Chapter 20 Royce #3
Ford dipped his chin. “Yeah, I got that much. Why is this club suddenly being discussed, right after Royce and I found the president’s name and number taped under Rodney’s goddamn stapler?”
“Rodney was working with them.” Connor spoke up.
Ford’s brows dipped as he argued. “No, he was working with Soul Reapers.”
Taryn stared at me as if I was supposed to say something. There was the matchbook address we had found, the news Nova had given us, and now this bombshell regarding the stapler.
This was like a twisted game of clue.
Staring back at her, I tilted my head as if to knock her off the idea of saying anything, but then Ford ruined it.
“You’re doing the sister thing. I know that look.” His hand raised as he pointed between us.
“How do you know what our sister thing is?” Taryn asked.
Connor sighed. “Because you two are ridiculously obvious about it.”
Ford scoffed. “And I’ve watched Royce’s every move for the better part of twenty years. I know how she looks at Taryn when they’re hiding something.”
Well, shit. How was I supposed to stay annoyed with him when he reminded me how much he loved me all the time?
“Nova, why did you come here, needing to talk to Royce two weeks ago?” Ford directed his question with a raise of his brow.
She bit her lip nervously, which was when Jameson stepped closer to her and pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry, honey. I shouldn’t have yelled. I don’t want you to feel like we’re ganging up on you.”
Her eyes watered which made my heart ache. How did I get her out of this?
“Ford, I found a matchbook with the address, and I didn’t want to tell my dad about it because we were worried that perhaps we didn’t have enough information. Then Connor told me that Rodney was working with the Devil Riders. I just didn’t tell you, but I—"
“Royce,” Nova interjected with a bit of a sob, “I’ll tell him.”
“Nova, I just did.” I tried, but she stepped forward and ruined everything with the truth.
“The guy I’m dating, Matt… He told me that Murdoch Devil Riders were paid to take that video of Royce and distribute it. They were supposed to make it look like a hacker did it.”
“Wait,” I sat forward, now confused. “I thought a hacker sent it to them. Do they know who provided the video?”
Ford’s angry gaze fastened to me, but I was too curious to worry that he’d found out I knew more than I had let on. Jameson spoke up, breaking the tension. “If you found a note with their info in Rodney’s office, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it was him.”
I met Ford’s crazed expression straight on. He rubbed his hand over his jaw, his voice strained as he said, “You know this for sure, Nova?”
She gave him a sharp nod. “I was in their club when they started joking about it. They had it playing on the screen—”
Ford flipped the table closest to him, tossing it against the wall. “Fucking son of a bitch!”
I flinched, wishing the smallest bit that Nova hadn’t shared that part about the video playing. I could only imagine what was running through his head. It made me slip off the stool and go to him. I cradled his face in my hands, speaking quietly to him.
“Ford, look at me. It’s okay. I’m fine, and Nova got them to take it down. It’s gone now.”
He was shaking under my hands. That crazed way his eyes were searching my face told me he was two seconds from walking out. I knew he was on a razor’s edge and about to go start a war. I had to find a way to stop him.
He kissed my palm, then stepped out of my hold. “Keep that leather cut on, baby. Keep it on every single time you enter this club and keep your phone on you.”
“Ford, no. Please,” I begged him as a cry cracked my voice. He took another step away.
Panic reached inside my chest, yanking at my heart.
“Wait, you—you can’t go without your cut…your colors,” I cried anxiously, “My dad, he didn’t give you permission to go, you can’t go.”
Johnson appeared in the hall behind us. I turned as tears gathered on my lashes.
He held something leather in his hands, and for two idiotic seconds, I thought maybe it was my property patch. My dad was suddenly at my shoulder, his hand carefully cupping it. “Come on, honey. Your mother is on her way.”
“Why?” I turned my head. “Tell him no. Tell him he can’t go. He can’t go without your permission. He’s not authorized to go to war with another club, no matter what the reason is.”
My dad’s eyes were full of remorse, but he wasn’t looking at me anymore, he was staring behind me. I turned to see that Ford was slipping the leather on that Johnson had been holding. It was an exact replica of the one currently on my shoulders, swallowing me in black. Except for one difference.
There, over the left breast, was stitched something new. Something I knew deep down and stupidly ignored.
President.
My mother suddenly entered through the back of the club, storming in on high-heeled boots. She was close enough that when my father confessed, she heard him. “I can’t, Royce. Ford’s word is law, and if he wants to go to war, then we go.”
My mother froze mid-step.
Jameson searched the space between my mother and father, then me, before speaking up. “Ford, we’re supposed to be preparing for war against the Destroyers, I think we’re playing into their hands.”
Ford refused to look up, but his fists clenched and shook.
Connor added his thoughts too. “Ford, think this through. You were obviously given incorrect intel from someone, which is a huge red flag. Besides, they took down the video at Nova’s request. That means she holds some sway with them. Let this ride out, and then we’ll still be ready—”
“No!” Ford slammed his hand on the bar, making the glass rattle. “You know if they’d done this to Penny, or Laura, or fucking anyone else, you wouldn’t hesitate.”
My mother was furious as she stepped closer, likely trying to play catch-up. “Am I understanding this correctly, Ford? You’re the president of the club?”
“I am.”
Mom’s eyes blazed with fury as she glanced over at my father. “And for how long?”
“Daisy—” Dad started, but she cut him off.
“How long?!”
Ford’s gaze locked on me. “Seven months.”
I felt the floor nearly fall from beneath my feet. I had assumed perhaps it was recent, but seven months…that meant when I had gone and asked my father about this initially, Ford had already been leading the club for six months.
“Well, then, I’m not sure why there’s even a discussion.” Mom folded her arms over her chest. “Your president has made a decision.”
“Mom.” I whined, as tears still gathered along my lashes. My heart felt too heavy to keep in my chest.
She lifted her chin. “Come on, Royce. This is a world we don’t belong in. They’ve made sure of that.”
“Fuck, Daisy, you know—” My dad tried arguing, but she turned and stormed off, back through the exit. Meanwhile Ford just stared at me.
I stared back, confused and hurt. I slid his leather cut off, and he shook his head.
“Do not make me choose between defending what they did to you and having you. It’s not in my blood to walk away from this.”
I tried to gather as much resolve as I could. All the strength within me to be like my mother. She’d married into this and had been at the mercy of a man who didn’t have it in his blood to walk away from any of this either. Yet, she never once backed away from the fire in her veins.
“Mom’s right. If you need war, then go get it, Ford. Just know that there will be another one waiting for you when you get home.”
I still clung to the leather cut because I couldn’t seem to release it, but I turned and followed my mother outside, knowing Nova and Taryn wouldn’t be far behind.