Page 15 of Savage Devotion
Ash is beside me. “Load him up. We’ll deal with him back home.”
Cracked asphalt grinds beneath my boot’s heel as I turn. And that’s when all hell breaks loose.
I hear the roar before I feel the pain as steel slides through flesh.
Fists fly, and my crew surrounds me like a shield. I pull my girl from her holster beneath my leather cut so fast my VP’s eyes shoot wide open. I aim over his shoulder but even with my quick reflexes, I’m not a match for the man holding the smoking gun.
Riot’s expression is void of emotion as the man’s body hits the ground.
Warm rivulets of blood seep into the beltline of my jeans. I peer down and wrap my hand around the silver handle sticking out of my side. I pull the blade out and toss the two-inch piece of shit on the ground beside the dying nomad as my men step to the side. I’ll have to talk to them about keeping me from my own fights.
“You wanna kill a man, you better come at him with more than a toy,” I grit out, but it’s too late. The enemy is already dead.
I shake my head. All this could have been avoided. I might be done with the bloodshed, but death is not done with me it seems. “Demons to hell. Ashes to ashes. Some men only want to take the hard way out.”
My crew surrounds me, their expressions full of surprise. I’ve only been their President for a little over a couple of months. We’ve all known each other since we were in diapers but this is the first time they’ve seen the color of my blood. And every single one of them had my back.
I’ll remember that. I clasp hands with Ash and we bump shoulders. No words are needed. He knows what it means.
I make sure to acknowledge each of my crew with eye contact and they do the same.
Then I turn to Riot who still grips his gun. Probably thinking about putting a few more rounds in the dead fucker at his feet.
I walk up to him. “I owe you, man. But maybe next time you can check for the backup weapon. This shit is gonna sting for a month.”
“I hear you,brother. You know how messy this life can get.”
I do.
I drop a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry about your wife. You’ll find her. If you need my crew, you know where to find us.”
There’s a level of despair I’ve never seen in a man’s eyes before when his come up to meet mine.
“Call me if you need me. You copy?”
He nods and I move to Ares.
“Shit’s not right with him and I hate to bring up business on a night like tonight. But I’m here and you’re here.”
“Da, moy droog.What is it? Anything you need?”
Ash steps in for me as I pull some disinfectant and a pad out of my saddle bag.
“We have a new shipment coming through your territory next week. Mind helping out with an escort? I have a shaky feeling about these new clients.”
Ares is already nodding his head at Ash. “Da. Speak to Rage and give him all the details. We have your back,moy brat’ya.”
A few months back there was a big takedown among the Savages. Rivals were looking to move in on their territory. Come to find out, it was Ares’ honest-to-God brother and father, looking to move in and steal from their own kin.
It didn’t end well for his father or the betraying brother. Until Ares had his brother’s blood on his hands, only one man in his crew knew he was the son of Russian mafia royalty. Pulling back the curtain on his true identity didn’t go over too well with everyone in his crew, but to me, I don’t care where a man comes from. We all have roots leading back to somewhere. All I careabout is loyalty. Once you show me you have my back, you’ll have mine until I die.
The ride back to Harlon is long and I sigh in relief as we cross parish boundaries. The familiar scent of woodsy smoke hangs in the crisp air and cleanses my lungs of piss and blood.
Josie will have fresh pie and coffee at the diner, which sounds good after hours on the open road.
We roll down the main drag and stop at the first red light of our small parish; a route I’ve avoided since the new bookstore opened up a couple of months ago for one reason and one reason only.
Arabelle.
