family. What would you do to keep your family safe?”
I think about Chase, Mallory, Georgia, my nieces, my dad. “I’d do anything.”
“Exactly. Havoc is the same. Ain’t his first time getting shot either. He knows how this plays out.”
“That doesn’t fill me with confidence, Shane.”
“Not sure it was meant to.” He takes my hands in his. “I just need to know you’re in this, that you’re not giving up on us.”
I peer into his eyes, see the love shining in them, feel the stir in my belly that I always get when Shane is close, and I shake my head.
Could I walk away from him? Could I pretend the past few weeks never happened, that I didn’t feel my life tip on its head when I saw Shane? I can’t. I love him. Plain and simple. I don’t like his lifestyle, but I can look past it to have him, because at the end of the day he’s what matters and I love him with every beat of my heart.
I peer up into his eyes and I meet his unsure gaze.
“I’m never giving up on us.”
30
Whizz
We move Havoc to his room and I leave Amy watching him while I go to find Omen. He agreed it’s time to move against Mac, so he’s called church—a club meeting. Considering what happened to Havoc, it won’t seem weird or out of place, which is just as well. Don’t want to give Mac a reason to run before we get him locked down.
The club’s officers, minus Havoc, sit around the table, waiting. Crank is tapping his fingers off the table, his leg jiggling. The tension is thick and I understand it. They had started a war by touching the club. For that, we’ll destroy the Fallen Demons. We’ll burn their clubhouse to the ground, with them inside if we can.
“We going to kill the fuckers who shot Havoc?” Crank demands.
“We have a bigger problem,” Omen say. “We have a rat in our house.”
Murmurs go around the table. “Who?” Hatchet demands. The anger blazing in his eyes is a little unnerving.
“Mac.”
Crank jolts in his seat. “Fuck, you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck, Prez, I’m fucking sorry. I sponsored that motherfucker and he’s fucking dirty?”
He stands and upends his chair as he lets out a roar of pure frustration. Chains grabs his arm and Crank stills, his eyes sliding toward the brother.
“Not your fault,” Chains says. “Played us all.”
“I fucking sponsored him. It’s my fault. I should have smelled a rat.”
“Chains is right. It’s not your fault,” Omen says. “Sit back down.”
Crank picks his chair up and sinks into it.
“Question is what do we do about it?” Flash asks. “Guy isn’t patched in. Do the usual bylaws apply?”
“It’s a gray area. I spoke to Ravage, see what he thought. He thinks we treat it like a full patch, especially considering we’re certain he was selling secrets to the Fallen Demons. Selling us out is bad enough, but telling our enemies our movements is something else.”
“I want first crack at him,” Crank growls. I’ve never seen the brother anything but playing the joker. This side of him is so different from that. I see now why Omen brought him on. I can see the danger below the surface, the lethal demeanor he keeps hidden under the easy grins and smirks.
“Have at it.”
“What do we do about the Demons?” Flash asks.
“Well, we can’t leave them breathing, right?” Hatchet says, a macabre grin on his lips.
“They’re going to die for what they did to Havoc, to Flash,” Omen agrees. “For what they’ve done to us. They think they can shit on our name? They’re wrong.”
He brings down the gavel, indicating the meeting is done. Crank pushes back up, Chains following. Flash and Hatchet on their heels. As I start to stand, Omen orders me to stay a moment.
Once the brothers have left the room, he speaks again. “Rav said you were looking to transfer.”
My brows draw together. “We can talk about this another time.”
“Crank needs this moment with Mac. Not going to deny him that. You serious about transferring?”
I think about Amy upstairs and I consider putting an ocean and thousands of miles between us and it makes my stomach roll.
“Yeah, I’m serious.” I know she’s having some last-minute wobbles about the club, but I’m confident we can work through them. I will make it right with her.
“We’d be fucking happy to have you, brother,” Omen says, holding his hand out.
I shake it and he pulls me into a crushing hug.
I leave