“No, we couldn’t. This is what we know, Axe. And the world sure as fuck isn’t interested in helping me today any more than it was interested in helping me when I was a kid. I won’t put my life in anyone’s hands but my own.”
Hyde stepped into the office and glanced between us. “Hate to interrupt, but we’ve got a problem.”
“What?” I asked.
“I still haven’t confirmed what the fuck’s going on, but it seems Black Deeds wanna pick a fight with us. They just undercut us on a cleaning job.”
I shoved my chair back, anger forcing hard, furious breaths from me. “You and me are gonna pay Zero a visit right fucking now. And if we need to make a fucking statement to get this shit sorted, that’s exactly what we’ll fucking do.”
Hyde nodded. “Agreed, brother.”
The Black Deeds president and I had a long, hard history that I was more than rea
dy to end if he was intent on pursuing this agenda. I hadn’t forced myself and my club on Sydney only to shit myself at the first sign of trouble. Storm’s reign would be enforced with this visit to Zero.
The Black Deed’s clubhouse was tiny compared to Storm’s, but that didn’t mean it didn’t house a formidable club. Zero was known for his ruthlessness, and while at times we’d been at war with each other, I gave him credit for the way he held his club together.
Hyde and I took Devil, Kick, Nitro, and Mace with us. We met some resistance at their front gate, but Zero approved our entry, and five minutes later, we stood in front of him, his VP, and a handful of his men.
He glanced between us, narrowing his eyes at me. “It’s been a while since you’ve turned up looking like you’re planning a fucking war, King. What gives?”
My muscles tensed. Every single last fucking one of them. I did another quick sweep of the weapons I could see, and made some rough calculations of each man’s likely move if I shot their president. Meeting his gaze, I said, “That’s because you’ve handled your shit, we’ve handled ours, and I had some fucking peace. Today, you shat all over that peace, and I’ll happily begin a fucking war to get it back.”
His face clouded with anger and he took a step forward, getting in my fucking face. Snarling, he demanded, “Care to fucking say that again.”
I closed the tiny distance between us, adrenaline spiking in my veins. My hands fisted by my side as I threw back, “You heard it the first time.”
“Yeah, I did, but whoever you got your information from doesn’t know shit.”
“He got his information from me, asshole,” Hyde said, “And it’s solid. Your club cut us out of a deal by going in at 30% less than our price. That tells me you mean business.”
Zero didn’t take his eyes off me. Smart motherfucker. “I don’t know what the fuck he’s talking about. The last fucking thing I need on my plate is to be dealing with the fallout from something like this. So fucking stand down, tell your men to stand down, and let’s get to the fucking bottom of this together.”
I searched his eyes. I’d always had a good feel for Zero. And he’d never fed me shit. Not once. So I was inclined to believe what he said.
Raising my hand, signalling for my men to pull back, I moved away from Zero. “Hyde, give us all the information you know,” I said, eyes still pinned to Zero’s. I also kept his men in my peripheral, staying aware of their every move. While we’d worked our way to this point, I trusted no fucker. Tension sat thick in the air, and I had no intention of easing it until I had what I came for.
Hyde rattled off the job details and Zero listened closely before making a call to his VP. They had a heated discussion, and from the way Zero’s face twisted with anger, I figured he’d been given the information he was after.
Ending the call, he shoved his phone back into his pocket and pulled his gun out. I’d seen that coming and had my hand on mine before he even reached for his. Within a matter of seconds, we all stood pointing our weapons at each other, the tension in the room at a whole new fucking level.
“Royce!” Zero barked, gun trained on me. “Get your ass here.” To me, he said, “Steady with that gun, King. We don’t want to start something here that we can’t stop.”
I ground my teeth together, gripping my gun harder. “In case you missed it, I’m good with starting something we can’t stop. Hell, with the way I’m feeling today, I’m fucking itching to start something.”
“Fuck,” Zero muttered, “You’re a fucking madman.”
I grinned, that wave of crazy I fucking loved taking over. “That I am, my friend. That I fucking am.”
He scowled. “We’re not fucking friends.”
“We could be if you’d stop trying to tickle my fucking balls.”
“Jesus, the shit you come out with. If I was after you, I’d be doing a whole lot fucking more than tickling them.”
“Yeah, I’ve figured that by now. You’d be clamping your fucking teeth down on them. So give me whoever the fuck did this shit and let me deal with them.”
“You’re not dealing with anything. I’ll take care of this.” He paused for a beat before barking out again, “Where the fuck is Royce?”