Chapter 28
Lucy
Icould still feel the heaviness of his anger on my skin, even though he was standing ten feet away. Jay leaned against his bike like he had all the time in the world, but his jaw was tight, his shoulders stiff. He hadn’t forgiven me for keeping Gage’s texts quiet.
The night air bit through the thin fabric of my dress.
I didn’t shiver; I wouldn’t give him that.
I could’ve asked for his Henley back, but I didn’t because I hadn’t only liked the warmth of it, but how it felt like him.
It was as if I was wearing his armour, even for a little while, and I wasn’t ready to admit what that did to me.
“You should’ve told me the second he reached out,” Jay snapped.
I tightened my grip on my helmet. “What would that have changed? You’d still be pissed, and we’d still be here.”
He stepped closer, gaze like a blade. “You don’t get it. Holding back in this world doesn’t keep you safe, it gets you killed, and it gets me killed.”
My chest ached, but I forced myself to meet his eyes. “You want the truth? Fine. Here it is.”
I pulled out my phone, thumb shaking as I opened the last text. I shoved it toward him.
Unknown: Heard a rumour your Pres has the drive. Passed it along. Let’s see how long he lasts once the wolves catch his scent.
Jay’s eyes darkened. His hand flexed like he wanted to punch steel.
“He put this on me,” he ground out.
My throat was raw. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you looking at me like it was my fault.”
His gaze snapped back to mine. “It’s not your fault. None of this is, but I need you safe. They were already coming for you, now they’re coming for me, too.”
Fear pressed cold in my stomach. I shoved it down. “Then let me ride. You wanted proof I’m not just a shadow here? That’s it. I ride with you to that cabin.”
His jaw worked, muscles twitching. “Don’t slow me down.”
The words stung, but when I swung onto the back of his bike and felt the engine roar to life, I let the anger roll off me. He didn’t have to forgive me tonight. I didn’t need him to.
I needed to prove I was there. All the way in.
The cabin looked like it had already given up. Half-sunken in the trees, draped in shadow and silence, it seemed to know why we were there. I stayed behind Jay, the flash drive in my jacket pocket like a talisman. There was no way I was leaving it at the clubhouse.
Riot killed his engine first, then Jay. Three bikes in total, all off the main trail, no lights, no talking.
Jay raised a fist then two fingers and swirled them. Surround.
Riot veered left. Link circled around back. I followed Jay, steps even, every nerve screaming. At the porch, Jay’s hand brushed mine, only for a second, but it set my heart racing.
His voice dropped low so only I could hear. “I need him alive. For now.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Because if I end him out here, it’s murder, not justice and he’s still holding pieces we don’t have. Where he talked, who he sold to. We can’t bury him until I know it all.”
The words settled uneasy in my chest. I wanted that bastard dead. Though I nodded once, forcing my shoulders square.
Jay stepped onto the rotting wood, his tone cold. “Open the door. No guns, Gage. Let’s talk.”
Silence. Then a scrape and the door creaked open.
Gage.
He looked like death had been taking notes and trying out different looks on him: shirt soaked in sweat, eyes sunken, gun limp in his hand.
“You came,” he muttered.
“You knew I would,” Jay said.
I stepped into view. His eyes found mine, and for a second, he froze.
“You should’ve stayed gone,” he rasped.
“So should you,” I shot back.
We moved in. Riot and Link flanked. The cabin swallowed us, door thudding shut behind.
“You broke the code,” Jay said.
“You think I wanted this?” Gage whispered.
Riot snarled. “You think that matters?”
I held up the flash drive. “You sold out your brothers. Gave the Fangs their drop points. Names. People are dead because of you.”
“I was trying to control the bleed,” he said. “Gave them just enough to keep them off our backs—”
“Bullshit,” Jay snapped. “You handed them Diesel too.”
Gage’s face drained. “I didn’t know they’d kill him.”
“You didn’t care if they did,” Link shot back. “Same damn thing.”
Jay stepped closer, voice glacial. “Why?”
“I told you Diesel was dirty. They had proof. Guns, side deals. I thought if I fed them what they already knew, I could protect us.”
“Protect us? You fed us to the wolves,” Jay said.
My knuckles whitened around the drive. “What about my brother?”
“I warned him. Told him to back off. He didn’t listen, so the Fangs made him disappear.”
Rage burned through me, I lunged, but Jay caught me around the waist.
“No,” Jay snapped. “He dies when I say.”
“Jay—” I started, but Gage cut me off.
“Shut it, bitch.”
Jay’s control cracked. He let me go and his fist slammed into Gage’s jaw, sending him sprawling. “You threatened her too, didn’t you? Dragged her into this because you couldn’t stand in your own mess.”
Gage spit blood, lips curling into a broken grin. “She’s leverage, Jay. Always was.”
Jay hit him again, knuckles splitting. “You put my name out there. You told them I had the drive. You painted a target on me and on her.”
“Because it’s true,” Gage wheezed. “They’re already coming for you.”
Jay’s chest heaved. For a second, I thought he’d snap Gage’s neck. But he stopped, fists trembling, teeth bared. “You laugh at me again, and I’ll end you before the club ever casts a vote.”
Gage laughed bitterly anyway. “You gonna put me down out here like a stray?”
“If it keeps the club safe, yeah,” Jay said.
I wanted to scream. To end him myself, but I didn’t because Jay said otherwise.
“You pointed the barrel at me,” he said.
“I tried to protect you,” Gage whispered.
“No,” Jay said, stepping closer. “You tried to protect yourself. Don’t dress it up.”
“You could’ve told the truth,” I said.
“I told myself lies instead,” Gage whispered, “and believed every one of them.”
Jay wrenched the Glock from Gage’s hand and shoved it into his waistband. “You don’t get to die easy. Not yet.”
Riot stepped in, zip-ties already in his fist. “Church will want a say.”
Gage spat blood, but he didn’t fight when they bound his wrists. He knew the rules.
Jay leaned in close to him. “You’re gonna look every one of your brothers in the eye and tell them what you did. When the vote comes down, you’ll wish I’d left you bleeding in this cabin.”
Riot’s phone buzzed. He stepped out, muttered a few words, then came back with a sharp nod.
“Prospects are here,” he said. “They brought the van.”
Headlights shone through the trees outside, a battered panel van growling up the dirt track.
Two prospects jumped out, one carrying chains.
They didn’t ask questions, they followed orders, cuffing Gage and shoving him into the back.
He didn’t fight, he grinned like a man who thought he still had cards to play.
I swung back onto Jay’s bike, the rumble in my chest doing nothing to drown out the thought that letting him breathe was going to cost the club and maybe me.