“Good afternoon, mon ami. How are you today?” Hugo asked.

  “The usual, busy. What can I do for you, Hugo?” I wasn’t one for niceties. I knew what he wanted, so why talk bullshit? Just get to the point.

  He chuckled. “Always the same Tyrant, so direct and straight to business. You need to learn to enjoy life and chat a bit. But I will do as you want. I’m concerned about that car part order that went badly. I know you’ve been saying not to worry about it, but I am. We haven’t been able to connect to arrange a replacement. I’d like to meet to iron out any details or concerns. I’m calling to ask when it is possible. You name the date and time, and we’ll be there.”

  I almost told him it wasn’t necessary again, but then I thought about it. Why not get him and whoever he brought into a room and see if I could get a better sense of whether they were lying and how they acted? To avoid giving them time to prepare or ambush us if they were plotting against us, it would have to be tonight, on our turf.

  “You know, that might not be a bad idea. However, it has to be tonight and at our compound. We’ve got a bunch of stuff happening, and we can’t promise we can do it on a different night for a few months. It’s better to be where we’re all comfortable. You never know when you have it off-site who might be sticking their noses in our business.”

  There was a long silence. I bet he was figuring out an excuse for being unable to do it. His next words surprised me.

  “Okay, I can do that, but it has to be later. Is ten o’clock too late? I want to bring my boys and a few others. I think the entire family needs to be there. Is that acceptable?”

  “The whole Jacquot family at our compound. That’ll be a new one. We’ll be waiting. This will help us relax and not feel pushed to rush through things if we need to discuss them further. That’s perfect for us. Can’t wait.”

  “It will be more décontracté, laid back. We’ll be there. Take care.”

  “Take care.”

  After hanging up, I wasted no time sending a message to the club members. I wanted everyone there and on alert, and I’d have to make sure that Lakelyn and River stayed away. I wanted them protected from anything related to our business, and since I didn’t trust the Jacquots, I didn’t want them to know about our guests.

  Thinking of River and Lakelyn as guests didn’t sit right with me. After three weeks, it felt like they were part of the club. Both had stopped asking when they could leave. I’d eased off having a guard outside the houses or wherever they happened to be. They had the freedom to roam the compound. The only rule was that they weren’t allowed to leave. I’d had them secretly watched the first few times to be sure they didn’t attempt it, but they never tried anything.

  River and Lakelyn spent a chunk of every day together. It was clear that they were extraordinarily close and loved each other very much. They were inspiring. Not all families were even half as loving and supportive as they were.

  Lakelyn kept busy with things I didn’t ask her to do, yet she insisted even when I told her they weren’t necessary. She cleaned the townhouse and did my laundry. When I returned, I discovered my clothes were clean and on my bed. She also cooked dinner most nights. It was spoiling Cobra and me. And if she wasn’t doing it for the four of us, she helped to prepare food for the whole club in the clubhouse. Her cooking far exceeded the meals made only by the sluts.

  I noticed that Alice and Kendall seemed to like learning to cook better. Mera, no surprise, resented it, but she hadn’t said or done anything I knew of. She was walking the line I placed. Bailey seemed to be torn and unsure which way to go. Mera was her older cousin, so she ended up being led by her most of the time, but Bailey wasn’t as hard as her cousin or ready to confront others.

  Tonight was to be a communal dinner night. We’d have to get it and sanctuary over with in time to have the clubhouse cleared of everyone but the members. One prospect would man the gate, and the other would ensure we had our drinks, then leave us to talk business. While Drax and Knife knew some of what we did, they didn’t know all the inner dealings. Those came after one was patched in.

  ☙☙☙

  It took some work, but we got dinner and sanctuary done and River and Lakelyn to the house. He was hanging out with her at my place, and they planned to watch movies. I explained to her that we had a second meeting for an upcoming run that required additional planning outside of the earlier sanctuary. I explained that we didn’t know how long it would take and needed to use the clubhouse’s common room to spread out and do prep. I did indicate that they shouldn’t be in there. Neither one had pushed back. They agreed it wasn’t any of their business.

  Everyone was where they needed to be by nine-thirty. I had Crypto sitting out of the discussion. The reason was so that he could monitor the exterior walls of our property. He had them wired with cameras and set back from the property so he’d see if anyone was approaching our location. They’d be spotted long before they got to our door, so to speak. They’d be wrong if the Jacquots thought they’d ambush the compound while we were all otherwise oblivious in the clubhouse. We’d have adequate warning, and they’d be the ones getting a surprise.

  The Jacquots arrived ten minutes early. Drax was at the gate. He let them inside. He’d stay at the gate until it was time for them to leave. After that, he could go to bed. We went outside to greet them. There were two SUVs. The first one had two men in the front seat. They got out, and then Hugo, Jean-Baptiste, and Pascal stepped out of the backseats with another man. There were three bodyguards. The second SUV produced three guards, along with Bastien and Étienne. That gave them eleven. With us and our prospects, we had the advantage at sixteen.

  I greeted Hugo first. He shook my hand. From there, I went down the line while they moved to greet Cobra. We knew they had weapons, so we didn't waste time patting them down. We’d let them have them. We kept ours whenever we met with them. I refused to surrender ours from the start of our association. Walking them inside, I waved at Drax. He’d check that their vehicles didn’t have anyone hidden in them. Yeah, I was a mistrustful fucker.

  “Please have a seat. This is Knife. He’s one of our prospects. He’ll be taking drink orders, and once those are served, he’ll leave us to talk. We have almost anything you can want. We got ours right before you arrived,” I explained.

  It wasn’t long before orders were taken. The guards weren’t drinking alcohol, though they did accept water or soft drinks. The Jacquots had no problem having alcohol. As soon as they had them, I dismissed Knife. He’d help Crypto monitor the security screens.

  “I’m glad we could finally meet in person, Tyrant. We feel terrible about how the whole thing with Arturo and his men turned out. We had no idea that what occurred would be the outcome.” Hugo launched right into it.

  “I admit it wasn’t how we saw it going down, either. It has made us wary. We don’t want our friends and business partners hurt by people like them. That’s why I warned you when I called you the following day. I don’t know who else might be in league with them and could make things dangerous for others. You said they were customers that were known to you, right?” I countered.

  “They were new to the gun game, though we’d had other dealings with them. This was the first time we’d passed them on to someone else. Our interactions with them were fine, which is why I was shocked about what you told me.”

  How he chose his words made it impossible to tell whether he was telling me the truth. They were ambiguous enough that, in general, it sounded sincere. I addressed his boys next. He treated all four like his sons.

  “What about you guys? Did you ever get any weird vibes from them that weren’t enough to make you uneasy at the time?”

  It was Jean-Baptiste who answered. That, too, was no surprise. He tended to do the talking for his brother and cousins. He shook his head and gave me an unhappy look. “No, Tyrant, I had no indication that Arturo or his guys would turn on those they shouldn’t. If I had, even if it were a tiny doubt, I would’ve told mon père, my father.”

  His words sounded sincere. But as I thought them over, I realized they could also be ambiguous. The words would be valid if they saw them as friends and us as enemies or someone in their way. Goddamn it! This was why I didn’t trust the majority of people. They liked to stab you in the fucking back all the time. I learned to distrust before the whole horror of my younger life. That one only made me more cautious, but maybe not enough.

  “Pascal, you?” I asked. I wasn’t settling for the other three to remain mute this time.

  Pascal’s eyes flicked sideways to glance at his dad and brother.

  “My brother didn’t either,” Jean-Baptiste hurried to answer.

  I sat there, saying nothing as I stared at Pascal. Finally, he answered me, though I saw Hugo and the older son weren’t too happy about it.

  “I always got along with Arturo, and he didn’t strike me as someone to betray us.”

  “But what about betraying others outside your family?” Cobra asked unexpectedly.

  “I, well, uhm, no, I wouldn’t think they’d do that either,” Pascal said, but he was flustered, and I heard an undertone of untruth. Was it just his nerves or more?

  “Bastien, Étienne, did you?” I asked.

  Before they could answer, Hugo jumped in. “Mon ami, I know you’re upset, and no one blames you. We hate that this has happened and want to make things right. What can we do? You’ll need a shipment soon. We are here to guarantee you that the next one will go off without a hitch. It will be between us only. We want to set that up before we leave, after allaying your fears.”

  Hugo was showing sympathy, but the way he said two words struck me. The words next one. It was off. My brain said the next shipment would be perfect, but what about the one after that? They’d be devious enough to lull us back into trusting them and try again, maybe this time with their men rather than expendable guys. That was how I saw Arturo and his crew. If they failed, it was no big deal. They weren’t the Jacquots’ people.

  As prearranged, my club brothers began asking them questions and getting them to engage in regular talk. I sat back and listened. I needed to concentrate on all their nonverbal cues and words. Since I was typically a man of few words, they didn’t pay much attention to me.

  I noted that Hugo was trying to project a pleasant, friendly demeanor with a tinge of worry. Étienne and Bastien were more hesitant and anxious, but they were rarely allowed to say much. Pascal was better than them, but it was Jean-Baptiste who was in control. And while he was extremely good, I thought I saw signs of strain around his mouth and the rare flash of fury in his gaze. He didn’t appreciate being questioned. However, if he thought this was an interrogation, he had no motherfucking clue what those were like, and he’d better hope he never would.

  It went on for over an hour. We peppered in random talk that had nothing to do with the topic, trying not to make it too apparent that we didn’t trust them.

  “Hugo, I hope you and your boys understand that we’re not accusing you of knowing about this ahead of time or being involved with what Arturo did. Please don’t think that. We’re concerned for all of us. You know how the Kings of Anarchy are. If we find an enemy, it’s not just one chapter that the enemy has to be worried about. It’s our entire charter. I know that you feel the same way about your family. What if there are others like Arturo’s group? Those who want to move against both of us to take our businesses away. They could be testing the waters with us, but plotting against both of us. We don’t want anything to jeopardize our relationship with you. It has been lucrative for both sides, hasn’t it?” I finally added.

  “It has been very lucrative, and we’ve appreciated all your business. You’ve bought more guns than we’d ever sold before. If someone is trying to do that, we also want them stopped. I don’t want it to ruin our alliance. To be honest, we want to grow our gun business. And you’re key to that,” Hugo stated.

  He was telling the truth about us being key, but I wasn’t sure whether he felt the alliance with us specifically was needed. Were they trying to remove us as the middleman and go straight to the end distributor? If so, they’d better think again. He’d never get that to happen. Our connection wouldn’t work with anyone but Kings of Anarchy.

  “That’s damn good to hear,” I said.

  “Bien, bien, good, good, I’m glad to hear it. So, have we settled your concern enough that we can arrange the next shipment?” Hugo asked.

  I pretended to think for a few moments, and then I nodded. “I believe we can. I’m thinking. We just did a recent shipment, and they had that manpower issue on the other end, so they had to slow themselves down for a short while. We’ll need a double shipment, but not for a month. Will that work?”

  I knew they wouldn’t like the month part, but the prospect of a double order would make it too sweet to pass up. Hugo’s eyes gleamed with greed. “Yes, yes, that will be perfect. Will four weeks from today work?” he asked.

  “That makes it the Fourth of July. Why not the seventh? It’s the Monday after the long weekend. The cops will be tired from the three-day weekend and not expecting us to do something that soon after one or on a Monday,” Cobra suggested, as we had prearranged. We’d run through the likely scenarios in sanctuary. We’d decided how to respond and who would say what. It was all rehearsed.

  There was barely a pause while Hugo and Jean-Baptiste exchanged a brief look before his son answered. “We can do that. We’ll arrange the time and place closer to the date to keep it secure. Just in case someone is trying to pull something over on us. This way, they won’t have time to set us up.”

  “Agreed. Okay, I think business has been ironed out. Who would like another drink?” I asked.

  They made up an excuse about how late it was and that they would have to regretfully decline. It wasn’t long before we escorted them to their vehicles, and they were let out of the gate. We breathed a sigh of relief as soon as it closed behind them. I waited until we reentered the clubhouse before I addressed the guys. Crypto came out to join us.

  “Are they lying, Pres?” Jury asked.

  “I can’t say with absolute certainty they are, but they’re hiding something,” I answered.

  “Did you note anything, Crypto?” Howler asked.

  “No one came close enough to get a license plate, but there did seem to be more traffic than normal coming closer than anyone should be at this time of night. I believe they had backup close by. It might just be smart business practice, but if you feel they’re hiding something, Tyrant, it makes me even more wary of them. We’ve got to find out the truth before July seventh. And if they are dirty?”

  “Then we wipe them the fuck out. That date works as good as any,” I growled.

  This threat caused them to cheer and pound on the bar. It was late, but we all decided to have a beer or a shot before bed. We stuck to non-alcoholic drinks during the meeting. We pretended to drink, but the open bottles they saw us drinking beer from when they came were filled with water. We’d never go into this kind of thing impaired. As I sat there with my brothers, I prayed that this would end up in our favor. I didn’t want to die or lose anyone.

  Lakelyn:

  My heart was about to beat out of my chest. I could barely breathe when I got back to the house. Stumbling inside, I slammed the door shut, leaned against it, and slid down to my ass on the floor. I cradled my head. It was whirling. The sound of footsteps didn’t even get me to raise my head.

  “Lake, what’s wrong?” I heard the worry in River’s voice.

  I couldn’t speak. I held up a finger to indicate that he needed to wait a minute. It took me longer than that to fight the panic and stop hyperventilating. He slid down to lean against the door beside me. When I finally lifted my head, he was watching me apprehensively.

  “Lakelyn, tell me, what has you pale as a ghost and shaking? Did someone do something to you? If they did, I’ll kill them,” he snapped.

  “No, no one touched me,” I croaked.

  “Then what the hell is it? You went to get us more popcorn. Did you get into trouble? You were seen?”

  “No, I wasn’t seen. I made it into the pantry just fine from the back entry.”

  I paused. The pantry in the clubhouse had two ways to get into it. One was by passing through the common room into the kitchen, and the other was from a hallway near the common area, but you didn’t have to enter the room to get to it. When we found no popcorn in Tyrant’s house, and River said he knew Cobra didn’t have any, I told him to stay, and I’d get some from the main pantry at the clubhouse. I went there to get in and out and hadn’t planned to eavesdrop. It was how loud they were talking that made it possible to hear.

  “Then what? If you don’t tell me, I’m marching over there right now and asking who the hell did this to you.”

  I grabbed his arm and squeezed. “You will do no such thing! Do you hear me? We can’t let them know that we’re on to them. This is life or death. We can’t. We’ve got to plan. Come on, let’s go to my room in case Tyrant comes back soon,” I said urgently.

  I climbed to my feet as he did the same, then practically dragged him to my room. Once inside, I locked the door, and we sat on my bed.

  “Okay, we’re here. Talk,” he ordered.

  “I went to get the popcorn. While I was in the pantry, the voices in the meeting got louder. I wasn’t trying to hear what they were saying, but when they got louder, I recognized that the Kings weren’t the only ones in this meeting. There were others. And I recognized a voice. God, I can’t believe this is happening. Did they do this on purpose? Did they know? Or find out?” I muttered.

  “Know what? Christ, Lake, you’re killing me,” River said.

  “Don’t cuss,” I automatically responded.

  He laughed. “I’m almost eighteen. I’m old enough. Whose voice did you hear?”

  “First, let me tell you what they were saying. One of the other men said he knew someone was upset. I assume Tyrant. They hated that something had happened and wanted to make it right. He asked what they could do to make that happen and about the club needing a shipment soon. They guaranteed the next one would go off without a problem, and it was only between them and the Kings. They will set it up after they settle some fears the club has tonight.”