Page 36 of Blackout

Bas comes from a long line of bikers and back in his hometown, his brother was murdered by the cartel. Bas didn’t have time to get the full story while he was in Kentucky. He was too busy packing up Mac and Ryder. All he discovered down there was that his brother had killed the daughter of some drug lord and he retaliated by killing him. According to Bas’ mother, Milly, the cartel isn’t satisfied with Junior’s blood and they’re hunting Mac and the kid too.

“An eye for an eye,” I mutter when he finally finishes speaking. None of this sits right with me and my gut churns with dread.

“Do you know anything about these guys?” Jack questions.

“No, and I haven’t had a chance to do any digging. I wasn’t equipped to take on Mac, much less her son. I don’t know what the fuck to do with them.”

“Well, you knew enough to take them here,” Stryker comments.

“Oh, because this place is like Mr. Roger’s neighborhood,” Deuce mutters sarcastically.

Actually, the land of broken toys seems more fitting. Everyone has a story, one worse than the other. Sighing, I comb my fingers through my hair as Bas continues.

“Considering I’m here and all the intel is probably in Kentucky, I don’t know how long it’s going to take to figure this shit out and nail the cartel. In the meantime, I can’t take them back to my apartment. That’s the last place any kid should call home. Mac is already breathing down my neck, asking me if she needs to enroll the kid in school or get a job and I’m here wondering where the fuck they’re going to sleep tonight.”

“Look, it ain’t much and it needs a good cleaning, but you can stay at my old house,” Pipe suggests. “I haven’t been there since I trashed the joint after Oksana’s death,” he adds. “There might be a family of stray cats living there—”

Leaning back in my chair, I stare across the table at him.

“We cleaned it out after you took off for the woods,” I reveal. “Got rid of everything in the kitchen and packed the rest of Oksana’s things. I wasn’t sure what you wanted to do with her stuff so, I rented a storage unit off Bay Parkway.”

Pausing for a beat, he meets my gaze. The disappointment he’s been harboring since he tossed my ass in the shower fades and is replaced by appreciation. Finally, he jerks his chin in my direction and that’s all it takes to wash away the bad blood between us.

“I appreciate that,” he says before he uncomfortably clears his throat and slices his attention back to Bas. “As I was saying, the place needs a little TLC, but it's yours.”

“I can send Ally in,” Deuce offers. “The girl is bored as fuck since we ran out of walls to hang shit on. I’m afraid she’s going to hang a fucking picture frame from my cock if she doesn’t have something else to decorate.”

“Whoa,” Bas stammers, holding up his hand. “Decorate?”

The poor guy is breaking a sweat.

“You heard the man, he said the house needs some love…Ally will give it love and make it homey.”

“She does have a knack for decorating,” Cobra agrees. “However, you should probably warn him about the throw pillows.”

“Oh, man, you have no idea. I suffocate every time I sit on the couch,” Deuce mutters.

“If you bitches are done talking about linens, maybe you can find your dicks, so we can get back to business,” Jack growls.

Cobra and Deuce stop talking as Pipe leans back and unlatches the key ring from the belt loop of his jeans. Tossing the key onto the table, he flicks it toward Bas, demanding he take it.

“It’ll only be Mac and Ryder staying there,” Bas mutters. “I’m going to be going back to my apartment.”

“You just told us their lives are in danger and your plan is to leave them alone at Pipe’s?” Linc questions.

“I was hoping the club would provide protection,” Bas replies, looking back at Jack. “I’m not asking you guys to get involved in this mess. I know the last thing any of you need is a bunch of drug lords sniffing around your territory but while I work on eliminating the threat against Mac and Ryder, I was hoping you’d throw a couple of prospects on them.”

Crossing his arms against his chest, Jack leans back and fixes him with a stare. We don’t have a couple of prospects floating around. We got Leo, and the kid hasn’t done much more than rotate tires around this joint.

“You know what I’m going to ask next,” Jack says, pausing for a moment. “You putting a claim on Mac and Ryder?”

“If that’s what it takes for the club to back me,” Bas replies.

Jack laughs.

“The club is going to back you regardless, son,” Jack tells him. “It’s the rest of this world that needs to know they’re off limits, that they’re under the protection of the Satan’s Knights. You want me to put a prospect on them because you’re a pussy who's afraid of getting attached to a woman you still love and a kid you share blood with— I’ll give you the prospect but you ain’t running after a fucking cartel without your brothers behind you.”

My eyes widen and snap back to Jack.

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