Dice (A Righteous Outlaws Novel #3) (3 page)

A
fter a long morning
of oil changes and replacing brakes, I was ready for a cigarette. Kade’s head was in the hood of an old beat up Dodge Dakota, so I knew I wouldn’t be interrupting anything by going to Sienna’s office.

Miles pulled into the lot, as I made my way across it. He’d been missing all fucking day. He was supposed to tape up a car today, and get it ready for painting. “Where the fuck have you been?”

“Something came up,” he said.

“You better come up with something better than that. Sienna was seething this morning when she had to call the customer and tell them we were behind schedule.” Kade and I had flipped a coin to see who would break the news to her. Luckily for me, I called heads and his sorry ass didn’t. Though when he came back from her office, zipping his pants, it was obvious he made it up to her.

“Shit,” Miles muttered. “I had the Nissan today, didn’t I?”

I nodded. “You did. And you know how much of a pain in the ass that kid’s been.”

“I’ll start on it now.”

“I think that’s a good idea. You should also stay clear of Sienna for the rest of the day. I’m going to talk to her now. I’ll let her know you’re here and working.”

He patted my shoulder. “Thanks, brother.”

It wasn’t uncommon for Miles to disappear for days at a time, but Sienna wasn’t as forgiving as her father. Nick always cut Miles a break, but Sienna refused to give him an inch.

Unaware of what mood she’d be in, I slowly tapped on her door, before stepping in. “Taking a cigarette break. Want to join me?”

She looked up from a pile of invoices, her blonde hair a damn mess that looked like she was yanking on it instead of hitting someone.

“What’s going on, S?”

“Remember last year when the numbers weren’t matching up?”

“Yeah you said it wasn’t that big of a deal. You mentioned something again the other day.”

“They’re not matching up again, but this time it’s a big deal. Here and there, they look like little things, but then you add them up… It’s thousands and thousands of unaccounted money.”

“What does that even mean? Do you think someone’s stealing from the company?”

She leaned back in her chair, and her body slumped in defeat. “It’s definitely a possibility.”

“Fuck. What does Kade say about this?” It wasn’t a question if he knew or not. Ever since Sienna finally opened her heart to Kade, she didn’t keep anything from him. Besides, he would know if something was off with her. Other than me, he knew her better than anybody.

“He told me to keep it quiet for now. See if I can find any links to anyone. If not, I’m going to have to question each employee one at a time. See if I can sense something off with them. Kade is going to keep an eye and an ear on everyone.”

I stared at her in disbelief. Almost all the employees were brothers. They wouldn’t steal from family.

“I don’t want to believe it any more than you do,” she said. “I’d rather believe it’s someone hacking into our system. God knows we have plenty of enemies, but, from what I’ve found already, it seems like an inside job.”

The information overloaded my mind. “Get away from that desk for a little bit. Let’s go outside.”

She pushed up from her chair and followed me out. We took our places in our usual spot against the building and I lit up a cigarette. I looked across the lot to the garage. If it was an inside job, that meant one of my brothers betrayed us. But who?

My first thought was the prospects Stumpy and Byrd. They had only been around for a short time, compared to the rest of the guys. But they were so desperate to get patched in, I couldn’t imagine them doing anything to jeopardize their chances. Then there were the full-patched members: Cash, Phil, Kade, Miles, Hudson, Beast, and Braxton.

“It has to be an outside job,” I said. I refused to accept any other answer.

Sienna rested her hand on my arm. “I hope you’re right.”

I took another drag of my cigarette, letting it do its job of calming me down. A Toyota Prius pulled into the parking lot, and Allison stepped out. Today’s dress was cut off at her knees, revealing shapely legs.

I hadn’t seen her since I opened the door on her mid-knock. She was just as beautiful as I remembered. Her long hair hung in waves just above her shoulders, and I wondered if those waves were natural compared to the straight smooth hair she wore the other day.

“I meant to ask you,” Sienna said, smacking me in the chest. “Allison’s background check came back clear, so I offered her the job. She doesn’t have a place to stay. So, I was hoping you could rent her your place since you moved into the house.”

“A girl who looks like that could move into the house with me for all I cared.”

Sienna hit me in the head. “She is DC’s nanny. You will not sleep with her.”

I held my hands up. “Who said anything about sleeping with her?”

“Oh, please. I wasn’t fucking born yesterday. I’ve known you since you were a horny fifteen-year-old and not much has changed. I can see that look in your eyes. And I’m telling you right now, stay away. Her mom just died. She’s vulnerable, and doesn’t need your shit.”

“You speak so highly of me, sis.”

She looked me straight in the eye. All joking brushed aside. “Our lifestyle isn’t for the weak and it definitely isn’t for someone as sweet and innocent as Allison.”

“Then, how do you explain Aubree?” Cash’s old lady was about as innocent as they came. Born into a life of privilege and never worked a day in her life, yet she became one of us almost overnight.

“Aubs is different. Her situation was different.” Watching your dad get arrested and hauled off to jail to serve a twenty-five-year sentence could change anybody. “I’m just asking you to keep your dick in your pants.”

Allison walked toward us, holding DC in her arms. His face lit up as they came closer, and he reached for Sienna.

“Total mama’s boy,” I said as Sienna took him into her arms. Allison stopped beside me, completely bathing me in her vanilla scent. “Hi Allison. Nice to see you again.”

Allison smiled and my gaze lingered on her pink lips. I imagined them wrapped around my cock, sliding up and down, her cobalt eyes staring up at me as she took me deep.

Sienna jabbed her elbow into my ribs.

“What the hell was that for?” I groaned through clenched teeth.

“Remember what we talked about.”

I rubbed my side and grinned. “How could I forget? Even if I do, I can count on you to remind me.”

“You’re damn straight.”

“Did I walk in on something?” Allison asked.

Sienna’s evil glare faded as she turned to Allison. “Not at all. Come in my office. I’ll give you money for the groceries.”

Allison went to follow, and I grabbed her arm, loving the silky feel of her skin against my hand. “S told me you were in the market for an apartment.”

“I am.”

“I happen to have one available, and I can show it to you tonight if you’d like.”

“That would be perfect. Sienna said she’d be home by six, so any time after that I’m free.”

“Dice!” Cash’s voice echoed across the lot. I turned to it. He waved his hand at me. “Meeting now.”

Meeting was code for church, and I needed to get my ass over there. If Cash was calling a meeting in the middle of the day, something must have been up.

“I got to go. Get my number from Sienna. Call me.”

I jogged across the lot, and caught up with Miles. We both pushed through the clubhouse doors and made our way to church.

Everyone took their seats at the table and, like every time since Nick died, I took a moment to stare at his empty spot. Cash became the club’s president, but he refused to sit in Nick’s seat. He didn’t want to replace him, since Nick was irreplaceable. Now, the chair sat like a shrine to the man who guided us for so long. A man who was a father to me. He did a lot of bad shit in his days, but I hoped all the good he did helped balance it out and give him entry to the big stairway in the sky. Shit, for all he did for me… He sure as hell deserved a spot in heaven.

Gordita, the woman many considered responsible for his death, was dead herself, but that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted Angelo’s head on a fucking platter. That son of a bitch set us up. He knew what he was doing. He might not have pulled the trigger, and it might not have been one of his men who did, but he was just as fucking guilty.

It had been over a year since Nick died, and the fact that Angelo still walked this earth made my blood boil. Everyone assured me that Angelo would get what was due to him, but how much longer did I have to fucking wait?

Cash cleared his throat from the other end of the table, and I turned my attention to him. “It appears Gordita’s army has finally begun to regroup after her death. According to Stanson, her son, Matias, is attempting to build her empire back up. Even worse, Matias has been seen on many occasions visiting Angelo. The Feds have a tail on both and, since we’ve been hanging low, the authorities don’t see us as big of a threat. I know we all want Angelo dead for betraying us. For what he allowed to happen.” Cash glanced to Nick’s chair and fell silent for a moment. “I want that, too, but we finally have the Feds off our asses and, if we kill Angelo, we’ll bring all that attention back to us.”

“So what?” Beast barked. “They’ve been on our asses for years. We know how to avoid them. I say we kill the bastard. Fuck the Feds. Angelo needs to die.” Beast’s biceps twitched with his words, like he was trying to refrain himself from jumping up and taking care of the matter himself right then and there.

“We all want revenge, but we have to push that aside and think with our heads. Nick would want us to do what was best for the club. Until Angelo or Matias come after us, I say we go about business as always and leave the revenge plots for later.”

“What, are we supposed to be sitting fucking ducks then?” I asked. “Wait till they come after us? Plan another sneak attack, set us up and kill another one of our brothers? Fuck that. I’m not here to be their goddamned target practice. We need to hit now. Take care of the situation before they take care of us.”

Cash sighed. “I’m trying to avoid that. Last time, we went in thinking we had the upper hand. That we had control over the situation. We didn’t and, because of that, Nick is dead. I’ m not trying to sit here and get another one of us killed. I’m trying to protect us.”

“Angelo would have killed Dice the other day if it wasn’t for me,” Miles said. “So, how is sitting on our asses protecting shit?”

“That is more proof that we aren’t in control. You two were supposed to tail them. To find out what they’re up to. The situation that followed is because they were once again one step ahead of us. They knew you were there.”

“I don’t know, Cash.” Kade rested his elbows on the table and looked at his best friend. “Letting Angelo live another day when, because of him, my son will never know his grandfather. I don’t think I can agree to that.”

Cash nodded. “It’s a lot to chew. I get that. But, think about it for a moment. All of you. You have a son now. In war, there are no rules. Montamos won’t fall apart like Gordita’s army did. They will have another president in that spot within days. They will come back for revenge, and then none of us our safe. Our kids, our old ladies… they all will be fair game.”

“I think Cash is right,” Phil finally said. “If we attack, we’ll only be fueling a fire that has been burning for years.”

“You keep talking like they’ll know it was us,” Braxton said. “Someone killed Gordita in the middle of the day, at a salon, and nobody knows who it was. Not even her men who were with her, or the Feds that were tailing her ass. Nobody knows. We can kill Angelo, and nobody will know it’s us. He has enough fucking enemies in this world. It could’ve been anyone.”

Hudson nodded. “Agreed.”

Other than Phil, nobody agreed with Cash. We all wanted Angelo dead now. We had waited long enough, and it was time to finish things. I glanced back to Nick’s chair, and I imagined what he would say. What words of wisdom he’d have for this whole situation.

The only thing Nick would care about was keeping his grandson safe. He would do exactly what Cash wanted to do. He would insist we go about our business. Take advantage of the fact that the authorities had eased up on our asses, and live our lives, while keeping our loved ones and the town safe.

I caught Kade’s eyes across the table. We were brothers, but there was something else that tied us together: Sienna and DC. Both of us would do everything in our power to protect them.

“I changed my mind,” I said. “We hold off. I won’t put my godson in danger.”

Kade held his hand up. “Me too. But I’m telling you right now, if they as much look at my son wrong, I will break every single one of their fucking necks. Until then, I say we go about business as usual.”

Cash looked around the table and, one by one, he was met with reluctant approval. Beast took the longest to agree, but, after one look at Kade, he conceded too.

“That settles that, then. Business as usual.” Cash hit the gavel on the table, and we all stood. I just hoped we made the right choice.