The Price We Pay

by Alora Kate

  “A few months?” I asked inspecting my surroundings again. “Looks like it’s about to fall down.”

  He went over and slapped his hand on one of the beams, grinning. “Sturdy enough, boys.”

  Drink the beer.

  Do your job.

  “VIP tickets for you boys,” he announced to the empty room. “The whole fucking place will be VIP!”

  I wonder how much crack he smoked today?

  I glanced at Keylan who was leaning his elbows on the broken up bar, drinking a beer. He shrugged a shoulder, telling me that he didn’t care. He does whatever he wants to do anyway.

  “About Canada.” Latch finally broke that barrier.

  “Keylan said you’re more of the businessman of the duo,” Carlos commented, going back behind the bar and standing next to Keylan. He put his hand on Keylan’s shoulder and Keylan went to pull something out of his pocket. I saw Latch tense up out of the corner of my eye and was worried about what he was going to show us.

  Keylan pulled out a piece paper that was folded up and handed it to Carlos without moving. He looked bored out of his mind leaning on the bar, drinking his beer.

  Carlos shook the paper at Latch and made him come to him to get it.

  “What is it?” Latch asked opening it up. He only needed a second to read what was on it before he took a few steps back and handed it over to me.

  “That’s what we need to make this year, boys.”

  I crumpled up the piece of paper and shoved it in my pocket. I was sick of him calling us boys.

  “You couldn’t have just said it?”

  “I’m not stupid,” Carlos told us, grabbing a beer. “You think I talk about my business out in the open?” He opened his beer and chucked the top across the room. “Think I’m going to tell the world my secrets? Let the enemies know my plans so they can sneak in? I’m not my father!” he roared. “I’m not fucking around with this shit. Change is a coming boys!” He stopped long enough took a long pull of his beer and Keylan glanced at him.

  “Times are different now. My father kept his work like it’s the nineties. It’s not the nineties anymore, boys.”

  Keylan rolled his eyes and went back to drinking his beer. I got the impression that he was sick of listening to Carlos talk and I felt the same way. I didn’t care to hear this speech about his father, I needed to hear more about Canada. We had to have some kind of evidence recorded so we could take him down.

  We needed something.

  Anything at this point.

  “So we move into Canada.” I heard Carlos say pulling me back from my thoughts. “Go big!” He tossed his hands in the air. “Or go home!”

  Keylan finally moved.

  He pulled the glock out from the back of his pants.

  Latch and I both went for our guns.

  Carlos still had his hands in the air.

  Keylan pointed the gun at Carlos and when he dropped his arms, he dropped his head bringing his eyes to Latch and me.

  “What the fuck?” he spat turning to Keylan who had his gun pointed right at his forehead.

  Latch yelled at Keylan to put the gun down.

  Keylan smirked and pushed the gun to Carlos' forehead. “You're worse than your father.”

  He pulled the trigger.

  It happened so fast, but time felt like it stood still. Blood splattered everywhere. The beer bottle dropped and broke on the ground, the glass echoing behind the gun shot through the building.

  Latch yelled again for Keylan to put the gun down which he did, with a smile on his face. Latch and I took a step towards him but he didn’t care. He grabbed another beer.

  I had no coherent thoughts. Not one. I kept my gun up and let Latch take control of the situation.

  “What the fuck?” Latch roared.

  “I made a deal,” Keylan said like it was no big deal popping the top off the beer.

  “A deal?” Latch questioned, taking another step towards him.

  “You can put the gun down, Latch.”

  “You just shot him!”

  “Don’t pretend he didn’t deserve it.”

  I grabbed Keylan’s gun, emptied the bullets and shoved it in the back of my pants. I dropped my gun down to my side.

  “He did deserve it.”

  “Then what the fuck is your problem, Latch,” Keylan spat back. He took a long pull of his beer and I put my gun away. Latch slowly lowered his and Keylan started talking.

  “I made a deal yesterday.” He drank the rest of his beer and tossed the bottle back in the cooler and grabbed another one. “I need to drink up seeing as it’s gonna be my last one for a while. Probably forever,” he glanced down at Carlos’s body, “I might have strayed from the original plan. Carlos wasn’t supposed to take a bullet.” He shrugged and looked back at us.

  “Despite all the shit that we’ve been through, I still kind of like you guys.”

  I could faintly hear the sirens ringing out in the streets.

  “Why did you kill him?” I asked.

  “Trust me, it was best for everyone involved.”

  “Fucking fuck!” Latch roared shoving the gun back in his pants.

  “I know you’re UCs,” Keylan said winking at me. “Just found out yesterday from a narc. A narc who works the streets and sniffed to much shit up his nose and started talking shit. I pieced together the shit he spewed and confirmed who you were yesterday. Had I known prior to yesterday, you’d both be dead.” He grabbed another beer and tried to hand it to me. He shrugged a shoulder and he starting drinking it instead.

  “Who’d you make a deal with?” I asked guessing everything I thought I knew about this man.

  “People who’ll take care of my kids,” he replied and I raised an eyebrow. “I’m a fuck up. Born a fuck up, will always be a fuck up, but my kids aren’t. There smart fuckers and now they’ll be taken care of. The club and all this shit,” he stirred his finger in the air, “was going down anyway. The Invisible Demons are fucking pissed and were going to take Carlos Jr out. Wanted me in charge. I don’t want or need any of that fucking shit. I’m done. I’m out.”

  Keylan becoming boss would not have been good, he’d kill most everyone he met.

  “It’s just business,” he said before he finished another beer.

  The sirens grew closer and as much as I’d like to arrest him, I would let someone else deal with him. He wasn’t our problem anymore. He made a deal, it’s out of our hands.

  “What a fucking nightmare,” I muttered, running my hands.

  “That blonde chick,” he started and my heart stopped. “She was a rat. Found her purse in Mack’s car but seeing as you took care of her, I left it in the car to burn.”

  Thank fuck he didn’t know about Harper. I had no idea what he saw in her purse but I’m glad he burned it. I’m glad he thinks we actually killed her.

  People came and went for hours. The entire block was secured with men and tape preventing any of the TV stations from getting a peek inside the warehouse. Keylan had made a deal with the district attorney and even though our handlers knew about it yesterday, they still wanted our meet to happen today. They needed as much information as they could on Carlos and the deal, but Keylan had ruined all their plans. Keylan was going to rat on everyone, confess a bunch of shit in exchange for his family to have a new life and identity. He wanted them out of the state with a fresh start so they wouldn’t be another casualty of the gang. He was doing right by them, in a way, and for the right reasons. I admired that but it didn’t change the fact that he was still an asshole. Keylan wasn’t supposed to kill Carlos. At this point, we hoped the club would fall apart before they tried to put someone else in charge. It was something we’d have to keep our eye on in the future.

  “We done here?” I asked walking up to Latch and his uncle.

  “For tonight,” his uncle said, texting someone. “The paperwork on this shit is gonna drive me into an early grave.”

  “So you’re retiring?” I joked, but I knew he w
as getting close to doing just that.

  “Fuck I wish.” He walked away cussing under his breath, stopping to chat with a group of guys on his way out.

  “Let’s get the fuck out of here,” I told Latch. The sun had set hours ago and I was sick of seeing dead bodies. I’m sick of having to deal with stupid ass people.

  “We better bring some peace to our girls,” Latch said catching me by surprise. He’s much quieter than me. He thinks people can just read his mind and know what he’s thinking. I hope to God Marvey can put up with his ass, because I have a good feeling about them.

  “Yeah, let’s bring some peace.”

  Chapter 24 - The Whole Gang

  Sofia

  “Are we really doing this?” I asked Kennedy, standing at the end of the bed wearing a cute black jumper and the arm sling the hospital sent me home with. It was easier to have a free hand so my other one wasn’t always holding it up. We’d only been home a day, but we spent that day doing nothing. Absolutely nothing! I didn’t even shower until noon.

  It was the best day ever.

  “We’ll take the private jet,” Kennedy said packing our suitcases. I went back to grab one more pair of lace panties and handed them to him.

  He smirked and added them to the suitcase.

  “Make the call to your girls, I know you want them there.”

  “I do.”

  He looked up at me and I watched his lips curve into a perfect smile. “I do.” Those two words rolled right out of his mouth beautifully, and I knew exactly what he meant by it.

  I was madly in love with my best friend.

  My soul mate.

  We’d been together since birth and even though I hate my father this was the only good decision he’s ever made for me.

  I made the call to Marvey first and of course, she was in.

  I made the call to Harper and she said she’d go but we had to take care of Randy first. She wouldn’t leave until he was at peace. She also asked if she could bring Laken and Pacer with because they were coming to the ceremony they were having for Randy. I had no problem with that and felt like they were part of the group and couldn’t wait to get to know them better.

  “We all have to meet at the house first,” I told him while he zipped up the suitcase.

  “I understand; the jet will be ready when we are.”

  “Are you nervous at all?” I asked grabbing the bathroom bag and my purse of the bed. I’ve never traveled with this small number of things, but I could buy something if needed. We weren’t making plans, just trying to live in the moment without our parents and their influence. Kennedy’s mother thought it was a fantastic idea but his father wasn’t on board so we weren’t sure if he’d show but we didn’t care. Our mothers would be there.

  My father knew nothing about it and I wanted it to stay that way. He was no longer allowed to interfere with my life.

  “I’m never nervous with you, Sofia.”

  I fluttered my eyelashes. “You make my heart melt.”

  Kennedy

  “I want to make your panties melt,” I told her with a wink. The last twenty-four hours were beyond words. Every moment with Sofia was magical and amazing but now, now we were on a different level. We were getting married and starting a family. We were also doing it on our own terms.

  We were free.

  “Eu te amo,” she whispered against my lips.

  “I love you, too.”

  Laken

  “It’s about time someone included me!”

  “Then stop pouting,” Pacer said with a laugh.

  “I wasn’t pouting.”

  “They were keeping you safe, and I wouldn’t have let you go either.”

  I was upset that I wasn’t included in the action. I wanted to take down some bad guys, be a badass. But I guess it’s just not my time. I’d keep bugging Gabe to let me tag along on some smaller cases and see if I couldn’t help him out more. I was happy that Jaxon met Harper and I was slowly getting to know her. So far I liked everything I knew and was planning some kind of dinner for the four of us to get together and get to know each other better. Plus, Jaxon was still itching to get his hands on the VIP tickets to Pacer’s next match.

  I’m glad Pacer wants to keep me safe and looking out for me. I liked feeling safe. But there was still the issue of me sitting on the island and I couldn’t help but push his buttons.

  “So we pack up for a few days and just leave?” I asked him, climbing up on the island while he started washing the dishes. Again he refused to let me help, but I was over that.

  “Yes,” he said, distracted and making sure the water was the right temperature.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  He turned the water off and turned around. “Sure.”

  “When you see me or look at me, do I give you butterflies in your tummy?”

  “No.”

  “Oh.” That was harsh. It took everything in me not to kick him in the stomach right now.

  “That butterfly shit is for women,” he said stepping towards me, “no disrespect.”

  “Oh.”

  Instead, I opened my legs up so he could stand in between them. Cupping my head in his heads, and giving me all of his attention he said, “You make my heart tie up in knots.” He kissed me softly on my lips. “You make me a different person. I feel like I can get better… because of you.”

  Now my heart was in knots. Pacer fucking Daniels was a total catch.

  “There’s nothing wrong with you,” I said wrapping my hands behind his neck.

  “There is.”

  “I know you count,” I whispered watching his forehead wrinkle up. “I know you count, I know you turn the knob too many times, and clearly you have a lot of OCD issues.” He tried to pull away, but I refused to let go. I wrapped my legs around his waist and held him tight. “If you want to cook and clean for me every day, every single meal, who am I to say no? Most girls don’t get that because men aren’t like that. But you are. It’s a great quality. You have so many great qualities.” I kissed him on the lips. “If you put half of the dedication into our relationship like you do your career, we won’t have any problems.”

  Pacer

  I don’t understand what I did to deserve her.

  I knew why she walked into my house that day, and it was to do her job, but then she stayed. She stayed. She didn’t stay because she was crazy or clingy like the other girls I’ve met. She stayed because she wanted to.

  “I appreciate that,” I told her in between kissing her. “I like that you stayed.”

  She smiled and held my eyes. “But you don’t like my ass on the counter.”

  I kissed her again before I told her, “It drives me insane, woman.”

  “Then why didn’t you say something?”

  I gave her another kiss. “Confrontation.”

  “You fight other men for a living and you're scared of little old me?”

  “Yes, I’m scared of you, but in the best way possible.” I kissed her again. “I’m going to let the counter thing slide.”

  “Noooooooo,” she joked with eyes wide.

  “Relationships are about compromise,” I told her and I meant it even though this wasn’t that serious of an issue, it was still an issue. I was going to let it go.

  “I want to compromise also, so no counter.” She dropped her feet and tried to free herself.

  I gave her another kiss. “We’ll figure something else out for your compromise.”

  “Then it's settled.”

  “For now.”

  I kissed her again and then told her to close her eyes and hold my hand, while I let her out to the garage.

  I stood behind her and said, “Open them.”

  She gasped, ran to the bike, and inspected it. “Top of the line, Pacer.”

  “That’s what they told me.”

  “You got me a new bike,” she stated.

  “Yeah, babe.”

  She ran her hand over the red and purple metal spokes
and couldn’t contain her excitement. She screamed, ran at me, and jumped into my arms. “If we didn’t have plans right now I’d totally give you a blow job.”

  Latch Dedrick

  “I don’t want you living with Sofia and Kennedy.”

  Marvey shoved something else into her enormous bag, which she thinks can pass as a purse, and slung it over her shoulder. “I know.”

  Late last night, Jaxon and I went to the hotel room and got Marvey and Harper. We stayed in the room and Jaxon and Harper got a room across the hall.

  But now we were headed on a mini vacation, which I plan to turn into a long fucking vacation.

  “How do you know?” I asked.

  She grabbed her yellow hat. “You fuck me like you want me to stay.”

  I snorted, “Really, that’s how you know?”

  “I’ve learned to read you and your signs, Dedrick.” She pointed to the duffle bag on the bed and I picked it up. “You’re asking me to move in with you.”

  She gets me.

  “Yes.”

  She pulled her hat down on her forehead. “We need to work on your people skills.”

  I grunted but secretly was glad she hadn’t given up on me yet. I had problems expressing my feelings but she wasn’t going to let that get in our way.

  She spun around and headed to the door. “Let’s do this!”

  Marvey

  Being the strong one was hard but when we saw Harper holding Randy in a box, I broke. I cried like a baby. We all met at the house. Dedrick, myself, Harper, Jaxon, Sofia, Kennedy, Laken, and Pacer. We decided to keep Randy’s cigarette can on the step where he last had it. No one wanted to touch it.

  No one spoke while we made our way through the back yard, our destination the edge of the forest.

  Jaxon brought a shovel and dug a little hole where we would put Randy’s ashes.

  “One of the last things Randy said was, Cremate my ass and bury me in the woods.” Harper chuckled through her tears. “He was so funny.” She handed the box to Jaxon and he kneeled down and opened it. His ashes were in a clear plastic bag, which Jaxon opened and poured into the hole. All of us girls were in tears, even Laken who’d only met him the one time. In reality, we felt like we knew him our whole life.