RIDING DIRTY (Steel Titans MC Book 4) by Franca Storm (ebook voice reader .txt) 📕

“Why come to me at all then, if that’s how you feel about my approach?”

“Because Freeman weren’t an immediate threat like Nolan. Takes time to build a club. That slow burn thing is right up your alley. Him joining up with Nolan changes all that and gives the kid access to some major resources. It pushes up the timeframe in a big way.”

“Those resources of Nolan’s are exactly why he needs to take priority right now. He’s the gasoline to Freeman’s small spark. He doesn’t have an heir apparent, nobody to carry on his legacy when he’s gone. So, taking him out will be the end of Indulge, his entire empire, and his connections, as well as taking away the support and crutch he’s giving to Freeman.”

I shook my head. “Nah, you need to get on Freeman. Find out who he’s trying to recruit, then we deal with them one by one, redirecting them or neutralizing them in other ways without going for the kill. Isolate Freeman, then we move in. I’ll take Nolan. I just gotta wait until he’s off the Strikers MC compound turf, so I can get at him and take a clean shot.”

“For sure,” Rick said, eyeing Willa. “The Prez of Steel Titans ain’t got no hope of getting nowhere near that compound. You, on the other hand, none of them know your deal. Sure, they’ve heard of Shadow, but there’s no intel to make a positive ID on you, nothing that’s gonna lead to you.”

“I’m well aware,” Willa said. “And that will come. Obviously. But, first up, is Nolan. With him in the picture, Freeman is automatically far more dangerous. This is what’s happening. All right? Are we clear?”

She pressed her palms to the flat of the table and I eyed both of us in turn.

To his credit, Rick didn’t hand his balls over to her and just agree blindly like I thought he was gonna end up doing. He actually shook his head at her. It was because he knew how stupid this idea of hers was, just as much as I did.

“No, we ain’t clear,” I told her. “This ain’t happening.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” I said, pushing my stool in and stepping back from the counter. “You two get to work on figuring out who Freeman’s been trying to recruit, any patterns that are emerging. Then we’ll look into them individually and see how we can stop them from coming on board this stupid-ass Strikers Rising nightmare.”

“Where are you going?” Rick asked.

“Getting ready to move on Nolan the second he leaves that goddamn compound.” I turned to go, but before I could make it out of the kitchen, Willa rushed around and stepped into my path, blocking my way.

“We’re not done here, Slade.”

“Sure, we are. I just laid out the real plan.” The sane plan. Jesus Christ.

“You do not dictate to me!” she yelled, finally losing her cool all the way.

“Looks like you need me to.”

She sneered. “You just can’t stand not being the one in control, huh?”

“All right, sure, I do like calling the shots. I’ve been a leader for way too long not to enjoy that part of it. But that ain’t what this is about right now. And, for the record, you take the cake when it comes to all of that, no question about it.”

“What are you talking about? What the hell else would it be about?”

“Two things.”

Folding her arms across her chest, she shifted her weight and demanded, “Okay, I’ll play. Tell me, all-knowing biker President, what am I missing here?”

I held up one finger. “First off, me.”

“You?”

“That’s right. You ain’t comfortable around me after what’s gone down between us.”

Rick got up from his stool and crossed to the door. “I’m gonna sit this part out,” he said, as he passed on by us and took off down the hall.

I eyed Willa head-on and continued, “You can’t stand these close quarters we’re living in any more, because you’re afraid of the truth of it all. You ain’t ready for none of it. That’s been made crystal clear. You want out of this situation, out of this safehouse, far away from me and the connection we got going on between us.”

Scoffing, she said, “Wow. You really think a lot of yourself.”

I ignored her typical lashing out and went on anyway, holding up two fingers, as I told her, “Second, this is a prime example of the cracks I’ve been warning you about. You’re being reckless here, big time. Desperate.”

She shook her head vehemently. “Bullshit.”

“You’re so far in denial, you can’t even see it, even though it’s obvious to everybody else.”

“Stop!” she yelled, slamming her hands into my chest.

The suddenness of it was enough to move me, knocking me back into the wall behind me.

She was on me in the next second, fisting her hands in my tee. “I know what I’m doing, Slade! I’ve been doing it for a long time! I’m the best! I’m not cracking, okay? I’m not!”

Rage was all she was showing me, but it didn’t take much to see what else was there, the things she was trying to hide behind those sexy, deep-blue eyes of hers.

Fear.

Pain.

Grief.

Desperation.

I grasped her fists that had a white-knuckle grip on my tee. I kept my voice calm and easy as I told her, “Ain’t saying none of this to hurt you, darlin’. I’m trying to help you, to fucking well spare you. I don’t want you ending up like me. You’ve still got a spark in you. There’s still hope for you.”

She released her grip on me and stepped back, her gaze hard, her walls going back up so damn quick, it was enough to give me whiplash. “Hope is for fools. There’s only the fight.”

“If you believed that, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation right now. You wouldn’t be reacting so intensely. You’re standing at a crossroads and you’re terrified to choose a path, because you know things ain’t never gonna be the same.