Chapter Eighteen
CAMDEN
Itake a seat at the head of the table, running my hands along the fine grain of the wood, before looking at each of my men. I can rest a little easier knowing Saige is here and safe, but that doesn’t take away the rapidly growing threat against her just outside our gates.
“Any updates?”
“Since Pestilence was murdered, his VP took his spot. Diesel is now the new president of their shit show, and word is, he’s out for blood.”
“Wes found the identity of the Willow Killer. It’s only a matter of time before everyone else does, too, if they haven’t already.”
“It’s her, isn’t it?” Sin asks, the other men in the room looking at me with wide eyes.
“It is. Saige is the Willow Killer.” There’s a collection of whistles and “holy shits,” and then the room descends into silence once more.
“If he knows the Willow Killer is a woman? I hate to say the rules flip, but they do. Torture methods become a helluva lot crueler. I don’t want to know what they’d do to her, Prez,” Wrath says with a bit more of an edge than I’m used to from him, but I feel good about his concern.
“No one’s getting their hands on her. Not as long as I’m breathing.”
“Say you’re not, what then? She’s not your old lady; rules are she doesn’t get the protection of the club.
” I know Sin isn’t wrong, and last year, I had to have this same conversation with Rogue about Kinsey.
Sin usually isn’t this hard, but I know he can sense my distraction and has stepped up to keep me thinking clearly and the club running smoothly.
There are rules in place for a reason. A brother isn’t going to put his life on the line to protect a woman who hasn’t vowed herself to one of us. Becoming an old lady, to wear a property patch? I’d argue it’s as serious, if not more so, than marriage.
I can’t even get her to give me a real smile, and with her independence, she’s not going to want to be the property of anyone, least of all me.
“I’ll keep her safe,” Rogue’s voice breaks through the turmoil in my head, strong and steady, just like he always is. “You have my word, property patch or not, she’s your queen, I’ll make sure she’s safe if something happens to you.”
“So will I,” Malice speaks up.
“Me too,” Wrath adds.
Sin, Noose, and Rolo look at me, and I don’t expect a thing from them but what they’re already doing.
“You can count on me, Prez. I got you,” Noose says after a moment. I nod in thanks, trying to search for words.
“I love you, Chaos. And this club. But I’ve got Morgan to think about, and if she’s not property . . .” his sentence hangs between us, but I’m quick to put it to rest.
“Your decision is the one I would make for you. The club and Morgan are always your priorities. Same goes for Kinsey. We’re not going to widow these two women. Not if I can help it. Now, let’s figure this shi—”
“I don’t agree with it, you know I don’t, but I wouldn’t stand idly by and watch them take her.
I’d die for you, Chaos, which means I’d die for her, too.
” His voice is low and strong, and my eyes flick up to meet his.
Sin and I go way, way back, from the moment Queenie took me in and made me a prospect.
“He’d be proud of you, Chaos. I know he’s looking down.
” And I know he’s talking about the man who raised me.
Queenie took in two lost, confused, starving, skinny-ass kids with bad attitudes and made us men.
Losing him still hurts, even if he died the only way he would have wanted to: defending those who can’t defend themselves, and on the back of his bike, no less.
I nod at Sin, trying to push down the emotion attempting to claw its way forward.
“Back to business. We’ve got our info. Now, enough with only being on the defense, how do we bring these assholes to their knees and show them what it looks like when they fuck with a Heathen?”
We spend the next hour looking at all the information we have on the hits out for Saige.
We assumed it would be all different clubs, but as it turns out, it’s only two.
The majority of them come from the Widowmakers, and then a smaller club with affiliation to the Widowmakers, The Jackals.
They are both involved in human trafficking, and most of the members have rap sheets pages long.
Why they’re still roaming around free is only because of one damn thing.
Money.
Since we were able to temporarily stop their cash flow, they should be a little bit easier to take down.
But it’s gonna be a bloodbath. We get our plan together, everyone feeling solid about continuing to break down their defenses, before we go in with one final blow.
After the meeting, everyone clears out except Rogue.
We stare at each other for a long moment, while I wait to see what he’s got to say.
It’s hard to believe that just a year ago, our positions were flipped.
When Kinsey was taken, she was just his friend’s sister, even if he was starting to have feelings for her. But the desperation to keep her safe, to protect her, was raw, and I can relate to it now. I’d do anything to keep Saige safe, to have just one more day to show her how I feel.
“Well, you got her here. Now what are you goin’ to do?”
“Get her to fall in love with me.”
The light from the hallway bleeds into the bedroom as Saige enters. I sit on the bed with my laptop in front of me, reviewing numbers that Rolo sent me, when she stops at the foot of the bed, looking at me with that fierce stare of hers.
“When were you going to tell me about Ace?” Hearing his name nearly takes my breath away. Especially since I haven’t told her a single thing about him.
“How’d you find out?”
“I put it together on my own after Kinsey mentioned you had suffered a loss. The first day you put me in here, I read all the name tags, and Ace was one of them. Then I remembered my fingers tracing over the tattoo on your chest. I figured he was important enough to you to get it permanently inked onto your skin, so that had to be the loss. Who is he?”
“I didn’t want to tell you to use it as an excuse for what happened to your family. It doesn’t matter what I was going through; there’s nothing that’s redeemable or forgivable about what happened that night.”
“Tell me anyway, Camden. I need to know.” There’s a demand in her tone, but it’s soft, encouraging. She takes a seat in front of me as I move my laptop off to the side.
“Ace was his road name, but Lucas is—was—my brother. He was in a secret relationship with Rogue’s younger sister, and neither of us had any idea it was going on.
One night, while we were all partying here, Lucas and Lena snuck out to meet up.
We had been having an ongoing turf war with a rival club, the Iron Wolves, and when opportunity struck, they picked up Lucas and Lena.
They brutally tortured Lucas before stringing him up, took turns raping Lena in front of him, then lit him on fire before they killed her. ”
“Jesus Christ, Camden,” she gasps as she grabs her stomach.
“I saw the aftermath. Was able to keep Rogue from having to see it, something in the pit of my stomach telling me to keep him back.”
“But you saw it. That’s why you have nightmares.” I nod, confirming what she already knows.
“Every brutal, heinous detail. After that, I was in a blood rage. All I could see was Lucas’ mangled body, and Lena lying on the floor, covered in bruises and blood.
Vengeance was all I wanted, Saige. A few nights later, we took our shot.
The entire club rode together, heading toward their compound, but I was hanging back in formation, my vision was blurry, and I just remember seeing flashes of Lucas behind my eyes.
Everyone made it through the light, and I couldn’t be separated from my brothers, so I gunned it through a red.
Your parents’ car flew through their green from the side, and we narrowly missed each other, but the jerk of the wheel caused their car to flip.
I stopped, Saige, and so did my brothers.
I was the first one to their car, and I pulled out your mom first. I did chest compressions until others made it down the hill, then I crawled through the front seat to get your sister.
They were all already gone, baby. We called 9-1-1, but there was nothing that could save them.
” I tell the story without the blood and gore, and I don’t realize I’m crying until the tears wet my face.
“I’m so sorry, baby. I’m responsible for their deaths, for ruining your life, and I understand your hate now; you’ve been right all along to hate me. I get it and I welcome it.”