Page 63 of Making Choices

Hunter left with Brutus and the rest of the club to attend to an “emergency” at the Inadale clubhouse. At the time, I figured it was just a ruse to get Venom alone with Honey so our prez could test his resolve to get back in the game post-Cherub, now I’m left wondering if it’s part of a larger plan.

“Hunt,” Venom says. “You’re on with Cub and me. I’m gonna put you on speakerphone so Slash can hear as well.”

“Be quick.” My little brother’s voice echoes down the line a moment later. “I don’t have much battery left… This emergency in Inadale that Brutus dragged us out in the middle of the night to deal with was a setup. We were ambushed from a side road about forty clicks outta the city. Got broken bodies everywhere. Brutus is okay. Some gravel rash and a smashed leg. Angelis and Duke are bleedin’ bad, but they’ll live... Cass’ fucked-up. I’m alone, tryna help him because Isaiah and the brothers still capable of ridin’ have made chase… Venom, I’m on my own, nursin’ a dislocated shoulder and road rash. Need you to haul arse to me… I’m outta my depth right now.”

I don’t wait around to hear anymore.

This means we’re at war and I have a choice to make.

Do I go with Venom to save Cherub or do I hightail it out of the city to my brother and father?

Using the time it takes to run back to my room and uncover the weapons I have hidden in the hollowed-out base of my bed to think, I make quick work of readying myself for battle. Bulletproof vest under my shirt. My favourite knives are strapped to my body and holstered to each ankle before I pull my cut back on. My penknife is jammed in my hair. I sling a semiautomatic across my body and load my shoulder harness with handguns.

After grabbing enough weaponry to outfit Venom in the same way I am, I stride back into his room, and my best friend makes the decision for me.

He wants me with him.

“I’ll send the prospects still here to help ya,” he tells Cub. “We’ll come to you once it’s confirmed Lily is all right.” While he irons out the rest of the details, I lay out everything I’ve grabbed to arm him to the teeth and wait for further instructions. Venom lays down the gauntlet to our tech officer before he ends the call. “Don’t let me down.”

Seeing that his mind is racing at a million miles a second, I hand him the semiautomatic and bite out my suggestion. “You go. I’ll deal with the prospects and catch you up.”

Venom doesn’t acknowledge me. He bursts into action with the single-mindedness of a man intent on saving the other half of his soul. It stabs me in the chest—reminds me that I’ll always be second best. I flounder with my loathing at my place in this equation for a heartbeat, then step forward to grab his arm to halt him.

“If this is as bad as it’s startin’ to appear, you’ve gotta keep your fuckin’ head on straight. Zeke has to be in control, not Venom. Cherub deserves your cool calculation rather than your rage… anythin’ less than that will break her.”

“I’m not stupid.”

Every single word I say next is the truth.

Whether he wants to hear it or not.

“Nah, you’re fuckin’ filled with pain and regret, and will shortly be determined to punish yourself for tempting fate with whatever the fuck’s happened.” After he shakes free of my grip, I yell after him, “Both pain and punishment make men dumb. Be smart.”

My advice is as much for him as it is for me.

“I’m startin’ to think I’ve tempted fuckin’ fate one too many times.” He pauses to swallow hard. “If this is as bad as either of us think it is, will you, at least, consider askin’ Crystal to reach out to the Trinity?”

The answer I give him is immediate. “I’ll try my best.”

Now that Cherub’s in danger and this plan has officially backfired, the only way out is to throw ourselves on the mercy of the Trinity. If Gabriel can’t work his magic, I won’t hesitate to ask my mumma for help.

The reason for my change of heart is two-fold.

My first reason is simple. Mumma would kill me with her bare hands if I didn’t come to her for help with Cherub’s safety.

The second is more convoluted. Any deal we make with the Trinity will involve me because I’m related to their UK order.

I exhale loudly. “Not sure how willin’ they’ll be to get in the middle of somethin’ that doesn’t directly affect them.”

It’s a lie.

Yet another one I’ve levelled at the man I call my best friend tonight. Still I refuse to examine why I make that move in the midst of this chaos.

After he’s run out of the compound, I deal with the prospects, Rider and Antonio. Once they’ve been brought up to speed, I point the two prospects in the direction of our fallen brothers and send them off with a flea in their ear that warns them not to return to the compound if they fail to live up to my expectations. It’s a baptism of fire. They’ll either sink or they’ll swim.

I’d like to believe that I’m a good enough judge of character to know that they’ll both swim. That bout of wishful thinking dies when I remember that I once idolised Brutus.

It seems my radar is as broken as Hunter’s.

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