Chapter 40 #2
Drew somehow stood impossibly taller as he pulled his chin back to his chest and scowled in confusion. “Hey. What’s wrong?”
“I… I…” Sutton swallowed, pulling the hat off his head slowly and holding it down at his stomach as his eyes searched the floor of The Hut.
“Chief?”
Howard closed his eyes, the regret there obvious. His voice was caged, though, unable to break free no matter how many times he parted his lips to try and speak.
Drew sensed the danger and glanced around at all his brothers behind him, his tribe, his pack, his club… and me. When his eyes landed on mine, all I could see was uncertainty—an emotion that wasn’t common for him.
He turned back to the chief slowly, parting his legs and taking a strong stance in front of Howard.
He was ready. Whatever news he was about to be told, he was ready.
“Sutton,” Drew began. “Say it.”
“I don’t know how to,” Sutton muttered.
“How bad are we talking?”
“Drew…”
“I can handle it.”
“Yeah, but I can’t.” When Sutton looked up, his eyes were glazed, and he had to rub his lips together to try and hold onto his composure.
To my surprise, Drew smiled softly at him and shook his head. He never let his confusion stay around for long. He was a man of many battles. I guess he’d seen all the outcomes and had all the predictions in his hat already.
“It’s okay, Howard,” Drew said softly. “Do you need to take one of us back for more questioning? Do you need to—?”
“Drew, no. Stop.” Sutton swallowed again, his hands worrying his hat as he stared up at his old enemy’s eyes like he really cared. “It’s bigger than that.”
“Bigger?”
“Much bigger.”
“I don’t understand,” Drew said, frowning.
“When I got called away from the party, I was told it was an emergency. The station needed me. I didn’t understand what was going on.
There’d been nothing big happening in Babylon since the whole warehouse incident.
We didn’t have anyone of importance in custody.
Life was quiet, apart from you guys and what was going on with my…
my Sloane,” he stuttered, drawing in a breath and blowing it out almost instantly.
“I’d never have left if I didn’t have to, but there was something happening. Something way above me.”
We’ve put things in place. Sutton is probably being stripped of his badge as we speak.
The words Travis had spoken came back to me all at once, smacking the forefront of my mind.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Drew asked in a quiet whisper.
“The mayor was there. So were a bunch of police officers from the Navs’ territory, Drew.
They were accusing me of being in your pocket.
They were checking my payroll. Every member of my team’s bank accounts.
They were on fire, going through files, trying to find a link between me and The Hounds that could strip me of this badge I’m wearing. ”
Drew scowled harder, but he’d gone into silent mode, and his jaw was ticking tight, over and over again.
“They wanted to cut me loose, Drew.”
“So they can take over,” he whispered.
“The mayor was pretty adamant that I couldn’t be trusted anymore.”
“Why is the he getting involved in this?”
“I wish I knew.”
Drew’s nostrils flared as he exhaled. “There was nothing there for them to find, though, right?”
“Nothing concrete. They had their questions. About the warehouse. About the Emps. About my sudden allegiance to you all. About M…” He stopped to clear his throat. “About Maisey’s death. About the reports we filed. I’m under investigation here.”
“Okay,” Drew said slowly, not moving. “Chief, I’m sensing there’s something else you’re not telling me.”
Howard nodded slowly, his face scrunching up as he looked down at the floor and curled his hat in his hands. “I gotta take one of you in.”
I rocked forward against the bar, my heart sinking as the MC seemed to groan as a collective. Most of the guys holding a beer were draining their bottles. Others were openly staring at the chief as though he’d lost his mind. Me? I could only think of one way to fix the problem.
“A Hound? Or just someone associated with them in this mess tonight?” I asked, ignoring the eyes that flicked to me like I was a magnet.
I stiffened as my thoughts crowded my head all at once.
Drew would understand what I meant after the conversation we’d just had, and though I knew he would veto anything to do with me taking culpability, my idea was better than him going back to that soul-sucking prison.
He was president, he was king, and he was where he needed to be.
Sutton glanced my way, his eyes full of sympathy for me as he tilted his head to one side and held my gaze.
“You’re not big enough for them, Ayda,” he whispered with regret.
“You’re not enough. I’m not enough. They want to get to the root of everything bad that’s ever happened around here in the last few years. They want…”
“... Me,” Drew finished for him.
Sutton looked back at Drew and gave him a nod.
“The body they found on the Navs’ turf has been linked back to this club.
Miguel Hernandez was a member of the Emperor MC, and he was found buried wearing a Hounds of Babylon wrap around his arm.
There’s more evidence in place, or so they say, but I haven’t been made privy to it yet.
All I’m getting is a lot of threats, nothing concrete.
They told me they had plans, Tucker. Big plans.
Plans to bring all of you down, including me, my girls, my life.
..” Sutton swallowed again, the taste of his words almost making him sick as he turned green with regret and his voice choked up.
“I can’t… I can’t lose my girls, Drew. I can’t let them lose anything else.
They’ve already… I’ve already… we’ve already lost so much.
I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. This is bigger than me, than us, than anyth—”
Drew cut him off instantly, his hand landing on Sutton’s shoulder and commanding him into submission.
“It’s okay, brother. I wouldn’t want you to. I understand.”
“Drew,” Jedd called out from somewhere.
“Drew,” I heard Slater say.
“Son,” Harry said weakly.
“No, Drew.” Deeks.
“No fucking way.” Kenny.
No. No. No. The cries went out.
“Do what you have to do, Howard. Do what you have to do,” Drew whispered.
“Wait just a goddamn minute,” I shouted, marching around the bar and avoiding anyone that tried to stop me.
“This is blackmail. This is just… It’s like a never-ending fucking cycle.
Travis shot his own brother. That fucking psycho took the gun from my hand and shot him in the face.
” I pushed my hands into my hair hysteria bubbling under the surface.
“I don’t understand, Howard. Even if you take Drew in this won’t ever stop. ”
I was shaking as a new wave of adrenaline dumped into my system.
Now I looked like a tweaker, my eyes darting around the faces that surrounded us.
Our family. My family. They were being attacked from every side, but the mayor…
He didn’t do it with guns, knives or fists.
He was fighting with bureaucracy and corruption.
Drew’s eyes were closing, even though his body stood strong.
The silent communication was kicking in again. I read it in his expression, in his body language, in the tick of his jaw.
“Come here, Ayda,” he said like there was only the two of us in the room.
I took the few steps toward him—my hands balled flat against his stomach as my forehead landed against his shoulder.
I wanted to cry at the injustice of it all.
We were outlaws, I supposed, but there was still honor among thieves.
We followed a code of our own. Nothing good would come of this.
They would make sure Drew did the maximum amount of time.
The death sentence was still very much alive in Texas, after all.
I couldn’t lose him.
Not like this.
Not to some power hungry politician who was working under an agenda.
I sucked in a breath, calming myself enough to stop the angry tears from forming.
Drew pressed his lips to the top of my head, taking his time to kiss me and take a few breaths as his hands worked the length of my hair like they’d done so many times in bed before.
“Do you know what the perks of being my first love are?” he asked, not waiting for me to answer.
“The world can take me away from you, but they can never take me away from you. The world can try to tear us apart, but they’ll never win because it’s deeper than that.
Baby, we’re bigger than that,” he breathed against my head.
“I have to go, though. I have to go and do this. It’s part of my job. It’s who I am, darlin’.”
The first tear fell freely, landing on the leather of his cut as I felt my chest fracture into a thousand pieces. Was it really just that morning that the blissful happiness had made me feel like nothing could touch me. Was it just that morning that my world finally came together and made sense?
I knew I needed to be stronger… for him. For the guys and for myself, but the first sob came regardless of what I knew I needed to do. It took everything in me to nod and step away, my fingers wiping the tears as I glanced up at him. My voice refused to work, so I whispered the words instead.
“I would do this for you. If you let me, I would do this for you. I love you more than you will ever know, Drew.”
“You think I don’t know?” he breathed, pulling me closer.
“You couldn’t possibly.” I sniffed and swiped at the tears now falling in a steady line down my cheeks.
He huffed out a pitiful laugh and pulled my face away from his body, holding it in the palms of his hands as he stared down into my eyes and sighed softly.
Peacefully. Like he wasn’t just about to be taken away.
“God damn it, Ayda, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to this club.
They need you more than they need me. Look after them for me, if all our efforts to push past this fail and I don’t come back soon. ”
“They’re my family, of course I’ll look after them, but you’re coming back, even if I have to sell every acre of my parents land to get you out.”
He nodded slowly, clearly hiding what he was going to say as he opened his mouth and quickly closed it again, instead pulling me closer and devouring me in a kiss.
We clung to one another almost desperately.
His was a kiss that was full of goodbyes, while mine was a promise of hope, even if he didn’t believe that, but no matter what the intentions were, the underlying sentiment was the same.
The kiss sang of our love and gave us something to hold onto.
The moment we parted, I bit my lip, swallowed my sobs and looked over my shoulder at Sutton.
“I’m going to be down there later this morning, Howard,” I told him. “You better look after Drew until we get him out of there.”
“I’ll do my best. You know I will…” Sutton’s face scrunched up, his voice giving up on him and forcing him to angle his body away from mine. I knew he felt guilty. It was clear to see. Drew tried to put a stop to that by placing his arm around Sutton’s shoulder and pulling him closer.
“Let’s go, Chief.”
“I’m sorry,” Sutton choked out.
“Yeah,” Drew sighed. “Me, too.”
The two of them stood taller, staring at the door of The Hut until Drew looked back over his shoulder to find me.
“I’ll be home soon.” He winked, faking a certainty I knew he didn’t feel.
The sea of cuts seemed to step to the side as Sutton and Drew walked toward the door, while I stood alone, shaking and forcing back the body rocking sobs that were building like a storm inside of me.
I felt violent.
I felt desolate.
I felt fucking angry and sad and torn in two.
I rushed to the door the moment they disappeared through it, my hands gripping the porch rail once I was through to stop my momentum, even as the rest of the guys filed out behind me.
Deeks and Autumn flanked me, their arms circling my waist as I white-knuckled the railing, not quite able to say goodbye.