“You good?” I asked Linc as soon as he came out of the office, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
“Yup. Let’s get out of here.”
Ace and Chelsea followed us toward the exit, but a commotion off in the corner caught not only my attention but Linc’s as well. In fact, his entire body bristled the closer he stepped toward the small crowd, although I couldn’t understand why. Everyone in attendance tonight was either drunk or overly excited, which meant handsy and loud; the crowd we approached no different.
I strode beside him, leaning over and asking, “You see someone you know?” We were still too far away for me to see if anyone looked familiar, but every step closer had my heart pumping faster.
When some of the crowd cleared, I saw exactly who we were walking toward. The Savage Reapers.
My dad had told me some stories over the years about the war that went on between the Knights and the Reapers, but when I pressed him for more information, he’d shut down, leaving out many specifics I was sure. I never understood why and probably never would. All I had to know was that there was bad blood between our clubs, and I didn’t see any of that shit workin’ itself out anytime soon, if ever.
When we got closer, the Reaper with the shaved head and scraggly beard, I believed his name was Rock, nudged his buddies and jerked his chin in our direction. He knew who we were as well, although our cuts made it obvious. The only one without a cut was Linc and that was because he never brought it here for fear of someone swiping it.
There were five of them, making it uneven in case shit popped off. And even though we needed Ace with us in case things went south, I turned around and told him to get Chelsea out of here. It didn’t take him long to comply, not wanting her anywhere near this scene, no matter what.
Once they left, Linc stepped toward Rock.
I’d seen a Reaper here and there at these fights, but nothing ever came of it. They stayed on their side and we stayed on ours. But right now, something got under Linc’s skin and I was dying to know what.
“Where is she?” Linc asked.
The guy smirked before crossing his arms over his chest. He was a big guy, more fat than muscle, but he was broader and taller than both of us, and I had a feeling if Linc wasn’t such a trained badass, he wouldn’t have bothered getting up close and personal.
“Who you talkin’ ’bout?”
“You know who.” With all the commotion from the crowd still on high, I was surprised I heard a word either of them said, but the intensity blocked out some of the other noise.
“What concern is it of yours? That bitch is club property, therefore none of your business.” As soon as he stopped talking, another Reaper appeared from around the corner, dragging a girl behind him. She struggled against him, but as soon as she saw all of us, she stopped and flipped her attention to the ground. She was a pretty little thing, standing no taller than five three with shoulder-length dark hair. She looked underweight, her fitted clothing appearing loose on her small frame. I had no misconceptions as to whether she’d been mistreated while in the company of the Reapers. The evidence was written all over her body and in the terrified expression she tried to hide.
“The fuck’s goin’ on here?” The guy who manhandled the girl was Griller, the president of their club. He was thinner than the rest of his buddies, tattoos covering his neck and even running up the side of his face, skulls and daggers covering his cheek and temple. He was clean-shaven, and I couldn’t help but think that with all that shit on his face, he should grow a beard to hide it.
“He wanted to know where your piece was.”
Holding the now frozen female, Griller stepped into Linc’s space, a little too close for comfort, but Linc never flinched. “I told you to back off. Get your own pussy.” The guy tried to intimidate Linc, but he failed, and when he saw that he had no effect on him, he took a step back, feigning boredom. “Let’s get outta here. I got a treat I wanna share with my brothers tonight.” He squeezed the girl’s arm tight enough to make her wince, her eyes darting from the guy clutching her to Linc before a lone tear streaked down her cheek.
Linc stepped toward them, but I stopped him with a firm grip on his shoulder. “Not tonight.” I wasn’t sure he heard me, but he didn’t get any closer. There was no way anything good was gonna come of a brawl between us and them. Besides, the only weapon I had on me was a knife tucked into the back of my waistband. And I had no doubt one of the Reapers, if not all of them, were carrying.
While we weren’t going to start a fight, we weren’t going to walk away first either. Some of the longest moments of my life passed before Griller sneered at us, smacking his buddy’s shoulder. They left soon afterward.
One thing was for sure, for a moment, my mind was occupied with something other than thoughts of Riley. But I couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing.
Once outside, we found Ace and Chelsea waiting for us nearby, no Reapers to be found. Before we reached them, however, I stepped in front of Linc, keeping my voice low enough so only he could hear me.
“Mind tellin’ me what all that was about?” I studied his face, looking for any signs he was either gonna blow me off or lie, but I didn’t see anything other than the irritated pull of his brows.
“I’ve seen her twice before with them.”
I waited for him to continue, but he didn’t say anything else. “Sooo?” I stretched out my one-word question to clarify my confusion.
“I think they’re holdin’ her against her will.”
“That sucks, but how is that your concern?” I asked, still not understanding why he felt he should get mixed up in Reaper business. Both of our fathers had warned us on several occasions not to go out of our way to start shit with those bastards, that the last thing we needed was to go back to war with the likes of them. Even though we came out the victors many years back, there was no telling what would happen now. Again, we were only provided small details about the original conflict between us and them. The only people who knew the full story weren’t talking, no matter how much prodding I’d done over the years.
“I dunno. I just know that I have to help her.” Linc shifted from one foot to the other, raking his hand through his dark hair in frustration. “I think she wants me to help her,” he mumbled, but I heard him loud and clear.
“Well, you better be careful because you’ll get your ass handed to you if you stir up anything between the clubs.” I placed my hand on his shoulder. “Your dad will kill you. He’s been adamant, along with my ol’ man, about all of us keeping our distance from the Reapers. Don’t fuck that up.”
My dad was the president of the club and Stone, Linc’s dad, was his second-in-command. They’d been best friends since they were kids and had done and seen some awful things, some they’d told us about and some they’d take to their graves. And while my ol’ man was tough as nails when he needed to be, I was more afraid of Stone. The man had a temper on him, and the last thing I wanted to do was be on the receiving end of one of his blowups.
For a long time, I hadn’t been able to look Stone in the eye, and it had everything to do with the fact that I was sleeping with his daughter, for years. Even after we stopped seeing each other, it was hard for me to look him in his face, fearing he’d somehow figure out I’d had a relationship with his little girl.
I supposed that was all water under the bridge, or whatever the fuck that sayin’ was. Although, I had no doubt if Stone found out twenty years from now about me and Riley, he’d still attempt to kill me, something he threatened any guy who even looked at her too long. He never warned me away from her because he entrusted me to watch out for her, which ended up being a huge mistake on his part.
“The last thing I wanna do is cause us any problems, but I have to help her.” Linc shook his head before briefly closing his eyes. When he looked at me again, he said, “I’ll figure something out.” His words didn’t hold much conviction and I prayed he didn’t do anything stupid because otherwise, I was gonna have to get involved, and I had enough on my plate these days trying to devise a way to get Riley back into my life.