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“That’s a look I hope to always keep on your face.” I opened my eyes to find him looking at me with a soft, almost loving, expression. “Now. We’ll Facetime Mama. The storm’s getting worse, and I have no idea how long we have before we lose regular cell service. We need to do this now, so I know if it’s safe to wait here with you.”
“I mean, can we even go anywhere now?”
“If we have to, I’ll find a way, honey. I’ll make it happen. Storm be damned.”
“God, you’re so much like my father.” I couldn’t help but smile. “That’s exactly something he’d say and he’d mean it. Nothing or no one will stand in the way of him making sure the people he loves are safe.”
“And that’s why he’ll agree with me this fucker David needs to die. You got a last name for me? I’ll take this to Zora and Suzie instead of Data if you like. That way it has a woman’s touch instead of a bulldozers.” His smile took some of the weight of the situation from me, but there was still deadly intent there. It was a look I’d seen my father use on more than one occasion. Usually when someone was in deep trouble and he was trying to soften the blow.
“Almond. David Almond.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard.”
“I feel like I’ve just signed his death warrant. I don’t want to be the one to do that.”
“You’re not, honey. And if you think I’ll do this arbitrarily, you’d be mistaken. I might not hesitate to kill the bastard if I caught him in the act, but the reason I’m bringing in my intel people is not just to find him, but to look into his life. You said you thought he knew what he was doing because any damage he did wasn’t readily visible. I intend to find out if that’s so. Also, I intend to put the full weight of my club behind this. They’d all agree his life is forfeit after what he did to you, but we like to prove a pattern. Call it justification for something we want to do if you want. And maybe that’s what it is. But this fucker’s gonna die. How hard depends on what we find.”
I smiled and shook my head, knowing there was no way I was talking him out of this. Hell, I wasn’t sure I really wanted to. “I guess this is one of the many reasons my dad liked the connection to Bones. You and Bane are exactly like Reign. Maybe it is all about justification, but there’s always a good reason to punish someone when you do it.”
“We don’t hurt people for the fuck of it, honey. You already know that. I could do this for the simple fact that you’re El Diablo’s daughter, but I’m not. I want my club firmly on board because I’m doing this because you’re my woman. Fuck El Diablo.”
I raised an eyebrow even as I had to fight another grin. “You gonna tell him that?”
He barked out a laugh. “No. I’m crazy. Not stupid.”
Chapter Seven
Ice
I initiated the call with Mama, telling her what I needed then left her and Dawn alone to talk. I knew if anyone could get the truth out of her it would be Mama. She’d been a driving force in Bones far longer than I’d been alive, but she always knew when to use a firm or a gentle touch. I shut the connecting door to my room to give them some privacy, but I hated it. I didn’t like anything between us. Not even a closed door. And it was way too fucking early in this to be this possessive. To pass the time, I called Ripper for an updated weather report.
“Gettin’ bad. It picked up steam just before it brushed land. We’re still on the fringe. Been a category three this whole time, but it just increased to a cat four. And it’s stalled. Which means more rain which means more surge. Water every-fucking-where.”
“Do we need to leave our room? Go to the hotel storm shelter -- which is the ball room on the inner first floor.”
“Up to you. Though, if you stay in your room, I’d commandeer more than a heavy set of drapes. Get a couple mattresses, too. Use the same room you took the drapes from.”
“Copy that.”
“How she holdin’ up?”
“Yeah… She’s good.” I had to be careful here. I made promises to Dawn I intended to keep, but lying to my sister club didn’t sit right with me. “There’s some… issues. I’ll deal with them on my end, but I may need some backup.”
“Hang on.”
There was silence for a few moments until Ripper gave the phone to Thorn.
“What’s going on?” It was a demand more than a question, and it took everything inside me not to immediately fork over the information. Thorn was no longer my superior. I was his equal now. President of Bones. Instead of telling him to mind his own fucking business, however, I did my best to soften the blow while still getting my point across.
