Burnout_ A Legal Heat Novella - Sarah Castille Page 0,47
he placed his glass on the worn, wooden table. He’d picked this bar for the meet because it was always crowded, with a mix of students, bikers and locals, the odd suit, and musicians hoping to be discovered in the weekly jam sessions. Ryder wouldn’t get heavy with so many witnesses around. “I want to leave for me. The system failed me when I was a kid. Social services, the cops… no one gave a damn. I think that’s what drew me into the life. But I’ve met a woman who believes in the system. So much so that she went back to them and pleaded her case even after we offered her an alternative. It gives me hope.”
“Some might see that as a betrayal,” Ryder said evenly.
“I haven’t betrayed the club.” Ace curled his hand into a fist, his nails digging into his palm. “But I have betrayed myself. I’m a builder, Ryder. Before I joined Hades, I was apprenticed to a carpenter. I worked with my hands, created things that would last. I need to do that with my life. I don’t want to be another casualty like all the friends I lost, and the way the club is going now, I can see that happening. You’re a good leader. And I believed in your vision for the club, but it wasn’t going to happen with brothers who knew nothing but the old way. You need to start something new. You and Ice. Maybe Kickstand and the prospects. Start from the ground up. Build something that’s all your own.”
Ryder heaved a sigh. “I thought you were the builder.”
“I am,” Ace said. “But what I want to build needs a foundation that’s going to last and a woman who’ll work by my side.”
For a long moment, Ryder didn’t speak. Ace curled his hand around his glass. In a fight, anything could be a weapon.
“It will set a bad precedent if I let you walk,” Ryder mused. “We’ve only just got the club going.”
“I gave ten years of good service to Hades.” Ace wiped his palm over his jeans beneath the table. Christ. He’d never sweated so badly in a meeting. But then he’d never veered off the path that had led him to biker life. And he’d never defied his president. “It’s not like I joined the club to try it on and decided it wasn’t for me. And the brothers you’ve got with you now… they’re good guys, but they’re not my guys. Except for you and Ice, the friends I had are all dead or in jail.”
He’d had his first thoughts about walking away after Arcade’s funeral, but leaving the life was no easy task. He’d had no idea what he would do or where he would go or how he would manage without the MC at his back.
But Sophie had changed everything. She inspired him. Made him want to be more than the man he was. She made him see a future where he wasn’t always looking over his shoulder. He could build something that would last. Give rather than take. She gave him hope, happiness, and the determination to pursue the dream of a young boy who had closed himself off to the possibility of love.
Ryder drummed his thumb on the table. His gaze flicked from Ace to Ice and then back again. Ace’s skin prickled and adrenaline pulsed through his body. He’d never been able to read Ryder, and he had no idea if Ryder was about to shoot him or shake his hand and say good-bye.
“I don’t want you in the MC if you don’t want to be here,” he said finally. “Nothing more dangerous than a brother who isn’t committed to the club. I wouldn’t be able to rely on you to have your brothers’ backs. I wouldn’t trust you not to turn rat.”
“I would never—”
Ryder held up a hand, cutting him off. “You’re one of the most loyal and honourable men I know. Just the fact you sat down with me and laid all your cards on the table tells me you would never betray the club. But the brothers don’t know you the way I do. And because we’re a new club, everyone will be watching. If you want out, we need a reason for you to walk away. And no one can know.”
Emotion welled up in Ace’s throat. Ryder was good man, a great leader. He’d made a mistake patching in the legacy Hades members, but Ace knew Ryder