Chapter Fourteen #2
“Because you’re not doing anything about it.”
That landed harder than it should have.
“We are,” I shot back.
“Are you?” he came straight back, no hesitation. “From where I’m standing, you’ve been a bit… distracted.”
His gaze held mine, pointed. Knowing. He didn’t say it. Didn’t need to. I already knew what he saw. What they saw. Women. Club drama. Shit that pulled our focus when it shouldn’t have. My jaw tightened.
“Careful, lad.”
“Or what?” He shrugged. “You’ll prove me right?”
Silence snapped tight between us. Then I stepped closer, closing the space until we were near enough level.
“Say what you’ve got to say,” I said low. “Or I’m walking.”
Ash held my gaze a second longer, something like approval flickering there before he turned and braced his hands on the table.
“We’ve had eyes on the Notorious,” he said. “Quiet. Long before your lot clocked them moving.”
I didn’t rise to that.
“Go on.”
“They’re not just getting scraps,” he continued. “They’re getting ahead of things. Not reacting. They’re moving first.” He took a breath. Intentional. Letting his words sink in. “You knew there was a leak,” he said, glancing back at me. “You didn’t know it was this bad.”
I didn’t answer. Didn’t need to. Ash straightened, stepping back from the table.
“They know timings. Routes. Names. Before they should. Before anything’s even in motion.”
That tightened something low in my chest.
“That’s not someone talking after the fact,” I said.
“Aye.” Ash nodded once. “That’s someone sitting close enough to hear it before it happens. That’s not a prospect. Or an Ol’ Lady.”
Silence stretched.
“Police?” I said finally.
Ash let out a short breath.
“Where else?”
I dragged a hand over my jaw, thoughts already moving fast, slotting pieces together whether I wanted them to or not.
“And it’s not just the Notorious,” he added.
I looked back at him.
“The Hand are getting the same feed.”
That shifted it. From bad, to something else entirely.
“There’s more,” he said.
Of course there was. His jaw tightened slightly, like he’d been waiting for this part.
“Name’s come up,” he said. “More than once.”
I felt it before he said it. A weight settling.
“Jake.”
The room seemed to still around us. I didn’t move. Didn’t react. But Ash saw it anyway.
“He’s in the police,” Ash went on, voice harder now. “He’s got access. And from what we’re hearing, he’s not exactly keeping his distance from any of this.”
“He’s Fury’s brother,” I said, my voice low. Controlled.
“Aye.” Ash nodded once. “And he still chose a badge over his blood.”
The words sat there. Uncomfortable.
“He knew about the ambush at the Frostbite. He came to warn us.”
“Did he? Or was it just to keep you off his tail?”
“Fuck it. Fine. Let’s just play this out then. Where would he get his info from? No one talks to him.”
“His sister. She’s as deep in club business as you lot are.”
“Hardly. And if that were true, how come he didn’t find her when the Rats took her?”
“You sure they did? You sure that wasn’t all part of it?”
Something flared inside me. Ash had lit a fuse.
“You didn’t fucking see the state of her. What they did to her. And we haven’t got a fucking clue where she is now. But she sure as hell isn’t here selling secrets in the north east.”
“You Kings keep acting like history buys loyalty,” he continued. “There’s someone in your club selling secrets. You need to look at all your brothers, Reap, because someone is a rat.”
“You saying we don’t know how to run our own club?” I stepped closer again, something colder settling in now.
“I’m saying you should’ve asked that question already,” Ash shot back. “Instead of letting it get this far.”
Silence stretched. Sharp. Because he wasn’t entirely wrong. Indie. Us. We’d let it go on too long. Should have stamped it out the minute we’d even thought about it. We would have done under Ste. Didn’t mean I was ready to hear it from him, though.
“You done?” I asked.
Ash held my gaze a second longer. Then nodded.
“For now.”
I leaned back slightly, dragging a breath in through my nose, already turning it over. Every angle. Every consequence. Because Indie hadn’t sent anyone else. He’d sent me. Alone. And told me to keep it quiet. Even from my own club. Which meant whatever came next, I carried it alone.
“Actually, not quite done,” Ash said.
I inhaled slowly. Of course not.
I looked back at him, my patience already wearing thin. “Go on, then.”
He watched me for a second, longer than he needed to. Measuring again. Deciding how far to push it.
“We’ve heard something else.”
My shoulders tightened, but I didn’t show it.
“A police chief’s daughter,” he said slowly, like he was laying each word down with care. “Spotted coming out of your clubhouse.”
Everything in me went still. Cold. Controlled.
“Means nothing,” I said flatly.
Ash didn’t move. Didn’t blink.
“No?”
I held his gaze. Didn’t give him a single thing more. He let the silence stretch, like he was waiting for me to crack. I didn’t.
“Funny thing is,” he went on, pushing off the table, “word is one of yours followed her.”
A pause.
“You.”
There it was. I felt it hit, heavy and deliberate, but my expression didn’t shift. I didn’t give him that either.
“Keeping tabs?” he asked.
“Something like that.”
His head tilted slightly, studying me now.
“Or something else?”
I said nothing. Didn’t need to. Didn’t want to. Because this, this was already too close. Ash exhaled slowly, running a hand over the back of his neck.
“You see how that looks, yeah?” he said. Not accusing. Not quite. “Police got eyes on your club. Your people are being clocked. And then suddenly one of their own is walking out your front door.” He waited a moment. “And one of yours is right behind her.”
The room felt smaller. Tighter.
“Careful what you’re implying,” I said, my voice low.
“I’m not implying anything,” Ash shot back, just as quiet. “I’m telling you what it looks like from the outside.” He stepped closer again, not backing down, not pushing either. Just holding the line. “And from where we’re standing?” he added, “it looks messy.”
Messy. That was one word for it.
“You think I’m the leak?” I asked.
Ash’s gaze flicked over my face, searching.
“I think you’re too close to something you’re not seeing straight,” he said finally.
That hurt. Because it wasn’t an accusation. It was worse. A doubt. Silence stretched again.
“There’s more movement,” Ash said, shifting slightly, tone changing. Sharpening. “Notorious. The Hand. They’re watching your lot.”
“They’ve always watched.”
“Not like this.”
I looked at him.
“They’re not just watching business,” he said. “They’re watching behaviour.” A pause. “Patterns.”
Something cold slid down my spine.
“They’ve noticed,” Ash went on, “how distracted your members have been.”
I didn’t need him to spell that out either. Women. Attachments. Weak spots.
“They’re going to use it,” he said bluntly. “Notorious are already talking about it. The Hand are moving the same way.”
My jaw tightened. Ash held my gaze.
“They’ll come at what matters,” he said simply. “Or who.” My stomach twisted. “And if word gets out,” he added, quieter now, “that your club’s got leaks… and loose ends walking in and out your doors?”
He shook his head slightly.
“That alliance we’ve got?” Another beat. “It won’t hold the same weight.”
There was no threat in it. Just fact. Just consequence. I stared at him, something darker settling in my chest now. Something heavier than suspicion. Because this wasn’t just about the club anymore. It was bleeding into something else.
Something I didn’t have control over. And that, that was the problem.