9. Ghost
Bones
G host saunters into my office like he's on a stroll at the beach. No knocking. No hesitation. Like he didn't vanish for days, forcing me to send Tank after him.
I don't look up right away. Just swirl the whiskey in my glass, watching the amber liquid catch the dim light.
"Ever heard of knocking, fucker?" I mutter, the sound rough.
He doesn't waste time. He never does. His words cut through the silence like a sword made of ice.
"You know, it's funny." His voice is calm, almost conversational, but I don't miss the edge beneath it. "I was the one who spent five years locked up because a woman lied about me. I was the one who lost everything because of the betrayal of a woman I loved. And yet, you were the one who lost your fucking mind the second you heard something about Ely. Didn't even wait. Didn't think. Just snapped."
My grip tightens around the glass, the tension coiling in my chest like a snake’s embrace. I don't want to have this conversation.
So I don't answer.
Ghost tilts his head, studying me. Picking me apart like he always fucking does. "That why you didn't call me down to the basement when you interrogated her?"
The question makes something ugly claw up my throat. I take another drink to kill it. "You weren't here." My voice is flat. Cold. I need it to be.
He shoots me a look of disbelief. "You know that's bullshit. You could've waited. I was on my way back. I got here just when you were parading her back to the basement after that whole tattoo fiasco. Hell, I told you myself the info I got was just the first layer, that I'd need more time to dig." His voice hardens. "But you didn't give a fuck about that, did you?"
My jaw locks.
"You're supposed to be our goddamn President, but you acted like a kid throwing a tantrum. What happened to thinking first, Kane?"
The way he says my name, the name only a handful of people know, makes my blood fucking boil. The anger comes easy. The doubt? That's the part that won't stop clawing at me.
I slam the glass down so hard I'm surprised it doesn't shatter. "Watch your fucking mouth," I growl. "I should've waited for what, exactly? Waited for her to slit my throat while I was sleeping next to her? For her to pass off intel on the Romano deal? Maybe I should've given her the chance to burn our whole fucking club to the ground, huh? Or should I have let another one of my brothers take the fall, like you did, for trusting the wrong fucking woman? Maybe I should've spared Tisha, too?"
Ghost doesn't even flinch. He never fucking does.
"That why you branded her, Bones?" He speaks quieter now, but that makes it worse. More lethal. "Because you thought she was the next Adora? That what you're telling yourself to sleep at night?"
My heart fucking lurches. The comparison makes me sick.
"I won't argue about Tisha," he says, voice steady. "She was a problem waiting to happen. But do you really, honestly believe that about Ely?"
I scoff. "She lied."
His tone softens, just slightly, but it hits harder than if he'd yelled at me. "Did she? I'm the one who had to do time because of Adora, but it seems you were left with more scars than me. Any therapist would have a field day with you. You need to fucking fix yourself."
I press my fingers against my temples, a dull ache forming at the back of my skull. "Dom... you're not the same man you were before prison. Adora took my brother, my best friend, from me, from us, and you never truly came back. I'm never giving anyone the chance to hurt you, me, or any of our brothers ever again. I don't get it. You didn't even talk to Ely twice during all the months she was here. Why the fuck are you defending her now?"
"I didn't talk, but I watched," he says, eerily calm. Too knowing. "I went through hell because Adora betrayed me," he goes on after a moment, the sound like a blade. "Spent five years watching my life turn to shit because I trusted the wrong woman. Lost everything. I know what betrayal looks like, Bones. I know what it feels like. And I watched Ely for months. She didn't fake it with you."
Poison spreads through my chest. It's the worst fucking thing he could have said to me.
Because I already know it, don’t I?
I know it every time I close my eyes and see her looking at me like I hung the goddamn moon. I know it when I wake up in an empty bed, when I reach for her before I remember that she's gone. That I’m the one who sent her away.
But I can't admit that .
So I scoff. "Sure. Whatever the fuck you say."
Ghost shakes his head like he's fucking tired of me, and honestly? I'm tired of myself too.
"Why'd you send Tank after me, Kane?" he asks, narrowing his eyes. "He didn't come to bring me back. And he wasn't exactly subtle, following me around like a lost puppy, being all obvious and shit. I'm surprised the Riders didn't clock him. You know he's shit at stakeouts."
I snort, rubbing a hand over my jaw. "I sent him to have your back in case you decided to act even more stupid than you already were."
"Sure. So he wasn't there to help me get Ely out of the Riders' clubhouse when I made my move?"
My stomach drops.
"You're talking fucking nonsense," I snap, sitting forward in my chair, heat flaring in my chest. "He was there to have your back and call for backup in case you were made. That why you were in their territory? To get her out? Are you out of your fucking mind?"
He simply shrugs. Unbothered. "And to investigate further. Don't act as if you didn't know, Kane. If you really didn't want me there, you could have stopped me. Things didn't add up, but you already know that. Nothing moves around here without you knowing. Don't fucking deny it. You can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to me."
I stare at him, something dangerous and unwelcome creeping into my veins.
He's right.
I knew.
I could have shut it down, told him to stay the fuck away. But I didn't.
Because some fucked-up, buried part of me wanted to find out more.
His voice drops lower. "I had a hunch that she needed saving. And I was right. I just didn't get the chance to help her, Jinx moved too fast. He broke her in four fucking days and I had no opening to get her out. Tank got to her before me after she was dumped. Fucker has no idea what staying in the shadows means. His cage is red for fucks sake! But at least he saved her life."
A sharp, suffocating pressure wraps around my lungs.
I sent her back to her own personal monster.
And I stood there and watched while he threw her in the van.
"Fuck," I mutter, my head dropping forward, my elbows braced on the desk. "Where did everything go so fucking wrong?"
Ghost doesn't answer right away. When he does, his voice is cool, detached. "I did get to play with one of the Riders' prospects. Got my chance when Jinx went to dump Ely's body. Grabbed him right from their back gate, it's why I was late getting to her."
My head snaps up. "What did you find out?"
The corner of his mouth lifts. Barely. Mocking. "Ah, so now you want to look deeper into things, huh?"
"Don't try me, Ghost."
His smirk fades. "Prospect didn't know much. He was there for a year. Seems he wasn't making the cut for a patch. Which works in my favor because they won't be asking where he went when he doesn't show up at the clubhouse. He caught Ely for a few months only. But he did say she used to be bruised all the time. Looked like a lifeless doll every time Jinx pulled her into his lap. I'm thinking she ran from him. And you sent her back to her own personal monster, Bones."
Something inside me snaps.
"I can't believe that," I whisper, but it's weak. A fucking lie.
"Whether you can or not, it looks more probable than Ely being a spy," he says, pushing off the desk. "Enjoy the demons you created for yourself."
I speak before he reaches the door.
"That prospect better not turn up. Ever."
Ghost glances back, his smirk returning. "You know me better than that."
And then he's gone.
And I'm alone with the mess I made.