Knuckles: "Aye."
Scar hesitates, and my stomach drops. Then his hand rises. "Aye."
Seven votes. Out of nine voting members.
Torch keeps his hand down. "Nay."
Diesel: "Nay."
"Seven to two," Joker announces. "Zane remains President of Iron Talons MC."
The relief is immediate and complicated. I won. But I didn't win unanimously. Two members voted against me. And Ghost—
Ghost stands abruptly, chair scraping loud. "This is a mistake."
"You got your vote," I say quietly. "You lost. Now fall in line or leave."
"I'm not falling in line behind someone who chose pussy over club."
I'm on my feet before I consciously decide to move. "One more comment about her and we settle this outside. Your choice."
"You threatening me?"
"I'm telling you the rules. You challenged. You lost. You can accept that and stay VP, or you can keep pushing and leave. But what you can't do is undermine my authority in my club."
"Your club?" Ghost laughs, bitter. "I built this with you!"
"And I'm grateful. Five years we ran this together. But you forced this vote. You lost. That's how it works.
Ghost looks around the room, at the brothers who voted for me instead of him. "You're all making a mistake. He's going to get us killed. That baby is a target. Lena is a weakness. And you're all too blind to see it."
Blade speaks up, calm but firm. "Or maybe you're too rigid to adapt. World changes, Ghost. We change with it or die fighting yesterday's wars."
Ghost's laugh is sharp enough to draw blood. "Fine. You want him? You got him. But when Miguel Cruz uses that baby to destroy us, remember I warned you."
He reaches up, starts unpinning his VP patch. The sound of leather and metal separating is final.
"Ghost, don't—" Tommy starts.
"I'm done. Keep your compromised President. Keep your peace with Coyote Fangs. I'll build something real somewhere else."
Ghost drops his VP patch on the table. It lands with a dull thud that sounds like the end of something.
He walks out. Doesn't look back. The door slams behind him.
The silence that follows is heavy with the weight of bridges burned.
"Well," Tommy says eventually. "Shit."
I pick up the VP patch. It's still warm from Ghost's body heat. Five years he wore this. Five years as my second in command. Now he's gone and I've got an empty position and a permanent enemy.
"Tommy," I say.
He looks up, already knowing what's coming.
"You've been at my side since I became President. You spoke for me today. You're the most experienced member we have. You should've had this position years ago, but you said you didn't want it."
"I didn't. Still don't, really. I'm getting old for this shit."
