Sweet Revenge (Sinners MC Book 1), page 19
His face broke into a small grin, and he lifted his chin. “The pictures will seal the deal.”
Bear rubbed his hand along his beard. “Let’s hope so.”
“They will,” Pop stated assuredly. “He’s always looking to improve his numbers. The more members he has, the stronger the club. Getting me and the boys to join the Widows will be his top priority.”
“You didn’t follow the plan.” I pointed out.
I could almost feel the intensity coming off Pop when he leaned forward and stared at me. “We need to get him on our turf. I meant what I said, Gunner. I like to take out my rivals personally. He needs taken out. We weaken him by bringing him here. He won’t bring his whole army; my gut tells me most of them don’t know what you’ve been up to or he’d already be dead. He gets here, sees the shape you two are in, and then we strike.”
“And the fallout?” Bear asked.
“We deal with that as it comes,” Pop advised. “There was always gonna be fallout, you two had to know that.”
I nodded. “I agree he won’t bring many. I’ve always doubted he told too many people what went down between us. Or at least the truth of it. But what makes you so confident this is going to work?” I asked.
Pop stood from his seat and put his hands on his hips, his eyes never leaving mine. “Knew you when you were a kid, Gunn.” I slowly rose from my seat, shocked that he’d known me when I was young. I sure as shit didn’t remember him. “Was a time when the Black Widows and the Sinners didn’t hate each other and were even known to party together sometimes. I met your father, Viper, when he was the VP, and you weren’t more than five years old. He bragged about your shootin’, made us all watch you shoot, and you were good, too damn good for a little kid. I always knew there was somethin’ a little off about him, but Stone loved him, thought he was the best VP he could ask for, and he was the president so no one questioned him.” Pop’s eyes grew dark. “Viper killed him during a raid. Tried to play it off like it was an accident, but we all knew the truth. He wanted to be at the top and would stop at nothing to get there. That news flew through all the fucking clubs in this country, and the good ones distanced themselves.” He frowned and dropped his head. “The Sinners didn’t, but we should’ve. Got ourselves into all kinds of shit we shouldn’t have. I even did time for the club, went down on a weapons charge, but I swore the day I walked out, I’d never do that again.”
He sighed and looked at Bear. “That’s why I’m still here, why I stayed. You two are making this club what it should’ve been, what it was meant to be.”
“Jesus, I don’t remember that,” I admitted. “But if everything you’re saying is true, then what makes you think he won’t send someone to do his dirty work?”
“Been around a long time, kid, and one thing I can promise you is that he’ll come here himself. He’s strong, and he has a huge following, but he doesn’t trust any of them. He’s going to want to end you permanently. He’ll want to look you in the eyes when he proves he was right all along, and he will personally want to end the man who was smarter than him and has had him by the balls for years.” He pointed at me. “That’s you.” He skirted the table and came to stand right in front of me and Bear. “There is one thing that will bring down a man every damn time. You know what that is?”
I glanced at Bear and noticed he was also listening intently to Pop.
“Revenge?” I guessed.
“Arrogance.” Pop smirked. “Your father believes he’s untouchable. It’s time to teach him that he isn’t.”
He lifted his hand and laid it on my shoulder, squeezing gently before he pushed by me. “I’ll send the pictures in a little while. Let’s get him real good and pissed.”
Bear chuckled beside me, and I turned my body to face him fully. “Did you know any of that?”
Bear shook his head. “No, not a fucking clue. He never talked about the club before, but after it fell apart, and I committed to rebuilding it, he was one of the first to say he was staying.” I shook my head, my mind still spinning with all the new information Pop offered, when Bear continued speaking. “He’s right, though. If Viper agrees to this, it’s because he’s coming here for you. Not for some fucking vendetta, but to personally destroy you.” His expression turned serious. “You good with that?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah.”
“You’re going to face off with him. You sure you’re ready for that?”
I raised my eyebrow. “Ready to see him again?”
Bear shook his head. “Ready to make a decision that will stay with you forever?”
I dropped my head and stared at my boots for a moment, remembering my mother, remembering her eyes when she said goodbye to me. I raised my head and stared at Bear. “He killed my mom, brother; the decision to let him live all these years has done me more damage.”
Bear slapped his hand against the side of my neck. “Your mother would be proud of the man you’ve become, Gunner. She wouldn’t want you to behave like him; she’d expect more from you, and she’d never want you to exact revenge because of her.” His expression softened. “She was a good woman, brother, and he never deserved her.”
“I always wondered why the fuck she ever got involved with him. She was too damn good to be with scum like him. She told me once she only ever wanted to have a family, and she had no regrets because she had me.”
“He would have never let her leave with you,” Bear said. “She knew that. It’s how he kept her for so long.”
Thoughts of Maggie raced through my mind and all the hell Snake put her through. He was more like my father than I ever was. “Until she couldn’t take it anymore.”
Bear squeezed his hand tighter against my neck. “Until she realized she only had one chance to save you. And she did. Not the way she wanted, but she showed you the man he was when he killed her in front of you, and you walked away. You’re not living that life, and that’s exactly what she wanted for you.”
I nodded, having never thought about it like that, but Bear was right. That day in that old shack showed me exactly who my father was and proved to me that I was nothing like him. “You think I should hand him over to Luke?”
Bear dropped his hand. “I think you need to do what will help you move forward, what will make sure the future you’re trying so hard to build with Maggie and this club happens.”
I thought about Maggie. She’d made so much progress over the past few months; fuck, we both had. I wanted a future with Maggie. I wanted peace for my mom. I wanted to start my life.
And I couldn’t do that sitting behind bars.
“Call Luke. Tell him we’re making a plan. We have enough to get my father and Snake. We’ll take on the rest as they come.”
Bear nodded. “Will do, man.” His eyes flicked between mine. “What made your decision?”
I exhaled heavily. “That man had my past. He’s occupied my mind for more years than I can count. I willingly gave him that head space, but I will not give him my future. And I sure as fuck won’t lose the one I love to exact revenge on the one I hate.”
Bear ran his hand over his beard. “Maybe we need a little time with them before Luke shows to make arrests. Time to send a message to the Widows, one they need to receive,” Bear suggested.
I nodded. “I like the way you think brother.”
Bear was quiet for a moment before his lips tipped up in a grin. “So you and Maggie.” I huffed out a laugh. “You gonna let me be your best man?”
I grinned. “What the fuck do you think?”
“Happy for you, brother.”
I jerked my chin up. “When you gonna take the plunge?”
He chuckled. “Soon as I hate being single.”
I laughed. “So, never?”
“Fuck no.”
“You never know, brother. Sometimes they just fall into your lap.”
Bear ran his hand over his beard, a smirk lingering on his lips. “Then I guess I better keep my lap occupied just to be safe.”
I shook my head and laughed harder when he slapped my shoulder and left the room. His day would come. I’d known Bear for a long time, and I knew nothing would stop him when he saw something he wanted.
Fuck, I already felt sorry for the woman who would finally catch Bear’s eye.
She’d never stand a chance.
She’d also end up with one of the best men I’d ever known.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
GUNNER
“We’re not involving everyone in this.” Bear spoke to the entire group, and I watched for their reactions.
“Are you telling them anything?” Bull asked.
Bear rubbed his hand along his beard. “I am, but I’m not sure how much.”
“You don’t trust them.” Tank guessed correctly.
Bear sighed. “I want to, and for the most part, I do, but this situation is too fucking fragile to have anything go wrong.”
“This club will never work if you don’t trust your brothers,” Pop spoke up. “I’ve seen clubs fall because of much less.”
“I plan to tell them on the day it’s set and tell them to all stay here as a group to watch our club and women,” Bear said to nods of agreement. “I don’t want anyone in the dark, but I need to be careful. Need to keep everyone safe.”
“I agree,” I confirmed. “Any information that leaks, no matter how small, could mean those of us who go into the Widows clubhouse don’t come out. At least not breathin’.”
Bull studied me for a moment and then shifted his attention to Bear. “So what’s the plan?”
Bear glanced my way before facing the group again. “Talked to Luke, he’s on board, has the FBI at his call on this. As soon as we give him the information, the FBI will take their positions. Don’t know what Nick has given them, but I’m guessing it’s something if they’re trusting us to set up the meet. Word is, the agency doesn’t play well with others, but Cam’s contacts there and Nick’s undercover information has probably opened those normally locked gates some.”
“We think Nick’s given any information on us?” Ritz asked.
Bear ran his hand over his short black beard. “I don’t. There’s not much to give. If he knows Gunn’s father is Viper, then so does the FBI, but that doesn’t implicate us in shit. We covered our tracks well interrupting those shipments, which made the Widows and the Diablos sloppy. According to Cam, the FBI has enough on the Diablos and plans to move on those arrests as soon as they have Viper and Snake. They think taking the Diablos in first will be a tip-off that they’re getting close to everyone, so they plan to wait.”
“Makes sense,” Pop agreed. “Does Luke have the video?”
Bear nodded. “Yeah. Gunn emailed him everything in case we don’t make it back out. Luke gave me the impression that the video was like the icing on the fucking cake for the FBI. It gave them evidence of the trades being made so they have a much bigger case than they originally planned. Needless to say, without the video, we’d all still be standing around with our hands in our pockets, even with Maggie’s testimony.”
“So we’re just handing them over?” Bull asked, but it was obvious he didn’t like the idea.
“Not exactly,” Bear answered slowly. “Gunn and I”—he gestured toward me—“decided to tell Luke the trade will be on Saturday.”
Tank raised an eyebrow. “When is it?”
“Pop arranged for it to be Friday night.”
Murmurs followed the announcement until Tank finally spoke up. “What’s your end game here?”
His eyes flicked around the table of men. “We’re just planning to make sure they get what they deserve.”
“So why tell Luke at all?” Ritz inquired. “Just take the fuckers out.”
“There are too many players in this for us to just end them. It stopped being us against them when the FBI sent Nick in undercover. So this ends without our fingerprints, but it still ends on our terms.”
“What makes you think Viper hasn’t shared any of this with the whole damn organization?” Ritz asked.
“He wouldn’t want it leaked that I had him by the balls or take the chance that the information I’m holding on the cartel could get out. My guess is there are very few who know what really went down between us, if any at all. He’s been holding this secret for as long as I’ve been gone.”
“How’d he explain letting you go?”
“He told the others I was recording shit, but he didn’t tell them what. They didn’t fucking care. What Viper ordered they did without question and that included his VP.”
Ritz shook his head. “Whatever you think, man.”
I leaned forward and put my elbows on the table. “You don’t agree?”
“Just hate putting our boys in danger if it’s unnecessary. I also think we’re gonna attract attention we don’t need.” Ritz pointed out. “The Widows are already gunnin’ for us just being a rival club in the same city, and that’s without knowing what we’ve been up to. We really going to put our club out there?”
“We need to teach these fuckers a lesson,” Bull growled, his voice angry. “We go in first and do that.”
Ritz shook his head in obvious disagreement.
“You plan on finishing them?” Tank’s voice pulled my attention from Ritz to him.
I felt all eyes land on me, but I kept mine on Tank. “I’ll decide then.”
Ritz made a whistling sound. “You let them go to prison and think they won’t talk, you’re fucking crazy, brother.”
I shifted my attention back to Ritz and met his stare. “They go to prison; they won’t make it through the first night. The Widows have too many enemies they can connect to a lot of shit, and they will to save their own asses. Their enemies know that and will eliminate them before they have the chance.”
Bear’s voice caused the attention to turn from me back to him. “If they do make it, and they talk, the Widows need the message sent that we are not a club to fuck with, that we aren’t afraid to get our hands dirty if we need to, and we will protect what’s ours. If all goes as planned, the Widows as an organization will fall, but that doesn’t mean the men who believed in their ways will just go away. We go in first, teach that lesson, and then let Luke do his job.”
Ritz must’ve finally agreed with what he was hearing because he nodded and sat back, crossing his arms over his chest. I looked around the table. “Anybody else?”
“Whatever you decide, Gunn, I got your back.” Tank proclaimed.
“Appreciate it, brother.”
Bear’s eyes scanned the table. “Ritz and Pop will go in first.” They both nodded, and Bear continued. “Tank, Bull, and a few prospects will go in early, settle in the back. Viper said it’s just him and Snake coming, but he’s a fucking coward, so he won’t come without backup.” Murmurs of agreement floated through the room before Bear’s gaze landed on Race. “Race, I need you to stay back.”
He sat up. He’d been quiet, just listening, which wasn’t unusual for Race. He wasn’t one to say much until something needed said. We had that in common.
“What?”
“You’re staying back.” Bear repeated.
He narrowed his eyes. “You fucking kidding me?”
“No, I’m not,” Bear answered sternly. “I need someone back here who I trust completely to watch over Becs. I’ll make her stay here with the others, but I’m not leaving her alone. She doesn’t listen, and we all know she’ll sneak the fuck out if given the chance.”
“Probably follow us, thinking she can help,” Pop said, almost sounding proud.
Bear huffed out a breath. “Probably right, Pop.” He faced Race again. “We clear?”
Race only nodded, letting all of us know he didn’t feel his place was to be on guard duty, but he would do it, and if for no other reason, than it was for Becs. He sat back and waited while Bear went over more of the plan with the group, agreeing to tell the rest Friday morning.
After he called the meeting, I hung back as always but was surprised when Race did as well. He closed the door and stood before me and Bear.
“After Friday, I’m off babysitting duty, right?”
Bear narrowed his eyes. “You got a problem keeping an eye on my sister?”
He shook his head slowly side-to-side. “Nope, just need to get back to work. They’re swamped, asking for overtime, and I wanna take it.”
Bear studied him for a moment before he spoke. “If Friday goes as planned, and it’s safe, I can put someone else on her.”
Race nodded once and turned toward the door, but Bear stopped him. “You wanna tell me what’s really going on?”
He turned slightly. “Already did.”
Bear lowered his voice. “She needs us right now.”
“Becs doesn’t need anyone.” he muttered before turning and walking from the room.
I looked at Bear when he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “What a fucking mess.”
“They been getting along?” I asked, almost cautiously.
“They don’t really say much to each other.”
“You think he’s pissed she’s pregnant?” I asked the obvious question, well, obvious to me at least.
Bear’s eyes flicked from the open doorway to me. “I think he waited too long, and he hates himself for it.”
“Do you know what set off the love/hate thing they got goin’ on?”
Bear frowned. “No and neither of them talk about the other one, just change the subject if I bring it up.”
I rubbed my hand around the back of my neck. “Surprised you let it go on this long.”
“Not my business, unless it starts affecting the club.” He seemed thoughtful. “I’ve been seeing a change in Race lately, though. He doesn’t spend much time here, always working, turning down rides. I think it’s going to become a problem if that continues.”
“He told me he likes the overtime and the work.”
Bears eyebrows drew together. “You talked?”
“Yeah, a while back. Said he wants to get a place of his own, have somewhere permanent to land.”
“I can understand that,” Bear agreed. “Just hope that’s all it is.”
