The Henchmen MC: Renny Part 22

"f.u.c.king Jersey?" he asked, grimacing.

"Where you from?" I asked.

"Everywhere," he hedged.

"Drop a pin," I suggested.

"Philly, when I am not on the road."

"What the f.u.c.k did you do to get yourself locked up in Little Ricky's bas.e.m.e.nt for three months?"

"Got a real problem with pimps, especially the type who use fists on their women. He didn't like that I had a problem with pimps and therefore had a problem with me."

"That got you three months?" I asked, brows drawing together.

"My dislike of pimps might have led to one of them eating through a straw."

"Nice," Reeve said, almost too low to be heard.

"And you're still breathing?" I pressed.

"Little Ricky was a paranoid f.u.c.k. Figured some rogue a.s.shole with an ax to grind must have belonged to some bigger organization bent on bringing his pathetic army of rapists and baby f.u.c.kers down."

"You seem to know a lot about his organization," I observed.

"I know a lot about a lot of organizations."

"Why's that?"

"Alright," Reign said as he walked back in, showered. "Reeve," he said, making the man in question straighten in his seat slightly. "You're reading my kid Hatchet?"

Reeve got a bit more guarded at that, but lifted his chin slightly. "I am."

"Thanks, man. Summer said he was struggling since I left. I appreciate you taking some time out for him. Secondly," he said, looking over toward me. "Where the f.u.c.k is Mina?"

"Oh, man," Cyrus said, jumping up and wavering on his feet for a second before Edison's cuffed hands grabbed his forearm to steady him. "Thanks, bud. You weren't here for this, but let's just say the Mina topic ain't a good one and we might be better off in the kitchen for a bit."

With that, Cyrus, Edison, and Reeve all shuffled off as Reign raised a brow at me. "What'd you do, Renny?"

"I got the girl," I hedged, my headache seeming to intensify at just the mention of her.

"Then you lost her. f.u.c.king great. Did you at least compare notes before you scared her off or were you too busy doing other s.h.i.+t?"

"We're on the same page about Laz and Cyrus and are both clueless about Reeve."

"When did she leave?"

"Just late this morning."

"Lo know you hurt her girl?" he asked, smirking slightly.

"She's looking for pickling spices," I supplied. At his drawn-together brows, I laughed humorlessly. "To pickle my c.o.c.k."

To that, he threw his head back and laughed. "Shoulda known when you were getting involved with Hailstorm."

"So why do we have Little Ricky's prisoner here... still in cuffs?"

Reign shrugged at first. "We got down to the bas.e.m.e.nt, saw him, but didn't have time to ask him any G.o.dd.a.m.n thing so we just took him and ran. With the amount of s.h.i.+t that went down in that building, the cops were definitely on their way. We didn't want to risk it. On top of that, he saw us and could finger us. And we didn't know who he was so we couldn't just f.u.c.king kill him."

"Not worried he's going to flip s.h.i.+t?"

"You've seen the f.u.c.k," Reign said, chuckling. "I swear to f.u.c.k if I didn't know better, I'd think he was perpetually high. How he lost his s.h.i.+t and almost killed one of Little Ricky's guys is beyond me. I don't think I've met anyone that laid back."

"He claims to know a lot about a lot of organizations. When I said the name of our club, he already knew he was in Jersey. Even though his home s.p.a.ce is apparently Philly."

"Good to know."

"What's the plan with him now? We got women and kids here," I reminded him. "And I don't think it'd be fair to lock him up with the rest of the puppies in case he's got rabies."

"Puppies?" he asked, smirking again.

"I dunno, man. I said it once and it stuck," I admitted, reaching up to rub at the bridge of my nose.

"So you thought that jumping into a bottle was maybe better than driving up to Hailstorm, huh?"

"I f.u.c.ked up bad, man," I admitted. "Swear to f.u.c.k she might have put in an order to have me shot on sight."

"Well, I suggest your start racking that brain of yours to try to figure out how to get her to forgive you, because I'm thinking I want her opinion on Edison before we make any decisions on what to do with him. For now, I don't f.u.c.king know, we can lock him up in that gla.s.s room or some s.h.i.+t. There's no escaping from there."

"Hey, ah, Mr. Presidente or whatever," Cyrus called from the doorway, getting our attention. "The new guy and Laz are, well, let's say they're having culinary differences."

"Jesus Christ," Reign said, shaking his head, running a hand across the back of his neck. "What the f.u.c.k is happening to my club?" he asked, walking toward the kitchen with me in toe just in time to see Edison shove his cuffed hands into Laz's shoulder.

"Keep your hands off me, frate," Laz shot back, shoving his own hand into Edison's shoulder.

"Frate?" Cyrus asked and I shook my head. I had no f.u.c.king idea.

Really, even cuffed, there was only one way that conversation was going to go. And we stood there and watched as the men hit the ground and fought for dominance.

"That's more like old times," Reign said, nodding.

"What's the..." Cash started, stopping short at the sight of Edison clasping his hands together and using them both to slam into Laz's jaw. "Huh, wouldn't have believed either of them were fighters if I didn't see it myself. What'd they get into it over?"

I looked at Cyrus who looked at all of us with a s.h.i.+t-eating grin and declared, "Basil."

To that, we all couldn't help it after so many tense months, we laughed.

"Oh for Christ's sake," Maze said walking in. "Lay them out on the table and measure them," she declared, moving to step over the grappling duo on her way to the fridge, making them both freeze.

Didn't matter how serious a fight was, when a woman as pregnant as Maze was stepping over you, you settled the f.u.c.k down.

"Are we having dinner or f.u.c.king what?" Reign asked then. "Leave the G.o.dd.a.m.n basil out if it is going to lead to a mother f.u.c.king brawl. Jesus Christ. I need my woman," he declared, waving a dismissive hand toward us and walking out.

"What, you beat prisoners now too?" Lo asked, shaking her head as Reeve reached down to help Edison back onto his feet.

"Reeve," Repo said, all business, reminding me of the days when he was in charge of all the probates even though he hadn't been much older than most of us. "Why don't you show Edison to one of the bathrooms so he can clean up. Here," he added, pulling a key out of his pocket. "He can uncuff to shower then cuff him back up after. Cyrus, why don't you see about helping Laz or just sitting at the table and nursing that hangover and minding your own f.u.c.king business while I fill-in everyone?"

With that, and not waiting for a response because the way he said it left no room for argument, he turned and walked out into the common area, dropping down on the chair with a sigh, patting his leg until Maze sat down there.

"Alright," Lo said, sitting down and giving me a glare when I moved to sit near her, making me decide to stand instead. "So, is it over?"

"That's what took so long," Repo said, absentmindedly stroking a hand through Maze's purple hair. "We got to the place and realized it was a f.u.c.kuva lot bigger than we planned on and we were too out-numbered. We stopped to regroup and called Janie for some background on the guys, what Ricky's numbers were, that kind of thing."

"Had Repo pick off the night guards before we decided to go in," Cash added. "By the time we fought our way through the inside guys, Little Ricky was nowhere to be found. Pulled a f.u.c.king Lex Keith with a mother f.u.c.king panic room. Had to go back through all the guys who were still breathing until we found one who knew the code and then, ah, find a way to get that information out of him."

Didn't take an idiot to know that information was beaten out of him. And, judging by the look of his hands, it had likely been Duke who had done the extracting.

"And?" I prompted when no one continued.

"And Little Ricky was inside the room with one of his poor f.u.c.king women, beat to s.h.i.+t, clothes ripped, a real mess," Repo added, shaking his head. "Cash got her out of there and Reign made him pay for what he did to our brothers."

I knew Reign enough to know that behind the take-charge or alternately laid-back persona of our president, he was as dark as the rest, had more blood on his hands than most save for maybe Wolf.

Whatever fate Little Ricky met with was brutal and b.l.o.o.d.y and totally f.u.c.king justified if you asked any of us.

"That's about when we came across Edison," Cash added. "We were doing one last look around to make sure we didn't miss anyone or anything and behind some steel door, there he was, chained to a metal chair."

"What the h.e.l.l possessed you to bring him back here? If he was a prisoner there, he wasn't likely to try to take you guys down for rescuing him," Lo said, ever the strategist.

"Reign kind of liked the f.u.c.k," Duke offered, walking back in, his hands and face all bandaged up and I knew it was Penny who had insisted on it. Duke likely would have poured alcohol over the whole of it and called it a day. But, no, he had a woman who loved him and wanted to take care of him.

Never was much of a man for envy until right about then.

"He's in rebuild-mode," Cash supplied. "It was like this after Pops got killed too, along with half the other men. Any guy he came across who seemed the least bit capable of handling this lifestyle, he kind of just pulled them in and had them prospect."

"Well, four new men in the course of a week isn't too shabby," Lo mused. "If they all pan out. Bet you'd be ahead of figuring that out right now if someone would get his head out of his a.s.s..."

"I know I f.u.c.ked up, Lo," I said, shaking my head. "No use squeezing lemons into the wound."

"Well, apparently there is a need for it since you spent the afternoon trying to numb your pain instead of figuring out a way to try to make it up to her."

"Make it up to who?" Edison's deep, unmistakable voice asked, coming up behind us.

I turned to find him cuffed again, but freshly showered, likely feeling a f.u.c.kuva lot more human than he had ten minutes before, and dressed in clothes that must have belonged to one of our fallen guys, just black jeans and a black tee.

"Renny p.i.s.sed off his woman this morning."

"My advice, frate," he said, clamping a hand on my shoulder. "f.u.c.king grovel."

"You don't even know what he did," Maze insisted, giving him a strange smile as he dropped down next to Lo as casually as you please.

"My experience with women, love, is that it don't f.u.c.king matter what you did. Whatever it is, you need to f.u.c.king grovel."

"But what if..." Maze started.

"You like the woman?" he asked, leaning forward, putting his elbows on his knees and looking at me.

I don't know why I said it, least of all to him, a perfect stranger, and surrounded by people who barely even knew the situation, but I did. "I love her."

"Then you grovel. You love her, you f.u.c.ked up, you make it up. This ain't f.u.c.king rocket science here. Besides," he added, going for a little levity if the way his lips turned up into a smirk was anything to go by, "can't have you drinking this away when you can't hold your f.u.c.king liquor."

It was right about then that I remembered how much he had drank.

And the man seemed sober as a judge.

It was f.u.c.king impressive was what it was.

I looked over at Maze. "Any idea how late the mall is open to?"

She had been taking a sip of Vitamin Water when I asked and started to choke on it. "The... mall...?" she gasped out between chokes as Repo slammed his hand into her back.

"Yeah, I have to pick up some socks."

"Socks?" Cash asked, lips twitching. "Yeah, man, that's... ah... romantic."

"Trust me. It's a thing," I said, standing. "You gonna make your guys let me into Hailstorm are are there shoot to kill orders on me?"

She looked up, brown eyes warm, because if there was anything Lo was, above a certified bada.s.s, it was a hopeless romantic. And she was a sucker for a good romantic gesture. "I suppose I can have that order lifted for a little bit."

"It's going to have to wait," Maze said, making me freeze. She waved her phone at me. "The mall is closed until ten tomorrow."

Of course it was.

"Eh, maybe it's good," Edison put in. "Let her work through the anger first."

"She wasn't angry," Reeve said, drawing everyone's attention. He had been so silent I had forgotten he was even there. He looked at me then, face guarded, and gave me all I needed to know. "She was heartbroken."

SIXTEEN.

Mina "What'd the leggings ever do to you?" Ash asked, walking up behind me as I stuffed them into the garbage in the bathroom.

"My mother saw me in them. For that, they need to burn," I supplied, ripping off the shrug while I was at it and letting it follow the leggings into the garbage heap.