“Christ,” Vandal says.“She’s little, but she ain’t that little.Y’all talkin’ disposal like we’re takin’ out a rabid raccoon.”
Rye leans back.“Well?She a threat?If she is, put her down.If she ain’t, put her to good use.”
Whiskey whistles.“Good use, huh?That’s one way to say it.”
Bullet laughs so hard he coughs.“Hell, Oaks probably volunteered to be her pimp.Already heard he’s in the doghouse.”
All eyes turn to Oaks.
He stiffens immediately.“Shut the fuck up.”
“Man’s red in the face,” Rye says.“Guilty as sin.”
“Leave me out of this,” Oaks snaps.
Leaning forward, I snarl, “Yeah, leave him out of it.”
Silence drops like a hammer.
Legend hasn’t said a damn thing yet.He’s been watching us all, murder simmering under his skin.
Finally, he stands.
And every brother shuts up.
“Becki’s a traitor,” Legend says, voice flat and final.“A liar.Manipulative as her daddy trained her to be.”His eyes slice around the table.“And I don’t give a damn what story she’d tell if we let her speak.I don’t believe for one second he blackmailed her.Every word that comes out of that girl’s mouth is poison.”
The room changes.
Just like that.
The humor drains, replaced by something heavier.
Rye clears his throat.“Well… hell.When you put it like that.No body fucks with the Kings.”
Legend cuts him off with a sharp look.“But she’s also a member of this town.”
Oaks mutters, “Paradise loves her.”
Whiskey nods.“Not just Official.Hell, too.Everyone’s got a story about what the Reverend did to her.A twinkle in their eye when they imagine what she survived.”
Derby rubs his jaw.“Ain’t a single ol’ lady who wouldn’t take her in.Give her hot food, warm blankets, keys to the damn kingdom.”
“Which is exactly why none of y’all are lettin’ them near her,” Legend says.“They’ll get soft.They’ll let her out.They’ll give her rope we can’t afford to give.Enough to hang us all.”
“Becki Crowley ain’t some stray,” Vandal says quietly.“She’s… folk.Folks would riot if she goes missin’ again.”
“Exactly,” Legend growls.
“They expect y’all to keep her safe,” Wildcat adds.“You and Royal.You’re her kin.”
“Fuck that,” I say, under my breath.
“Reverend adopted us, yes.But we ain’t her brothers.Not blood.Not nothin’.We weren’t raised with her.We were brought up on the compound like cattle for God’s work.”Legend spits the words like they’re venom.“But the county?They watched that girl grow up bruised and cornered.They excuse every dumb thing she does because they know where she came from.Or more accurately, what she clawed her way out of.”
Derby shifts.“None of that matters.We made a deal with that crazy cult to protect her.Y’all forgetting how we stopped half the town from killin’ each other at Paradise Falls.Reverend called off his murderous flock to save his precious spawn.Royal promised to protect her.”
Silence again.This time it’s heavy with responsibility none of us want.
