Give Me War - Kate McCarthy Page 0,25
and he doesn’t have to be here. “Thanks Tim.”
He huffs. “It’s just coffee.”
“Right,” I mutter. “Just coffee.”
His eyes well up and turns his head away, blinking rapidly. “Get her back, Jared,” he tells me before leaving the room.
Seth hands me a coffee but I shake my head. I can’t stomach it. “Where are the girls?”
“At your house,” he tells me. “Apparently.”
Kelly hangs up from a phone call and comes to me. “Bingo wants a meet.”
I nod. We knew this was coming. The President of the Sentinels wants to make demands. What we’re asking isn’t huge. It’s fucking huge. “Will he take it here?”
“Yes. But there’s a slight problem.”
“What?”
“Says he wants the meet with Grace.”
“What?” Casey barks from across the table. Grace and Bingo have a history. Quite a big one. He says she saved his life when he was drunk and set his own beard on fire. The biker President returned the favour by helping save her from a dangerous situation involving his own sister no less. Bingo apparently trusts her, and only her—we’re too much on the right side of the law for his liking—but going by the hard look on Casey’s face, he’s having none of it. “No.”
“Says he won’t deal with anyone else.”
I turn to Mitch. “Call Travis. Get him to bring her in.” Then I turn to Casey. His arms are folded, fury vibrating from every cell in his body. “She’s not doing this alone. We’ll be right there with her.”
He glares at me before his head turns to Mitch. “I’ll make the call.”
The meeting doesn’t take place until late afternoon, and we bring Grace in at the last moment. She steps through the open door, followed by Travis. My brother takes up a position around the table, but Grace comes straight to me, pulling me into a hug.
“Wolf is fine.” Grace is tall, but I still have to duck my head to hear her softly murmured words. “He’s missing you both, but he’s fine. We’ve let him unwrap a bunch of presents. We’re leaving the rest for when you get Evie home.” She pulls back and looks at me, both hands gripping my biceps. “Okay?”
I nod, muttering a gruff, “Thanks.”
“Whatever you need.”
Grace moves in beside Casey, standing between the both of us. I don’t miss the way he tucks his hand in hers and gives it a squeeze.
“Right.” Mitch unfolds his arms and leans them down on the table, resting on his knuckles as he scans the room, his eyes landing on Bingo. “We all know why we’re here.”
The president of the Sentinels speaks up, his voice gravel. “I’m here because Grace asked me to be here.”
We all let that slide.
“Thanks for coming, Bingo,” she tells him. “I appreciate it.”
He nods, happy with her response. “Seems the Vipers have stolen your best friend.”
I restrain the urge to reach across the table and punch the biker. But I don’t. We need the Sentinels, and that means we have to play by whatever rules he wants.
Grace glances up at me, hesitating for the briefest second. I give her a nod of encouragement and she speaks up. “That’s right,” she repeats, her gaze shifting to the big, burly president. “They snatched up my best friend right out from under my nose.”
“How can I help you, Grace?” he asks.
Casey whispers in her ear, telling her what to say while I stand with arms folded, impatient.
His wife spells out the plan and Bingo rubs his beard as if contemplating her request despite him knowing full-well what we wanted before he even agreed to come here. His gaze cuts to mine with speculative interest, finally deigning to speak to me. “Say we do you this … favour, what would we get in return?”
Tension rises in the room.
We discussed this before Bingo’s arrival. An answer could not be agreed upon.
My muscles draw tight. “We would owe you one.”
Owing the Sentinels is no small thing.
It’s huge.
But it’s Evie.
Bingo rubs his beard some more, and the painfully slow deliberation makes me want to rip it from his face.
“You get something from this too.”
His gravelly voice addresses me. “And what’s that?”
“Territory.”
“And what if I tell you we got enough territory? Don’t need no more.”
Straightening to my full height means looking down at the biker from across the table. “If you told me that, I’d call you a liar.”
Tension rises to greater heights.
After a moment, Bingo chuckles and Mitch exhales, his head tipping down. “You’d be right, Valentine.” His eyes harden, the biker’s unpredictability leaving me