Chapter 12

We parked our bikes a good mile from the warehouse where we were supposed to find Bickle. On the way out the door, we'd grabbed a couple of prospects to stay behind and watch over our rides.

Scout had decided to come at the last minute to cover our asses from a perch. He'd been a sniper in the military—part of the reason for his road name—and kept his skills in top shape. So he broke off from the group and slinked away to find a spot with the best option.

Knight and I led the way to the warehouse with Dax close behind. Once we reached the compound housing several shipping warehouses, we contacted Hack, another brother who was one of the best hackers in the world, and he tapped into the security.

"The front gate is open," he said through the Bluetooth earpiece I was wearing. "But there are cameras, and I don't want to tip off the guard watching them by shutting them down. No cameras behind the building."

We crept around, carefully avoiding the barbed wire fencing with big signs stating it was electric. I doubted it was real, and Hack confirmed it a minute later.

"No current, even low grade. It's just for show."

We were all connected so I didn't have to share the information. Instead, I waited for Knight to hop the fence, then followed him over. Dax and Nova were right behind us, then Dom and Breaker.

We split up to check each of the four buildings for signs of activity. Predictably, no cameras were inside them. The seedy deals that happened here couldn't risk being caught on tape.

Knight and I took the first warehouse but didn't find any signs of life. Although the stench made it clear that it was used regularly for things I didn't want to think about.

Nova waved at us when we stepped back outside. We hurried over and followed him to the third building where our other brothers waited.

"Don't see your mark yet," Dax grunted. "But something is happening."

Breaker's hands fisted, and his knuckles cracked, making his enraged expression all the more intimidating. He lifted his chin toward Nova. "Recognize anyone?"

Nova handed me his phone, and I looked through several pictures he'd taken through a window.

"Fucking hell," I muttered when I saw the leader of a known trafficking ring. He'd been on our radar, but so far, we hadn't infiltrated his organization and taken him down. And he worked for someone bigger, so simply killing him wouldn't disband the organization. Better to take him alive and torture him until he cracked.

"We play this right, we can take care of both," Dom grunted.

Knight's brow furrowed so low I could barely see his eyes. I was sure my expression looked about the same. "I get it, brother," Knight gritted through his clenched jaw. "But Bickle is the mission. We'll find another way to Markoff, but if it comes down to the two, you take out Bickle. Clear?"

I nodded and watched the others contemplate, then lift their chins in agreement one by one.

Dax motioned his head to the right before he and Nova headed around the left side of the building. Breaker and Dom went right, and since there were two back doors, Knight and I each took one.

The security in the place was pathetic. While one of the back doors had a keypad, a simple bolt and cylinder locked the other one. Hack had the electronic one bypassed in seconds, and I picked the lock on the other in almost the same amount of time.

When we realized the first door opened straight into the interior, but mine led to a utility room, Knight joined me, and we entered through there.

We both had every right to be the one to take down that motherfucker Bickle, but we'd agreed that the result, no matter who made the kill, was all that mattered. We wanted to get this done fast and get home to our women.

We waited in the darkness, listening to the activity in the main space while our brothers reported where they'd found a place to wait as well. We were all out of sight, so knowing their locations would make it easier to distinguish each other if the shit hit the fan.

Finally, the front door creaked open, and I peeked around the corner to see Bickle step inside, flanked by his younger son and several big dudes who looked ready to kill. However, after studying the bodyguards for a minute while they walked over to Markoff, I realized that their expressions were carefully blank, except when Bickle or his son spoke and the guards glanced at each other. There was unspoken communication and a small flash of annoyance whenever their boss spoke.

I tapped Knight's shoulder and jerked my head toward the small group. Knight nodded. "They don't respect or fear him," he concluded under his breath.

"If things get hairy, they're gonna split and leave his ass behind with no protection."

"Scout," Dax murmured over our connection. "Wait for my signal, then fire a warning shot, followed immediately by a non-fatal hit to one of the bodyguards. Make sure the injured one can still turn tail and run."

"Understood," Scout replied.

Bickle, Remus—his son who wasn't in jail—and his men stopped a few feet from Markoff and his crew, who were clearly former Special Forces, and feared their boss enough for us to know that they wouldn't abandon him so easily.

"Come with an explanation?" Markoff asked Bickle, standing casually with his hands in the pants pockets of his immaculately tailored suit.

Bickle cleared his throat. "The connection we had in the courts got tangled up with the Silver Saints and got himself caught."

Markoff stiffened, but it was barely noticeable unless you studied him closely. "What does he know?"

"Nothing about you," Bickle assured him quickly. "But my other kid was running the operation in Vegas, and since Timkins lost control over his court case, he got the fucking death penalty."

"What about the operation?" Markoff asked, clearly not giving a damn if Bickle lost one of his sons.

"We had to close it down with the cops digging into Joey's life and contacts. But Remus will be taking over, he said, jerking his head toward his son.

"And this is why you haven't delivered more product?"

Bickle swallowed. "We're looking for a new club to lure the girls and changing out the guys who find them, then we'll be up and running again."

What. The. Fuck?

Bickle had been running a trafficking ring in Vegas? From what he was saying, it sounded like if we took him out, the operation would fall apart. But just in case, I'd have a talk with Mac when we got back and send some patches out to investigate and disassemble any remaining remnants of the group.

Mac had a history with the Lennox hotel owner and worked closely with his head of security, Knox, whenever a problem we were handling made its way to Vegas.

Markoff was silent, making Bickle sweat and shuffle his feet, clearly uncomfortable under the scrutiny.

"You have two weeks to get things running and bring me product, or we'll have to have another talk. I have clients with expectations, and if you can't deliver, I'll have to replace you with someone who can."

Every time he called women product, I had to fight the urge to walk in and spray the place with bullets.

"Did he just give us an opening to get someone in there?" Scout mumbled.

"Sounds like it," Hack said.

They went quiet when Markoff spoke again. "You should keep your head down, Bickle," he warned. "My competitors are not happy that you've been collecting on their turf. And if you're not performing, I'll have no reason to protect you. Is that understood?"

"You take out Bickle and Remus without a fuss, and Markoff will think it was an assassination by one of his rivals," Dax muttered.

I knew what he was suggesting, and it was the smart play. But the thought of Bickle not suffering, not dying painfully as he stared into my face and knew he was facing Silver Saints justice…it caused rage to blow through me.

"You expect us to make this clean and simple?" Knight growled. "After he threatened our women?"

Everyone was silent for a minute, then Dax said, "Your call."

Knight and I stared at each other, the need to make Bickle suffer burning in our guts. I wasn't sure I had it in me to do anything except cut Bickle's balls off and feed them to him. Then make him scream some more before he ate a bullet.

But I struggled with the weight of the greater good versus my own need for revenge.

"It's justice either way," Knight finally conceded, though I could tell that he was fighting the same battle.

"It means letting Markoff go," I said, speaking to all my brothers.

No one responded, and I knew it was their way of acknowledging the truth and still leaving the decision in our hands.

Finally, I nodded before I changed my mind.

"Do it," Knight snarled.

It only took a few seconds before Bickle jerked back violently, a hole visible right between his eyes as he fell to the ground when no one attempted to catch him. His son screamed until he met the same fate.

Markoff's men immediately surrounded him, guns drawn and looking all around to find the source of the bullet.

"A warning." Hack's voice came through one of the bodyguard's radios. "Keep your filth out of other people's territories."

Markoff wasn't visible in the circle of his guards, but his voice carried. "What you do now that your boss is dead is up to you."

Bickle's men stared at each other, seemingly unsure of what to do next.

Markoff didn't wait for a response. He and his men moved as a unit to the door and disappeared.

"We don't even have to let them know he's dead," one of the men commented.

Another piped up. "We could run it with him as the fall guy if no one suspects it's us."

Knight suddenly grinned, and I knew he'd had the same thought.

"You want backup?" Nova asked, clearly knowing where our minds had led us.

"Nah," I said.

Knight raised his pistol, and I did the same, then we stalked into the open space, aiming at the heads of the two nearest thugs.

"Gonna have to pass on the promotion, boys," I drawled. "Won't matter anyway because you'll be dead."

The four men had pulled their weapons the second they spotted us, but their actions weren't smooth, and they didn't work as a unit. Knight took a shot at the same time as I did, disarming two with a bullet to the wrist and firing another into the heads of the last two before any of them could get a shot off.

"Just the four of us. Now we're even," Knight drawled.

The two injured men were shaking with rage, and when one bent down to grab his pistol, I shot forward and kicked him in the head, sending him flying backward. After hitting the ground hard, I expected him to stay down, but the idiot struggled to his feet and came rushing at me. "Assholes never fucking learn," I muttered as I stepped to the side and darted around to his back when he lunged for me, taking him off balance. Then I banded an arm around his neck and grabbed his wrist, pressing my thumb directly onto his wound.

He screamed like a little girl and tried to fight free, but I had him in an iron grip.

"We need this one?" I asked.

Knight looked at the other man, who froze and cradled his bleeding hand against his chest. "You gonna play nice?" he queried.

The man nodded and cleared his throat before saying, "Yes. Just don't kill me."

Neither of us answered as I switched my grip so I could break my hostage's wrist. Then when his attention was on his shattered bone, rather than trying to free himself from my hold, I pulled a knife from the holster around my thigh and slit the bastard's throat.

I released him, and he crumpled to the floor. "Don't fucking get up this time," I snarled sarcastically.

He only lasted another minute or so because I'd severed his carotid artery.

The rest of our brothers sauntered in when they saw we had the situation handled.

An hour later, we'd extracted what we could from the guard, and Knight had sliced open the bastard's throat. We let Dash know he needed to get a crew out here to clean the scene, then while the rest of our gang waited for them to arrive, Knight and I took off like bats outta hell, our only thoughts about getting home to our women.

We stopped at Knight's place to clean up the blood and spattered remnants of brain and whatever else was clinging to us. We didn't want to scare the fuck out of Kiara and Karina, but more than that, we didn't want them tainted by the realities of club business. They accepted us for who we were, but that didn't mean we wouldn't do everything in our power to keep them from the seedier parts of our life.

Finally, we headed to the clubhouse, and I felt lighter than I had in years. Karina was the sunshine in my dark life, and nothing would ever come before her.