“Okay, handsome, you go to work and I’ll be waiting for you here when you finish,” she promised.

The last thought I had as I left her house was to question what I’d ever done to have Sophia come into my life. I may have only known her a short time, but there were some people you met in life who you just knew had the possibility of becoming someone very important to you.

Sophia was already one of those people.

* * *

“You really think someone’s gonna show?” Nash asked as he fidgeted next to me in the back of the van.

We were waiting in position down the street from the rundown house in Redcliffe where his source had told him the drug deal would take place. The deal should have happened ten minutes ago, but so far, no one had turned up. Nash was all out of patience, but Scott and I had decided to give it some more time before we called it quits. We both felt in our guts that something was going on here, and we were committed to waiting it out.

“Yeah, I do,” I answered him.

“I’m wondering if Ricky’s fucking with us from the grave,” J chipped in.

“Fuck me,” Scott muttered and shifted in his seat as if he was trying to get a better look at something. “Motherfucking asshole.”

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Fucking Keg,” Scott replied. “I would never have picked him to be involved in this shit.” Keg had been a loyal Storm member for eight years.

“I would assume none of our members would be involved in this shit, brother,” I said.

“True,” Scott agreed. “When there’s bank involved, you just never fuckin’ know. Fuck.” He opened his door and exited the van, and we all followed suit.

A couple of minutes later, Scott kicked in the front door of the house and we entered. The plan had been to figure out the best course of entry once we got here, but it seemed Scott was running on anger now, so he didn’t stop to discuss it before he entered.

The three guys standing at the kitchen table looked up in shock as we stormed the house. Fuck, this place stank, and the garbage littered over the table and on the kitchen counters reeked of deadbeats who didn’t give a shit and had no pride. I recognised Keg, but not the other two, which was strange because we pretty much knew every asshole drug dealer in this town.

One of the guys pulled his gun and aimed it at us, but Scott was five steps ahead and shot at the dude’s leg before he could pull the trigger. The bullet grazed his lower leg and he yelled out in pain, but Scott ignored him. “I’m not in the mood to be fucked with today, motherfucker,” Scott thundered as he came to a standstill. Eyeing Keg, he said, “Wanna tell me what the fuck you’re doing here, Keg?”

Guns were aimed all over the place as we all protected our own interests. Keg stared wildly at Scott. “How the fuck did you know about this?”

Scott seethed. “I asked you a fuckin’ question, Keg, and I want that question answered so I can make a decision about what happens next. What the fuck are you doing here?”

While Keg contemplated that, the drug dealer who hadn’t been shot spoke up. “I’m taking it that Storm had no idea this deal was going down?”

Scott’s attention was focused completely on Keg, so I answered, “Not a fucking clue. We’ve made it clear we’re not interested in dealing anymore so I’m not sure why you’d arrange this thinking it was us.”

Keg’s expression turned into a sneer. “Storm should be dealing. Hell, we used to be a force to be reckoned with, but now we’re the laughing fucking joke of Brisbane. Scott and you have seen to that. Marcus was right when he said Scott didn’t have the balls to run the club.”

Scott’s last ounce of control snapped and he wrapped his hand around Keg’s throat. “It would seem we have a difference of opinion then, Keg,” he snarled. “And I bet you’re the one stirring up shit with Sydney, right?”

Keg scoffed. “The club’s too easy to piss off; it was like a walk in the fucking park stirring them up. And King’s a pussy; he’d never act on his threats.”

One of the drug dealers piped up. “This is between you guys…we’re gonna go.”

Scott’s hand flicked around so he could aim his gun at the guy. “Sit the fuck down, and shut the fuck up. No one’s going anywhere until we’ve sorted this out.”

The guy muttered something under his breath but he did what he was told, and Scott returned his gaze to Keg. “You seriously think King’s a pussy? You don’t know the man very well, but I’m thinking it’s time you two got acquainted.” He pulled his phone out and dialed a number. “King…I have a name for you…yeah, he’s the one you’re after…will do, brother. He’ll be waiting for you when you arrive.” He hung up and grinned like a mad man at Keg. There were days I was concerned Scott was heading down a path he didn’t want to be on, and today was one of them. “King’s on his way and I look forward to your play date with him.”

“Fuck,” Nash muttered behind me, and I couldn’t help but agree. There was mad and then there was fucking insane, and I was fairly sure King fell into the latter category.

Scott turned to us. “J, can you bring the van up and we’ll get Keg into it. We’re not letting him out of our sight until King arrives.” Looking back at the dealers, he said, “Storm’s out of drugs. Make sure that knowledge gets spread far and wide, yeah?”