Curse saw the smile on his lips, the cruelty. The insult was clear for all of them to see. Frederick respected Tiny while he didn’t respect Devil or the club.
Devil looked ready to commit murder.
“Now, I let Rob slide—and yes, I knew about you then—because he was a little shit upstart who thought he was better than anyone else. Dale I was looking forward to hurting, and you took that opportunity away from me. Not only was I going to give him to a friend but I was getting a shitload of money from him. I want to know why, and you better have a damn good reason.” He took a sip of the whisky. “Damn, that’s good.”
“I’m the reason Dale was killed,” Mia said, stepping forward.
Curse swore as she brought the guy’s attention toward her. The bruises had lessened slightly but not much.
“Come here,” Frederick said.
Going with her, Curse refused to be pushed aside.
“You’re the one who killed him?”
“Yes.”
“Figured as much.” Frederick grabbed her face, turned it this way and that. “Dale was an animal. He couldn’t handle being told no. What else did he do to you?”
“He tried to rape me. Curse got there before he could do that,” she said, looking down at the floor.
“Fine. I can see why you killed the f**ker. I know Dale had already raped a couple of women, and then he nearly f**ked up the deal that you guys did by raping my friend’s daughter. Any man who needs to rape a woman is no man in my book. Now, beating a woman from time to time is okay. They need to be kept in line. Raping, I don’t like or agree with.” He dropped his hand. “Go away.”
Curse despised the man. No man should ever lay a hand on a woman to cause her pain.
The men who’d gone away to look around the clubhouse came back holding Ashley’s arm. She wasn’t fighting them. Pussy and Death looked annoyed as they followed behind them. None of them were used to having to follow other men around.
Holding onto Mia, Curse watched the conversation.
“Now, I’m a lenient man, but I can be pushed. I accept why Dale had to die, but we’ve got to come to some arrangement,” Frederick said, facing Devil. “Jerry told me you’re businessmen and you won’t make waves unless you have to.”
“We are businessmen. We’re not lapdogs,” Devil said.
“Good, I’m not looking for lapdogs. I’m looking for men who can do a job without getting caught.” Frederick took a seat, looking more relaxed than tense. “I think we can do business providing you’re prepared to listen to me.”
“What do you want us to do?” Devil asked.
“I like Tiny. He’s a good man and has morals. I want you to make sure Piston County remains your town. Any new little upstart you take out, and we take their business. I want you to run guns and drugs. The women I’m not interested in yet. I’ve got plenty of girls around the world earning me more than enough money. However, that may change as all business does.” Frederick took another sip. “I want you to do a better job than the person I’ve got in charge now.”
“Frederick, I—” Jerry started to speak.
Curse tensed and covered Mia’s mouth as Frederick shot Jerry without another word. The bullet entered the front of his head and smashed the window behind him. Jerry fell to the floor. Lexie screamed, covering her ears, and Phoebe cried out. The whole room stayed silent.
Turning toward his president he saw Devil gritting his teeth at the slight they’d been dealt with. Jerry had never been a problem to any of them, and now he was dead.
“As you can see I’ve got a job opening for a new leader of Piston County,” Frederick said.
Ashley looked pale, ready to pass out.
“You’re f**king insane,” Devil said.
“I can kill you all now, and when I’m done here I can go and get Judi and Ripper, I believe his name is. I can kill all of your family, and I couldn’t give a shit.”
“How can I trust you not to do that to us?” Devil asked.
“You’re friends with Tiny. I suggest you start taking a leaf out of his book and own this f**king town once and for all.” Frederick looked at all of the men in turn. “Now, are you willing to agree to my terms, or is this a waste of my time? I’ve got the girl. You, Jerry, and myself have already agreed to her.”
“We need time to vote,” Devil said.
They were all trapped. There was no choice.
“I vote yes,” Curse said. Everyone turned to look at him. He hoped the others knew what he was doing.
Pussy and Death agreed. Others started to nod their agreement.
“It looks like we’re the new Sheriffs in town,” Devil said.
“Good, I’ll take her with me now as well.” Frederick pointed at Ashley. “I like to look at her from the picture you sent me. We’ve got a deal.”
Curse looked at Ashley. She seemed to know this was going to happen.
“We only talked about you agreeing to take her. It wasn’t confirmed. I can’t allow you to take a woman without her consent.” Devil took a step away from Lexie.
“I’m going to go,” Ashley said. Her voice was small, but her tone said to all of them not to argue. “It’s time for me to move on, and I already talked with Jerry and Frederick about mending fences for the Chaos Bleeds crew.”
“Ashley, no,” Mia said.
“I’ve got to, honey. Jerry told me this could happen. He even suggested it to me. It’s time for me to get out of here, and I was already going to go.” She moved toward Mia. Curse let his woman go for a few minutes to allow the two women to hug. “I’m dying here. This is not my home.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
“We’ll stay in touch. I promise you, I’ll be more than fine.” Ashley kissed her cheek. “Take care of her.”
“I will,” Curse said.
He watched as Ashley said goodbye to the club. She was giving up her freedom to help the club. This was why she’d come to him the other day to ask him to take care of Mia. Curse wanted to tell her to stop, but he couldn’t.
“I want to do this,” Ashley said. She moved toward Frederick’s side. All of the club watched the other man nod to his men.
****
“You can’t do this,” Mia said. Ashley simply smiled at her.
“Yes, I can. I can do what I want. You’re taken care of, and I’ve got nothing to worry about. Curse loves you, and I’ll be back in time for the wedding.” Ashley kissed her forehead. “You need to move on, and so do I.”