Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Cash grinned and shook his head. Dev wasn’t fragile. Hotheaded? Yes. Impetuous? Absolutely. But not delicate by any means. “All right, here’s what I know. As part of the original agreement made in the eighties, no one was ever to know of your father’s and the others’ involvement in order to protect them and the entire operation. The Disciples of Havoc is the longest running AGEOS organization on record.”
“Pretty much what I guessed. What else?” Dev nodded to get Cash talking again.
“I don’t wanna hurt you,” Cash murmured.
“Keep goin’,” Dev encouraged.
He let go of a deep breath and set his brow firmly. Of course Dev mocked him. He shook his head and shoulders, pretending to be scared—not at all the reaction he’d wanted, but he laughed and brought Dev to him again.
“They want you to finish the case with me, get the funerals done and the bikers gone from Dallas. Everyone in law enforcement’s worried about all these clubs being here together. Then they want you to step aside.” Cash paused, ready for any outburst the plan might garner from Dev.
“Stop fuckin’ pausin’ like it’s fuckin’ dramatic and each revelation’s worse than the next. Tell me,” Dev demanded.
“Diesel’ll take over as club president. You’ll be out of the club completely. The only Fox left in charge is Shanna. She’ll take over your mother’s role and pose as Diesel’s new love interest. It’s to help give Diesel credibility and keep the Fox name strong within the group, because its reputation in the nefarious circles around the world’s pretty solid.”
“So I’m out of the Disciples, and Shanna’s in. Did she agree?” Dev asked, showing no emotion at all.
“She did.” Cash tried his best to read Dev’s reaction. “It gives her a significant promotion, and both Diesel and your sister have a really good track record with the government. At least, for right now, they’re an honest pair of agents who put their job above everything else,” Cash explained, trying to make Dev see the value in those two running the organization.
“Diesel’s into Daphne,” Dev said.
“I understand that’s not true. He’s protected her, not used her,” Cash said and shrugged.
“So the direct opposite of the last leader, a pedo who was slated for a long sentence in prison when they found him?” Dev asked, talking about his father. “Back when all this was formin’, how did they think this was ever gonna turn out differently? My old man was a piece of shit.”
“I don’t know,” Cash said, reaching out to clasp Dev’s hand as his biker unwound himself, letting his head fall between his shoulder blades to stare up at the ceiling. Cash had no idea what Dev was thinking. The frown Dev gave hurt Cash. He didn’t like to be the bearer of this news. The frown was followed by a belly laugh.
“Thank Buddha,” Dev exclaimed. “I’ve been jealous of Keyes. That he got out and I was forced to stay in. Jesus, what a fuckin’ relief. I don’t think Shanna’s up for everything comin’ her way, but maybe she is. Who fuckin’ knows. Her and Diesel might be able to turn the club around…or not. They should probably keep all the crazy going to help continue to run the drugs through the country efficiently. Crazy hides a bunch of shit.”
Cash grinned at Dev’s ease. No matter what Dev thought about himself, he was a true undercover agent at heart.
“I’m glad to see you feel that way,” Cash said. “I’m sure we can negotiate the ink parlor out of the club businesses…”
Dev interrupted him. His attitude changed in a blink. “What? That’s my fuckin’ business,” Dev said, his expressive face spoke of instant anger and confusion.
“Hey now,” Cash interrupted. “Every business under the Disciples umbrella is owned by the federal government. No member has anything on their own except you and this property, and I guess your mom’s place in north Fort Worth. The shell company’s address shows the Isle of Man.” He aimed for an efficient explanation.
“’Course it does. How did I miss so much? She went to TT about every other year by herself. She had no interest in motorcycles but then she’d go to the island for the race? Now it all makes sense. She was makin’ sure her safe place stayed safe. So I’ll just start up new then,” Dev shot out, taking a step back, fisting his hands at his side.
“You don’t want them to have the ink parlor. They can reconvene with any random artist in your place. I think it’s easy enough to take it with you. I feel like they owe you. You were used pretty solidly,” Cash said, reaching for Dev, but his guy wasn’t having it.
He’d learned Dev’s habits. The shift of his eyes, the flutter of his eyelashes, all explained his mind was racing. Cash dropped his head back, crossing his arms as he waited. Dev processed situations so quickly it wouldn’t take long.