Free Savage: Iron Dragons MC by Olivia Stephens Page A

fucking hit this week.”
     
    “How bad is it?” Keith asked quietly.
     
    “The whole shipment is gone,” Miles answered. 
     
    “What about Deronda and his boys?” Tucker asked. “Aren’t they supposed to be protecting it?”
     
    “Deronda’s dead,” Miles said without tone or expression. “I don’t know if his crew is alive or dead. Half of them probably are by this point.”
     
    “Fuck,” Keith spat. “Fuck.”
     
    “They’re hitting us from all charters across the Southwest,” Miles went on in his calm, unhurried manner. It was only from the tension in his posture that Keith could tell the attacks on their shipments were wearing on him. “The money has stopped since the third shipment was hit, and we’ve lost two contracts already.”
     
    “Has Finessy contacted you?” Durham asked bleakly.
     
    “No,” Miles said. “But it’s only a matter of time. He’s not going to want to continue doing business with us if this is the result. It won’t take long for Kovic to wheedle his way into the heart of the arms trade.”
     
    “We owe him a huge debt,” Tucker said standing up. “For all our contracts and for Keith.”
     
    “Forget about me,” Keith said immediately. “I don’t need the Dragons putting their lives on the line for me.”
     
    “Then you should have thought of that before you went to meet with Kovic,” Miles snapped, gaining Keith’s attention.
     
    Keith stared at Miles for a moment. “I am the vice president,” he said in a low voice. “And I made a necessary call based on sound judgment.”
     
    “You are mistaking pride for sound judgment,” Miles said.
     
    Keith turned to face Miles…and he felt the atmosphere in the room change immediately. “I did what I thought was best.”
     
    “No,” Miles said, shaking his head. “You did what you needed to do in order to face Kovic again—one on one.”
     
    “That’s not true,” Keith said through gritted teeth.
     
    “Then why didn’t you inform me about it?” Miles demanded. “I am still president. I should have been told.”
     
    Keith took a deep breath. “You had enough to deal with; I didn’t want to give you more to worry about.”
     
    “To fuck with worry,” Miles snapped. “That is the nature of the world we live in and the business we run. It’s part of the package…no matter what is happening with our personal lives. You didn’t tell me because you knew I would oppose it.”
     
    “Opposing it would have been the wrong choice,” Keith insisted. “If you or I had not been there, Kovic would have taken it as an insult.”
     
    “And who here gives a fuck about that?” Miles demanded. “I didn’t think you cared one way or another if Kovic’s pride was insulted?”
     
    “I don’t—”
     
    “Then why ?” Miles hissed. “You did it because you wanted to take your revenge out on him for what he did to Natalie. You wanted to kill him; you probably would have if he hadn’t brought backup along.”
     
    Keith stared at Miles struggling for words that would counteract his arguments. After a few seconds had gone by and no rebuttal came to him, Keith began to realize that Miles was right. He had been foolish that night and he had been arrogant. He had been trying to ease the pain in his gut that clawed at him every time he thought of the fact that Natalie was dead and Kovic was still alive.
     
    Slowly, Keith sunk back into his chair and kept his head lowered. He heard Miles adjust his position, and slowly he felt the tension drain out of the room.
     
    “Give us a minute,” Miles said, and moments later the gang cleared out and left them in silence.
     
    “I understand why you did it,” Miles said finally, breaking the silence. “But I still don’t agree with it.”
     
    “I know,” Keith nodded. “And you were right. I had made an unconscious decision about Kovic… but I should have considered…”
     
    “You should have considered a lot of things,” Miles said.