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“The others know the drill,” I say. “We have to do something, Kai. It’ll get worse.”
“I know,” he nods slowly. “What about Nadia?”
I nod once. “She’s fine. Her dad’s with her.”
“Oh, fuck, he’s going to want to talk to us, you realize that, right?” Kai groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We need to be careful.”
“Paddy says she told him that she was here to pick up some papers for her café employer,” I reply. “We can just stick to that. I’m sure I can pull out a form or something to flash in his face and get him off our backs.”
“He deserves more than that,” Kai says. “If we’re going to get serious with Nadia—”
“We are going to get serious with Nadia.”
“All the more reason to sit Quicksilver down and tell him the whole truth, ideally with Nadia present.”
I scowl at Kai. “Does it seem like a good time to do that?”
“No, man … I’m just … fuck me, this has just got out of hand,” Kai lets a heavy sigh leave his chest.
I think it’s the first time since the shootout that he’s actually had a chance to sit down and take a deep breath. We saw plenty of action and violence during our military service, worse things than what transpired here today, but the memories are still vivid, embedded in our brains, and eager to come out at every turn in the presence of the slightest trigger.
Yet there is one thing I simply cannot get over long after the nightmare ended outside the clubhouse. We almost lost Nadia today. One stray bullet would’ve been enough to kill her. Had Paddy not caught her when he did … the mere thought sends my blood racing, an invisible hand tightening its grip around my heart. I love this woman with every ounce of my soul, and I am ready to go scorched earth on Colton’s ass if I have to.
“Perhaps it’s time to reconsider my suggestion,” I say to Kai.
“Yeah, you don’t sound as crazy anymore,” he grumbles. “Though I’d rather just load the trunk with every weapon I can get my hands on and comb the whole of Orange County until I find that fucker and fill his ass with lead.”
“Notice that he wasn’t here today,” I reply, thinking about the earlier events. “He sent his men into a predictable shitstorm. They followed his orders. They probably knew how this was going to end, but they did it anyway.”
“They’re loyal,” Kai says, “possibly indoctrinated. Colton’s like some kind of prophet to his Black Devils. Otherwise, I can’t explain it.”
“Oh, my God!” Carla’s shrill voice tears makes me lose my shit altogether. She comes in with wide eyes, horror imprinted on her tanned face. “I came as soon as I heard. Orry, are you okay?”
She stops in the middle of the room, looking around as she struggles to take it all in. There is something in her expression that startles me, though. Something I can’t put my finger on, yet it irks me somewhere deep down.
Perhaps it’s just an added layer of suspicion coming on the heels of a most egregious attack. We were lucky to survive when twelve of Colton’s men died in what I can only describe as some kind of kamikaze mission.
“What are you doing here, Carla?” I ask, my voice low and weary.
“I was worried, of course,” she says.
One of the CSI investigators comes over, so I nod at him. “Can you please take her away? She’s not supposed to be here.”
The man gently escorts her off the premises.
“Hell, if she hadn’t sent that stupid picture, Nadia wouldn’t have come over in the first place,” Kai grumbles, practically reading my mind.
I’m about to delve back into my initial proposal of reaching out to the FBI regarding Colton Harrow when I see Michael Kessler coming in hot. My spine tingles. I sense danger. Fucking hell, he looks furious. His face is red and his eyes are glassy and flickering with rage.
“Kai, watch out,” I mutter.
As soon as Quicksilver steps into the clubhouse and sees me, all hell breaks loose. I see Carla standing outside the crime scene perimeter, watching curiously. She’s far enough away not to disturb anyone, but I don’t like that inquisitive gaze of hers.
“You son of a bitch!” Michael snarls and lunges at me.
Kai swiftly catches him in a lion’s chokehold and pulls him back. “Don’t struggle, you’ll pass out,” he warns Quicksilver.
“Let go of me, you piece of shit, I’ll kill you both!” He pauses from his squirming and looks around. “Where’s Drake? Where’s that treacherous prick?”
