Silver and Chrome: A Bad Boy MC Romance (23 page)

BOOK: Silver and Chrome: A Bad Boy MC Romance
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“And
Piston, of course, is the other issue. You started that company. Built it. Took
it public. It’s worth, what, a billion or two now? I may not know everything
about gangs, but I do know about Wall Street and the stock market. And I can
tell you that they definitely won’t react too kindly to finding out all of the
secrets your company has going for it. Secret CEO of a public company is bad
enough, but add to it that you’re a dangerous criminal? Well, as I said in my
note, I could actually save myself quite a bit of money by waiting for that
news to come out before I buy up any more shares. Especially when the Street hears
about your big miss this quarter, too. My, my.”

 

Edward
pauses to laugh, but his eyes show no amusement. They’re cold and hard and
staring at Sebastian, watching for the slightest bit of weakness. How did he
know about the
Velocity deal falling
through? That shouldn’t be public yet.

 

“Your
net worth won’t be worth the paper the shares are printed on, and I’ll end up with
your company at a steal. And at that point, certainly more valuable broken up
and sold off than as the tarnished whole that it will be.” He pauses for a
moment, the full smile returning to his face. “Or… I can just stop buying
altogether and walk away.”

 

Sebastian
is practically seething, but his voice is tight and measured when he speaks. “And
what would it take for that scenario?”

 

Edward
laughs. It’s almost a cackle, really, but when his eyes shift back to me I
shiver. “Oh, you’d be surprised at how little that would take. A bargain,
really, considering what I’d be giving up instead. All it takes is for the two
of you,” he waggles a long finger between us, “to be done. Over. Broken up
completely and utterly, not only in your personal relationship, but your
professional one as well. Evelyn leaves you and Piston and comes back here.”

 

“Are
you crazy?” I say, before I can stop myself. “You actually want me to come back
and work for you again? That’s what this is all about?”

 

Edward
laughs again as he shakes his head. “Not just back here to work, my dear. Back
here to me. I want things back exactly the way they were, in every way.”

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

SEBASTIAN

 

 

Edward Stonewall is a
bright man. But the smartest move he ever made in his life was making sure he
had those extra security guards standing behind me when he dropped that
bombshell about Evelyn coming back to him. If they hadn’t been there, he would
have likely taken the quick way to the ground floor of his building. Through
the fucking window.

 

As
it was, it still took them and Evelyn to get me out of the building, and I’m
pretty sure one of them will be walking with a limp for the next week or so. What
burns me most is the fucking laughter that’s been echoing in my head ever
since. Not my laughter, but Edward’s. He jumped back like a little girl when I
lunged at him, but as soon as his guys had a grip on me and were dragging me to
the elevator, he started laughing. Loud enough for me to hear, which means it
was most likely just to piss me off, but I can’t get it out of my head
regardless. Next time I see him, I’d love to hear him try that laugh with a
face full of broken teeth. How different would it sound?

 

“You’re
grinding your teeth.”

 

“I
thought you were asleep already.” I roll over to see Evelyn’s eyes glinting at
me in the near darkness of my bedroom. Most of the light comes from the LED
clock on the nightstand. It’s after midnight and we have to go to work in the
morning, but it doesn’t surprise me that she’s still awake. Probably for the
same reason I am.

 

“We’ll
beat this,” she says. I can see the soft smile on her lips. She’s not so much
lying as trying to be positive, so I don’t bother arguing with her. We spent
all night after leaving Edward’s office going over it and we’re no closer to
figuring a way out. “I’m not going to let you lose everything over me.”

 

There’s
a firmness to her voice, a resolve that I find sweet. I know she means it, but
that doesn’t make it a reality. The solution to this problem isn’t going to
come from Evelyn willing it so.

 

Still,
I can see she’s not willing to give up. And the sadness in her eyes… it kills
me that she blames herself for this, but she holds no fault for the havoc
Stonewall has wrought.

 

“I
wouldn’t be losing everything if I have you.” I smile back at her. “Look, if
the worst thing happens and Stonewall takes Piston down, we’ll still be all right.
I have plenty of money from shares I’ve sold in the past. I’m already rich. The
unsold shares just make me richer. But how much money does a person need,
anyway?” She smiles and nods again, but ultimately averts her gaze. I know
she’s feeling guilty, and my words don’t seem to soothe her. Only action will.

 

I
need to root this problem out at its source, and there seems to be more of
those popping up every day. Edward is only the biggest threat because he was
able to sniff out the rot that I’ve left festering for too long. He knew about
the Velocity
deal, so there must be some
sort of leak at the company. And then there’s the issues with the club.

 

I
might not be able to touch Stonewall right now, but Ripper is within my reach,
and it’s time I put a stop to his bullshit once and for all.

 

 

All I want to do is crack
some fucking heads, which is the only reason I left Evelyn at home tonight. I
would have loved to have brought her with me, but I don’t want her to see me
like this. When I get like this, I don’t even go to the office, which is why I
called Hans this morning and told him I was working from home. It took all I
had not to blow up at him over the phone when he tried to point out that the
timing of me taking a personal day couldn’t be worse, but I managed it.

 

I
sent Evelyn to work instead. I told her I had some errands to run and some shit
to figure out. She’s smart enough to know that was a lie, but also smart enough
to just let it go. She recognized that I needed time alone during the day, and
I left for Axle’s before she got back from the office at night.

 

She’s
seen some of the darkness within me, but never like this. She’s never seen me
out for blood. And that’s the only thing I can think about right now. I was
part of the MC before I ever put on a fucking suit to start Piston, and the MC
will always be in my blood. It’s that primal part of me now that is guiding
every thought and action in my body. I may have tried to guide the club away
from violence, but that’s only because I know that, in the end, it doesn’t lead
us to anywhere good. But that doesn’t mean I don’t still have my own rage
inside. I’ve just gotten good at suppressing it. But it can no longer be
ignored.

 

My
rage has a focus tonight.  Ripper. I’m just not sure what I can really do that
won’t blow up in my face. And that makes me even angrier.

 

As
usual for a Friday night, the bar is packed, even though it’s still relatively
early, and I have to weave through the growing crowd to get to the other
Soldiers. There are more of them than usual, but Ripper is noticeably absent. So
is Snake. I clench my teeth even more as I consider what the two of them are up
to together.

 

“Hey
boss, where’s your ol’ lady tonight?” Knox tips his beer to me as I approach, a
burning cigarette hanging from his lips. His hand is resting on Jez’s knee as
she sits beside him. As soon as I approach, she turns to the pool table and
stares at it as if were the World Cup finals.

 

“Left
her at home.” I hadn’t planned on going into any more detail than that, but
when his grip on Jez tightens, I add, “She wasn’t feeling well, so I’m not
staying long.”

 

The
last part is the truth, at least. How long would punching Ripper in the face
take, anyway?

 

If
only it were that easy. Hell, I need to find him, first.

 

“You
seen Ripper?” I ask, raising my voice over the raucous laughter of the club
members playing pool. Sparkie’s white ball narrowly missed knocking over Jake’s
beer as it flew off the table from a crappy shot. When Knox shakes his head, I
ask about Snake instead.

 

“Nope,
haven’t seen either of them at all today. What’s up with you and Ripper, anyway?”

 

“What
do you mean?” I ask, my eyes narrowing.

 

Knox
shrugs and some of the ashes from his cigarette break away to float down onto
the stained table I’m leaning against. “He just doesn’t seem to be your biggest
fan these days. He’s actually been stirring up talk about a confidence vote in
you.”

 

“Based
on what, exactly?” If my blood were water in a kettle, there would be steam
coming out of my ears.

 

“Ah,
you know, he just doesn’t like some of the changes… shit, you know him. He just
wants to bust heads and pull his gun any time he pleases.”

 

“That
it?”

 

“Sure.”
Knox shrugs again. “I mean, I guess. What do you mean? Is there something
else?”

 

I
shake my head absently and turn away from the table. So he’s finally making his
move, but at least it seems like he’s keeping the other shit to himself. For
now. Which means he probably still doesn’t know enough. No way he would sit on
it if he did. Edward is smart enough to know that, so he won’t play his hand
until he’s ready.

 

“Bash,
here, have a shot.”

 

Maximus
presses some whiskey into my hand. I almost give it back, I didn’t come here to
drink. But Ripper isn’t here which means calming my anger through booze might
be the only other option. At least for now. I toss it back in one swallow and
slam the glass down onto Knox’s table. It’s only once I turn back to the big
man that I realize how intently he’s staring at me.

 

“What?”

 

Maximus’
eyes looked a bit glazed. He probably started drinking early. He’s usually the
first one drunk and the last one to leave. “We’ve had a good run here,” he
says. “You know, whatever happens.”

 

“What’s
that supposed to mean?” I growl.

 

“Nothing,
nothing.” Maximus raises his pudgy hands up. “I’m just saying, you know, no one
knows what tomorrow will bring. Life is unpredictable. Anyway, lemme go get us
some more to drink.”

 

I
stare at the overweight biker as he makes his way to the bar, his movements
only slightly unsteady. Was he really just having an existential reflection, or
was he hinting at something more? He and Ripper have always got along well, and
Maximus was never a big fan of me cutting off his supply of easy food and booze
money. I’ve offered him some pretty cushy replacements, but he always just
argues that they sound too much like work.

 

Am
I seeing conspiracies wherever I turn, or is someone ready with a knife at my
back?

 

Asking
around, no one has seen Ripper or Snake for the last few hours at least, but
more drinks are pressed into my hands and it isn’t long before I’m not even
asking about them anymore. Any thoughts I had of avoiding getting shit-faced
are gone, and each hour gets me more and more loaded. Ripper and Snake never do
show up, and my booze-addled brain is all but convinced it’s because they’re
out planning a coup. Some of the guys are acting weird, too, but no one is
talking about anything important. I can’t tell if it’s just paranoia, the
booze, or something is really going on. I regret not bringing Eve. She could
have helped me figure it out.

 

Thoughts
of Evelyn make me miss having her around. We’ve been spending so much time
together lately, trying to figure all this shit out, that not having her next
to me almost feels like I’m missing a limb.

 

The
thought of that makes me pause. I’m faced with losing my company, and my MC,
and both of those thoughts just make me angry. They make me want to lash out
and punch someone in the fucking face, and that was my feeling even before I’d
started drinking.

 

But
imagining a life without Evelyn is different. When she’s not around, it’s like
something is missing, something essential, like the very air that I breathe. Suddenly,
I just need to see her again. I don’t even care about Ripper or Snake or
fucking Stonewall. I just want to see Evelyn and to hold her and touch her and
wrap my whole body around hers.

 

Maximus
is pushing another drink at me, but I brush it off. “I’ve had enough,” I say. That’s
not completely true. Enough would have been an hour ago.

 

Turning,
I stumble past the pool table, so desperate to see Evelyn now that I don’t stop
to say goodbye to anyone or even to grab my cut at the other side of the room. I’m
boiling anyway, from the heat of the packed bar and the booze.

 

The
noisy bar is so filled with bodies that I am able to use them to steady myself
as I head for the door. Outside, I breathe in the cool crisp air and give my
head a shake, trying to sober up and happy that it’s not warm out. My bike is
parked on the side, away from most of the others, but by the time I get to it
and drop my keys for the third time I realize there’s no way I can ride it now.
But without my cell phone, which is sitting in my jacket by the pool table, I
can’t even call for a ride.

 

“Hey,
man, you don’t look like you should be riding that thing.”

 

My
eyes take a moment to focus on two young men that approach. One of them has a
goatee and the other is wearing a leather jacket of his own, but without a cut.
“That your bike?” The one with the leather is looking at it appreciatively, so
I nod, waggling my keys. Maybe I can get one of these guys to call me a cab.

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