Che (Golden Glades Henchmen MC 2)

"Was there... is anyone..." I tried, not sure of a delicate way to ask if they'd managed to kill everyone.

"Two are in critical," Huck supplied. "There's no one else."

"Did you ever find out who the new player was?" Che asked, wrapping an arm around me.

"Orest Fedak," Seeley supplied. "San Francisco crime family." It was clear he was the only one who'd gotten a look at the man. Likely right before he put a bullet in his forehead.

"It's a growing Ukrainian mafia family, but they only have loose ties to the bigger families in Brooklyn and Los Angeles," Huck explained. "I don't see there being any future problems. The rest of the family will just figure the area is too hot, and stay in their area."

"The bigger question is how many of the Chechens weren't at the house tonight," McCoy said. "It would be naive to think everyone was there. And they would know they targeted us recently, and we would be the most likely to have retaliated in a big way."

"But either way," Huck said, trying not to let it all be doom and gloom, "they won't be near the organization they were before tonight. And, to be honest, they weren't that big to start with. By the time they regroup and come up with a plan, we will be ready for them. Hopefully with some new men," he added, looking around. "So I want everyone to start seriously thinking about who you think can prospect. Because we need to scale up, and soon. But on that note, I'm going to go see my woman," he said, giving McCoy a nod. "Wake me up if anything develops."

"You got it," McCoy agreed.

Things were unexpectedly somber in the apartment after that, everyone lost in their own thoughts, frantically checking different news channels and apps, even going on dark websites to see if anyone online was talking about the events.

It all seemed to come back to the same thing.

No one knew anything.

Or, at least, no one was talking.

That was the best we could all hope for, I guessed.

Eventually, Che led me back to the room. Aside from curling into each other, there was nothing but sleep, exhaustion clinging to every nerve ending, demanding not to be ignored any longer.

When we woke up, Teddy had a breakfast spread, but Seeley and Remy were long gone. Huck was awake, but McCoy—who had been up all night—was passed out on the couch.

"Anything?" Che asked, going to make us each coffee.

"Nothing," Huck said, shaking his head.

"I even had my people check into it," West said, and I understood from what the girls had been saying while the guys were gone, that West had some of the best people in the industry connected to his club, organizations so well-connected that it was nearly impossible for them not to hear about something like this if it was being discussed. "Everyone is talking about it, of course, but no one seems to give a shit. Which is good for all of us."

No one seemed relieved, though, as the day stretched on. Not even after Remy said things were safe back at the clubhouse. Not even as we all got ready to head back.

"It's going to be alright," Che assured me as he handed me a helmet, and climbed on his bike.

"You don't know that." I'd been on jobs that had seemed to go off seamlessly, but a week or two later—after the cops had time to gather evidence—the arrests started to be made. I'd only managed to escape handcuffs because I never gave anyone my full name, because no one had anything to go on except a basic description of a woman who could be any average American woman, and the fact that I was a great driver.

"Even if it's not alright, you're not going down for anything," he assured me.

I had to admit, that seemed to be the one certainty I had here that I'd never had with any other job. These men wouldn't turn on me, wouldn't turn me in. Not just because we'd been hanging out. Not just because I'd saved Che. It all came down to the fact that they, unlike most organizations these days, had a code. They were honorable. They wouldn't roll on one another. Or me.

"I don't exactly like the idea of something happening to you, either," I told him, rolling my eyes as I climbed on behind him.

"I like that about you," he told me, pulling off before either of us could say anything else.

"Alright," Huck said when everyone was back at the clubhouse, showered, changed, and ready to talk.

Well, he'd banished Harmon, Gus, and Ayanna upstairs since they had no part in the actual crimes, and he wanted to keep it that way. But the rest of us were there, Seeley included, looking rough. Out of all of us, he'd likely gotten the least amount of sleep.