“I don’t think it’s Oske,” Joslin agrees with Hunter, shifting in her seat on my lap uncomfortably, and surprising us both yet again with the fact that she just spoke up in this meeting at all.
“Why not?” Tamiya trusts my wife’s instincts, and so do I, but in my personal opinion, Joslin ought to stay out of any mess involving my cousin. My hand moves over her thigh protectively. Joslin sinks her hips back into me.I feel you. I feel the shift in your energy.I trust she won’t say anything out of place.
“Oske and I have a good relationship and recently, she’s been coming to me about faith and spirituality. Looking after her brothers has brought up a lot for her, and she’s trying to heal toxic patterns, not get into more trouble.”
“Excuse me if I have my doubts,” Ruger mutters. “Do you know what kind of things she’s done for Deacon?”
“You like gossiping too much,” Zayna chastises him.
Hunter shrugs. “He’s not wrong.”
“Well,” Tamiya says, after letting everybody talk around each other in circles. “I have video footage of everyone who approached Damara and Magnum that night. I’ll tell you who we see on there, but if you had a good reason for doing this that we should be aware of… we’re family now. We need to discuss it.”
“Frankly,” Ruger says. “I don’t see what this has to do with my family. This is Gideon’s problem. I came all the way out to the country forfamilybusiness and I don’t want to get involved with Condom’s pierced dick.”
“How do you know–”
“I was with him when he got it,” Ruger says with an organically disgusted look on his face. “Trust me, I was compensated for what I witnessed, which needs no further discussion. Zayna, let’s get you some beauty sleep.”
“You aren’t going anywhere,” Tamiya snaps at Ruger, suddenly turning into the ‘bad cop’ and scaring the rest of us straight out of our goddamn skins. “You’re staying right here because your ass is on that video feed.”
The room falls quiet. Is that why they brought me here? To put Ruger in line? To try some prison warfare against a trained Army Ranger? Paranoid thoughts race through my head as the mere idea of Ruger Blackwood’s betrayal sends me into an immediate panic. My brain jumps straight to war in stressful situations like this one. Joslin senses the shift in my energy, and she reaches around to touch my back.
Instantly, her touch relaxes me. This woman brings me peace. Ruger does the opposite, especially as his face changes color with Tamiya’s accusations. Gideon considers him calmly with equally icy eyes. The two are well-matched, except Rugeris a crazier man than Gideon could ever hope to be. Discipline worked on Gideon’s mind, but Ruger was always more stubborn and even quicker to fly off the handle than the average Blackwood.
All the Sinclair men in here are tense. Joslin glares at Ruger, quick to believe that he’s done whatever Tamiya accused him of.
“Do you have a good explanation for why you were on that camera, Ruger? And did you slip Damara and Magnum Sinclair some type of drug?”
Shit. Is that what happened to them? There’s a reason I don’t let Joslin out of my sight around the bikers. Luckily for me, she’s too introverted for the average late-night biker gathering to intrigue her much. Joslin enjoys Irish goodbyes and retiring early to bed. I appreciate sleep myself ever since my time in federal prison.
It’s good to have the option to turn out the lights.
“I talked to Magnum Sinclair. That doesn’t mean I drugged him,” Ruger says. He doesn’t outright deny it, though. That might be intentional, or Ruger might be an idiot. I can’t tell which is the truth.
“You’re staying here until we find out who did, or I will consider your departure suspicious.”
“Even if I did it, what’s the big deal?”
“It’s wrong, Ruger.”
“I know. But Magnum hasn’t been with a woman in a long time and he’s got enough money to take care of Damara. I can’t see the problem.”
“Do you think money could be the motive?” Joslin pipes up. Again, her chiming into this makes me uncomfortable, but Ican’t do much to stop her curious mind. I hope she doesn’t drag me into hell chasing a murderer.
“Nobody in the club needs to take money from Magnum Sinclair,” Gideon responds defensively. “We all served our country and not just that, we can earn money on our own without stealing it from a Sinclair.”
He glares at Joslin in a way that makes me uncomfortable.
“I didn’t mean any offense,” Joslin says. “I don’t assume Ruger slipped anyone anything. I’m just asking questions.”
“Be careful what questions you ask,” Gideon answers in a measured, dangerous tone. “You might offend the wrong sorts.”
“Is that a threat?” I grunt, grabbing everyone’s attention for speaking for once. I don’t see the point in talking much when I don’t have any thoughts on the situation. I would much rather listen and make up my mind about what’s happening after I’ve had peace and quiet to think for myself.
“It’s not a threat,” Gideon responds, glancing up at Tamiya for strength and her approval. “It’s a warning that we live in a dangerous world and the situation we’re discussing involves malice.”
“Not necessarily,” Zayna says. “It could be someone in the Sinclair family who wants Magnum to settle down with someone and chose someone affiliated with the club to bond him to forever.”
