He frowned.
I pushed away. “Why aren’t you denying it? You need to deny it!”
“Baby, I need you not to spiral.”
“Too late,” I said, throwing my hands in the air and stalking toward my kitchen.
He followed and watched me closely…warily.
“I need you to deny it,” I whispered, forcing back tears.
“I can’t and I won’t, baby, but I will explain if you’ll let me.”
I opened my pantry and pulled out a bag of Wavy Lay’s. “Be quick.”
“Snowcone was patched out on Wednesday. In that process, all Howlers’ ink was removed from his body.”
“Is he dead?”
“No.” He raised his hands as he said, “Swear to Christ he’s not.”
“Why was he… patched out?”
Sundance crossed his arms. “He was acting as a mole for a rival club and beat the shit out of Ruby when he suspected she might talk to Wrath.”
“Snowcone beat up Ruby? The same Ruby who was with us at Nocturn?”
He nodded. “Threatened to kill her if she talked.”
“Who is she to the club?”
“She was with Rocky for a few years. It didn’t work out, but she’s still protected by us, and I, personally, consider her a friend.”
“Is she okay?” I asked.
“Ruby’s been around the life since the day she was born. She’s tough.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s okay,” I pointed out, grabbing another chip.
“She’s got a black eye and some cracked ribs, probably a few other bruises, but other than that, I think she’s okay.”
“Oh my god, that must have been really frightening.”
“Yeah, she was freaked, but I’ve got a couple guys watchin’ her back, so it’s not gonna happen again.”
“You have guys guarding her?”
He frowned. “You gonna lecture me about that?”
“No,” I rushed to say. “It’s sweet.”
“Really need to get my arms around you, Dimples, so let’s get this settled.”
I grabbed another chip. “Why would Snowcone act as a mole?”
“The Apex Predators want our grow business.”
I shoved the chip in my mouth and crunched down on my favorite stress reliever as I pondered all of this. “He’s not dead?”
