Page 40 of Tico

“Will do, Prez.”

Scanning the parking lot, I make my way over to my bike and start her up. A second later, the rest ofmis hermanos(my brothers)do the same and with one last look at Ember through the windshield, I lead us out into the night with the SUV in the middle of the caravan.

As we drive down the mostly deserted streets, I can’t help but feel like someone’s watching us. However, nothing seems out of the ordinary. Ten tense minutes later, we pull up to the gates and Liam opens them, letting us in.

As we park, I gesture for Jesse to pull around to the back door so that Rochelle can slip inside, hopefully unnoticed to whoever might be watching us.

Right as I get off my bike, gunshots ring out and I crouch beside my bike, pulling out my gun. Peering over my bike, I scan the parking lot. A second later, I see movement near one of the garage lights—a couple of figures dressed completely in black with ski masks moving through the shadows. Raising my gun, I fire, hitting one of them in the shoulder and the other in their arm. To my right, I see more movement in the shadows and fire off a few more rounds. More gunshots erupt around me, but it’s the three rapid fire shots coming from the rear of the clubhouse that make my stomach drop like lead.

Ember.

Scanning the area,mis hermanos(my brothers) are gradually picking off the shooters. Carefully, I make my way to the corner of the clubhouse and peak around the side of the building. Not seeing anyone, I quickly make my way towards the backyard. When I hear her voice, relief rolls through me.

“You thought you could come in here and force us to return with you like the stupid fucking idiot you are,” Ember snarls. “Big fucking mistake.”

Rounding the corner, I see Bug, her uncle, laying face down on the ground. His shoulder and side are covered in blood andhis hands are zip tied behind his back. Ember is on his back, pressing her knee into his spine while she holds her gun to his temple. Behind her, Jesse is guarding the SUV, gun drawn, which tells me Rochelle must still be inside it. In the distance, there is another man, but he’s lying face first in the dirt and not moving. A quick look has me exhaling, he’s not one of ours.

“I am going to enjoy making you scream and bleed for everything you did to us,” Ember says darkly and I fight a smirk, proud of my vicious little hellcat for subduing Bug.

“Jesse?” I ask and as I step closer, he turns.

It’s then that I notice he’s got a long cut near his temple and blood trickling down his face. His eyes seem a little unfocused and I hope the fuckers haven’t given him a concussion. Around us the shooting dies down, so I can only hope that this is over.

“They came at us when I was helping Ember out of the SUV. This fucker got the drop on me, hitting me alongside the head with his gun. When he tried to grab Ember, she went at him and got him pinned to the ground. She told me to make sure our guest remained safe while she made sure he didn’t get away.”

I dip my chin in thanks and look around the grounds.Mis hermanos(my brothers)are dragging people towards the shack along the tree line, which leads down to our dungeon, what we call our interrogation room.

“Get all of the survivors down to the dungeon and have Psycho take care of the others. I’ll get our guest settled. Make sure to have Chief check you out.”

He dips his chin in acknowledgement. I walk over to Ember before crouching down in front of Bug, aiming my gun at him. His gaze locks on the barrel. The dark part of me loves the fear in his eyes which he tries, and fails, to hide.

“You done fucked up,güevón(asshole). You thought you could come into my clubhouse and stealmi mujer,my woman?” I make a tsking sound and Bug’s eyes widen beforethey narrow at me. “That’s pretty fucking stupid,güevón(asshole).”

“She isn’t your anything. She’s Chrome Viper’s property, nothing more.” He grins, his teeth bloody from a hit Ember must have landed earlier. His confidence rises with his arrogance, making him think he has the upper hand. “She owes us for everything we’ve done for her.”

Ember digs her knee harder into his spine and pulls back her arm, striking him with the butt of her gun.

“You’ve never done a fucking thing for me in my life. I don’t owe you assholes a god damn fucking thing!” she snarls. “If anything, it’s the other way around.”

Reaching into my pocket, I slip on my brass knuckles and his eyes widen at the sight as fear enters his eyes once again.

“You’re wrong,güevón(asshole). Your pathetic excuse of a club and Oasis aren’t getting their hands on her. I’ll make sure of that and then I’ll wipe your entire club off the fucking map. You’re in my world now,hijo de puta(motherfucker), and now you’re going to pay.” Pulling back, I land a hard punch to his face that knocks thegüevón(asshole) out.

Taco and Daemon approach us, and Daemon’s eyes blaze even brighter with anger when he sees who Ember has pinned to the ground.

“We’ll take care of the fucker from here, Em,” Daemon tells her, his voice hard and cold.

Slowly, Ember rises and like me, she keeps her gun trained on Bug until both Daemon and Taco haul him up off the ground.

“Is anyone else hurt?” I ask them and Taco nods reluctantly.

“A couple of the guys have grazes and Liam was hit in his arm.”

Rage burns in my veins, but I hold back. For now. “Who?”

“Besides Liam, it was Cobra, Psycho, Gorgon, and Corvus.”

I grit my teeth and dip my chin. “Have Creed and Tiny help Chief patch everyone up.” My gaze cuts to the shack that leadsdown to the dungeon. “Set a guard on them. We’ll let them sit on ice tonight and after Church in the morning, we’ll deal with them.”