Children of Fire (Complete)

forty-eight

Gideon

Leaving Emerson alone at the clubhouse was far more difficult than I had realized. I knew I couldn't be with her 24/7, not only was it unhealthy, but I had to make sure all of our affairs stayed in order. My brothers still wanted blood from the shooting not too long ago (even though it seemed like it had been several years in the past), and I wasn't able to hold them back any longer. They were ready to attack with full force, and although I also wanted blood, I couldn't think of a smart way to make the attack happen-- not without knowing who Piniero had been consorting with behind my back.

It wasn't unusual for me to not know who our affiliates did and didn't meet with, but these weren't deals going down. These were meetings, calculated meetings that had to have held merit. There was something going down behind my back, and behind my brothers backs, and I needed to know what it was. I needed to know what was happening on the inside before I allowed us to attack. I wouldn't lead us blindly into a death trap, and I had a nauseating feeling that was exactly what would happen if we didn't play this smart.

As Killian and I rode our bikes to the meet with one of our buyers, Dillon, I couldn't help but wonder what the next few weeks would do to me, to Emerson, to us. It wouldn't be easy, and my time with her would be cut short due to a lot of the business I would be doing. I had to transition our club as smoothly as possible into new leadership, and I could only hope that all of our buyers wouldn't want a sit down the way Dillon did. He was a paranoid man, who had only ever done business with my father. I couldn't blame him for being untrusting, but as far as business went-- everything was still on track. Nothing would change.

When we pulled into the secluded side road where Dillon's warehouse was located, we noticed a significant amount of vehicles there, and I felt my hairs raise on the back of my neck. This was supposed to be a friendly sit down, and there shouldn't have been any kind of drama included, which is why I only brought Killian with me... I was starting to regret that decision when I saw the amount of men huddled in front of the barn. There was no way Dillon needed this many men to guard his guns, and he knew there wasn't a buy tonight-- so what was going on?

Killian and I parked our bikes and turned them off, leaving our helmets on the seats. He passed me a wary look and I just nodded my head, men like Dillon could smell fear. He was head of one of the largest crime empires in our state, and we had supplied his guns for the last fifteen years, he was no stranger to corruption.

As I got closer, I noticed Dillon's eyes darting between Killian and myself, then back towards the road we came from. Was he expecting an ambush of sorts? He knew that wasn't our style, at least not when it came to him anyways. As I approached him, his men moved out of the way so I could speak with him easier. "What's all the extra protection for?" I asked. No sooner had the words left my mouth, did Dillon's fist connect with my jaw at a strength I didn't expect from such a man.

I could taste the blood pooling in my mouth, salty and rusted. What the fuck was that for? I straightened up with lightning speed and connected my own fist with his face, but he didn't fight back. Instead, his men took their turn raining down blow after blow on my face, my back, my stomach, anywhere they could manage to get their hands on. I knew Killian had joined in on the fight because there was grunting on my right. This went on for only a few moments before Dillon's tenor voice cried out, "Enough!"

I wiped the blood that trickled out of the corner of my mouth and spat at Dillon's feet, anger consuming me. "What the fuck was that for?" I bellowed, shoving Dillon back. His men took a step in front of him, but he waved them aside, a large red mark pulsed angrily on his jaw-- but other than that he was unscathed.

"You stupid, foolish boy." Dillon growled, his eyes boring into my own. He didn't give me the chance to rally back before he continued speaking. "You take over your fathers club during such a tumultuous time for your club? Are you trying to die or are you just an idiot?"