Page 86 of Deception
“This can’t be different. Everyone has to know there are no exceptions for the women, same as with the men,” Karmen says. “Lex, if you can’t do this, I can call Tess.”
“Is this something you think you can do, Lex?” Ky asks.
She’s killed men before. Saved him and helped him dismember an enemy in the bathtub, but that’s different. It’s never easy killing someone once considered a friend. Someone she still wants as her friend.
“I’ll need someone else to help, but I have to,” Lex says, her eyes never leaving the floor. “New generation and all that shit.”
“Who do you want to go with you?” Karmen asks. “Felicity’s not here tonight, but I’m sure we can get her here.”
Licking her lips, Lex rubs her hands on her jeans. “Melanie.”
“Mel?” Ky asks. “Really?”
“I have zero doubt she’d kill for me if I asked her to. And aside from a few men in this room, she’s the first one I’d call to help me dispose of a body. She’s my ride or die.”
“Okay, we need to do this tonight. Rocco’s not here, so we gotta go to his place,” Venom says.
Colt’s mother touches Lex’s shoulder. “Do you want me to come with, just in case it’s too much?”
Forcing a smile, Lex looks up and shakes her head. “No, I gotta do this.”
“Go get Mel, and I’ll meet you at Rocco’s house,” Colt says. “Tell her in the car what’s going on.”
Sniffling, she walks out of the Chapel, and Venom looks around. “Do we really think she can do this? It doesn’t seem fair.”
“She has to,” Ky says. “It’ll eat her alive if she doesn’t and lets someone else do it.”
“I’m worried about what it’ll do to her. Autumn is one of her oldest friends. This is a bigger betrayal than us accusing her of being the one talking to Julian.”
“She’s a fucking rat,” Karmen snaps. “I’ll head to the house and wait for you to come home. As much as you’ll want to help her, you can’t, baby. She needs someone who can understand, and I’m the closest thing she’s got.”
He nods and looks at Venom. “Let’s go. Ky, I’ll call when it’s done.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Griffin’s Beach
Rocco
“What the hell?” Rocco almost shouts when Colt and Venom push their way inside with Lex and Melanie following close behind. “Gee, I guess, come on in.”
“Where the fuck is your girlfriend?” Venom asks.
Melanie pushes past and calls out, “Living room!”
Staring at Colt, Rocco tries to put together what this ambush is all about. The sickly look on Lex’s face makes Rocco immediately nervous and defensive. “What’s going on?”
“There’s something you need to know, man. About your girl,” Colt says.
“What the hell is this?” Autumn cries, and Rocco rushes in to find Venom blocking the sliding door. “You think you can just come in here and box me in? I live here, too.”
“Do you want to tell Rocco, or do you want me to show him the video I took of Julian confessing?” Lex asks.
It’s an ultimatum that would normally come out harsh, but Rocco’s taken aback by the despair in her tone. The way she seems to plead with Autumn to have a reasonable explanation for whatever it is she needs to share. The scene makes his stomach drop.
“What video?” he asks.
“The rat isn’t a member. It’s an old lady,” Colt says, but his eyes never stray from Autumn. “We’ve known it since the first raid.”
