Phantom's laugh is bitter. "That's the problem. I should have. Should've vetted him better. Should've protected her. Instead I sold my daughter and she paid the price."
The silence stretches between us.
Finally, Phantom refocuses. "Copperhead Kings. They're coming for her because of my deal."
"Looks that way."
"What's the play?"
I lean forward. "I think you need to talk to their Prez. Or Bronco's family directly. Make them understand the deal is dead. Grace isn't available."
"And if they push back?"
"Then we go to war."
Phantom nods slowly. "What are you going to tell them? About why the deal ended?"
His eyes meet mine, and I see the trap immediately.
"That's the problem," Phantom says. "I can't tell them what Bronco did. If I do, they'll know the rival MC story is bullshit. They'll know someone inside the club killed him."
"And they'll want blood," I finish. "Shiver's head or compensation."
"Exactly." Phantom stands, starts pacing again. "The lie has to hold. For Grace's sake. For Shiver's sake. For the club."
"So what do you tell them?"
Phantom's quiet for a moment, thinking. "I’ll tell them the engagement ended when Bronco died. The arrangement was for a marriage, not a purchase. No marriage, no deal."
"They might not see it that way."
"Then I'll make them see it that way." His voice is hard. "I'll reach out to their Prez. See if we can negotiate. Maybe offer to return the money."
I shake my head. "We don't have four million liquid."
"No. But maybe we can work out payments. Buy time. Make this go away quietly."
"And if they don't want money?" I ask the question we're both thinking. "If they insist on Grace?"
Phantom's eyes go cold as stone. "Then we make it clear she's under Shotgun Saints protection. Anyone who touches her answers to all of us."
He turns to me, his expression shifting to Prez mode. "Until this is resolved, you're on Grace detail. Full time. She doesn't go anywhere without you."
"Already on it."
Phantom's eyes narrow. "Since when?"
"Since the first note. Wasn't going to leave her unprotected."
He studies me for a long moment. "You've been with her. At the clinic. On vet calls."
It's not a question.
"Yes," I say simply.
Phantom nods. "Good. She trusts you. That matters when she's scared."
The guilt twists in my chest.
