“No, you’re not.”
“I am. Regardless of what you think, I really am sorry about what happened. I never intended to cause a problem. The shit that happened with Tate and Murphy, it shouldn’t have happened. None of this should be happening, but it is,” he said. “I just couldn’t take the bastard’s taunting. He knows what he’s doing, and all he’s doing is rubbing our faces in it every time he issues out a new order.”
Tiny couldn’t dispute what Devil said. Frederick Gonzalez knew a shit load more than any of them. “Fine, I accept whatever you’re feeling. It still doesn’t change the fact we need to get our shit together, and right now, it’s not together.”
Running fingers through his hair, Tiny stood up going toward the one counter the cops hadn’t smashed up. He probably should look to getting some new furniture and the entire place cleaned completely up. This was the first time they’d been hit that he hadn’t come home and put shit right. He took out a bottle of scotch and poured himself a healthy measure.
“You going to pour me a glass?” Devil asked.
Pulling out a second glass, he handed one to Devil. Leaning on the edge of his desk, Tiny looked toward the door where his woman disappeared through.
“I f**king hate this shit,” he said.
“There’s not a lot we can do. This shit is going to have to be done, whether we like it or not.” Devil downed his liquor and made his way toward the door.
“What do you think’s going to happen?” Tiny asked, curious to know Devil’s opinion.
Devil paused at the door then glanced toward him. He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I think you need to accept some men are going to die here.”
“What do you mean?” Tiny asked.
“You don’t go starting a fight with a man like this without expecting some casualties. I hope for all our sakes, there are none.” Devil left the room.
Staring down at his scotch, Tiny cursed. He was supposed to be picking up Angel and Lash. With even one drink inside him he wasn’t going to risk being snatched up by a passing cop.
Leaving the room he looked around the pitiful excuse for a club he owned. There was a time when the room would be a bustle of activity whereas now it was nothing more than a shell. Men and women would be having fun in different states of undress, simply having a good time. Looking around his club, he barely recognized it.
Eva was nowhere to be found. Moving toward Sophia, Tiny touched her elbow. “Where’s my woman?”
“She went out the back to the park.” Sophia offered him a smile, but he didn’t respond. All of his boys had married good women, and that made the decision to take on Gonzalez even harder. There was so much more to lose than ever before. Leaving the clubhouse behind he rounded the front to find Eva sitting on a swing looking down at their two children playing. Miles and Tabitha were twins. He’d been cursed to have a boy and a girl at the same time. Tate had been a handful growing up, but at least he’d been younger. He hadn’t known shit about raising a baby, but Tate had come out all right. Staring at Tabitha he didn’t know what he was going to do in the years to come with her getting older and prettier. He just knew his girl was going to be the crusher of men’s hearts. She pulled at his heart strings every chance she got. What was he going to do when the boys started sniffing around her? It was hard enough not to kill Murphy at every chance he got. Their son, Simon, was living f**king proof that Murphy was screwing his daughter. No, he wouldn’t think about it.
“Are you done now?” Eva asked. She looked up at him through tear-filled eyes. He hated making his woman cry.
“Yeah, I’m done.”
“Are you going to fight, or are you going to back down?”
“We’re going to fight, but we’re going to have to do this clever.” He stood behind his woman, pushing the hair off the back of her neck. Tiny heard her sigh.
“I hate this, Tiny. I just want to go back to when things were simple and we only had a two bit ass**le to deal with.”
He chuckled. “I know. Everything seemed easier back then, more certain.” He leaned down, kissing her exposed neck.
She shuddered, leaning back against him. “I can’t help but think this is going to be a disaster. There’s no way someone comes away unscathed from whatever this ass**le has planned. I mean, Butch, he’s lost that doctor who took care of him. Pussy and the crew lost Ashley. Who else are we going to lose?”
“Don’t think about it like that?” Tiny said, banding an arm around her waist.
“How can I not think about it like that? People are dying. Girls are being sold like cattle. They’re forced to f**k men for money, and I don’t know if I can let it go on. We know it’s going on, Tiny. We’re helping it when we should be stopping it. I’d hate for Tabitha to be exposed to anything like this or any girl for that matter.”
He tightened his grip on her shoulder. “There’s not a lot we can do about it, baby. We got to stay alive.”
Eva let out a sob, but he saw no tears fall down her face. “It’s hard. I look at Tabitha, and I see that monster who could be in our lives when she grows up.”
Tiny tensed at the image she filled his mind with. Between Eva and Devil, his mind had been filled with images he didn’t want to have. He didn’t need this shit. “You’ve got to stop thinking like that, baby. Nothing is going to happen. I promise. I will do everything in my power to keep you, the kids, and the club safe.”
She glanced up at him and smiled. “You’re a sweetheart, but you shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.” She tapped his hand, smiling. “You need a ride to get Lash and Angel?”
“How did you know?” he asked.
“I can smell your breath. I wouldn’t risk it either.” She tucked some hair behind her ear and stood. “Come on, let’s leave these to Tate, and we can go together to get your boy.”
****
Eva glanced toward Tiny, who was resting his head in his hand. The stress he was under was starting to scare her, and she regretted slapping his face earlier. She understood his fears. They were hers as well, but he had to see past it all. Gonzalez could do more than take the club away. If they weren’t careful, he was going to take Tiny away. For the past few nights she’d been watching Tiny sleep seeing the worry even when he was dreaming. He’d not been the same since Butch had left and then come back, only Butch hadn’t come back, not really. They all needed to take a vote before Tiny would allow Butch back into the fold.