“No I don’t wanna fucking try that again.” Fuck. “I want you to listen for one goddam time in your life because this will be make or break for Storm. We’ve got a good business here; you continue down this path and you’ll shoot it all to shit.”
“This is the path we’re going down so I suggest you either get the fuck on board or step the fuck out of my way.”
The line goes dead.
Jesus fucking Christ.
I stretch my neck and force out some breaths. King and I have had some heated discussions over the years, but this has reached a new level. He’s being fucking stubborn. And foolish. And I’m going to have to go up against him again because someone has to make him see sense. I’ve worked too damn hard on our business to let him fuck it up.
My phone rings and I answer it when I see Ransom’s name.
“What’s up?”
“Just letting you know that Striker’s at his old lady’s place.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
Thirty minutes later, Melody opens her front door to me, looking pissed. “Fuck, Winter, I was sleeping. I’m on night shift this week.”
I have very little time for this woman. She’s as much a pain in my ass as Striker is. And on top of that, she’s rude to Birdie every time they interact. “I need to speak to Striker.”
The hatred burning in her eyes is fierce when she says, “Yeah, fuck you, too, asshole. You guys are all the same. Rude as fuck.”
Striker appears behind her, looking less than impressed. “Shut the fuck up, Melody, and go back to bed.”
It’s no wonder she’s a bitter, hard woman; putting up with his shit would make me bitter too.
They engage in an argument I tune out to, until finally she leaves and he steps outside with me. “What’s going on? You told me you didn’t need me this afternoon.”
“I don’t,” I say. “But something’s come to my attention that you need to fix.”
He folds his arms. “What?”
“You fucked the sister of a Silver Hell member.”
Understanding washes over his face, and instead of looking like he knows he fucked up, he settles in for a fight. “So?”
“So?” It’s a bark; I’ve had enough of Striker’s bullshit and more than enough of his fucking attitude.
He shrugs. “Yeah, so I fucked her; what’s the big fucking deal?”
I grip his shirt and yank him to me. “The big fucking deal is that I’m sick of your shit and I’m sick of you putting the club at risk. Silver Hell aren’t happy with what you’ve done, and since I don’t know what the fuck you’ve actually done besides getting your dick out when you shouldn’t have, you’re gonna tell me everything right now so we can make a plan to fix this.” I shove him away from me, trying like fuck not to take to him with my fists.
His scowl, though, only stirs my desire to punch him. “We were fooling around for a couple of months. And now we’re finished.”
“Who ended it?”
“Me. She was getting clingy.”
“So she’s not happy you ended things?”
He nods. “She’s been blowing up my phone. Melody’s pissed, so I went round Letitia’s place last night and told her to leave me the fuck alone.”
How the hell Melody stays with him after all the women on the side he’s been through is fucking beyond me. “I take it Letitia didn’t welcome that visit?”
“She fucking started punching me.”
“Fuck, if you tell me you put your hands on her in any way, I swear to Christ I’ll put my fucking hands on you.”
He scowls again. “I might be a prick, Winter, but I don’t fucking hit women.”
“Keep it that fucking way.”
“I don’t know how you think I’m gonna fix this; she just needs time to calm down.”
“You’re going to stay the fuck away from her. You will not call her; you will not answer her calls; you will not see her. Am I understood?”
“Trust me when I tell you those are all things high on my list of priorities.”
“Good. If I find out you’ve done any of them, you won’t like the consequences.”
He shoots me one last round of daggers before I slide my sunglasses back on and leave. I might want to punch the asshole, but that’ll only lead to bullshit between us I don’t need at the moment. We already have enough of it after years of this kind of shit.