Page 20 of Toxic Biker

“Just hung up with him.” I take my phone out and pull up the number he called from, handing it to Angel. “Need to know if anyone’s been sniffing around the club or any feed picked up vehicles following us outside the property.” Turning to Prez, I share, “Fucker knew what my bike looks like and that Lacey’s been on the back of it with me.”

“Goddamn it,” he hisses, taking a hefty swig from his longneck. “Church first thing, again. We need to be vigilant, the cartel does not fuck around.”

“I warned Viking, he said Exterminator was at the border and would keep an eye out so they know the cartel is lurking in our territory too.”

He nods, “Good. If they believe the cartel could be moving in with possible heroin distribution, Viking will have his brothers on them in a heartbeat, pulling some of the heat off of us.”

I didn’t want to get my club involved in this mess. I was planning on handling it myself, but this turn of events has included my brothers whether I wanted it to or not. If these people have been watching me and Lacey, then they no doubt have my bothers and probably the compound in their sights too.

“And your friend?” Whiskey questions.

With a shrug, I admit, “He hinted at him being alive but wants me to go to their club in Dallas. Mentioned Seth may be breathing or not.”

A loud gasp rings out behind me, and I spin around, finding a freshly showered Lacey close enough to have heard me. Her eyes instantly fill with tears, and I quietly swear to myself. I flash a glower at the brothers for not telling me she was coming up behind me, then turn back to her. I gesture for her to come to me, “It’s okay, Jailbait. I’m going to get him back.”

Her lip trembles as emotion fills her. “B-but you just said the person who called told you my brother may be dead.”

It takes everything in me not to shrug my shoulders. He was my best friend for many years, but I’ve learned in life to shut my heart down in a lot of aspects. “These are dangerous men, Lacey.”

“You’re dangerous! It’s why I came to you! I knew you’d be angry and help me no matter if my brother was going to be hurt or not. I-I want you to get Seth back, Asher. I need you to save my brother.”

My jaw clenches as I grind my teeth together. “Plague, Lacey. I’m not Asher anymore.”

She huffs, tossing her hands up. “I respect you being Plague at your club, but to me you’ll always be Asher…because Asher was always meant to be mine.You’remine,” she says with so much fervor, tears running over her cheeks that I can’t help but tug her to my chest and wrap my arms around her trembling body as she begins to sob. “It’s too much, all of this is too much for me to handle.”

“I know, baby,” I whisper into her hair and kiss the top of her head. I hold her tightly, letting her find comfort in my strength. She’s young and scared, my sweet, pampered princess doing everything she can to be strong for her family and hold her shit together. I should’ve known she’d break at some point, that it’d be too much for her tender heart to go through and come out unscathed in the process.

Someone shoves a shot at me and rather than take it for myself, I lift it to her lips. She attempts to push my hand away, but I don’t budge, forcing the glass to tip up so she has to drink or else spill the deep ember liquor. It’s whiskey, too harsh for my soft woman, but a few will do her some good, make her nerves calm a bit. Setting the glass on the bar, I nod to Manic, silently ordering him to give me another. I make him hand me refills twice over, getting Lacey to down three of them before I shoot the fourth myself. The burn carries a tingle through my chest as it hits my stomach, the liquor calling to the side of me that prefers to bury any emotions I may be having.

Not tonight. I can’t get too smashed when I have this much riding on me. She continues to sob quietly to the point I feel her tears on my shirt. “Go to the room. You need to lie down, there’s too much noise for you.” Her irises meet mine and I swear me ordering her away breaks her heart all over again, but I need a minute to catch my breath. She drops her arms, releasing me and stepping back. Her movements are wooden, driving the knife deeper in my chest as she spins around and heads for my room without sparing me a backward glance.

“I want to burn the whole fucking world down for her. Ride to Dallas, hunt the motherfucker down, and make him give me her brother back until she thinks I’m her fucking hero again,” I admit to the men on the barstools around me and standing beside me. We’re in our own circle, and after witnessing Lacey crumble, my brothers stayed next to me to offer her their silent support should she want it.

“You love her,” Ripper states and I don’t deny it. I think a part of me has always loved her, it’s just evolved over the years into a different kind of love.

“Angel will find them if they’ve been around the club,” Whiskey claims, reminding me that I’m not alone in this. That they all have my back.

Blow takes a sip of his beer, saying, “If your buddy’s dead, we have two options.” The brothers all train their attention on him, as they already know I want violence. “We can get tangled up in hunting them down to exact our own vigilante justice, or I can let my ol’ lady know it was the cartel who had him and have her office start causing problems for them. I think I speak for all of us when I say the choice is yours.”

Shaking my head, I stare them all down, from one brother to the next as I say, “They threatened my ol’ lady, told her they’d be back for her.Heknew her name when we spoke…I plan to kill him and as many of his fucking soldiers I can get to.”

Powerhouse nods, putting his fist out, and I bump mine into it. “Count me in, been too long since I bashed some skulls in.”

“You have a plan, or you want one?” Ripper asks rather than tells me what to do next. This is his club; he could toss down the orders, but he’s being my true brother and letting me tell them what I want and how I want it all to go down.

“He’s going to text me a time and the club’s address. I plan to go in loaded down and light them the fuck up.”

Angel returns as I say it, grinning at my short, violent plan. “I’ll do some recon on their clubs, see what I can find out about entrances, exits, bouncers—how many are armed.”

Ripper nods his approval. “And the feed around the clubhouse?”

“Lunatic and Wrench are reviewing it now. They were already in there fixing some wiring to the new cameras we installed to replace the old ones damaged in the last storm.”

“Fucking Texas and the hurricanes, toss in tornadoes, and hail, now add in the cartel,” Whiskey scoffs, downing the remainder of his beer.

Powerhouse scratches the side of his face as he thinks, then finally says, “We should go in masked up. If Angel can get recon inside and your woman’s brother isn’t there, we should go in hard, shoot them up like it’s a rival gang so the feds don’t think it’s an MC but someone pissed over their drugs.”

“And speaking of drugs,” Ripper cuts in. “If you find anything worthwhile, you take their shit. We can repackage it as ours and resell it down here. Let’s fuck them where it hurts, not only by killing their soldiers but by taking their source of income. Show the cartel they need to stay the fuck out of Texas.”

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