Relent (Sydney Storm MC 1)

Kick

“Anyone else got anything to discuss?” King asked, casting his gaze around the room.

Church had been quick today, but we hadn’t discussed the one thing I thought we would have.

And then Hyde stepped in. “Where are we at with Gambarro, Kick?” he asked, his steely eyes boring into mine.

I sat forward. I’d been ready for this. “As far as I know, he still doesn’t know who I am. I’ve asked my contacts if they’ve heard anything and there’s nothing on the radar.”

“Gambarro’s not a fucking idiot, Kick,” Hyde asserted, “he’ll figure it out soon enough and we need to have a fucking plan to deal with this shit.”

King interrupted. “Our plan is what it’s always been.”

Hyde gave him an incredulous look. “What? Sit and wait for the shit to land at our feet and then defend ourselves?”

King’s hard eyes narrowed at Hyde. “You think it would be better to announce to Gambarro it was us?” he asked scathingly.

Hyde shoved his chair back and stood. Shoving his hand through his dark hair, he bit out, “Fuck, King, I don’t know what the fuck we should do, but I hate sitting here waiting. Like a sitting fucking duck.” He glared at me. “We shouldn’t be in this fucking position.”

Devil, who only spoke when he felt it absolutely necessary, said, “Sit the fuck down, Hyde, and get your shit together, man.”

I eyed Devil and he gave me a nod. He approved of what I’d done. I’d never hear those words from his lips, but Devil’s actions always said everything you needed to know.

Hyde now turned his filthy stare to Devil. “Clearly, I’m the only one here who does have his shit together. I can’t fucking believe none of you are worried about this.”

Nitro sat next to me, his body tense, and his mouth firmly closed. No love was lost between him and Hyde, and I knew if he got into a heated discussion now, the fists would likely come out. Nitro was a smart man and extremely disciplined at keeping his mouth shut where Hyde was concerned, but today he lost the fight to contain himself. Cold eyes pierced Hyde and his voice was deathly calm when he spoke. “Clearly you’re the only one who is forgetting Kick’s loyalty to Storm. He’s done shit for us that no man should ever have to fucking do, and he does it without a fucking word of complaint. I think you need to step the fuck back, pull your fucking head in, and shut the fuck up.”

King smashed his fist down on the bench and stood, fury circling him. “Enough!” he roared. Pointing at Hyde, he yelled, “Sit down, Hyde, and don’t say another fucking word.” He watched as Hyde followed his orders, and then he turned to face everyone. “We’re not fucking announcing anything to the world. Everyone is to keep their ear out and if you hear anything, you bring it to me. We clear?”

I looked around the table and found everyone nodding their agreement. Hyde nodded but his body language screamed his resistance.

“Right, that’s settled. Anything else?” King asked, a look of impatience plastered across his face. He glanced around the table and when no one spoke, he brought the gavel down to signal we were done.

Hyde stormed out, and I watched King as his gaze followed Hyde. He’d always had a close relationship with his Vice President, but Hyde seemed to be causing him headaches lately. He eventually tore his eyes from Hyde and looked at me. “Don’t worry about Hyde. I’ll take care of him,” he said, mistaking my concern for something it wasn’t.

I shook my head. “I’m more concerned for you, Prez,” I admitted.

A frown creased his forehead. “Why?”

“Your VP doesn’t have your back and he’s the one who’s supposed to have it more than anyone else.”

He processed that silently. “Yeah,” he muttered, deep in thought. “He’ll fucking have it soon enough, brother,” he added, before stalking out of the room.

King could be persuasive, but I feared Hyde was in one of his moods at the moment and when Hyde was in a mood, nothing could get through to him.

Fuck.

***

Kick

17 years old

I placed the joint between my lips and inhaled its magic. The magic that would help numb me and make me forget, for even just a few hours, the shit I had to deal with at home. I sucked it deep into my lungs and held it there for a long while before slowly exhaling and letting my head drop back against the wall. I passed the joint to Jeremy and heard him take a hit.

When he was done, he passed it back to me and stretched out on his back on the floor. It was three o’clock in the morning and his house was silent as his family slept. We’d just gotten back from a lame party. He turned to look at me. “That party was shit.”

I nodded. “Yeah, not one chick worth scoring.”