her work parking lot.”
“Pretty much, but like I said, it started off with just me checking in on her.”
“And what made you feel the need to do that?”
“Got no idea. I guess I had feelings for her even then.”
“You’re telling me you love her?”
“I do. Not that it matters now. She pretty much squelched it all tonight.”
“She ended things?”
“Yeah.” I chuckled under my breath as I continued, “Pretty much kicked me to the curb.”
“She give a reason why?”
I shook my head. “Something about needing time to figure out things on her own.”
“Fuck, I don’t know what to say, brother.” Clay ran his hand through the thick of his hair and sighed. “I should be pissed about all this, but if anybody was gonna get tangled up with my sister, I’d want it to be a man like you—someone who’d be good to her and treat her the way she deserves to be treated—but at the same time, I don’t like the fact you two hid all this from me.”
“I understand and I’m sorry for keeping you in the dark, but I felt like I needed to be sure before I came to you.”
“You think it’s really done?”
“She gave me no reason to believe otherwise.” My stomach twisted in a knot at the thought of never being with her again. “Probably for the best though. Alyssa deserves someone better than the likes of me.”
“Nah, man. You’re wrong about that.” A smile crept across his face as he ribbed me. “Even if you’re old and tired and set in your ways, I still think she’d be lucky to have you.”
“I don’t know if I should thank you or show you how this old man can throw a punch.”
“You know I was just fucking with ya, Bone.”
“Mm-hmm. Whatever you say there, brother.” I gave him a pat on the shoulder. “We got a long one tomorrow. Best be getting some shut eye while we can.”
“You’re right about that. Hey, you happen to see Skillet over at Alyssa’s place?”
“Yeah, he was there.” Moose had agreed that even though she’d refused to come for the lockdown that we still needed to have one of the prospects keep an eye on her place. Through a lot of long nights and busting his ass around the clubhouse, Skillet was quickly proving himself to be a real asset to the club. “I talked to him, and he’s planning to stay until Widow comes to relieve him in the morning.”
“Good deal.” Hyde gave me a nod, then turned and started inside. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
I stood there for a moment, going over everything we had said, and I had to admit, my conversation with Hyde had gone better than I’d expected. He was a man with a short temper, and I knew he had every reason to be pissed, but thankfully, he seemed to understand where I was coming from. That was the good thing about the brotherhood. We accepted each other’s faults and wrong doings without holding it against one another. I was lucky to have that, and I would protect it, no matter what the cost. It was a thought that stuck with me the following morning when we all gathered in the conference room for church.
As soon as we arrived, Riggs informed us all that our plan was working just as we’d hoped it would. The cops thought all the hits were gang related and hadn’t suspected that we were involved. Murphy and I had gone over to the Genocide’s warehouse earlier that day, and after working his magic, Riggs was finally able to get us eyes inside the warehouse. Now that we were in, it was time to move forward with the rest of our plan.
“We’re gonna need a couple of you to be inside the warehouse when they come,” Riggs explained. “It’ll be dangerous. These guys will be coming in on you, ready to attack, so you’ll be in a compromised position.”
“I’ll do it,” I volunteered. “Just let me know what you need me to do.”
“You know I’m in,” Murphy announced.
Shadow nodded. “Me too.”
“I’ll be there too,” Rider volunteered.
“The four of you should be plenty.” Moose looked over to us as he said, “We’ll be counting on you boys to draw them into the warehouse. The rest of us will be waiting outside when they arrive.”
“And what’s the plan when they get there?”
“One of you will need to get your hands on Booker. Detain him and take him outside before we blow