She nodded, her gaze sliding from his. She knew he wouldn’t like her answers. “He wanted me to convince you to let him close to Czar. You were friendly, all of you were, but at a distance. He had a lot of clout in the club. I was afraid if you knew what he was doing, you’d go after him and he’d get you hurt. A man couldn’t put his woman before his brothers. You know that wasn’t done. It was never done. If you did, they’d all go after you.”
He had to fight to maintain his composure, so much so that he stepped away from her and paced across the room. He would have killed Bridges then if he’d known the man had hit his old lady.
“How many times?” His voice was low. Velvet soft. Scary.
“Steele.”
She pressed herself against the wall, going very still in that way that pissed him off because she was making herself into the frozen mouse. He knew he was scaring her, but right at that moment, it didn’t matter. He had to know. Bridges might be right across the way, within reach, and Steele was racking up every sin the man had made against Steele’s family.
“Fucking tell me, Bree. I’m not going to ask again.”
“Every month. At the end of the month he demanded a meet with me.”
“And you kept that from me?”
She nodded. “I didn’t want them to hurt you.”
“So, you took that man punching you to keep me from being hurt?”
She shivered. “Don’t be angry. It was a long time ago. And he was afraid of bruising me, so he didn’t hit full force like he did when I was without you.”
He was going to slice Bridges up, make it so the man suffered a thousand deaths before he actually died. He glanced up, into the doorway, and saw Savage looking at him. Clearly, he’d overheard. Their eyes met in complete understanding.
“You do something like that again, Breezy, and you won’t sit down for months. Anyone threatens you for any reason you come to your man, do you understand me? You were my woman then and you are now. A man or woman wrongs you, slights you, does anything to upset you, you come to me. That’s for me to take care of. It’s club business if they put a hand on you. Say you understand. And you’d better mean it.”
She looked stricken. Hurt. She remained pressed against the wall, her fingers tight against her mouth as she nodded at him.
“I do. I’m sorry. I do understand.”
Abruptly, Steele turned and stalked out. Savage threw her a glance, radiating the same ice-cold rage. Bridges deserved their anger, and he was about to find out what it meant to hurt the families of Torpedo Ink.
FIFTEEN
“How’s she holdin’ up?” Savage asked as he walked with Steele around to the back of the house. “She’s quite a woman, Steele. She stood for you. I know that pisses you off. It would me too, but she stood for you. She took Bridges’s fist for you.”
“I ought to turn her over my knee for that. Fuck, Savage. That bastard punched her in the stomach, so I wouldn’t see it on her face. What the hell kind of doctor am I, let alone her man? I should have known it was going on.” He hadn’t been paying attention to her the way he should have. This was on him. He should have known. Damn him to hell for being such a fucking selfish bastard.
“Difference is, she was mine, she would already by sportin’ a red bottom. On the other hand, I’ve got nothin’ but respect for that woman.” Those ice-blue eyes slid over Steele. “She gonna hold when this goes down?”
“Depends on how it goes down. If something goes wrong, watch her for me.”
Savage shook his head. “Somethin’ goes wrong, I’m going to be right there with you, Steele, taking those fuckers apart. That little boy is one of us. We’re not going to let this happen. Nothing going wrong on our side. They’re the ones who had better look out.”
He leapt up and caught the edge of the eaves, somersaulted up onto the roof and climbed in a casual display of strength. Steele watched him for a moment, getting his emotions under control. The thought of Zane in the hands of anyone close to those who had brutalized him or any of his brothers and sisters was almost more than he could endure.
He wasn’t alone in this, Savage had made that clear. His boy was one of them. Torpedo Ink. He leapt up, caught the eaves and performed the same maneuver Savage had. With his strength, it was easy enough, and balance wasn’t an issue for any of them.
Preacher had been up since dawn, stretched out on the gabled roof. That type of roof could be problematic in a hurricane if not properly supported, but it was a beautifully constructed home and the roof added to the beauty of it. He walked with ease in spite of the sharp pitch, crossing to the front where he could lower his body down beside Savage.
Ink was there as well. He sat tailor fashion, paying no attention to them. He looked up at the sky. Somewhere in the distance a hawk let out an eerie cry. Ink didn’t move. He kept his eyes on the sky and his hands over his knees.
“Lana’s in the water,” Preacher reported.
The tension went up significantly. If there were any men at the estate next door, they wouldn’t be able to resist a beautiful woman in a thong bikini and very little string for a top. The material barely covered Lana’s full breasts. Her body was sculpted with curves and sleek lines. She looked like a model for bathing suits. Her hair was long, a blazing red that went with her pale skin. Even so, there was always the possibility that if any of the Swords were at that estate, they would recognize her in spite of her disguise.
Lana took the boat out onto the lake easily, evidently confident in her driving. She went slow as she passed the houses but picked up speed once she was on the lake. She hadn’t looked at the estate as she glided past, merely glanced at the beauty of the oasis created by the builders, but Steele knew that one glance was enough for her to mark every point of entry from the lake side.
She went on past, sweeping out in a big arc, going across the water at a much higher rate of speed. The weather was perfect. Humid, and hot already. It was going to be a good day, with the sun blinding on the water. Anyone would want to be out, which only added to the normalcy of Lana taking the boat out on her vacation.
Steele used binoculars to study every inch of the estate he could see. There were no child’s toys. No animals. The yard was pristine, clearly kept up by a landscaping crew. No one came out of either the main house or the smaller cottage. He studied the trucks. Information was crucial when planning any assassination or rescue. The more information, the smoother and safer the operation.
A hawk circled above them and then drifted on the wind to the estate next door. He circled the structures and then settled in a tree overlooking the front yard. A flock of sparrows approached, the group larger than normal with more birds joining as they got closer to the vacation rental. In the sky, the dissimulation looked like a dark, twisting shadow, coming fast, suddenly veering away and rolling into a strange-looking apparition.
The flock of birds changed direction in midair, looking as if they came to a standstill almost directly above Ink. He didn’t move, as still as a statue, his face a mask of concentration. The birds wheeled and dipped, moving back toward the neighboring estate.
“Any of those vehicles look familiar?” Steele asked.
Transporter shook his head. “None. They seem fairly new, all but the one in front of the guest cabin. That’s several years old, but even from here, you can see it’s in good condition.” He indicated the smaller pickup. “My guess? It’s a road rocket. Someone put some money into that baby. Swords put their money into their bikes.”
Steele didn’t change expression, although his heart dropped. He wanted his son to be close. If he wasn’t here, they had three other places they knew to look. This had been their best shot at finding him fast. With the information Steele had gotten from Bruiser and Scalp, as well as what was collected on their phones, it looked as if this estate was a sure thing. He wanted it to be. Every minute in the hands of Bridges meant Zan
e’s life was more at risk.
Transporter had noted the Swords liked adding speed to their rides. He used to shake his head when he saw them pay so much money and get practically nothing back. He never offered to help them though. None of the Torpedo Ink crew had given away any of their abilities to the Swords. If someone had fixed up the little pickup, it most likely hadn’t been a Swords member—or at least one from the New Orleans chapter.
Steele had learned patience, and this was still nerve-wracking, so he didn’t want to think too much about Breezy and how she would be taking this. “I shouldn’t have gotten so angry with her,” he told Savage. “About Bridges. That was three years ago, and she’s going through some heavy shit right now. She did something amazing for me and I wasn’t very nice about it.”
He’d probably hurt her. How did Czar maneuver through his relationship with Blythe? He wanted Breezy safe and reliant on him. She must want the same thing for him. “Fuck.” His hissed the word through clenched teeth. “I just fucked up again. I should have been more understanding.”
Savage shook his head. “The bigger picture is you make sure she’s safe at all times. From anyone. From everyone. She has to know that. You don’t make a point now, she might hide things from you again. Better to let her know you won’t put up with that kind of shit.”
It didn’t surprise Steele that Savage was hard-core about what he expected of his woman.