The end was coming. The end of everything.
And yet my heart was full. It was swollen with joy, love, and pride. I was Ford’s wife. I was his old lady. I’d never wanted to be, but I was.
Nothing was going to take that away from me.
Chapter Thirty-Two: Ford
I hadn’t seen the full might of the Demons MC arrayed in a long, long time.
We had about half our members, everyone in full battle gear, lined up in ranks. Larkin and the full council was there, plus every enforcer we had. The only men left behind were the pledges, those that were out of town, and a small group to protect the clubhouse and our other important holdings.
The desert stretched out around us. I thought briefly of Caralee, though I knew she was safe. I’d left her at the clubhouse, and the men there had strict orders to keep the place safe no matter what. We weren’t ruling out some sort of trick or ambush.
Across the shallow valley, the Snakes came down on us.
They had about the same numbers that we did, though their gear wasn’t nearly as good. They likely didn’t leave as many men behind, either, since I knew our ranks were deeper than theirs were.
But still, if it came to a fight, it was going to be a bloodbath. There wasn’t much cover out in the desert, with only the occasional scrub brush and cactus outcropping to break up the otherwise monotonous stretch of rock and parched earth.
The Snakes stopped about a football field away and got off their bikes. A small group of them continued moving forward, and Larkin looked around. “Ford,” he called out.
I stepped up. “Yeah, prez.”
“With me.”
There were some murmurs in the crowd. Normally in a meeting like this, it was only upper leadership. I had to admit that I was surprised.
“This was his fight,” Larkin called out. “Ford earned this. Let’s go.”
I fell in with him and two other council members, Stonewall and Trace. Larkin held the briefcase; everyone else held high-powered automatic rifles.
We walked toward the group of Snakes that was coming toward us. Soon, we were face-to-face with the enemy.
I didn’t know much about the leadership of the Snakes. The leader’s name was Trenton, and he was a fat bastard. He had a thick beard and piercing blue eyes. The other men were younger and more muscular, but Trenton was by far the largest of the group.
“Larkin,” Trenton said. “Been a while.”
“Trenton. You lost weight.”
Trenton laughed. “Damn right. Old lady got me on a diet.”
Larkin smiled his creepy smile. “Good to hear.”
“So,” Trenton said. “Those our goods?”
“They are.”
“Toss it over and let’s be done with this.”
“Not so fast,” Larkin said.
Trenton narrowed his eyes.
My heart was pounding in my chest. I knew what the deal was supposed to be, and yet I was still nervous. It was hard not to be when the only thing between you and a bunch of violent motherfuckers with guns was clear air.
“Thought you were returning my goods,” Trenton said.
“We have conditions.”
He laughed long and loud and then looked at me. “Is this Ford?” he asked.
I nodded. “That’s me.”
“Figured. How’s the girl, Ford?”
“She didn’t steal from you.”
He grinned. “Don’t give a fuck.” Trenton looked back at Larkin. “What do you want?”
“First, the girl goes free.”
“Fine. We never fucking cared about the bitch anyway.”
I clenched my jaw but said nothing.
“Second,” Larkin continued, “we want an end to this war.”
Trenton spread his hands. “That, my friend, is not going to happen.”
“You know it was the Rebels that fucked you over, not us.”
“We know,” Trenton said.
“We were only involved because the girl came to us and Ford here claimed her.”
“We know.”
“Then we can end this here and now.”
“Problem is,” Trenton said, “my boys are real mad about all the blood that’s been spilled.”
“We lost boys too.”
“We lost more,” Trenton snapped.
“You came at us,” Larkin said, keeping his cool.
“We did. An unfortunate misunderstanding. But you went ahead and killed more of us and stole some of our equipment. Plan on giving that back?”
Larkin shook his head. “No.”
“In exchange for the diamonds,” Trenton said, “we’ll forget about the girl.”
“Not enough,” Larkin said.
“We’ll crush the fucking Rebels too. How about that?”
Larkin frowned. “Why should that matter to me?”
“Because that rat fuck Jetter is going to try to rot your crew from the inside. We call a temporary truce while we destroy the Rebels, and then we’ll see where we’re at.”
Larkin glanced at Stonewall, who nodded once. “Fine. You have a deal.”
Trenton nodded at the man to his right. He stepped forward. Larkin tossed him the briefcase. The man opened it and looked at it. “Looks right, boss,” the man said.
“Good doing business with you,” Trenton said.
“Good luck with the Rebels.”
“We won’t need luck. We’re in the killing mood.” Trenton grinned wickedly, and then the three men turned and began walking away.