Taming Blade (Kings Reapers MC Book 5), Nicola Jane [books for 7th graders TXT] 📗

“You made the right call. We need the Kings right now.”

BLADE

“That was Tillie. Something’s wrong,” I say, wiping my blade on an old piece of rag.

“We’re kinda in the middle of something,” mutters Riggs.

“Pres, she mentioned Acid.”

He freezes mid punch. The bloody mess before him groans, a reminder that we already have a situation. “Shit, okay, finish this piece of crap,” he huffs. Lake steps forward and slices a neat cut across the man’s neck. He begins to gurgle as Riggs puts a call in to the clean-up team.

“I know we made a deal with the chief of police, but this kind of thing is a bit above and beyond,” Lake complains.

“You think he needs bent cops on his payroll? This piece of scum raped victims of crime. Women reached out for help and he attacked them,” hisses Riggs.

“A cop is a cop. I don’t wanna go down for murdering a cop,” argues Lake.

“Christ, we do what we do. I can’t pick and choose the jobs that come in from the top. He’s gonna keep us outta prison if we keep him on side,” snaps Riggs. “You know the score.”

I head to my bike, wondering exactly how far this new chief will make us go. He’s too ambitious for my liking, but I won’t tell Riggs that.

We ride out to Tillie's shop, and I get a glare from Riggs when the cop waiting outside the shop turns towards the rumblings of the bikes as we come to a stop. There’s no hiding the blood on my shirt, but I fasten my jacket anyway.

“Evening,” he says with a nod. I leave Riggs to talk to him and I head into the shop, where Tillie is crying down the phone. I take the receiver off her and pass it to Sara, then I wrap my arms around her and allow her to sob into my chest while looking around at the mess.

When Sara finishes the call, she disconnects. “Her nan,” she explains.

“She wants to sell up,” says Tillie, sniffling. “She can’t afford to keep it running as it is and now this.”

Riggs steps in. “Cops think druggies,” he says, looking around.

Tillie shakes her head. “It was Acid,” she mutters. “He came to the shop today.”

I grip her shoulders and glare at her. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“I didn’t think I needed to. I’m calling you now,” she sniffles.

“What did he want?” asks Riggs.

“To offer protection . . . for me and the shop. I said I didn’t need it and he seemed fine with that and left. But this is a bit of a coincidence, right?”

“Right,” agrees Riggs. “You gotta come to the club. Both of you,” he demands firmly before heading back out the shop. I smile to myself because he’s accepting her into the Kings family. He wouldn’t offer protection otherwise.

“You don’t have to look after me,” she says awkwardly.

“Sunshine, if you weren’t worried, you wouldn’t have called me,” I say gently. “We’ll sort this. Let’s get you out of here.”

I settle Tillie in the room next to mine, like before, and Sara is in the room next to her. I head straight for Riggs’ office, where I find him updating Cree.

“When are we heading out?” I ask. I feel agitated and I’m ready for the fight.

“Brother, we gotta play this cool. He’s offering protection. He might be doing that across the area,” says Riggs. “I wanna know just how far his reach goes. They’ve been quiet since Cobra disappeared. Man, I thought they were gone.”

“Me and you both,” I mutter. “Now he knows she’s Cobra’s daughter, he won’t leave her alone.”

After speaking with Tillie a few days ago, Riggs looked into the history of the Cobras MC. Cobra himself had only just started the club up before we ended him, but he’d already gotten some local drug dealers on board who were wanting to break away from the tough rules the Kings and Vinn have in place. We’ve since learned he left a lot of debt with those dealers and they went after the remaining members to get their money. Acid stepped up and became the new President.

“If Acid is trying to exploit Tillie to get money to pay off Cobra’s debts and she’s declined, he might sell her down the river and the debts will pass to her. We don’t know if tonight was his way of scaring her to agree or if people are already coming for her,” says Cree.

“I’ll fucking kill him,” I growl.

Cree pats me on the back, smiling. “Welcome aboard the crazy train, brother. Here, we do anything to protect our women.”

Thinking about Tillie as my own makes me smile. All I gotta do is convince her.

Chapter Sixteen

TILLIE

There's a light knock on my bedroom door, and I open it to find Eva standing there sheepishly. “Hey,” she almost whispers.

I’m not mad at her, she did what she had to do, but it doesn’t stop me feeling hurt. I open the door wider and she follows me inside. “I chose the flowers,” she says, pointing to a large vase of beautiful dried flowers.

“They’re lovely.”

“Oh Tillie, I’m so sorry. I wanted to call you, but Blade said I couldn’t. He thought it was best we leave you alone to move on.”

“You did what you had to do,” I reassure her.

She flops down next to me on the bed. “Riggs just asked me to chat with you, feel you out. I became your friend by choice because I really like you, Tillie. It was easy to become your friend because you remind me of Anna and Leia and all the other amazing friends I have.”

Her apology makes me feel better and I smile. “Let’s start again,” I suggest, and she nods, relief flooding her face.

“So, you and Blade?” She grins, wiggling her brows.

“We keep getting pulled back together.”

“That tells me despite your protests, there’s something between you. You’re drawn to each other,” she says with a sparkle in her eye.

“Whatever we