When our eyes caught, he smiled and fuck, if that wasn’t Lucie’s smile, I didn’t know what was. It had that evil twist to it that made you realize you were about to be toyed with… whether that was in a good way or a bad way, there was no way to tell from their expression.
Behind me, I heard the cocking sound of a dozen guns, but I hollered out, “Wait for direction. He has information that will help the club.”
That caused more confusion than it solved, but I didn’t need to start a battle we might lose. Only hell knew how many Knights were in the compound behind us, and I wasn’t about to trigger a blood bath that might be totally unnecessary.
Lucie, seeing the direction of my glance, looked over her shoulder. When she saw her father, she tugged at my hand and said, “He wants to explain something.”
“He’d better fucking explain something. That’s for damn sure,” I snarled, storming over to him and almost spitting in his face as I ground out, “You think you can take my woman from me? Hurt my brother?”
“I was saving her ass, that’s what. Far as I knew you hated my girl. Wasn’t about to let her stay with you fuckers if she didn’t need to.”
“Lucie does nothing she doesn’t want,” I retorted. “She came back to us of her own volition. Hell, we didn’t even know where she was.”
The other Prez spat on the ground. “You didn’t have her followed?”
“She was exiled. None of our business,” I retorted, but the words were bullshit. He was right. I should have, and his disgusted look told me that too. “When the shit hit the fan, I wasn’t on the council. I had no power.”
Lucie tugged at my hand. “We don’t have time for this. Please, Martin, tell him what you told me.”
“Ramon Sanchez lost favor with Carlos. He was supposed to take out this important lieutenant in the Colombians’ setup in Queens, but he fucked up. Was high on coke so the bastard got away. The next night, the Colombians retaliated. Shot the shit out of one of their warehouses, set it on fire, lost them over ten million worth of product.”
Flame whistled. “Ramon has a hit on his head?”
“Yeah. He got out of town almost immediately after he fucked up the job with the lieutenant.”
“Why’s he here though?”
“Probably just trying to ass lick. I have no doubt that Carlos Rodriguez hasn’t forgotten about Lucie, but it’s the least of his worries at the moment. If Ramon can bring her back, then that might reduce his death sentence to losing a fucking arm or something.”
Lucie winced at that, but I was past the point of giving a fuck.
“Why did he warn us? Why set shit up?”
“I know Ramon. He’s a wily fucker. I’ll bet he’s setting himself up two nests to roost.”
“What do you mean?” Lucie asked.
“He means, if he can’t get shit settled with Carlos, if he’s done us a favor, maybe we’ll let him bed down with us.” I rubbed my chin. “He wasn’t going to hurt Lucie. Just make it look like he had.”
“Wouldn’t trust him with my fucking goldfish, never mind my daughter,” Lucifer snapped, his arms bulging as he folded them across his chest.
“Accidents happen all the time,” Flame concurred, shooting me a look. “Can’t blame a man when he’s trying to help.”
“We sure as fucking can,” I snarled.
Flame just shrugged, but the fact his lighter was back in his damn hand said everything as far as I was concerned.
“Let me guess. You Flame?” Martin stated, eyeing the lighter. Flame smirked at him and blew out the flame on the small device.
“What gave it away, I wonder?” he mocked.
Before Flame could get snarky, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Look, man, you obviously took her for a reason. I want to know what the fuck your game is.”
“She’s been in danger all her life. I wasn’t there to protect her. This time, I could.” His jaw clenched. “My war wasn’t with you, but with Bomber.”
“That mean you’re backing off?”
“I have no beef with you, and our businesses don’t even mix. Especially not if you’re getting into ghost guns.” He cocked a brow at me. “If you’d be interested in supplying me with them, I’d be interested in buying.”
Fuck, he knew about the guns?
Just who in the fuck was our rat?
“Don’t bother asking. You’ll find out soon enough when he doesn’t show up over the next few days,” Martin said with a smirk that made me want to slap him.
“Are you going to leave me alone?” Lucie inquired, her hand gripping mine like she’d done when she was a fucking kid. Hell, back when I’d been a fucking kid too. As much as I loved that she looked to me for comfort, I hated the need for it.
“I don’t want to,” Martin admitted.
“She doesn’t need your—”
“What? Help? Seems like I helped you out already if you’ve taken Sanchez prisoner,” he sneered. “You let him go to anywhere other than your pig farm, then you’re a fucking idiot.”
I gritted my teeth in irritation, but I was still uneasy. This felt wrong. I was glad there was no battle today, glad we’d shed no blood, but I didn’t trust this fucker. He and his MC had been hitting us hard for years, and him just backing off like this?
Narrowing my eyes at him, I asked, “Ramon on your shit list?”
Martin smirked. “What do you think?”
“You fed me any BS?”
“No. He’s a dumbass. Brain’s in his cock. And what little he had left of it, he’s fucked or snorted it away.” Martin leaned against the gates, managing to look cool as shit as he did so. “Rubbed me up the wrong way a few times. Fucked over a few of our girls. Got them pregnant, pissed off some brothers. Won’t be any shame to me if he’s fed to the pigs.”
“Does anyone else know you’re Lucie’s biological father?”
He blinked. “My MC. They know that’s why we went to war with you bastards.”
Shaking my head, I spat, “Why go to all this effort to get her and then give her away? You went to war for her, for fuck’s sake.”
“I’m not giving her away,” he replied softly. “But I can’t get your girl, not now that my man ain’t in your clubhouse. Not about to part mother from daughter when, as far as I can see, you’re fuckers but not complete and utter scum. Plus, Bomber mistreated her, neglected her. You ain’t gonna do that, are ya?”
My nostrils flared and I surged forward. The second my hand was on his cut, hauling him into me, I saw four bikers appear out of nowhere from behind the gates. I didn’t give a fuck. “You had eyes on my girl?”
“Got eyes everywhere,” he retorted, completely unaffected by my words. “I’ll still be watching. The second you think you’re safe enough to treat her like shit, I’ll be there, and I’ll find a way to get her to me.”
Lucie sucked down a breath. “I never asked you to do this.”
“You didn’t have to. It’s what a father should do.”
“Stalk his daughter?” Flame demanded, his temper soaring. “Seems a bit fucked up to me.”