Page 118 of One Night with the Biker

“Motherfuckers on gate duty,” Easton answered without missing a beat. “If you didn’t know Ainsley is here, then someone betrayed you and took her without your knowledge. Bash wants her soon. He paid you well for her.”

“He did,” Boom Boom agreed and looked at my prosthetics. “Although he managed to get most of it back for Roman’s care, I can see my money didn’t go to waste.”

He looked at me, and I nodded, knowing he expected allegiance and appreciation. I’d stomp his fucking corpse.

He rubbed his chin. “There’s more money involved, Easton?”

“A lot more. More than you can imagine. As a matter of fact, Bash has an unexpected bonus thrown in. I just need to talk to the ones on gate duty,” he repeated.

To my ears, DeLuca sounded like a phony motherfucker, one worthy of suspicion. But Boom Boom—a man I thought was so goddamn brilliant at one time—just nodded.

“All right, boy. Go do what you need to do. See if Ainsley’s here and let me know what you discover.”

Easton and I exchanged a look. Even as a kernel of hope unfurled in me, I wondered if he was setting us up, but as DeLuca left, nothing happened. I considered following behind him. Not to act as a bodyguard, but to kill those assholes myself. Some blood might get my head in the game. Yet, I knew that would also show our hand too early. To the knowledge of the Bloody Scorpions, I was still one of them.

“Sit down, boy,” Boom Boom ordered, waving at an empty seat at his table. I obeyed, though sensation traveled down my arms, my nerve endings twitching to fuck him up. “How long do I have to deliver that cunt to him?”

I gritted my teeth, hating how he referred to my little sister.

“As soon as possible. Where is she?”

His expression grew steely. “I don’t know what you mean, Roman. If she’s here, it isn’t by my doing.”

The Bastards weren’t far behind us. Once the gate was open, they’d flood the place, and the siege could begin.

“I know you took her, Prez.” It took great restraint to keep my tone even, when all I wanted to do was cuss that motherfucker out as I gutted him. “I want to deliver her to Bash personally since he was so instrumental in fast-tracking my mobility. So, where is she?”

He studied me for a moment, examining my face, looking for any signs of deception. I wasn’t sure if he liked what he saw, and I didn’t give a damn. If I kicked the bucket now, as long as Easton, Tio, Reese, and everyone else did their jobs, Ainsley still had a chance.

“I’ve been reconsidering the sale,” he announced, leaning back in his chair and taking a swig of his beer. “Might just send him a different bitch. Two, maybe, to apologize. He lost Nova too, so it’s only fair.”

My emotions went into a tailspin again and dipped to the lowest of the low. The smidgeon of hope disintegrated and I felt like weeping. Anger at my own thoughtlessness swirled in me.

Had women always been treated with such disregard at the club? Was I that fucking blind?

I wasn’t the most progressive man, but I didn’t harm a woman without cause. My father beat my ass if I showed any disrespect to my mother, who I loved dearly. And from the moment Ainsley was born, I adored her. When I became her guardian, I couldn’t hang around the club as much, too focused on raising her and teaching her important life skills.

Because some of the other members helped me with getting Carol to safety, I believed that Boom Boom’s abuse was the exception, a fluke that wouldn’t happen again.

I’d been wrong, and if I had noticed it earlier, Ainsley might still be here.

“Bash paid for Ainsley. He doesn’t like being double-crossed,” I said, knowing for a fact fucking with that madman was a death sentence.

“Your whore of a sister got my baby girl killed, Roman,” he growled, goading my temper. “Death is what she deserves.”

Mercifully, the sounds of gunshots reached me. It had every member of the club on high alert. I mimicked those around me, looking around and standing, pretending to be as clueless aseverybody else. When those motherfuckers pulled their pieces, so did I. I’d been practicing for this moment. My aim was no longer as solid as it once was, but it was decent enough, despite what I said to Sinclair.

The moment the club doors burst open and Royal Bastards flooded in, I shot the assholes surrounding Boom Boom.

I wanted to save him for last.

The shock on his face, the betrayal that flashed in his eyes, made me want to laugh.

“Surprise, motherfucker,” I said, smirking at him, though I felt nothing but rage.

His flicker of fear satisfied me, but I didn’t have time to savor it. Chaos erupted, and he disappeared into the crowd.

No matter. I’d find him later and make him pay.

---