Chapter 12

CHAPTER

TWELVE

DILLION

I swat at another hand. My ass has been pinched tonight more than it has in my whole lifetime. I cannot believe these men. They keep saying that it’s for good luck, but I think they just want to touch a woman’s ass.

When last call is announced, I let out a sigh of relief. My ass is sore, and not in any kind of fun way, either. I clean up the room as the dealers leave, and then I’m alone. Once I have everything organized and closed up in the gambling room, I gather all my stuff and head toward the bar, since it’s the only way to get to the parking lot.

“Hey,” a voice calls out.

Lifting my head, I turn toward the bar and find Kyle standing behind it. She lifts her hand and waves, then motions for me to walk over to her. Hitching my purse strap higher on my shoulder, I make my way toward her.

“Hey,” I say softly with a smile.

“Sal didn’t tell me that he hired someone,” she murmurs.

She’s smiling, but I can tell she is so curious that she can’t help herself. I don’t blame her. I would probably be, too. But I don’t have anything exciting to tell her. It’s not like I’m stripping in the other room.

“Just waitressing,” I say.

She hums, but she doesn’t look like she believes me. Thankfully, she doesn’t say anything else, mainly because a group of women walk into the bar from the other room. They’re all strippers, and they are gorgeous. Every single one of them. I find myself staring at them as they breeze through the bar and head straight for us.

“We’re all going out to eat. It was a busy night. You girls want to come?” one of the women asks.

“Can’t go out tonight. I need to get home to the baby,” Kyle says, then blushes.

“And your man,” one of the women says in a singsong voice.

She shakes her head, her gaze flicks to mine, and she gives me a warning look before she responds.

“Something like that,” Kyle mutters as she throws her purse strap over her shoulder.

I know her man isn’t home. It’s clear she doesn’t want to tell any of them, so I don’t spill the beans about it. Plus, it’s not my place.

“What about you?” one of the women asks, her gaze flicking to me.

Smiling, I shake my head. “I would love to, but I can’t tonight. Rain check?”

They all eye me suspiciously but thankfully don’t say anything else or ask me any more questions about it. Together, we walk out of the bar and into the parking lot. I feel a lot better walking out in a group. The girls all split off and head to a four-door Jeep Wrangler, except Kyle. She stays at my side.

“Dillion,” she says.

Turning my head, I look over at her and wait for her to continue. She clears her throat, looks at my car, and then shifts her attention back to meet mine.

“I don’t mean to pry, but does Clink know you work here?”

My brows snap together immediately in confusion. Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I watch her for a moment, unsure that I understand exactly what she’s asking. I open my mouth to ask her what she means, but she talks before I can get a word out.

“This place, the club owns it, but those guys don’t necessarily like their women working here. Especially since it’s a strip club and full of men.”

“Gnaw doesn’t mind?” I ask.

She shrugs a shoulder. “He’s probably ready for me to quit, especially since we have a baby now. But I love working for Sal. He’s like a father to me.”

I chew on the inside of my cheek as I think about her words. Maybe Humble wouldn’t like me working here. I’m not sure I care. I also don’t think he should even have a say in what I do. I’m not his wife. I have no other way to make money, and I’m not doing anything wrong.

“Well, Clink doesn’t know. I’m not really qualified for much else.”

She nods her head, her gaze full of understanding. “Well, just tell him when you can. I’m sure he won’t care. Like I said, the club owns part of the bar.”

I give her a smile, and she waves her hand and walks to her car. I watch her get inside before I climb into my own car. Heading home, I let out a yawn as I move through the town. Everything is closed, and the streets are empty. There’s something almost beautiful about this small town.

I kind of understand why my brother bought a house here, but at the same time, I cannot figure out why he, of all people, would be buying something here. This is a place where I would live, and I can’t imagine him wanting to be here. He liked the city. He liked women and drinking. What he didn’t like was anything remotely quiet and calm.

When I pull into my driveway, I let out a sigh. I really need to get my brother’s shit out of the garage, so I have a place to park, especially if I’m going to be coming in this late every night.

Pushing my front door open, I unfold from the driver’s seat and make my way to the front door. I slip into the house, lock the door behind me, and let out a heavy sigh. I’m exhausted, but I need a shower to wash the men’s pinching-fingers sensation from my ass.

Throwing my purse on the floor in the living room, I kick my shoes off and stumble toward the bedroom. I think about starting the shower, but it seems like it is more of a hassle than I need right now.

I strip out of my clothes and climb into bed. As soon as my head hits the pillow, my eyes close and I fall asleep.

CLINK

The eleven-hour trip ends up being twelve hours because of stops, and we find ourselves on the outskirts of Knoxville, just on the edge of the Demon Guns’ clubhouse. Everything seems to be quiet from the outside looking in. But I know better than anyone that looks can be deceiving.

“You think they're keeping her in their clubhouse?” Atomic asks.

I don’t know why he’s asking me this. I have no fucking clue how these assholes' operation works. What their building is like, where they hold women who they kidnap because it’s clear that this isn’t the first time they’ve done this. It must be because they seemed really fucking nonchalant about keeping our property.

“Does it matter?” I ask. “We’re getting her, no matter where they are keeping her.”

Atomic dips his chin and reaches for his gun. I do the same, wrapping my fingers around the handle and checking to make sure I’m fully loaded. King clears his throat, and we shift our attention to him. He jerks his chin forward, his gaze locked in on something.

Following his attention, I see what he’s staring at. A couple of guys just walked out of the Demon Guns' clubhouse. They are standing together, almost as if they have their heads together and are discussing something… heatedly.

“Any of them Blur?” I ask, not looking away.

“No,” Atomic grunts. “Those are his top men, though.”

I don’t ask him how he knows. I’m sure they’ve met at rallies or parties, but I can’t imagine wanting to be anywhere near these complete fucking assholes. The only interactions I’ve ever had with them are negative, and this is no different.

“I’m ready to end them all, every single fucking one of them,” I grind out.

King’s attention swings over to me, his eyes finding mine. I can tell he’s thinking, but I have no idea what. “You’re going to kill them all, and then what? You seem really fucking intent on this. What is with you and Vixen?”

I don’t know what the point of King’s question is. “It’s the principle,” I state. “Vixen is protected by the Dark Horse MC, and they did that shit knowing it. Fuck that.”

King doesn’t respond, but Guts has something to say. “Vixen is ours. Clink is right. Just because she showed up at their place doesn’t mean they have the right to keep her. She’s a fucking person.”

Atomic inhales a deep breath, holds it for a moment, then nods his head and lets it out slowly. His decision is made, although I have no clue what it could be. That is, until he speaks.

“We go in and shoot first. However,” he says, “we need to keep those men outside alive. They are probably the only ones aside from Blur who have any fucking information. We need to know why they took Vixen and kept her. We need to know where she is if she’s not in there.”

I grip the handle of my gun even tighter. I am fucking ready to end this shit and end it now. But Atomic isn’t ready for us to go in yet. He has more instructions. I am done and want this over with. Completely selfishly, I want to get back to my woman.

“King, Clink, and I are together, and we go to the front. The rest of you, I want you to go to the back and make your way inside. Kill swiftly.”

And that is that.

I know why Atomic is keeping me with him. He wants to make sure I don’t kill the wrong people. He wants to ensure I don’t go rogue. I don’t blame him. I’m on fucking edge with this and ready to blow the whole goddamn place to pieces.

“Let’s do this. In and out. Don’t make a big scene. Don’t draw a lot of attention to yourself. This may be in the middle of nowhere, but at the same time, we have zero clue who they have watching and what security they have in place. In and out.”

The men who have been told to go around the back begin to make their way as we move toward the front, where the three men are still speaking. I can hear their voices as we approach, but we’re too far away to make out what they’re saying.

I can tell the conversation is intense, though. Their body language doesn’t lie. As soon as they hear our footsteps, they stop talking. Their heads lift, their attention finds us, and their eyes widen.

One of them opens his mouth, but Atomic lifts his gun and shakes his head once. “No talking,” he grinds out.

“Where the fuck is Vixen?” I ask.

Their eyes shift between us, and the one standing in the middle takes a step forward. He clears his throat, dipping his chin slightly before he speaks. When he does, his voice comes out softer than I anticipate it, more of a whisper than anything else.

“It wasn’t us,” he murmurs. “But this was just a game. And you are in the wrong fucking place. You should go back home.”

I open my mouth to ask him what the fuck he means when the three of them charge forward, and pain slides through my side as hot heat slices through my body, my side. My knees buckle immediately, and my gun falls out of my hand and bounces on the ground.

Fuck me, I’ve been stabbed.

Sounds of gunshots ring out in the background, but they don’t matter. The only thing that matters right now is the three men who are now on the ground in front of us. I don’t know why we didn’t expect this.

We walked into this far too fucking cockily.

There’s no blame on anyone, either. Except for maybe myself. I blame my fucking self for this shit. I felt like we had the upper hand and didn’t anticipate this.

I should have.

If prison taught me something, it was to always be prepared. Especially for an attack. And I got fucking lazy. Complacent. But most importantly, I got fucking rushed and impatient. I wanted to go home to see my woman. Like a goddamn teenager, I was thinking with my dick, and now I’m going to pay for it with my life.

I close my eyes, and the world around me spins, then goes black.