“I can hear you thinking all the way over here,” he said, turning to smile at her.
She chuckled. “I’m just thinking about Butch. Maybe after tonight he’ll be voted back in and life can go back to some kind of normalcy. A club divided is dangerous, but a club that’s whole is unstoppable.”
“I’m hoping the same thing. At the moment we’re counting on Gonzalez not knowing the truth about Butch. He believes we blackmailed him to get what we want. We’re going to leave him believing that until the times right.” Tiny let out a sigh, shuffling in his seat. “The hope is for us to get inside Gonzalez’s head without him knowing. Whizz is handling the hacking and shit.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea? I mean, Butch dealing with this kind of stuff. It was his club that Gonzalez’s father took out all those years ago. He didn’t give away much of what happened, and we only know no one survived other than Butch.” She turned down a street getting closer to the airport. The drive was well over an hour away. Eva usually hated driving, but with Gonzalez’s involvement with The Skulls, she’d started doing it more and more. Not many of the cops pulled her over, but she’d been in the car when they did pull Tiny over. They made his life a misery just to get from one place to another. She never thought in all of her life that she’d be so afraid to live in Fort Wills.
She couldn’t even go back to her dad or take the kids with her. Another of Gonzalez’s requests was that no one leave the clubhouse and that they all stayed around. She talked to her dad over the phone, and he wired them all money. Tiny was going to pay him back, but Ned just wanted Gonzalez in the ground. Her own father wasn’t allowed to pay them a visit from Vegas. Gonzalez held all the power while they were merely puppets for him to play with. Ned was angry at Tiny. She kept trying to talk to her father but he wasn’t having her defend Tiny while they were talking. He didn’t want to know anything about the club or Tiny, only about her and the kids. They were trapped because of the powers of one man.
Running her fingers through her hair, she stared out of the window.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea. I think anything that can take Gonzalez by surprise is a good idea, and using Butch just seems like the right thing to do.”
“It could get him killed.” No matter how much Tiny tried to play the tough guy, she knew it was always hard for him to deal with the death of a club member. She’d been with him for some of his club that had died. The ones that went before she arrived, though she hadn’t been present, she knew they’d hit him hard.
“I know. It’s the risk we’re all having to take right now. None of us like it, but it’s those risks that are going to determine if the club survives.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” she said, pulling into the airport.
Lash, Angel, and their little boy, Anthony, were nowhere to be seen. She pulled up into the parking bay that let her stay for a few minutes to wait. Tapping the wheel, she watched the double doors hoping to see them.
“Maybe you should go in and see if they’re there,” Eva said. She hated the fact they’d cut the couple’s vacation short. If anyone needed a vacation it was Lash and Angel. The young woman had been through so much in the time since she’d been an old lady to Lash. She never complained as far as Eva was aware, and she cared about everyone.
“Okay.” Tiny removed his belt and was starting to get out of the car when Lash and Angel appeared. Lash carried the bags while Angel held their son in her arms. The couple was a dream to watch. Even now, Lash couldn’t take his eyes off his woman. Her blonde hair blew from the light breeze, and her smile lit up her entire face. Finding herself overcome with tears, Eva climbed out of the car and rounded the vehicle to embrace the younger woman. She adored Angel, and knowing the other woman was safe made her feel happier. Eva wished she was bringing the couple back into a much happier situation rather than the chaos she was.
“Hey, Eva, did you miss us?” Angel asked, chuckling. Angel hugged her back, tightly.
“Yeah, I missed you. I’m so sorry to cut your vacation short.”
Angel shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” She pulled away as Anthony started to giggle and moan. “I think this guy doesn’t like being crushed between two women.”
“I don’t know. When he’s older he won’t complain,” Lash said, teasing.
Rolling her eyes, Eva took hold of Angel’s hand and led her back toward the car. “You’re going to have to tell me everything of what went on. I want to hear every second of your vacation time.”
“It was fun,” Angel said, securing Anthony in the car seat. Climbing behind the wheel, Eva started up the car.
“Why are you driving?” Lash asked, climbing in beside Anthony.
Glancing toward Tiny, she nodded her head. “You may as well bring him up to speed.”
Pulling away from the curb, she exited the airport then started the long journey home. She listened to Tiny tell Lash and Angel about everything that had happened. Between Butch and Nash, Lash had been updated about some things, but Tiny had asked for them to wait to tell the other man everything. Some of the stuff needed to be talked about face to face. This way Tiny got to tell Lash about everything Devil had caused.
“Butch still not part of the club?” Lash asked.
“We’re going to take a vote on it tonight. I refused to vote until you got home. It’s a club decision.”
“Why? You’re the president. Your vote counts more than anyone else’s.”
Tiny shook his head. “Not to me it doesn’t. I want everyone to vote on this matter no matter what they think or feel.”
Eva watched him out of the corner of her eye. He looked stressed, angry, and tired. Fears started to build inside her once again. Tiny could easily have a heart attack if he wasn’t careful. She didn’t know what she’d do if anything happened to him. He was the love of her life, the reason for her staying in Fort Wills. They had two beautiful children together. Tiny, without even realizing it, gave her a reason to breathe. She didn’t want a life without him in it.
“You need to take it easy,” she said, reaching out to tap his hand.
“I will, baby. You need to stop stressing. What will be, will be.” He held her hand as he turned to look behind him. Every now and then she checked out the rearview mirror to see the worry on Angel’s face. “We all took a vote for Nash.”