Chapter 12
TWELVE
DAGGER
I sit in church, the tension so thick it feels like it’s crushing me. The table is full, every brother in their seat, all eyes bouncing between Mason and me. Sledge is the first to speak, leaning forward with his arms crossed and his glare locked on me.
“Dagger’s back,” he says coldly. “And I don’t see why the hell he should stay. He left without a word, put the club in a bad position, and now he thinks he can walk back in like nothing happened? That’s bullshit.”
Murmurs ripple through the room. Some nod, others glance at Mason, waiting for his call. I don’t move, my jaw tight as I keep my eyes forward. Hawk sits across from me, leaning back in his chair, arms folded, his expression unreadable.
Mason steeples his fingers, his gaze moving from Sledge to me. Finally, he speaks, his voice calm but sharp. “Sledge isn’t wrong. You left us, Dagger. No word. No explanation. You put the club in a hard fucking position.” He pauses, his eyes narrowing. “And now you’ve got some serious shit to answer for.”
I nod, keeping my voice steady. “I’m here to answer for it.”
“Then let’s hear it,” Sledge snaps. “Why’d you leave? What’s your excuse?”
I glance at Mason, waiting for his nod. When he gives it, I exhale slowly, my voice rough as I finally speak. “I slept with Chloe after Mason told me it was forbidden.”
The room erupts. Tank shoots to his feet, his chair scraping loudly across the floor. “What the fuck did you just say?” he growls, his fists already clenched.
“She’s my wife’s best friend, Dagger,” he spits. “Chloe’s practically family. And you—you slept with her?”
“Sit down, Tank,” Mason orders, his voice sharp enough to cut through the chaos.
Tank doesn’t budge. His glare burns into me, his fists twitching like he’s barely holding himself back. “You’re telling me you fucked Chloe, and then you just left like she meant nothing?”
“Tank!” Mason barks. “Sit. Down. Now.”
After a long, tense moment, Tank drops back into his chair, his chest heaving, but his eyes stay locked on me.
Mason turns his attention back to me, his expression colder than I’ve ever seen it. “You disrespected Chloe, you disrespected the club, and you disrespected me.” He leans forward, his voice low and dangerous. “You don’t walk away from something like that without consequences.”
I nod, my chest tight. “I know. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m asking for a chance to make it right.”
Mason’s eyes harden. “You want to make it right?” He motions toward my chest. “Then start by giving me your patch.”
The words hit like a freight train. I stare at him, my stomach twisting into knots. “You’re serious?”
“Dead serious,” Mason says, his tone leaving no room for argument. “You don’t get to wear that patch after what you’ve done. Not right now. You’re on probation until you’ve earned it back.”
The room is dead silent as I rip the VP patch off my cut and toss it onto the table. It lands with a dull thud, but the sound feels like a gunshot. Mason picks it up, his expression unreadable.
“You’ll earn it back,” he says, his voice cold and deliberate. “Every inch of it. Until then, you’re just another brother. No rank, no privileges, nothing.”
I nod stiffly, my jaw clenched so tight it aches. “Understood.”
The tension in the room is suffocating, but it’s nothing compared to the sharp voice that cuts through it.
“The baby’s yours?” Hawk spits out, his voice dripping with disbelief as his eyes narrow on me.
I freeze, caught off guard. “It’s not yours?” I ask, my own voice sharper than I intend.
He laughs, but it’s cold and bitter. “It’s more mine than yours motherfucker,” he snaps. “I’ve been here. I’ve been the one looking out for her, making sure she’s okay. You? You bailed. You left her to deal with this shit on her own!”
The weight of his words settles heavily in the room, his anger hitting me harder than I expect. “She’s not yours,” I say quietly, keeping my voice steady even though the tension is threatening to crack me.
His fists slam onto the table, the sound echoing like a gunshot. “No,” he growls, his voice low and dangerous. “But she’s sure as hell not yours either. You don’t get to leave and then come back and act like none of it matters. Like you’ve got some claim on her.”
“Hawk,” Mason warns, his voice sharp. “Sit down.”
Hawk turns to him, his eyes blazing. “No, Mason. I’m not sitting down. He’s the one who left. He’s the one who disrespected the club, disrespected her. And now we’re just supposed to give him a pass?”
I watch him, my stomach tightening. Hawk’s not just pissed—he’s jealous. I see it now, clear as day.
“Enough,” Mason barks, standing up and slamming his hands on the table. “Both of you, shut the hell up.”
Hawk glares at Mason, his chest heaving, but he doesn’t say anything else.
“This isn’t about Chloe,” Mason growls, his eyes darting between us. “This is about the club. Dagger screwed up. Big time. But he’s here now, and he’s going to pay for it. He’s on probation, and that’s the end of it. Hawk, sit your ass down, or you can join him.”
Hawk stares Mason down for a long, tense moment before finally sitting back down, his jaw still tight.
Mason slams the gavel on the table. “Church is adjourned. Dagger, stay behind.”
The others file out, but Hawk lingers near the door, his eyes still burning into me. There’s something in his expression—anger, betrayal, jealousy. I can see the wheels turning in his head, and I know exactly what he’s thinking. I used to be his friend. His VP. Now, I’m just his competition.
He doesn’t say anything, just shakes his head before storming out. The sound of the door slamming echoes through the room, but I barely notice. My cut feels lighter, the empty space where my VP patch used to be a reminder of how much I’ve lost.
And from the way Hawk looked at me, I know this fight is far from over.
Mason leans back in his chair, staring at me like he’s trying to figure out what to say. Finally, he exhales and rubs a hand over his face. “Alright, I’m talking to you as your best friend now, not your president. All this time…You didn’t know the baby was yours?”
“Fuck no!” I snap, the frustration bubbling up in my voice. “When I saw her the other day, with him , I assumed her and Hawk hooked up after I left. Why else would he be all over her? Why would he care so much about a chick who’s got another man’s baby in her belly?”
Mason shakes his head slowly, his gaze steady. “Chloe is a good girl, Dag. Beautiful, funny. A lot of the guys see that.”
“So it’s okay for Hawk to be with her, but not me?” I bite out, the bitterness clear in my voice.
Mason’s expression hardens. “Fuck, Dag. Let’s be real—you sleep with anyone and everyone. You’ve never given a damn about what happens after. I didn’t want her to be just another pussy you fuck and chuck. She’s part of the club, part of Tank’s family. ”
The weight of his words settles over me, but he’s not done.
“Hawk, on the other hand?” Mason continues, his voice lowering. “He wants her, Dag. And not just for a night. He wants her even if she’s carrying your baby. He wants forever with her.”
That hits me like a punch to the gut, burning like acid.
I glare at Mason, my voice rough. “And you think that makes it better? That I should just step aside and let him have her? Like I don’t care about her, like I didn’t fuck up because I did care?”
“You didn’t care enough to stay,” Mason snaps back, his tone sharper now. “You didn’t care enough to stick around and deal with the fallout. You left, Dag. And Hawk? He’s been here. He stepped up when you didn’t.”
The words cut deep, but I don’t let it show. Instead, I clench my fists, my jaw tightening. “I didn’t stay because I didn’t want to screw her up worse than I already had. You think I don’t know what I am, Mason? You think I don’t know what people expect from me?”
Mason leans forward, his eyes boring into mine. “Then prove them wrong, Dag. But you’ve got a hell of a lot to fix. You’ve burned bridges, and it’s on you to rebuild them. Chloe, the club... everything. And if you’re serious about her, you better figure that out fast, because Hawk’s not going to wait forever.”
I swallow hard, the weight of his words settling like a stone in my chest. Mason sits back, watching me, and the silence stretches between us, heavy and suffocating.
Finally, he gestures toward the door. “We’re done here. Get out of my office and start figuring your shit out.”
I push back from the table, my steps heavy as I head for the door. Mason’s words echo in my head. It feels like the ground beneath me is crumbling.
Shit. I’m going to be a father.
The thought keeps hitting me like a hammer to the skull as I swing my leg over my bike and fire up the engine. The rumble beneath me is a comfort, something steady to drown out the chaos in my head. I need to ride, to get away for a while, to figure out how the hell I’m supposed to deal with this.
I tear out onto the road, the wind biting at my face, the roar of the bike in my ears. The open road has always been my escape, my way of clearing the noise, but tonight it’s not working. The words are still there, pounding in my skull. I’m going to be a father. Chloe’s baby. My baby.
I push the throttle harder, the bike growling as I speed down the empty highway. The dark stretches around me, but it doesn’t feel as big as the weight sitting on my chest.
Chloe’s carrying my kid.
The thought slams into me again, and I pull over, skidding to a stop on the shoulder. I kill the engine, leaning forward, my hands gripping the handlebars as I try to steady my breathing. The quiet is almost deafening now, and the reality I’ve been trying to outrun crashes down on me.
How the hell did I let this happen?
I scrub a hand over my face, sitting there on the side of the road, the bike’s metal frame still warm beneath me. Father. The word feels too big, too heavy. It doesn’t belong to me. I’ve spent my whole life avoiding ties like this, running from anything permanent, and now?
Now, I’ve got a kid on the way.
Eventually, I head back, the ride slower this time, my thoughts still spinning. When I get home, I park the bike and lean against the wall in the garage, trying to make sense of the mess in my head.
I think about Chloe, carrying my kid. I remember that night—the fire in her eyes, the way everything else just disappeared. It wasn’t just sex. Not for me.
But I didn’t have the balls to face it then. So I ran. Like the goddamn coward I’ve spent my life swearing I’m not. And Chloe? She had to deal with all of it on her own. She’s tough—tougher than I ever gave her credit for—but that doesn’t change the fact that I wasn’t there when she needed me most.
I let her down.
I let my kid down.
My fists clench at my sides, my jaw tight as anger and guilt twist together in my chest. I think about my own father—a mean son of a bitch who was more fists than words. He liked to beat the shit out of me and my mom for whatever pissed him off that day. Didn’t matter what it was—a broken bottle, a burnt dinner—he always found a reason.
He was a drunk. Dabbled in drugs when the booze wasn’t enough. Couldn’t hold a job to save his life. And the cheating? That was a given. He’d come home reeking of cheap perfume and bullshit lies, expecting my mom to just take it.
Growing up, I swore I’d never be like him. Never do to a woman what he did to my mom. Never destroy someone’s life the way he destroyed ours. So I made a choice—no attachments, no promises, nothing serious. Keep it about sex. No emotions, no commitments, no chance of fucking it all up like he did.
And for the most part, I’ve stuck to that. It’s easier to keep people at arm’s length, easier to make sure no one gets close enough to see the cracks. But with Chloe?
With Chloe, it’s different. It’s always been different.
It wasn’t supposed to be more than one night—that’s what I told myself. But it wasn’t just sex. Not with her. The way she looked at me, like she didn’t see the screw-up I’ve spent my whole life trying to outrun... it messed me up.
And now, there’s a baby in the mix. My baby. The stakes have never been higher, and this time? There’s no running.
Chloe deserves better. The baby deserves better. And I’ll be damned if I let history repeat itself.
I’m going to be a father. I’m going to do this right.
No more running. No more screwing up. Now, I just need to get Chloe on board.