Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 33577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
"Jack." Ghost's voice yanked me back to the present. "Your orders?"
I straightened, pushing thoughts of Honey aside. "Double the patrols. Full lockdown of the compound. No one in or out without mine or Ghost’s explicit permission. Armed checkpoints at all entrances. And move the shipment forward. They're expecting it in thirty-six hours at the drop point, so we take delivery at dawn. Adjust the pick up time for them accordingly."
“I’m already on that,” Ghost said, anticipating my order as always. “Hotwire and his crew are already on the way.”
“Good. Maybe this deal will won’t go south.”
"What about the girl?" Ghost asked, his voice carefully neutral.
"What about her?” I made my tone clear the matter wasn't up for discussion. "It’s done. She’s my old lady and you better fuckin’ treat her as such. You protect her above everyone. Myself included."
“Understood, prez.” Ghost had asked the question intentionally. He knew I’d want to leave this meeting with Honey’s place in this club being reiterated. He picked his battles and made a point to never disagree with me in public. Any questions regarding Honey, he asked now so I could control the narrative. Didn’t mean I wouldn’t catch hell later, just not in front of the brothers.
"As for the Copperheads," I continued, my voice dropping to a dangerous growl, "we hit them before they hit us again. I want their clubhouse under surveillance twenty-four, seven. First sign they’re makin’ any kind of move."
"They're going to retaliate for tonight," one of the brothers pointed out.
“They attacked us,” I snapped. “At our home! They want to try to retaliate for gettin’ their pussy asses handed to ‘em during their own sneak attack, we’ll crush the motherfuckers completely.”
The meeting continued, plans were made, duties assigned. Ghost's precise assessments tempered my rage-fueled thoughts into a cohesive strategy. By the time we finished, the first hints of dawn were creeping through the high windows of the chapel.
"Bug, you find something I want to know about it immediately.”
Bug shook his head. “Twenty-four hours, prez. I don’t want to get someone hurt who’s innocent. Let me investigate thoroughly before I come to you.”
“No. I’m not going to do anything until you’ve completed your investigation, but I want to know if I need to keep an eye on someone.”
Bug said nothing for a long moment, thinking over my order. And we both knew this wasn’t a request. “OK. You give me your word you’ll let me finish before you take action, that’s enough for me, prez.”
“Good.” I looked over everyone. “I know me takin’ woman wasn’t on anyone’s radar.” I snorted a laugh. “Even mine.” That got some chuckles. “So, I’ll give you time to process. I will warn you, though. Do not disrespect her. In any way. How you treat her is a direct reflection of what you think of me.” Throwing down this gauntlet would be enough to ensure there were no problems. I’d hate to have to kill one of my brothers, but I had the feeling I just might. Which made me want to claw my eyeballs out because the one thing I absolutely never got possessive over was a woman. Ever. Even Vixen, my ex. I knew she fucked around. I just made sure anyone who fucked her knew I knew. “Bug, let me know when Hotwire has that shipment of guns in his possession. Lock ‘em up tight and make sure you’ve got eyes from every angle on this. And I want to know when Castellano’s men take possession and I want you to confirm this every step of the way. If we want to be Castellano’s main arms trafficking source, we have to show him we can deliver shipments on time or ahead of schedule and that we can do it in an orderly schedule, no matter what is going on around us.”
“On it, prez.” Bug gave me a crisp nod before heading out.
The brothers filed out, purpose in their stride, leaving me alone with Ghost. He remained seated, watching me with those penetrating gray eyes. "The girl," he said finally. "You sure about this?"
I met his gaze steadily. "No. But it's done now."
Ghost nodded slowly. "Just be careful, brother. Beautiful women have a way of making even the strongest men weak."
"I'm not weak," I growled.
"No," he agreed, rising from his seat. "But you've never claimed a woman before, not in all the years I've known you. Not like what you just threw down in there. There must be something special about this one."
I had no answer for that. Because the truth was, I didn't understand it myself. All I knew was that from the moment I'd seen Honey standing in my clubhouse, something primal had awakened in me. Something possessive. Something I wasn't sure I could control.
Ghost clapped me on the shoulder as he passed. "Get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."