Claimed By My Father’s Outlaw

Chapter19

Cole's POV

"You're going to what?" Raine gasped.

I turned away from the mirror and looked at her directly. "Look, you heard me. And you need to get your sister and leave this place immediately. What's about to happen in the next few hours is going to be brutal, and I don't want you anywhere near it. Do you hear me, Raine?"

"Wait, hold on, hold on." She stepped closer, her eyes searching mine like she was trying to figure out if I'd lost my mind. "Why the hell would you want to kill your own boss?"

I hesitated. Telling her the truth could put her in danger. If Ambrose found out she knew anything, he wouldn't hesitate to deal with her the same way he dealt with everyone else who became a problem. But then I looked at her and saw this woman with flaming red hair and the most striking green eyes I'd ever seen. There was something in those eyes that told me she could be trusted, that she could handle whatever I threw at her.

"There are women locked in the basement of the Revenant lair," I finally admitted. "Two dozen of them or maybe even more by now. Ambrose is trafficking them. I suspect he wants to pimp them, sell them to brothels in New Orleans and Baton Rouge."

"We've done illegal s**t before," I continued. "Plenty of it. But this one crosses every line we ever drew. I tried talking to him about it, tried to get him to see reason, but all he cares about is the money. He doesn't give a damn about those women or what happens to them."

Raine's face had gone pale, but her expression was thoughtful as she processed what I'd just told her. Then she spoke up.

"I saw something like that too," she replied. "A few days ago. I was riding through Baton Rouge and I saw men loading women and young girls into vans. They were trying to fight back, and then one of them tried to escape and they shot her. Just... they shot her and left her body there in the mud like that."

"Oh, s**t!" I stepped forward, closing the distance between us. "That must've been another batch. Jesus Christ, Raine."

She nodded, her hands trembling slightly. "I went to my dad and I told him everything I saw and begged him to do something about it. But he just brushed me off. He didn't care. And that's what I don't understand, because my dad loves stirring up trouble with the Revenants. He'd jump at any excuse to go after you guys, and I was kind of banking on that. But this time he did nothing."

I shook my head. "No bike president is going to get involved in another club's business unless they absolutely have to. It could start a war. You remember what happened between the Revenants and the Iron Serpents last year? One mistake, and we lost good men on both sides. Your dad probably doesn't want that again."

Raine nodded slowly, but I could still see the doubt and confusion on her face. "Yeah. I get it."

I reached out and grabbed her shoulders, making sure she was looking at me. "You need to leave right now. Get your sister and get out of here before this goes down."

She stared up at me with determination. "Do what you need to do," she whispered. "Save those women. You're brave, Maddox. You're doing the right thing."

Those words made me smile a little bit even though I didn't feel brave. I felt reckless and terrified and like I was about to throw away everything I'd built. But hearing her say it gave me the greatest relief I had ever felt.

I watched Raine walk out, and then I turned back to the mirror. My reflection stared back at me, and I looked tired and hollow. I knew there was no other way. Trying to talk Ambrose out of this had been useless. The man cared more about profit than people, and nothing I said was going to change that.

I could try to discredit him somehow, get the other bike lords to take him out. But I'd been in this biker life long enough to know that would never work. Bike lords didn't get involved in each other's business. They kept to their own territories, their own messes, and they sure as hell wouldn't lift a finger to help a bunch of unimportant trafficked women.

That left one option: to kill Ambrose myself.

And whatever happened after that, whether the other lords wanted to execute me for killing my own president, I didn't care. As long as those women were safe, I'd make sure they got out before anyone came for me.

I reached into my jacket and felt the weight of my gun in the inner pocket. Then I left the bathroom.

When I stepped back into the venue, the first thing I saw was Raine tugging at her sister's arm, trying to get her to stand. Isla looked confused, but Raine was insistent, pulling her toward the exit. I glanced up at the high table where the presidents and VPs sat, and there was Victor Mercer glaring daggers at his daughter like he was silently ordering her to sit back down.

But Raine didn't even look at him. She just kept moving.

I stayed at the edge of the room towards the back, waiting and making sure they made it out safely. As Raine passed by me, she turned her head and our eyes met for a single second. There was fear in her eyes, but there was also trust. She was trusting me to go through with this.

Then she was gone.

I turned my attention back to the room. Victor had stood up and was addressing the crowd now, talking about territory disputes and how the clubs needed to respect boundaries if they wanted to avoid another war like the one last year.

This was my chance.

I started walking toward the front, weaving through the tables. All the men in the room started to turn their heads towards me. My hand slipped into my jacket, fingers closing around the grip of my gun.

"Ambrose!" I shouted.

Victor stopped mid-sentence, his head snapping toward me. "What the hell are you doing, Maddox? Go on and sit your ass down with the other VPs!"

I ignored him completely and locked eyes with Ambrose. He was still seated, his pipe resting in one hand, but his face was dark. He knew something was wrong.

"I saw the women you're keeping in your basement," I announced loudly enough for everyone to hear. "The ones you're selling or pimping out. Whatever the hell you're planning to do with them."

There was a collective gasp and a murmur in the room. Ambrose stood to his feet slowly. "You don't know what you're talking about, Maddox. Shut your mouth and sit the hell down!"

"Oh, no, no!" I chuckled darkly. "I know exactly what I'm talking about, and I know none of these other lords are going to help those women because they don't want to get involved in your business. So I'm going to do it myself."

I pulled the gun from my jacket and fired three shots.