I wasn’t worried about him shooting me. There were too many witnesses in the room, and if he had an argument of any kind, it wasn’t valid. Word had spread, and everyone was talking about it.
Sabbath fucked the club over, and he was slowly losing all the loyalty that came with his patch. You don’t play with an Outlaw’s money, just like you don’t threaten one and live to tell the tale.
I played a dangerous hand, intervening the way I did with Shasta, but I honestly didn’t care. No woman deserved to be hit… ever.
Sabbath lowered his gun, glancing around the room at all our brothers who were there to witness his spiral. He turned toward them all, holding the gun in his hand and waving it around wildly.
“Listen up, fuckers. By now, everyone in this goddamn club knows what I did. I don’t give two flying fucks what any of you think. I did what I thought was right for the club. I’ll always put the club first, whether it fucks us or not. But if any of you bastards ever dare to fucking step to me like this asshole did earlier today, I’ll burn this whole goddamn place to the ground and lock you fuckers in it. Last I checked, I’m the fucking Prez of this club, and if any of you assholes want to step to me, go right the fuck ahead. That’s the only way you’ll get this goddamn patch off me.”
Nobody said a word. They wouldn’t. Every man in this room respected him enough to stand down.
Except two.
Both Clash and Snyder held their heads high, bringing Sabbath down without him even knowing. The fact that they both had the balls to fuck his woman still floored me. I don’t think I’d ever be that cocky or ready to die.
But I would protect her, just like I vowed to protect any woman abused by a man.
My mother’s image sprung to the front of my mind. She was a strong as hell woman, but what my father did to her that day has never left me. That strength in her eyes was replaced with broken tears, and her faith in him to be a good father for me died the second he sent her and me sprawling to the ground.
If that asshole hadn’t died from a drug overdose two years later, I would’ve showed up at his door, pulled the trigger, and not think twice about it. But fate had a funny way of intervening, and my father’s addictions eventually were his downfall.
If my calculations were correct, Sabbath’s spiral was just starting to form. The storm was coming, and if he didn’t fucking wise up soon, the man was on the fast track to hanging himself on his own fucking noose, and I hoped I had a front-row seat for it.
“That’s what I thought,” Sabbath smirked. “None of you assholes are brave enough to stand up to me.” He turned his attention back to me.
“Consider this your warning, Sandman. Next time, they’ll be picking up your carcass from off the floor.”
He stomped off, the crowd parting so he could return to his room.
“Geesh,” Ranger said, stepping next to me. “I go take a shit for one minute and miss all the good stuff. What the fuck did I miss?”
Snyder and Clash both shot me a look, shaking their heads as if they were trying to ward me off from revealing their secret.
But I wasn’t a snitch, and I wasn’t going to say anything that would incriminate either one of them.
My eyes met Ranger’s, and I sighed. “Sabbath’s downfall,” I mumbled right before I fell back into my chair and took another swig from my beer.
Today was a complete shitshow. I just hoped it wasn’t a bad omen for what’s to come.
Chapter Three
Shasta
Blinding sun hit my face through a gap in Ramona’s curtain. Every bone in my body ached like hell. Her couch was a saggy mess of uncomfort, and my back was ready to revolt against me.
Ramona emerged from her room wearing nothing but a T-shirt. She squeaked, clutching her heart when she realized I was there.
“Shit, I forgot you stayed the night,” she said, gasping for breath. “You scared the shit out of me.”
Yawning and stretching the kinks out of my limbs, I turned to her. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
“It’s okay. Pregnancy has made my brain fog up. I’m lucky to remember what I ate last night, let alone who stayed over. Have you heard from Sabbath?”
I had.
He blew up my phone all night long, so much I had to turn the damn thing off.
“Unfortunately. I think he was drunk or high last night, maybe both…” My voice trailed off as I thought back to all his crazy fucked up messages. “His texts were fucking illegible and hard to follow.” That was sort of the truth. Most of his texts were pretty readable. I just couldn’t believe my eyes.