light mood vanished. “What’s going on?”
“Not your business.”
“If you hurt her, it sure as hell is.”
Gunner’s words spurred Brittany to hurry to him, resting a hand on his arm. “Scott would never hurt me. We were just, well…”
“Discussing old times.” Fuse glared at his good friend.
“Yes, old times,” Brit said. “I became a little emotional.” Dropping her hand, she walked to the other side of the room, giving herself some space.
Looking at Fuse, Gunner held up his hand in surrender. “Fine. We need you with us to discuss next steps. Everyone is waiting.”
“On my way.” When the door closed, he turned toward Brittany. “I won’t be long, then we can finish our discussion.”
“I’m going with you.”
“Not needed.”
“I don’t care if you think it’s needed or not. It’s my right to hear plans concerning me.” She slid back into her sandals, joining him at the door. When he didn’t budge, she made a shooing gesture with her hands. “You heard Gunner. Let’s go.”
Grabbing her arm, he turned her to face him. “We are not done talking.” Leaning down, he placed a quick, hard kiss on her lips before opening the door.
Night Devils Clubhouse
“I don’t trust them, Vulture. I’ve seen it before with Russian gangs. The fuckers will use us to get the woman. Afterward, they won’t pay and will come after us. It’s a losing deal.”
Vulture sat across the marred wood conference table in the back room of the clubhouse, drubbing his strong, stubby fingers on the top. “I know their game, Grizz. But we gotta problem here.”
He leaned forward, placing his thick, muscled forearms on the table. Clasping his hands together, Vulture’s steely gray eyes bored into Grizzly’s, the ceiling light gleaming off his shiny, shaved head. At five-feet-nine inches, he wasn’t a huge man. His reputation was. The man was a bull, rising to lead the Devils through sheer will and ruthless force. The deserts and forests were filled with those who crossed him.
“I agreed to the job. Gave my word.”
Grizzly knew what that meant. No matter the logic of the argument, Vulture wouldn’t go back on his word. Not unless Viktor severed the deal, which his men believed he would.
“How do we play this?” Grizzly knew better than to show his disapproval in front of the others. Hammer and Slider were seated on either side of him, Fingers and Viper across the table with Vulture. Trick and Pistol, two additional members of the national chapter, leaned against the wall, their expressions showing none of what they were thinking.
“We grab the bitch, get our money, and hand her over. Viktor knows nothing of Trick and Pistol. They’ll make certain the Russians play nice. If not, they’ll never make it back to their motherland.”
Everyone knew playing nice was relative. Vulture would be just as likely to take the money and hand over the woman before killing the Russians. In his mind, he would’ve completed the contract by producing the senator’s daughter. Eliminating Viktor and his men would be a bonus.
“When?”
“Tonight, Grizz. We take everyone, surround the property. A few go in while the others stay outside. It’ll be over before the Brethren know what happened.”
Grizzly grimaced, mouth twisting downward. “This will end in a war between the two clubs. Is that what you want?”
Vulture’s face went rigid, jaw set. “It’s time to get the sons of bitches out of our territory. They don’t belong here, taking what should be ours. There’ll never be a better time. We send the Russians inside with a few of our men.”
“You want our boys to take care of Viktor’s men before leaving the house?” Fingers asked.
Vulture answered with a feral grin and chin lift instead of words. “It’s time we make it clear who owns this territory.”
Brittany sat at the table with seven men, listening to them discuss her safety and the imminent attack on Scott’s house. She had little to add other than asking the occasional question. They answered each one in detail, as if she were a part of their team.
“We expect the attack to occur tonight,” Deke said. “We expect Viktor and his men to join forces with the Night Devils.”
“How many tangos do you estimate?” Fuse asked.
Deke tapped his pen on the table. “Could be anywhere from ten to twenty. Any more than that would draw too much attention. We believe they’ll approach from the back roads, surround the central area on foot, and advance on the house.”
Mitch took over. “We have two options. One, wait until they get inside, then surround and neutralize them. There will be casualties, as neither the Devils nor Russians will back off.”
“The second option?” Gunner asked.
“We evacuate the property. Raider has installed a concealed pressure mat alarm system a few feet in front of each window and door. There’s no chance the tangos won’t activate them.” Mitch shook his head, chuckling. “The damn thing sounds like a WWII air raid siren. You can hear it a mile away. At the same time, twenty high wattage flood lights will illuminate the entire area. They’re also activated by the pressure mats.”
“These are similar to the ones used for football fields,” Deke added. “The poles are forty feet high. Depending on the weapon, a good shooter could neutralize them. But with the chaos we expect from the sirens and lights, it’ll be virtually impossible to get all twenty before they’ll be forced to abandon the area.”
Fuse rubbed fingers over his forehead. “I don’t see much of a choice.”
“There’ll be lights on inside so they can see no one is home.” Mitch shot a glance at Fuse. “Doesn’t mean they won’t cause a lot of damage.”
Deke leaned back in his chair. “They’ll be pissed at being outmaneuvered. My guess is they’ll shoot into the house before abandoning the attack. It’s your call, Fuse.”
“My house is repairable. Our men are not. We go with the second option.”
Deke nodded. “Two, it is. I’ll let Kell and Wrath know so they can pull the men. We will have visuals with feeds to WES, your clubhouse, and here.”