The sun was coming up. “What would you do if I said I couldn’t do this?”
“I’d turn this car around and we could leave. I’m not going to force you to do something you don’t want to do.”
Tabitha stared at the building. Flashes of the past merged with the present, but she couldn’t contain the panic, the fear. It was all a little too much.
You walk away now, you will regret this.
I’m scared.
You have no reason to be scared.
Devil will be with you. Your family. You’re the one in control. You hold all the power. No one else.
This is your fight.
“What’s it going to be, Tabitha?” Devil asked.
She licked her lips, watching. “Stop. We’re going to do this.”
Devil pulled the car up behind Lash and Tiny.
She took a deep breath.
“I’m not going to leave your side,” he said.
“Good. I don’t want you to leave.”
She climbed out of the car, squared her shoulders, and took a step toward the closed door.
Devil caught her shoulders. “They’ve got cameras. We don’t want them to see we don’t have Simon.”
She stayed perfectly still.
Lash did the talking. “You wanted to talk, now is the time.”
Tiny looked toward her and she offered a smile to her father. He didn’t like this, she got it. To him, she would always be his little girl.
The door opened. Lash and Tiny headed on inside. Devil blocked her from view as they made their way into the Monster Dogs’ clubhouse.
She hadn’t been inside their clubhouse. This was going to be the first and only time she did this.
“You want to leave?” Devil asked.
“No. I’m ready.”
The doors opened up and out came Luke. He looked at them and the smile disappeared the moment he caught sight of her.
Lash wrapped his fingers around the kid’s throat. “Take us to your dad.” He spun him around.
It had been a long time since she’d seen Lash unleash the monster, and seeing it now, she knew they were in real danger.
What the hell am I doing?
Why am I doing this?
This isn’t who I am anymore.
I can’t do this.
You can.
You were born a Skull. You can do this. These men mean nothing. You have the power.
Stepping into the Monster Dogs’ clubhouse, she saw the women who were still partying, gyrating up and down the pole. Men and women were fucking in a corner.
They were what The Skulls had been so many years ago. She heard the tales. The stories were all farfetched but watching this club, she had to wonder if they were all in fact true.
As they arrived at Luke’s father’s office, they saw the older man had a woman sucking him off. He sat on the sofa while she bobbed her head between his thighs. It wasn’t exactly what she wanted to see.
Lash pulled Luke close to him and she saw he was having trouble breathing.
Tiny and Devil pulled out guns, pointing them directly at Luke’s dad.
“What the fuck is this?” he asked.
“You wanted a meeting set up. This is the meeting.”
Commotion at the door had her turning. She saw Ryan’s dad. She only knew him because she recognized his face from the last time.
He glanced at her, taking in the scene.
“You call your boys and I will shoot your prez in the face, and then I will take out your entire club,” Lash said.
“You don’t have enough bullets.”
“I’m the kind of person who can snap a man’s neck with my bare hands,” Lash said. “I also alerted my club to the fact I was coming here and I may start a war. It depends how this meeting goes.”
Tabitha was a little confused. Only hours ago, Lash had seemed like a messenger with the Monster Dogs having the real power.
He was back in charge. A true leader.
“This isn’t what we negotiated.”
Lash chuckled. “I know, but you see, I’ve also been made aware of a few things that I’ve seemed to have forgotten. My bad, really. You no longer call the shots. Not anymore. I don’t dance around to your tune. I’m Lash of the motherfucking Skulls. We don’t negotiate with rapists.”
Lash loosened his grip on Luke’s neck. “How are you holding up there, buddy? You want to breathe? You will get the chance to fuck girls again. It’s all up to your daddy and Tabitha. You remember her, right?”
Rather than hide behind Devil, she stepped away from him, holding her head up high.
I can do this.
I’m not the one in the wrong here.
“You see, I think we’ve all forgotten what actually brought us here and it’s not Ryan. No, Ryan’s death was a consequence,” Lash said.
“My boy died.”
She jumped as a gun went off.
Tiny had shot Ryan’s dad in the foot. “The next one will go in the leg. My daughter was raped by your boy. As far as I’m concerned, your boy got off lightly. I’d have gladly severed his dick from his body and made him suffer for months to come.”