“Your fucking second abducted her,” Devon said, taking a step forwards.
I put my hand out to stop him coming any further. “Easy,” I whispered to Devon. “We need to stay calm.”
Godwin was watching us closely, but I sensed that he wasn’t in the mood for any of this to escalate. I kind of got the feeling that he was past the fights and the turf wars and the violence that came with this life. He didn’t know anything else, however, so he was bound by obligation and necessity to stay with his club until the last. Obviously, he still had a group of men who were loyal to him.
“If Ghost ordered the abduction, then he did so without my orders,” Godwin replied. “He’s been a little out of control lately.”
“Apparently,” I nodded. “You used to have better control over your men, Godwin.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, but he didn’t take the bait. “Control is a young man’s game, it seems. And I no longer have an interest in controlling this club.”
“What kind of leader says that?” I demanded, shocked that he would admit that out loud.
“The dying kind,” Godwin replied. “I have only a couple of months left to live, and I’m not going to spend it trying to reign in a young buck with a reputation to build. He wants this woman…. your sister… then I’m not about to tell him he can’t have her.”
I clenched my jaw. He was dying. That made sense. It explained his disinterest in all the politics that were going on. He was preparing for death, and in doing so, he had distanced himself from life. A part of me almost felt pity for him, but I realized I had got the revenge I had craved. Not only was he dying, but he also knew it was coming soon, and he had no choice but to sit and wait for it.
“You didn’t know his plans then?” I asked.
“I had no fucking clue,” Godwin said.
“Why should we believe you?” Devon demanded.
“I don’t give a fuck whether you assholes believe me or not,” he said impatiently. “The only thing I’m interested in is drinking myself to death before the cancer kills me.”
“Fine,” I said. “You’re dying, and you want no part in this feud.”
“Smart boy.”
“I’m still going after your second.”
“Be my guest,” Godwin said, raising his beer glass. “And may the better man win.”
“Where is he?” I asked.
Godwin downed his beer mug and smashed it on to the table. Then he started laughing. “What makes you think I’m going to tell you that?” he said. “I may not have ordered his actions, and I may not have known about them, but I’m certainly not going to out him. After all, he’s still my man.”
I looked closely at his eyes, and I realized that he was bluffing. He had lost complete control of the man they referred to as Ghost. Not only had he not known about his plans, he didn’t even know where he was. Ghost had split the Knights, and probably more than half of them were loyal to him now. Godwin was just a figurehead who was wasting away right in front of them. He would be dead soon, and then Ghost would be in charge.
We had to move fast, not just for Mila’s sake, but for the town’s sake too. Ghost hadn’t rallied his men yet; the Lucifer’s Knights were split down the middle. He was still just the second trying to gain respect and rule by fear so that when Godwin did die, his word would be law. He hadn’t fully mobilized yet, and that meant this was the perfect time to strike at his power base so that he couldn’t rally after Godwin’s death.
I turned to my men. “Let’s go,” I said. “We’re done here.”
The moment we were back outside, Devon got in my face. “What the fuck are you doing?” he asked. “We could have beaten the location out of that old fucker.”
“It wouldn’t have done any good,” I said. “He doesn’t know where Ghost is.”
“How do you know?”
“It was in his eyes,” I replied. “We’re going to have to find this fucker on our own.”
“It might be too late by then,” Devon said.
I looked him in the eye. “Don’t underestimate your sister. She’s stronger than you think she is.”
Chapter Thirty
Mila