Nitro's Torment (Sydney Storm MC 2)

I stared at him while he walked to the door. My next question was one I didn’t want to know the answer to. “What do you have planned?”

He looked back at me, his eyes glinting with menace. “Eric Bones is desperate for cash. I’ve agreed to sell guns to him cheaply in exchange for his loyalty. He’s also going to flood the market with cheap coke from me, undercutting the club. And you’re going to help by giving him details of Storm’s trade so he can use that information against them. Tonight.”

He exited the room without another word, and I stood in shock at what he wanted me to do. Joseph was a smart motherfucker. Forcing me to disregard my club loyalty achieved two things for him. One, it showed I was serious about returning to him. And two, it ensured my ties to Storm were cut. Because no way would the club take me back if I betrayed them like this.

* * *

Eric Bones inspected me. Every bruise and cut on my face were noted, as was the way I grimaced each time I moved. Finally, he met my eyes. “You’ve left Storm?”

Joseph and William sat either side of me, their bodies rigid while they waited for my answer. William had spent the drive to the meeting point trying to drill his special brand of fear into me. I’d anticipated that, though, so I had done my best to prepare my mind for it. And I’d succeeded. So far.

“Yes.”

His eyes widened and he whistled. “Fuck. Never thought I’d see the day, Nitro.” Jerking his chin at my face, he said, “They do that to you?”

My mouth flattened into a hard line. I needed to get this shit over with as fast as possible. Sitting there discussing my club was not fucking helpful.

Before I could reply, Joseph stepped in. “No, I did that to him.” Leaning his arms on the table, he added, “This is what happens when I’m not happy.”

Eric’s brows lifted and I took in his nervousness. I hoped to hell he was reconsidering his involvement with Joseph. With a shaky laugh, he said, “Remind me never to piss you off.”

“You will do well to remember this,” Joseph said. “Now, can we get down to business?”

Eric tapped his fingers on the table, jittery. “Umm, yeah, about that….”

“Yes?” Joseph’s voice was low. Dangerous.

William leant forward. “You haven’t changed your mind, have you, Eric? That wouldn’t make Joseph very happy.” There was no mistaking his threat. William had a presence that shrieked danger.

Eric stared at him. The fear rolled off him as he assessed William who had been silent up until that point. Swallowing hard, he said, “I just need a little more time to get some shit worked out.”

“This happens today or not at all,” Joseph said.

Eric’s indecision was blatantly obvious in the way he said he wanted in on the deal while his body language said the complete opposite.

Raking his fingers through his hair, he said, “Man, honestly, I just need a few more days and then we’re sweet. I don’t have the cash for the guns yet.”

Joseph fumed next to me. I watched as he splayed his hand out on the table in the way he did when his urge was actually to punch someone. It was one of his control mechanisms.

Silence filled the air for a minute while Joseph considered what Eric had said. Finally, he stood. “Three days, Eric. If you’re not ready then, you’re dead.”

As William and I stood to leave with Joseph, I took in Eric’s expression. He looked like he was about to shit his pants.

Greed was a dirty fucking thing. It made you do shit you thought you’d never do. I’d watched countless men fall after a relationship with it. I hoped that Eric gave up on this deal, but something told me that the threat of death wasn’t something a man like him would be willing to risk. Men like him would rather sleep with the devil than give everything up for some peace.

I wasn’t like Eric Bones.

I’d choose death over the devil every time.

* * *

I slept on the cement floor again that night. Not that I got many hours of actual sleep in. Probably two at the most. My body hurt too damn much on the floor. On top of that, I couldn’t shut my mind off. I spent most of the night worrying about Tatum. I wasn’t a praying man, but I prayed like fuck that she’d received the medical attention she needed. I also prayed that Marilyn was okay and that Renee and Dustin were dealing with it all.

When the sun rose, I paced the room while I waited for Joseph to arrive. He hadn’t said anything to me when we’d returned from the meeting with Eric Bones. He’d been furious with Bones, and because I knew Joseph’s evil mind well, I knew some of that fury stemmed from the fact my hand hadn’t been forced to declare my loyalty to him over Storm. I’d been given a reprieve, and all I could hope was that three days was enough time to show Joseph where my true loyalty lay.

He didn’t show his face that morning, but William did. He turned up wearing his cargo pants, black tee, and combat boots, which told me what kind of day it was going to be.

Throwing clean clothes at me, he fired his orders. “You’ve got five minutes for a shower and then I want you waiting outside dressed in these. You and me are gonna spend the day together getting reacquainted.”