RIDING DIRTY (Steel Titans MC Book 4) Franca Storm (free novels txt) 📖

of the other threat for me, so I didn’t want something out there that would piss her off and screw with her getting it done for me.

“I tagged Nolan’s car. The sound you heard is a notification telling me he’s on the move.”

She looked shocked for a minute. But in the next an actual genuine smile spread over her face. “Very nice.”

“Quicker than the way you were gonna go about keeping tabs on him, yeah?”

“And how do you think that was?” she challenged, amusement dancing in her gaze.

“Hacking into surveillance and traffic camera feeds. Activating any contacts you’ve got in the area. And, maybe, even trying to turn some of his staff with a bribe or a threat to get them to report on his movements. Right on, huh?”

“Yeah,” she admitted, crossing to me, her eyes dipping to the phone in my hand. “So, where’s he headed?”

“Ain’t clear yet. I was working on it when you burst on in here.”

“Well, if you’d told me about this sooner, I wouldn’t have jumped into action when I heard the alert.”

“Doubt it. You’re jumpy and hella intense right to the core.”

My gaze darted to my phone screen again and I tensed automatically.

Willa picked up on it. “You have a suspicion about where he’s headed, don’t you?”

I drew my eyes from the screen and locked on hers. “Warlow.”

“The home of the Steel Titans Motorcycle Club.”

“Right you are, darlin’.”

She frowned in thought, then started shaking her head. “Why would he risk that? He’d be heading to your stronghold, putting him at a major disadvantage even with his muscle at his back. Not to mention, you coming at him alone made it clear you weren’t acting with the club’s backing, so it stands to reason that he’d already have ruled out you heading back home with things as they currently stand, your mission being incomplete. He’d suspect you’d be laying low somewhere close by.”

“You’re running with the assumption that he’s thinking logically right now. After what I did to him, all that fear and rage coursing through his system could have sent him off the deep end. People don’t always react rationally. Emotions and shit get the best of them now and then.” My gaze flicked back to my phone and the ball of tension that’d been growing in my gut eased up a bit when I saw Nolan’s path veer away from the straight-run to Warlow. “Like I said, I weren’t certain.”

“He’s headed away from the club now?”

“Yeah. There’s one other place nearby, but it made no sense to me why he’d be headed out that way if it weren’t for Titans.”

“What other place?” she pressed, coming closer.

“The Strikers MC compound.”

“It’s abandoned now.”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe Nolan’s looking for another stronghold, knowing Indulge has been compromised by you, and sticking it to you at the same time by choosing a place that belonged to Nik Stone.”

“Nah,” I said, knowing Nolan too well to think he’d go there for that reason alone. Only one other thing made sense. “He’s been called there.”

“What?”

I eyed her. “What’s the status on your research into the surviving Strikers MC members?”

“Well, given that all of that was derailed by you going after Nolan, not complete.”

“So, nothing’s in motion?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” she said with a sly smile. “I’ve ruled out most of them being an issue and I have a plan in motion to lead them away from temptation and becoming a problem.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “How the hell can that happen?”

“I’ve had a contact of mine offer them all lucrative positions in his conglomerate, positions that will take them far away from both Steel Titans and Strikers territory. Their lives will be raised up significantly and they’ll never have to want for anything again.”

“That’s next-level work there, darlin’.”

“I’m very good at what I do.” She gave me a look. “As long as I’m given the time to do it.”

“Look, I never clued you in on Nolan, because I knew you wouldn’t be on board. It ain’t exactly low-profile, covert, or none of that manipulative stuff that you go in for to take care of a threat for your clients. And I already explained why I couldn’t wait on him being dealt with.”

“All right, let’s let it lie now then.”

I nodded and got back down to the issue at hand. “Who’s taken up this offer so far out of all of them ex Strikers boys?”

“All, but two of them.”

“What’s their names?”

“Clay Wallis and Blake Freeman.”

My blood ran cold.

Adrenaline spiked.

I couldn’t hide my reaction. It was too damn obvious for sure.

“What, Slade? What aren’t you telling me? Both of them are rookie-level enforcers. Why do you looked so concerned?”

Fuck.

I moved away and grabbed my jeans off the back of the armchair in the corner by the bedroom door. I pulled them on, buckled the belt, then strode out of the room.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she called, rushing after me.

I reached the kitchen and opened the top corner cabinet and pulled out the bottle of whiskey in there. I’d just screwed off the top and downed a large burning gulp when she caught up with me.

“Slade! You don’t just walk away from me when we’re in the middle of a discussion.”

I took another gulp. “Needed a drink, all right? Chill, woman.”

She stared at me long and hard. I was expecting her to go off on one again, but I got a surprise when, instead, she snatched the bottle from me and took a swig herself.

Off my look, she shrugged and told me, “If what you’re about to tell me is that bad, then we’re both going to need something to take the edge off.”

I took the bottle back from her and downed some more.

I slumped down onto one of the breakfast bar stools and revealed, “Blake Freeman is Nik’s son.”

She blinked hard, trying to process it. “He’s… are you sure?”

“I went to a shitload of trouble to get their DNA for proof, so, yeah, I’m sure. Freeman is his bastard son, a product