“Do as he says, Marco,” Hagarty says, seething at King.
When I read Marco’s retreat in his eyes, I squeeze his throat one last time and then shove myself away from him.
“I’ll expect a phone call tonight to tell me it’s done,” King says to Hagarty. I know for a fact he won’t need that phone call to know shit’s been taken care of because Axe will let him know once that’s done. If Hagarty thinks he has any hope of not doing what King’s told him to, he’s mistaken; King has eyes all over his business dealings and won’t hesitate to take action to get what he wants.
As we exit the house, King pulls out his phone and makes a call.
To Detective Stark.
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” he says, having already arranged for us to meet with her.
He listens to what she says and then jabs the phone to end the call.
Eyeing me, he says, “You know what to do if she doesn’t come to the party.” The dark edge running through his voice matches the tension in his eyes.
I nod. “Yeah.”
“Good, because this shit ends today.”
I don’t know all the ins and outs of the pressure crushing Storm, because King keeps that shit close to his and Hyde’s chests, but he has shared with me that he’s taking back control of Detective Stark today one way or another. Four years of taking care of her shit have taken their toll on him, that much I do know. To say I’m fucking happy about this turn of events is an understatement. The only club members who know about his involvement with her are Hyde, Nitro, Devil, Kick, Winter, and me. I’m the one, though, who’s had to deal with her the most besides King, and I don’t like the bitch. And I sure as fuck don’t trust her, so I’m more than down with doing what he’s told me to do if she doesn’t fall in line.
Fifteen minutes later, we’re cutting across the gravel out the back of the abandoned industrial building that’s the meeting point for all their chats. Detective Stark’s back is to us as she stares down at her phone. When she hears our approach, she turns, bringing her flinty eyes to me and then to King, settling her gaze on him.
“This better be good, King,” she says, cold as ice. “I had plans with my daughter today that I’ve had to—”
“I don’t give a fuck about your plans, Isabel,” he starts, and it’s obvious he gives no fucks about the venom that blazes from her when he continues, “You and I are making a change to the way we work.”
“No, we’re not.” More venom.
He pulls something from his pocket and hands it to her. “Yeah, we fucking are.”
She makes no sound as she takes a toy phone from him—the one I retrieved from the Italian—but her body language is one long gasp. She practically fucking chokes, but still, she says nothing.
King jerks his chin at the phone. “I’ve made copies of the chip we found in there and I’ve put one of those copies back inside for you in case you ever forget what’s on the original.” He takes a step nearer to her. “I won’t be taking orders from you anymore; you’ll be taking them from me. And the first order of business is for you to drop all investigations into Hagarty.”
Her lips smash together. “You’re not being serious.”
“About Hagarty?” he asks. “Deadly serious. I’ve told you that taking him off the streets is a bad fucking decision, and now I’m making sure you don’t.”
She shakes the phone at him. “That’s why you’re blackmailing me with this shit?”
He covers the rest of the distance between them, looming over her as he snarls, “No, I would have made sure of that without the blackmail.” He jabs the phone. “This is me fixing the mistake I made when I allowed your child to get in the way of my good fucking sense four years ago.”
“I have so much shit on you and your operations, King. You’re a fucking fool making this play.”
His hand goes to her neck. Crushing it in his grip, he growls low, “You would do well not to underestimate me, Isabel. The shit I have on you far outweighs anything you have on me. But just to be sure”—he lets her go and pulls out his phone, dials a number and then hands the phone to her—“you’ll give us the password to your computer.”
When I sense her wavering, I move next to her.
She glances between King and me, her expression revealing just how not into this she is. “Over my dead fucking body. And besides, you’d have to get your hands on my computer to—”
I aim my gun at her as King says, “We have your computer. But if you want to die, just say the word. My men are skilled at hacking computers if necessary. I just figured we could start our new relationship off with some friendly give and take.” His eyes glitter with crazy. “As in you fucking give and I fucking take.”
When she doesn’t start talking but just stares at us, I move the gun to her temple and exert enough pressure to force her head to the side. The ice in her eyes shifts to fear and they beg me not to pull the trigger. I shake my head once. I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger if King gives me that order.
Finally, after a long drawn-out moment of tension, she rattles off her password. Once she gives it to whoever’s on the other end of the phone, King puts the phone to his ear and says, “Do you have what you need?”
Once he receives confirmation, he ends the call and eyes Stark. “Take care of the Hagarty situation and let me know once it’s done. Tonight.” Without another word, he turns and stalks away.