Not one.Not two.
Them.
He pauses, listening to whoever is on the other end of the call.
“I don’t care what you need to do,” he continues.“Just make sure you have the merchandise.”
Merchandise?
My breath stops.
He’s talking about “them” like they’re property.Like they’re livestock.
Like they’re already gone.
I can’t listen anymore.I retreat before I get caught.Back outside, I pull my jacket tighter and head for the clubhouse, my mind racing with questions.Them?How many?Where are they going?
And why the hell is Becki still alive?
I don’t want to believe what I’m starting to suspect.
But the pieces fit too well.
Of all the single girls who left Pearly Gates and disappeared, Becki’s untouched.Why is she chained to a bed in the Kings’ clubhouse while her daddy moves the other girls like product?Why?Why is she the exception?Why is she not on the list?
The answer is too easy.Because she’s the Reverend’s daughter.Maybe he planned for her to be a prisoner at the clubhouse, so she won’t be taken.Maybe she’s in on it.
A distraction.
I walk back toward the clubhouse, legs shaking.When I reach the hallway that leads to Royal’s room, I stop.
And I hear it.Her voice.Soft.Dangerous.Laughing?I move closer.Is that Legend’s voice?Low, frayed at the edges like he’s barely holding himself together as he questions her.I don’t know for sure, but a pit forms in my stomach.
I don’t open the door.I don’t need to.The tension in his voice says enough.The tremble in hers says more.
I ain’t afraid of Becki.
I’m afraid of what men do when their hearts get twisted by the wrong woman.I’m afraid of what the Reverend is planning.I’m afraid the Kings of Anarchy are standing on a fault line no one sees but me.
Even kings fall when the wrong fire gets lit.
Later, I go to Legend.I don’t question him.I need to pretend everything is fine.But I won’t fuck him.Not when his ex is here.Withholding pussy feels beneath me, but it’s not something I can give while he hurts me like this.
Lying beside Legend in his bed, I stare at the ceiling while he sleeps with his arm over my waist.Comforting me without knowing he’s the reason I feel sick in the first place.
Wonder what would happen if I opened his phone.If there are texts from Becki, or photos, or worse, memories he won’t ever let go of.
I close my eyes and whisper into the dark.“If you burn this club down for her, I won’t be here to put out the flames.”
But even as the words leave my lips.I wonder if I’m already watching the flames begin.
Chapter 21
Royal
The door clicks behind me, and the sound is too loud in this small concrete room.
Becki is sitting at the bed's border, chain coiled around her wrist like she’s already planning her next escape.Her legs are bare.Her hair is a wild halo.Her mouth is swollen from biting it.
