Dog had been affected by O’Klaren’s interference. It was only fair they conducted business together. Preacher could take of it all himself, but he knew it would be worth the alliance to reach out to Dog. The man didn’t scare easily, and business between them always boomed.

“You see this woman, Preach?” Dog asked.

“Yeah.”

“You shouldn’t look at her. She’s rotten from the inside out. She promised to be faithful to the crew, and do you know what she did?”

“She wasn’t faithful.”

“No. She wanted something from me and told me she’d pay me back. I wanted her pussy for my crew whenever I asked for it, but she lied. I don’t like liars.”

“Neither do I.”

He watched as Dog put the gun he’d been holding to her head and fired.

Preacher really didn’t care about the brutal display. He’d known long ago Dog wasn’t a man to be reasoned with. It’s why he knew if he ever wanted to double cross him, he’d have to take the son of a bitch out first. Dog wouldn’t let shit go.

The woman lay in a pool of blood. Dog still held the gun as he walked toward him.

He waited.

His men still had their guns focused on him.

The moment he was close, Dog stopped, held out his hand, and in his own way, smiled. “You bring good news.”

“Is this how you deal with anyone who comes to your territory?”

“Only those that have no right to be here. Hate to say it, Preach, you’re not supposed to be here.”

“Well, I’m here.” They walked right past the woman and went straight to Dog’s house.

It was not the first time he’d been to the guy’s place, but this was more of a business call. He tried to avoid entering Dog’s territory as much as possible. He had way too much of his own shit to handle that, and dealing with Dog was a whole new kind of headache.

Handing over the phone, he declined the beer Dog offered him.

“Holy shit, this dude is a fucking coward.”

“Why’s he a coward to you?” Preacher asked.

“Dude beat down on a woman.”

“You’ve just killed one.”

“I killed a betraying slut. She’d hoped to use one of my boys to spill crew secrets, and that shit doesn’t amuse me. It didn’t happen as my boy came to me. She wanted something, offered a trade, and tried to take me down. Her death was necessary. I don’t beat down on women unless they come after me. I have some … morals.”

“You’re telling me you’d never beat the shit out of a woman?”

“Unless she threatened the safety of my club. What about you and your club? I know you took out that slut who hurt your girl.”