King's Reign (Sydney Storm MC 6)

I decided to take a new tack. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. You speed this up, get me that information by this time tomorrow, I’ll leave you alone and throw in ten grand in cash.”

He blew out a long breath. “Forty-eight hours.”

I balled my fist. I did not want to wait another day, but I knew the truth in what he said. It could well take him that long. “The cash offer is only good until tomorrow. Hurry this the hell up.”

I ended the call and shoved Axe’s phone back at him. “Where’s Zane?”

“In the bar as far as I know.”

I stalked out there and found both him and Griff. They were going over something on Zane’s laptop. I pulled up a seat at their table. “I’ve got a job for you two. Romano’s in protection. You think you can track him down within the next twenty-four hours?”

We’d suspected they had him in witness protection, but it hadn’t been confirmed until now. It slanted this differently than if he was being held in prison. It meant that if we could locate him, we could deal with him ourselves rather than finding someone inside to do it.

Zane nodded. “Yeah. It’s possible.”

“That’s what I thought,” I said. Johnny might have been a fed, but he didn’t have the equipment and skills Zane did. There was a reason Zane was in high demand since he’d left the military.

I stood as I saw Devil enter the bar. “Keep me updated.” Leaving them, I met Devil as he found somewhere to sit. “How’d you go?”

Exhaustion lined his face. Fuck, it lined all our faces. “Her sister is still in a coma.”

“And Lily?” My gut knotted. She’d invaded my head since I’d walked away from her. I couldn’t escape her.

“She’s at the hospital. The kids are at her mother’s with their father. The boys have reported there’s been no suspicious behaviour at the house. They’re safe, King.”

“Talk to her neighbours tomorrow. Get me a description of anyone they saw at the house that day.” I wasn’t leaving it to the police to bring justice for Lily’s sister. I would deliver that myself. By my own fucking hand.

I headed back to my office, ready to finish that bottle of whisky. I hadn’t made it to the office when a text came through that made me sit the fuck up and pay attention.

Unknown Number: Sara needs to see you.

Jesus, what the fuck was Bronze doing?

Me: You’re in Sydney?

Bronze: Yes

Me: When?

Bronze: Now

Me: Give me 30

I stalked out of the clubhouse. Bronze was about to incur some of my wrath. I hadn’t set him up just so he could come back and fuck himself in the ass.

“You should be a million fucking miles from here, Bronze.” I’d arrived at the café before him and had sat for the past five minutes growing increasingly pissed off. “This was not the fucking plan.”

He returned my scowl as he sat across from me. “You know me better than that, King. I did exactly what you would have done in the same situation.”

I ground my teeth together as I ran my gaze over his face. “You look like shit.” He looked a hell of a lot worse than shit. It had been ten days since I’d seen him, but it looked like he hadn’t slept in a month.

“Yeah, you too, asshole.”

I leaned back in my seat, trying to shake the wild energy coursing through me. I was fucking hyped up from everything going on and everything I still had to get done. It was a high I would crash and burn from eventually. Usually I’d screw my way through it, but the only warmth I craved was the one I wouldn’t seek.

Huffing out a breath, I demanded, “So, what gives?”

“I’ve been doing some digging on Romano and his crew. One of his guys seems to be his main choice for getting shit done, so I dug deeper on him than the others. Turns out he changed his name years ago, and when I followed that, I found his history of violent crime including multiple counts of murder. I figure he’s probably the guy Tony sent to take care of Jen—”