I haven’t been around too much, since I’ve been deliberately avoiding Maya until I have to crash in bed, so it’s not surprising that I’m out of the loop. But I need to get my head off her and back in the game.
“What’s the job?” Eve asks Rush.
It’s just us today. All the other guys are out at their day jobs or shaking down people from other charters to see which way they’re leaning. Maya sparked an idea with her tale of mastery. Instead of starting a war by outright killing Herrin, we’re going to fuck his world up until no one cares if he dies.
I’ve been handling some trouble-causing in that respect, so at least I haven’t been rendered completely useless. Mostly it’s planting the seed of doubt, turning Herrin into the worst thing there is: a rat.
“Rush is watching after my sister,” Drex says distractedly.
It goes so quiet that you can hear each breath being taken. Drex looks around, shrugging, and Rush turns and walks out. Drex never talks about his sister. Ever.
“You think Herrin is going to go after her? How could he find her after all this time?”
“I don’t doubt that he’s known where she was all along, and was saving her as a token piece to use against me. It’s best to think the worst and prepare for it right now,” Drex goes on. “Most of the club believes she’s dead, just like most outsiders. You’d think if people believed I killed my own sister, they’d be a little less eager to go against me. Curious how that isn’t the case, which leads me to believe Pop is up to something.”
His attention returns to that damn paper he’s been eyeing since I came down here.
We hear a bike roar to life as Rush leaves, and I glance up from the chair I’m on to where Eve is still sitting on the arm. She gives me a one-shoulder shrug in response.
“What’re you looking at?” I finally ask Drex.
“My design and name for your half of the club, since you can’t use Death Dealers anymore,” Drake answers, robbing Drex of the chance.
Drex rolls his eyes when I cock an eyebrow.
“He reworked the reaper so that we don’t have to deal with too many ink changes to our originals, for all of us who have the tats,” Drex tells me, handing me the paper.
When I see the name, I hold back a groan. It’s so obvious that it’s almost ridiculous.
“If they’re the Death Dealers and you want to face off against them, then it only seemed right to call yourself the Death Chasers,” Drake says, grinning over at me when I hold the paper up.
“I really like it,” Eve says, looking over at it. “And the name is apt. It’d send a statement to everyone. No fear and all that.”
Dash nods slowly, like he’s taking her words into consideration.
“She’s right,” he finally says on a long breath. “It’d definitely send a statement, and it’d cause a lot of hesitation to everyone out there willing to double cross us. Especially if you couple it with the massacre AJ left behind in our name.”
Fucking Death Chasers. Looks like the misfits have a new name.
“Should be simple enough to fix on the tats.”
“Simple?” Drex asks Drake skeptically.
“Simple for me, because I’m amazing,” Drake quips as he stands, tucking his crutches back under him. “Come, minion. We have calls to catch. Our appointment book is about to get hit,” he adds, winking over at Eve as she flips him off.
She hops off the arm of the chair I’m sitting in, and she goes up to her tiptoes, pressing a kiss to Drex’s lips.
I stand as well, and Dash walks over to me. Sledge joins us, coming from out of nowhere, his attention attuned to only me.
“My contacts in New York haven’t found out anything yet. But they said the heads of the Four Families are a mystery to anyone not high enough in power. We may just have to trust Sarah on this,” he tells me.
“Sarah has been out of the loop just long enough to miss this supposed power exchange. Three years ago she left New York. All of this alleged tale of betrayal and new heads could simply be a wild concoction from a girl we know nothing about,” I say quietly, looking over at Drex as he carries Eve out, her legs wrapped around his waist.
As much as I trust Sarah to not completely fuck us over, I don’t trust Maya not to have fooled her. It’s easy to see why she’d be convincing.
“It does sound crazy, but it almost sounds too crazy to be made up,” Sledge says as he glances up at my closed door. “Until we know for sure, keep your guard up.”
“And if it is true, you might want your guard up even more,” Dash drawls, studying me. For seven days, he’s given me that look. “Mafia girls are the craziest breed of all. Look at Sarah.”