RIDING DIRTY (Steel Titans MC Book 4)

by Franca Storm

  “No.”

  “Once again you didn’t trust me enough to bring me in on it.”

  On what? What the hell did he know? “Rick told you?”

  “Of course. How else would I know what’s going on with my own Prez, huh? Of course it wouldn’t come from you! Jesus, Slade! What the fuck is going on? I mean, I knew something was off, that you weren’t your normal self, but I reasoned it away. But this is another level altogether! You went after Nolan and Freeman? Come on! Claiming you needed a break away from it all and meanwhile you were really right smack damn in the middle of a whirlwind of danger. You went to an outsider over your own brothers-in-arms?” He shook his head to himself. “Why? Why did you do this?”

  So, he knew most of it, except one very volatile thing, the thing that would turn his world upside down and rock Titans as a whole. Rick hadn’t told him that I was doing all of this to walk free from the club and damn well retire.

  Even though there had been some recent… setbacks, it was far from over. There was still a chance to get it done, to take out my enemies without letting the club in on it and risking all my boys.

  Keeping that in mind, I skirted around Liam’s question, telling him, “It weren’t my intention to go after Freeman directly.”

  “I know. You gave the job to an outsider. Shadow.”

  “She ain’t a goddamn outsider!” I roared, my temper exploding all over the place.

  I weren’t in no state to be losing it. I could feel my pulse pounding in my ears. My body was trembling all over. It was a fight to draw in a steady breath.

  But I couldn’t contain it right now.

  All I could think about was Willa being kidnapped by that madman, tons of scenarios running through my head of what he was doing to her, how she was hurting and scared. All because of me. I’d brought her in on this and put her in the thick of it.

  Fuck. After all this time, I hadn’t learned my lesson. History was repeating itself. I’d brought another woman into my world and gotten too close. For all I knew, I could’ve already lost her. I couldn’t stomach that. Another woman I loved couldn’t be taken from me. It couldn’t be happening. I wouldn’t let it be where things ended for us.

  Loved? Is that where I was at?

  “So, it is true then?” Liam said, slicing right through my thoughts and jarring me back to the immediate bullshit he was tossing my way. “You have been seeing her all these years?”

  “Liam—”

  He held up his hands and went on, “No, I get it. You kept it on the downlow to protect her. After what happened with Lisa, it makes all the sense in the world. Five years, though, and you guys are still living separately? How’s that working?”

  “We never hooked up back then, but she has stayed with me, yeah, and she is something to me now, a hell of a something.”

  “So, that’s why you went to her, to rekindle that spark between you guys?”

  “I went to her, because she’s the best.” The look in his eyes told me he didn’t really buy that. Whatever. Who the fuck cared? “I don’t have time for this shit,” I groused, easing myself off the bed, more slowly this time. “Where’s my phone?”

  “You need to rest.”

  I made it to my feet and glared at him. “Where. Is. My. Fucking. Phone?”

  He hesitated.

  Right off the bat, I knew that weren’t a good sign. Not one bit. Liam didn’t do that, as a rule. Especially over the last few months, he’d become ever tougher, forthright, and real sure of himself and his ability to lead.

  “Liam,” I pressed.

  “It’s downstairs in the security room.”

  “Why?” I barked, pissed that my phone had been commandeered.

  “It was crushed at some point during the invasion at that safehouse. We’re trying to see if we can salvage the data. I’ve got Mason on it.”

  I started for the door.

  Liam stepped into my path.

  A rumbling growl started in the back of my throat, building to a dangerous level of ferocity with every second that he remained blocking my path.

  “I told you, you need to take it easy.”

  “I don’t have time.”

  His expression hardened. “I will put you down if I have to.”

  I scoffed. “Is that right?”

  “Damn straight.”

  We locked eyes.

  “You really think you got that ability?”

  “It’s not just me.”

  Before I could say anything else, he banged on the bedroom door behind him with his fist.

  Next thing I knew, it was swinging open and Tank and Cole stepped on through.

  “Prez,” Tank greeted.

  Cole just gave a chin lift, his expression set in that hard, no-nonsense way that meant he was resolved to go the hard route. His fight-face, basically.

  I eyed the three of them. “I don’t want to hurt you. You’re my boys. But I am walking out of here right the hell now. I need to track down Willa. I need to end this thing before it rages out of control.”

  “Sure,” Cole said. “After you damn well rest for a while.”

  “Right, Prez. You gotta take it easy, or you’re gonna end up in the ICU,” Tank said. He winced. “Maybe, even the morgue.”

  “Not an option,” I told them.

  Cole took another step forward in warning and Tank followed his lead.

  I felt Liam looming behind me.

  They were surrounding me, caging me in. Trapping me.

  “You’ve seen a lot from me over the years, so you know I can put you all down.”

  “You’re not at full strength,” Cole countered, but I saw the uncertainty in his eyes.

  “You’re also not thinking straight,” Liam said. “Until you are, until you’re rested, you’re benched. We’ll handle the situation.”

  “I’ll handle it once I get a hold of my phone. I have a tracer on her. Just gotta follow the signal.”

  “Nothing we can’t do without you,” Liam said.

  “This kind of bull is exactly why I kept all of you out of it!” I yelled, losing it again.

  “Yeah, well, we’re not going to let you risk your health or your life, especially not when you’re almost out,” Liam told me.

  Almost out? He knew?

  Before I could get a word out to voice the question, his arms wrapped around my neck from behind. I was too slow in my messed-up state to react in time, before he executed a sleeper hold.

  Cole and Tank moved in, tense and at the ready.

  They needn’t have fucking well worried, because my head started swimming, my body growing weak, all too soon.

  Lights out.

  21

  ~Slade~

  CAUGHT IN THE UNDERTOW.

  That feeling had been happening over and over. I’d lost count of how many times now.

  I was stuck in dark, deep waters, fighting to swim to the surface, only to keep getting pulled back down, far away from the surface by the merciless undertow.

  It started loosening its hold again, probably just to fucking well taunt me.

  I could see the surface.

  It was getting closer.

  Finally, it happened.

  I reached out and it didn’t slip away.

  My eyes snapped open and I quickly took in my surroundings.

  Once again, I was holed up in bed in my room at the clubhouse.

  I gritted my teeth as the memory of what had gone down came back to me.

  My own boys taking me down, forcing me to rest and recover.

  They didn’t fucking get it. Other things mattered more than my goddamn wellbeing.

  Willa was still trapped with that maniac. Fuck knew how long it had been now. The club was at risk the longer the situation with Freeman and Nolan went on unchecked.

  And all the while I was just stuck here fucking well sleeping? Seriously? Jesus fucking Christ!

  With a growl, I tossed the covers off, and climbed out of bed.

  As soon as
I stood up, I noticed the difference.

  My head wasn’t swimming. I didn’t feel anywhere close to as weak as I had that first time I’d woken up.

  So, yeah, resting had made me feel better. But still. Benching me like that was a whole other level. How long had I even been out?

  I scanned the room, looking for my cell phone.

  No sign of it.

  It was my only source of figuring out the time. The only clocks we had in the clubhouse were in my office and in the lounge.

  I glanced down at myself, relieved to find I was already in a pair of black sweatpants. No shirt. Barefoot. That didn’t matter. I was good to go as was to head downstairs and figure out what was going on.

  I threw open the door, noticing that the arm I’d dislocated only burned slightly as I exerted it. Much better.

  I was even able to stride down the corridor, not having to worry too much about taking it easy. No small, slow-ass steps needed.

  Before I knew it, I’d made it down the stairs, and I was storming down the corridor.

  Voices coming from the security room pulled me up short.

  There they were!

  I stopped outside, hearing a load of chatter.

  Cole: “You think he’s walking for her?”

  Liam: “Nah, Cole. That’s not Slade. He’s letting himself have her, because he’s walking.”

  Mason: “More of his fucking secrets.”

  Liam: “He did this for us.”

  Mason: “Yeah, how’s that?”

  Liam: “He could’ve just announced it and said his goodbyes in the next moment. Instead, he embarked on this mission to take out anybody who might come at us when he’s gone. He’s going out of his way to protect us and the club as a whole.”

  Tank: “Yeah. Fuck, he almost died for us.”

  Mason: “All right, I hear you. But we still gotta watch it with him, because he’s not thinking clearly anymore. He’s not the Prez we know, not with this woman in the picture. His head is too full of her. It’s clouding his judgment and making him reckless and desperate.”

  Cole: “Who out of all of us hasn’t fallen victim to that, Mason?”

  Van: “Fuck, we’re all guilty of it.”

  Tank: “Not me.”

  Cole: “You just wait, brother. You’ll see. It takes you over in one fell swoop and consumes you before you can even hope to defend against it. There really isn’t any defense at all.”

  Mason: “Be that as it may, my warning still stands. We need to protect him and the club. You got this, Liam?”

  Liam: “You’re asking me if I’ve got the stones to overrule him?”

  Mason: “Fucking right. We have to know where we stand before he’s conscious again and all hell tries to break loose.”

  Liam: “I already put him down, didn’t I? You don’t need to worry. I’ve got this. I just need to make sure we’re all on the same page. You all with me here?”

  Mason: “Of course.”

  Van: “Yeah.”

  Tank: “All right.”

  Liam: “Cole?”

  Cole: “What?”

  Liam: “I know this is hard for you. You’ve been his most loyal soldier all these years. He’s like a father to you. I get that. But you must be able to see that this is what’s best for him and the club. He needs us to do this. He’d do the same for any of us. Shit, he did with me, not that many months ago. He played hardball to protect me from myself. Now it’s just time to return the favor.”

  Cole: “Fuck, fine. But to protect him, not just the club. And also to help this woman of his.”

  Mason: “A woman he didn’t tell us he was even seeing. We all thought she was a former club asset that he’d discarded long ago.”

  Liam: “All right, Mason, but we also know the reasoning behind Slade’s secrets. I think we’re past it. Even if you can’t get over it right now, he’s out soon anyway. Let’s do him this solid for all the times he’s done the same for us.”

  Mason: “I have to make security a priority though, so keep that in mind. If I don’t and the club falls, we’re all shit out of luck, including Slade.”

  Liam: “We’ll work it the right way. Now, let’s get back to it and just hope we’ve actually got something concrete before he wakes up.”

  I threw open the door and barked, “Too late for that, brothers.”

  My voice came out as a rough rasp, my throat so damned dry, it had me choking for a good few seconds. Fucking great.

  I took in my boys all gathered around the room, eyeing me warily.

  “How long have I been out?”

  There was a delay, all of them tensing, all worried about my reaction.

  Liam stepped up to me. “You’ve been in and out for a few days.”

  My eyes narrowed. “You kept me down?”

  “At first, but the rest was your body needing to rest and heal, all natural.”

  “It was for the best, Slade,” Mason added.

  Up until Liam coming into his own, Mason had always been the one with balls of steel, out of all of them. He questioned everything, fought for everything, and never took things—or orders—at face value. Sometimes it’d pissed me off like nothing else, but it had its upsides. After all, I’d never wanted a bunch of yes men surrounding me. When you were strategizing, you needed to play Devil’s Advocate, and there was nobody else better at doing that than Mason.

  I folded my arms across my chest. “Where is she?”

  “You mean, your woman?” Mason asked with some clear attitude.

  “Yeah, my woman,” I shot back. “Where’s she at?”

  Liam reached out and laid his hand on my good shoulder. “Slade, listen—”

  Well, I weren’t liking the sound of that. I glared at him, then at each one of them in turn. “Told me I weren’t needed, that you all had it, that you’d sort it, yeah? Weren’t that the deal you made before you put me down?”

  The tension ramped up, each of them exchanging worried glances here and there.

  “Well?” I barked, shrugging out of Liam’s grip.

  “We are sorting it,” Liam told me.

  “Yeah? Then where is she?”

  “We’re working some leads,” Cole piped up.

  “The tracer thing didn’t work out,” Tank added. “Your cell was crushed to shit, boss man.”

  I shrugged. “Everything’s backed up.”

  “True,” Mason said. “And we’ve got all your stuff loaded onto a brand-new phone, but the tracer you planted on her is no longer emitting a signal. Either it was found and destroyed, or she’s currently in a dead zone.”

  “What about the last known location?”

  Cole chimed in, “The middle of fucking nowhere.”

  “Fuck,” I grunted.

  Van held up his hands. “It’s okay, we’re not sitting on our hands. We’re working leads.”

  I folded my arms across my chest and settled against the wall, needing the support. Yeah, I felt better than a few days ago, but I wasn’t back to normal yet. That shit took a load of time. “Fill me in on these leads of yours.”

  Liam took the reins then, stepping up as Acting Prez, telling me the deal, “Rick’s compiled a list of all of Freeman’s known holdings, as well as his old man’s. We’re knocking them off the list, one by one. It’s just a matter of time.”

  Just a matter of time?

  That meant more waiting.

  Sitting on my hands.

  Doing fuck all.

  Helpless.

  Powerless.

  I clenched my fists in a bid to reel in my rising frustration.

  Nah, it was more than even that.

  It was straddling the line between frustration and outright rage, so fucking volatile, I knew it could detonate at any time, at any one.

  I just couldn’t wrap my head around what was going down.

  I’d worked my ass off and spent years to get to a point where I’d never be helpless or powerless again. The last time I’d felt the full weight of all of
that had been when my wife had been murdered. I’d sacrificed having things and getting close to people to make damn sure I was never put in that position again. Now, the second I broke that vow I made to myself when I had to bury Lisa, the second it got taken from me again.

  I should’ve seen it.

  I should’ve seen how much of a threat Blake Freeman really was. Instead of relegating him to a potential threat, I should’ve realized.

  But I didn’t want to.

  When I was so close to finally getting out and finding that peace that I’d been chasing for so long, the last thing I’d wanted was to acknowledge that there was another Nik Stone situation on my hands. Another bloody, brutal battle that would wage for years and impact countless lives.

  Fucking shit.

  “What about Nolan? I’d been tracking him too. Last I saw, he was still at the Strikers compound.”

  “That was before your apparent death,” Liam told me. “He moved real quick after that all went down. He’s back at his club, Indulge.” Before I could get a word out, he held up his hand and warned, “A place you know that we can’t risk hitting, not so close to your recent attempt to take him out there.”

  “Let’s focus our efforts on Freeman then. He’s the larger threat anyway.” I scrubbed my hand over my face. “Shit.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Cole said. “Nobody saw this coming.”

  “He’s right,” Mason agreed.

  “So, let’s just sit tight until we get a lead on Willa and Freeman,” Liam said.

  “We’ve got an advantage right now with the both of them thinking you’re dead,” Van added.

  “Besides, Willa will be okay,” Liam assured me. “She’s not just anybody. She doesn’t need our protection, or anybody else’s. She’s a danger in her own right.”

  She was that. No question.

  It didn’t mean I could just shake the instinctual need to want to protect her. But I could tame it. Going in wild and half-cocked would only endanger Willa further. It had to be done the right way.

  “All right,” I told them.

  “Yeah?” Liam said. “You’re… good?”

  What other choice was there right now? I gave a nod. “Yeah.”

  As I made my way to the door, Liam called out, “Where you headed?”

  “Chill. I’m just gonna take a shower. You ain’t all gonna take me down and sedate me for that, are you?”