“I’m a bit old for you, mate,” I said with a humourless laugh.
“You’re a dead man. When my family find out—”
“Wasn’t I already supposed to be a dead man?”
“You’ve no idea what’s coming for you.”
“Yeah? And you're going to regret ever having my woman's name on your lips. As for me, I'm going to enjoy every fucking minuteof this.”
Chapter 8
Rachel
I snuck downstairs after the asshole men had left, listening closely as they addressed all the members gathered in the bar. The idea was to go to church, formulate a plan, and rescue Dante tomorrow evening under the cover of darkness - they just needed to decide how this was going to take place.
There was no doubt they were willing to risk war to ensure his safe return, but my stomach churned at the thought of them waiting a day to do so. How much damage could be done in that time?
Dante was a strong man, but he was also injured and vulnerable right now.
From what I heard, they were planning on spending the day tomorrow speaking to various rats they had in other clubs, and seeing who had any information to give. They were also going to check in with Malfoy – Noob – just to make sure he wasn’t behind this. Crash said they couldn’t be sure that other men weren’t involved. Who knows what Macbeth had told them to poison their minds?
Which, I suppose, did make sense. There was no point rushing in all guns blazing if someone was here willing to tell Macbeth about their every move.
War wasn’t something to be entered into lightly. I had heard stories from the other old ladies that the last war – fought when Crash was a child – killed off more than half the club, and almost made them disband. If Dante was murdered, war would never be a question, just a fact. But right now, they were trusting themselves to formulate a plan that could avoid bloodshed.
But no one knew what I had planned or what I was up to. I was a mere woman, and therefore not allowed to their pathetic church. So, I could do whatever the fuck I wanted, without needing their approval.
Even if I was about to walk into a lion’s den.
Still. I couldn’t leave it for an entire day. If it was me who had been taken and not Dante, he would go scorched earth to ensure my safe return. I’d hate to be the person who got in his way.
Even if my feelings towards him were complicated, and currently causing a massive argument between me, myself and I over how we really felt, I owed it to him to make sure he was safe.
But why do you owe him it? You don’t actually owe him anything. What you mean is, you care about him and can’t stand the thought of him being hurt.
This was precisely the type of argument I was talking about.
So, against my better judgement, I waited until the bar had emptied, and I made my way out the back door, intending to steal a bike and go and get Dante myself.
Fuck this pussyfooting around business.
I snuck to the door and opened it just wide enough for me to slide my body through the gap. I kept my hand on the door and closed it inch by inch, as slowly as possible, with minimum sound.
I paused with my hand on the closed door, listening to the sounds of the men as they made their way to church. When I was satisfied that they were a decent distance away, I let out a sigh of relief and turned around.
“Going somewhere?” Came a voice that had me screaming in fright and jumping a foot into the air.
“Vienna! You almost gave me a goddamn heart attack!” I snapped at him, bringing my hand to my chest to steady my erratic heartbeat. “What the fuck are you playing at?”
“What the fuck areyouplaying at, Miss Rachel?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” He raised his eyebrows at me. “It doesn’t look like nothing. In fact, it looks as though you're sneaking out.”
“Does it? That's… weird. I just came out here to enjoy some fresh air.”
“You don't like the fresh air,” he murmured, eyeing me with suspicion.
